Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasization.

I don’t own any of the images or characters in this fic. Gameplay you see was recorded by me.

For anyone who doesn’t understand what Blazblue is, I highly recommend checking out the Blazblue retrospective videos by Thorgi’s arcade on Youtube or finding summaries online. I’ll explain things when needed, but there is SO much that I still recommend watching the videos.

Ragna had done it. He had defeated Terumi, saved his sister Saya. Now, he was about to create a new world, one where everyone could achieve their dreams. Ragna chuckled. Him, the grim reaper, the enemy of the world, the man with the highest bounty ever recorded, was about to save the world, erasing his very existence in the process. His brother Jin and his (sort of ) sister Noel tried to stop him, but Ragna knew that if he continued to exist, the world would just keep resetting.

Saying goodbye to Jin and Noel, Ragna entered the master unit, creator of all reality, and erased himself from the master unit’s memories, as well as everyone else. He then placed the dreams of those around him into the master unit, creating a brand-new world. He also used the power of the azure to rewrite reality a bit, making it so ars magus could be used without Seithr.

Ragna exited the master unit and left the Azure Gate, where he met Amane Nishiki, a bystander and leader of a dance troupe. Ragna smiled and put his fists to his hips. “So…what do you think?” Ragna asked.

Amane curled his lips into a smile. “That was a fine dance you performed grim reaper…it is a shame I will not remember who performed it.”

As the two finished their talk, the Azure Gate opened once more, pulling in the master unit, Amane, and erasing Ragna from existence. Well, that was the plan at least.

The next thing Ragna new, he was…tiny. Not like an ant, but like a toddler. That’s when he heard a feminine voice. “Morticia, where’d you find the little guy? One Red eye, one green eye, and that white hair…it’s not exactly normal” the voice asked. Ragna looked around to see two women sitting at a table. One of the women seemed pretty strong, judging by how she carried herself, though she wasn’t nearly as powerful as the guys he had faced, Ragna could tell.

The other woman looked directly at him when she spoke. “Berling…I found the child all alone. He is a foundling” she said with a bit of sadness. Ragna was still very confused. He was pretty sure he shouldn’t be existing right now.

Berling clenched her fists a little. “Damn…that’s pretty harsh” she said.

Morticia chuckled, “I suppose even mercenaries have morals” Morticia said, taking a bite out of her food.

Berling chuckled, “I suppose even the most hardened of mercenaries like me have a soft spot for kids.” Berling’s little smile then turned into a frown.  “I just hope that Shez over there gets to grow up in a better world than the one we have currently.”

Morticia nodded in agreement with Berling. “Yes. Fodlan is currently peaceful, but it is far from perfect. Commoners and nobles are constantly at each other’s throats, and this crest system is tying things down too much. I pray that Shez will be able to make a name for himself in the future.”

‘Fodlan?’ Shez thought. Shez wasn’t going to use the power of the Azure for everything nor was he going to use it to rewrite reality in big ways unless absolutely necessary, but he would use it to gain a bit of information. Despite having his arms back and lacking the Azure Grimoire, he could still use the power of the Azure. ‘Probably because I am the “Man of the Azure”’ he thought to himself.

Using the Azure’s power, he realized what was happening. He didn’t erase himself from existence completely as he thought he did. Instead, everyone’s memories of him were suppressed, while his soul traveled the boundary, another dimension that allowed one to travel to other places and times, but also other worlds entirely, which is what happened here. He was reborn as a child named Shez.

Shez uttered his first sentence when he realized what happened. “OH, SON OF A BITCH!!!”

Morticia and Berling turned to the child who was sitting in a cot. Morticia was genuinely mortified by what he said, while Berling burst into a fit of laughter, clutching her stomach. “HAHAHAHA!!! That’s…amazing…! His first sentence…and it’s THAT!”

Years would pass and Shez would learn many things over the years. For one, magic was the norm in Fodlan. Not artificial magic like Ars Magus, but pure, natural magic like Nine and Celica used, though the magic of Fodlan was inferior to any Ars Magus and he couldn’t find a mage that was comparable to Nine in terms of magic.

Another thing was that the government was far more medieval than his world’s. I mean, there was a kingdom, and then an Empire for god’s sake. Speaking of which, this world was apparently protected by a goddess, and there was some war back then, though Shez was a commoner, so he didn’t know much about it, but it was less like the Ikaruga civil war, which wasn’t actually a war for independence from the NOL but just a way for Sector 7 and the NOL to collect souls, and was more similar to the dark war against the black beast.

If Shez was being honest, he hated how this world worked. He and his friends in the village all agreed that there should be no differences between nobles and commoners, with a few of them commenting on how the crest system was very flawed, though Shez didn’t understand the crest system very much.

Shez, despite growing up in a relatively peaceful village, kept up with his training. Morticia wasn’t entirely on board with her adoptive son doing this, but she didn’t stop him. Berling was impressed by his skills and taught him a few things, such as how to use a bow. Shez could also still use his Drive, Soul Eater. Plus, he was also still the Black Beast, but he used the power of the Azure to ensure that the Black Beast would never destroy Fodlan, which allowed him to call upon the full power of the Black Beast.

Everything changed when Shez was 15. He was returning from the lake, getting water from the village. Shez sighed. “Why did mom make me drag these damn buckets? What a drag…” he said.

As he walked closer to the village, his eyes widened at a horrifying sight. A sight that reminded him of his past life as a kid. “No…” he muttered, dropping the water buckets to the ground and sprinting as fast as he could. By the time he got there he was too late. His entire village was on fire. Bodies everywhere, his home was gone. Before Shez had any time to grieve, his body was wrapped in green chains. At the end of the chains was a snakehead. That meant one thing. “Hazama…” Shez wheezed out.

The green haired man who was dressed like a detective grinned mischievously. “Oh? You remember me? I’m pretty touched, not gonna lie” he said before tightening the chains around Shez, causing him to scream out in pain. Hazama was a vessel for the now dead Yuuki Terumi, but they were split apart long ago.

Not far behind Hazama was his partner in crime and his robotic wife, Relius and Ignis Clover. Relius put a whole new meaning to the term “mad scientist” considering he turned his wife into what she is now against her will. At least, that’s what Shez knew.

Relius put a hand to his chin in thought. “Interesting…has the power of the Azure transported you here? Or did the master unit do this, wanting to give you a better life than you previously had? The possibilities are endless” he said, his mask hiding his facial expression a bit.

Hazama slammed Shez into the ground, tightening the chains even further. Hazama stomped on Shez’s back multiple times, laughing as he did so. “This seems pretty familiar, doesn’t it?” Hazama asked with a grin, his yellow eyes opening for once.

“You…bastard…!” Shez groaned out.

“Enough games, Hazama. Kill him and let’s leave” Relius demanded.

Hazama sighed. “Party poopers, am I right?” Hazama wrapped one of Ouroboros’ chains around Shez’s right arm. Shez tried to pull away, but it was too late. The chains had ripped his arm off, leaving Shez in immense pain. He cried out in intense agony as his limb was torn from his body, with blood pouring out everywhere.

Hazama could have finished him off, at least ending his pain, but he decided to let the boy bleed out. Hazama chuckled as he and Relius left Shez to die in his burning village. “Sorry Raggy, but no cat or vampire are going to save you this time.”

As the two left, Shez used the power of the Azure to warp away. He warped right next to his aunt Berling, who was startled by Shez’s appearance and horrified by the state he was in. Luckily, Berling was alone when this happened, so she quickly went to his side to try and stop the bleeding. “Goddess above, what happened?!”

Shez quickly came up with a good lie as he started to fade. “Fire…mom warped me…” he said before losing consciousness.

Shez opened his eyes, and he was floating in a void of darkness with stars in the sky. “Where am I?” he asked. He knew that his body would be fine, as he was subconsciously using the power of the Azure to keep himself alive. Looking at his body from what he thought to be the inside of his mind, he used the Azure to create an Azure grimoire, an amorphous blob that could take the shape of an arm. While he could just replace his arm with a flesh arm instead, the Azure Grimoire still provided a decent power boost. Plus, it had the IDEA engine made by Kokonoe, Nine and his master Jubei’s daughter and a scientist.

The IDEA engine is made to rival and counter the power of a Nox Nyctores, weapons made to kill the Black Beast during the dark war. Hazama has one, Ouroboros, so he needed every advantage he could get. He could also just use the power of the Azure to rewrite reality and restore his village, making it so nobody died, but he already didn’t want to play God when he didn’t have to. Shez didn’t care about some natural order. If anything, he hated it, as it was one of the reasons he lost so many, with Hazama and Relius being two more reasons. Still, he had no reason to change the natural order.

Plus, if he did revive everyone, he would be known for that, and people would wonder how that happened. He also isn’t keen on wiping everyone’s memories again.

Shez watched as the Azure Grimoire attached to his body’s arm. That’s when he heard a voice behind him. “That’s quite the power you have there.”

Shez turned around to see a figure that looked almost like a ghost. That made Shez freak out, considering his not-so-hidden fear of ghosts. “Gh-ghost?!” Shez stuttered loudly.

The figure chuckled, “I doubt that. I’m inside your head, so I’m not a ghost.”

The figure introduced himself as Arval, and while Shez normally wouldn’t trust a voice in his head, Arval didn’t seem to be a threat. Of course, Arval being inside Shez’s head meant he also knew about his past life, but it’s not like Arval could tell anyone about it. Plus, Arval had some pretty interesting magic from what he told Shez. Shez wasn’t well-versed in magic, but he could learn.

When he woke up, Berling was relieved to see him, but saddened that her sister was gone. She hoped that Shez wouldn’t have to fight, but he had no place else to go. Plus, he was already pretty strong, but she wouldn’t be sending him onto the battlefield just yet.

Too bad for her, she didn’t have a say in the matter. On the next mission she had (they were handling bandits), Shez jumped into the fray against her wishes, using Aramasa (which he summoned using the Azure) to attack.

Berling called out for him to stop, but her pleas ceased as her eyes widened at the skills of her nephew. The bandits severely underestimated him, laughing as he slowly walked up to them.

(Blazblue OST: Rebellion)

One bandit’s laughter was cut off as his head was severed from his body by a horizontal sword slash from Shez. The bandits soon readied themselves to attack. One bandit charged at Shez with his spear, aiming for the teen’s head. “Die you brat!”

As the bandit thrust the spear towards Shez’s head, Shez ducked under the thrust, grabbing the spear and pulling the bandit towards him, leading to a strong clothesline from Shez. Shez took the spear and thrust it into the heart of the bandit, ending his life.

Another bandit tried to catch Shez off guard. Shez blocked the sword strike with Aramasa before delivering a strong uppercut that launched the poor bandit into the air. Shez lifted his sword above his head before slamming the bandit into the ground with it. As he attacked, what looked to be a dark red monster appeared from the sword, which terrified the bandits. Shez leans in and thrusts his sword into the bandit in a reverse grip style, with the same monster appearing.

Shez turned his attention to the remaining bandits. Shez scoffed. “You bastards don’t stand a chance against me!” he shouted before engulfing his left fist in darkness. He lunges towards another bandit and lands a strong gut punch before following up with a swing that had what looked to be the head of some monster attacking the bandit. Shez called this move, Hell’s Fang.

The bandit was launched a bit off the ground from the attack, landing on a tree, allowing Shez to stab his sword through the gut of the bandit and into the tree. Shez pulled away in time to avoid an arrow aimed for his head. Three archers were in his way.

Shez scoffs and swings his sword upward across the ground, sending a deadspike at the three bandits. The monster devoured the poor bandits, and they never stood a chance.

Shez then turned his sword into a scythe, with a black aura surrounding him. Shez used Arval’s magic to warp behind one of the bandits. Shez slashes his opponent repeatedly with the blade of his scythe, draining more and more of the bandit’s soul in the process. Well, that and the bandit was bleeding everywhere after losing a few of his limbs. “Sorry, but there’s no hell for you, just darkness” Shez said as he turned his scythe into a giant red claw. With one final claw stab, the bandit was completely erased from existence, leaving no body behind.

All of the bandits were terrified. One brave soul asked what happened to the bandit Shez had just killed. Shez slowly turned to the bandits, his red eye glowing menacingly. “I took his soul. That’s what happens when you mess with me. I’m the grim reaper, Shez the Bloodedge!”

That was all the bandits needed to hear before they all fled the battlefield. Soon, word of the grim reaper would spread thanks to the bandits and anyone who managed to survive an encounter with Shez, who didn’t really mind the attention.

Two years later, we see Byleth and Jeralt, the Ashen Demon and the Bladebreaker, two extremely powerful mercenaries. They had both heard tales of the grim reaper. Apparently, he wore strange clothing that didn’t resemble any of Fodlan’s clothing. He could also summon monsters, but not monsters like demonic beasts. His weapon is apparently a sword that can turn into a scythe, and he can also take souls.

While Byleth found the idea of taking souls to be ridiculous, Jeralt didn’t, especially considering what he had seen in his long life. Jeralt leaned back against the tree and turned to his daughter. “So…what do you think of the grim reaper?” he asked.

Byleth replied with the same dull and emotionless tone she always used. “While I find the claim of stealing souls to be outlandish, his reputation must exist for a reason” she replied, sharpening her sword.

Jeralt chuckled. He never imagined someone other than him would intrigue his kid. “Well, he’s up with Berling’s mercenaries. Apparently, Berling is his aunt.”

“Berling?” Byleth inquired. “Isn’t she protecting the goods we must collect?”

Jeralt nodded as he got up and mounted his horse. “Yeah. We’re probably gonna be fighting them, so maybe you’ll meet the grim reaper kid” he said before he and his horse set off for their camp.

Byleth finished sharpening her sword and started to walk to the camp, preparing herself for the fight of a lifetime.

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasization.

I don’t own any of the images or characters in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. Gameplay you see was recorded by me.

Question though. I want to use official images to give everyone an idea of what the characters look like, because sometimes I can’t accurately describe them. I checked AO3’s FAQ and can’t find anything regarding the use of official images.

In the dark of night, a caravan was making its way towards its destination. Berling’s mercenaries had been hired to protect the goods within the carriages. The noble who hired them was Count Gloucester himself, who had heard tales of Berling’s mercenaries making a name for themselves within the Alliance. The count knew how important his goods were, so he hired the mercenary group that had the infamous “Grim Reaper” on their side.

When Berling saw how much gold there would be if they succeeded, she accepted the job right away. That’s how they wound up here, protecting the goods of one of the most influential noble houses in Fodlan.

Berling slowed her horse down to peak inside one of the carriages that was holding some of the goods. Berling smiled. In between the goods was the person who was basically her nephew, the Grim Reaper himself, Shez. “Hey! Don’t fall asleep on the job!” she jabbed.

Shez groaned in annoyance as he rose from his position to meet Berling’s eyes. Shez had decided to change his style. Using the power of the Azure, he managed to get his old clothes back. Berling and others found his style strange, as nobody really wore clothes like his, but they didn’t question it, nor how he got them. The red coat was definitely something he wanted, as it was pretty sentimental to him.

“What the hell Berling?” Shez asked in annoyance. “I was having a good dream, and you woke me from it!”

Lazley, who was driving the carriage Shez was sleeping in, jokingly asked if he was dreaming about her.

Shez scoffed, “In your dreams…” he muttered back. Shez wasn’t focused on romance, especially because it wasn’t his thing. Still, he knew that being a womanizer like Kagura wouldn’t lead to anything serious. Besides, what he and Lazley had now was pretty decent, and he didn’t see a reason to go beyond that.

Lazley grew a lusty smirk. “Are you sure you don’t want me~?” she asked, her tone extremely seductive. Sadly, this wouldn’t work on someone like Shez.

Funny thing, many of the female mercenaries actually tried to have “fun” with Shez. It was just a bit of teasing at first, but many of them would start to show off their bodies more to get his attention. Unfortunately, Shez, in his past life, had met many women with bigger boobs than them. Nine, Makoto Nanaya, Litchi Faye-Ling, Bullet, the list goes on. (A/N: Seriously, look up any images of these characters and you’ll see what I mean.)

“Not a chance” Shez replied to Lazley’s joke, remaining neutral faced. Berling chuckled. Shez could be a bit rough around the edges, but he had a good heart, that much she knew. Of course, that good heart didn’t stop him from slaying his foes without hesitation.

Lazley turned back to face the road with a shrug. “Your loss.”

Berling chuckled. “Good luck getting with him Lazley, he’s terrible when it comes to girls” she joked.

Shez took great offense to that. “Piss off! I can totally get a girl if I wanted!” he boasted.

Getz laughed as he rode up to hear the entire conversation. “Not with a mouth like that! But who knows? Maybe you’ll end up marrying the imperial princess?”

Getz’s comment caused many of the mercenaries to laugh out loud. The idea of a mercenary like Shez marrying the daughter of the current emperor of Adrestia was so outlandish that it was hilarious.

Shez didn’t find it too funny though. “Bunch of assholes…” he muttered.

The laughter was cut short when one of their scouts reported sightings of Jeralt’s mercenaries. That name instantly made Shez get up. Shez grabbed Aramasa and jumped out of the carriage. Berling looked at Shez in confusion. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Shez strapped Aramasa to his backside and put his hands in his pockets as he walked down a slope. “What does it look like?” he replied.

Getz looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re takin them all on by yourself?!”

Shez shrugged. “Getz, you’ve seen the shit I can do. This won’t take long. I’ll meet you guys when I’m done.”

(A/N: Canonically, Shez would have a bad sense of direction. Shez, who is Ragna reborn, would know how bad something like that can be, as Celica A. Mercury had a terrible sense of direction. There was even a gag reel about it. So, even if he did have a bad sense of direction, he would use the power of the Azure to get rid of that annoyance.)

Shez jumped down the hill as other mercs tried to stop him. Berling sighed. She didn’t doubt Shez, but sometimes he was too rebellious for his own good. (A/N: Rebellion is literally his theme song Berling.)

Byleth had split apart from her father to lead her own troops. The plan was simple. One group would ambush them when the caravan arrived, while she would block the only escape route. Byleth remained stoic as she and her troops guarded the escape route.

Byleth’s eyes widened slightly as she saw someone jump down from the top of the hill and dive headfirst into the ambush group. The person was too far away to see clearly, but she could make out what looked to be a scythe. ‘The Grim Reaper?’ she thought. If it really was him, then her father needed help. She turned to her squad. “There’s been a change in plans. We’ll meet up with the others” she ordered.

“Oh…I don’t think so Ashen Demon” a menacing voice said. Byleth turned around to see someone she had never met before. The man had a menacing grin on his face. Byleth shivered. Just by looking at him, she knew he was powerful.

The man grinned. “I hope you’ll make a nice appetizer before I face the Grim reaper” the man said as he charged towards Byleth. (A/N: I want to use an official image to show you what this guy looks like, but I’m still not sure about it. I’m concerned about copyright and stuff. Please explain it to me in the comments if you can. Thank you!)

As Shez dove down to meet the ambushers, he turned Aramasa into a scythe and started swinging wildly. From the scythe, multiple dark-red waves of energy came out. These energy waves sliced through the mercenaries below Shez, killing a few of them by slicing them to pieces.

Shez used some magic to gather dark red wind into his palm. Just before Shez hit the ground, he released the wind to not only slow his fall but push away most of the mercenaries. (A/N: Whenever Shez uses magic, it’s a dark red color like most of Ragna’s attacks in Blazblue. You could say that it’s the black beast within him mixing with magic, but honestly, I did this because I thought it was cool. So yeah, if Shez uses ice magic, you’re getting red ice like you do in Ocarina of Time.)

Arval insisted that Shez learn to use magic. Unfortunately, Fodlan’s magic pales in comparison to both natural magic from his world and ars magus, but he decided that it would be somewhat useful to learn. (A/N: Sorry three houses fans, but if you’ve played Blazblue, you’d know this is true).

Shez flipped so he would land on his feet, with Aramasa returning to its sword form. Those who had heard of the Grim Reaper were terrified of him. Shez grinned. “You bastards may wanna run, otherwise I’ll show all of you that there is no afterlife, only the void” he warned.

Some of Jeralt’s mercenaries were terrified and wanted to run away. One merc was too bold for his own good and charged forward like a fool. ‘Idiot…’ Shez thought as he blocked a sword stab before cutting off the idiot’s head.

Everyone watched as the head slowly rolled over to Jeralt and his horse. The head spooked the horse a little, so Jeralt had to calm it down. “Easy…” he said, rubbing the horse’s mane.

Jeralt sighed and rubbed his chin. “Well…I guess the “Grim Reaper” is as ruthless as they say” he said. That’s when he got a closer look at Shez. “You know, you look a little young to be a full-fledged merc. How long have you been doing this kid?” Jeralt was genuinely curious.

Shez scoffed. “Two years. So what old man?” he replied. If Jeralt knew his secrets, he wouldn’t be asking that. Now that Shez thought about it, if he wasn’t reborn, he would be in his 40s by now.

Jeralt chuckled. “Just asking” he said before turning to his squad. “You guys get the goods. I’ll handle this” he ordered.

“Oh, no way in hell!” Shez shouted. He slammed his palm into the ground, summoning a wall of darkness that blocked off the pathway up the hill. This would prevent anyone from trying to get to his merc group. Well, if they wanted to take the short way.

Jeralt narrowed his eyes. “That’s some pretty interesting magic you’ve got there kid. Where’d you get it?” He had seen many things in his long life. Magic like that was not one of them. (A/N: For those wondering if Shez has his awakened state, he does. 2 years of training with Arval’s magic has made him far more experienced with it. He just doesn’t have a reason to use that state because he’s already so much stronger than everyone. Shez did retain his strength from his past life as Ragna.)

Shez scoffed. “Doesn’t matter. I’m still gonna kick your ass old man” he said. Shez stabbed Aramasa into the ground, summoning multiple deadspikes that consumed many of Jeralt’s troops. Seriously, they were eaten alive.

Jeralt could tell the Grim Reaper meant business and turned to his surviving troops. “All of you, fall back! This mission’s a bust!”

Shez noticed that as the troops started to retreat, Jeralt stayed behind. Shez put away his sword and turned away, confusing Jeralt. “What?” Jeralt asked.

Shez sighed. “You know you can’t beat me, and you guys are already retreating. I have no reason to fight you anymore” he said. Truly, he knew he could beat Jeralt, but if Jeralt was giving up, what was the point in killing him?

Jeralt was about to speak but covered his eyes as a bright green flash of light appeared nearby. Shez noticed it too and covered his eyes. “Damn! That’s bright!” he grunted.

The man grinned as he noticed the bright light too. It was coming from his opponent. “Ah…so you’ve got more fight in you than I though. I hope this won’t disappoint” he said with a grin.

The bright light dimmed as Byleth appeared to now have bright green hair and eyes. Byleth(?) pointed her sword directly at the man who stood before her. Her clothes were in tatters from the previous beatdown, but she didn’t back down. “I can tell that you don’t belong in this world. Leave at once, or I will erase your existence!” she demanded, her voice sounding completely different.

The man grinned. “Oho…this aura…I can feel it…it’s the aura of a god!” The man was starting to get excited.

Byleth, seeing that the man was not listening to her, scoffed. “It seems you need to be put in your place” she boasted as she sent a massive fireball towards the man.

As the attack grew closer and closer, the man didn’t move, taking the attack head on. Byleth grinned as fire engulfed the man. “Perhaps in death you will learn to respect those above you.”

Byleth started to walk away when she heard what sounded like a groan of disappointment. Byleth slowly turned in horror as the man simply walked through the flames as if they were nothing to him. “What…? How is this possible?! Are you even human?!”

The man simply scoffed and, faster than Byleth could react, delivered a strong punch to her gut that sent her flying far across the battlefield, where Shez and Jeralt were. Jeralt noticed Byleth in danger and shouted her name.

Shez groaned and moved to catch Byleth. He managed to catch her, bridal style. Byleth groaned in pain as she grasped her gut. Byleth opened her eyes to look at who caught her. “Another…outsider…?” she asked.

Shez narrowed his eyes. ‘Does this woman know? Besides, doesn’t the Ashen Demon have blue hair?’ he thought. For a moment, he thought that she was one of Terumi’s vessels, but that didn’t make sense. For one, Terumi’s gone for good, he made sure of that. Secondly, the hair wasn’t the right shade of green and her eyes weren’t orangish yellow. Thirdly, why would Relius create another vessel when Hazama is right there?

Still, this woman knew he was an outsider. Though, he wasn’t sure if Byleth was a normal woman. Shez had been around enough godlike beings to know when he’s near a god. ‘The goddess of Fodlan maybe? What a pain in the ass things will be’ he thought as he used healing magic he learned from a white mage a few months back to heal Byleth’s injuries.

Arval didn’t know why, but he had an incredibly strong urge to kill this woman. Shez could feel it. ‘Chill Arval, she’s not our enemy. I hope not.’

Arval sighed. “Yes…I just feel this unexplainable urge to wipe this woman from existence. It feels like it is my purpose” he told Shez.

Shez made a note to use the power of the Azure to look for information. He did not want to take the risk that his body would be hijacked. He trusted Arval, but you never know.

Shez handed the recovering Byleth to Jeralt. Jeralt held his daughter in his arms, wondering what happened to her. “You look a lot more like Sitri now kid…” he muttered.

Byleth groans and grabs her head. She closes her eyes for a moment before reopening them. She looked around and saw Shez. “The Grim Reaper?” she asked in her normal voice, confused as to why he was here. ‘Did he save me?’ she thought. (A/N: No, I am not pairing them together.)

Shez noticed the change in her voice and put a hand to his face. “Oh great…another one…” he muttered. “I swear, this is the 3^rd time I’ve met someone like you” he complained, referring to Platinum the Trinity and Hazama. Both of them had multiple souls in one body. Hazama was Terumi’s vessel before they split apart, and Trinity had Luna and Sena, with Trinity Glassfille placing her soul in the Nox Nyctores to stabilize the body.

Byleth was confused, but panicked a bit when she heard the menacing laugh of the man who defeated her with such ease.

Shez and Jeralt turned to face the laughing man, and Shez couldn’t believe it. He gripped Aramasa tighltly. “No way…AZRAEL?!”

(BlazBlue OST: The Tyrant)

Sure enough, the mad dog himself was standing before them. Blue hair, multiple markings on his body, and a hungry grin. Azrael laughed manically when he saw Shez. “Ragna the Bloodedge…it’s about time I found you!”

Jeralt and Byleth turned to Shez with confusion. ‘Ragna?’ they both thought.

Shez gritted his teeth. “How the hell are you here, mad dog?!” he asked. Shez assumed that the memory suppression had worn off, which also explained how and why Hazama and Relius remembered him.

Azrael chuckled and slammed his fist into his palm and cracked his neck in preparation for the battle. “3 years have passed since you disappeared grim reaper. The Hero of Ikaruga was pretty insistent on finding you, same with the 13^th murakumo. They went to Kokonoe, who was so annoyed that she gave in and used her science to create a device to find you” Azrael explained.

‘3 years? It’s been far longer than that for me’ Shez thought, realizing time must flow differently between the two worlds. Of course, he could worry about Jin and Nu looking for him later. “How the hell did you get here then?” he asked Azrael.

Azrael chuckled. “When I broke out of that damned cage, I overheard them talking about it. We never had our rematch, so I took Kokonoe’s machine and used it to enter this world. Though, I might have broken it. That scientist Relius Clover told me that time now flows the same in both worlds now thanks to my meddling.”

(A/N: Originally, I was just going to say that Azrael used his full power to rip open a whole in reality, but it wasn’t working out. I rationalized this because we’ve never seen Azrael’s full power aside from his astral heat. He uses limiters to decrease his power, and he’s only ever removed 2. He was about to remove 4 of them against Kagura, but Jin stopped him. Considering a non-powered up Azrael was strong enough to shift space with his strength, ripping a whole in reality wasn’t too far-fetched.)

Shez growled. “Where are they?!” he demanded to know. He wasn’t going to let Hazama and Relius get away with what they did.

Azrael laughed as he started to power up, a menacing red aura surrounding him. “Forget about them Grim Reaper! Just focus on me! Enchant Dragunov, level 4 released!”

4 of Azrael’s tattoos disappeared as he released the limiters he placed on himself. The area began to shake violently as Azrael powered up. Jeralt and Byleth were stunned. “What the hell?!” Jeralt shouted. Neither of them had witnessed something like this in their lives. They looked at Shez, but he didn’t seem as shocked as them.

Shez growled. “You really are a monster!” he shouted. He turned to Byleth and Jeralt. “You two, get the hell out of here! He’s way out of your league!” he told them. He also hoped that Berling and the others weren’t in any danger.

Jeralt nodded, knowing he was severely outmatched here. He placed Byleth on top of his horse and got on the horse himself. Wishing Shez luck, he and Byleth rode away as fast as they could. Byleth hoped that Shez would be alright, as she knew this Azrael was powerful.

Once Shez saw they were far enough away, he turned to Azrael. “Alright, if you want to fight me that badly, I’ll give you a fight you bastard!”

Shez took a stance and raised the arm with the Azure Grimoire on it. The ground began to shake even more as Shez removed his own limits. “Restriction number 666 released! Dimensional interference field deployed! IDEA engine linked! BLAZBLUE, ACTIVATE!!!”

A pitch-black aura surrounds Shez as he uses the power of the Azure to enhance his strength greatly. He’s still holding back, but it should be enough for now. Azrael grinned with excitement. “NOW WE’RE TALKING GRIM REAPER!!!” he shouted as he and Shez charged at each other.

Ragna VS Azrael

Both Shez and Azrael were still going at it. One final clash sent them a good distance away from each other. Azrael was laughing like a madman. “YES, GRIM REAPER!!! THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SEE FROM YOU!!! YOU’LL MAKE A MEAL LIKE NO OTHER!!!”

Shez gritted his teeth. “What the hell are you talking about?! You and I both know we aren’t going all out you freak!”

That comment only made Azrael even more excited. “THEN LET’S STOP HOLDING BACK!!!” he shouted. Azrael was about to release all of his limiters when a phenomena intervention started to occur. Azrael didn’t like this. “DAMNIT SCIENTIST, I HAVEN’T HAD MY MEAL YET!”

It was too late to stop it, as Azrael disappeared. Shez sighed and powered down. “Glad that’s over” he said before noticing that the caravan had arrived. Shez dispelled the dark wall he conjured earlier. Berling, Lazley, and Getz left the caravan as it stopped to wait for them.

“Shez, what the hell happened?!” Berling said as she checked for any injuries. There were a few, but Shez was healing from them.

Shez sighed. “A bad memory, that’s what happened.”

Arval brought up a suggestion that seemed pretty good. “I think it’s time you left this group behind. You don’t want to get them all involved in this “different world” business, do you?”

Arval had a point. Hazama, Relius, and Azrael all knew Shez was here. Shez may not be able to protect Berling and the others if he sticks around them. He didn’t want to leave them, but it was for their safety. Plus, he didn’t want a repeat of the past.

Shez sighed. “You guys…need to go on without me” he said, confusing his friends.

“Wha?” Getz asked. “What do you mean?”

Lazley looked a bit upset. “You’re leaving us?!”

Shez raised his hands to defend himself. “Listen, the guy I faced is dangerous. Only I can handle him. He and a few others want me dead really badly, and I don’t want all of you getting caught in the crossfire” he explained.

Lazley and Getz tried to argue back, but Berling pulled them both away. “Look, Shez has made his choice” she said. She then gave Shez a little smile. “Besides, I think Shez has grown enough to forge his own path.”

(BlazBlue OST: re:stung)

Berling sighed. “When I first saw you as a little thing all those years ago, I never imagined what you would be like when you grew up. I knew there was something special about you, I just didn’t know what it was, and I still don’t” she said, remembering her times with little Shez.

Shez crossed his arms. “Is it my power?” he asked, hoping he wouldn’t have to explain anything.

Berling chuckled and put one of her hands on her hip. “That’s part of it, but I could feel something else too. That rebellious side of you, the person you are now…you’ll make a mark on the world in a big way.”

Shez raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying I’m gonna change the world? What, bridge the gap between nobles and commoners?” He wasn’t a noble, nor did he have any influence in the political world.

Berling shook her head. “That’s up to you. Still, I don’t doubt that you could do it.” Berling put her hands on Shez’s shoulders and gave him a stern look. “Shez, Fodlan is a cruel world. It’s not just bandits and thieves, it’s nobles too. The system…it’s a shackle. All commoners see that, but don’t want to do anything about it.”

Shez agreed with that. If he was being honest, he wouldn’t be surprised if someone started a war to change this world. He himself would have no room to judge that person for starting a war, considering his own massive body count.

Berling wrapped Shez in a hug, which he returned. “Stay safe kid” she muttered.

Shez nodded. “I will Berling” he said. Getz and Lazley realized they couldn’t stop Shez from leaving, so they both joined in on the hug. What none of them knew was just how big of an impact Shez would have on the fate of Fodlan.

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasization.

I don’t own any of the images or characters in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. Gameplay you see was recorded by me.

(A/N: Fun fact: Originally, there was going to be a hakumen-like figure in my original plans for this story. This would be Shez and Edelgard’s son from a timeline where Shez joined the Blue Lions. He was created using the blood of Shez and Edelgard, meaning Relius was behind his creation. This person would basically be there to kill Shez because he hated the fact that Shez wouldn’t join Edelgard, potentially giving him the family he always wanted. I scrapped this because it was just too complicated. The original ending for this fic was Shez using the power of the azure to effect all timelines, making sure that he always ended up with Edelgard, making sure their kid didn’t go off the rails.)

It had been 6 months since Shez had left Berling’s mercenaries. During those 6 months, Shez had made an even bigger name for himself than he already had. Becoming a solo mercenary meant he was completely without allies. Even so, that didn’t stop him from taking down hoards of bandits and demonic beasts on his own.

Some said that he wasn’t even human, but the son of the goddess herself. Others believed that he was a living hero’s relic. A hero’s relic was enough to turn the tide of a battle with just one person wielding it. Shez compared the relics to the Nox Nyctores of his old home, but just like the magic of Fodlan, the relics were nothing compared to ars magus or the Nox Nyctores.

What was possibly the most interesting encounter was with the archbishop herself. Shez was visiting Fhirdiad around the same time as her. She was playing with children in an orphanage, something that was apparently pretty common according to a few citizens.

Shez had a bit of a soft spot for orphans, as he himself was like them in his past life. What was annoying was that many kids treated him like a jungle gym. It reminded him of the kaka clan’s youngest. Shez reluctantly played with them for a bit, with Rhea watching on in amusement as Shez basically became an older brother to the kids.

The kids asked him about the rumors like him being a hero’s relic come to life. Shez dismissed all of those rumors, but the idea of him being the son of a goddess made him think. He was technically the creation of a god, the Master Unit. His sole purpose was to be the one to save his sister, Saya, who was technically the Master Unit. But the Master Unit created him, so technically his sister was also his mom…

Shez decided to throw all of those disgusting thoughts away. Before leaving Fhirdiad, Rhea offered Shez a place in the Officer’s Academy when the time was right. Shez said he’d keep the offer in mind. School life wasn’t really his thing, but he was down for trying something new.

Of course, Shez suspected that Rhea only offered that position to keep an eye on him. Shez was basically a one-man army that wasn’t really loyal to anyone. He was an unknown factor, a wildcard, something that needed to be controlled in the eyes of many. When Shez showed some of Arval’s magic to the kids, he noticed a subtle shift in Rhea’s expression.

Shez wasn’t really sure what to think of Rhea. He knew she wasn’t a bad person, but something about her didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was the fact that she was the leader of an organization that enforced the system that was holding Fodlan back. Maybe it was that motherly smile that hid something dangerous underneath it. He wasn’t sure, but he knew he couldn’t trust her. She was hiding something, and she was dangerous.

Currently, Shez was trying to find Remire Village. He didn’t have a map on him, so he was just wandering around trying to find it. Shez was forced to sleep on a bed of leaves for the night. Well, that was until Arval woke him up.

Shez groaned in annoyance as he got up and stretched. “What the hell Ar-“ Shez cut himself off when he saw why Arval had woken him up. He saw three people arguing, and he knew who they were. Edelgard Von Hresvelg, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, and Claude Von Riegan, the three future leaders of Fodlan.

Dimitri turned to Shez and eyed him warily. “Who are you? Another bandit perhaps?” Dimitri hoped that Claude hadn’t led them straight into a trap.

Claude wasn’t so sure though. He got a closer look at Shez, narrowing his eyes and focusing. “Hold on a minute. Strange clothes, a big sword, white hair, two different colored eyes…” he muttered.

Edelgard was the first to realize who they were looking at, and her eyes widened in amazement. “Could you perhaps be Shez the Bloodedge?” she asked. She heard many rumors about him, but never thought she would meet him this soon.  What stuck out most to Edelgard about Shez was his clothing, hair, eyes, and magic.

For one, Shez’s magic reminded her of “them” so there was the chance that they could be allies. Of course, she could be wrong on this. He had a similar hair color to her and Lysithea, meaning he could just be one of their experiments and he just uses their magic because of those experiments. Some said that Shez has some sort of crest, so if he is just like her, maybe she could convince him to join her.

What Edelgard just didn’t understand at all was how he dressed. He didn’t dress like Those Who Slither in the Dark, but he didn’t dress like any noble or commoner from Fodlan. Plus, his weapon was unlike anything Edelgard had ever seen.

Dimitri was also interested in Shez’s weapons, but knew they were all in danger. “I would love to speak with you more, but we have a situation on our hands” he explained.

Shez listened with intent as the three nobles detailed how they ended up here. Shez crossed his arms and gave Claude a pretty nasty look. “What kind of idiot runs away like a coward in a forest crawling with bandits?!”

Edelgard and Dimitri couldn’t help but agree, with them both giving Claude equally harsh glares. Claude raised his hands in defense. “Hey, we were outnumbered!”

Shez sighed. “Let me guess, I help you, you pay me, right?”

The three nobles nodded, eager to see the grim reaper in action for themselves. Shez noticed a few bandits lying in wait behind the three house leaders. “Get down!” he shouted as he used the technique known as shadowblade to send a crescent arc of energy towards the bandits. The three house leaders reacted quickly, ducking under the arc as it passed through trees and cut through the bandits like a hot knife through butter.

Shez moved past the three house leaders and went off on his own to fight the bandits. The other three moved to follow him. They could barely keep up as Shez was much faster than them. Shez leaped out of the forest and right into a pile of bandits.

The bandits were terrified. “The Grim Reaper is here?!” one cried out in terror.

Shez turned Aramasa into a scythe and started to spin around in a circle. Shez was using wind magic to create a dark-red tornado that pulls in the bandits. Any unfortunate souls pulled in were sliced in half by Shez’s scythe. In total, 10 bandits were killed by this single attack.

While this was happening, the three house leaders covered their faces to shield themselves from the wind. “The Grim Reaper is clearly a force to be reckoned with!” Dimitri shouted over the strong winds. A few leaves from nearby trees were being pulled in by Shez’s makeshift tornado.

Shez finished his attack and stopped spinning, a little dizzy from the movement. “Definitely not doing THAT again” he muttered as he regained his bearings. Three more bandits appeared and tried to attack Shez from behind, but Shez quickly did a turning swipe and killed the bandits before they could kill him.

Shez swiped Aramasa to clean the blood off of it before turning to the three bewildered house leaders. Shez glared. “What the hell?! Are you three just gonna stand there or help me out?!” He didn’t really need the help, but still. Shez used Arval’s magic to turn into a small energy ball and moved out of the area.

The three house leaders all snapped out of their trances and followed Shez to the next area. They came across more bandits, but before Shez could do anything, Edelgard ran past him with her axe ready. Shez decided to let the princess do her thing whilst he, Claude, and Dimitri stayed back.

‘Maybe hiring these people wasn’t the best plan’ Edelgard thought to herself as she moved to the side to avoid a spear thrust from a bandit. The bandit put too much of his body forward when he attacked, so Edelgard used her left leg to stomp down on the lance. Thanks to the physical enhancement her crests gave her, she was able to make the bandit falter despite their size difference.

Edelgard used this chance to drive her axe into the back of the bandit, piercing deep into his body. She used magic to ignite the axe and the bandit, burning him to ashes. Edelgard then ducked under a spear swipe before driving her axe into the face of the bandit who attacked her, splitting it open and causing blood to gush out. Edelgard elegantly avoided the blood. She took pride in her hair, and she did not want blood in it.

Edelgard saw that she was still surrounded by a decent chunk of bandits. ‘Hmm…perhaps I should mimic what the Grim Reaper did earlier’ Edelgard thought. As the bandits circled around her, Edelgard stood in one place and raised her axe above her head. She started to twirl the axe like a baton. Without warning, Edelgard was surrounded by a tornado of flames. The flames consumed the bandits around her, incinerating them and leaving nothing but ashes.

Arval chuckled at the sight. “It seems the imperial princess has taken inspiration from you. Not many nobles take inspiration from commoners.” It was true, and Shez knew it.

Dimitri was up next. Unlike Edelgard, Dimitri used a spear and electricity. Dimitri dodges two sword swipes from two bandits. Dimitri thrusts his spear through the heart of one bandit before pulling it out and striking down the other with a spear swipe. Dimitri’s spear crackled with electricity as he swiped his way through a horde of bandits.

Dimitri launched a good chunk of bandits into the air before using multiple thrusts from his spear to deal massive damage. With a diagonal swing, he sent the bandits flying before he leapt into the air and threw his spear down, creating an explosion of electricity that killed the bandits. Dimitri breathed heavily as he grabbed his spear from the ground. “I’m sorry, but you have left me with no other choice” he said remorsefully.

They moved on to another area and Claude was the first to notice the group of wyvern riders. Claude, being the only one of them that used a bow, decided that he would handle things here. Several riders tried to attack Claude from above, but Claude rolled away. Claude aimed his arrow at one of the wyvern riders and let the arrow fly.

The arrow pierced through the head of the bandit, causing him to fall off his wyvern. Claude fired three more arrows at other riders. As they fell off their wyverns, Shez, Edelgard, and Dimitri all dealt with them by finishing them off.

Claude charged up one final arrow, using magic to ensure that it would pierce through multiple foes at once. He angled the shot just right and released. With just one arrow, Claude killed an entire row of wyvern riders.

While those 4 were handling the bandits, Kostas was busy dealing with the knights of Seiros. Kostas cursed his luck. “Damn it all! First those brats escape, now the knights are here! Even worse, the Grim Reaper’s on our tail too!” Everyone had heard of the grim reaper at this point. Bandits feared him like crazy.

Kostas decided to go all out. He turned to his remaining crew and barked out orders. “Screw this strategy nonsense! All of you, kill those brats!!!”

Shez and the house leaders heard this and knew what was happening next. Shez grunted in annoyance. “So, they’re coming at us all at once?”

Claude nodded. “Seems like it. Not exactly the brightest bandit, is he?” He had a point. A full-frontal assault wasn’t always the best idea, though all of them were severely outnumbered. The 4 allies watched as bandits emerged from each keep. They covered an entire area with sheer numbers.

Dimitri started to sweat a little. “This does not bode well. We cannot take out all of these bandits by ourselves!” The bandits were all disorganized, but they were still dangerous.

Edelgard nodded and breathed heavily. “I suppose this is the end…” she said, remorseful that her ideals will never be fully realized.

Shez snorted. “You guys really believe this is a problem?” he asked. The three house leaders looked at him like he was insane. Shez sighed and took a stance. “You guys need to get behind me.”

The house leaders did so and stood a good distance behind Shez. Shez glared at the bandits charging his way. Shez let out a yell of power as he charged a lot of his power into Aramasa. Shez drove his sword across the ground and up, shouting out “DEADSPIKE!” as he did so.

To the horror of the bandits, a massive and monstrous head emerged from the ground. The bandits tried to run away from the head, but it was too fast for them. Shez also used some magic to create walls. This made sure they didn’t try to escape using the sides. They could only run in the opposite direction of the deadspike, but it didn’t matter.

The bandits tried their best, but they were all consumed by the mouth of the beast. Just like that, an entire horde of bandits was wiped out with one attack. The three house leaders were simply stunned by what they saw.

Claude shivered a bit and gulped nervously. “I heard the rumors…but this is just insane!”

Dimitri just stared at all of the destruction. Trees and keeps were completely destroyed by Shez’s attack. The destruction reminded him of a pretty traumatic event from his past.

Edelgard could barely keep her mouth closed. ‘Unbelievable! I’ve never seen something like this! If he truly was allied with “them,” they could have used his power to take over Fodlan in an instant!’ she thought. She was starting to believe that Shez, despite having a connection with them, wasn’t allied with them at all. ‘A defector perhaps?’ she thought. Edelgard snapped out of it. ‘I need him on my side’ she thought.

Of course, if she did bring him to her side, twsitd would no doubt want to use him, which is a terrifying thought. ‘I need to get rid of them first before having Shez join me’ she thought. She still wasn’t sure if Shez was experimented on like her, or if his hair was just naturally white like that. If he was experimented on, maybe vengeance would be a good motivation.

Shez breathed a little as he returned his sword to its scabbard. He turned to the house leaders to speak to them but was interrupted by a roar of anger from behind him. He and the house leaders saw Kostas with his axe raised, charging in like an idiot.

“Dumbass…” Shez muttered as before Kostas reached him, he turned his right arm into a red claw and grabbed Kostas by the face, lifting him off the ground. Kostas flailed about, trying to escape. It was pointless though. “Big mistake. Be devoured by the darkness” Shez said as he used his drive to destroy Kostas’ soul. The arm exploded as Kostas disappeared into thin air.

The three house leaders were borderline confused. Edelgard asked the question that was on their minds. “What happened to him?” she asked.

Shez turned back to them and gave a bit of a lie. “It’s my magic. I’m sure you’ve noticed I use dark magic, but that has nothing to do with that magic. It’s completely exclusive to me. I call it Soul Eater.” Soul Eater was his drive, something the Azure gave to people with strong souls or those who came into close contact with the Azure’s power.

(A/N: Also, according to part 2 of the Blazblue Bloodedge Experience light novel, kissing can drain a person’s life force much more quickly. I have no idea why this is a thing, but Blazblue has always been weird like that. I seriously had no clue about this until looking up soul eater on the Blazblue wiki. Also)

The name alone sent chills down the spines of the house leaders. Edelgard was shocked. ‘He has their magic AND something beyond that?!’ she thought.

Claude nervously cleared his throat. “Umm…care to tell us what Soul Eater does?” He didn’t want to know, but he asked anyway on instinct.

Shez nodded. “Soul eater allows me to drain the life force of my opponents, allowing me to heal myself. I can also take/destroy their souls, or just a part of the soul if I need to.” By part of the soul, he meant he could take someone’s goals in life. Their “dreams” so to speak. He could also just destroy them completely if he wished. That’s what he normally did because he didn’t know how many souls he could contain. He was barely able to contain everyone’s dreams in his past life.

The notion of losing their souls made the three house leaders turn pale. Edelgard was now as white as her hair. “I…now understand why you are called the Grim Reaper” she said nervously. She knew for a fact that she NEEDED Shez on her side.

Shez groaned. “Would you three cut that out? I’m not gonna take your souls unless you piss me off, okay?” Seriously, this always happened whenever he told people about Soul Eater.

This was able to calm the house leaders down a bit. “Well, I suppose we should thank you Shez. Without your help, we would have died” Dimitri said.

Shez then thought of something. “Now that I think about it, what are three nobles doing out in a place like this?” he asked.

Edelgard took the lead here. “We are students of the Officer’s Academy in Garreg Mach. This was supposed to be a routine field excursion, the first of the year.” Edelgard’s face grew grim. “Unfortunately, things did not go as we planned.”

If Claude hadn’t run away, her plan would have gone perfectly.

Shez crossed his arms in thought. “The Officer’s Academy…” he muttered. He’d heard of it before, but from who?

“The archbishop herself offered you a place there as a student, remember?” Arval said. He was usually the one to remember things for Shez.

Shez’s eyes lit up in realization. “Oh, that military academy, right? The archbishop offered me a place as a student there” he said, shocking the three house leaders.

“Lady Rhea offered you a position?! Why didn’t you take it?” Dimitri asked. As far as he knew, no person had EVER received an offer like Shez did. And that offer came from the archbishop herself.

Shez thought about telling them. He had no real reason to lie about this, so he told them. “While I appreciate the offer, I’m pretty sure that she just wants to keep an eye on me. I’m a living unknown entity with power and magic no one has ever seen before. She’d be stupid not to keep a close eye on me.” That, and he couldn’t trust Rhea.

Edelgard wouldn’t admit it, but she found Rhea’s move pretty smart. Still, she couldn’t let her get her hands on the Grim Reaper. He’s just too valuable. ‘How to convince him though…’ Edelgard wondered. He didn’t trust Rhea, but he also lacked a reason to go against her.

Edelgard’s thoughts were interrupted by Shez giving them another reason he didn’t join. “Also, I’ve had my fair share of spoiled brats. I’m not interested in meeting more” he said. Honestly, most of the nobles he met were pretty spoiled or downright rude to him. Shez crossed his arms. “No offense to you guys, but nobles are such a pain in the ass. Always thinking they’re better just because their noble or they have a crest…”

Okay, THAT was something Edelgard could work with. Before she could speak, Alois arrived. ‘I’ll talk to Shez later then’ she thought, which she knew was possible as Alois insisted that Shez accompany them back to camp. Looking at Shez, she could tell that he wasn’t happy about the situation, but he still needed to get paid for his work.

As they all arrived at the camp, the three house leaders split off to find their classmates while Shez talked to Alois.

The first person Edelgard went to was Hubert, her closest ally and friend. When she found him standing by one of the tents, she wasn’t shocked to find him staring at Shez. “Interested in our guest Hubert?” she asked as she moved to stand beside him.

Hubert stood still as he continued to watch Shez with intrigue and wariness. “Lady Edelgard, would that man be the infamous Grim Reaper? The same mercenary who’s known for his magic and skill?”

Edelgard nodded. “The very same. After witnessing his power for myself, I wish to have him join us.”

Hubert’s eyes widened at this. He turned to Edelgard with skepticism. “Lady Edelgard, for all we know, he could be connected to “them.” Are you certain of this?” Hubert admires Shez’s power and wishes to know more, but from the descriptions of his magic, some of it resembles the magic of their current reluctant allies.

Edelgard sighed. Hubert was always like this, though she appreciated that he was looking out for her. “Hubert, while his magic does worry me, I do not believe Shez is connected with them in the way you think.”

Hubert wanted to speak up against this, but he then noticed Shez walking towards the two of them. “I suppose we shall see for ourselves…” Hubert muttered.

Shez wanted to speak with Edelgard first. She seemed the most appealing of the three. Dimitri was too nice, and Claude was too shifty. He could also feel something beneath Dimitri, and Claude’s smile didn’t reach his eyes at all.

Aside from that, the guy she was standing next to had been staring at him ever since he came here, and it was really getting on his nerves. Shez gave a death glare to Hubert. “I noticed you watching me like a hawk. You got something to say?”

Hubert returned the death glare. “Apologies, I just do not wish for my lady associate with ruffians like you.”

This guy reminded Shez a lot of Valkenhyn, one of the six-heroes and Rachel’s loyal butler. This often led to Shez and the beastkin coming to blows on multiple occasions. Shez just hoped Edelgard wasn’t like Rachel.

Shez laughed. “I’M the ruffian? I’m not the one who looks like he crawled out of a crypt!” Shez barked back.

Hubert was actually starting to get a little angry. “It seems the rumours of that mouth you have are true. I hope none of us gain your foul mouth.”

Edelgard was already annoyed with this exchange. “Hubert, stop this at once!” she ordered.

Hubert looked at her, then to Shez. He sighed. “As you wish…” he said before leaving to tend to other things.

Edelgard turned to Shez. “I apologize for Hubert’s behavior. He is fiercely loyal and protective of me” she said.

Shez sighed. “I know his type, but that still doesn’t make it less annoying.”

The rest of the black eagles aside from Hubert decided to get a closer look at the legendary mercenary at their camp. Caspar was the most excited to meet him, having heard many stories about his strength.

“You’re the Grim Reaper! I can’t believe I’m actually meeting you!” Caspar exclaimed.

Ferdinand wasn’t so sure about the whole “Grim Reaper” thing. “Caspar, while I do not doubt the capabilities of Shez the Bloodedge, surely his other name is inappropriate. No person can take the soul of a living being!”

Edelgard turned to Ferdinand with a small smirk tugging at her lips. “Oh no, Ferdinand. He really can do it. I have witnessed it for myself” she said, explaining Shez’s magic, which she didn’t realize was actually his drive.

A few of the black eagles took a big step back when they heard this. Shez’s face soured at these actions. “Did you really have to tell them?” he complained to Edelgard.

Linhardt was more intrigued than afraid though. “So, you truly do possess the ability to take souls? Then, could you really be a living hero’s relic?” It was pretty well-known that the relics, even if you had a compatible crest, could still wear on the user’s soul.

Shez shut down that theory. “Sorry, but it’s just my magic. I’m human like all of you, and I don’t have a crest if you were wondering” he said.

Edelgard searches for any deceit behind Shez’s words. Either he was that good of a liar, or he was telling the truth. A third option is that he may not be aware of his heritage and truly believes he is human. Edelgard just isn’t sure.

Petra did not understand. “Grim Reaper? Why is Shez being called that? Who is this Grim person reaping?”

Dorothea explained who the grim reaper was, as Petra didn’t have knowledge of most of Fodlan’s folktales.

As Shez left the black eagles, he encountered the blue lions, who were definitely the most thankful for his help.

“Ah Shez, there you are” Dimitri greeted.

Dedue bowed his head in thanks. “I must thank you for saving his majesty. We were all truly worried.”

Ingrid bowed as well as a few others. “Dimitri is a close friend to many of us. I suppose we were lucky you were there to help him” she said.

Shez shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. Anyone could have popped up and saved him. Besides, it probably wouldn’t be good if the crown prince were to kick the bucket.”

Ashe nodded. “Yes, that would be bad…” That’s when Ashe remembered something. “Actually, I have visited an orphanage in Fhirdiad recently. Many of the children there seem to like you, especially this one girl. Many people have called you a pedophile because you hang around the orphanage whenever you visit Fhirdiad.”

Shez glared. “I’M NOT A PEDOPHILE! WHY DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS ASSUME THAT?!” Seriously, he got so many pedo comments from Platinum and a few others.

Annette couldn’t help but chuckle at Shez’s anger. “Sorry, but that’s just how things are sometimes.”

“Why were you there anyway?” Mercedes asked. A man with Shez’s background normally wouldn’t be hanging around an orphanage.

Shez crossed his arms. “Well, I have a soft spot for orphans I guess.” In his past life, he was technically an orphan too. “Plus, that girl Ashe mentioned? I’m the one that brought her there. She’s actually the kid of some noble who cheated on his wife to produce a child with a crest. The kid’s mother was killed when she was 9 years old. The kid was taken by bandits, but I managed to save her.”

The mood instantly went down. “That’s awful. That poor girl…” Ingrid muttered.

Shez sighed. “Well, shit like that happens. Though, it’s not always because of human nature.” Sure, greed played a major factor, but it’s never as simple as that. “That noble needed to produce an heir with a crest because of the crest system. That system helped fuel his greed and his desire for an heir with a crest. Without the crest system, that noble wouldn’t have done what he did. It’s never just one thing, believe me” he said.

This made a lot of people start to think a bit. Sylvain was reminded of his brother. ‘I…I can see his point. Without the crest system, Miklan wouldn’t have done all those things. Miklan’s a good person deep down, I know it. It’s just that jealousy of his, but he would never have been jealous if I wasn’t made the heir. And I would never have been made the heir if not for the crest system.’

Sylvain decided to change the topic as things were getting depressing. “So, I hear you have a weapon completely different from a hero’s relic or a sacred weapon. Can I see it?” he asked.

Shez nodded and pulls out Aramasa. “Sure thing. It’s called Aramasa. It’s pretty heavy, but that’s because of this.” Shez presses a button on Aramasa and its handle extends a good distance. The blade moves to the side, allowing a red crimson blade to emerge.

The blue lions were amazed. None of them had ever seen a weapon like Aramasa. Felix wanted to fight Shez, and Shez said he could clear some time. After talking a bit more, Shez moved onto the Golden Deer. He wasn’t sure what to expect from them really.

Shez found Claude talking to some people he couldn’t recognize. One of them reminded him of Count Gloucester. Claude noticed Shez’s presence and called out to him. “Hey friend, over here!”

The others turned to face the arriving Shez. Hilda was the first to greet Shez. “So, you’re the grim reaper? I was expecting a black cloak and a scythe to be honest” she said.

Shez shrugged. “I have a scythe, but no cloak.”

Lorenz was quick to speak up next. “You are Shez the Bloodedge, correct? My father hired you and Berling’s mercenaries to protect a few of his goods 6 months ago” he said. He never met those mercenaries personally, but his father told him a bit about Shez.

Shez raised an eyebrow. “You’re Count Gloucester’s son? Huh, neat. But yeah, I worked for him once. I fly solo now though. Still, if you ever need a strong mercenary, I’m your guy” he said, pointing at himself.

Lorenz smiled. “I will be sure to keep you in mind once I take my father’s place Shez. After all, your reputation makes you the most sought-after mercenary nowadays.”

Leonie, who was also looking to be a mercenary, couldn’t help but ask Shez a few questions. Shez, while a little annoyed, was still kind enough to give her a few tips.

Shez was quick to notice Marriane’s tired look. “Is she okay?” Shez asked, pointing at the blue-haired girl.

Marriane gasped. “Oh…um…don’t worry about me…” she said softly. The look Shez gave her told her he wasn’t believing her.

Shez sighed. “Whatever, just get some rest and take care of yourself. You don’t want to drag others down.” This was Shez showing genuine concern, but the way he says it can come out wrong occasionally. Luckily, everyone was smart enough to know that Shez meant well.

Lysithea then asked Shez a pretty strange question. “Shez…your hair and eyes…were they always like that?” she asked. Edelgard happened to be passing by and decided to listen in. Perhaps she could get a few more answers.

Shez gave a swift response. “Yes. I’ve always had hair and eyes like this.” Which wasn’t technically a lie. As far as he knew, when he was reborn here, he always had white hair and two different colored eyes. “Why are you asking, kid?”

That was the wrong thing to say apparently as Shez had to dodge a fireball attack from Lysithea, who was glaring with an intense ferocity. “Do NOT call me a kid!” she growled.

Shez was almost equally pissed. “What the hell brat?! You seem pretty young to me! Besides, teenagers and adults don’t throw fireballs at people for no reason!”

Lysithea prepared to send another fireball, but Ignatz and Raphael were able to restrain her.

That’s when they all heard laughter coming from the forest. Shez recognized that laugh, and he almost instantly sent a deadspike into a bush. Before the attack landed, a man jumped out of the bush. It was Hazama.

(Blazblue OST: Gluttony Fang II)

Hazama chuckled as he dusted a few leaves off his clothes. “Oh…sorry…but that was TOO good!” he said before clearing his throat. “Sorry, where are my manners.” Hazama tipped his hat forward and introduced himself. “I’m Hazama Honoka, nice to meet all of you.”

Shez growled. “You piece of shit!” he shouted. Everyone aside from Hazama turned to Shez with confusion in their eyes. Shez clearly seemed to know who this strangely dressed person was. In fact, he seemed to hate this “Hazama.”

Hazama’s eyes widened in false realization. “Oh, little Raggy’s here too? Long time no see!” Hazama said excitedly before giving Shez a grin. “Tell me, how many years has it been since we last met? Two years? Man, time flies!”

“Shut up!” Shez shouted as he sent another deadspike towards Hazama, but Hazama jumped over it, giving Shez a pout.

“Geez little guy, are you still upset that I took ripped off your arm, forcing you to replace it? Or is it the fact that you were too weak to save your home, your family? I mean, you just can’t protect the ones you love can you Raggy? Or is it Shez now?” Hazama said.

Shez shouted out in anger. “I SAID SHUT UP!!!! MY VILLAGE WAS WIPED OUT BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!”

The people watching this exchange had a ton of questions, but many were horrified by the fact that Hazama had wiped out an entire village and didn’t seem to care about it at all.

Hazama shrugged his shoulders. “What? Can’t a guy have some fun once in a while? You know me little Raggy, I can’t feel pain! So, why not inflict it upon others?”

Dimitri’s eyes widened. ‘That’s why he did it? Because he can’t feel pain?’ He and many others weren’t sure what to make of this situation as they were missing a ton of context.

Hazama grinned sinisterly as he noticed a few more people in the area. “Oh, what do we have here?” Hazama pointed his dagger at a few of the blue lions. “Victims of the oh so terrible Tragedy of Duscur” he then pointed his dagger at Edelgard and then to Lysithea, “and you two, oh you have no clue how much you have in common with little Raggy over there. Man, Fodlan’s a house party for messed up childhoods, isn’t it?”

The messed-up childhood line made everyone look at Shez, Lysithea, and Edelgard. Dimitri was worried. ‘El, did something happen?’

Edelgard was now VERY suspicious. ‘This man clearly knows what happened to Lysithea and I, but what does Shez have in common with us? Was he lying earlier? And why did he call Shez “Raggy?” What’s happening right now?’ she thought.

Shez has had enough of this. “SHUT UP ALREADY!” he shouted, gaining everyone’s attention. “I’m gonna rip you limb from limb!”

The ground began to shake as Shez powered up for a fight, a black aura surrounding him. “Restriction number 666 released! Dimensional interference field deployed! IDEA engine linked! BLAZBLUE, ACTIVATE!!!”

Everyone aside from an amused Hazama looked at Shez in awe. They could feel the dark power radiating off of Shez. “I-Is this the power of the Grim Reaper?!” one of the knights asked in amazement.

 Hubert and Edelgard observed Shez very closely. His power was dark in nature, they could tell, but it wasn’t the same darkness “they” used. Who was Shez truly?

Hazama chuckled. “Alright, if you want me to play with you, I think I can spare a bit of time.” Hazama took a stance of his own, and to the shock of everyone, the ground began to shake again. “Restriction number 666 released! Dimensional interference field deployed! Code SOL! BLAZBLUE, ACTIVATE!!!”

A green ring surrounded Hazama as he activated the Azure Grimoire within himself. Nobody aside from Shez and Hazama understood what was going on. Regardless, they all watched in anticipation, as a battle was about to begin.

Shez/Ragna VS Hazama

The battle had everyone watching. The speed and power of Shez and Hazama was something nobody expected. Claude, Edelgard, and Dimitri, being the only ones in the area to actually see Shez fight, were surprised that he had more power in reserve.

Shez ran forward, trying to finish off Hazama for good. That’s when another phenomena intervention occurred, warping Hazama away. Shez gritted his teeth. “Damnit!” he muttered.

“I guess Relius must have made a device that could create phenomena interventions. He’s no observer like Noel, nor is he a bystander like Rachel” Arval said.

Shez sighed and powered down. Shez turned to the absolutely stunned crowd.

The Knights of Seiros were about to search for Hazama, but Shez put his weapon away and spoke. “Don’t bother, he’s long gone. The magic he used warped him far away” he said, lying a bit.

Shez noticed that everyone was looking directly at him. “*Sigh* I assume you want some answers?” he asked, finding it annoying that he would have to lie a lot more.

Shez managed to come up with a good story. Hazama was a man who wiped out his village 2 years ago. Shez received sympathy from many, but he shrugged it off. “Raggy” is just a nickname. Shez also lies about the Azure Grimoire, saying that it’s ancient magic that was sealed away. It replaced his arm when Hazama ripped it off.

Shez could tell that there were a few that didn’t buy his story, but after seeing what he could do, they knew better than to pry. Of course, Shez still had to head to Garreg Mach to get paid, so he reluctantly joined them on their journey back.

I didn’t mean for this chapter to be so long. Sorry.

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasizing.

I don’t own any of the images or characters in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. Gameplay you see was recorded by me.

Shez sighed as he was led to the archbishop. He had to admit, Garreg Mach was beautiful, though it paled in comparison to the architecture of his home world. Well, Fodlan was his home too, but he still held some love towards his past home, despite everything that happened there.

Shez and Alois walked through the door to the audience chamber. Alois introduced Shez to the rest of the occupants in the room, although Shez was already familiar with one person in the room. Shez simply said. “Lady Rhea.”

Rhea smiled warmly at the grim reaper. “Shez. It has been months since we last saw each other, has it not? How have you been since those days?”

Shez shrugged his shoulders. “Pretty well, unless you count my encounter with an old enemy.”  He still needed to find Hazama, but he made a promise that he wasn’t going to use the power of the azure for big things unless absolutely necessary. Besides, Hazama could lead him into a trap if he did that.

Seteth, Rhea’s advisor from what he knew, was the one who addressed the elephant in the room. “You speak of Hazama Honoka, correct? You seem to know him personally” Seteth observed. Rhea had told him about Shez’s power, and the students and knights at camp said that Shez had even more power in reserve. If Hazama was able to match the grim reaper, then he needed to be accounted for.

Shez sighed. “Look, Hazama is MY enemy. Trust me, it’s better to stay out of the way” he said. He hoped that he wouldn’t have to reveal too much.

Rhea’s look shattered Shez’s hopes. “Shez, if this Hazama is a threat to Fodlan’s peace, then I implore you to tell us anything you may know.” She dropped her motherly façade and wore the look of an interrogator, something that Shez never expected from her.

Arval took this time to chime in. “You have to give them something. They’ll just keep asking if you don’t tell them. Besides, with the central church backing you, Hazama and Relius could be found easier.”

Shez considered Arval’s words before sighing. “What a pain in the ass…” he muttered before looking at Rhea. “Alright, but the story is very long. Besides, a lot of your students probably won’t stop bugging me unless I tell them too, so I’d rather tell everyone at once so I don’t have to repeat myself again” he said, as he hated long-ass stories.

The occupants in the room looked at each other before Rhea nodded. “Very well. As for my other request…”

About 30 minutes later, Shez is sitting in the chapel. Many students are sitting and waiting for the reason they were all called here, but what stood out was the fact that Shez was wearing a student’s uniform alongside his red jacket. Shez mentioned that it had personal value, so he was allowed to wear it over his uniform.

Many students were wondering if the grim reaper was now a student. Their questions were answered when Shez took center stage. “Alright, I’m not one for speeches, so I’ll cut to the chase. I’m Shez the Bloodedge, the Grim Reaper, and now a student at the officer’s academy. I have joined the black eagle house” he revealed.

Gasps and murmurs ran rampant. None were expecting the grim reaper to become a student. The black eagles were especially excited to have Shez as a member of their house. Edelgard couldn’t believe it. ‘This is too perfect. I now have much more time to get him on my side’ she thought.

As the noise quieted down, Shez spoke up once more. “I’m sure most of you are wondering who Hazama is and how he knows me. Because I know that most of you won’t stop asking until I tell you, I might as well tell you.”

This was good news for a certain group of people. Shez sighed. “Hazama is a…vessel. He’s human, but a different kind of human. He was specifically created to be a vessel for another evil maniac, Yuuki Terumi. Both of them are from a land far from Fodlan’s reach.” Now, Shez was NOT going to go into all of Terumi’s history, let alone reveal the fact that he was a god. That would mean revealing the boundary, his past, everything. He had to get a bit creative.

The idea of another land outside of Fodlan caught everyone’s attention right away.

Shez used the azure to visualize what he was describing, showing off Terumi and Hazama. “Terumi is pure evil. He’s a vicious monster, but he’s also powerful and cunning, just like Hazama. Terumi is basically an evil spirit that had to create a body for himself, but he had allies create vessels like Hazama as backups should his original body be destroyed. Of course, those vessels have somewhat different personalities.”

The audience could tell Terumi was evil just by looking at his psychotic grin. Bernadetta was absolutely the most terrified, but the fact that Terumi was technically a ghost also scared people like Lysithea.

Shez continued with his story. “Hazama is similar in personality to Terumi, but far less psychotic sounding. Hazama hurts and kills others because, as a vessel, Hazama cannot feel pain, so he decided to inflict it upon others. He’s very manipulative, able to influence political figures to do his bidding. He’s a snake.”

‘Sounds very similar to a certain group’ Edelgard and Hubert thought, hoping Hazama was not allied with them.

“Hazama also wields a Nox Nyctores, Ouroboros.” Shez noticed someone raise their hand. “What?”

The person who raised their hand was Sylvain. “What is a Nox Nyctores?”

Shez facepalmed. “Damnit…now I have to make the story longer.” He sighed. “Alright, listen well. The people of this other land were far more advanced technologically and magically than Fodlan, and their government was different too. They don’t have things like crests. If you want to lead, you have to earn your position by vote or prove yourself as a war hero or something. They didn’t decide their rulers by blood, they moved past that.”

That last part shocked many, but also gave some a lot of hope. For Edelgard, this world was basically what she wanted. ‘A land without the crests or the crest system…perhaps I can ask Shez to take me there’ she thought. “So, the concept of nobles and commoners…” she said.

Shez shook his head, “That’s outdated in their eyes. They don’t use that system anymore. Anyone can rule or get a political position with hard work, no matter what their social status is.”

He didn’t realize it, but he had given Edelgard a lot of hope.

As Shez showed off some of the technology and magic, he continued to speak. “It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely peaceful. Their cultures were diverse, but people were accepted regardless of whatever they believed in” he said.

Claude smiled. ‘That’s good to know. I should ask the guy to take me there’ he thought.

“Everything was peaceful up until the dark war” Shez said. Shez showed off a giant multi-headed monster emerging from a city, destroying everything in sight. The audience gasped as they saw the monster.

Rhea was stunned. In all her years, she had never seen something like that. “What…is that?” she asked.

Shez sighed. “The Black Beast. It’s a monster that doesn’t distinguish between friend or foe, it only seeks destruction. The Black Beast existed outside of the natural world, so only magic could affect it. Unfortunately, not many humans were able to wield magic. So, the beast rampaged for years.”

The devastation of the black beast brought a few to tears, while also terrifying many. The thought of such a monster existing in Fodlan was something equally terrifying. Dimitri raised his hand. “Shez, by end of the dark war, how many people were left?” he asked, almost dreading the answer.

Shez gave him a grim look. “The war lasted 10 years. By the end of it all, about half of the land’s population was wiped out.”

A stunned silence ran throughout the chapel. “H-Half…? That’s…unbelievable…” Seteth stuttered.

“Not even the war of heroes was that devastating” Ferdinand said, shaking in fear.

Unfortunately, Shez had more surprises for everyone. “That’s not all. The Black Beast had a pretty terrifying power, just like mine. When the black beast kills someone, it consumes their soul, meaning they don’t get an afterlife” he said. (A/N: I don't remember whether or not this is actually a thing, but I'm gonna say it is. The azure grimoire Ragna has can take souls, and the black beast is basically a failed version of the blazblue's (azure grimoire's) evolved form.)

Many were now terrified that something similar would happen to them. Rhea and the faithful were saddened that so many would never find peace with the goddess. Thankfully, Shez brought some good news. “Don’t worry, the beast is gone. Thanks to the sacrifice of a man named Bloodedge, the Black Beast was frozen for an entire year. During that year, a sage known as Nine promised to make a way to kill the Black Beast.”

When an image of Nine was shown, many men in the room couldn’t help but stare, much to the annoyance of the women in the room. Although, seeing Nine’s body made a lot of the women in the room feel inadequate, especially Lysithea.

Shez glared. “Would ya quit staring perverts?! I have more to say!” Shez’s threatening voice snapped everyone out of it.

Shez sighed. “Anyway, Nine created a way for normal humans to use magic, known as Ars Magus. She went a step further and used the souls of a few willing participants to create Nox Nyctores. Think of Ars Magus as sacred weapons, while the Nox Nyctores are the Heroes’ relics. Of course, both Ars Magus and the Nox Nyctores far surpass the sacred weapons and relics.”

This shocked many. Weapons that surpass the Heroes’ Relics? That’s simply unheard of. Linhardt was now VERY intrigued. Raising his hand, he asked more about Ars Magus and the Nox Nyctores.

Shez sighed, annoyed that he had to explain more. “Alright, fine. Ars Magus are usually called Grimiores, but that doesn’t mean they are books. They can take on many forms. Ars Magus come in two types. Most Ars Magus are referred to by that name, but combat-level Ars are referred to as Ars Armagus” he said, showing off a few Ars Magus vessels and some Ars Armagus.

“As for the Nox Nyctores, they were on a whole different level thanks to being powered by souls. The first is Gigant: Takemikazuchi” Shez showed off a giant humanoid monster. “This thing would be able to wipe out an entire city with ease. If it were still around, you could wipe out Adrestia, Faerghus, or Leicester without a second thought. Thankfully, it was destroyed after the war.” This wasn’t technically a lie as he did help destroy it.

Many were glad that such a weapon was no longer around. Edelgard breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank goodness. If twsitd got their hands on such a weapon, the damage would be severe’ she thought.

Shez shows off his brother Jin using another weapon. “The second Nox is Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa. Its blade is made from a special ice that can’t melt no matter what. Using the water in the air, it can freeze opponents.”

Some notice that Shez stares at the man using Yukianesa for a moment, but they don’t push the issue. Shez then shows off a pair of guns, but he first has to explain what guns are. After that, he explains Bolverk. “Arcus Diabolus: Bolverk. This weapon can form attacks at will, even if you’re blocked by a wall.”

As this weapon was shown off, the archers in the room were jealous. Shamir muttered under her breath how cool Bolverk is. Shez shows off a mechanized doll the size of a human. “This is Deus Machina: Nirvana. Essentially, it’s a puppet that can attack people.”

Shez shows off a cat using a strangely shaped sword. Before anyone asked, Shez told them everything. “Yes, animal people are a thing. That’s Jubei, one of the six heroes of the dark war, but I’ll get to them later. Mucro Somnio: Musashi. It’s a sword that can cut through absolutely anything as long as the wielder is strong enough.”

Many swordsmen admired the skill Jubei showed off. Felix took some notes about how he fought, thinking of ways to improve his own skills.

Shez showed off someone in pretty interesting armor. He was wielding an unbelievably long sword. “That’s Hakumen, another one of the six heroes. It’s made from a special metal that is capable of nullifying the effects of Ars Magus. Hakumen is strong not just because of his armor, but also because of the power of order.”

When he saw the confused looks, he sighed once again. “The power of order is an absolute will. It counters anything that threatens the order of the world. The bigger the threat, the stronger someone with the power of order grows. It can also grant people certain abilities. For example, someone with the power of order could completely nullify the effects of a crest or even remove a crest should crests start to become a threat to the order of the world. It basically keeps the world in check.”

Many doubted that crests could ever become a threat to the world, but people like Edelgard really wished they had this power. ‘It would make my goal much easier’ she thought.

Dimitri wasn’t blind to how much crests are valued. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if things do indeed go that far. I hope someone out there is worthy enough of this power’ he thought before raising his hand. “How is someone selected?”

Shez shrugged. “Well, the power of order isn’t good or evil, nor is it always used in the name of justice. It’s just there to keep the balance. Meaning if there was too much good, the power of order would create an evil force to counter the good and vice versa. It just chooses people that are most suited for the role.”

Shez sighed and showed everyone a woman using a long staff. “That’s Trinity Glassfille, another one of the six heroes. She’s using Arma Reboare: Muchorin. It can summon many things.”

Shez showed off Hazama again this time with a Nox Nyctores. “That’s Geminus Anguinum: Ouroboros. It has snake-like blades at the end of the chains, allowing its wielder to latch onto almost anything. This also causes damage to someone’s mind, so it can potentially drive people insane. That’s one of the reason Hazama’s a threat.”

People shivered at the thought of a weapon that can drive people mad. Many hoped to never encounter Hazama again.

Shez shows off a ninja using another Nox Nyctores. “This is Phoenix: Rettenjo. It’s not only a good weapon, but it can also destroy the other Nox Nyctores.”

Many were impressed by the speed and agility of the ninja. Petra wished to meet this man so she could learn how he got to such a level.

Shez showed off the final Nox Nyctores, showing a cybernetic woman using it. “That’s Lux Sanctus: Murakumo. It turns into 8 other swords that can be used in terrifying ways, including long-ranged combat.”

Many raised their hands, but Shez shot them all down. “Trust me, it’s better if you never find out anything about that girl. She’s been through enough, trust me.” The look he gave them all let them know to drop the subject.

Strangely, while looking at the cyborg, Edelgard’s eyes changed. She didn’t move, and her eyes turned lifeless. Hubert noticed something was wrong and shook Edelgard. “My lady, what is wrong?” he asked.

When Shez stopped showing the woman, Edelgard returned to normal, confused as to what happened. Edelgard’s head hurt. “Sorry Hubert, I am fine” she said. She didn’t understand why she blanked out. (A/N: To those of you who read the original version of this story and played Blazblue’s story modes, congrats for figuring it out. Also, the info about the mod nyctores is from the in-game glossary, which is very long.)

She returned her attention to Shez as he continued with his story. “With Ars Magus and the Nox Nyctores, Nine, Hakumen, Jubei, Trinity, and Valkenhyn, who is a beastkin with the power to turn into a wolf, joined together to face the black beast, but they still needed more power. So, Nine cast a spell on Terumi that would force him to ally with them. After defeating the black beast, these 6 would be known as the six heroes. There was a lot of damage after the war, but they would rebuild, and things were pretty peaceful.”

Claude was the first to call out the obvious issue. “That was until Terumi broke free, right?”

Shez nodded. “Yeah. Terumi broke free and escaped his homeland, taking his vessel Hazama with him. Terumi and Hazama escaped to Fodlan alongside another one of their allies, Relius Clover.” Shez does not miss the flinching of Edelgard and Lysithea when he says Relius’ name. ‘Those two know something’ he thought.

Showing an image of Relius, Shez details the genius and evil of Relius Clover. “See that thing with him? That’s his wife that he turned into a robot to mimic Nirvana. He’s just the worst” Shez said, still pissed at Relius for everything.

Many in the room were horrified and angered that someone would do that to their own wife. Many of the women felt a lot of sympathy for Ignis.

“Hazama, Terumi, and Relius make quite a good team, I’ll admit that. Their plans are usually pretty solid, but also plain evil. Terumi’s a spirit, so he doesn’t exactly age, Hazama’s a vessel, so the same goes for him, and Relius no doubt has some technology keeping him young. From what I know, they’ve been around for quite a long time, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were behind some of Fodlan’s tragedies” Shez said. He was tempted to believe that Hazama and Relius were behind the tragedy of Duscur. It sounds right up their alley to manipulate people.

Hubert raised his hand next. “How do you even know all of this? Have you been to this other land before?” he asked, as he was still suspicious of Shez.

Shez nodded. “Yeah, I was summoned there by an accidental spell. That’s where I met Jubei, who told me most of what I know. He’s the one who gave me Aramasa, the sword that Bloodedge used as well as his jacket. He’s also the one that trained me. I adopted the Bloodedge monicker to honor the man, as Jubei said we had a lot in common with each other.”

Seteth asked a question of his own. “Terumi, Relius, and Hazama are still out there, correct?” he asked, wanting to know how many threats he needed to account for.

Shez sighed. “Terumi was taken care of already. I killed him about 2 months before I met all of you. Relius and Hazama are still threats though.”

Seteth nodded and turned to the audience. “Well, I believe that is the end of our story time. All of you can return to whatever it was you were doing, but please treat the grim reaper with respect.” Seteth turned to Shez. “Perhaps you should get to know your new classmates” Seteth suggested.

Shez nodded and walked through the crowd of students and knights, with many giving him strange looks. He gave glares to those that looked at him weirdly.

“So, what do you think of Shez’s story?” Dorothea asked everyone. Shez’s story was so insightful that it could become one of the best operas ever from her point of view.

Linhardt hummed. “I must say, I wish to visit this other land someday. The research possibilities are endless.”

Caspar sighed. “Of course, you would only care about that.” Caspar suddenly became excited. “But did you see the way those guys fought?! That was awesome! I wanna meet those guys!”

“Sorry, but I have no clue how to get back there” Shez said, startling all of them with his sudden appearance. Shez crossed his arms. “Plus, they’re still recovering from the dark war. Everyone is already occupied with something else.”

Edelgard sighs. “A shame, I would truly wish to learn more about it. Still, that was quite the interesting story you told Shez” she said. She did believe what Shez was telling her, but she also knew that Shez was omitting a lot of information. She would admit, Shez was good at it.

Shez wasn’t too focused on her. Instead, he pointed towards someone he hadn’t met. “What’s with the fainted girl?” he asked.

Dorothea noticed where he was pointing. “Oh, you mean Bernadetta? She fainted the moment you showed off the Black Beast.”

Shez sighed. “Great…well whatever” he said before turning to Edelgard. “Hey, would you go out with me for a bit?” he asked.

Edelgard, and a few others, took this out of context. Edelgard was pretty shocked by what Shez was asking her. “Shez…I truly am grateful that you saved me, but a date with me is not necessarily a reward I want to give you” Edelgard said, trying not to let him down harshly. Maybe if they spent more time together, she would consider it. Of course, if it came down to it, she was considering seduction as a way to gain his allegiance.

Shez groaned. “I’m not looking for a date with you, I just want to ask you and Lysithea a few questions” he said. He wasn’t interested in dating anyone right now, even though his teenage body found Edelgard and many women around him pretty attractive.

Edelgard nodded as the two left to find Lysithea.

Lysithea was contemplating everything she heard. She blocked out any noise to try and comprehend everything. “Such magic is possible? If I were to go there, could I be cured of my condition…?” she muttered. That’s when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Shez.

“Hey, I need to talk with you and Edelgard about something” he said, with Edelgard by his side. Lysithea nodded and followed Shez and Edelgard out of the chapel and to a more secluded area. Shez made sure the three of them were alone. When he was certain, he turned to Lysihtea and Edelgard. “Alright, how the hell do you two know Relius Clover?”

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasizing.

I don’t own any of the images or characters in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. I won't be using gameplay footage anymore because I am afraid of copyright issues on youtube. If someone can comment that it's pretty much okay sometimes and give me details, please let me know. 

Shez watched as both Lysithea and Edelgard looked surprised by Shez’s question. Shez smirked. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your attitudes shifting when I brought him up.” Shez’s expression then turned serious again. “Now, how the hell do you know him?”

Edelgard and Lysithea remained silent, but Shez could tell based off of their expressions that he ventured in too far. Shez sighed. “Let me guess, painful experiments?” Their silence spoke volumes.

“I think you went a bit too far there. You’ve only just met them; you shouldn’t start asking personal questions” Arval chided his partner.

‘Technically, I revealed a big portion of my past to them’ Shez argued back, referring to his recent storytime session with the entire monastery.

“No, you revealed parts of your old world’s history with snippets of your origin story.” Arval was clearly being smug about it. Shez sighed. Arval wasn’t going to stop until Shez apologized for what he did.

Shez groaned. ‘What a pain in the ass…’ he thought. “Look, I’m not asking for the details. Sorry if I went too far. But I need to know if you are aware of Relius Clover. If so, where can I find him?”

Lysithea spoke first, glad that she wouldn’t have to reveal what happened to her. “Well, I’m sorry to say that I have no idea where he could be. If I knew, I would tell you.” Lysithea’s eyes narrowed in anger. “I would love nothing more than to make him and Solon pay for what they did” she said.

Meanwhile, Edelgard was incredibly deep in thought. She was stuck. Shez seemed to be able to pick up on things, meaning he may be able to pick up on lies. ‘But…if Hazama and Relius are working together, then Shez may be able to help me get rid of them once and for all’ she thought.

It was still risky, as Shez was still a complete unknown. Shez was powerful, no doubt about that, but there was still so much she did not know. She knew that there was a lot more to the story than he told everyone, but he didn’t seem to be lying about it either.

Shez must have noticed her deep in thought as he called her out on it. Shez crossed his arms. “Yeah, you definitely know something” he said.

Edelgard sighed. She had to give him SOMETHING. “Yes…I am well aware of him. The reason for this is because he is allied with another group that has rooted themselves deep within the Empire and potentially all of Fodlan. They use dark magic like yours” she revealed. She wasn’t going to tell him about all of her plans, but she had to tell him about those who slither in the dark.

She reveals that her “uncle” is a fake replaced by them, as well as Tomas also being replaced by Solon. “Who’s Tomas?” Shez asks.

Lysithea is the one to answer, still shocked that the people who experimented on her also experimented on Edelgard. “Tomas is the librarian of Garreg Mach. He is currently in the library I believe” Lysithea said.

Shez heard all that he needed to hear and started to walk away until Edelgard grasped his arm. “What are you doing?” Shez asks.

“I should be the one asking YOU that, grim reaper. Do not tell me you intend to kill Tomas in broad daylight!” Edelgard exclaimed.

Shez wrenched his hand away from her grip. “So what? I just kill him, then Arundel. It’s that simple!” he argued.

Lysithea facepalmed. “No, it isn’t you fool! Even if Tomas is Solon, we can’t just kill him without evidence. The same goes for Arundel!”

Shez glared. “Then what do we do then?!”

Edelgard sighed. “Listen, an old student and friend, Monica von Ochs, was captured by them a while ago. I know where she is being held, the fortress where our next mission will be.”

Shez crossed his arms. “And you know this because they are forcing you to work with them?”

“Essentially” Edelgard answered. “I hope that by saving her, we can have her testimony, allowing Tomas to be placed under suspicion. After that, I wish to ask the central church for help in eliminating Arundel and any other impostors within the Empire” she said. She didn’t want to ally with the church, but she had no other choice at the moment.

Shez sighed. “Well, I guess I can wait a bit longer” he said. “Now, as for Relius Clover’s location…”

Edelgard shook her head. “I do not know where he is. He simply appears at random.”

“Damnit…” Shez cursed. “No doubt that sick bastard’s up to something horrible.”

Edelgard was annoyed that she had to reveal a lot but hoped that she had gained 2 allies secretly. Edelgard sighed. “Come Shez, I believe it is time we greet our classmates.”

Shez nodded and both of them bid farewell to Lysithea, who was still confused about what she had just heard but made sure that she would keep it all a secret. After all, who knows if they are listening.

Meanwhile, Rhea had gathered Seteth and Flayn in her chambers for a small meetup. Rhea sighed. “It seems there is more to Fodlan than we may realize.” Rhea gripped the armrest of her chair a little tighter. “Mother…she mentioned other lands beyond Fodlan, but I never imagined one like that existed” she murmured.

Flayn was still a little fear stricken by the sight of the black beast and it’s destruction. “A creature like that could never exist in Fodlan, could it?” she wondered aloud.

Seteth shook his head. “No. I’m certain that no being in Fodlan would willingly create such a monster that sought only destruction.” Seteth doubted that even the Agarthans would want such a monster to exist. “However, should we take everything Shez told us as fact?”

Rhea nodded. “While I do believe he was omitting quite a bit of information, I have no reason to believe that he was lying to us. Besides, we still need to ascertain whether Shez the Bloodedge is an ally or potential enemy. Let us not forget that he wields “their” wicked magic.”

The room went silent after that, the memories of the Agarthans and their wicked magic stuck in their minds. Flayn held out hope though. She could sense that despite his rough exterior, Shez was a good person deep down.

The Blue Lions, still reeling from the massive revelations, went to their classroom to unwind and talk about what they saw. Felix noticed that Dimitri was pretty out of it, having a vacant look in his eyes. “Boar, I hope you didn’t die on us” Felix called out.

Dimitri was startled out of his trance. “Apologies…I was simply thinking about the many lives lost during the dark war…” he said.

The room turned melancholy. Annette shed a small tear. “Yeah…what’s worse is that none of them will find peace. They were all erased from existence, which means no afterlife I guess.” Annette wished she could do something about it, but it was too late.

Dedue closed his eyes in thought. “To die, only to never find peace…the black beast truly is a monster.”

“Is there truly nothing we can do to help the people recover?” Mercedes asked. She was always willing to help those in need, that was just who she was.

Sylvain shook his head. “You heard Shez, they’re all still recovering from the dark war. I would love to help out too, but we may not have the means to reach such a place. Shez was summoned there by a spell, and their magic is different from ours.” He would love to check the place out, but he just couldn’t right now.

Annette, being an expert on magic, nodded. “Yeah…unfortunately, our magic can’t reach a place as far as that.”

Ashe, who was currently nursing a paper cut, asked another interesting question. “What about Hazama and Relius? Shez said they may be connected to some of Fodlan’s tragedies. Could that mean…?”

Ashe trailed off, but everyone knew what he was suggesting. Ingrid, still angered by the tragedy of duscur, clenched her fists. “Shez would likely know more, but if they are indeed involved…” she started. It was pretty clear she wanted payback for what happened.

The mood was sour after that. So, we should switch over to the Golden Deer. Of course, Lysithea had just entered the classroom, and Claude greets her with a cheeky grin. Lysithea knows that grin, and it spells trouble.

“I know what you are about to say Claude, and it is not true whatsoever” Lysithea said. Her tone wasn’t threatening, but it didn’t need to be.

Claude kept his mouth shut so Hilda spoke instead. “So…what did you 3 talk about?”

“Nothing that would concern any of you” Lysithea says. The conversation swiftly shifted to the story Shez told.

“It’s hard to believe that such devastation could happen without Fodlan or it’s neighbors knowing about it” Lorenz said. It’s easy to hear about things in places like Brigid and Sreng, but not always in places like Almyra.

Raphael rubbed the back of his head. “I’m still confused about a lotta things, but Shez’s story was pretty terrifying.” He had to make sure Maya never heard it.

Marriane was off on her own in a corner, praying that everyone could recover from such devastation.

Leonie looked down at the tiled floor beneath her. She felt bad for the people that perished during the dark war. While it was over, it still happened and had a massive impact. She wished she could help.

Ignatz, wishing to be a knight, understood that it would be his duty to ensure something like the black beast never wreaked havoc.

Claude, while in shock at Shez’s story, was more interested in the land the black beast came from. ‘Shez said he was sent there by a spell though, plus Fodlan’s ships couldn’t reach that place…’ Claude thought. He was upset that he couldn’t visit the place, but Shez, who HAS visited, is now a student and anyone can ask him for information.

As for the black eagles, they were all eagerly awaiting Shez’s return, as everyone still had some questions, especially Linhardt, who was VERY interested in the weapons Shez displayed. “I wonder if the grim reaper has any ars magus on him after his trip to that other land. If so, I would love to see at least one and study it” he said.

Caspar rubbed the back of his head. “Anyone else get the feeling that Shez was not telling us everything?” Even Caspar could pick up on certain things at times.

Petra nodded. “Yes…I am having difficulty in believing Shez was telling everything to us.” Petra was very keen.

Speak of the devil, or in this case, reaper, and he shall appear. Shez and Edelgard entered the room. Shez was about to speak when Bernadetta screamed and started to throw a few books at him screaming “NOOO!!! I WON’T LET YOU TAKE MY SOUL!!!!”

Shez sighed. Pulling a shocked Edelgard to his side, Shez summoned a green barrier in front of them both, shielding them from the onslaught of books. When Bernadetta realized she had nothing else to throw, she promptly fainted once more, believing Shez was now going to take her soul.

Shez dispelled the barrier and released Edelgard. “Is this going to be a regular thing Edelgard?” Shez asked, deadpanning as he did so.

Edelgard rubbed her forehead in annoyance. “You’ll get used to it” she answered. “Thank you for protecting me.”

Shez shrugged. “No problem or whatever. So, should I do more introductions or something? I’m not used to the school life.” Really, most of his knowledge came from Celica and Jubei. He never really went to any specific schools in his past life.

Dorothea chuckled. “No…I think everybody here knows who you are Shez.” She then gained a contemplative look. “Although…what should we call you?”

Shez shrugged and took a seat, which just so happened to be between Hubert and Edelgard. “Call me Shez, Grim Reaper, or even Bloodedge. Just not something stupid.”

Linhardt, still having more questions, asked Shez if he had any grimoires on him. “Is that fake arm of yours a grimoire?”

Shez sighed. He knew he couldn’t tell them about the Azure, but he had to give them something once again. Shez lifted his arm and spoke. “Okay, I lied about it being an ancient sealed away magic, it’s actually a grimoire known as the “azure grimoire” or just “Blazblue.” It’s one of the strongest grimoires in existence.”

The term “Blazblue” caught the attention of everyone. “Isn’t Blazblue a word Hazama used? Does that mean he has one as well?” Hubert asked.

Shez scoffed. “More like he IS an Azure Grimoire. Though, his was originally superior to mine up until an old friend upgraded it for me. Now, our Blazblues are about even.”

Linhardt was now very interested. “So, does this mean you can use Ars Magus?”

Shez nodded. “Yeah. Before I got the arm, I couldn’t use Ars Magus. Hell, I didn’t even have a drive.” Shez noticed some confusion. “Drives are things people from the land I told you about have. If your soul is strong enough, you are given one. I was given my drive, soul eater, by the Azure Grimoire.”

Linhardt smiled. “Now I really wish to visit that land.” Drives, Ars Magus, all of it was incredible.

Shez shrugged. “Well, you’ll have to wait a long time before that happens.” And by a long time, he meant never.

Dorothea managed to wake up Bernadetta, who tried to throw more books at Shez. Before she could do anything else, Shez used Arval’s magic to warp behind her and grab her arm. Not too tight though. “Listen, I’m not here to take your soul. Rhea would be on my tail if I did so. Calm down already!” he told her.

Bernadetta was still terrified but nodded out of fear for her own life. Shez let go of her and Bernadetta took a seat nearby. Shez returned to his original seat as Jeritza entered the room. ‘About time’ Shez thought.

As everyone sat down, Jeritza got straight to the point. “As you all are aware, the grim reaper has joined us here at the academy. I expect all of you to treat him as an equal and not as a threat.” To be honest, he was hoping to fight Shez himself, but he could wait. Besides, Jeritza knew that he would get to see Shez in action again soon. “You all remember your mission, correct?”

Shez was already aware of the mission thanks to Edelgard. “Yeah, wipe out the rest of Kostas’ goons.”

Jeritza nodded. “Good. Make sure you are all prepared before then. Now, as for today’s lesson…”

The lessons went by in a breeze. It was, of course, about weapons, something Shez already knew about. Hell, when you consider the number of weapons he went up against in his past life, many of which Fodlan lacks, Shez has more weapon knowledge than anyone on Fodlan, aside from potentially Relius and Hazama.

“That’s a big loose end we need to tie up, right?” Arval questioned. Normally, he would be more hellbent on killing Byleth, but he’s been living in Shez’s head for years, so he knows those two are far more important than the Ashen Demon.

Shez nodded as he left the classroom, heading towards the dining hall as he needed to eat. ‘Yeah. I want to use the Azure to end them, but I’m not going to do that for reasons we’ve already discussed.’

Arval chuckled. “It’s nice to know that you aren’t always relying on my power or the power of the azure. That’s something two important people taught you…right?”

Shez nodded at Arval’s words. “Yeah, master Jubei and the Rabbit.”

“Who?” a voice behind Shez asked. Shez was startled, so the voice chuckled and apologized. “Forgive me Shez, I did not intend to startle you.”

Shez sighed in annoyance. “Geez Edelgard…I hope I don’t have to worry about the future emperor appearing out of nowhere trying to behead me or something.” This was sarcastic of course.

Edelgard picked up on the sarcasm and played along. “Do not worry. As long as you do not cause trouble within the empire, I will have no reason to behead you” she said. “I must ask you Shez, who were the people you were talking about?”

Shez shrugged. “Jubei is one of the six heroes as you know. The dark war actually happened a century ago, but because he’s a beastkin, he ages slowly. As for Rabbit, her real name is Rachel Alucard. She’s…complicated.” Shez really didn’t know how to describe Rachel without going through their entire history together.

Edelgard put a hand to her chin. “Oh? Were you two…” she trailed off.

Shez quickly shook his head. “No way, that would never happen between us. We’re…just acquaintances.” Okay, he did consider Rachel a friend. “But she and my master kept telling me to not think of the azure grimoire’s power as my own. It took awhile to sink in, but I realized that I have my own power too, not just my arm’s.”

Edelgard smiled. “I believe they are correct. You don’t need the azure grimoire alone to prove that you are a special person. While I have not known you for long, I believe there is far more to you than your strength.” She didn’t know what it was, but there was definitely something else to the grim reaper.

Shez smirked. “Praise from a noble? Mercs like me don’t get that very often. Most nobles just brag about how much better they are than us or treat us like shit half of the time.” Really, he had to hold himself back a lot from just beating the hell out of those nobles.

Edelgard frowned at this story, as she knew full well that it was all too common for this to happen. “Believe me when I say I intend to change that going forward” she declared.

Shez raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate on that?”

Edelgard nodded. “Of course. I intend to create a world similar to the land you spoke of. Outdated values like the crest system and nobility will no longer matter. Everyone, regardless of their bloodline, will have the chance to rise to the top. This, I swear” she announced. It was just the two of them, so only Shez heard it.

Shez crossed his arms. “Well, that’s something I’d never thought I’d hear a noble say” he said, genuinely impressed. Edelgard was ambitious, but she was also pretty intelligent from what Shez had gathered. “I don’t doubt that you would be able to pull it off, but you’d probably face some opposition and a lot of assassinations.” People tended to fight change from Shez’s experience.

Edelgard looked down. “Yes, that is to be expected.” She then looked up with a small smile. “However, having the grim reaper by my side may deter any opposition.”

Arval could see where this was going, and he thought it was good. “Being the personal bodyguard of the future emperor is too great of an opportunity, but don’t forget, we also have other goals.”

Shez thought for a moment before turning on his heel, his back now facing Edelgard. “Well, if the world you create is actually worth it, and I get paid enough, I could consider it” he said before walking to the dining hall.

Edelgard smiled. It wasn’t a “yes,” but at least he was open. Of course, she still had to be wary of him, as well as those who slither in the dark, but Shez seemed keen on helping her with that. “Well, I’ll keep a position open for you, should you consider it.” That’s when she asked something that made Shez stop in his tracks. “If I may ask, why choose the black eagles?”

Shez stood completely still, not facing Edelgard at all. “Why choose them, or why choose you?” he asks, looking for clarification.

“Both, I suppose” Edelgard replied.

Shez sighed. “Well, Dimitri’s too kindhearted, but he also has a deep darkness in him, I can feel it. Claude, way too sneaky, so I can’t exactly trust that. As for the black eagles, they’re a rowdy bunch and pretty annoying at times, if our first class together was any proof of that” he said. Yeah, the first class was pretty chaotic. Bernadetta hid under the desk the entire time, Linhardt was sleeping, Dorothea and Ferdiand were arguing constantly, and Caspar was incredibly loud.

“But,” Shez continued, “I kind of like that. It reminds me of some old friends I had.” During his old life, he didn’t make many friends, but he was glad to spend time with them. “And you seemed to be the most down-to-earth of the bunch. So…I guess you were the reason I joined.”

Edelgard blushed slightly. She wasn’t sure if this was meant to be some type of flirting or just a compliment. Either way, she appreciated it. “Well, I shall do my best to make your stay at the monastery a pleasant one. It is my duty as the house leader.” she said.

Shez nodded as he continued towards the dining hall, not realizing just how much he would impact Edelgard and all of Fodlan in the future.

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasizing.

I don’t own any of the images or characters in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. The movesets and techniques come from either fire emblem or blazblue with influence from other franchises.. I’m unsure if I should record footage for fights or not. I don’t want copyright to be an issue on YouTube. Should I just mute the music or not record altogether? I think the latter is better for story purposes, but my fight scenes aren’t always the best.

The students and staff of the academy were slowly getting used to the presence of Shez, even though it was still a bit of an adjustment for all parties. Shez remained distant from everyone, but not completely.

The grim reaper was actually the topic of a conversation during lunch. All of the houses were together thanks to Claude’s suggestion.

“Wow Linhardt, he really showed you that?” Annette asked.

Linhardt nodded. “Yes. According to him, an Overdrive is an ars magus that reduces the strain on someone’s body so they can access more power. His overdrive is called “Blood Kain,” allowing him to drain one’s life force even more.” (A/N: Again, this is taken from the Blazblue in-game glossary.)

“The name is pretty disturbing, but the power is pretty cool” Sylvain said as he took a bite out of his steak.

“Sylvain, didn’t he compare you to another annoying flirt he knew?” Ingrid asked. Sylvain remained silent.

Mercedes’ eyes lit up in remembrance. “Oh yes, Kagura Mutsuki. He’s a high-ranking official in the government of that country, yes?” she asked. (A/N: Blazblue’s world doesn’t really have a name.)

“The NOL? Shez said that they manage all of the grimoires but tended to hoard them for only the rich and powerful until Kagura and a few others stepped in” Ashe commented.

“But there was a war because of that, right? What was it, the Ikaruga Civil War?” Leonie asked, trying to remember what Shez told them.

Dimitri sighed and nodded. “Yes…another war. It seems that some people cannot cooperate at times.”

Edelgard spoke next. “Perhaps that is because those people cannot accept the horrid beliefs of others” she said. She didn’t mean to say it harshly, but people picked up on it. Edelgard did receive a few looks and sighed. “My apologies, I was just upset about the current way of things.”

Dorothea patted Edelgard’s shoulder. “It’s fine Edie, a lot of us aren’t happy with the way some things work. Did you and Shez talk about something?” she asked. She wasn’t trying to imply that Shez and Edelgard were romantically involved.

Edelgard thought about a recent conversation she had with the grim reaper. “Well, I suppose a story wouldn’t hurt.”

“Nice try princess, but I win again” Shez said, putting away his training sword. As Edelgard got off the ground to dust herself off, Shez noticed her distant look. “Alright, what is it?” he asked.

Edelgard knew full-well that she couldn’t hide anything from Shez. Putting her training axe away, she turned to face him. “I am still thinking about more reforms I must enact in the future” she said.

“You’re talking about the crest system, right? Honestly, the idea is still pretty dumb. It’s basically saying that only those with crests matter, which is bullshit” Shez said.

Edelgard winced at his harsh language, but she was getting used to it. “I suppose so…but do you believe everyone will agree with my reforms?” she asked. She wasn’t sure what it was about Shez that made him so approachable. Maybe it was his blunt yet honest responses?

“Absolutely not. People are stupid and stubborn at times. So much so that they genuinely will not move forward and accept that certain things need to change. Those people usually try everything they can to keep things from changing, which causes more problems in the long run.” Really, he had met some pretty stubborn people.

Edelgard asked another question. “And say those people were nobles. What would be the best way to deal with them?” she asked, though she already had a few ideas.

Shez crossed his arms. “Well, if they can’t be convinced, find a way to deprive them of their power, or just kill them if they try something stupid like assassination or hold people hostage just to make sure things don’t change. Trust me, they’ll do that.”

“Would that not start a war?” Edelgard asked.

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t really blame someone for starting a war to change a crooked world. Remember the Ikaruga civil war that I told you about? Really, I don’t like war, but I’m not stupid enough to think that we should never use violence to change the world. Just do what you gotta do, like me” he said. He had to use violence to save his own world, quite a few times in fact.

Edelgard chuckled. “Ah, that’s right, you don’t concern yourself with notions like justice and evil, do you?” Honestly, she found that to be incredibly interesting. She wished she was more like him in that regard, willing to do anything to change the world without trying to justify herself or her actions.

Shez snorted. “Yeah, and it’s worked out for me so far. Besides, I’d find it hard to blame someone for starting a war anyway, not that I could judge them for their actions.”

“Wait, what?!” Caspar asked.

“Was Shez implying that he did worse things than start a war?” Dedue asked. If so, that may be cause for concern.

Edelgard tried to calm them all down. “He did not explicitly say so, but I do not think it should matter. He is not causing trouble now, so I do not think something he did so long ago should matter now.”

“Thanks for defending me, but I didn’t ask for it” Shez said from behind Edelgard, making her jump in surprise. She fell back, but Shez held her by her shoulders. “Sorry about that” he said, knowing he caught her off-guard.

Edelgard was embarrassed by the position she was in. This was made worse by the grins she received from Dorothea and Claude. “I ask that both of you wipe those grins from your faces.” She said she was asking, but it was more of a demand than a question.

Returning to her original position, Edelgard asked where Shez had been. “Well, I ate earlier than everyone else, so I just got a better look around the place. When I found the library, the librarian was pretty interested in the dark magic I use. He must have seen me transform during a solo training session” Shez answered.

‘Damnit’ Edelgard, Lysithea, and Hubert thought to themselves. They knew twsitd would take an interest in Shez, just not this soon.

“Transform?” Linhardt asked. “Are you implying that you can change your appearance?”

Shez nodded as his green eye turned a bright orange color. A ring surrounded his neck and white markings appeared on his face. An orange and purple aura engulfed Shez as his hair turned from pure white to a mix of orange and white. “I’ve always been able to do this, but I’ve never had a reason to use it. That’s not all I can do though” he said. With a snap of his fingers, duplicates of Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Shez himself, and Byleth appeared. (A/N: Shez has had Arval for much longer and is just way more powerful by default, so he should be able to do some more advanced Agarthan tricks. Epimenides used this trick in the boss fight.)

“WOAH!!!” Raphael exclaimed.

“Amazing! I’ve never seen magic do that before!” Annette cried out in astonishment. Mercedes wasn’t too far behind her. Both of them were well-versed in magic, but neither of them knew of anything like this. This clearly wasn’t ars magus, as Shez said it was just dark magic.

Edelgard, Lysithea, and Hubert were shocked that he was able to do this. It made them all wonder what else he could do with such power.

The duplicate of Claude chuckled. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen you guys look so shocked before. You should look that way more often.”

Lorenz sighed. It acted just like the real Claude. Lorenz turned to Shez with a look of worry. “Are these duplicates completely the same as the originals?” he asked. He didn’t need two Claudes running around.

Shez shook his head. “Aside from my duplicate, the others are just based off of how I view you guys.” That made everyone wonder just how Shez viewed all of them. Hopefully it wasn’t too negative.

Sylvain pointed at the duplicate of Byleth. “Who is that beauty right there?”  he asked. Most of the women were annoyed by his antics, and Shez just deadpanned.

“That’s the Ashen Demon, a nickname for probably the second-most powerful merc around. I’m considered by other mercs to be the strongest thanks to all of my feats” Shez explained. “She’s part of Jeralt’s mercenaries.”

The name caught Leonie’s attention. “Wait, you know the captain?” she asked. Shez just assumed that Jeralt and Leonie met a long time ago. Mercs get around a lot.

Shez nodded as he returned to his normal state. “Yeah. We were part of rival mercenary bands, but I ended up saving him and the Ashen Demon when an old enemy of mine arrived.”

Lorenz thought about this for a moment. “Was it the mission my father hired you for? I heard that a strange man interrupted it, but you stopped him.”

Shez nodded as the other duplicates vanished and were replaced by the grinning form of Azrael. Everyone shivered in fear at the man’s appearance. They knew just by looking at him that he was powerful.

“Look at the muscles on that guy!” Raphael said, feeling a little inadequate.

“This guy is Azrael. He’s from the same country as Hazama and Relius. He’s known as the “Mad Dog” there. He has this weird obsession with consuming strong people like me. I’ve never seen him use his full power, but he’s definitely someone you don’t want to mess with. Even I had trouble with him” Shez revealed.

That was a terrifying prospect. Everyone had seen just how powerful Shez was, so if Azrael was potentially stronger than that…

Bernadetta promptly fainted yet again. Shez sighed and made Azrael’s copy vanish. “Geez…” he groaned. “Anyway, Azrael’s only “power” that I can think of is placing limiters on himself so he can have more fun. I’ve only seen him release 4 of them, but I don’t know how many limiters he has. He’s still out there somewhere, so I should probably look for him so I can deal with him.”

Hilda was amazed that Shez was able to stand up against such an intimidating looking guy. “Wow Shez, that must have been a pretty interesting experience for you” she said.

Shez shrugged, “Well, there was the fact that the Ashen Demon was sharing a body with the goddess herself, but that’s not too weird in my experience.”

“IDIOT!” Arval yelled, annoying Shez. “You just told these people that you met the goddess herself!”

‘Arval, do you really expect them to believe me?’ he argued back. Sure enough, he received some pretty skeptical looks. “Whether or not you guys believe me doesn’t matter, nor do I really care” he said.

The other students just looked at each other. “Um…are you certain that you met her?” Marriane asked. She didn’t think he was lying, she just wanted confirmation.

Shez sighed. “During my trip to that country, I met a few people that were definitely more powerful than the average human. I’ve also met a few godlike entities, so I can tell when someone is a god.” Susanoo, Amaterasu, Rachel and Amane (sort of) came to mind.

The prospect of the goddess living among them was insane. Little did everyone aside from Shez know, Solon/Tomas was listening in, and he was not happy. ‘The fell star is among us at last…I must inform Thales of this development’ he thought. ‘Still…why does Ragna the Bloodedge have the power of Epimenides?’

“So, you met the goddess herself?” an arriving Seteth asked with Alois in tow. A passing student mentioned this, so the two decided to investigate.

Alois laughed. “Come now Seteth, surely you do not believe this?”

Shez shrugged “Well, if you don’t believe me, just ask her yourself if you see her or Jeralt. I’m not even sure if she remembers me.”

Seteth looked Shez up and down. His stature did not hint towards any deceit. Then again, he didn’t know what deceit looked like when it came to Shez. Seteth was about to ask more when a scent suddenly filled the area.

“Does anyone else smell roses?” Ignatz asked.

Shez couldn’t believe it. “No fucking way…” he muttered. He knew what that meant.

“It seems the vulgar dog has not lost its bark even after all this time” a voice said. It was young, female, but it seemed to come from everywhere at once.

Roses filled the air as wind swirled around the room. Shez turned to his classmates. “Remember when I said I knew some godlike beings? Well, you’re about to meet one of them” he said.

A dark portal appeared a good distance in front of Shez. From the portal, 2 people emerged as well as two weird creatures. One was a young girl with blonde hair and a gothic dress. Standing next to this girl was an older man dressed in some sort of formal attire that nobody seemed to recognize.

The two creatures were a small red bat and an abnormally large cat.

Shez stared. Part of him was happy to see all of them again, but part of him was also annoyed that they were here to possibly make things worse. “Everyone, meet Rachel Alucard, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, and the two idiots are Rachel’s familiars, Nago and Gii” Shez said.

Nago the cat was offended. “How rude. That is certainly no way for a man to introduce someone!”

Gii couldn’t agree more. “Yeah. He’s not much of a man, is he?” That comment was the thing that made Shez send Gii flying straight out of monastery with a punch.

“Was that really necessary?” Arval asked but was ignored.

Everyone else was surprised by Shez’s actions, but a glare from him stopped any more questions.

Seteth would normally have someone deal with Rachel’s sudden appearance, but one look at her told him that she was not to be trifled with. He had seen and met many people, and none of them gave off the strange feeling she did. If Shez knew her, she couldn’t be too much trouble.

Rachel actually smiled a little. “I suppose I should give the dog a treat for getting rid of that nuisance” she said.

Shez wasn’t falling for it of course. “Rabbit, why are you here? Whenever something big is about to happen, you always show up to give me some sort of clue that I won’t understand until after that big thing happens” he says. He understood why that was. Rachel, being a bystander/onlooker/observer, wasn’t allowed to directly intervene with the course of the world. That may be null and void here in Fodlan since Rachel wasn’t from Fodlan. If Fodlan had an observer, they wouldn’t be able to intervene, but Rachel likely could. Then again, she always preferred to sit on the sidelines regardless.

Rachel turned away. “I am under no obligation to tell you why I am here” she said. Rachel wasn’t a hugger, but she would admit that she was happy to see Ragna again. Obviously, she had been watching over him for quite some time and understood that he was keeping his past a secret from everyone else, so she decided to respect that.

“Bullshit you blood-sucking rabbit. Tell me why you’re here, or I’ll beat the answers out of you” he threatened. He was pretty certain that he was stronger than Rachel at this point, but he had the power of the azure and his awakened state just in case.

Dimitri was not okay with the idea of violence right now and placed a hand on Shez’s shoulder. “Shez, I won’t allow you to harm this young child! What is your problem?!”

Shez wrenched his hand away from Dimitri and pointed it at Rachel. “That’s no child! That’s a vampire who is hundreds of years older than all of us! Why the hell do you think I called her “blood-sucking rabbit” earlier?!”

“VAMPIRE?!” multiple people shouted. They were lucky that nobody else was here as this would surely cause a panic. Everyone looked to Rachel, who simply bared her fangs and turned into a bat. (A/N: I don’t think we have ever seen Rachel do this, but for some fun, I’ll say that she can.)

Valkenhayn smiled lightly. “Ah, it has been quite some time since you have shapeshifted my lady. Do you intend to fight off this ruffian yourself? If so, allow me to do so in your stead” he suggested.

Rachel returned to her normal form. “Ah, a show? Very well, I am quite interested in watching you two perform for me again” she said. “But this place isn’t suited for a battle, so I say we take it somewhere more…proper.” With a snap of her fingers, everyone was suddenly warped without hesitation.

The appeared near a mansion, with roses and pumpkins and other halloweeny things, not that most of them know what that was.

Linhardt was the first to ask the big question. “Was that Ars Magus or regular magic?” he asked.

“Rachel is one of the few left that can use real magic, and she’s pretty good at it” Shez answered. Shez then pulled out Aramasa. “You ready to go old man?” he asked Rachel’s butler. Shez then had to avoid a few lightning bolts. “WHAT THE HELL RABBIT?!”

Rachel glared. “I did not say that the preparations were complete you fool! There is still one more guest that will be participating in this 2-on-1 battle!” she said.

To most, this seemed a bit unfair, but Shez didn’t seem too concerned. “Bring on the best person you’ve got! I’ll win no matter who it is!” he said boldly.

“Getting a bit cocky there, ain’t ya kid?” A voice answered from behind Shez, causing him to jump back and turn in mid-air. Shez was shocked to see his master, Jubei. Jubei gave his signature cat-like grin. “Looks like 2 of the six heroes are gonna have to teach ya a lesson” he proclaimed, pulling out his Nox Nyctores.

The students, Alois, and Seteth were definitely invested in this upcoming fight. They were about to witness the grim reaper go up against 2 of the six heroes and a Nox Nyctores. This would certainly be a battle to remember.

“You may begin!” Rachel said, taking a seat nearby.

Shez was the first to strike, sending a deadspike at Jubei to distract him. Shez then turned his attention to the beastkin that was heading his way. Shez used shadowflash to dodge the claw swipes from Valkenhayn. Shez moved behind the werewolf and shouted, “INFERNO DIVIDER!!!” The rising slash sent both of them into the air, while also dealing damage to Valkenhayn.

Shez followed the attack with a heel slam that sent Valkenhayn flying into the ground, but this left Shez open to an attack from Jubei. Jubei slashed him multiple times with his claws before drawing his sword. Shez knew a slash from that thing would be deadly, so he used wind magic on his feet to send Jubei flying back, while also sending himself down into the ground.

This proved to be a mistake, as when he landed, he was assaulted by a flurry of claw swipes from Valkenhayn. Those slashes were followed by Valkenhayn grabbing Shez and throwing him to the side. Valkenhayn grinned. “Did you truly believe our strength would remain the same after all this time?”

Shez wiped a bit of blood from his mouth. “Yeah, I did. Guess I should get a bit more serious” he said. Suddenly, Shez was in front of Valkenhayn and an uppercut sent Valkenhayn into the air once more. Shez was in the air faster than Valkenhayn and delivered multiple sword slashes to the butler. Shez turned his right arm into a red claw and grabbed Valkenhayn by his neck. Using wind magic on his feet again, the slam Shez delivered was extra devastating.

Jubei tried to come in from behind, but Shez dodged it and swiped low with his sword. Jubei was pretty short, so low attacks were his best option. Jubei blocked it with his sword, but was shocked that Aramasa wasn’t cut in half, and that meant one thing. Jubei gave Shez a proud grin. “I can’t believe it. You finally surpassed me kid. You’re not using your new magic, or the Azure Grimoire’s power.”

Shez returned the grin. “You’re the one that taught me to never rely on powers like that. Thanks master, but I’m winning this.”

Jubei laughed, “Kid, I never said don’t use powers like that, just don’t overrely on them. I know you’re still holding back. Show me everything ya got!”

“Fine!” Shez shouted as he broke the blade lock and activated the Blazblue. “BLAZBLUE, ACTIVATE!!!”

This was actually Seteth’s first time witnessing the Azure Grimoire in action himself, and he was amazed. ‘Is this why Lady Rhea wanted an eye kept on the grim reaper?’ he thought. If so, he could understand why. An unchecked Shez may be completely unstoppable.

“I’M NOT DONE YET!!!” Shez shouted, letting out another roar of power. The sky above them began to turn a dark purple with blue lightning coming from the clouds. Shez entered his awakened state, which caught everyone by surprise.

The students had no way to explain what they were witnessing. The skills and power they witnessed by Shez, Jubei, and Valkenhayn were astonishing, but this was something else. Seteth’s eyes widened as he knew exactly where Shez’s dark magic came from. ‘It can’t be…’

Shez’s eyes stared at Jubei. “Do you see this master? This is the power of the azure, the power of this magic, and my own power” he said.

Jubei grinned and slashed all around, moving so fast that he appeared in multiple places at once, but Shez casually parried all of the strikes, covering the entire area in sparks.

“Unreal!!! I had no clue people like this existed!” Caspar said. He was incredibly invested in this fight from start to finish.

Felix wanted to learn just what kind of training these people went through. It was clear that they all had power AND skill on their side. ‘Perhaps I should ask Shez for some tips’ he thought.

Edelgard was glad that Shez was NOT an enemy. She was fairly certain that Shez was a one-man army. This would actually be a good thing if he joined her, which seemed fairly likely at this point. ‘Those who slither in the dark won’t stand a chance’ she thought.

After a while, Jubei was on the ground next to Valkenhayn. Rachel clapped lightly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “I must admit, I am impressed with your progress. But…” Rachel started to float in the air, moving towards the powered up Shez. “I believe the real show must begin now.”

Shez knew what this meant, a fight against Rachel. Shez grinned, “Bring it.”

Rachel summons both Nago and Gii(who was still upset about being sent flying) to her side using her magic. Rachel started by sending multiple weaponized stuffed animals to Shez, but they were all avoided. Rachel then used the wind to pull Shez towards her, turning Gii into a fork. Shez sidestepped and threw a punch at Rachel engulfed in darkness, but she turned Nago into a living electric chair, which forced Shez to shift his punch to the ground, creating a dark shockwave that sent both of them flying into the air.

Rachel easily floated thanks to her magic, but to her surprise, Shez was floating too. 2 small dark-red tornados were spinning under his feet. Shez grinned. “You’re not the only one that can use the wind to fly rabbit” he said before sending a few fireballs towards Rachel. Rachel was so shocked by Shez’s new move that she couldn’t dodge the fireballs. The attack dealt massive damage to Rachel, burning her a bit too.

Shez moved to attack with multiple scythe slashes from Aramasa. Shez pulled out of the attack and activated his overdrive, blood kain. Rachel, in response to this, stopped holding back her power. Her eyes were now glowing a deep dark red color. (A/N: Essentially, Rachel is in her unlimited form. In Blazblue, unlimited characters are rarely canon to the story. Ragna, Hazama, Jin, and Mu-12 are the ones that come to mind in terms of being canon. They are essentially full-powered versions of those characters. In terms of gameplay, they are usually pretty op.)

The two clashed once more, but the shockwave of the clash was incredibly fierce. Rachel rises above Shez and summons a spike beneath her feet. Shez dodges it, but Rachel tries to stab Shez with her batwings. Shez grabs one wing and throws Rachel down to the ground, but she lands gracefully and summons a tornado around Shez. Shez is caught by it and sent flying into the air.

While Shez is trapped, she turns Gii into a cannon and fires multiple shots that aren’t aimed at Shez, but at the spot where he will land. The cannon shots turn into lightning rods with bats at the top. When Shez landed, Rachel activated the lightning rods, electrocuting the grim reaper pretty badly.

Rachel grinned as Shez was panting heavily after the attack. “I believe you’ll find that I am much stronger than before. Though I will admit, you have come quite far” she complimented. Yeah, Rachel hadn’t been doing just nothing despite being a bystander. She trained a lot more just in case.

Shez breathed heavily as he powered down. “Damn rabbit…I was hoping that I could win against you again. Guess I need to train some more” he said as he put Aramasa away.

Rachel was able to see through the lie, but she didn’t comment on it. She knew full well that Shez would have won if he ACTUALLY went all-out. ‘Still, revealing that he is the black beast would definitely hinder his efforts in finding Hazama and Relius’ she thought to herself.

The students, Alois, and Seteth were stunned. There were no words spoken, just looks of amazement. Although, Dimitri and Claude were a bit jealous that Edelgard had someone as powerful as Shez in her class. Edelgard herself was considering just what she should do if Shez was to turn on her. She still wasn’t sure where his allegiances lay.

“So,” Shez started, “are you guys gonna stick around? I could actually use some help finding you know who.”

Jubei came up behind him and answered. “Don’t worry. Kokonoe’s already working on something that’ll send most of us here to help out with that issue” he said before beckoning Shez to lean down, which he did. “I recommend that you get ready to reveal the entire truth at some point Ragna. Better they know as soon as possible” Jubei whispered.

Shez sighed and nodded. “I will master, just not yet” he answered. Shez assumed that Rachel couldn’t fully intervene by sending in too many people at once. She was already somewhat intervening. Again, he wasn’t sure if Rachel was allowed to intervene a lot in Fodlan.

Rachel came up to Shez and revealed a few important details. “If you are concerned about the goddess of Fodlan hating your presence here, I already explained to her AND her vessel the entire situation. I had to reveal everything to them, of course.” To Shez, this meant that Byleth, the goddess, and possibly Jeralt knew the entire truth.

Shez crossed his arms. “What does she think of me?” he asked. Hopefully it wasn’t anything negative.

Rachel, as usual, gave a simple smile. “I believe you should ask her yourself when she arrives to the monastery within a few hours alongside Jeralt’s mercenaries.”

That was a shock to everyone. The goddess herself was on her way to Garreg Mach?! Seteth was definitely the most interested in this. “Are you certain of this?” he asked.

Rachel just nodded. “Yes, she wishes to speak with the archbishop specifically in fact. Of course, she still wants to talk to the grim reaper. According to her, he is the key to saving Fodlan. Even if she had her old power, she would not be able to handle the likes of Hazama or Azrael. She admitted this herself.”

That was a bit confusing. “Old power?” Shez asked.

“Is she implying that the goddess isn’t as powerful as she used to be?” Arval wondered.

With a snap of her fingers, Shez and the rest were sent back to Garreg Mach, leaving just Rachel, Valkenhayn, and Jubei.

“Madam Rachel, do you truly believe Ragna the Bloodedge has what it takes to not only save Fodlan, but change it as well?” Valkenhayn asked his master.

Rachel didn’t respond. She just stood there contemplating something. ‘Perhaps I should have told him about his dark magic and where exactly it comes from…’ she thought.

Meanwhile, while Rachel did teleport them to Garreg Mach, she did not send them exactly to where they were before she appeared. Shez sighed as he realized they were above Garreg Mach, not on the ground. “Damn you Rabbit…” he muttered as everyone started to fall.

Bernadetta screamed out, “NOOOOO!!! PLEASE SOMEONE SAVE POOR BERNIE!!!”

“I think this is your time to shine” Arval said. “Maybe duplicating yourself would help.”

“Got it” Shez said as he used wind magic to grab the person nearest to him. That person happened to be Edelgard, who yelped in surprise as Shez suddenly held her bridal style, a position that was somewhat embarrassing for the both of them.

Shez duplicated himself multiple times and had those duplicates grab everyone before they were smashed to bits by the impact of the fall. Shez was far more durable than everyone else, and this extended to the clones. Thanks to the efforts of Shez, everyone was able to land safely.

Shez and his duplicates put everyone down. “Well, I guess that’s that” he said.

Edelgard, still a bit embarrassed over how she was held by Shez, nodded. “I…suppose so. I suppose as the princess, I should thank my knight in shining armor?” She meant this as a joke, obviously, not that she wasn’t thankful for Shez saving her life twice now.

Shez raised an annoyed eyebrow. “Do I LOOK like a knight to you? I’m not wearing shining armor, am I? If you want to thank me, never give me any annoying nicknames.” He had a lot of annoying nicknames, and he hated all of them.

Rhea and Catherine arrived with a look of confusion on their faces. Rhea’s confused look was also a mask that hid her suspicion. She just saw Shez use dark magic that greatly resembles magic that “they” would use. One look at Seteth confirmed to her that he had the same suspicions.

Catherine was just as confused as the archbishop. When she saw everyone falling from the sky, she panicked. Luckily, Shez was able to save them all. Now she wanted to know just how all of that happened. “Would somebody please explain why all of you were falling from the sky?” the knight asked.

Too many people started to speak at once, and way too loudly for Shez’s liking. The stress the day had given him was too much, so he reached his breaking point in record time. Transforming into his awakened state out of anger, the sheer force of his power pushing a few people back by the way, he gripped his hair tightly and shouted, “WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP FOR ONCE FUCKING SECOND?!?!!?”

Nobody called him out for his language as one, they understood that this was the norm for him, and two, they were still in awe of the magic he possessed. For Catherine and Rhea, this was their first time seeing this, and Rhea was just growing more and more suspicious.

Shez finally calmed down and returned to normal and turned to leave. “Screw this, I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up when the goddess and Jeralt’s mercs get here” he said.

That last part caught Rhea’s attention. She looked to Seteth. Seteth looked back at her. Seteth turned to everyone and gave an order. “I advise that all of you prepare yourselves for what is to come in a few hours. Make sure you are all respectful when our guests arrive.”

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways. Alois took Catherine aside to explain the situation to her, leaving Rhea and Seteth alone.

“Lady Rhea, this may be a shock to you, but mother is indeed with us once more” he said. Seteth proceeded to explain the entire ordeal about Rachel, Shez’s power, and the fact that more people from the island would be arriving to help with Hazama and Relius. While all of this was definitely important, what really stood out was the fact that Sothis was on her way here.

'Could it be...mother, did you finally come back to me?' Rhea thought. Rhea wasn’t sure if Rachel was lying, but she decided that she would have to ask Shez whenever she could. She could wait a few more hours, but she wanted to be absolutely sure. The only person who could confirm her suspicion right away was Shez. So, she made her way to his dorm room 30 minutes later and knocked on it. A few footsteps were heard before the door opened.

“Lady Rhea?” Shez asked in confusion.

Rhea got straight to the point. She NEEDED to know if her mother was still alive. “Shez, tell me EVERTHING you know about the Ashen Demon.”

Chapter Text

Shez and Rhea were now sitting in a private area reserved for meetings. Shez took a sip of his tea. He put the teacup down and looked out the window. “So, you want to know about Byelth? I’ll tell you right now, I don’t know her on a personal level” he said.

Rhea nodded. “I understand, but it is important to know all that I can before she arrives. She is the vessel for the goddess and the goddess does wish to speak with me after all.”

Shez sighed and leaned back. ‘What a pain…’ he thought. “Well, I can tell you that Byleth isn’t known for her emotions. When talking about the Ashen Demon, most mercs are thinking about her emotionless expression whenever she kills someone. No anger, no sadness, nothing. Still, it’s nothing I haven’t encountered before” he explained. Lambda was also pretty emotionless too. He couldn’t blame her, especially after what she went through.

Rhea raised an eyebrow at the claim. “You have encountered similar people?” she asked. In all of her years of living, Rhea had never encountered someone with no emotions.

Shez nodded. “Yeah. That land I visited had a few people like that. Anyway, I have no idea why the goddess would be in someone else’s body. It’s like someone grabbed her from the heavens and placed her into Byleth” he said. He had no clue what the afterlife was like here, as he hadn’t read many scriptures.

Shez was quick to notice Rhea’s expression subtly shift. ‘Don’t tell me…the archbishop is responsible for this crap?’ he thought. Shez took another sip of his tea. “So, Leonie called Jeralt a captain. Alois seemed to know him too when I brought him up after saving Edelgard and the rest. Was he someone special here?” he asked. He didn’t want Rhea to get suspicious of him by asking if she had anything to do with Sothis being in Byleth’s head.

Rhea smiled lightly. “Yes. He was captain of the Knights of Seiros a long time ago. Once a soldier for the Kingdom of Faerghus, he was hired to escort me. He took a blow that would have ended my life. Luckily, I was able to save him in time.” she said. She was able to give him her major crest of Seiros to save his life. This was the second time she had done this, with the first time being Wilhelm the first.

Shez whistled. “Wow, escorting the archbishop herself? Most mercs would love to have a job like that” he said, a little impressed. ‘Then again, most mercs aren’t exactly popular with those high-class bastards’ he thought to himself.

Rhea explained a bit more about Jeralt. Apparently, she was so impressed by his skills that she made him a knight of Seiros. Jeralt was easily the best the knights had ever seen, which is how he became captain.

Shez gave a little bit of a smirk. “Were you two close or something? The way you praise him makes it sound like you dated.” Not that he really cared if they did.

Rhea chuckled and shook her head. “Oh no, we were not romantically involved. While I am fond of Jeralt, my position does not leave much room for romance” she said. The only person she felt that way about was Wilhelm. Some people even suggested that the Hresvelg bloodline was directly descended from Saint Seiros herself. Rhea knew this was false. If it WERE true, she likely would not be the archbishop right now. Instead, she would likely be in Enbarr keeping a close eye on the bloodline.

Shez started to put more sugar in his tea and stirred. “Yeah, but you could leave anytime you wanted. Just find someone you think is good enough and go out and live your life. A lot of people respect you for the things you did for Fodlan. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind you leaving the role. Even someone like you can’t do this forever.” That last line meant that Shez knew Rhea was not what she appeared. He’s been around people like her plenty of times.

Rhea stopped to consider his words. “That…may be possible” she said with a bit of uncertainty. For a long time, she had taken on many names and has been the archbishop for a long time, longer than most people can even live. She never even considered retirement because she needed to bring back her mother. Now that she was back, she could leave Fodlan in the hands of the goddess. “I…have not felt the need to retire. Perhaps if I find the right person, I shall consider it. What about you? Have you considered finding love and retiring as a mercenary?” Rhea knew Shez was still young and likely wouldn’t be considering something like that, but she was genuinely curious.

Shez’s stirring stopped. That was actually a pretty deep question. “I’m not sure. After all I’ve been through, I wouldn’t mind some peace in my life.” All the things he went through during his past life left a strong desire for peace. When it came to romance, that was another story. “Finding someone to settle down with is not a priority of mine right now. I doubt anyone would even be willing to marry a guy like me anyway. My nicknames don’t exactly scream “marry me” or something like that.”

Rhea didn’t like how Shez was putting himself down. “I am certain that most would be willing to put aside the titles and see you for who you truly are” she countered.

‘You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew the shit I pulled during my past life’ Shez thought. The places he had destroyed, the many he had slaughtered, the list goes on. No woman would be willing to marry someone like him if they knew the truth. “Maybe. I guess some of my classmates would be somewhat approachable. Most of them are noble though, so it wouldn’t work out.”

Rhea raised an eyebrow. She didn’t know what Shez meant by that. Shez, sensing her confusion, sighed. “Mercenaries aren’t exactly popular with nobles. Sure, maybe I can be friends with someone like Edelgard, but she’s a princess. Unless I somehow become beloved by the nobility as a whole, romance between us would just cause trouble. Most nobles only respect me for my power, not who I am as a person” he explained.

Rhea frowned. “That is horrible to hear. Perhaps I should do more to remedy this issue” she said.

Shez snorted. “Good luck. You probably aren’t the first person to try and bridge the gap between nobles and commoners.  I’d be impressed if someone actually managed to do it.” Shez didn’t actually believe it was possible, but he had a bit of faith.

“Do you have your eyes on anyone here?” Rhea asked. She knew there were plenty of people interested in getting close with Shez the Bloodedge.

Shez shrugged. “Well, I haven’t spent much time with anyone outside of the black eagles. Ignoring the issue of nobility, I’d have to go with Dorothea or Edelgard if I had to pick. They seem the sanest of that rowdy bunch. Still, I kind of like the chaos in that group” he said with a smile.

Bernadetta was too cowardly for Shez’s liking, and Petra was the princess of Brigid. While visiting Brigid sounded cool, Shez preferred to stick close to his roots. Dorothea was the flirty type, but there was nothing about her that made her an immediate “no way” in Shez’s mind. Edelgard was the most unlikely, but he did find her more approachable about certain topics.

Shez looked out the window and noticed how the sun had gone down a bit. “I think they’ll be arriving soon. You should head out; I’ll clean up here” he said as he started to clean the table.

Rhea smiled and got up from her seat. “Thank you Shez. I enjoyed our talk together” she said before leaving the room. Shez sighed. That woman was something else.

“How did I get roped into this…” Jeralt grumbled. For so long, he had avoided the Church to keep away from Rhea. Now, he was willingly heading towards the one person he had been avoiding thanks to a vampire, her butler, and the goddess herself.

Byleth, who was currently walking beside her father, placed a hand on his shoulder. “You can stay behind if you wish. I am certain Sothis and I can handle it by ourselves” she said. She didn’t want her father to be uncomfortable.

Jeralt shook his head at Byleth trying to reassure him. “Sorry kid, but you’re stuck with me.” He still didn’t trust Rhea, so he wasn’t going to leave Byleth alone with her.

Sothis decided to pop in, not that Jeralt could hear her. “Perhaps you should allow me to do most of the talking. You are not known for showing much emotion” the goddess suggested.

‘Will you at least allow me to thank Shez? I haven’t had the chance to thank him for saving me. In fact, I believe YOU should thank him as well.’ Byleth had a point. Neither of them would have lasted long against Azrael. Shez was their savior.

Byleth could feel Sothis growing sad for some reason. ‘Is this about his past?’ she asked. The vampire had revealed all of Shez’s past life to them Needless to say, they both felt bad for the man. Byleth found it difficult to express emotions, but even she was able to shed a tear when she saw the ending to his story.

“No person should go through the torment he went through. While that does not excuse the horrible acts he has committed, it is easy to understand why he was that person back then” Sothis commented.

Byleth had no response to that. She couldn’t understand what Shez went through at all. A reunion with him would have to come later, as they finally arrived at Garreg Mach. Jeralt told the other mercs to be on their best behavior. They all nodded. It was pretty strange for all of them as they were technically allied with the goddess, but they got used to it after a while.

When the gates opened, many people were bowing in reverence. Byleth led the charge as they all entered the monastery. Leonie wanted to speak up, but she knew to remain silent. Most were skeptical about the idea that the goddess was in a mortal body, but Sothis decided to show them she wasn’t messing around. Sothis took control and rose into the air. A bright green aura surrounded her. Those who were skeptical were now believers now.

Sothis’ eyes glowed brightly as she spoke. “Greetings my children. I am the goddess of Fodlan, Sothis. You need not fear me, for I mean you no harm. I lack the power I once had because of my vessel, but I am NOT to be trifled with regardless. You are to treat both I AND my vessel with respect. Am I clear to you all?”

Everyone nodded as Rhea and Seteth arrived on the scene. They heard her speech, and they knew it WAS the real Sothis. Rhea couldn’t be happier, but she managed to resist the urge to leap into Sothis’ arms.

Edelgard and Hubert weren’t too worried about Sothis being here. If she was some threat, Shez was there. Sothis herself said that she lacked the power she once had, and Shez was a complete powerhouse. Still, they wouldn’t dare attack the goddess, especially for no good reason.

Tomas wanted to end the goddess here and now, but a hand was placed on his shoulder. “Remember the plan, Solon.”

Solon sighed in defeat. “Very well Relius. I see you have taken to observing the 14^th Murakumo unit closely ever since you arrived here” Solon said.

Relius smirked. “Well, thanks to your help, she may be the strongest one yet, surpassing even the 12^th” he said. “She’s already under your control. You just need to wait for the right moment.”

Solon nodded. “Understood.”

Shez heard Sothis’ speech too. He had just finished cleaning up and was now leaning against a wall. Shez scoffed. “Respect huh? Sorry, but I prefer to treat gods like equals, especially after the shit I’ve been through.”

Arval could feel something boiling within him. “Shez, I know you do not wish to use it, but I can feel something trying to take over! If something happens, this strange power will have the power of the azure at their fingertips!” Arval was clearly struggling to hold that feeling back, but the presence of Sothis made it nearly impossible.

Shez didn’t waste any time and quickly used the power of the azure to completely eliminate the unknown being trying to take control. Sothis could feel a sudden rise in dark power, and she knew it must have been from Shez. She had to admit, it was impressive.

“You good Arval?” Shez asked. He hoped that his pal wasn’t hurt.

“I feel…free. I don’t understand why, but I feel free. I also feel like I’ve lost a sense of purpose. It’s strange” Arval replied.

Shez thought for a moment. “Do you think that other presence created you or something? If so, I can find that info with the Azure.”

Arval’s eyes widened, and Shez could feel it. “I thought you wanted to avoid using the Azure like that?”

Shez shrugged. “Well, whatever tried to takeover is gone, but now we may not get any answers without it. Besides, we both wanna know where our magic came from, and this may be the only way. If we don’t learn now, it may come back to bite us in the ass.” Not knowing things was pretty bad in Shez’s experience.

Arval smiled. “Well, I guess we could try it.”

Shez tried to use the power of the Azure, but then he gained a warning. “What the hell?” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Arval asked. He was expecting knowledge by now.

“It’s the Azure…it’s telling me that if I use it to gain knowledge, we’ll gain far more than just knowledge about where this magic came from. Something about…the true history of Fodlan and the crest system” Shez explained. This was strange. The Azure itself IS sentient, but it had never tried to interfere whenever Shez used its power. This was actually another reason Shez tried to avoid abusing it. The power of the Azure could deem him unworthy of using it if he abused it too much.

“Well, it’s not like you haven’t gone through something similar before. Remember when Nine told you the true history of your old world?” Arval reminded the grim reaper. That was definitely a revelation Shez would never forget.

“Fair point” Shez conceded. Knowing that both Shez and Arval were prepared, the Azure granted them the knowledge they sought.

It has been a few minutes and Jeralt, Rhea, Seteth, Flayn(who was hiding), and Sothis were currently in a meeting room.

“So, you have taken the role of a mercenary Jeralt?” Seteth asked. He found it a bit suspicious that Jeralt had survived that fire and had avoided contact with the Church.

Jeralt nodded, aware of Seteth’s suspicion. “Yes. Who would’ve imagined that my own daughter had the goddess herself living inside her head.”

Seteth raised an eyebrow. “You had no knowledge of her prescence?” he asked. Was Sothis just dormant?

Byleth, who was sitting across from Rhea, took control. “I have been seeing the goddess for years in my dreams. I’ve always dreamt about a war. Two people were fighting, and the woman won the battle” she revealed.

“That war was the War of Heroes. It took place over a thousand years ago” Rhea told Byleth. Looking closely, she could definitely see a resemblance to Sitri. ‘You must be her child. That explains why my mother found herself within you’ Rhea thought.

Jeralt sighed. “You’ve been telling me that for years, but I didn’t believe ya until we met the grim reaper” he said, rubbing his forehead. Jeralt then looked around the meeting room, noticing that someone was not there yet. “Speaking of, where is he? I’m pretty sure he should be here.”

Rhea found it a bit strange as well. ‘He should be done cleaning. Did something happen?’ She hoped not. Shez seemed like a fine individual.

Sothis instantly took control, something everyone noticed thanks to her now having that green aura. She grabbed her head in pain. Rhea was worried about her mother’s wellbeing. “Mo-Lady Sothis, what is wrong?” she asked, going to her side.

“This darkness…I’ve never felt anything like it. The anger…it’s heading this way!” Sothis revealed.

‘Darkness?’ everyone else thought. The room then started to shake for a bit. That was pretty odd. ‘An earthquake?’ they all thought in unison. That’s when everyone in the entire monastery heard an ear-piercing shriek. Everyone covered their ears to shield themselves from the noise.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! MONSTER!!!!!” a voice shrieked. Seteth sighed. He knew it was likely Bernadetta. No one he knew could scream as loud as that. Seteth decided to go calm her down. Seteth exited the room and turned to the left, only to collide with a fleeing Bernadetta. They both fell to the ground in a comedic fashion, but Bernadetta quickly scrambled to her feet and continued to run.

Jeralt and Rhea couldn’t help but chuckle. That was pretty amusing. Seteth didn’t think so as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “That girl…what could terrify her so much?” he asked himself. As he looked down the hall where Bernadetta came from, he soon received his answer. Seteth had NEVER felt a level of fear like this before. Everyone else looked down the hall too. Flayn, who had emerged from her hiding spot, instantly regretted revealing herself.

She wasn’t the only one terrified by the sight before them. Jeralt’s instincts were telling him to flee the area immediately. Rhea felt something similar to what she felt when Shez showed everyone the black beast, but it was far more intense. Byleth, who had taken back control, couldn’t maintain her emotionless look. She truly felt fear.

Standing at the end of the hall was Shez, and he was NOT normal at all. Both of his eyes were now glowing white with red outlines. His mouth had become a giant house of fangs. Both of his arms were now black claws with red lines on them. Shez also had black flames surrounding him and he looked more monstrous in general. Shez growled like a beast. Even without pupils, Rhea could feel him glaring at her, and she didn’t like it.

With an echoed and demonic voice, Shez said, “Seiros…we need to talk!”

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasizing.

I don’t own any of the characters in this fic. All rights go to their respective owners. The movesets and techniques come from either fire emblem or blazblue with influence from other franchises.

Rhea was slammed into the wall by Shez’s clawed hand. Rhea could feel her soul slowly being ripped out of her body as she struggled to escape Shez’s grip.

Jeralt tried to grab Shez’s shoulder, but this only resulted in him being sent into another wall by a dark tendril.

“Don’t get in my way, this is between me and her!” Shez roared.

“Let’s calm down a bit. Don’t you think you’re taking this too far?” Arval tried to reason with his friend, but it was no use. Shez just ignored Arval and tightened his grip on Rhea.

“Tell me Seiros…do you realize how many suffered thanks to your lie? How many people suffered under this system you helped create? What about those who were given roles they never asked for thanks to you doing nothing to solve the MANY issues plaguing Fodlan? Not all of that is on you, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t played a role!” Shez’s dark aura grew more intense the more he spoke.

Rhea tried to use a blast of white magic to escape. She raised her hands and conjured a beam of pure white energy. The beam hit Shez’s face, but it didn’t do any damage, much to the horror of Rhea. Shez’s glowing eyes narrowed as he slammed Rhea into the wall again, leaving a visible crack. “Nice try, but I’ve been hurt worse” he growled.

Some other people who had heard the commotion entered the area. Edelgard and Hubert were investigating the screams of Bernadetta. They were shocked to find some sort of monster holding Rhea in its grip. “W-what is that?!” Edelgard exclaimed.

Hubert had almost no clue. The thing before them was dark in nature, that much was true. As he got a closer look at the monster, he noticed a few similarities between the monster and…”Shez?!” Hubert exclaimed.

“Get outta here, all of you! I wanna speak to Rhea ALONE” Shez ordered. Edelgard and Hubert were surprised to see Shez in this state. Sure, he wasn’t always the nicest or calmest, but neither of them assumed that he would lose it like this.

Sothis came to rescue her daughter, but she was easily taken care of by a back kick from Shez. It was horrifying to see the goddess of Fodlan taken down like that so easily.

Rhea could feel more of her soul being pulled away. She struggled and struggled, but Shez wouldn’t let go.

“Really? You’re angry over a lie? Newsflash, you lied too!” Arval said, calling out Shez’s hypocrisy.

‘My lies haven’t caused as much damage as hers!’ he countered.

“Okay, that’s fair. Still, I think killing the archbishop is a bad ide-“ Arval was cut off as time seemed to warp around them.

‘Another phenomena intervention? No, this is different!’ Shez thought. In the blink of an eye, Rhea was gone, and he was standing in the hallway alone. “Damnit!” he cursed.

“Before we go attacking the archbishop again, let’s calm down and think about it. Yeah, Seiros’ lie was bad and allowed a lot of bad things to happen. And yeah, while she isn’t solely responsible, she did play a factor. However, keep in mind that you would never have met some of your pals if all of that didn’t happen. Really, you have her to thank for all of the bonds you have made. Think about it, without the crest system, nobles and commoners would likely be on even footing. If you were somehow still born, would you have made the bonds you have now? I doubt that.”

Arval’s explanation was sound. Shez sighed. He knew Arval was right. Plus, whoever saved Rhea obviously didn’t want her dead. So, Shez calmed down and returned to his normal state. “Shit, I need to apologize to Bernadetta for freaking her out like that.” He hadn’t expected to run into Bernadetta when he transformed. He didn’t intentionally want to scare her.

As if on cue, Bernadetta screamed, “AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! MONSTER!!!!!” and came barreling down the hall at a speed Shez never expected from Bernadetta.

‘That girl can run when she wants to’ Shez thought as Bernadetta suddenly crashed into him. Unlike Seteth, Shez did not fall. Instead, Bernadetta just wrapped her arms around the grim reaper, which was a little awkward for Shez.

Bernadetta sobbed into Shez’s chest as Shez slowly wrapped his arms around Bernadetta. “It was terrible!!!! This hideous and disgusting monster tried to kill me!!!”

Shez’s eyes narrowed. ‘You know what, screw apologizing!’ he thought. “Bernadetta, that monster is me!”

Bernadetta pulled away from Shez and looked him in the eye. Bernadetta tried to compare Shez to the monster, but she just couldn’t see it. When Shez closed his eyes and reopened them, they were glowing just like the monster. That was enough for Bernadetta to faint in Shez’s arms.

“You know, I’m surprised your luck with girls is as good as it is” Arval commented.

‘I think it’s terrible’ Shez responded as he held Bernadetta in his arms. Rhea and Seteth came out to see what the commotion was and when they saw Bernadetta and Shez. Noticing their suspicious looks, Shez glared. “Hey, I don’t know what you’re assuming, but it’s false! Bernadetta fainted and I didn’t want her head to hit the ground too hard!”

Rhea and Seteth were still suspicious of him. Jeralt peeked his head out of the meeting room and noticed Shez. “Ah, there you are. We were wondering where you were” he said. Sothis also peeked her head out. She was giving Shez a small glare.

“Sorry, I just learned a bit of an unfortunate truth. That shaking you guys felt earlier? That was all me” Shez revealed.

That wasn’t too surprising. They all knew just how powerful Shez was.

Shez turned to look at Sothis. “By the way, was that you earlier? The whole, changing time thing?” he asked.

Sothis’ eyes widened. “How did you…?”

“Yeah, you aren’t the only being I know that can mess around with time” Shez said, thinking back to his fights with Izanami. Not being able to move was a pain. Still, the fact that he was aware that time had shifted was a sign that he was significantly stronger than Sothis. For one, his position stayed the same while everyone else’s changed. Secondly, he was aware that time had changed while everyone else aside from Sothis wasn’t aware.

Edelgard and Hubert arrived like they were supposed to, although Edelgard was rubbing her forehead slightly and looked a little uncomfortable.

“What’s with you Edelgard? What, a rat surprise you or something?” Shez asked.

Edelgard shook her head. “No, thankfully not. I just believe that I have had a similar encounter before, but it was different. I do not understand why I have this feeling” she explained.

Shez turned to Sothis with a grin. “Heh, I guess I’m not the only one that can pick up on your little time reversal trick.”

Hubert raised an eyebrow at Shez’s words. “Time reversal?” he asked.

“Thanks to the power of what you all call crests, I am able to manipulate time to a certain degree. Of course, I cannot use that power to its full extent right now. The most I can do is freeze time and turn it back, though only for 3 minutes at a maximum. After using this ability three times, I need to rest before I can use it again” Sothis explained to everyone.

“What kind of crest do you have anyway?” Shez asked.

Sothis unveiled the crest of flames before them, which shocked Edelgard and Hubert. Shez’s eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute, if Edelgard was somewhat aware that you screwed with time, then that means she must have that crest too. How the hell did she even-“ Shez stopped when he realized the answer to his own question. Shez sighed. “Shit…that explains it…” he muttered.

Hubert glared at Shez for what he did. Everyone else turned their eyes to Edelgard. “Edelgard, you possess the crest of Seiros. It would be impossible for you to also have the crest of flames” Rhea said. How would the imperial princess have the crest of flames?

Edelgard was about to come up with an excuse when Shez cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention. “Look, let’s just say I am not the only one here with a bad past, and leave it at that” he said, trying to spare Edelgard from an explanation, which the princess was thankful for.

Rhea was still a bit worried about how Edelgard came to possess the crest of flames, but a look from her mother told her to drop the subject. “Very well” she conceded.

Sothis was fully aware that something bad happened to Edelgard and it was clearly painful to talk about, so she would not want the girl to be put in an uncomfortable position. “Now that you are here grim reaper, I believe we need to talk about many things. That also includes your past. I believe many things will come to light.”

Shez nodded. “Oh yeah, there’s gonna be a lot of reveals alright. If they don’t come from me, they’ll come from you or someone else” he said. For a brief moment, his eyes shifted directly to Rhea before returning to Sothis. Hubert and Edelgard both caught the motion and wondered if Shez had somehow figured out the truth about Rhea. “Still, I think we’re gonna need to gather everyone again. I don’t wanna repeat myself” he said.

Seteth raised an eyebrow. “Will this reveal be as long as your story about the black beast and the nox nyctores?” he asked. He didn’t mind long stories, but Shez’s was definitely very time-consuming.

Shez shook his head and raised his arm. “It won’t, because I’ll be using THIS to make things easier. So, could you grab the rest of the black eagles, blue lions, and golden deer? No one else aside from a few knights please. This is gonna be big” he requested.

“Oh, do not worry, I will handle that issue” a familiar snobby voice said. Shez groaned as everyone was teleported to a completely different area.

Rhea and a revealed Flayn panicked, but Seteth calmed them down. “Do not worry, this is not the first time miss Alucard has done this” he said. That was an understatement.

Shez noticed that the black eagles, blue lions, golden deer, the professors, Catherine, Shamir, and Alois were all here. “Well, props to Rabbit for making things easier for all of us” he praised.

As if on cue, Rachel Alucard came floating down from above with grace. “Praise from the Grim Reaper? I must be quite the celebrity now.”

And there it was. “I take it back, you’re still a brat” Shez stated bluntly.

Bernadetta started to stir in Shez’s arms. When she opened her eyes and saw his face, she was about to scream when Shez glared at her and said, “Faint or scream again and I WILL take your soul!” he threatened.

Absolutely terrified of that possibility, Bernadetta nodded as she left Shez’s arms.

Hubert grinned a little. “My, perhaps we should hire intimidating mercenaries like the Grim Reaper in case we need more thorough interrogations?”

Shez shook his head at the idea. “Good luck with that. Now, I think we should get this over with” he said.

Rachel giggled, which made Shez shiver. That giggle was when Rachel was about to torment or surprise him with something big. “Rabbit, what did you do?” Shez asked.

Rachel gave Shez her best evil smile. “Why, I simply set the stage for a family reunion. I do believe I did quite a splendid job” she responded.

Shez was about to ask what she meant by that when his instincts told him to jump, which allowed him to avoid a sharp pillar of ice that would have skewered him. Shez noticed a few ice swords heading his way while he was in the air. Shez pulled out Aramasa and shattered the swords by hitting him with his blade.

As Shez landed, he had already figured out who the swords of ice came from. He couldn’t help but smile a little. “I was wondering how long it would be until we found each other again, Jin.”

(Play the second version of Jin’s theme from blazblue if you want.)

Sure enough, his own brother, Jin Kisaragi, was here in the flesh. The ice swordsman slowly walked forward and revealed himself to everyone else. A few people were quick to notice that he looked exactly like the man Shez showed using Yukianesa when he told them that story.

Caspar leaned over and whispered to Linhardt. “The guy with Yukianesa is Shez’s brother?”

Linhardt hummed with intrigue. “Interesting…perhaps Shez’s past isn’t what we believed it to be” he responded.

Annette looked between Jin and Felix a few times. “Um…is anyone else thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.

“You’re getting Felix vibes from that guy too? I thought I was the only one!” Sylvain exclaimed.

Felix was already getting annoyed. He turned to his classmates and glared at all of them. “You have only known him for a few seconds, and you already believe we are the same person?!” he exclaimed.

“Yes” was Dedue’s blunt reply. Ingrid couldn’t help but snort at Dedue’s bluntness. Dimitri was trying his best not to laugh. Felix was completely unamused by these antics.

Hubert was already suspicious of Shez before, but the fact that he had a brother that had a Nox Nyctores was incredibly suspicious. “What else have you been hiding Grim Reaper…?”

Edelgard would be a massive hypocrite if she was upset over Shez lying. Then again, all humans are hypocrites so what would be the point in calling people out? Still, she did want to know just what he was hiding. Perhaps he would explain later.

Raphael was a bit confused. “So…is Shez’s last name Kisaragi?” he asked.

“I think he would have told us his last name if that were the case Raphael” Claude responded, still a bit shocked that Shez has a brother.

“If ya need to know, Jin was adopted by a different family after the two separated during their younger days” a voice said. Jubei had appeared with Valkenhayn right behind him. They introduced themselves to those who had not met them. People like Shamir and Catherine were downright shocked to see a talking cat.

“So, the two were separated at birth?” Dimitri asked Jubei.

Jubei nodded. “Yeah. During his past life, Shez experienced a lotta pain during his childhood. That pain is what led to them being split apart alongside their sister.”

“Past life?!” a few exclaimed. The sister part was a shock, but what did Jubei mean by past life?

Valkenhayn cleared his throat. “Do not worry. Once the siblings have their reunion battle, all of your questions will be answered. For now, let us enjoy the spectacle.”

Everyone just nodded and turned to watch the upcoming battle.

(And now you can play the second version of the Ragna vs Jin theme if you want.)

Jin crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He was wearing a smile on his face though. “Brother…you tried to make me forget you” he said before opening his green eyes. “I’ll have to kill you for that” he said, his smile growing more psychotic.

Shez took his usual stance as he gave Jin a determined look. “You’re welcome to try you little brat.”

Jin took a stance of his own and narrowed his eyes. “Do not hold anything back, brother. You weren’t going all out against the bystander. I know you’re hiding more power.”

Shez scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna have to make me go all out. I doubt you’d be a match for me. I’ve gotten so strong that I doubt even the mad dog’s full power could take me down” he said, a little bit cocky.

Jin scoffed. “Fine brother, I’ll make you use your full power. Just don’t die too early. I want to have a bit of fun with you first” he said before the temperature in the area started to drop. Rachel cast a spell to prevent anyone from getting sick or worse. The only ones aside from her that were already unaffected by the cold were Shez, Jubei, and Valkenhayn.

Ice started to flow from Jin’s feet as he continued to rise in power. Shez had to admit, he was impressed. He could feel his little brother’s strength rising. “Wow Jin. Is that the power of order you’re using?”

“Indeed brother. This is the full might of the power of order!” Jin shouted as a white aura engulfed him. The ground started to shake violently, but everyone was used to it at this point. For a moment, Shez could have sworn he saw Hakumen appear, but he knew that couldn’t be the case.

Meanwhile, everyone’s intrigue was peaked by their talk.

“The power of order? Isn’t that what keeps the world in balance or something?” Claude asked, remembering Shez’s description.

“Yes, and it appears Jin has that power” Lorenz answered. What threat could there be that would require Jin to have the power of order? That was the question on everyone’s minds.

As Jin finished powering up, his now bright blue eyes narrowed as he prepared himself for battle. “Well brother, are you going to use your full power against me?”

Shez was genuinely surprised. ‘He might actually be stronger than me now. I don’t get it, the black beast shouldn’t be a threat anymore, so why does he still have the power of order?’ he thought.

“At least he’s not obsessed with killing you” Arval commented. That much was more reassuring.

Shez sighed. “Fine Jin, I’ll go all out. Get ready for the beatdown of a lifetime” he said before activating his awakened state as well as the power of the azure grimoire. Despite this, he still wasn’t done powering up. As he continued to do so, he began to growl like an angry beast, which confused most of the audience.

That confusion turned to horror and amazement as Shez let out a loud roar. His hair remained the same, but not everything else. His teeth grew in length and his limbs turned into black and red monster claws. His pupils were gone, replaced with a glowing white with red outlines. A dark-red aura engulfed Shez as he continued to power up.

Once he was done, Shez let out a low growl. “Alright you icy bastard, let’s get going!”

Chapter Text

Shez and Jin quickly closed the distance between each other, leaving a trail of darkness and ice respectively. When their blades clashed, a powerful shockwave was created that would have blown everyone away had it not been for Rachel’s magic.

Shez jumped over a horizontal slash from Jin, countering with a kick. Jin blocked the kick with his scabbard, stabbing his sword into the ground. An icy tombstone appeared behind Shez, sending him into the air and freezing him in an ice crystal. Jin fired multiple ice arrows using Yukianesa’s power, hitting his brother multiple times.

Shez finally broke out of his ice prison and fired multiple fireballs. ‘I’ll counter your ice with fire you punk!’ Shez thought as he threw multiple fireballs from his hands. Jin sliced through the fireballs with his icy sword. Shez threw one massive fireball that actually hid him from Jin’s view.

Jin sliced through the fireball by releasing a massive crescent wave of ice with his sword. Jin was quick to notice that his brother was nowhere to be found. Shez had actually warped behind Jin and delivered a powerful punch to his back that sent Jin flying. As Jin flew across the battlefield, Shez used a new trick he had picked up. He could warp his entire body with ease. So, why not just warp certain parts of his body? Shez created a small portal using his magic. He threw a punch into the portal.

That punch would actually send Jin flying in a new direction as the portal appeared in his flight path. Another portal punch would send Jin diagonally up before a portal kick sent him straight down, only for another portal kick to send him straight up.

Shez, having had his fun, created multiple deadspikes around Jin. They surrounded the hero of Ikaruga, looking much more monstrous than before. Shez closed his right hand, commanding the deadspikes to close in on Jin. A massive explosion of darkness signified the power of the attack. When the smoke cleared, Jin was relatively okay. He had created a snowflake-shaped barrier to reduce the damage of the attack.

Jin created a large pillar of ice for him to stand on. He put away his sword and created two snowflake-shaped ice shurikens.  When he threw them at his brother, the shurikens increased in size. Shez avoided the first one and shattered the second one with his sword. Jin threw more of these shurikens as Shez ran across the battlefield, avoiding the onslaught of shurikens.

Shez jumped on top of one shuriken before leaping onto the next one. This continued until he was close enough to attack Jin with his scythe. Jin pulled out his sword and swung it in order to clash with his brother once again. Their clash created another shockwave as the two continued to battle it out.

The observers of the fight were used to chaotic moments like this, but they’d never imagined Shez was THIS powerful. The fact that he had been holding back this entire time was amazing, but also terrifying. It was clear to everyone that, if he wanted to, Shez could either destroy or take over Fodlan with sheer power alone. None of them had power like Shez, so they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Shez and Jin continued their battle with Shez blasting Jin off of the pillar using wind magic from his palm. As Jin fell from the pillar, he threw a few more ice swords at Shez. To counter the swords, Shez summoned more deadspikes around him, sending them towards the swords. The swords and deadspikes collided, allowing Shez to slam his sword down onto Jin’s, who was trying to block the strike. The force behind Shez’s attack sent Jin flying straight down.

Jin created a slide for himself, sliding down using a curved path, but Shez used his scythe to cut the ice slide in half, causing Jin to fall off. Shez threw a couple of fireballs at Jin, but Jin created a wall of thick ice that blocked the fireballs as both of them fell to the ground.

When the two landed at last, both of them were breathing heavily. Jin’s aura had faded, and his eyes returned to normal, while Shez let the power of the azure and the black beast, as well as Arval’s magic fade. Both of them looked as they did prior to their battle.

It was clear to Jubei that the brothers had settled their issues somewhat, so he chuckled as he turned to Rachel. “I guess these two will be able to work together for the time being, eh Rachel?” he asked.

Rachel took a sip of her tea before replying. “I suppose so, although I doubt they will be acting like proper family anytime soon.” Despite their tearful goodbye, the brothers still hated each other to a degree. Their rivalry had festered for years, so it was unlikely they would be getting along again anytime soon.

The two brothers stared at each other for a moment before putting their weapons away. Shez wiped some blood from his head, as one of Jin’s strikes had split his head open a little. “Damn…you’ve gotten a lot stronger you little brat…” he said, proud of his younger…no, Jin was now older than him physically and mentally, as much as he hated to admit it.

Jin just crossed his arms. “Brother…I had to prepare for our eventual rematch. Of course, I would be stronger than before. After all, no one gets to kill you but me” Jin said with a tired smile on his face. Did he mean it? Somewhat. Shez may be the black beast, but the power of order could tell that the black beast was completely under Shez’s control, and thus, no longer a threat, meaning the power of order was no longer constantly telling him to kill his brother like Yukianesa used to do. Of course, Jin would never allow anyone else the pleasure of killing Shez. That honor was for him and him alone.

Meanwhile, most of the audience was still unsure about a lot of things. For one, Shez has a brother, and that brother is the wielder of a nox nyctores. Also, Shez apparently had a past life, but what the hell did that even mean? Who was he in his past life, and how is Jin connected? One thing was certain. These two were NOT to be taken lightly.

The two brothers made their way over to the crowd, who were all murmuring to each other about what happened. Well, aside from Caspar who leapt up and ran over to Shez and Jin with excitement in his eyes. Before he could get too close, however, Shez turned his hand into a giant claw and grabbed Caspar by the face.

“Caspar…before you even say ANYTHING, let Jin and I rest up a bit. Deal?” Feeling Caspar nod, Shez released the eager teen.

Linhardt, who had seen the interaction alongside everyone else, looked genuinely impressed. “He actually managed to keep Caspar silent. Impressive” Linhardt praised, though he was more eager to get the answers to his questions, as was just about everyone else.

After some time, Shez and Jin were sitting next to each other, with both of them being healed by those who knew healing magic. While this was happening, Shez was having a mental conversation with Arval. ‘Arval, do you think we should tell them about you?’ he asked his companion.

“Absolutely not” Arval replied with haste. “We both saw the same things, and we both know that three people will attack us the moment they learn who and what I am as well as who created me!”

Fair enough. Arval’s creator had faced down Seiros, Cichol, and Cethleann in battle during the war of heroes, and Arval looks incredibly similar to Epimenides. ‘I get that, but if WE don’t reveal where our power came from, Rachel definitely will. Probably just to piss me off.’ Really, Rachel just loved tormenting Shez.

Arval considered this for a moment. Sure, there would definitely be hostilities, but it’s not like anyone would be able to kill Shez at this point, and there was no way Shez would allow anyone to hurt Arval. Arval sighed as he finally caved in. “Fine, but make sure you only make me into some sort of spirit. I quite like living in your head and berating you.”

Shez rolled his eyes but nodded. Getting up from his chair, he began to make an announcement. “Alright, I know a lot of you guys want to hear the whole story of me having a past life and also how the hell I have a brother, but I have one more thing to tell you all before that” Shez took a deep breath and prepared himself for the looks he was going to get. “I…have a voice in my head.”

There was silence for a few moments as everyone who didn’t already know of Arval’s existence looked at Shez with curiosity or worry. Jin chuckled. “Oh? Is this voice the one responsible for that dark magic of yours?” he asked.

Shez turned to Jin with a fake smile. “Yes, he is, and he’s also not constantly telling me to kill my own brother!”

Jin frowned at this and narrowed his icy green eyes at Shez. “Brother, Yukianesa was specifically made to kill you, and the power of order viewed you as a threat” he countered, reminding his brother of the circumstances Jin was in.

When Shez noticed all of the confused looks, he sighed. “Look, the souls inside Yukianesa overpowered Jin’s tiny little brain and commanded him to kill me a lot alongside the power of order. I’ll get to why that is later, but not now.”

This didn’t exactly satisfy everyone, but they let it go, although Dimitri wondered if Jin and himself had any similarities, as both of them heard voices occasionally.

“Anyway, here’s the guy responsible for my magic. Everyone, meet Arval” Shez said as he used the power of the azure to make Arval visible to everyone else.

Arval appeared in front of everyone, with a lot of them shocked to see what looked to be some sort of ghost. Bernadetta actually screamed that Arval was a ghost and promptly fainted, with Lysithea almost doing the same.

Arval crossed his arms and frowned. “I’m not a ghost, as I am not dead. You may want to read a dictionary once in a while.” Ah, there’s Arval signature sass. “Anyway, yes, I am indeed responsible for the grim reaper’s dark magic. I’m also the one that keeps him in line and gives necessary advice” he bragged with a small smile on his face.

Understandably, people were curious to know everything about Arval, especially Edelgard and Hubert. Edelgard doubted that Shez was with twsitd, as Shez was openly about to kill Solon. Plus, Relius was working with twsitd, as was Hazama most likely, so it wouldn’t make sense for Shez to work with them. Of course, she and Hubert were still wary of Arval.

They weren’t the only ones. Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn all had flashbacks to a particular battle during the war of heroes. Of course, considering these three were Saints Seiros, Cichol, and Cethleann in disguise, they would know more about the war than anyone, and Arval reminded them of one particular mage they fought.

 “Epimenides…” Rhea growled, clenching her fists tightly. As if hearing her low growl, Arval’s orange-red eyes briefly met Rhea’s light green ones. Flayn hid behind Seteth, not wanting to meet the eyes of what she assumed to be an old enemy. When Sothis gave them all a mental command not to attack, they reluctantly obeyed.

Hubert, curious and suspicious of Arval, started fishing for answers. “How did you and Shez meet? It is odd that one would be able to place themselves in another’s mind.”

Arval started to float instead of stand, as that was his preferred method. “We met not long after his village was destroyed, and he lost his arm” Arval answered. Turning to Shez and Jin, he narrowed his eyes slightly. “Hmm…the burning down of your home and the loss of your foster mother. That must sound like something the two of you should be healing from TOGETHER.”

Shez nearly ripped his hair out after hearing Arval’s comment. “Arval, Jin cut my fucking arm off!” he yelled, pointing at Jin with an accusatory finger. It wasn’t hard to figure out that something similar had happened to Shez in his past life, though with some key differences. When people learned that Jin cut his own brother’s arm off, they all proceeded to glare at him.

Jin ignored the glares and gave a glare of his own to Shez. “Brother, you ABANDONED me and focused more on Saya!” Jin argued back, not feeling sorry about what he did at all.

Shez slammed his forehead into Jin’s, growling. “Saya was sick you asshole! Of course I had to take care of her!”

The two proceeded to get into another argument as Jubei put his paw against his face. “Here we go again…” he grumbled.

Sothis, annoyed by all of this arguing, turned to Rachel. “Were they ALWAYS like this?” she asked.

Rachel had her eyes closed and earplugs in her hands. “Unfortunately. Oh, and I recommend that all of you prepare for another battle between the two” she said, placing the earplugs in her ear.

Some were confused by what Rachel meant, but when Shez pulled out Aramasa and tried to attack Jin, things became clear. Once again, the brothers were fighting, though not nearly as intensely as before thanks to their previous battle exhausting them a bit.

After a brief battle, both Shez and Jin were on the ground restrained by Rachel’s magic. Both of them tried to struggle their way out of the restraints, but it was no use. “Damnit Rabbit, get me out of this!” Shez yelled in Rachel’s direction.

Rachel, enjoying the sight of Shez squirming, placed a finger on her chin. “Allow me to think on that for the next 100 years Ragna the Bloodedge.”

When Rachel referred to Shez as “Ragna the Bloodedge,” things started to become clearer for those who had been paying attention. Shez, in his past life, was likely named Ragna, and Rachel knew Ragna personally, which is why she would know Shez. Still, why call him Bloodedge as well.

Claude, who was sitting next to Hilda, thought back to the story Shez told them and how he gained the title “Bloodedge.” Claude’s eyes widened as he came to a realization. “I get it now. The guy who stalled the black beast was you in your past life!”

Shez and Rachel shared a brief look with each other. Shez cleared his throat. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t exactly die when that happened. I “died” when I tried erasing myself from existence. I was reborn soon after my failed attempt” he clarified for Claude, which only made the people of Fodlan more confused.

Hilda was genuinely bewildered by what Shez said, her pink eyes wide with shock. “Hold on, erasing yourself from existence? What does that even mean and why would you even try to do that?” she asked. The idea just sounded outlandish to her, even more outlandish than Shez being the reincarnation of some old hero.

Jin, who had stopped trying to free himself from the restraints, turned to Shez and gave him a harsh glare. “If you must know, erasing yourself from existence means exactly that, you no longer exist. Not only that, but no one will remember you. It’s like you never existed in the first place!”

This revelation shocked many. The idea was horrifying to them. Sure, death was bad, but at the very least you’d be remembered in some way shape or form. Even if history forgets you, that doesn’t mean you didn’t exist. Every step you took left an impact. Erasing yourself from existence? That was a fate far worse than death in the eyes of many.

Shez sighed and tried to break out of his restraints again, but he was electrocuted when he tried. “OW! Would you PLEASE get this thing off of me?!” he demanded/pleaded. He was getting pretty uncomfortable right now.

Rachel disappeared for a brief moment, confusing most of the audience. When she returned through a portal of roses, she had a small smile on her face. “After 100 years of thinking, I have decided to release the both of you. Rejoice.” With a snap of her fingers, the restraints on Shez and Jin were gone, allowing them both to stand at their feet.

Shez stretched his arms out. “Finally…that was hellish” he groaned. Of course, Jin tried to punch him in the gut when he got free, but Shez caught the fist with his left hand. Shez deadpanned at his brother, who had his eyes narrowed. “Jin, I know you’re upset that I tried to make you forget me, but if I didn’t, our world would just keep resetting over and over again.”

“Resetting?” Edelgard inquired.

Shez sighed. “Alright, this is gonna be a long one. Just know that in my past life, I wasn’t the nicest of guys.” Really, this was a bit of an understatement. He wasn’t “evil,” but he was rarely nice and did a lot of bad things, though some would argue that since he was taking down the NOL, a government system a lot of people didn’t really like, what he did was necessary.

Before anyone could ask what that meant, Jin stepped in. “Brother was a massive criminal, destroying a lot of the NOL’s cauldrons, which powered our grimoires. He also killed any guards in his way. Because of all of this, he received the highest bounty ever recorded.”

Before anyone could give their opinions, Shez turned to Jin and reminded him of a few other things. “And YOU were a major in a corrupt government that hoarded every last bit of power they could find. That same government also started a war and involved a country that had no desire to go into war! You also killed that country’s leader and was hailed as a “hero” for it despite the fact that you can be even crueler than me, so don’t go thinking you’re better than me Jin!”

Jin and Shez started getting in each other’s faces again, much to the annoyance of Rachel and Jubei. “Brother, how the hell was I supposed to know the Ikaruga civil war was a cover-up for a battle between the NOL and Sector Seven!”

Shez’s eyes started glowing red as the argument got more intense. “Dumbass, the NOL was founded by Yuuki Terumi! Why the hell would you join it?!”

Jin’s eyes changed color again as he argued with Shez. “Again, how would I know Terumi created the NOL?!”

Before the two could fight for a third time, Arval came in and pushed them apart. “Would you two shut up already?! We have explanations to get to!” Honestly, these two were acting like children when they should be acting older.

Sylvain watched the entire exchange and thought back to his relationship with his own brother, Miklan, who had tormented him because of a level of jealousy that wasn’t completely unjustified. From what Sylvain was seeing, the relationship between Shez and Jin was FAR worse. ‘I really hope that things get better between the two’ Sylvain thought.

After finally calming the brothers down, everyone prepared themselves for the revelation of a lifetime. Shez took a deep breath. “Okay, let me start at the beginning…”

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasizing.

I don’t own Fire Emblem or BlazBlue. The franchises are owned by Nintendo and Arcsystemworks respectively. All rights go to their respective owners. The movesets and techniques come from either fire emblem or blazblue with influence from other franchises.

By the time Shez had finished his story, with some help from Rachel, Valkenhayn, Jubei, Jin, and even the power of the azure occasionally, the majority of the audience were shocked. There was so much to unpack. Aside from shock, the reactions ranged from horror to intrigue to sadness and to anger.

“Unreal…” Caspar breathed, his hand on his hair in shock. A lot of things didn’t make full sense to him, but he understood enough to know that his classmate had been through a lot.

Edelgard and Lysithea couldn’t help but relate to Shez and Jin. In their past lives, the brothers and their sister were born in a lab, subjected to horrific experiments from birth. When they learned that Relius was involved in all of it, their hatred towards the scientist grew even more. Edelgard nearly ripped her gloves apart when the experiments were mentioned. Shez, Jin, and every Murakumo unit deserved so much better than the hands they were dealt. Edelgard gave Shez and Jin a look of great empathy. “I am…truly sorry that you and your sister had to go through such pain as children…”

Jin closed his eyes and remained silent, not wishing to discuss the topic any further. Any mention of the past that didn’t involve his brother was a bad memory. Unlike Shez, who had somewhat grown out of the pain of the past, Jin didn’t. He still hated Noel to a degree, and the remaining murakumos were just a pain to deal with. He would never admit this, but this was because he still held resentment towards Saya. Okay, “resentment” wasn’t accurate. He was jealous of the attention Ragna gave her when they were kids, that was all.

Shez just shrugged. “It’s not like it matters anymore anyway. Besides,” he turned to Jubei and gave him a small smile. “Master Jubei saved us from that hell.” Shez was forever grateful for Jubei’s help.

Jubei just waved his paw dismissively with a catlike grin on his face. “Ah, it was nothing. I was just in the area. I couldn’t just leave you kids like that.” He didn’t like thinking about what would have happened to Ragna, Jin, and Saya if he hadn’t saved them.

Sylvain couldn’t help but look at Jin with disgust. When he learned of Jin’s relationship with Ragna/Shez, he couldn’t help but be reminded of his own brother, though Ragna and Jin’s situation was arguably worse than Sylvain’s, especially since Ragna and Jin had been constantly at each other’s throats. Both brothers wanted to kill the other. “I can’t believe you cut your own brother’s arm off!” Sylvain exclaimed with disgust and anger.

Much to Sylvain’s annoyance, Jin ignored him. Sylvain was about to speak up again when Ingrid gently grabbed his arm. When he turned to the person who grabbed his arm, he saw Ingrid shaking her head in disapproval. Sylvain sighed.

“To be fair, the souls inside Yukianesa and the Power of Order were a major factor in that” Dimitri said, trying to defend Jin even though there really wasn’t much he could do to defend Jin. Sure, Jin had overcome Yukianesa’s influence thanks to the Power of Order, but he still wanted to kill his brother.

Hubert had his eyes narrowed as he looked at Shez with caution and even a bit of fear. “That is all because the so-called “Grim Reaper” is also the black beast” he stated. That was a big revelation for everyone. The moment it was revealed that Ragna merging with Nu-13, a murakumo unit, was the cause of the black beast and the dark war, almost everyone gave him a look of horror. Sothis had to restrain Rhea to prevent her from attacking Shez.

Shez rolled his eyes at Hubert’s caution. “Would you all calm down? I already told you the black beast is completely under control now. Even if it wasn’t, without a Murakumo Unit, I can’t even turn into it. Also, without absorbing enough souls, I wouldn’t transform. My fight with Jin showed off just how much of the black beast’s power I could access” he explained, which did calm the majority of the audience down, though it was still strange to be standing so close to a potential threat.

Claude cleared his throat as he rubbed his head. “Yeah…I’m still confused on that part. You merged with Nu, fell into the boundary, got sent back to the past, and caused the Dark war, right?”

Shez nodded. “Yeah.”

“But…you’re also Bloodedge, the man who stalled the black beast for a year. How can you…exist?” Claude asked, scratching his head in confusion. This was a question that had been bothering everyone.

“Timeloops” Shez and Rachel said in unison. They looked at each other briefly before Shez sighed, knowing he had to be the one to explain it. “As you know, Saya, my sister and the master unit, had basically been keeping me alive so I could save her. The takamagahara system, humanity’s way of trying to surpass the master unit, used Take-Mikazuchi to fire a blast that destroyed Kagutsuchi, which caused Saya to reset the loop. This happened multiple times until Noel caused the loop to end by saving me.”

Shez’s explanation didn’t help much. This was understandable, as time travel is pretty complicated. Jin decided to speak up after Shez stopped talking. “In one of these loops, I followed my brother and that Murakumo girl into the boundary. Eventually, the harlequin found my body and placed my soul into the Susanoo unit, which her father, Clavis Alucard, had at the time” he said, causing Ashe’s eyes to widen.

“That’s right! You’re one of the six heroes, Hakumen!” the grey-haired commoner exclaimed.

“And a serious pain in my ass…” Shez muttered, remembering all of the times he and Hakumen battled. Shez shifted his position a bit before he spoke again. “By the way, the Susanoo armor is somewhere in the boundary, but I don’t know where, nor do I really care. It’s better that thing stays in the boundary, as it’s caused us way too much fucking trouble” he said before anyone could ask where the unit was.

Everyone nodded in understanding. After what they all just heard, they didn’t want to see it either. “So,” Catherine started, “after Noel saved you, all of you escaped, but Hazama, who was Terumi, used Noel to regain a bit of his power because when Noel saved you, she became an observer.”

Shez nodded. “Yeah. She didn’t know how to use her powers at the time” he explained.

“And after that, you all split up to stop him. Hazama kidnapped Noel and turned her into a Kusanagi Unit” Catherine continued.

Again, Shez nodded. “Yeah, she was a murakumo this entire time, but she was taken out of the cauldron before she was finished. As a Kusanagi unit, she was basically a god-slaying sword designed to kill the master unit, but I, with the help of Lambda’s IDEA engine, was able to stop her before she went into the boundary to kill the master unit.” Lambda had to sacrifice herself in order to merge with Ragna’s arm, but she came back later on. He hopes Lambda’s doing alright.

“After that, you lose your remaining human arm, Hazama appears and reveals some of his allies. Litchi, a doctor who helped you recover once, Relius, Tsubaki Yayoi, a friend of Jin’s who was under the same spell Nine put on Terumi to keep him from betraying them during the dark war, and Izanami, you’re kidnapped sister who was also the vessel for the goddess of death.”

Shez nodded once more. “Yeah, the whole reason I had been destroying the NOL’s cauldrons was to destroy the murakumos, Saya’s clones.”

Dimitri frowned. “You also caused a lot of destruction and killed many soldiers.” While he felt sympathy for Shez, he did not think Shez’s actions were necessarily right. Sure, the NOL wasn’t perfect, but Ragna didn’t need to kill all of those guards.

Edelgard thought back to when Shez said he would find it hard to blame someone for starting a war. Now she understood why he said that. Still, she believed in moving on from the past. “Dimitri, it would be pointless to condemn Shez now. After all, he is now an entirely new person, figuratively and literally” she said, defending her friend. Edelgard blinked. ‘Do I view him as a friend? We have only known each other for a few days…’ she thought.

Dorothea, while still a little off put that she now knew the past of someone with the highest bounty ever recorded in his own world, still nodded in agreement with Edelgard. “Edie’s right. Besides, it’s not like those events happened. Shezzy did erase himself from existence” she pointed out.

“Don’t call me Shezzy” Shez warned. When he heard Jin snort at Dorothea’s nickname, he gave his younger (or is it older now?) brother a glare.

Rachel perked up suddenly. “Ah, now I remember what I had forgotten” she said, much to the confusion of everyone else. She grabbed Nago and turned him into a parasol. Rachel then turned to Shez and gave him a small smile. Shez did NOT like that smile.

“Rabbit, what the hell are you-“

*WHACK*

“OW!!!” Shez shouted as a big red lump started to form on his head. Rachel had hit him pretty hard. So hard that he was knocked to the ground. “WHAT THE HELL RABBIT?!” he barked as he rubbed the lump on his head.

Rachel herself had an evil smile on her face. She clearly enjoyed that. Twirling her parasol, she leaned down to look Shez in the eye. Rachel’s crimson vampire eyes glowed with a hidden anger behind them. Shez started to sweat, knowing exactly why she hit him now. “If you try to pull a trick like that again, the pain will be far worse” Rachel threatened. This was basically her way of showing how upset she was with him for trying to erase himself from existence. Out of fear for his life, Shez nodded vigorously.

‘Impressive’ a few of the females in the area thought. Shez didn’t seem the type that liked being bossed around, but Rachel was able to keep him in check. Perhaps they could learn something from her. The men couldn’t help but feel a cold chill travel down their spines, although they had no idea why.

With some explanations out of the way (even though there were probably a lot more questions than answers), the plan was simple. At least, according to Caspar. “So, all we have to do is beat Relius, Azrael, and Terumi-“

“Hazama” Shez and Linhardt corrected.

Caspar blinked. “Right, Hazama, not Terumi.” Caspar rubbed his head, feeling a migraine coming. “I still can’t tell the difference between them. They’re basically the same guy, right?”

Linhardt sighed at his old friend’s idiocy. “Do not worry about it too much” he said before turning to Byleth/Sothis. “But why are you here? Does it have to do with the grim reaper?”

Sothis nodded. “Indeed. The grim reaper is one of the reasons I am here” she said before turning to face Shez. “I must admit, I never expected an outworlder to play such a pivotal role in not just his own world, but in this one as well.”

Shez blinked when she said that. “When I first met you, you called me an outworlder. Did you know who I was?” he asked. To his surprise Sothis just shook her head.

“No, I did not, but I did realize that your soul wasn’t from this realm” she replied before crossing her arms. “Rachel is the one who explained your past to me.”

Shez nodded before turning over to the rest of the group. “So, anymore questions?” he asked.

“Yes, actually” Linhardt said before pointing at Byleth/Sothis. “Is the merging between you and your vessel permanent?” That was a fairly good question.

Sothis briefly met Rhea’s gaze. Rhea looked fairly uncertain about something. Sothis sighed and turned her gaze to Linhardt. “I am uncertain at the moment. Even if I were to leave Byleth, I would have to find someone else to share my soul with” she stated before turning her gaze to Shez. “Perhaps the grim reaper would be willing to have another companion?” she lightly teased, something most wouldn’t expect from a goddess, but they ran with it.

Shez crossed his arms and shook his head at her suggestion. “No way in hell. I don’t want two voices in my head constantly criticizing and nagging at me every day” he stated, causing Arval to gasp dramatically.

“I do NOT nag!” the ghostly figure complained with a smirk on his face. It was rare for Arval to get on Shez’s nerves, but whenever it did happen, he enjoyed it.

Hubert cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention. “If you don’t mind my asking, I have a few questions about the grim reaper’s ghostly companion” he said, really eager to learn more about Arval. He was now confident that Shez was NOT associated with twsitd, but Arval was still mostly an unknown.

Arval’s eyes narrowed slightly when he was called Shez’s “ghostly companion.” Arval crossed his arms and started to speak. “I prefer, ‘Partner in destiny,’ as I am, as I said, NOT a ghost!” he stated firmly before jabbing his thumb at Shez. “If I were a ghost, Shez would be so scared of me that he wouldn’t even talk to me.”

Shez took offense to Arval’s comment, as evidenced by his angered look. Valkenhayn chuckled as he remembered something about Shez/Ragna. “Oh dear, I had almost forgotten that the Grim Reaper, the man who saved an entire world, was afraid of ghosts…my apologies for that” he said with a toothy grin.

Shez, of course, quickly tried to deny the claims, waving his arms frantically. “I am NOT scared of ghosts!” he said, but those who knew him in his past life were fully aware of the fact that he was lying through his teeth.

Jin crossed his arms and smirked, his green eyes meeting his brother’s red and green eyes. “Brother, didn’t you break a mirror because you thought your reflection was a ghost?” he asked rhetorically and teasingly, recalling a moment during their shared childhood.

Shez noticed that some people were trying to suppress their laughter. Hubert had an obvious grin on his face, probably wondering how he could use that he knows against Shez. As for Edelgard, she was trying her best not to meet Shez’s eyes as her lips occasionally twitched upwards. Dorothea, Flayn, Mercedes, and Annette were actively giggling, Claude and Caspar were doubling over in laughter, and most of the others had smirks on their faces, obviously finding Shez’s fear hilarious.

“All of you, don’t listen to him! I am NOT afraid of ghosts!!!” Shez exclaimed, only to release a high-pitched scream when Rachel, out of a desire to torment Shez, used her magic to summon multiple ghosts from the ground. Multiple ghouls surrounded Shez. Shez swung at them wildly, but because they were ghosts, he couldn’t hit them.

Of course, these weren’t actual ghosts. Rachel was just toying with him. Even so, most of the audience started audibly laughing, with the only exceptions being Bernadetta, Ashe, and Lysithea, who were all mostly terrified by Rachel’s tricks. Bernadetta even fainted into Ashe’s arms.

A few minutes later, and after Shez realized that Rachel was playing tricks on him again, Hubert asked where Arval even came from. Edelgard was quick to notice Seteth’s and Rhea’s looks when Hubert asked that question. ‘They clearly know something…’ she thought to herself.

Arval couldn’t help but chuckle slightly. “Oh, my existence has a very interesting story behind it. In fact, Shez and I just learned about it” he revealed, causing everyone to turn to Shez, who was still annoyed by Rachel’s earlier pranks. “But…I think it’s better to give a brief explanation. I doubt all of you want to hear another incredibly long story” he said, receiving a few nods. While it was important that they learned Shez’s history, that story was so long that many people nearly fell asleep during the story.

Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn were all worried that certain unsavory truths would be revealed, but luckily for them, Sothis intervened with a small yawn. “I would rather hear this tale some other time. Taking control of this body has made me…exhausted…” she said before her eyes closed briefly. When they opened, it was obvious that Sothis had left.

“Are you okay kid?” Jeralt asked his daughter, concerned for her well-being.

Byleth just nodded. “I am. Sothis is currently resting. I can feel it” she stated.

Jin cracked his neck as he stood to his feet after resting on a chair for some time. “I should be leaving as well. Tsubaki and Yukionna need me back” he said, causing Shez to raise an eyebrow.

“Wait, you and the Izayoi lady got together? And who’s Yukionna?” Shez asked. Jin, instead of using his words, pulled out a photo from his pocket and showed it to his brother. Shez analyzed the photo, and what he saw made his mind go blank.

In the photo, Jin and Tsubaki were wearing casual clothing, showing off their rings. It was obvious that they had gotten married. That wasn’t the shocking part though. What was shocking was the third person in the photo, a baby girl who had Tsubaki’s blue eyes and Jin’s blonde hair.

Shez instantly knew what this meant. “WHEN THE HELL DID I BECOME AN UNCLE?!?!?!”

Chapter Text

Bold text is Arval/Sothis or transformed character. It could also be a character who is possessed speaking. Italics are flashbacks or dreams or for emphasizing.

I don’t own Fire Emblem or BlazBlue. The franchises are owned by Nintendo and Arcsystemworks respectively. All rights go to their respective owners. The movesets and techniques come from either fire emblem or blazblue with influence from other franchises.

Well, this was certainly an interesting day. Shez was officially an uncle because Jin and Tsubaki had a daughter. Shez, understandably, was shocked by this. “W-WHAT?! SINCE WHEN COULD JIN OF ALL PEOPLE BECOME A PARENT?!” he screamed, unable to comprehend the fact that his own brother was now a father.

Jubei snickered at his former student’s reaction to Jin’s child. “Oh, the look on your face is priceless Ragna. Boy, if you had been there to see when Tsubaki told Jin that she was pregnant…” he trailed off, falling back into laughter.

Shez, still not exactly able to comprehend this, did the one thing he could do. Faint.

A few gasps could be heard as Shez fell face-first onto the ground. A few of the students ran over to check and see if he was okay. Rachel just smirked at the sight of Shez fainting. ‘Oh my, it appears the shock of being an uncle has completely overwhelmed him. How amusing…’ she thought as she watched Shez get surrounded by his classmates.

“Ugh…” Shez groaned as he heard a ringing sound in his head. Sitting up, he grabbed his head in an attempt to stop it. “What the hell happened?” he muttered to himself, briefly forgetting that he was never alone.

“Well, you learned that your brother has a daughter, which makes you an uncle. The shock from that little reveal caused you to faint” Arval said, which snapped Shez out of his daze. Sometimes, he forgot that Arval was with him at all times.

“Oh yeah…I remember now” Shez said, looking around the area he was in. He was back in his room somehow. Shez got out of his bed and stretched. “Arval, what happened while I was out?” he asked as he got ready to leave his room.

Arval sighed, annoyed that his partner missed all of the important stuff. “Well, your friends from your old world left after you fainted. Nothing else was said other than some goodbyes. Well, Felix had a quick spar with Jubei, which led to Felix getting humbled by a talking cat. *Chuckles* I wish I could see that for the first time again” he said with a smile.

Shez snorts at the image of Felix being absolutely demolished by Jubei. It wasn’t too surprising, as Jubei is one of the strongest people in his world. “Nice. So, who carried me back to my room?” he asked.

“Dimitri and Raphael carried you back after Manuela made sure you were okay. Also, Sothis said she wanted to speak with you about something when you woke up, but she didn’t say what that was.”

Now, Shez wasn’t surprised that Sothis wanted to speak with him. She probably wanted to talk about him being a bit too angry earlier, even though Shez felt his reasons for being angry were justified. He left his room, entering the dorm hallways.

As he made his way towards Sothis, he quickly realized that he had no clue where she was. Shez facepalmed at this realization. “Son of a bitch…” he groaned. Considering how big the monastery was, it would take a long time for him to find her. Before he could think any further, he noticed someone familiar reading a book on a nearby bench. It was Edelgard. ‘Maybe she knows…’ he thought as he walked over and sat beside her.

Edelgard put down her book and smiled lightly. “Well, you were not out for long” she said. She was a little worried that he wouldn’t wake up, but when Rachel told them about some of the things he had miraculously survived, her worries were eased.

Shez shrugged. “Eh, I’ve been out for longer. I guess the shock of…well, being an uncle overwhelmed me.” Shez released a small snort at the idea, looking straight ahead with a sad smile on his face. “My little shit of a brother…he’s all grown up now…” he said quietly.

Edelgard could tell that there was something going on in Shez’s mind. She supposed she could understand. If a sibling she hadn’t seen in so long suddenly revealed that they had a child, she would be overwhelmed with shock too. Edelgard crossed one leg over the other and spoke again. “Shez…do you wish to go back and see everyone again?” she asked. He must have the power to do so, right?

Shez remained silent for a moment. His eyes avoided hers, likely not wanting to show any sign of weakness, not that Edelgard would be upset about that. Shez released a long sigh and sagged his shoulders. “I…maybe. It’s just that, it’s been so long. And besides, I didn’t make THAT many friends. Remember, I was-“

“That doesn’t matter anymore” Edelgard said firmly, cutting him off, which was a surprise to Shez. Edelgard sighed and looked away. “I will admit, I was surprised by the person you were back then, but I was never angry or disgusted. This is because…” she trailed off, not wanting to go too deep into her own past.

Shez frowned slightly. He didn’t need to be a mind-reader to know what she was thinking. “You’ve been through something similar, right?” he asked, but he got no response. Shez sighed and leaned into the bench a bit more. “I won’t ask exactly what happened, even though I have a pretty good idea, but just know that you aren’t alone” he said. He had figured out that Edelgard likely possessed the crest of flames. Her being somewhat aware of Sothis’ little time trick earlier was proof of that. ‘Probably something to do with Relius and the Agarthans…’ he thought.

Edelgard smiled a bit. It was nice that he didn’t seek more information. “You and I…we both have painful reminders of our pasts…don’t we?” she asked. Shez nodded in agreement. He had his arm, eye, and hair, and Edelgard had…just her hair. Well, that and her second crest. Edelgard frowned again, looking away. “Shez…the reason I wasn’t disgusted or angry with your actions…is because I know I would do the same in your situation.”

Edelgard knew she shared far too similarities with Shez. Well, Ragna, but it didn’t really matter. Seeing everything he went through, the experiments, the losses…it was all too familiar. Ragna was angry at the world, just like she is. Edelgard was fully aware of the horrible actions she was willing to commit. In her mind, she had no room to judge Ragna. “But…I also admire you greatly” she said.

That wasn’t something Shez was expecting. He flinched a bit at her response. “W-What? Why?” he asked. The imperial princess admired him? What was there to admire?

Edelgard’s smile returned. “Because you never gave up. Not once. No matter who stood in your way, no matter how many people despised you, you kept going. Your painful past showed you the true nature of the world, yet you used that pain to make a difference in your own way, and you ended up changing your world for the better, giving everyone a chance to achieve their dreams. That world…is the type of world I wish to create…”

Shez thought back to some of their previous conversations. Edelgard definitely wanted to change the world, that much was clear. Whatever happened to her was enough to create this goal, but Shez knew that there was more to it than that. Jubei once told him that one event doesn’t always cause someone to act differently. More commonly, it causes them to rethink everything they knew. It causes them to ask questions about the things most societies view as important or sacred. ‘Maybe that crest she has and the way she got it made her rethink how Fodlan should be run’ he thought, but he couldn’t be sure without hearing it all from her. “Well, like I said, if the world you create is worth it and I get paid enough, I’ll be by your side” he said with a small smile.

Edelgard was very thankful to hear that. Shez was a blunt, yet genuine person. She’d love to see more of that in the future. “Thank you Shez” she told him before standing to her feet. “By the way, Sothis is in the audience chamber. She seemed insistent on talking to you after you fainted” she said, reminding Shez of what he was supposed to be doing.

Shez quickly stood up and nodded. “Thanks Edelgard. Talk to you later” he said before walking off to the audience chamber, leaving a smiling Edelgard behind.

‘Shez…I truly hope that you can help me change this world as you did yours…’

“Well, that was quite the conversation” Arval mused as Shez made his way to the audience chamber, passing by a few students and knights. Arval then had an idea. “Say, what do you think of Edelgard?” he asked with a smile that Shez couldn’t exactly see.

Shez raised an eyebrow at this, not really expecting such a question from Arval. “I mean, she’s not annoying for one. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’ll probably be a good leader. Plus, her plans aren’t too bad” he said, missing the real meaning behind Arval’s question.

Arval facepalmed. ‘Okay, different approach’ he thought, taking a deep breath before speaking again. “I’m no expert, but from what I know, guys your age would typically be focused on finding a nice gir-“

“NO!” Shez shouted, thankful that nobody was around to hear him speaking with Arval. Still, he should probably start speaking mentally. ‘Arval, where’s this shit even coming from?!’ Arval had never been concerned with Shez’s love life before, so why was he concerned now?

“Hey, you yourself said to the archbishop that Edelgard was one of your picks for girls you had your eyes on if you had to choose. You also admitted that Edelgard was more approachable when it comes to speaking about certain topics” Arval reminded Shez. Shez facepalmed. He really shouldn’t have said anything on that day…

‘Arval, there’s no way-‘ Shez started, only to be cut off by Arval.

“One: if the nobility saw how powerful you were, they wouldn’t even try anything. Two: Edelgard herself said that she wasn’t disgusted by your past actions and even admitted that she admires you because of a few things you have in common. And three-“

‘Alright, I get it!’ Shez exclaimed as he finally found the audience chamber. Shez placed his hand on the door, preparing to push it open. ‘Arval, let’s come back to this some other time, please!’

Arval sighed in disappointment. This wasn’t to tease Shez, this was to help him out. Still, they did have more important things to worry about. “Fine, but don’t think I’ll forget about it” Arval said before retreating into Shez’s mind, going silent again. Shez released a small sigh and pushed the door open, only to see that Sothis/Byleth wasn’t alone. Rhea, Seteth, and even Flayn were there too.

‘Oh boy…’ Shez thought, knowing that things might get a bit dicey with all of them here. He closed the door behind him and crossed his arms. “So…”

Sothis/Byleth (Shez wasn’t sure who was in control at the moment) crossed her arms and gave Shez a slight look of annoyance. “You are late. Don’t tell me the so-called ‘Grim Reaper’ has a poor sense of direction” she jabbed, revealing exactly who was in control at the moment.

A visible tick mark grew onto Shez’s forehead. He barely stopped himself from punching the woman in front of him. His eye twitched as he gave her the fakest smile imaginable. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just had a chat with a friend, that’s all” he said.

Sothis wasn’t really interested in whoever Shez was talking with, simply turning on her heel. “Well, if you have time to talk with a friend, then surely you have time talk with me about our current issue. But first, I have a request for you” she said.

Shez crossed his arms in response. He hoped that the request wasn’t big or anything. “And that would be?” he asked.

Sothis turned around and gave him a small smile. “Simple. I require a body” she said without much fanfare.

This was…confusing to Shez. A body? “Don’t you already have one?” he asked, gesturing towards the current body she had, which belonged to Byleth. Why would he need to make a new body for Sothis?

Instead of Sothis answering, Byleth answered. Shez could tell it was Byleth because of a slight change in her posture and her voice. Byleth’s blank stare met Shez’s as she spoke. “Sothis and I have discussed this at length, and both of us agree that it is simply better if both of us were separated. My body might not be able to handle Sothis’ full power once you restore it” she explained.

“Hmm…so they want you to restore the goddess’ full might as well? That would be interesting” Arval stated with a small hum.

Shez was pretty certain he could do exactly what they were asking using the power of the Azure, and he was also certain that the Azure wouldn’t mind him giving Sothis a body and her power back. “Okay, but…what body do you want me to make?” he asked. He would have made a comment about one that suited Sothis’ age, but he decided against it as he didn’t want to anger the goddess by calling her old.

Byleth remained silent for a moment. From the multiple slight shifts in her expression, Shez could tell she was having a mental conversation with Sothis. After about a minute, Byleth finally responded. “She wants to know if you can see her true form and make a body that resembles that, but much more mature and womanlike.”

“Mature and womanlike…sure” Shez said with a blank stare. Using the Azure briefly, Shez was able to see what Sothis appeared as to Byleth, and when he saw her form…

“*Snorts* ha…HAHAHAHAHAHA…NO FUCKING WAY!!! THE GODDESS OF FODLAN LOOKS LIKE A-“

*SLASH*

Shez’s laughter ceased as he was forced to duck under a slash from Sothis, who had clearly taken control. Her face was contorted into a snarl as her green eyes glow with anger. “Do NOT mock me, Grim Reaper!” she yelled, going to slash again before Shez caught the blade with both hands.

“Okay, calm down already! I’m sorry!” he apologized. He genuinely didn’t expect someone so revered to look like a child. Then again, Jubei was well over a couple hundred years old, yet he didn’t look any different from his younger self since beastkin age slowly. Looking to the side, Shez could see Flayn trying her best to hide her smile, while Rhea and Seteth weren’t even trying. ‘Assholes…’ he thought as he saw them enjoying his current predicament.

After calming the raging goddess down, Shez took a deep breath and activated the azure grimoire. The seithr regulator on his arm opened up each time he did this. He wondered if he even needed the regulator anymore. (A/N: Seithr regulators pretty much moderate seithr usage on things like grimoires. The red circles on the back of Ragna’s hands? Those are the regulators.)

There was a brief flash of light before Sothis’ new body appeared. It resembled what Shez and Byleth were able to see, but the body was about as tall as Rhea, maybe slightly taller. Her dress was also slightly different, being much more fitting for the taller body.

Creating a body was easy, but transferring Sothis into that body was another story. Shez knew that if he did that, Byleth may lose the power she had gained. So, he used the azure to make sure that Byleth would remain the same. He also picked up on Byleth’s little heart problem, so he fixed that real quick as well.

Shez walked over to Byleth and held his hand out. “Give me your hand. I need to use soul eater to remove Sothis from you.” Byleth nodded and grabbed Shez’s hand. Byleth grunted a bit as she felt Sothis leave her and transfer to Shez. You could tell this was happening by the fact that their arms were glowing green.

Shez didn’t want Sothis poking around in his mind for too long. One voice in his head was enough. He ignored the indignant cry from Arval and quickly placed his hand on the head of Sothis’ new body, finishing the process once and for all.

Sothis opened her green eyes and looked at her arms. She flexed her hands a few times, getting a feel for her new body. She smiled slightly as she got a feel for it. “My, you are certainly impressive young reaper. For your first attempt at creating a body, you did incredibly well” she complimented as she started to walk around the room, enjoying the feeling of being able to move again. It’s been too damned long.

(A/N: For those who only played Three Houses and not Three Hopes, Sothis remembers who she is in the latter. It’s never explicitly explained in the game why this is, but maybe an opponent as strong as shez or maybe even stronger is enough to awaken more of her power to combat the threat, which brought out all of Sothis’ memories as a result. I mean, if you’re facing someone like Shez or Azrael, you’d need all the power you can get).

Shez just waved the compliment off, not really taking it too seriously. “Yeah, whatever. Now, before your daughter gets any ideas…”

Wait, he already knew?! Rhea, who was about to embrace her mother, turned to speak to Shez, only to be met with glowing red and purple eyes. Oh boy, things were about to get interesting…

Chapter Text

Hi there. Sorry for the lack of updates. I have a lot of other commitments, and I have to focus on those as well as my gaming too. My current planned updates are for A Beast makes a Miracle, Team RVWM, and a reboot of The Scourge of the Goddess (Yes, I am rebooting that story for the third time). I can't say WHEN these will all be up, but I assure you all that I AM working on them and I WILL get back to all of my other stories. Just be patient. Thank you.