Author's note:
Always, as a reminder, this chapter was commissioned. If you want to get a custom-made chapter of your own, or simply want to speed up the update on a fic that you want more of, details for my rates and conditions can be found in my profile. Further details can be provided upon query. If nothing else, I'm finding that doing commissions is easier to stay motivated on than non-comm stories, perhaps because I have just 1 person who regularly asks to discuss plot and character stuff with me. Reviews are always appreciated, but these discussions are like getting reviews for stuff I haven't even written yet. It really seems to fire the neurons, you know?
Responses:
to KongKing94: "Soon" can be a relative term, but I'm definitely pushing for it. Melpha could've been such a cool character if the anime hadn't relegated her to being Nanael's glorified lackey in Season 2. We intend to rectify that mistake, once she meets Echidna and/or Shizuka. And, yes, there will be more Pathfinder elements to the story besides Rowin and the demons. Although, now that you mention the Pathfinder Angels, I've just thought of something we might do with that, if the commissioner approves. No promises, no spoilers, but I'll mention it to them.
to Thunder Dragon: A good chance for action indeed, given who debuts in this chapter.
to Guest on Mar 25, 2025: Referring to the the Team Fortress 2 Scout's favorite pickup line, according to the Expiration Date short film. "Hey, good-lookin', I got a bucket of chicken. You wanna do it?" ... And you know, now that I think about it, I could see Echidna trying her luck with another pickup line from that, one of Spy's lines. Expiration Date was amazing and I am forever sad it was not picked up for a TF2 animated series.
Leina felt conflicted. On one hand, she had money, a rucksack, and enough dried meat and water to last the rest of the way to the Queen's capitol. She was packing up a blanket and bedroll even now, having purchased them from the trading post near the edge of the village. It felt good, knowing she and Rowin wouldn't have to forage for food or rely on charity.
On the other hand, Rowin said he got all the coin from looting the dead. When Leina had asked which dead, he'd simply replied, "The ones that're done moving."
Leina sighed. He had a point, but it still felt wrong, like grave robbing, even if the grave hadn't been dug or the corpse buried. The villagers' families might have found their loved ones; they, of all people, would need that money the most. Half the village's houses and people had been burned to a crisp.
Leina finished tying the twine around her blanket and moved to the window of her room. Yesterday felt like months ago, with how much insanity had happened in the course of one day: meeting Alleyne and Nowa, Rowin accidentally getting married, demons attacking them, Zara attacking them, not to mention the unfinished business with that corpse-worm demon, the vermlek. Leina was glad she'd gotten to rest and that Rowin had refreshed her with a pleasant song. She had a good mood about the days ahead.
"C'mere, you!" shouted a voice outside.
...aaaand the good mood vanished.
Leina didn't know what she expected when she peeled back the curtain of her window and looked down. Shizuka, that pale-faced, lavender-haired siren from Hinamoto, was well inside Rowin's personal space again, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging his head so he had no choice but to look down at her barely-covered breasts. She nuzzled his blonde hair like a cat; to both her and Leina, Tomoe's objection was echoing muffled nothing. Then, when Shizuka hopped down and grinned up at the blonde minstrel, she had the nerve to hug him again and put both her alabaster hands on his posterior.
Oh, did that make Leina mad. She was vibrating, seething as she thought, Why does Shizuka have to be such a… Such a…!
Leina hadn't realized she'd grabbed hold of the curtains in her white-knuckled mood, so her angry huff and pivot on her heel pulled their rail from the window. She stomped back to her new belongings, threw them back in the rucksack, and moved to leave. She caught her reflection in the room's hanging mirror and stopped.
Why did Rowin put up with Shizuka's antics? Or Echidna's, for that matter? Would Rowin be so… not-offended if Leina did something like that? Leina was raised to be a disciplined noblewoman, the example of beauty that all in Vance County were to look up to. Leina had two braids that framed her face, with hoops tied to the bottom. Keeping them from constantly getting in her face was a metal hair band that Leina wore around the crown of her skull. This was a leftover piece from when Leina's hair had run down the length of her back, before she'd cropped it short. Yet, looking at herself in that mirror, from her fair face to her sizable bust, Leina found herself feeling inferior. Was she attractive? She'd never really thought about it, but maybe she could ask Rowin-
Wait a minute! Leina screwed her eyes shut and took a breath. Why do I care if I'm attractive? Why should I care if Rowin thinks I'm attractive or how attractive I am compared to Shizuka, Tomoe, Alleyne, Echidna, Laila-
"Uuughh…" Leina growled wearily. She turned and stormed out of the room. No need to ruin her mood even further.
She heard a girlish giggle as she crossed the empty common room and exited the inn. Said giggle seemed to belong to Laila, who was floating in front of Rowin a few feet off the ground in the street. Laila was in the middle of taking a long, closed-eyed sniff of a sky blue flower, her Holy Milk Thrower slung over her back above her metal wing.
"Mmmm, it's so nice…" Laila murmured.
"Yeah, but don't tell anyone," Rowin said, gently slipping it out of her fingers. "In fact, keep it under your hat."
He lifted Laila's red beret and slid the stem of the flower into her blonde hair. Before he could take back his hands, Laila floated forward and wrapped her arms around Rowin's neck, pressing her cheek to his.
"Um, Laila?" Leina said. "You're a little close, don't you think?"
"Oh! Um…" Laila darted back, her cheeks flushed. "I'm just so looking forward to spending more time together, now that the Head Angel's reassigned me."
"So am I," Rowin said, "but first!"
He reached to his belt and plucked out another flower, this one a deep purple. "For you, Leina."
Leina stared at it, feeling her face heat up. "W-What's this for?"
"For nothing," Rowin said. "I saw this and thought, 'That's a pretty flower. Might look good on a pretty lady.' So, here we are."
"Oh, um…" She didn't register her head tilting forward. "Thank you."
Rowin carefully slipped the flower's stem under her hair band, securing it beside her right temple. He gave her an appraising look and simply said, "Yup."
It was amazing, how fast the good feeling came back.
"Now," Rowin said as he tightened his sack and started to walk, "what's this about reassignments and angel heads?"
Laila snapped out of her dopey-eyed stupor. "The Head Angel? Oh, right! The Head Angel gave me a new assignment. She said I need to go with you to the capitol-"
One refreshing of memory later…
"Right, now I remember," Rowin said.
"It's okay," Laila said with a smile. "You were tired." Her smile grew tense. "I couldn't get one word in before you collapsed on the bed."
Rowin looked ahead, processing what she'd said. "Don't think I've been that tired since…"
He trailed off.
"Since when?" Leina asked. "When?"
"The last time-"
One recollection of romantic entanglement later…
"-and that's why I'm in such great shape," Rowin finished.
Leina and Laila had lost track of the day. The sun was beginning to dip in the sky by the time Rowin finished telling them about the bizarre woman that was his old girlfriend.
"She… was a demon," Leina said.
"A reformed demon," Rowin clarified, "thanks to the Goddess of Dreams and her riddles."
"That's-"
"Amazing!" Laila exclaimed. "I thought the rumors were underworld propaganda, made to turn mortals away from Heaven's guidance!"
"Propaganda?" Rowin asked.
Laila floated up next to him, then leaned close to whisper to him. "It's said that the previous Pope of the Church of Heaven fell in love with a demon and even had children with her. Not even the angels could find out if that was true or not."
"That so?" Rowin said, quirking an eyebrow. "What's the word on what happened to him?"
"He... was cast into the Underworld, so deep that not even his demon lover could find him."
Rowin looked ahead at the road again as the flat grassland started to give way to grassy hills. "By God?"
Laila shook her head. "By the Swamp Witch."
"That's awful!" Leina exclaimed. "Why?"
Laila merely shrugged and glided behind Leina. "The Swamp Witch hates everything and everyone. No one knows why."
Rowin squinted at a figure climbing the hill ahead, trudging up the road next to a tooth-shaped outcropping of rock. From her minimal clothes, Rowin could tell she was a woman, with a long mane of burnt red hair cascading down to her waist. Slung over one shoulder was a spiked mace as big as her head. Like Leina, she had a shield strapped to her arm, though this was a bowl-like round shield, bigger than Leina's triple-pronger.
"Risty!" Leina took off running. Rowin took off after her.
Finnean chimed in. You want to lay odds that she's another looker?
"No."
Darn…
"What would you spend money on?" Rowin asked as he caught up. Leina could really move when she wanted to, even as she was doubled over and out of breath from her uphill sprint.
Exactly as Finnean and Rowin had predicted, Risty was another abnormally stunning woman. From behind, her red hair had cloaked her strong, shapely legs and near total lack of pants. Behind the golden buckle of the double belt she wore around her waist, a black thong was her only clothing from her hips to her ankles. Her ornate jacket supported her generous bust like a-
"Your friend looking for something?" this Risty woman asked. Her olive complexion was similar to Echidna's, though Risty had no pointed ears poking out from her mane. Unusually, her eyes were purple.
"Huh?" Leina turned to Rowin. "Are you?"
Rowin looked Risty in the eye. "Should I?"
"Look, the capitol's not that far from here but I'm not there yet, so what do you want?" Risty asked.
That was… cold, Finnean commented. Rowin agreed: Leina had built up Risty as warmer than this.
Leina didn't seem to mind the lackluster reception. She tossed something to Risty that glinted in the sunlight.
Risty caught it, looked at it, and seemed surprised to see it. "Is this…?"
"Yup, the same one!" Leina chirped. "I've finally returned it like you asked me to."
"And now I've got it. Thanks." Risty turned and began walking away. "Now go on home, kid."
And that's strike one, Rowin thought. The first impression she'd made wasn't friendly. Now it crossed from courteous to curt.
"Wait!" Leina chased after her and stepped in front of her. "If you hadn't been there, if you hadn't saved me from Melona, I'm certain I would've died! I would've died without having learned anything or grown!"
"And how have you grown?" Risty said skeptically. "You really came all this way and tracked me down just to tell me that?"
Rowin's hands came to rest on the pommels of his swords.
Strike two? Finnean asked. Rowin nodded. He officially did not like Risty.
"I wanted to give you proper thanks," Leina stated calmly. Her expression grew fierce. "And also…"
Both Risty and Rowin were surprised when Leina drew her sword from its holster.
"Why should I fight you?" Risty asked. She remained relaxed, not even unslinging her mace from atop her shoulder.
"Is the Queen's Blade reason enough?!"
Rowin's grip tightened on his pommels. One the one hand, he couldn't blame Leina for picking up on the disrespect Risty was showing. On the other hand…
Rowin's eyes ran over Risty's body. She looked as built and athletic as Leina did, with maybe a little more definition to her stomach and chest muscles. However, that mace was clearly a much heavier weapon than Leina's longsword. The fact Risty would wield such a weapon without any armor, even something as paltry as what Leina wore for protection, belied a dangerous amount of strength and agility within Risty's body.
And what a body, Rowin thought, eyeing her toned muscles and the skin-tight jacket that hugged her bust like a glove. Too bad it's got a low-down personality.
As if waiting in the wings, a bright light shone down on the two from above. Risty tilted her shield slightly and used the polished surface to reflect the light directly into Leina's eyes. A magenta-haired angel floated down through the-
KROM!
Risty whipped her mace off her shoulder and turned it mid-swing, its haft elongating as it flew. It smashing into Leina's hastily raised shield and sent her flying. She crashed into a large herm of stones stacked on one another. Both Laila and the other angel were shocked by the sudden violent outburst.
Aaaand three, Finnean remarked.
The corner of Rowin's mouth turned upward slightly.
"Yup."
When the dust cleared, Leina was on her hip. She planted her sword and struggled to get to her feet, covered in scratches, scrapes, and cuts. She might've been harder than the stone, but the jagged edges were harder than her fair skin. When a shadow towered over her, she found herself staring at the front point of Risty's mace.
"Give up?" Risty said. Her eyes darted to Rowin, noting how he was slowly circling around the two of them. She lifted her mace for another blow. "I thought you were fighting in the Queen's Blade."
"Oh, r-right," stammered the new angel. "Ye fighters who seek to enter the Queen's Blade, may all bear witness to your-"
Risty whipped her mace down. Leina flinched, but a different cloud of dust was kicked up. When she opened her eyes, Rowin was standing in front of her in a peculiar stance. His cutlass was held reverse-gripped and pointed down at a slight angle, braced against his left knee. At the end of said point was a mace-shaped star smashed into the ground. Rowin's other hand rested on his longsword, and his right foot was planted forward in a wide stand. Risty was now standing a few paces back, rubbing her stomach with her shield hand.
"Ah-! I-!" The angelic referee turned to Laila. Laila merely shrugged.
Rowin's side smile had broken into a full grin. "First one's free. The rest'll be on you."
"Stop it, Rowin!" Leina grabbed his coat and climbed to her feet. "I can do this. I'm ready for this."
Risty scoffed, annoyed. "This is how you fight in the Queen's Blade? Wake up, kid!"
Leina recoiled, startled, as Risty continued. "You got your ass beat in a prize fight, then your sister dumped you in a river. Whatever you're ready for, it's not the Queen's Blade. Face it, kid: you're more suited to that cushy noble lifestyle than getting your hands dirty." She regarded Rowin. "As for you, do us all a favor and take Leina home."
Rowin shook his head, still grinning. "Can't. Got no place to go except where she's going, and besides, ain't my job."
The group's attention was drawn to a slow clapping of hands. Echidna, her hazel eyes fixed on Rowin, slowly strode up the trail.
"So respectful," she cooed (sarcastically?), "staying out of my contract."
"Good timing," Risty remarked. "Why don't you take Leina home?"
"Because, I just couldn't bring myself to do that," Echidna replied mock-sheepishly, looking at her quarry clinging to Rowin's coat. "It'd break my heart to give up now."
Leina tensed and grit her teeth. Even after everything she'd been through, Echidna still got on her nerves.
"It's your job," said Risty.
"But she went through sooo much to follow you here," Echidna "pleaded" to the redhead.
"If you're a hired dog, be a good dog and fetch what the master said to."
"Oh, what's this?" Echidna's playfulness sharped into a deadly sting as she approached Risty. "You're not in a position to give me orders."
Suddenly, much as Leina would hate it, Rowin found Echidna twelve times more voluptuous and alluring than he had mere moments ago.
"You want a bone?" Risty asked. "Here."
Risty tossed Leina's coin to Echidna, who caught it between her fingers.
"Keep it for your troubles," Risty said.
The two women were now face-to-face, eye-to-eye, bust-to-bust. Rowin, with the grace of a ballroom dancer, slipped behind Leina and towed her back with an arm around her waist.
"I see," said the magenta-haired angel. "Ye fighters who seek to enter the Queen's Blade, may all bear witness to your competition."
She made a chopping motion with her hand and as had happened before with Leina and Claudette, a magic spell circle sprung to life between the two fighters. It grew in size to encompass the two, then Rowin and Leina, then Laila and the other angel, becoming a polygonal dome of many shimmering facets. The glass-like orbs that floated about the continent once more lit up with magic, and all the people of Zanan were once again made to watch the order of succession play out.
The angel gestured to each fighter. "On this side, we have Echidna, the Veteran Mercenary. On the other side Risty, the Benevolent Bandit of the Wild. May the most worthy prevail."
Rowin harrumphed at the word "benevolent". So far, he'd seen nothing of the sort.
"The sight of you always did turn my stomach," Risty remarked.
"Really, I never disliked you," Echidna replied. "You're uncomplicated, easy-to-grasp."
Once again, point for her on Rowin's scoreboard. The fact she wasn't doing it for his benefit was why. As an added bonus, he'd finally get to see Echidna fight, without any demons or would-be abductors to distract him.
The two stood a few paces apart from one another, their weapons and shields drawn. Risty tried her trick with the light, then rushed Echidna. Echidna turned her body and took the blow on her shield. Leina gasped, but Rowin knew the truth: Echidna had twisted her hips and legs like she'd thrown a punch, adding the rotational force to her block.
The two stayed locked in place, Risty egotistically trying to overpower Echidna. Echidna started to give, but this was an open warning to her leaping high into the air. Three throwing knives lanced at Risty like spears. She took them on her shield. Echidna swung her legs and rotated her body, diving at Risty like a hawk with her sword as her claws, held two-handed. This, Risty blocked, too, but Echidna remained rigid as they connected. Now, it was Risty who started to give, which is why she swung her mace and forced Echidna to spring away. She twisted mid-air and landed on her feet with her shield in close, ready to counter-punch again.
Leina stared, open-mouthed, her eyes as wide as the saucers on which she used to be served her tea. Melona, Menace, and Claudette had been her taste of the Queen's Blade first-hand. Leina had thought herself prepared for it by now, having weathered the elements of nature and magic just to get here, to see Risty again and give her that double-faced coin back, to prove she was ready to return it by proving herself a strong fighter. Yet, as Leina listened to Risty tell Echidna that Leina would only get herself killed in this tournament, she only now began to realize the vast expanse between what she thought was the strength of the Queen's Blade and what the true contenders actually possessed.
After all she'd been through, after all the growing she'd thought she'd done, Leina was still beneath Risty's notice.
"You don't get it," Echidna said, leaning into the lock that they'd entered with their weapons, trying to overpower the other. "It doesn't matter what you say or do. The first person Leina wants to prove herself towards is herself. She's never going to give up. I want to see where that takes her."
Echidna yielded to the lock and allowed Risty's mace past herself. She jumped up and threw a kick at Risty's exposed side. Risty swept her mace up from the ground and caught Echidna with the haft, tossing her but not uncontrollably. Echidna quickly recovered and lunged at her again.
"Snake Tail."
That was no mere title, but an invocation of power. This time, Echidna's body left the ground as she spun into a corkscrewing, all-or-nothing attack. When her sword tip met Risty's shield, Echidna was halted but the dust cloud she dragged in her wake was not. It blasted over the two; Echidna back-flipped out moments later.
When the dust cleared, Risty was still as a rock, her shield hugged to herself. She'd used her whole body to blunt Echidna's whole-bodied attack. She sighed and lowered her guard, as did Echidna.
Laila leaned over to the other angel. "Um, Hachiel, what happens now?"
Hachiel raised her hand as blinding light shone on her. "If neither fighter wishes to continue, then this match is a draw!"
When the light faded, Hachiel and the magical dome were gone.
"Four days," Risty said. "There's a village called Vosk not far from here. In four days, meet me on the hill overlooking it at noon. I'll only fight you once more, even if it's a waste of my time."
Risty whirled and smacked Rowin's sword away with her mace before he could lay the flat of blade on her shoulder. She threw a punch at him with her shield, only for Rowin to step aside and barely miss nicking her leg with his cutlass. He slid two steps back and sheathed his weapons.
"Ma'am," he said, "it appears you are no better a judge of a person than you are an example of one."
Risty snorted and turned away, not even deigning to answer him.
Rowin shook his head. "Don't know what Leina saw in her."
Did Leina hit her head between leaving her and meeting us? Finnean wondered.
Echidna stowed her armaments and went to retrieve her throwing knives. "Like I said, she's uncomplicated. She wants to help her precious orphans and doesn't want to hurt her precious admirer."
"Could've fooled me..." Rowin muttered.
Echidna looked at the crestfallen Leina, on her knee and nursing her leg. "Keeping Leina out of the tournament helps her do both."
Rowin offered Leina a hand, but he couldn't lift her spirits.
"Everyone has some burden they carry," Leina murmured. "Risty has the orphans, Nowa has her forest, Tomoe has her homeland… What do I have?"
Rowin sighed. "I couldn't speak for myself," he admitted, "but a wise man once told me, 'Sometimes, the principle of the matter is what matters most.' So, your reason isn't grandiose. If it's something you absolutely need to do, then don't let anyone talk you out of it."
To Echidna and Laila, it was a nice little speech. To Leina, though, it marked the second time in her life that she felt Rowin's words, like she had while under Menace's spell. It filled her with vigor, and courage enough to say what she said next.
"Echidna! Please, teach me how to fight!"
The sultry she-elf laughed.
"I'm begging you! I need to become strong, like you!"
The laughter stopped, replaced by contemplation. "Hmmm…"
Echidna's hazel eyes wandered from Leina to Rowin, twinkling with devious intent. She slipped her knives back into their leg-sheaths. Then, Echidna walked up to Leina, leaned in close, and amorously whispered into her ear,
"You should be careful of what you... 'beg' for, pretty girl."