Blue XII: A Fiery Cleanse

"Why so worried?" Slivana asked as she sat in her new guild room while Ragna looked over her hooded cloak. It was late in the evening now and the young half elf had just returned from her long day of reading in the library (along with cleaning the mess she'd made) and was hoping to change from her mage's robes into her familiar coat. What she'd come across instead was Ragna waiting right by her bedroom door, demanding that he look at the cloak immediately.

"Just a precaution, I get the feeling that Terumi… person has a knack for pranks," Ragna told her as he tried to sense the magic within the cloth. While he admittedly stumbled as he tried to figure out what enchantment Terumi had put on the hood, he could easily feel that the magic enchanting the object wasn't from the enigmatic threat, but it wasn't enough to assure him that nothing was wrong. "What's the magic supposed to do anyways?"

"Makes clothing stronger. Offers more protection. Hood stays up… unless I choose." That last part was clearly an important addition for someone with Half-Elf ears. Ragna still wasn't entirely sure why half-elves were often so persecuted while the full-blooded species were left to themselves, but he'd take some comfort in Silvana's assured safety… at least he would have had it not come from such a vile source.

'That snake doesn't look like it's planning anything yet, but if this world's history is anything like my own there could still be trouble in the future. And again, WHY THE HELL IS TERUMI A WOMAN!?'

"You look stressed," Silvana noted as Ragna gave the cloak one last thorough lookover. "Long day?"

"Long day, lots of researching, plenty of colorful people, and I haven't eaten dinner yet," Ragna said with a sigh at that last part. "What about you? Feeling hungry?"

"Ate with Celica," she assured him. "She seems nice."

"She does," he agreed before smirking. "Unlike her hell demon of a sister."

"Asked about you… lots of things," she told him before yanking her cloak back out of Ragna's hands. "...She likes you."

"...Not too much if she knows what's good for her," the Reaper said before opening the door. He was about to walk through before a sudden idea came to him. "Repeat after me: I use wind magic. Say it, no pausing or shortening allowed."

"I…" Silvana began as she tried to mentaly prepare. "I use wind… I use wind m... I use wind ma… I use wind…" She stuttered over the final word, growing frustrated as her metal block was waning, but still prevented her from completing a four word sentence. "I use wind m... magic."

"Just keep practicing, it'll come to you sooner or later," he encouraged . "Don't stay up too late reading, undstand?" Satisfied as Silvana gave a nod, he closed the door to her bedroom and started heading for the kitchens to get his dinner started… though he didn't get far.

"Hold it," Konoe told him. Ragna didn't listen and kept walking leading for the former phantom to give an annoyed grunt as she hurried her footsteps to follow beside him. "What's your rush?"

"I'm starving and I want to be asleep soon, save it for the morning," he told her without bothering to even look at her in acknowledgement. "Silvana and Celica seem to be getting along."

"I doubt that there's a person out there that my sister couldn't get along with," Nine told him, equal parts proud… and worried.

"What about Terumi?" Ragna felt the need to ask, remembering how much the previous Terumi had hated Celica for her ability to weaken his body.

"I don't like the two of them being anywhere near each other, but admittedly they seem fine… even if Celica doesn't realize she's being teased half the time." Ragna could easily see that. "Back to business, I'm here because I've got a job for you."

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I've had a long enough day as it is," he groaned.

"We're going to need to leave at the crack of dawn, so I'm supposed to inform you now," Nine told him. "If I had any say in this I'd leave you behind and take care of this job myself, but our guild master wants me to take you. You remember that monster infested town we passed on the way here? Trolls have taken shelter in that burned out husk of a town and the guild's been hired to handle them."

"Message delivered then, I'll see you early in the morning," Ragna tried to tell her off, if only so he could at least cook in peace.

"Have you ever fought a Troll before?" Konoe demanded. Ragna didn't give her an answer. "Then you need to listen to me or you're in for a needlessly difficult fight tomorrow. I'm going to teach you the basics on casting fire spells."

"Alright Nine, I'll bite. Why do I need to learn to cast fire spells?" he asked, deciding he may as well get his over with.

"Because Trolls are able to regenerate their wounds; they're already rather powerful and agile, but their ability to survive most fatal wounds and heal themselves is a daunting ability for most to face. That's one of the reasons why we've been called in," she explained. "The only way to kill that regeneration and make them easier to handle is to attack them with fire which will stop their regeneration completely. I'll admit those blue flames of yours are powerful, but they don't seem to carry any of fire magic's actual attributes."

"...You have a point," Ragna admitted as he called the Azure flames to dance around his hand. "This is meant more for kicking ass and not much else."

"Say whatever bravado that you want to; it won't make much difference what it does if the Trolls are smashing your head in," she told him seriously. Ragna rolled his eyes as his flames faded. "For now let's head to the kitchen."

"We're not heading to the train grounds?"

"You said you needed to eat, so if you're quick enough to learn the magic you'll be able to start your dinner as well," Nine reasoned. "So hurry up, I need to sleep too."

"Fine, fine, if you're in such a rush why not head out and fight those damn things now?" the Reaper groaned.

"Because fighting monsters at night is deathly dangerous no matter how skilled you are; you need to always put every factor you have control over in your favor. It's basic common sense," she told him with a groan. "It's a miracle you've managed to survive a week during your travels. If you're so thick headed that you won't learn it for your sake, then at least learn it for that half-elf you've been traveling with."

"The next time I end up leaving the guild I'll probably be keeping Silvana here," Ragna admitted. "She needs a place where she can learn properly and have some amount of safety. She can't get that traveling around with me… also it'd put my mind at ease." 'Terumi's presence aside, of course.' "But there's something I've been wondering about for kind of a while."

"And that is?" she asked, feeling that she'd at least hear Ragna out while he was coming to her with questions.

"Damn, it's probably something obvious so this is going to sound stupid to you," he admitted. "Everywhere I go there's been a deep hatred against half-elves, I'm pretty sure SIlvana's worn that hood of hers most of her life. Back in my village we had a tale about a half-elf that almost destroyed the place long ago, but that's just one case. What about everywhere else?"

"It's not nearly as dumb of a question as you think; in fact you're less of stubborn fool if you're at least willing to question that hate instead of buying into it like everyone else," Nine admitted, showing Ragna a rare bit of praise. "There are different reasons for hating them; some like your village hate them because they're often portrayed as villains in several fables, others despise them because they believe that they were only created because an elf seduced a human woman, and others can only hate them because that was what their family told them to do."

'Not too different from humanity's hatred of Beastkin and Demi humans,' the Reaper considered. "What about townspeople around here? They don't seem to mind SIlvana as much."

"Because they had plenty of time to grow used to them over the years; back when we had the half elves staying with us they made up more than half of our guild. Anyone who couldn't stand the idea of living in the same town as a half-elf elf would've left generations ago. We used to have plenty of half-elves in the guild, but with Vinaria's chruch breathing down our necks they decided that it might be best to join that group seeing as that's basically the only other circle in the kingdom that doesn't prosecute half-elves. We still have a few living around the town, but most half-elves are travelers by nature in the first place."

"Probably because their families were always used to being put on the run," Ragna guessed bitterly. Nine gave him a small nod.

"It's not like you could force the entire kingdom to start accepting them overnight," she told him realistically. "But that's enough talking about those stupid and pointless hatreds, for now we need to focus on getting you ready for tomorrow."

"...Hey Nine-"

"Whenever you're not around the guild, Trinity and I can keep an eye on Silvana for you," she promised, surprising Ragna with her kind offer. "Besides, I can't remember the last time I saw my little sister this happy to have a new friend."

"...Thanks," the Reaper told her, a small smile forming on his face.

"That said, Celica's completely off limits for you." Ragna stiffened as he felt the mage's deathly glare on him. "Are we clear on that?"

Ragna took a moment to consider his next words carefully.

"I'm not going to completely ignore her if it means I have to be a dick to her, but you've got my word that I won't try anything."

"You'd better mean that," Nine told him as she hurried in her stride for the kitchens. "Now hurry up."

'More of the people I see from my old world, the more I realize they haven't changed all that much. Baring of course…'

-The Kitchens-

'God dammit, can't I be done with this snake for one day?!' Ragna thought to himself as he grit his teeth, watching while Terumi carefully looked over each and every egg from the basket she had in front of her. It didn't take long for the scheming woman to notice the two before giving them both a plotting smile.

"Aw, and here I was worried you both hated each other. But look at you both getting a midnight snack arm in arm," she said before looking at Nine mockingly. "Finally found someone worth holding down did we?"

"I have no damned idea what you're on about, you snake," Konoe hissed.

"Sure you don't," Terumi cackled before turning to Ragna. "Celica's been trying for months now to find her sister a nice boyfriend. It's rare that they ever go on the first date and there's never any follow up."

"And you're making that your business now? Find an effing hobby," the Reaper dismissed before turning to the mage. "So we're practicing fire magic, where do we start?"

"Oh, I've got a great idea. Hold that thought," Terumi said before grabbing out a large cooking cauldron and placing it atop a firewood stove. "Nine sweetheart, if you could just fill this with water real quick."

"Call me sweetheart again and I'll burn your eyes out," she threatened, though compiled by using her magic to summon water and filling the container nearly to its top. Terumi then took her time to select the best eggs and carefully place them in. "Your first job is going to be to bring that water to a boil. Think you can manage that much?"

'So Terumi still has a strange love for hard boiled eggs, big surprise,' Ragna thought to himself, hoping that he at least wouldn't have to watch her swallow them whole. "But you haven't taught me how to channel my magic into fire yet, how am I supposed to do this without any damn instructions?"

"Boy oh boy, where do I even begin with you?" Terumi muttered to herself, earning a scowl from Ragna. "Alright, so it's no small mistake that people will often associate flames with rage. There might be a few types of magic that can be affected based on a person's emotion, but the most common and strongest relation byfar is between anger and fire… explains a lot about Nine's ember chucking."

"Bite me."

"Love you too," the mint haired antagonizer shot back with a grin. "And if we're being honest, you might have an easier time controlling the flames as well; your regular magic is already pretty flame-like and it doesn't take much to get you flying off the handle."

"And whose fault is that?" Ragna demanded before raising his hand and creating more Azure Flames. "So get pissed? That's your grand advice?"

"It's a first step," Nine told him. "Until the casting becomes more natural, this is honestly more of a crutch. Practicing will make it so that you won't even need to rely on your emotions, but for now I'd practice focusing your temper."

'Well if it's anger they need, I've got a big source of it right next to me,' the Reaper thought with a glare at Terumi. It might have been another life, but a single flashback to the day his world's Terumi had ruined his life was enough to call the Azure flames around his hand, brimming with heat. "Will this do?"

"...Not bad," Nine said with reservation. Ragna had a feeling that if she was saying that much to him, his actual casting must've been pretty damn strong.

"Huh, must have a lotta pent up aggression in you," Terumi commented before gesturing to the water. "Pot's ready for ya, just put your hand in and get cooking."

"How about no?" Ragna told her with glare.

"Idiot, you should have been more subtle," Nine insulted.

"Not my fault, this one won't listen to two words I say," Terumi defended herself.

"So let me have him do that, I'm the one trying to teach him something here."

"You two were trying to trick me then," the Reaper groaned. "So where's the lesson in this?"

"It's an important one, and one that's been taught by this harsh scenario," Konoe explained. "Most up and coming mages would place their hands into the water using their fire magic to heat it, only to be scalded by the very water they were supposed to be heating. The lesson here is that you're not immune to the damage that your magic will cause; even if your flames are the source of a much bigger inferno, it will kill you just as quickly as anyone else."

"So it's basically a literal version of play with fire, get burned," Ragna summarized. "So if I'm not supposed to touch it…" Gathering his power to the tip of his index finger, he channeled his flames into a small stream as he heated the base of the cauldron. It wasn't very strong, but Ragna's channeling was consistent and eventually the water inside the pot began to boil.

"Aw, he's learning," Terumi said proudly. Ragna didn't say anything and only continued to scowl. "...You know you can turn those flames off now, right?"

"Only as soon as you shut up," he countered before looking at the boiling water. "So did everyone in the guild have to go through that water trap?"

"Most of the old members had at one point or another, but I was too smart for it," Nine boasted proudly.

"Heard it differently from Celica," Terumi said with slight amusement as Konoe seemed to freeze for a full second. "Nine plunged her hands in just like the others did, but her fire was so hot all she ended up getting was a face full of steam."

"S-so? That just means that my fire magic was strong even as a kid; I don't know why that should be a downside!" she told them both off.

"If you say so Queen Bitch," Terumi finished before looking into the pot of hard boiled eggs. "These little beauties look just about ready, nicely done."

"It's hard boiling a few eggs, I'd have to screw up pretty badly to get this wrong. But as long as that's finished I might as well get my own dinner-"

Growl

"...Started?" Ragna stared in silence at the almost bestial growl that came from Nine's stomach. Even Terumi seemed a little startled, but eventually began laughing.

"Looks like you're cooking for two," she taunted the Reaper.

"Looks like it," he groaned, not even up for arguing with the snake.

"I can help do some cutting if you're in need of a good edge," she offered. "I happen to know my way around a-"

"You get thoses blades out of your sleeves and I swear I won't think twice about putting you down," Ragna threatened with a bestial growl.

"Testy testy, you and her are practically mirror copies," Terumi said with a smirk as she began gathering eggs. 'How did he know I was keeping daggers on me? I usually keep those pretty well hidden… maybe he's been getting a closer look at me than I thought.'

If there was any part of this that was fortunate for Ragna, it was the fact that Terumi had decided to take her hard boiled eggs to her room. This only left him to deal with Nine who didn't offer up any objections or insults as he prepared them both their dinners. What he ended up othering was very basic vegetable soup, but Ragna knew a thing or two about boosting its flavor. Sitting down across from each, the more practiced magician only gave him a nod as a way of saying thanks before beginning her meal.

"So you really think my fire magic is going to be enough tomorrow?" Ragna asked.

"It's pretty powerful for an early casting, certainly better than nothing," Nine told him as she took a spoonful of soup, admittedly impressed by Ragna's cooking. "But I don't think you should cast it as a full on spell; instead it would be better to stick with what you're better with."

"You mean that scythe I usually use. You just want me to turn that fiery for this fight," the Reaper concluded as he tasted his cooking, deciding it would have been better had he made the stock himself.

"Right, that sort of strength is going to be useful for wiping out the trolls, but I don't want you going overboard. Even if that casting's stronger than I was expecting, you're still a novice at making fire. Your main job's going to be keeping the closer trolls off me so I have time to cast my spells and really wreck them with my flames."

'I wonder if she's serious or if this is just some weird pride thing for her,' Ragna considered. "If that's what you need from me, that's what I'll do. Anything else I need to know about the job? And what about our payment, how much are we making for this?"

"We wouldn't be paid much for a simple monster extermination like this, the guild needs most of the money since we're low on members, and even in our better days the guild itself still takes most of the earnings to fund itself. It's how all of the major combat guilds operate, whether they're Mage, Beast Hunting, Mercenary, you get the picture."

"Is there any limit to the number of guilds you can belong to at a time?" the Reaper asked. Konoe raised an eyebrow at the question, looking less than pleased. "What?"

"...I suppose that there's no written law in the kingdom that forbids you from doing something like that, and I've known a few mages that used connection with other guilds from time to time, but to belong to more than one..." She was silent for a long while as she thought it over. "Under most circumstances I would tell you not to, but given that you're training to become a magus it might make more sense for you to join another form of combat guild. Go and join a different mage's guild behind our back though and there's going to be trouble for you."

"I'll keep that in mind," he muttered as he had another taste of his soup.

"You seriously don't know how odd it is to even consider this? Did you learn nothing before coming to the guild?"

"The farming village I grew up in is pretty small and none of the old coot's books told me anything about the guilds; I just came here because it was the closest one around that had anything to do with magic."

"...Unbelievable, you're just completely unbelievable," Nine groaned, though Ragna could guess she was hoping back that sharp tongue of hers. "Just make sure you don't get either of us killed tomorrow."

"Pretty harsh words for someone that just made you dinner."

The Next Morning -Ruined Town-

'So this place is where Eric came from. What's left of it anyways,' Ragna said solemnly as he looked over what might have once been a small but prosperous town. The wood that made up the ruined building husks was in varying conditions and the oldest of it looked burnt. This told Ragna that someone had tried rebuilding bits of the village to settle in, but its only current occupants was a large group of trolls.

Each of the monsters was a mid-sized and oddly lanky monster. While most of the thin fur covering their bodies was varying shades of dirty green, they had much thicker tufts of black fur around their necks, knees, elbows, and crotch area. Both of their eyes were a venomous shade of yellow and their rows of jagged teeth made them look all the more vicious. Some of them were carrying makeshift wooden clubs made out of the village's debris, but an odd few strangely seemed to have human made axes and there was even one with a rusted steel sword.

"How many do you count?" Konoe questioned.

"Twenty outside, but I can hear at least four more of them inside the wrecked homes," Ragna told her as he observed them. "Doesn't look like they've noticed us yet."

"Most of the time they rely on their scent to find prey, something that I've prepared for," she explained as a barrier of invisible air covered the two. "This won't last long though and they're sure to see us before then."

"Then let's not waste time and… hold on a second," Ragna said as he saw some exaggerated movement between two of the trolls. "Looks like they're fighting over… food."

It was a severed human arm, it's large size and tone indicating that it was probably an adult male one. There were already several vicious tears and bite marks on it and the flesh looked far from fresh. Two of the trolls were pulling on opposite sides to claim possession of it, but the struggle didn't last long as the appendage was torn messily in half. Rather than being content with the meat it had gotten, one of the trolls leaped onto the opposing one and managed to pin him to the ground. With the ferocity of beast and cruelty of a monster it then proceeded to pound the other troll's head in with its fist, the strikes powerful enough to cause cracks in the ground around their quarrel. The victim troll gave a submissive gurgle though his head was caved in as the winner of the spot gave a roar. The trolls around them gave their own grunts and hoots, before rushing in on the fallen monster and tearing it to shreds with their teeth and made a meal out of one of their own.

"That's just what they'll do to each other, they're not nearly as kind to people," Nine told him darkly. "Bandits sometimes try to take what's left of these structures to make a new hideout, but the monsters will soon follow looking for fresh meat. Doesn't matter how badly we burn this place, it's like this damn place is cursed or something."

"Save the curse talk for later; they see us," Ragna ordered as he created a flaming scythe. Down below one of the trolls had taken notice of the two and let out a series of grunts, getting the attention from the rest of its pack.

(Cue Under Night In-Birth Rushing Heart)

"Remember; you're supposed to be guarding me, so don't just go charging in," Nine instructed as the rest of the monster's caught sight of the two and let out powerful roars as they bounded forward, including the four that had been inside the buildings.

The magic user began glowing violently red as intense fire magic formed a crimson aura around her. Firing off a single fireball, the mass of energy slammed in the center of the trolls and managed to nearly incinerate a few of them while coating a few more of them with deadly flames. However most of them managed to leap out of the way with ease before bounding onwards, enraged at just the mere sight of fire. Nine then slammed her open palm to the ground and forced her arcane magic into the dirt. A moment later, a powerful burst of flames erupted from beneath one of the trolls and incinerated it in an instant. The trolls began to show a sliver intellect as they then began to take notice of the erupting pillars and jumped to the sides in order to avoid the attacks, but by now Nine had succeeded in scattering their ranks.

'Nice not to be on the receiving end of those flames for once,' Ragna thought, remembering what a pain in the ass fighting against Konoe had previously been. Keeping his mind in the present, he took a ready stance with his Azure Flame formed scythe. Though his hatred didn't burn nearly as harshly as it once had, letting his anger flow into his flames certainly seemed to be producing a violent heat which would serve his needs well as a few of the Trolls managed to breach Nine's magical attacks. 'Guess I'm up.'

As one of the trolls barreled toward Nine and got too close for his liking, Ragna gave a mighty slash and managed to easily cleave the troll in two. Though the monster's thick hide would have normally provided it a bulky resistance, the fire Ragna was using practically seemed to melt through it. The cuts on either side of the troll also seemed to be cauterized and there was no sign of the regeneration that Nine had warned him about. Swiping his scythe upward, he managed to cleave another two in half.

With flames emerging from the tips of her fingers, Nine made a simple clawing motion as she stared down one of the Trolls. The monster gave a shrill scream as it was cut apart by violent lines of fire before falling dead to the floor. Thrusting out her other palm, she let loose a barrage of flaming Mana Darts that managed to catch two additional trolls and rip them apart with each hit. Taking a deep breath, she began focusing one of her more powerful spells. Such an action would leave her vulnerable in most situations, meaning it was up to Ragna to hold off the Trolls until her incantation was fully cast.

As the trolls began growing competent at dodging Ragna's scythe slashes, the Grim Reaper decided it was time he changed his approach. Quickly having his weapon dissolve and instead coating his right fist in the blue flames, he rushed forward and delivered a hefty blow to the closest of the trolls. The flames of the blow managed to pierce the defenses just as easily as those of his scythe and the colossal power behind his punches was easily enough to stun it from his force. Taking the flames on his left hand and creating a Grimoire Blade about the size of a basic longsword, he impaled the monster through the head and let it drop to the floor as he moved his attention to deal with the others.

One of the trolls finally managed to get through the two's onslaught of fire attacks and swung its makeshift club at Ragna. Trying to use the azure flames on his right hand as makeshift forearm guard, he braced himself for the attack. The Reaper guessed that the impact had at least dampened the blow as he didn't feel his arm break from the force, but large cracks in the ground were still formed from the impact. Countering with three rapid swings in success, he managed to vivisect the thing into pieces before narrowly avoiding the sword swing of another of the trolls. Channeling his flames into his leg this time, he performed a wide swinging kick that was strong enough to knock its head clean off.

Now focusing on his old form of combat, Ragna coated his arm in flames before lunging forward and slamming his fist into one of the charging trolls. Following up with a wave of flames, he managed to catch a few and send them flying back. Twisting his body around with an overhead kick, he managed to catch another of the trolls before his follow up kick sent it flying upwards. Performing an upward swing with his Grimoire Blade, he managed to carry himself further into the air as well as cut the monster in half before ax kicking the cleaved body back into the ground. Diving straight down with his sword, he cleaved another troll in half before following up with a second wave of azure flames.

'Like I thought, he definitely has some skill when it comes to combat. Not that I'd give him that much credit vocally,' Nine thought to herself before smirking as she finished her incantation. 'Besides, he's still nowhere close to this level of magic.'

While launching another Trolls back with a solid punch, Ragna felt the ground rumbling beneath his feet. Managing to guard the swings of two Troll clubs, he then sensed a wave of heat on his back and instinctively jumped to the side. The trolls jumped as well to try and follow after, only to be met with a mass of stone and flame to the face. The meteorite exploded and turned the trolls into gory pieces. That wasn't the only attack either, as Ragna saw an entire meteor shower fall from the sky, each of the rocks exploding on impact and completely devastating the remaining monsters. Konoe kept her smug look as she turned to Ragna to see his awestruck expression… only to see that her partner honestly didn't seem that impressed.

'That's Nine alright,' Ragna thought while he watched the carnage of the attack unfold. 'Problem here is that this is nowhere close to her power back when she was Phantom.'

(End theme)

"Guess that's all of them," the Reaper notes as he let his Grimoire Blade's blue flames fade from his hand. Trying not to gag at the stench of burning troll flesh he looked at Nine who was scowling at the monstrous remains that had been his handiwork. "Pretty sure they won't be getting up again."

"You can never be too sure with these things; if you didn't cause enough damage after you scorched them with fire it might still be possible for them to regenerate," she chided. "Go check inside the houses and make sure that we didn't miss any."

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it," he muttered as he headed for one of the burnt out ruins still standing after that last attack. Keeping his senses about him as he approached it certainly didn't sound like there were trolls hiding inside the building, but a different wretched smell was getting worse the closer he got. Slowly peeking through the doorway, he discovered a wretched and barbaric sight. "...Tch."

Even if he could reasonably assume that these people had been bandits that had caused more than their fair share of strife and misery, what had befallen them here was a fate he wouldn't wish on many. The building floor was littered with heavily torn and half eaten corpses, a few of them had their innards strewn about the floors, any remaining limbs had been snapped back in violent directions, while others had gruesome bites taken out of their faces. This enough was a bad enough sight to remind Ragna of the Goblins that had attacked and devoured Naoto's village, but their faces… the pure agony and pain in the pale dead eyes of the victims told him that they had been alive for all of this, that these trolls had very much played with their food.

"...No point letting this stay here," Ragna decided as he gathered flame magic into his hands before blasting it into the bodies. It was easily enough for them to catch fire and before long all he had was one larger pile of ashes. Shaking his head as he headed out of the doorway, he delivered a solid punch to the building remaining wall. Any support that was left quickly gave way as the burnt out husk. He then proceeded to search over the rest of the ruined village before returning to Nine who had already burnt the slain Troll bodies to ash.

"So?" she asked expectantly.

"No sign of more trolls, but I did manage to find and burn their food source," he told her seriously.

"And the bandits that were here before them?"

"I just said that I burned away their food source," he answered bluntly. "Is this a common thing to happen?"

"Eating people or attacking villages? Either way it depends on where you live; further south it's far less common when it's warmer but they already have Goblins and other threats to worry about," she informed him. "Also it depends on the season; they're much more likely to attack when it gets closer to winter than in the summertime. Around here troll attacks are only semi-common at best, but they're hard to deal with if you don't know how to use fire."

"Yeah, these things are pretty vicious," the Reaper had to admit. "Glad that you had my back here."

"You… are?" Konoe asked with an eyebrow raised. "You aren't going to say that you easily could have taken them by yourself or you'd rather put in the extra work than have to put up with me?"

"Tempting. But no, I've seen what an attitude like that gets you," Ragna said. Something in his tone made it sound to Nine that he was more well traveled than he was letting on. "So are we done here? Ready to head back to the guild?"

"If we got them all then there's nothing left for us here," Nine said as she began walking back in the general direction of Tomelia. "Did you happen to find any Troll eggs while you were inspecting the village?"

"Not that I'm aware of, and if there were any around they're cinders now. Why, did we kill any females?"

"With those monsters barreling down on us I didn't have time to check, and for the most part there isn't a noticable difference between Troll sexes. I was just asking because it's getting close to that season and Troll eggs can be a potent ingredient in alchemy. That would've made this job just a bit more worth the effort."

"Knowing that this town's cleared for a bit will give me some peace of mind; for now I'll take that," the Reaper decided before taking one last look at his town. 'Nice time I see Eric though… probably would be better if I didn't tell him what ended up happening to his hometown.'

Later -Tomelia-

"Sis you big meany!" an angry Celica shouted the moment the two stepped through the town gates. "You left before I had a chance to see you off this morning! I told you to stop doing that!"

"I told you last night that I was leaving first thing in the morning and that there was no way you were going to catch us before that," Nine told her younger sibling with a shake of her head.

"That's why I told you to wake me before that!" she vented with her cheeks puffed in a pout. If anything this just made her seem cuter and harder to see as someone that you should avoid making angry (like her sister).

'Kind of odd to see Celica worrying over Konoe when it's so often the other way around,' Ragna thought from the background. 'Then again, I know how siblings are around each other so this is far from a shock.' "Hey kiddo, think you can cut your sister a break this once?"

"But she's always running off like this without telling me. I'm lucky she even decided to say goodbye this time because sometimes she leaves without so much as a word to me," Celica complained. Ragna could admit that she had a valid argument there, but he knew a work around.

"Maybe, but she's only doing that because she doesn't want to worry you," he tried to explain. "And I get the feeling that if she did tell you where she was headed or even that she was leaving that you'd follow after her." Celica didn't answer, looking away guiltily to indicate that she probably had tried to follow after Nine before. "Besides, you've got your own work to do here learning how to become a mage, don't you? Just trust that she's going to do her job while you work hard so that you can join her sometime."

"Okay," she sighed before looking at her sister. "But can you please promise to tell when you're about to leave so I can say goodbye?"

"I guess I can do that," Konoe muttered in her usual standoffish nature. "But if you follow after me again you'll-"

"Be in so much trouble that you don't even want to think about it," Ragna interrupted and finished in his own words. He was about to get a scowl for butting in, but put his hand in front of his mouth and whispered into Nine's ear. "Just nod and play along."

"...Yeah, that'd do it," she faked in agreement.

"Huh? What'd you say to her? Come on. Don't just leave me in the dark like this," she demanded.

"You don't even want to know," Ragna finished for her. "Thanks for coming to greet us on our way back in though."

"You should be inside finishing your lessons," Nine instructed with authority. Now it was Ragna's turn to give her a scowl. "But it's nice to see you coming home too."

"Okay sis, I'll head back inside," she said before looking back to the taller Reaper. "Thanks for taking care of my sister Ragna!"

"I was the one taking care of him!" Konoe shouted, but by then Celica had already started running back to her guild. "That girl's such a handful sometimes."

"Believe me, I know the feeling," Ragna said as he also watched the young mage-in-training run off, feeling just the slightest pang of nostalgia.

"You have a little sister of your own then?" Nine asked as they started walking for the guild.

"Try a lot of 'em," Ragna answered, though he'd been thinking of taking care of Celica specifically.

"Oh, so you come from a big family?" she asked.

"More like a big orphanage," he answered. "One of my close friends back home was actually the mayor's son of that cursed hellhole we just cleared."

"...That so?" Nine had hesitated before asking the question, but didn't offer any apologies.

As they walked back in silence to the guild, Ragna remembered that their father had been missing back in his home world… and a few other key details surrounding him. He hoped some of those parallels didn't carry, which was to say nothing of the similarities from the woman waiting to greet them in the guild lobby.

"So… survive the first date?" Yuuki Terumi said as she slowly peeled one of her beloved hard boiled eggs.

"Quiet you," Nine groaned as she passed the mint haired woman by. "I'm taking a bath and I don't want to be bothered for the next hour."

"Sounds good to me," Ragna muttered as he followed behind.

"Oh?" Terumi mused with a mischievous twinkle on her eye. "I had no idea you were both so forward. Just don't make too much noise you two."

"You damn idiot," Nine growled as she gave a scathing glare to Ragna, oddly angrier with him than she was with the known jokester. He only scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he realized the opening he'd given. "Why aren't you saying anything!?"

"Be honest, is there anything he could possibly say to sooth your rage?" Terumi asked with a cackle. "Entertaining as it is to tease you lovebirds…"

"Which we're not," Konoe insisted.

"As you get on with your romantic evening in the baths…" she continued.

"I'll burn you," Nine threatened.

"Followed by candlelit dinners…"

"I'll hold her down," Ragna offered.

"I'm afraid that you two are going to have to check in with our dear Amelia before anything else," Terumi finished, finally getting to the point. "Our governor caught wind of Blue Flames here joining our guild and I get the sneaking suspicion that he's going to want to meet someone with all of these heavy rumors surrounding him. They're both in the study now."

"...She's right," Nine sighed as she started leading Ragna to the guild leader's room. "It's thanks to our Governor's support that we've managed to stay functioning even after all of the issues we've had with the churches, so we need to make sure the guild stays on his good side."

"I get the point of that, but does it ever cause any problems?" the Reaper had to ask. "If you need to rely on him so much, has he ever used that to against the guild's codes?"

"He was the last leader of the guild, so he's already more than played his part in making sure those regulations were maintained. He usually doesn't even ask us for much in the first place; just the occasional job he needs taken care of or tutoring for his son and when we do that he'll even pay us a good price."

"Got it, you've already got a good thing going here," Ragna summarized. "Anything you can recommend to keep it that way?"

"If he's got questions for you, just answer them the best you can and show him plenty of respect," Konoe told him, keeping it easy to remember. "And… to make sure you avoid pissing him off, don't ask any questions about the mask."

'...Oh shit.'

Amelia's Study

"...Intriguing," Tomelia's Governor mused to himself as he looked over the blue flames Ragna was producing around his hand.

The Reaper was having a hell of a time as he tried to keep himself from glaring dagger. As much as he'd hated and still hated Yuuki Terumi, Relius Clover might've been just as dangerous with his extensive knowledge and masterful scheming. Back home the puppet master had always seemed a half dozen moves ahead of anyone else… So how many cards was he already holding onto here in this new world?

"And you didn't have to undergo any magical training to unlock these abilities?" Relius questioned, continuing to stare at Ragna's flames as if mesmerized by it.

"Not that I was ever aware of," he answered plainly.

"What of your body; was there an increase of growth once you'd discovered this ability or was it only the single burst of power?"

"Just the one I think," Ragna again answered simply, not giving the Governor an inch. 'Just what the hell are you planning here you bastard?'

"Well it's certainly no form of magic that I've ever seen before, and its power does seem rather unfocused," Relius concluded. "I can see why the churches would have such a vested interest in you; rather difficult to put a label on something of this magnitude while its being wielded by a participant in the Holy Horizon."

"Nine said something about you having a son earlier. Is he in the Holy Horizon too?" Ragna did his best to ignore the glare Nine was sending his way and tried to push the scientist turned Governor for information on someone else from his world.

"He's not. Carl's still young and his frail body wouldn't get him very far in this sort of competition," was the answer. "Still most intriguing though."

"What do you think this means?" the guild leader Amelia asked from her chair. Even though this was her personal study, she'd said very little during Relius's conversation, examination, or questioning.

"I haven't the faintest, but it could mean an easier way to improve the guild's reputation," he admitted. "Provided of course he manages to keep himself from getting eliminated and finds a good way to focus that strange power of his."

"Learning how to use this power was why I came to the guild in the first place," the Reaper assured, keeping his face stoic and unreadable. "If all goes well here I'll have it ready to take the rest of the Holy Horizon by storm."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Relius said as he slowly rose from his chair. "I'd advise asking the other members of the guild for their input on how to control these usual powers of yours. Provided the guild still follows the old policies; to receive assistance and advice you need only ask."

"Of course; that much about this place would never change. I can assure you of that… my former teacher," Amelia said respectfully to the Governor, her words clearly carrying a long history between the two.

'Doubt that the old Relius would've given up time and information so easily,' Ragna thought with concern of these new developments weighing heavily on his mind. 'In just this town alone, I've already found three people that wanted me either out of the way or outright dead previously… and I'm still not sure how much things have actually changed since then.'

Keeping a scowl as Relius passed him by; he knew that he was under a lot of pressure while he was here, but the rewards of understanding his Azure was difficult for him to pass up. Nine then gave her account of what had happened on their assignment, but by that point Ragna's mind was barely even there as he tried to plan his next few moves, knowing that there was a lot riding on this for several of them… not least at all that if history repeated itself, people here would wind up dead or worse.

'Why does this shit need to be so damn complicated?'

Author's Notes

This chapter took a while to get out with everything going on in my life. Hope everyone's staying safe. I've started up a Discord account for 'Storm VII' so check that out if you're in the mood. Alright, response time.

Darklight of the 0 arcana: That was my thoughts, but I don't think much would change if it was reversed.

The Unplanner: Thanks for the summary, as always.

Vanitas50: Kept you wait, huh?

ArmantusCunPinnae and Pally 111: To quote Sojiro… Hoo boy.

Shirosaki Kizuro: ...What have I started?

Wic W. Athor: Glad to hear it was easy to see my reasoning. I was actually nervous about putting this chapter out for that reason.

BOILEEFFANSTE: It's something to see, that's for sure.

Guest: An interesting idea, but keep in mind Terumi isn't some malevolent force like they were back in Ragna's timeline. This version seems to have something else going on with her.

Kyouji: Nice to hear.

Wlyman2009: Or that I'm updating at all these days.

ImmaNumber1: So did everyone else it seems.

AzureWarrior21: That's one word for it.

Mugen7: My explanation of magic was rather natural, but it's nice to see that you've seen the points I was trying to make.

Garyt237: ...Might go that direction.

Guest (2): Part of the mystery.

Curse Of Kings: She'll be here for sure, but I'm undecided what I'll be doing with her at the present.

Vilostrike218: Might make that thing, there's a lot fanart of that form.

Archive4465: Here you are… four months later.

Take care everyone and stay safe!

Ciao!