Azure Throne

Prologue: Misfortune

Year 999 *Spring

Rendul, a kingdom of Warriors. In this land the strongest rule and the weak serve them. This land was founded over three thousand years ago and while the kingdom has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, the red flag continues to wave over the capital. Even in today's world it is still know as a fierce warrior nation. The lands are ripe with game and the grounds are fertile, but this land has witnessed more combat, wars, and uprisings than every other land combined, even more than its neighboring kingdom Kagutsuchi.

It's here in the capital Arcdel, where our story begins, but not in the castle. No, this epic begins on the streets as one young seven year old boy tries to provide for his two younger siblings, all three dressed in ragged and torn clothing. He walks along slowly, leather straps around his torso to function as a carrier for his two year old sister as his four year old brother holds his hand. They walk the streets occasionally noticed by an adult, but it's always the same; people notice the three and then they go about their business, not bothering to do anything. The young child of seven notices this, but he doesn't care. He'd given up on relying on adults for help a long time ago.

"Brother, I'm hungry," Jin, the younger brother says trying to stay close to his older sibling. He has blonde hair and bright green eyes.

"'Ungry," Saya, the two year old on the eldest's back says. She had blonde hair like the middle child, but her eyes are a deep beautiful shade of blue.

"We'll be at the bakery soon," the eldest tells them. "Just wait until we get there, alright?" Seeing his younger brother nod the eldest keeps his eyes focused forward. "Don't worry we'll get the bread and make it through another day, we always manage." His little sister gives a small murmur as the carrier begins to fall, he quickly tightens it and continues.

Inside the bakery they see the same lady running the store as always. She's not exactly memorable, a little overweight with her black hair tied up in a bun. She scowled at the three as they walked inside, well she didn't necessarily scowl at Jin and Saya, the eldest however...

"I already told you, don't come to me begging for scraps, I'm sick of it!" she shouted, causing Saya to stir. The toddlers older brother rocked himself on the balls of his feet, trying to calm her with the easy movement. "What are you still doing here?" the baker's wife asked as she grabbed a broom to shoo them out.

"Well we have the money!" the oldest argued back, holding out a small, filthy sack that was only partially full. From within he drew four pieces of copper and brought them out for her to see. "We want one of the big loaves!"

"Where'd you get that money?" the woman asked with a hateful glare directed to the eldest.

"We saved it up," he countered curtly.

"You mean you stole it."

"No, we found it," the eldest insisted. "Look, do want this money or not?" He jingled the coins in the bag, making the ones in his hand seem all the more tempting.

"...Fine," she groaned as she grabbed one of the larger pieces of bread that had been ordered. She walked over to the children as she took a look at the oldest before snatching the bag from his hand and shoving the loaf of bread at him. It was older than the others and a bit stale, but she could afford to give it to them without worry of reputation, just like she could nab the copper in his bag. "I hope you choke on it."

The eldest glared at the breadmaker's wife before turning and running out of there with a need for wrath eating at his soul. "OLD HAG!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"Dumb kids," the woman smirked to herself as she tossed the bag in the air and felt its weight and heard the connections of the contents. Feeling a bit giddy with herself she opened it and found... rocks. Not a copper in the bunch, just worthless rocks. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... RAGNAROK! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" she shouted out the door as the silver haired boy ran with his siblings.

"The name's RAGNA! Get it right you idiot!" he shouted as he ran, laughing all the while. This wasn't the first time he'd been called a bastard, and it probably wouldn't be the last. Ever since he'd been born to his parents with his strange silver hair and mismatched eyes, he'd always been scorned. His left eye was green, like his brother's, but his right one was blood-red. Just for that arcane appearance, he was considered a demon and an outcast by the entire town.

Eventually he came with his siblings to his current home outside of town, just under the bridge which travelers and merchants used to get into the capital. It wasn't much at all, but it was at least someplace dry when it snowed or rained. Ragna slowly undid the leather bindings as he gently put his younger sister on the ground.

"Well bro, sis, lunch is served!" he said with a large grin as he tore the bread into three pieces. He handed one to Saya who mumbled at 'thank you' as she began to bite into the bread. Ragna was about to hand the second piece of bread to his younger brother, but when he turned to Jin he was met with a glare. "What's with that look?"

"You're doing it again," Jin told him. "You always take much less than you give me or Saya..."

"I don't see why you're complaining, just take the bread and eat it," Ragna said, thrusting the bread into Jin's hands. He then promptly fell on his bum besides Saya before tearing of a large piece of his portion with his teeth and proceeded to chew it. Knowing his brother wouldn't change his mind, Jin sat down next to Ragna and started chewing his piece. It didn't take the children long at all to finish their small meal.

"I hope you two got your strength up with that, 'cause we're going hunting," Ragna said as he rummaged behind one of the bridge poles and grabbed out two rusty knives and handed one of them to his brother.

"And you want to stay strong with what little you had?" Jin asked, glaring at Ragna. "You barely had anything after you gave Saya and I our bread."

"I wasn't hungry," Ragna said stubbornly before his stomach gave a small rumble. He blushed in mild embarrassment as he refused to face Jin. "Well, not as hungry as usual."

"Ragna, you're going to starve like this," Jin told him. "Next time try to be a little greedy, at least a little bit."

"Hell no," Ragna retroted, returning his younger brother's earlier glare. "I'm never putting myself ahead of you two. I promised mom and dad I'd look after you before they died. I'm the oldest so let me worry about it."

"But-!"

"Just be quiet and let's get going," Ragna ordered as he started redoing the carrier. "We don't have a ton of daylight left and I don't like our chances at finding a place to stay in the woods." Noticing his younger brother's silence he let out a sigh. "Jin, I'm just worried about you and Saya just like I know you two worry about me. Just focus on finding a deer, if we pull this off all of us will eat like those fat nobles!"

"Alright," Jin admitted in reluctance as he and his siblings began to walk off. As they began walking a Red Jay whizzed by.

"Birdy! Birdy!" Saya cheered out from her carrier. Ragna and Jin let out a small smile at their sister's happy attitude. She always loved seeing birds, especially red one, well anything that was red.

"I see it Saya," Ragna assured her. "C'mon, maybe we can find some of those red berries the two of you love or something."

While the three trudged the wilderness in hopes of finding a dear to provide them with food, far away atop the castle wall, the current king of Rendul stood overlooking his kingdom. His name was Argus Glassfield, and despite his ironic last name, he was anything but fragile. His long peach colored hair and chin hair would catch his foes off guard and provide them with their last mistake. As he stood overlooking his kingdom with his teal king's coat blowing in the wind, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Tillani, an elderly maid and good friend standing patiently.

"So..." the king began, not know how to word this question.

"Congratulations Majesty," the Tillani said with a small bow. "Your wife has just finished giving birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl."

Argus looked at the maid with an unchanging face before the tiniest of smiles hit his face. "I take it the midwife is done then?" he asked. The maid nodded. "Wonderful, I suppose I shouldn't keep my new daughter waiting now should I?"

"Not if you don't wish to anger the queen milord," the maid said in an even tone with caused the king to cringe slightly. "She wanted me to give you a message as she gave birth, I believe it was 'Make sure that idiotic asshole knows-"

"Yes Tillani, I understand what my wife's getting at." The king let out a sigh. "You lady folk are going to be the death of me, and now I hear there's another to add to your ranks?"

"Cut the jaded expression Argus," Tillani told him, not bother to use his title since they'd been old friends. "We all know you not-so-secretly wanted a girl. Go on, she's waiting for you."

Not deciding to waste another moment, Argus headed down the steps and walked into the birth chambers. He saw his wife, Meleena, waiting for him, a tight bundle of teal cloth wrapped around who newborn, who was sleeping gently. She slowly offered her husband the bundle, and Argus held his firstborn child for the first time. She'd inherited his peach-brown hair instead of his wife's black color. She was tiny, even for a newborn, but he didn't care in the slightest. There was only one word that came to mind as he looked at her.

"Perfect... She's perfect," he said as he looked upon his daughter with gentle eyes. "Just like her mother."

"Glad you've learned that much," Meleena told him before groaning. "I am NOT doing that again, so I'm glad you're happy with a girl."

"Giving birth couldn't have been too bad," the king muttered. The glare his wife gave him was absolutely chilling. "Uh... we still need to come up with a name for our newest one, love. The three of us are going to be together for a long time."

"Just the three of us," Meleena thought as she took the child back in her arms. "She'll be the one who completes our family. Our beautiful family of three..."

"Trinity then," Argus said. "She'll be the third part of the royal family. The brightest and most beautiful part of all of Rendul."

"Seems only fitting, as we're her parents," the queen said as she snuggled with the child. That was before there was a knock at the door. Trinity began to stir, so Argus walked towards the door to tell the person on the other side off.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"I'm sorry my lord," a soldier from the other side apologized. "But you're brother has returned from his journey and he demands to see you, do you wish for me to send him in? I'm sure he wants to meet his niece."

"That depends," Argus began, his tone deadly serious. "Does he smell of blood?"

"He..." the guard gulped. "He reeks of it my lord. It's... overwhelming."

"Tell him to bathe, and then I'll see him myself, but not before," Argus said, ending the discussion there as he went back to spend a little more quality time with his family.

Later

The three orphans from earlier were walking to their sleeping spot under the bridge. It wasn't the safest spot, or the warmest, but they had to make due with what they had. Speaking of what they had, the three's hunt had turned up rather bountiful to their standards. Not only had Ragna found plenty of the red berries that Saya lover, but he'd even managed to get a few rabbits.

"Looks like we've got a feast," Ragna said with a grin on his face.

'I've never heard of a feast made up of crimsonberries and rabbits meat,' Jin thought to himself as he carried the wood to use as a fire both for the rabbit meat and their own personal warmth. "I guess, but what was that thing you were picking earlier?"

"Just a little something extra, you'll love it," Ragna assured as Saya giggled into his back while chewing the occasion berry. "Try to just be happy we found something and go with it, you could learn a lesson from Saya."

"I guess..." Jin said as the got back near the bridge. After making a fire while Ragna skinned the rabbits they waited for their meal to cook over the fire. Saya was out of her carried, but she continued to lean against the eldest for warmth. After a few moments, Jin noticed Ragna take something out of his pocket and sprinkle it over the rabbits. "What's that?"

"A trick I learned from the butcher when I stole that roasted chicken from him a month ago," Ragna told him. "He used to put this stuff over the meat after he cooked it, called it spicing it."

"Neat," Jin said as he took one of the rabbits that were ready off of the fire and bit into it. His eyes grew wide in amazement. "Brother, this tastes so much better! What did you grab?"

"Uh..." Ragna scratched the back of his head. "I dunno... I just grabbed something that looked close to what the butcher guy was using."

"You... guessed," Jin said with disbelief. "Brother..."

"He it turned out fine, didn't it!?" Ragna shouted at him as he gave Saya another Rabbit before biting into a third one. "I'll have to remember that stuff for next time though. Maybe I'll become a master chef or something!"

The stars were out when Ragna and the others managed to finish their meal. Jin laid close to fire as Saya snuggled closely to him. Ragna remained awake as he proceeded to poke the fire a few times to keep it going.

"Ra-na," he heard Saya mutter from Jin's arms. "Sing song."

"Saya it's late, can't you go to bed without it tonight?" Ragna asked her.

"Pwease?" Saya asked cutely. Ragna dared not turned to her, for if he did, he knew that he'd face the one opponent he'd never conquer, not matter how many times he faced it: Saya's puppy dog eyes. After trying to stay silent Ragna took a quick glance and knew he'd lost.

"Fine..." he said clearing his throat. The song was one his mother had sung to three and they could never stay awake after hearing the soothing melody. Ragna singing it both calmed them and helped remember their parents fondly, even before they'd been killed and their house had been burnt to the ground. Ragna remembered his parents too, despite all of the grief they'd gotten due to his appearance and reckless attitude they'd never resented him for it once. They'd even given him a brother and sister because they knew the best people to understand someone is family. Ragna began singing in a soft voice.

"Beautiful dreamers,
Wake unto me
Starlight and dewdrops
Are awaiting thee

Sounds of the rude world
Heard in the day
Led by the moonlight
Have all passed away

Beautiful dreamers,
King and Queen of my song
List' while I woo thee
With soft melody

Gone are the cares of
Life's busy throng
Beautiful dreamers
Awake unto me
Beautiful dreamers,
Awake unto me,
Awake unto me."

When the song was done Ragna could hear Jin and Saya's almost inaudible breathing as they slept. He turned his attention to the fire and proceeded to add a few stick to it, hoping to keep the fire going for even a while longer. He owed his siblings that much... after all, he'd been the one to ruin everything.

*Meanwhile*

Argus sighed to himself as he braced his being to open the door in front of him. After pausing for a moment, he finally knew that this conversation needed to take place. He rapped his knuckles on the door three times and waited for a response.

"Come in, door's always open, and kings don't really need to knock," he heard the voice from inside say. Argus paused in infuriation. "Come on Argus, we haven't seen each other in months, we got plenty to talk about."

Argus entered the door where he saw his brother, Azrael Glassfield, who was sitting in a chair waiting for him, one leg resting his knee while he leaned back with his arms crossed, freshly bathed. He was wearing his traditional white pants and overcoat, which was decorated in a few parts with the kingdom's red insignia. While Argus had inherited his mother's peach-blond hair, Azrael had gotten his dad's deep blue color for both his unkept and messy hair and his small beard.

"I hear a bit of celebration is in order, even more so know that we have a new royal to add to the bunch!" Azrael said with a laugh as he grabbed a bottle of his favorite brand of liquor off his desk.

"Where have you been?" Argus demanded, his eyes narrow at his younger brother. "The guards said you smelled like blood when you came in and I want to know why!"

"Oh, and here I thought I'd managed to bathe most of it off while I was on the road, my bad," Azrael said, clearly not bothered with the look he was getting. "I guess you just get used to the smell and don't notice it after being covered in the source for a few months."

"You went to the Fullnear, the country of the Sea Bandits, didn't you?" the king asked, not dropping his accusing tone.

"Come on brother, you know me better than that," Azrael said with a chuckle as he opened the bottle of liquor and poured it in two glasses he had waiting on his desk. "Of course I did."

"How many... how many lives did you take!?" Argus demanded, his eyes narrowed on Azrael.

"...Enough," Azrael said looking at his brother, not bothering to hand him the drink just yet, he didn't want him spilling any of the stuff in his rant; the stuff was high quality. "What, I think it's only fair don't you?"

"I'm shocked that you weren't chased back with a full battalion on your heels! Azrael, you may have just started a war!"

"If I did they brought this upon themselves when they tried to attack the capital. Weaklings could only manage to kill five of our guards."

"And ten commoners," Argus said, his anger starting to mount.

"Well one of those commoners gave birth to a devil itself, so I'd say she got off easy. But I digress. Anyways you actually don't have to worry about a war." Azrael told him. "I wrecked their armies pretty badly on my own, and added the fact I'm just your 'lowly second-in-command' I think they have reason enough to fear us. Trust me, we won't be hearing from them anytime soon. Same time though, we should probably stay to our sides of the borders."

"...You used it, didn't you?" Argus questioned.

"The Enchanted Dragunov? Yeah I used it, I was taught how to release it for a reason you know. What? You afraid ole high and mighty is going to come of the perch and kick my ass for it? You're insane if you think I'm still afraid of that freak..."

"That freak was still the one who gave us the sacred training, and the one who trained our forefathers, show some respect..." Argus said with a sigh. "Look, I need you to look more seriously into your work, you're acting too reckless for what I need from you."

"Reckless? I've always been reckless," Azrael said with a laugh. "What work could you possibly be handing off to me?"

"How about protector of the inheritor?" Argus questioned, Azrael's eyes narrowed. "I know you hate the term 'babysitting', but as the king, and of a warrior kingdom no less, I need to have-!"

"Save your speech, I'll do it," Azrael groaned, surprising his brother. "And I've got it, no more reckless stunts from me, I'll play a good dog."

"At least you're cooperating with me," Argus said with relief. "Now are you going to give me that glass or not?"

"You're right, an evening like this deserves a special drink to go with it," Azrael said as he handed his brother one of the glasses and took the other in his hand. "To my idiot brother and that whelp of a son he'll have to name king!" Azrael gave a hearty laugh as he began to down his drink.

"Daughter," Argus corrected. He noticed his brother double over and begin the pound his chest, apparently choking on his own drink. "You weren't told?"

"No I wasn't..." Azrael said as he coughed. "I thought I had a nephew. Guess it is your fault though."

"Excuse me?" Argus demanded.

"Every kingdom needs a boy to the throne, but you and the wife are probably too old to have another one. You should've had a boy to have the throne, not some prissy girl who ever man in the kingdom is going to try to-"

"I get the picture," Argus interrupted before his brother could turn vulgar. "But I still feel fortunate to have my daughter with me... she looks like mom did, you remember?"

"How could I not, you were always her favorite," Azrael said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well you were father's, but look who's king now?" Argus burned his brother.

"Oh shut up," Azrael said. "Go back and see your wife and kid, god knows what insanity they're going to have to endure from you."

"At least I'm actually married, I don't think I've ever heard of you bedding a woman."

"They'd just slow me down. I just need my muscles, not a woman's touch and certainly don't need a shrimp that only knows how to shit and scream... no offense."

"You'd never know until you found someone," Argus told him as he stood. "Don't drink yourself into stupor, we are having a banquet tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be sober, got to give the kid a good first impression and all that," Azrael waved his brother off. When the elder brother was gone the blue haired beast smiled to himself. 'I wonder what he'd say if I let him know I broke more than just their armies. But I don't think I need to worry about anyone from Fullnear saying anything. After all, corpses can't talk..."

Year 1001 *Winter

Ragna's life hadn't been easy since his parent's had been killed in the Fullnear attack and he'd had to escape his burning home with Jin and Saya, but now his life had gotten harder. Saya had grown up and was now a vibrant young four year old who tried to help her siblings survive, but then she'd caught the plague. Ragna and Jin had begun working hard in their hunting and gathering supplies, Ragna could even take on a fully grown bear by himself with just a knife, but it wasn't easy. The only gift he'd managed to get from this mess were his muscles which had given him perfectly toned arms and washboard abs, and his knowledge of cooking, which he'd been experimenting with at dinner and made some pretty damn good meals.

At the same time though, Ragna would give up every muscle fiber on his body and everything he ever learned about cooking just so Saya could get better. Even when he had taken Saya to see a doctor they all told him the same thing, the disease was terminal, she had no further chance... Even in this light Ragna refused to give up.

Later one day after he exited the blacksmith shop with his siblings as he sold off yet another bearhide (Saya had insisted on coming with them and getting some air) and walked down the path to get out of the village, he noticed a large gathering of children in front of the orphanage. Well, less of a large crowd of kids and more like the entire orphanage. He saw them all standing in a neat row and they all looked like they'd been bathed recently and were in their best clothing.

"What's going on?" Ragna asked the woman who ran the orphanage. She turned to glare at the Ragna, and the two others that had never been invited in.

"Get out of here, you're going to ruin everything!" she hissed at him. She was about to shoo him away before she realized how filthy he and his siblings were. "Actually on second thought, come over here and stand next to them. They'll all look even better that way."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Ragna was annoyed at this woman's attitude, she was giving him commands but not answers, so why should he listen to her?

"A noble from Kagutushi is coming to see if they can adopt a child, so try to make yourselves useful for once and try to make them look good!"

Ragna was about to say a few choice words to the hag, but then he realized something. 'Wait a minute, if I can get them to take Saya, maybe they'll be able to cure her sickness! I hear medicine in Kagutsuchi is a lot stronger than they stuff they make here.'

"Jin, Saya, let's go along with this," Ragna told them. Jin looked at his brother in surprise before Ragna gave a quick glance to Saya. Jin, who was quick to catch on to Ragna's cues, understood and agreed with his brother's thinking. When the caretaker and the children weren't looking, Ragna tried his best to wipe of as much dirt from Saya face and arrange her hair as best as he could. Sadly the matron noticed this and sent a glare his way, so Ragna decided to run his hands through his spiky hair to make it look even more messed up to appease her.

A few minutes later a carriage arrived and out stepped two adults, the wife who seemed a bit on the skinny side, and the husband who evened it out with his somewhat bulky form (but not grossly overweight like some nobles). The two walked by the children, trying to get a proper view of the candidates for adoption. All of the children looked at the two with bright smiles on their faces trying to make themselves become noticed. All except Ragna, who wore his usual scowl that he had whenever he had to deal with someone who wasn't Jin or Saya. When he saw Ragna's scowl the husband stopped and looked down at the boy in front of him.

'He looks like a fighter certainly,' he thought to himself. 'But why does he look so filthy?' "You, what's your name?"

Every child in line gave a small jolt of surprise as they noticed that Ragna was getting called on; Ragna, the devil child himself. Ragna was surprised too and didn't quite know how to respond, so he decided to do what came naturally.

"Ragna," he told the noble. The caretaker glared daggers at Ragna for not calling the man by his title.

"I take it you don't live in orphanage," the woman said. Ragna was about to shake his head when the caretaker interrupted.

"Oh, he does," she told them nervously. She sent the rest of the kids a look and got them all nodding with her. "He just got into a fight with these two beforehand and messed up his attire. I apologize for that my lord."

"Don't take me for a fool," the noble said with authority, causing the woman to yelp. "Those clothes are lit more than rags on them, you expect me to believe you brought them here dressed in that while the rest of them are in proper attire?"

"T-They had torn all of their other clothes, milord," she tried to persuade, but the old man wasn't having any of it, nor was his wife.

"Where are your parents Ragna?" the wife asked.

"Dead, they got killed three years ago in an attack," Ragna said, still keeping his tone even and voice emotionless.

"And you've been living on your own since then?" the husband asked.

"Yes."

"How old are you?"

"Nine. My younger brother Jin is six and my sister Saya is four."

Both of the nobles glanced to the other children in rags before turning to Ragna and continuing to question him. "How do you eat?"

"I hunt animals and I gather berries."

"For all three of you? You don't go to anyone for help?"

"...No one is ever willing, and I still need to feed to them."

The married nobles looked at each other for a moment before nodding. "I think we've reached a decision."

"What?" the lady who ran orphanage exclaimed as a few of the kids groaned. "HIM!?"

"Him," the husband said.

"I..." Ragna began with solemn eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't I have my siblings to take care off. I can't accept." Most of the children had excited looks on their faces, they were still in the runnings! "But could you take my sister Saya? She's too little for this a needs a home."

The woman looked at the younger sister, who gave a small gulp. She knelt down in front of the child to get a good look at her. After staring at her a moment, she shook her head. "We can't. Your sister has the plague, she's not meant long for this world."

"But you have doctors in Kagutsuchi right? Can't someone look at her there?"

The noble woman shook her head. "No one survives long with this plague. I'm sorry, but we can't take home a child who's this ill and going to die soon."

"No..." Ragna said looking deflated.

"My offer still stands," the husband told him. Again, a few of the other orphans groaned. "Your sister may be ill, but your brother looks strong. He can survive here, and due to your apparent reputation, this would work out well for everyone."

Ragna's mind was going at a million miles per hour. He could escape this, a life where he only knew hatred, and he'd live like a noble. He'd be able to eat the greatest of foods, sleep in a warm bed, and never have to treat everyday like it was a fight to survive. But then he looked at Jin and Saya. Both were trying to subtly motion for him to accept, but how could live with himself? True things would look better for Jin, hell the orphanage might actually accept him now, but what about Saya? Would Jin know how to take care of her? What if Jin couldn't and he'd never know that his sister was dead and he could've prevented it. So... he already knew what he had to do.

"I still can't, only I know how to take care of Saya." The kids weren't sure how to react, true Ragna didn't accept the offer, but he might've been blowing it for the rest of them. "But could you take my brother? I don't want to take away my brother's chance at a good life anymore than I already have."

"Be quite!" the caretaker hissed in his ear. "You're being completely disrespectful to them!" She looked up and was about to apologize for Ragna's behavior, but the noble's attention was focused solely on Jin.

While Jin wasn't nearly as fit or tall as Ragna, he was still three years younger than his older brother. While Ragna had grown a more rugged appearance, Jin actually had one that looked like it could pass for a noble's under all of that dirt. If Jin hadn't been in his brother's constant company, some of the girls in town might've actually thought he was very handsome.

"Your name is Jin?" the nobleman asked.

"Yes, sir," Jin said, trying to be respectful despite his shock at what Ragna had just given him.

"Because of your brother's care towards you and your sister I'll allow you to keep name, my son," he told Jin. He then turned to the caretaker and spoke to her in a cold tone. "I've made my decision. Since this child isn't from your orphanage I have no reason to pay you for raising him. Goodbye."

With that Jin slowly gave both of his siblings one last hug and made his way onto the carriage with his new parents. As it started to begin it's journey back to Kagutsuchi Ragna took off running after it.

"JIN!" he shouted as he ran. His younger brother stuck his head out of the opening. "TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! PROMISE ME!"

"I PROMISE! YOU NEED TO DO THE SAME!" Jin yelled back, tears falling from his eyes at their departure. After a moment, the carriage was gone.

"Take care," Ragna said as he slowed to a stop. He stared at where it had disappeared to before turning. As soon as he did he felt a fist smashed into his skull.

"THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME!" one of the kids from the orphanage yelled as he hit Ragna again in his jaw, proceeding to send him sprawling to his feet. Ragna could've gotten up and kicked his ass, but that would only provoke him and the other kids further, maybe far enough to hurt the already frail Saya. Ragna decided to take the undeserved punishment.

"STUPID DEVIL!" another kid yelled as she joined in the beating of Ragna. Soon all of the kids had joined in and were hitting and kicking Ragna restlessly as he just laid there and took it.

"STOP! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Saya shouted as she ran forward and tried to stop the attackers. She was unable to send any of them away and one of them pushed her away to where she fell flat on her bottom. Ragna was about to retaliate, but noticing that they were only after him not Saya, he just decided to give a small cough of blood.

"Is that the best you've got?" he asked, only proving to enrage the kids further. And in all that time where he laid there and took the punishment, not the caretaker, not any of the passing adults, not any of the people running the stores, no one came to help him. Why would they? He was just Devil in their eyes.

Two Hours Later

Saya was crying. She had been crying ever since the bullies had gone back into the orphanage not bothering to even look back at her or Ragna. She continued to cry as she knelt close Ragna's corpse, slowly raising his head and holding it close to her chest. "Ragna... wake up... please wake up!" she cried, hoping for a miracle.

She got one. Ragna squinted his eyes and slowly began to stir letting out a small groan. "Not so loud Saya..."

"Y-You're alive!" Saya said before giving Ragna a big hug from behind.

"Saya... ribs..." he barely squeaked out. Saya stopped and apologized. "Why is it dark out?

"You were unconscious for an hour after those bullies left," Saya told him mournfully. "What were you thinking!? You could've left and been free of this terrible life, but you nearly got killed by a mob! Why!?"

"Jin wouldn't know how to take care of you," Ragna told her as he slowly made his way up. It was an even bigger miracle that none of his bones appeared to be broken. He tried moving his arms, but his left one layed limp. "Great. Saya, do you still have that piece of bear hide the we were saving?"

Saya nodded as she fished it out of her pocket and handed it Ragna. The mistreated youth took it and folded it with his moving hand before placing it in his mouth and biting down. The smell was bad, but the taste was just plain awful. Ragna steeled himself as he gripped the limp arm with his live one. He snapped it into place and let out a yell as he bit on the leather hard.

"That sucked," Ragna decided to inform Saya as he took out the piece of hide and spit out the taste, his spit crimson from blood. "Sorry I ruined the leather, Saya. I know you were going to patch your dress with it."

Saya shook her head. "I'd rather you used it. Plus, I think it could look good red." Saya noticed Ragna turn his head away. "What's wrong?"

"I hate red," he muttered, surprising Saya whose favorite was still red. "This blood's red, our parent's blood was red, the damn flag that flies over this hellhole is red!" he shouted starting to lose his temper. "But the thing I hate the most is this GOD DAMNED RED EYE!"

"Ragna calm down," Saya tried to calm her brother.

"If it hadn't been for that damned eye those guards may have actually cared about mom and dad and they wouldn't have had to die! If it wasn't for this thing we could've gone to the orphanage and lived there instead of fighting for our lives in the wilds! Maybe you wouldn't have gotten the plague! I'm screwing your life with this-!"

"No you're not!" Saya yelled at him. "You never took anything from me! Not with your eye not with anything! You're fighting for me like you have your entire life! When you couldn't put me on that carriage you put Jin on instead because you love us! Your red eye isn't to blame, it's just another part of you! You should feel proud of it! I don't know anyone else who has something like that! They just can't see that you're special and not a freak."

Ragna didn't say anything, he just sat there in silence before noticing Saya going into a coughing fit. "C'mon, we should get back to the bridge. Hopefully we have enough wood left over from last night. Sorry, but I don't think we'll be getting any dinner."

"That's alright," Saya told him as they managed to stand, Saya trying to support Ragna, though he claimed he didn't need it. "Hey brother, thanks."

"For what?" Ragna had to ask.

"Everything."

Four years later *Summer

Ragna walked slowly back to Saya, carrying a small basket that he'd weaved which was filled with fish. His catch today had been much better than usual, and the herbs he'd found by the creek would improve their taste. 'Almost feel sorry for Jin, I'm probably making better food than he's getting,' Ragna thought to himself with a cocky grin.

Things were starting to look up for the Reaper. He'd managed to get a lot more food out of the wilderness and now he was actually getting more than he could carry himself. With all of the work Ragna was doing he had improved immensely in both muscles and in his skills cooking. He'd actually gotten careless in the woods a few times and had to fight off an entire pack of wolves, and actually managed to do it. Ragna was at the peak of physical fitness, but the same couldn't be said about his sister.

Saya had been getting skinning and skinning, now she was having trouble keeping her food down. Ragna tried for as long as he could every day, but he still couldn't find someone to heal Saya. She could barely walk around now and Ragna had to contend with leaving her under the bridge to rest, luckily she'd made it through the past two days without any coughing fits. As he was making his way back he was aware that night was starting to fall.

"Damn it, I was out too long," he thought as he broke into a run, trying to be careful and not drop the fish. As he got closer to the bridge he'd noticed a coughing sound, now it was violent. "Saya!" Ragna yelled as he got closer to Saya.

She looked even worse than the last time she had a fit, her body was covered in sweat and her breathing was labored. She let out another string of coughs into her hand and Ragna saw it had blood on it. His little sister was coughing up blood, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Just relax, I'm going to go get a doctor!" Ragna yelled after he hastily made a fire. Ragna ran through town to the nearest doctor that he knew and pounded his fist on the door. "Open up!"

"Go away!" yelled the doctor inside. I'm busy with a patient!"

"Saya's dying, my sister is dying! HELP HER!" Ragna shouted as hard as he could.

"Then it's about time, she shouldn't have lived this long with the sickness," the doctor inside told him. "Just let her go."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! SHE'S MY SISTER! HELP HER!" Ragna pounded on the door as hard as he could, actually making crack marks.

"Don't make me call the town guard!" the doctor inside yelled. "They'll lock you away and then what will happen to your sweet sister?"

'And they call me the devil,' Ragna thought, his rage boiling over. "BASTARD!" he yelled as he ran back to the bridge as fast as he could. One he got back he couldn't hear Saya's coughing, as he managed to get close to her he noticed that she was having trouble focusing on him. "You're going to be alright," he lied to her, trying to give her hope. "The doctor's going to be here any minute, just hang on."

"Rag...na..." Saya could barely say. "Don't... blame... yourself... Did... what... you..."

"Save your strength," Ragna told her, his eyes overflowing with tears as he tried to keep her alive. "Please Saya! Stay alive!"

"I... Love... You..." Saya told her brother. Carefully reaching up and caressing his cheek.

"Saya..." Ragna started to say. "Just... get some rest..." And with that, Ragna sang, tears streaming down his face.

"Beautiful dreamer,
Wake unto me
Starlight and dewdrops
Are awaiting thee."

The fire gave off a small crackle as the dying embers slowly faded.

"Sounds of the rude world
Heard in the day
Led by the moonlight
Have all passed away."

Saya let off another string off weak coughs. Ragna grabbed her hand for comfort, both him and his sister.

"Beautiful dreamer,
Queen of my song
List' while I woo thee
With soft melody..."

Ragna had to strain in order to hear Saya's breathing. Her eyes were entirely unfocused.

Gone are the cares of
Life's busy throng
Beautiful dreamer
Awake unto me
Beautiful dreamer...
Awake unto me...
Awake... unto... me..."

"...Saya?" Saya laid still in the moonlight. Her eyes were closed now as if she were sleeping peacefully. "Saya?" She didn't even move an inch when he said he name. He slowly let go of her hand and let it fall to her side. He refused to comprehend what he was seeing, he refused as hard as he could. "Saya... you can't... you just can't be-!"

The truth hit him.

"SAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Meanwhile

Jubei was not a happy cat. He'd left the army a long time ago, and now the first time in a while he had both his daughter and niece home he couldn't even go and spend time with them since he patrolling the outer city for the first time in years. He knew he owed Bart a favor for when Kokonoe broke his sword trying to study it, but this was just unfair for him. He needed some quality time with the family, especially since his wife died and he'd been a widower of two years.

"At least I'm just about done," the cat said to himself. That was before he heard it, a loud cry of anguish. "What th' hell?" He took off toward the bridge at the edge of the castle town where he started to hear shouting.

"WHY!? WHY COULDN'T I SAVE HER!? WAS I NOT ENOUGH!? WOULD I NEVER BE ENOUGH!? TELL ME DAMN IT!" Jubei found the source of the shouting, a boy cursing the heavens while he held a little girl in his arms.

"Poor kid..." Jubei said as the youth held the body closely and began to cry. "Wait a minute... that hair... HE'S the Devil everyone's been talking about?"

While Jubei had never met Ragna in person or even seen him, he'd heard plenty of things from the people around town. He'd hear that Ragna would try to burn down the orphanage he lived at on a regular basis, how he would often rob shops blind and mess with the guards, stealing their weapons. How he'd make catcalls and give unnerving looks at any lady unfortunate enough to pass him by. And here he was, living under a bridge, crying as he held the body of a little girl, no one here willing to give a damn.

"What sorta town is this?" Jubei said to himself with disgust as he leaped from the bridge and landed behind Ragna. The youth turned in surprise as the cat landed behind him. "Hey easy, I'm not here to hurt ya kid."

"Leave me alone," Ragna growled. "I'm not in the mood for any bullshit..."

"Look, I know where you're coming from kid. I've lost someone important to me too and it ain't easy."

"I had one job..." Ragna could barely say. "I was supposed to look after her... and I failed..."

"How'd she pass?" Jubei had to ask as Ragna held his sister in his arms.

"The plague, she's had it for years..."

'Years,' Jubei thought speculatively. 'Probably couldn't tell from worry...' "Were ya there for her in the ending breaths?"

"Yes..." Ragna could barely say.

"Doing what?"

"Holding Saya's hand... telling my sister it would be alright... and... and singing her favorite lullaby."

'He sang her away... He SANG her away.' "Kid... I've known a lot of people in my time, a lot of brave men and women who are known for being the greatest of heroes today..." Jubei began.

'Great, a lecture,' Ragna thought to himself. 'Is he just going to say keep your chin up and it'll be fine or to stay strong? 'Cause if he does I'll kick his-!'

"But that was the bravest damn thing I ever heard of."

Ragna looked up and regarded Jubei with surprised eyes, no one had ever called him brave except his siblings, no one except them even complimented him. He walked close to Ragna and began to dig. Strange, the ground felt warm to him. He realized he was digging in the dead fire, the place Ragna usually built the fire. He shrugged and continued to work. After a moment Ragna decided to help him and together they buried Saya.

Ragna just kept staring at the spot in the ground that held his beloved sister.

"If you got anything to say, now's the time," Jubei told him. Ragna remained silent as tears fell from his face. "Give yourself a moment, but we should probably get going soon."

"Going... go where..?" Ragna asked. "I've got nowhere to go."

"You can stay with me for now," Jubei told him. "My place isn't to big, and you'll have to put up with two girls close to your age, but it'll be warm."

"Why are you helping me? Aren't I the devil? What's the rest of the town going to say to you?"

"Kid... Anyone who's willing to be with someone they love in their final moments and sing them to sleep is no devil in my book. This town's just made up of arrogant fools and cowards if they call you that just because of some strange hair color and a red eye," Jubei told Ragna. "Come on, do you have a name?"

"Ragna... My name's Ragna..." Ragna told Jubei.

"Nice to meet you Ragna, name's Jubei. If you can, grab the fish. Celica might be able to make something with it when we get back."

Later

Celica hummed simply to herself as she added more firewood to the fire. Her stew had already been properly cooked, but since Jubei hadn't been able to grab any she figured he'd love to come home to a warm meal. He cousin Kokonoe sat near the fireplace on the table, trying to figure out what was wrong with her design in armor.

"Do you think Jubei will be back soon?" Celica asked as she stirred her stew.

"He should be, Bart said the shift should only last two hours," Kokonoe said as she glanced at the hourglass. She'd already used it twice, but Jubei had yet to return just yet. After a few more minutes of looking over her work, she heard the door open. "See, here he comes."

Celica ran to the door and was about to greet her uncle, when she saw that her uncle hadn't come here alone. There was a boy travelling with him, one she didn't recognize. He looked filthy, covered in dirt like he hadn't had a decent bath in months. When he turned to face her she gasped as she saw his eyes, a small part because of the red one, but mostly because how dead they looked. Hearing Jubei clear his throat, she saw him hand her a basket full of fish and motion for her to leave for now. Celica nodded and headed back into the kitchen with Kokonoe.

"What's wrong, and what's up with the fish?" Kokonoe asked from the table as she heard Jubei heading up the stairs. "Did he say anything?"

"He... he brought someone home with him. A boy who's taller than both of us and I've never seen before," Celica explained as she set the fish down near the fire.

"You sure about that?" Kokonoe asked, not even bothering to look up from her papers. "You could've just not remembered him, I mean you forget where you're going all the time."

"I would've remembered him," Celica told her older cousin. "His appearance was just so bizarre, but he was completely covered in dirt." After a moment they saw Jubei walk into the kitchen with them by himself, a serious look on his face. "Uncle Jubei, what's going on? Who was that boy?"

"Celica, Kokonoe..." the cat began, trying to figure out how to start this. "What do ya know about the Devil around town?"

"I've heard people gossiping about him," Celica told him. "They say he's a terrible person who's only trying to hurt anyone who gets near him."

"Kokonoe?" Jubei asked turning to his daughter. The Grimalkin finished the note she was writing down before putting the quill back on the ink bottle.

"I've heard plenty of crap about him, but I've never actually met him or even seen him around town. They tell me he has soulless white hair and a single blood-red eye."

"Then that was the boy you came in with!" Celica exclaimed, waiting for Jubei's response.

"Yep," Jubei told the two girls. "He's upstairs in the guest room resting, but I don't really think he's gonna be able to sleep after what he just went through."

"What happened to him?" Kokonoe asked, saving judgment until she actually saw Ragna with her own eyes.

"His little sister just died, she died in his arms while he was taking care of her under the bridge," Jubei told them with a sad look in his eyes. Both of the children knew what it was like to lose family so they stayed silent, until something Jubei said began to bother Celica.

"Wait, why was he under the bridge with her? Wouldn't he be with his sister be in the orphanage?" she asked her guardian. "Or did they run them out?"

"They never let him stay at the orphanage in the first place," Jubei told them. "Even after his parents died he had to stay in the wilderness, and from what I gathered they never let his sister stay either. He's been living in the wilderness try to take care of her as best he could... but tonight the plague took her."

"No..." Celica mourned. "And no one was willing to help him...?"

"They wouldn't lift a finger if he begged them, and now the kid blames himself because if it hadn't been for him, he feels that his sister could've gotten some help."

Everyone was silent before Celica took a label and poured some stew into a bowl and gave it to Jubei. "Here, eat up. I'm going to bring some soup up to him."

"Look, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Jubei told her. "Kid's probably trying to get some sleep and-"

You just told me he wouldn't be getting any sleep and he could use some food in his stomach," Celica told her uncle before she ran upstairs with the soup bowl.

"I don't see anything good happening here..." Kokonoe commented to her father. "Meeting too many strangers just after he saw his sister die is going to drive him crazy."

"Yeah, but I don't think Celica would listen to us anyways," Jubei told his daughter before sitting down at the table and eating. "She's always been stubborn, just like you are in some ways."

"I'll take that as a compliment dad," Kokonoe said as she reached for her feather and began writing again.

"Do you really have to write with that at the dinner table?" Jubei asked.

"Don't ask a question you already know the answer to," Kokonoe told him, causing the old cat to roll his eyes at his daughters attitude.

Upstairs

Celica knocked on the door to Ragna's new room, trying to make sure he was alright. She waited silently for a moment before knocking again. "Hey... I know you might be resting... but I brought some stew for you." No response. "Uh, I'm going to open the door now okay?" Despite their being no response, Celica opened the door (she knew most of the doors didn't have locks) and saw Ragna inside.

He didn't even seem to notice her as she came in, he just kept sitting on the edge of the bed, he head hung over in deep thought. Celica had the distinct feeling that Ragna couldn't even hear her, but she knew she had to try.

"Um, do you not want it?" the redhead asked, not receiving any response. "Oh, maybe if I tried feeding it to you..." She took the spoon and brought it close to his mouth. "Say 'Ahhhhh'!"

"What are you doing?"

Celica gave a small jolt as she realized he'd finally talked. His head was now up with his red and green eyes staring at her. "Oh, sorry. You just weren't saying anything so I thought it'd be a good idea to try feeding you and maybe you'd at least feel something after eating!" she blabbed at twenty miles an hour. "You... uh, you didn't hear me come in?"

"Sorry, I was thinking," he told her emotionlessly as his head slumped over. "And I'm not really hungry." His stomach gave a small growl. "Well, maybe a little."

"Then open up. 'Ahhhhhh'!" Celica said as she held the spoon close to his face. Ragna was at least feeling something now, but that something was embarrassment. Eventually he opened his mouth and had a bite of the stew. "Here, I'll get you some more. 'Ahhhhhh'!"

"I can feed myself, but thanks," Ragna told her. Now Celica was the one blushing as she handed him the bowl of hot stew. After taking another bite and swallowing, some color seemed to return to Ragna's body. "Did you make this?"

"Uh, yeah I did," Celica told him. "I'm not really the greatest cook or anything, but I always try my best with what I cook. Do you not like it?"

"No, I like it. Next time you might not want to add too many spices, it start to overwhelm you where you not focusing enough on the beef and-" Ragna stopped himself. "Sorry, I'm being rude."

"No, any advice you can give me about cooking would be great, honestly I'm still new at this," Celica said to Ragna with a cheerful smile. "Oh, that's right we don't even know each other's names yet! My name's Celica A. Mercury, but you call me Celica for short."

"Okay... you can call me Ragna," Ragna told her as he took another bite of stew. He was still hurting, badly, but he also almost seemed at ease.

"Nice to meet you Ranga," Celica said. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you better now that we're friends and all."

'Friends?' Ragna thought to himself. 'I just met her and she thinks I'm her friend? Strange person.' "I guess I am too."

"Cool, I'll see you later, but enjoy your stew, we might have more downstairs if you want to grab more." Celica turned to leave through the door.

"Hey Celica?" Ragna asked, causing the red head to turn to him. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, enjoy!" Celica said with a bubbly attitude as she closed the door and went downstairs. Ragna stayed in his room and ate his stew while he tried to make sense of what the hell just happened.

Later

Ragna groaned as he tossed and turned in his bed, trying to get out of the current nightmare he was in. What the nightmare was about everyone knew, but you could only guess the hell Ragna was actually seeing. A sharp knock at the door forced him out of his current nightmare. He shot upward, panting heavily before hearing a voice come from the other side of the door.

"You up now?" it asked.

Ragna didn't recognize the voice as Celica's or Jubei's, but he knew it was still late out, so it was probably the other girl Jubei had told him about. Ragna walked up and opened the door, revealing a pink haired woman with glasses and cat ears wearing a dark blacksmith's attire. She was holding a steaming mug of something in her hands and looked like she was trying not to annoyed at Ragna.

"Uh, hey..." Ragna said, not sure what was going on. "Sorry if I woke you."

"Yeah, well take this tea. It has a lot of herbs in it that'll help you relax." She trust the hot mug into his hands, not giving him a moments notice.

"Oh, uh thanks..." Ragna told her. "Why do you care if I sleep or not?"

"Because I can't sleep with all of that tossing and turning you're doing," she told him.

"How can you hear it? I'm two doors down and across the hall," Ragna asked her.

"These cat ears aren't just for show you know," Kokonoe told him, before she realized she was being a little harsh with someone who had just lost their sister. "Take the tea, it'll help."

"Thanks, but I don't know your name," Ragna reminded her awkwardly. "I'm Ragna, but I'm pretty sure you know me."

"Well I've certainly heard what people said about you, but you don't act like what I've been lead to believe. My name's Kokonoe and I'm Jubei's daughter. I guess you met Celica, my younger cousin earlier?"

"Yeah, I met her. She seems nice but..."

"A little too nice?" Kokonoe questioned. Ragna nodded. "Well, I guess I can see where you're coming from with that. Anyways feel free to sleep in tomorrow, Jubei's going to be stick around the home and it looks like you could use some rest. I have my work cut out for me withmy studies and Celica's training to become a midwife."

"A midwife..." Ragna questioned. "Is that some sort of marriage training thing?"

"You've never heard of a midwife?" Kokonoe asked as Ragna shook his head. "Look, a midwife is someone who helps a woman give birth to children."

"Oh." Ragna scratched the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "Well goodnight Kokonoe, thanks for the tea." Ragna heard Kokonoe mutter 'night' in return as she left for her room. Ragna gently closed the door as he had a sip of the tea, already feeling relaxed.

"Funny... Saya dies, but instantly my life starts getting better... is this some sort of parting gift or is this the world just playing another cruel sick joke?" Ragna shook his head as he crawled into bed, trying to get ready for the new life ahead.

Author's Note: I don't own BlazBlue or the Poem Beautiful Dreamer.

Well now, that was dark and depressing, but it had to be done. Raise your hand if you cried a little when Celica died. I did, but I'm a pretty emotional guy so tell me about it (and sorry if I made you tear up in public).

Anyways, there will be a few changes to the explanation I had at the beginning, but I have a pretty good idea where to move the story forward. I'm curious, would you guys like the chapter this long (10,000 words) or what I've been usually doing with an extra long special for certain chapters (5,000 but 10,000 for special)?

And now for the review responses.

Natural: Well, naturally I wouldn't thrust Ragna on the throne in the first chapter. He'll get to be king soon enough, but there's still some ground to cover.

animeandgamerlover2: Wait no further. It's HERE! (Dramatic Music)

keyz05: I might, put your OC's in, but keep in mind I may have to change their personalities around.

Yuki Terumi ouroboros Master: Don't worry, there will be plenty of history here, and a few surprises down the line to be sure.

BloodedgetheReaper2113: No new crossovers just yet, and for my Fire Embelm story a lot of people have been pushing the pairings on me. But don't worry, after I finish the next chapter of "A Reaper's Game," that'll be my next story.

sardie power: I explained what a midwife is in the story, but your comment made me laugh a little so I thought I'd add that in for Ragna. And don't feel bad, most people don't know about midwives. As for Ragna marrying Celica, we'll see what happens.

Guest: Hopefully as good, if not a little better. Enjoy!

I'll see you next time, until then.

Ciao!