Break Your Heart (Shatterpoint Paradox Part 4)

Year: 1025, 8th of November

Time: 1 P.M.

Thousands of miles to the south of the Ulrick Empire, the encampment belonging to the rebels that composed the ranks of the numerous individuals who sought to fight against the tyranny of the Hestian Dynasty–Phantom Siege—was located. Given the varying array of resources, the base itself could be regarded as something akin to a temporary headquarters rather than a location for a fully established military force. Makeshift tents were spread throughout the nearly 10-mile radius as those of different backgrounds and statuses called the place home. Massive barricades composed of wood and some metals had been constructed to keep intruders out and to prevent the invasion of any Danger Beasts that lurked around.

The sun had been shining high in the skies as the warm climate embraced the settlement. The sounds of work and toil along with numerous other noises fluttered through the air as the people had been preparing themselves for the coming final battle. This little war had been going on for the past two years and it has been nearly one-sided but the rebellion had been kept alive thanks to the teigu users that fought under the former king of the Ulrick Empire—Raiden Arashi.

The man himself had been wandering the grounds of the encampment double checking preparations and gathering together all of the intelligence he needed in order to effectively take one final stand against his wife in hopes to put an end to her regime. From troop counts to inventory lists dealing with weaponry, Raiden wanted to make sure everything had been in place for when he would lead his army to the gates of Sigma for one last ride. After gathering what he needed, he had marched back to his personal quarters to review his findings as well as take time to rummage through his thoughts.

From being the leader of a group of assassins to being the king of a new empire to now being the leader of an insurrection, Raiden's life had become quite a fairy tale. The irony of it all was that he never wanted any of it. Going back to his time of being an assassin, he never thought he would be married to the daughter of the clan leader during his younger days. He recalled the white-haired beauty that was Hestia during their youth. She was already known for being a lethal assassin as well as one who possessed great cunning and high aptitude for leadership. She was more than suited to lead the clan after her father's passing but tradition prevented it due to her being a woman.

As such, she had to be married to a suitable man. There were many candidates from other branch families but none had the qualities that could match the expectations set forth by one who would be a leader of the Blood Wolves. It was then that he was considered. Raiden never really wanted the position or anything like that. He simply did his duty feeling like competing over power was beneath one who was fated to be a blade in the darkness. Ironically, his attitude was what gave him the honor. He didn't seek the power, it chose him. As such, he and Hestia wound up being wedded.

Their marriage was rather anticlimactic at first. For an extended time she refused to lay with him though no one actually knew about this for the sake of keeping scandal away. Given the suddenness of the arrangement, Raiden kept his distance when they were alone together but tried to keep up appearances whenever around other clan members. This pattern continued for weeks or so after their official ceremony until around the time they had a peculiar visitor for about a week. The man that wore a trench coat was an injured traveler that needed refuge until he could recover. Hestia had personally treated him in which was rather unique of her considering her rather cold and standoffish ways. After that man's departure she had changed. A sign of this was the fact that they actually shared intimacy for the first time.

From there, the friction between the two seemed to ease up a bit. They led the Blood Wolves as a team though he did make a lot of decisions at times without her counsel. This was especially true when it came to Raizo. Raiden took a deep breath in the midst of his reminiscing when the face of that boy came up in his mind. His relationship with his son was rather complicated. At first, it could be described as the typical affinity a parent would feel for his or her child but when the boy began to study about the way of life that awaited him, things seemed to change. He trained his son to best of his ability for a time before the child had surpassed his father's ability to teach. There were times when he had to let other people train him because of how fast the boy advanced with his lessons calling on people like Raizo's grandfather (Raiden's father) to help.

When Raizo started going on missions, the boy was never rattled by the experience of taking a life or anything. It was like he became lifeless never once hesitating to complete an order. As the leader of an assassin clan at the time, he should have felt proud that such a weapon was forged under his tutelage but as a father, he felt weary. Raizo inherited his cunning and lethality from his mother along with the ruthlessness of an assassin but there was something else about him that he could not describe easily. Raiden felt like the boy inherited an imposing, supernatural presence but it didn't come from him. In fact, aside from some techniques, Raizo had not visibly inherited anything from the man. But going back to that aura, it felt like he got that from someone else…like that hunter that stayed with them many years before.

Raiden didn't want to doubt the lineage of his son but he had his suspicions. His wife was somewhat overly motherly towards the boy at times doting on him much more than a parent should. He initially thought that because of her ways before, she needed to be this way in order to know the joys of affection for someone else but there was one phrase that bothered him quite a bit. She always called Raizo her little "gift from God". This made him feel rather uneasy because Hestia was never the religious type before. She didn't start acting this way until after that man came and went. That was when he knew the truth but for the sake of the clan, he never mentioned it to anyone—not even Hestia herself.

"Sigh, where did it all go wrong though?" he asked himself as he sat down in a nearby chair to collect his thoughts. He knew that things would have been different after taking the Capital but he didn't realize how different things would be. Hestia's leadership was about as cold as the way she fought when it came to dealing with the people. That was one of the main reasons why he had spoken out against her. Raiden believed in the subjugation of one's enemy but he also believed in mercy. Hestia was just ruthless towards her foes killing any who dared oppose her. In fact, that savagery was only amplified when she found that weird looking book.

"Pardon me sir," a voice called out before the source of the noise opened the entrance and stepped through. The person was a female with auburn colored hair and a bow tied on her head. With her unique take on some sort of school girl's uniform, Raiden recognized the woman as Chelsea. Behind her came a few more individuals. One was a male with midnight hair and blue eyes sporting a denim outfit; the next person was a girl with black hair styled with pig tails in a black school girl outfit; then came a guy with green hair and goggles sporting a trench coat; a woman with purple eyes, a black military suit with silver hair that was braided in a ponytail; lastly, a girl in lavender dress with violet eyes and glasses. Their names were Chelsea, Wave, Kurome, Lubbock, Najenda, and Sheele respectively.

"I take it with you all being here that the army is prepared?" inquired Raiden sitting up in his chair as his quarters became filled with the various personnel. These faces were all individuals that had decided to fight against the tyranny of the Ulrick Empire. Given his former status as king, he briefly remembered how he first met each of them when he was fleeing south leading small groups of people that dissented alongside him. Najenda had been the highest ranking individual of the remnant of the former Revolutionary Army. It took a bit of convincing but eventually they came to a point where they elected to join forces. Given his previous title as king, Raiden was inevitably made leader of Phantom Siege.

Looking over each of their faces, he could tell that they knew what was to come. Given how they have struggled to hold their own in a near one-sided conflict, it was a miracle they made it so far. Though, this miracle was only born due to the immense fighting talents of the Black Death. That individual had an innate talent for killing that was so savage that they easily surpassed all of the best assassins from the Blood Wolves combined. The Black Death was truly an army of one but regretfully Raiden made the decision to send the person north to the lands of Neveir. He knew that Hestia would eventually turn her attention north after this war was over but he sent his asset to that territory ahead of time just to see who had been in control; however, all contact with that individual was lost quite some time ago. Not trying to prolong this conflict anymore for the sake of one person, Raiden made the decision to take the fight to the doorsteps of his former kingdom.

"All able-bodied troops are ready alongside every teigu user we could manage to find," Najenda spoke up interrupting the man's chain of thought, "All of our supplies, weapons and other necessities have been loaded up and distributed evenly amongst the forces so we are officially ready to march."

"I see. Given the size of our forces, how long do you think it would take to march towards Sigma?" the leader spoke adjusting the collar on his crimson cloak.

"If we march ahead without any delay and take time for adequate rest, about three days perhaps a week at the most," Chelsea responded looking over the documents in her arms. Nodding in approval, Raiden looked over his paperwork to go over any sort of details he missed. Over the past few years, their ranks have swelled due to the amount of people that poured in from the territories of the growing empire. When they heard of Phantom Siege, they sought out asylum and the ability to fight back. Soon the numbers of the rebellion went from a few thousand to about a million strong. Although he was unsure of the numbers in Sigma, he knew that they would have to deal with fighting the likes of Esdeath, Adena, Genesis, and Raizo. He didn't know who else of note fought on the side of the Ulrick Empire and he was unsure of what Hestia would do especially if that book gave her any powers but all he could do was believe in their victory.

"Make sure the troops are well-fed. We march tomorrow at dawn!" he ordered. The inner circle that occupied his tent nodded in agreement before filing out. It was time to end this once and for all.

Meanwhile inside the royal palace in Sigma City, the Hestian forces were bustling around shoring up their defenses getting ready for battle. The Empress made an announcement about how she 'foresaw' the coming horde that would dare challenge her power thanks to her book. As the men and women all over the city prepared themselves, Hestia had summoned her elite officers inside the council chambers to discuss strategy including her son.

Inside his chambers lied the Crown Prince. He had little choice but to focus on resting up given the concern everyone had over him. Raizo had been laying in his bed thinking to himself. He couldn't grasp the fact that he was caught in a situation in which he would have to fight yet another war. Was war truly the only thing that he would ever have to experience in life? Was it too selfish of him to want more than just blood and death on a regular basis? The male sighed heavily and rested his hand against his forehead feeling the bracelet that was around it. Opening an eye to look at it, he wanted to know what exactly this power was and where it came from.

"Advent of the Conqueror, eh?" he mumbled to himself. It was then that his mind went into a nosedive into his subconscious. Within it, he gets a vision of a taller individual with a trench coat. Though the silhouette was a bit of a blur, the boy could understand the details of the man from the previous world line. After all, he just found out that the person in question was his true father.

"So it has something to do with him?" he asked himself snapping back to reality, "If only…there was a way I could talk to him."

It was then that the familiar face of his wife had walked into the bedroom to check on him.

"Hey, your mother is summoning you. We're about to have a briefing in regards to the final fight with your father," the red headed female explained. Raizo proceeded to change into his appropriate style of dress but he hated the thought of having to wear the formal robes belonging to the crown prince. Unfortunately, he had no choice so he went ahead and dressed up in his black shirt and blue pants with a white and gold robe that acted as a coat before following Adena to where his mother was located.

Upon his arrival into the chambers, the meeting began. The white haired beauty stood at the head of the table as Esdeath, Genesis, Bulat, Adena and Raizo gathered around. It was then that she began to go over the plan that she had in mind.

"Alright everyone, the plan for this operation will be simple. I want to be able to eliminate every single fool who dares to draw a weapon without them setting a single foot within the city. Spies have reported that all the deserters from the numerous territories under my domain have linked up with Raiden. If this is true then it is safe to say that Phantom Siege has about a million soldiers," she explained.

"A million? Is that really everything he's got? This isn't going to be a war, it's going to be a one-sided massacre," Adena smirked clutching her fist in her hand.

"Indeed, unless he has an army of teigu users then this is going to be quite the uneventful fight but having a bunch of bodies to destroy sounds fun," Esdeath added licking her lips slowly.

"Actually, if I may interrupt for a second Your Highness, I would like to suggest something," the giant man by the name of Genesis spoke.

"You may," Hestia replied.

"I wish to deal with these rebels personally. I'll take 10,000 of my best men and line the walls though I wish to fight the enemy personally. It's been a long time since I've been able to unleash the might of my power so this sounds like an opportunity to get a work out," he spoke calmly yet confidently.

"I see, well if that's the case then I suppose we can shore up the east and west gates with the Song of Ice and Fire formation. Do you ladies have any problems with that?" Hestia inquired referring to the other two women in the room.

"As much as I'd prefer to kick the enemy's ass myself, I suppose I could let Genesis have the fun this time around," Adena answered giving a positive smile of encouragement to her colleague.

"If that is Your Majesty's command then I shall do as such," Esdeath added bowing her head slightly.

"With that in place then, it looks like we have-"

"Wait mother, I would like to request something. If this is truly going to be an all-out final battle then I wish to take to the field."

"Prince Raizo, you can't be serious!" Bulat interjected slamming his hand down on the table.

"Husband, you're still recovering quite a bit you know. I don't think pushing it with something as foolish as fighting in a battle is the wisest thing you can do."

"I understand your concern Adena but I have to confront my father. If this battle is truly going to take place then I want to be on the front lines coming face-to-face with him. Besides, I haven't drawn out the full potential of my abilities and Genesis will be there so I'm sure I can count on him for assistance if need be. Isn't that right Genesis?"

"Of course my lord, I shall fight the enemy with all my might and keep you covered at all times."

"See? Besides, if it's that serious then Bulat can come to the field as well. I mean, we'll have 10,000 Amethyst Lotus knights to rely on for backup as well. Please mother, let me do this. Let me restore the honor of our family by taking the life of my traitorous father," he pleaded. Raizo embellished his proposal with that last line just to appeal to his mother's thirst for the blood of the man who turned on her. He knew that she wanted to kill him herself but given her position, she would not be able to afford to take to the field. So why not play on the patricide card?

"As much as I don't want to do this, I will grant you my permission to be on the field. I'm expecting his return so make sure you keep an eye on him, understand Genesis and Bulat?"

""Yes Your Majesty.""

With that being said, the plans were in motion for both sides. About 4 days passed. Phantom Siege was on the horizon as the sun began to wane in the sky preparing to set. With a count of about a million troops, the rebels sought to take down the empire and dethrone the insane queen once and for all. Old allies would come face to face as well as a parent having to fight his child.