Chapter 1: How Cross Met Neliel

Author's Note: Welcome to a new series, chronicling the adventures and misadventures of two individuals as they live through the many events on the world of Ragnarok. Liberties have been taken regarding the skill description of each class, and several names and places have been changed to suit the story. Enjoy!

Assassins were not known for their sense of humor.

Which was why when the guild leader called him to his office that evening to discuss something, Cross initially thought it was a joke.

"Let me get this clear;" He closed his eyes, struggling to make sense of the situation; "You wish me to accompany a biochemist? With all respect, Nero, I don't do escort duties."

Nero smiled patiently, as he usually did when dealing with children with tantrums. He knew it was a gamble; dealing with someone like Cross was usually risky as the man pretty much did not do things outside the lines of his contract. Which was; serve the guild, protect the emperium.

But luckily for Nero the clause 'serve the guild' was pretty wide and open to interpretation (and manipulation).

"She will be out newest biochemist, Cross. Now I have heard that she graduated from the Academy top of her class, outperforming all her classmen and even some of her seniors. She was even conferred the Geneticist title; a truly incredible feat for someone so young. I felt that it's only fitting for her to be accompanied by someone of... similar rank."

Cross wanted to argue, wanted to say no. But Nero was not really asking something unreasonable. Just escorting. Once that biochemist had settled down, he could go back to his duties.

"Very well," He relented and Nero beamed. "Wonderful! Dr. Neliel will arrive today at noon at the airship dock in Izlude. I'd appreciate it if you would meet her there?"

Izlude was only a sleepy satellite town of Prontera... until the Swezenbach Airship Company decided to make it one of their anchors. Now it's a bustling satellite town that could easily rival its bigger cousin in terms of activity and noise. Personally, Cross disliked it. Wearing a long cloak and hood that hid the fact that he was armed, he found himself at the airship station just as the airship scheduled for noon came into the dock.

Airship travel was popular among civilians and adventurers alike; it was fast, fairly cheap and safe. Granted you could not take a lot of things with you given the weight restrictions, but somehow everyone managed to get by. He watched everyone who came through, but nobody seemed to be looking for anyone.

Two more airships arrived as he waited, but none of the passengers hung around long enough to be waiting for him. Thankfully most people gave him a wide berth; despite not wearing anything that indicated his profession or rank people just seem to know where they're in the presence of power.

Cross had always been good at playing the waiting game, but as four airships came and went and no sign of the biochemist he was supposed to be waiting for, his patience had worn thin, so much that when the next airship came in, he swore he was going to leave and let her find her own way to Allegia.

A girl was the last to step off the gangplank, followed by the captain who was wringing his hands anxiously. As they approached, he caught words like 'apologies' and 'will never happen again' from the captain, while the girl looked irate. "I expect better treatment the next time I board this ship."

"Of course doctor, certainly. And our apologies again for mistaking you to be a terrorist..."

She scowled and looked up at Cross. He was still silent, wondering what the fuss was about and if the biochemist had missed the airship ride from Alde Baran. Irresponsible scientists who do not seem to care about wasting other people's precious time -

"You must be the escort from Allegia," She finally spoke and Cross blinked before focusing on the girl again. She looked to be in her early twenties, wearing a lavender sweater and skirt and knee-high boots that must have been dyed to match. A red belt studded with beads also carried several vials that tinkled when she moved. But what truly struck him was her face; she had large grey eyes that made her look much younger than she must be, though those grey eyes were currently scowling at him. "... Doctor Neliel?" He finally asked.

"Yes, that's me. Come on, I don't want to be standing all day in this godawful place." She started to head for the exit and Cross mutely followed her.

It wasn't until they had left the town did he finally get to talk again. "What happened in the airship, doctor?"

She twitched. "That fool of a captain heard from the stewards that someone carrying dangerous explosives was on board and mistook me for a terrorist bomber. Of course, it was nothing my call card could not fix, but it was a few hours before they could get confirmation from the Doctorate Board and by then I was late." She paused and then softened as she looked at him. "Thank you for waiting though. I was afraid that I'd have to find my way on my own, and I've never travelled anywhere before."

He did not answer to that. "What about your things?"

"Oh they'll arrive later... probably in a day or two. I sent them by caravan. Safer, considering there's so much of them that could explode if handled wrongly," She chuckled darkly and suddenly stopped. "Is that a Fabre?" She suddenly exclaimed and gingerly stepped forward. The fat caterpillar-like creature was under a tree, probably hiding from the sun. Neliel crouched down with a look of utter delight on her face. "I've only seen them in textbooks and specimens. It's so cute!"

"It's not aggressive, but it hates to be touched," He cautioned. "Just observe from afar unless you want to be poisoned."

"Oh..." She studied it for a minute more and then got up, all traces of the irate girl gone. "Will you show me other creatures? They're completely different from those in Alde, and we're not in a hurry to go back are we?"

Strange, he thought as he followed her around the field; strange that despite never setting foot in Allegia yet, she had already considered it home.

They arrived at the fort as the sky was tingled with pink and gold. "We will see Nero, the guild leader first." He said simply. "Then you may retire for the day."

"What is he like?" She curiously walked alongside him and Cross found himself slowing his usual brisk pace to allow for her smaller steps. "Is he a knight? I hear guild leaders are usually knights."

"No," Cross smiled. "He is a minstrel-class. The guild leader is chosen by the emperium, the divine stone that is the heart of a castle. When a castle is under siege and the emperium defenses broken by the invading army, the emperium confers the right to rule the castle to one individual whom it deems worthy. In our case, it is Nero."

"A Mistrel!" She chuckled, but it was not out of malice or scorn. "You know, I was afraid to come here at first. But it is looking good so far. I like Allegia already," She spun around with a tinkling laugh.

Nero, it seems, was not at all surprised to receive them so late. "I trust you had a good journey, Dr. Neliel?"

"It was alright," She grinned. "And please, call me Nel. Calling me Doctor is... a little funny."

"Nonsense, we have to observe protocol," Nero smiled and linked his fingers together. "I was informed of your concern for safety and therefore sent Cross to escort you. I trust he performed his duty well."

"Cross," She repeated and shot him a look. In a gross oversight, Cross realized that he had neglected to introduce himself to her. "You may call me Cross," He nodded.

"In fact Cross will be accompanying you for the next few days... until you've settled in, of course," Nero leaned back. "No one knows the castle better than he, and I expect you to be fully installed by the next Deux."

"What is this Deux?" She asked after they had left. Cross looked down to the inner courtyard, which is usually where most of the castle warriors would lounge. "Deux is the inter-castle tournament. The ten best warriors of the tournament will take its place as Nero's Core; the group that leads the others in offence and defense during a castle siege."

"...Are you part of the Core?"

"I have always been in the Core," he said and instantly regretted it; it sounded like a boast. But she simply laughed. "That's amazing! But I can believe it." Her eyes twinkled. "You are a Guillotine-class afterall."

He arched an eyebrow, asking for an explanation and she reached up to flick the earring dangling from his left ear. "This. It's the mark of a Guillotine isn't it?"

"And which Guillotine divulged that information to you?"

She hesitated before shrugging. "Someone did."

Now that piqued his curiosity. There were no more than fifteen Guillotines currently roaming the world, and each were highly secretive and (like him), kept mostly to the shadows. To his knowledge, he was the only Guillotine serving a castle on contract, so who had this girl met?