Chapter One
Chance Encounter
By
Cooljoe64 and Anbunaruto12
It can be strange to see how everyone's paths can intersect. At how choosing a different direction can alter your future. A war was brewing between an empire that had lost its soul and an assassin group leading a revolution. It was a war that would consume many people and would not end until one side was dead.
"Eh, do you accept credit?"
The merchant eyed him before scowling at him.
"You hicks are all the same! Come here and expect a free handout? Sorry, but we have a thing called money. Maybe you heard of it?
Tatsumi stared right back at the merchant that had offended him before biting back his tongue and walking away. He learned very quickly just how the capital treated its outsiders. Refused at the recruitment center, scammed by some big-boobed blonde, and now found himself wandering without any money. On top of that, he could not find his friends at all. Finding a table in the market square, he sat and watched the bustling citizens go on a shopping spree. It amazed him how much money one person could blow, while his village suffered such excessive taxation. He was contemplating his next move before a petite blonde woman stood over him.
"You look lost their"
Tatsumi looked up, surprised at her affectionate tone. She wore a white long sleeve, blue dress with white boots and had the most calming expression; he strangely felt like he could trust her right away.
"Um, yea kind of. Eh, my name is Tatsumi."
"My name is Aria" she stated, taking his hand before sitting across from him "So, what brings you to the capital Tatsumi?"
That affectionate, sweet tone was disarming the anger he had towards the capital's citizens. This Aria felt like someone he could trust; though he would be damned if he got swindled again. Suddenly with that thought, he grew very skeptical about why this sweet little angel was speaking with him.
"Look, I've already been scammed, so whatever you came here to pull, it won't work," he said accusingly. But Aria immediately disarmed his skepticism with her laugh.
"Oh Tatsumi, you must know not all of us in the capital are immoral. I understand your distrust, so I will leave if you want me to, but you look like someone who needs help."
He scoffed. He wanted to believe Aria but felt the whole situation was off. Yet this girl gave him no reason to suspect otherwise, so why should he be worried? After all, what was she going to do, mug him?
"By this point, I am trying to find my friends. Leysau and Sayo. We were going to work and earn money for our village, but that's not working out too well. So yes, I am lost and don't know what to do."
Tatsumi didn't catch it, but Aria had flashed a predatory smile when he mentioned his friend's names. She was about to do what she did a thousand times.
"Why don't you come home with me. I would love to help you find your friends" she reached out her arm to his shoulder, squeezing it affectionately.
Call it a gut feeling, or previous experience, but when Tatsumi saw her eyes, he saw the same expression that big boobed blonde had and alarms bells started firing in his head.
"Thanks, but no thanks Aria, I'll figure this out myself. Thank you for-"
He was cut off when she went over to him and sat on his lap with a determined expression on her face.
"Are you sure you don't want to come. I like to have you over, and more than just for dinner" Aria whispered in his ear.
Nervousness coursed through Tatsumi. What was with this girl? The fact she wanted him over so severely sent a dirty thought through his head, and he almost said yes without delay. But her eyes told a different story; it wasn't lusting, it was something more profound, and it was scaring him.
"Eh, thanks but no thanks Aria. I think you're nice, but, um, I have to get going."
He was awkward, he was nervous, and his lower regions were telling him he was a fool. But he trusted his gut and stuck to it.
"Very well. I wish you luck Tatsumi; I do hope you find your friends" she snickered before walking away to who knows where.
He sat back down, contemplating his next move before he saw a woman with black hair. Now he had seen plenty of women with black hair, but this one stood out. He couldn't see anything but the top of her head, and in his confusion immediately thought.
"Sayo!"
Without thinking, he rushed through the crowd, intent on reuniting with his lost friend before he crashed into someone.
Tatsumi's head was throbbing as he got a good look at the girl he had believed was Sayo. Instead, it was a child wearing a black sailor uniform with her hair done in twin pigtails. She eyed him up before popping a few cookies into her mouth before she walked on while Tatsumi felt a little embarrassed he thought that was Sayo. He turned to the person he had crashed into who was rubbing her head while a small white dog was growling, barking, and standing on its hind legs? The noise it made was strange, and he questioned if it was a dog.
"Are you ok?" the woman asked.
He felt like a fool staring off into space, while his brain worked overtime to get his wits back.
"Um, yes, yes! I'm fine. I'm so sorry Ms…?"
"Seryu Ubiquitous, a soldier of justice!" she exclaimed
He started to get a good look at the women. She stood tall and proud with confidence radiating off her statement. Her hair was longer than he had seen most women and she wore the regular army issued uniform. Her dog was once again growling at him with an angry expression, but he couldn't help but notice how adorable it was.
"Name's Tatsumi, cute dog."
"Thanks, his name is Koro" She beamed "Come on Koro, he is not an evil-doer," she said scooping the little white one up into her arms.
"How can you tell?"
"My justice radar told me!"
He wanted to chuckle. This Seryu was weird but funnily and it was refreshing after the stressful past few days. Bandits, separated from friends, scammed, rejected from the army, oh yes this was just the refresher he needed.
"Well, I'm sorry I ran into you, I thought I saw my friend."
"You're not from around here, are you?" she inquired.
His smile instantly vanished. Was it so freaking obvious that he was an outsider!?
"Yes actually, I am from the countryside" he stated bitterly. Seryu must have picked it up because in a heartbeat she was apologizing profoundly.
"NO, no, I didn't mean it like that Tatsumi! You just looked very lost. I am happy to help you in any way possible! You said you were trying to find your friends?"
He sighed before regurgitating to her his mission, the separation of his buddies, rejection from the army, and being defrauded; and how he pretty much didn't know where to go from here. He looked back at her after he finished to see tears in her eyes and her expression read like she heard the most significant speech.
"That is so noble Tatsumi! How you strive to help your village that struggles. How evildoers have struck you down, but you refuse to kneel! You have a great heart Tatsumi!"
He was about to reply in kind considering the compliment had helped his souring attitude from the past bounce back. But he saw Seryu look away before biting her lip.
"Rejected from the army? They didn't know what they were thinking! This is why injustice reigns because people like you are never recruited! Come with me Tatsumi!"
She immediately grabbed his hand, and he felt the heat rise in his cheeks before being jerked away.
"Wait, what? Where are, we going?" he asked as he tried to avoid tripping over himself as Seryu walked briskly and Koro kept getting tangled in between his legs.
"It's getting late Tatsumi, do you think I'd let you stay out here in the cold? Where anything could happen to you?"
"You honestly trust someone you've only talked to for five minutes, and you're inviting me into your house?"
He shouldn't have been to baffled considering Aria had wanted to the same, but this felt different. He could sense she genuinely wanted to help. He could see it in her eyes how dedicated she was to help others.
"I'm not afraid Tatsumi, I can sense the goodness from your smile! Besides if you did anything, Koro would eat you" she grinned.
If that was supposed to be a joke, he could only chuckle at how odd it was. This woman, Seryu Ubiquitous, was the strangest person he'd ever meant. There was a whole world outside the countryside.
"And don't worry about the army, I know someone that can get you in. Don't worry; no fee required!" she joked.
He laughed at that part and was put at ease. Maybe, just maybe, his fortunes were turning around. Just perhaps the grass was greener on the other side. He could only hope Sayo and Leysau had the same fate.
XXXXX
She knew it deep down in her gut they should have never trusted that women. She could sense the fakeness behind the smile, the predator like eyes, and the hollowness of her parents. But they need a place to stay and eat. And now they were in the clutches of a demon. The good samaritan disguised as a sadist.
"Sayo…...sayo…...you still alive Sayo?"
She didn't want to answer. Stripped and hung on the ceiling while caked blood, dirt, and grime were her only coverings. She heard Leysau vomit some more and part of her wished they die; the torture was unbearable. Aria killed the others but had kept them alive for the past few days. For Leysau because the mother wanted him for her pet project. And Aria kept her alive because of her hair. Of all the damn things to torture someone about her hair.
"Sayo...please talk to me, I need someone to talk to."
He broke down into tears, but oddly she didn't flinch. They were going to die in this hellhole, what was the point of crying, or even feeling emotion? She heard the front doors open before her body started to shake with fear. She may have thought she could stop caring but the second that girl walked in, it was like Satan had arrived.
Aria, her mother, and a few of the guiltiest looking guards had strolled in. This was going to fun.
"How's my favorite patient doing?" asked the mother
"Fuck you" shouted Leysau before vomiting up more blood.
She could only watch before she knew it was her turn as Aria petted her hair like a dog.
"I have to give you credit for lasting this long."
She bit down on her lip, not talking, or speaking, learning it was useless and only fueled Aria's sadism.
"Oh, the silent treatment again? Don't worry Sayo; I think I know something that will make you crack. You see I meant this sweet boy, Tatsumi."
She didn't mean to do it, but the surprise was written all over her face, and Aria flashed her a predatory smile.
"He was telling me how was separated from his sick little friends Leysau and Sayo and how they tried to come to the capital and earn money for their poor, backward little village" The baby like sarcasm gave Sayo a mixture of fear and anger. "And you know what I did? I swept in like a benevolent angel and asked him to stay over. He's having dinner right now as we speak and I'm sure he'll sleep good tonight!"
She did something she thought she couldn't do: cry. The fact that not even Tatsumi would be spared from her wrath. As the tears fell from her face, Aria leaned her head directly onto hers.
"Go ahead and cry. Cry knowing you will die here. Cry knowing your friends will die here. Cry knowing there is nothing you can do to stop this torture and it makes it that much sweeter."
The coughing in the corner got louder before Leysau kept vomiting out more blood before collapsing onto the floor, his life in this world over. And that finally broke Sayo as Aria howled and laughed at her plight.
"Welcome to hell you hick!" she shouted.
Sayo looked up to Aria who was wearing a victorious smile and then to the guards who looked uncomfortable. She couldn't take out her anger on Aria or her mother as it only fueled them. But the guards.
"You" It took a while for Aria to realize she was not being spoken to "How can you let this happen" The guards realized she was talking to them. They avoided her gaze, and they tensed up "Every day you see this, yet you do nothing. You see evil, hear evil, yet you do not lift a finger. Do you tell yourselves better her than me? Do you say out of sight out of mind? DOES THAT HELP YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT!" The guards looked collectively guilty as their heads hung low until one of them spoke up.
"We've already been condemned to hell."
She couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't funny just... well it was funny. Funny that they realized what the afterlife would be for them. She didn't care; they could all burn in hell.
"Well, that was quite the outburst, but all good things must end."
Aria had accomplished her goal, broken her. It was over. She cracked her head to the lifeless Leysau and buried the thought Tatsumi would soon go through this.
"Eliminate"
Both Aria and she looked towards the doorway in surprise at the guards being hacked off left and right by a black haired woman. Aria immediately took off running, leaving her mother to fend for herself before she was cut down. A big armored man then came in before approaching her. She had so many questions but was relieved we he broke the chains that held her up. She felt so pitiful and exposed before a blanket was wrapped around her.
"It's ok, it's over now" his voice was deep and caring, and she could only curl up to him like a lost puppy before she cried again. She had survived when being so close to death. Poor Leysau, maybe if he held out a little longer-
"Tatsumi! Did you find him in the house!?" she tried to keep herself from being hysterical but couldn't help it.
"No" the man replied "Only the father. There was no one else in the house."
"But Aria…. she said" Maybe she was lying? But how would she know his name, they never disclosed that to her. No Aria saw him somewhere.
"I need her alive. I need to know where my friend is. She saw him, I need to know where Tatsumi is!" she shouted to no one in particular. She thought he saw him nod in understanding before he picked her up. She was surprised at how fast he sped to the black hair women who was cornering Aria like a predator.
"Akame!" he shouted. She got down from his arms and clutched her blanket closer, not realizing how cold it was. The women she now knew as Akame stared at her with a blank expression.
"I need to know something," she said staring right back at before she sidestepped out the way. She approached the cornered Aria who looked at her with a mixture of fear and displeasure.
"How the tables have turned" she stated, resignation on her face. Sayo merely kneeled to eye level with her.
"Where did you see Tatsumi?"
"Like I'm telling you, hick."
Aria's resignation was replaced by defiance, and Sayo snapped.
She punched the girl but being tortured for the past few days Aria quickly deflected before launching at Sayo and jabbing her in the stomach. They wrestled briefly as Sayo attempted to get air into her lungs before, with renewed vigor, yanked on the demon's hair and smashed her head right into the wall. Sayo wasted no time, kicking her in the stomach. The prim and proper face of Aria was bruised and bloodied after the ordeal; while she had exercised a considerable amount of energy that left her exhausted. It didn't help that she reopened multiple scars before she grew too weak to stand and collapsed.
"I don't know where your friend is!" she shouted clutching her forehead to stop the bleeding. "I saw him in the marketplace, but he refused to come with me. I don't know where he is. Now if you're going to kill me, just get on with it."
Sayo just lied on the ground greatly relieved Tatsumi was spared from her sadism. She tried to get up, wanting to make Aria pay in full for what she did to her, to Leysau, and to the countless others who suffered at her hands. But she was too weak to lift herself, and the previous fight had expended all her energy she could muster. Akame had come over, knowing that it was over. Still, she leaned her head up to see Aria covering one eye while the other one stared right into her soul.
"See you in hell you hick."
"Eliminate"
And just like that the women she feared so much was dead in a single swipe. She couldn't help but laugh at the situation now, laughed while lying on the floor before devolving into tears a third time for that night and blacking out.
09.13.2018 Grammar overhaul