A Golden Spark
Dedicated to all fans of the Akame ga Kill series.
Please enjoy animenz's composition "One Last Song", as I'm certain it will greatly enhance this reading experience.
She's here. She saw them one last time, just like she wanted. Her old drinking friends, fellow members of the revolutionary army. She smiled. They survived the invasion, after all, tough bastards they are. If she had said that out loud, Genbu would slap her heartily in the back, telling her he won't die before tasting every alcoholic beverage conceivable in this world. Kenza would treat her to a drink afterwards, Skiv would make feeble attempts at pick up lines and she'd knock his head around a little bit before they all get drunk and pass out in an inn somewhere in the capital only to wake up in the morning with a headache so severe she'd want to kill herself.
She dropped to her knees and coughed violently, blood spattering the ground in sick crimson. The makeshift bindings in her stomach won't keep her together for much longer. After killing Onest, she knew that, deep down, she won't live to see another sunrise.
It doesn't matter, though.
There's nothing more to do.
Akame will, of course, continue down her path. She silently wished for her friend to find closure; somehow, somewhere. She had lived a life far harsher than anyone should have, to kill her own sister, burden the weight of every soul she had slain..
To have Tatsumi die in her arms, his promise broken with a forlorn smile.
She wheezed painfully and gritted her teeth, trying to stop herself from screaming. One of the bullets must've found its way into her lungs.
No. She stood up and swayed on her feet before leaning on a nearby pillar for support. Not yet.
She had always been the most resilient among her fellow assassins, the only exception being Susanoo. No matter how dire her wounds were, Lionelle would always heal her in the end. She could lose entire limbs and have Lubbock sew her up by the end of the day.
Oh, that's right. He's dead, too.
She spat out another curse towards the old scum who ruined the Empire.
Count on that cunning bastard of a minister to have one last ace up his sleeve.
Good thing he's on his way to hell. She wished for whatever deity living down there to give him extra special treatment.
"Hey, it's Leone!" Genbu shouted.
They saw her.
"Bartender," Kenza shouted, raising a bottle of wine in merriment. "Three bottles of your best beer for this fine lady over-"
She disappeared into an adjacent alley and silently apologized to Kenza and the rest of her friends.
She touched the bindings on her stomach. They were soaked with blood.
Skiv's bleary voice echoed from the middle of the streets.
"LEONE! DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM MY CHARMS! I'LL MARRY YOU YET!"
The sound of a loud smack and cheerful laughter made her chuckle, but it turned into a vicious bout of pain and blood.
She slumped to the filthy ground of the alley.
Sorry, old friend.
There won't be a next time.
She felt her life drain away slowly. She reminisced her grief over the loss of her friends, her team. Sheele and her clumsy hands. Bulat and his silly haircut. Chelsea, who shared her passion for teasing the younger members of Night Raid. Susanoo, an endearing neat freak and an admirable warrior in the battlefield. Mine, with those criminally adorable twin tails. Tatsumi..
The little brother she always wanted.
She sighed. The pain faded away into numbness, and she found herself accepting her fate.
In a deserted alleyway, huh? Never in her life had she ever imagined this is how it would end. She always thought she would die in battle, grappling with another Teigu user, ambushed in the middle of a journey, or killed in a ferocious assault.
Shadows formed around her and surrounded her with warmth.
"Hey, Leone." Lubbock's apparition chortled. "You just can't survive without me, can you?"
"You're so full of it, Lubba!" Mine interjected. "You're dead, too!"
"Relying on your Teigu too much." Chelsea said, suckling on a lollipop, that ridiculous headset still stuck to her head even after she died. "Well, I guess we all have our weaknesses."
"Leone!" Susanoo exclaimed. "Please, at least lean against the wall! You're dirtying your clothes!"
Sheele and Bulat merely smiled, enjoying their teammates' antics.
A certain messy haired warrior walked up towards her.
"Onee-san." Tatsumi said warmly. He extended a phantom hand towards her, and she raised her hand to meet him.
His emerald eyes twinkled brightly.
"Welcome home."
"Hey, what's that?" Kenza asked.
Genbu and Skiv looked up towards the night sky and saw a star streak across the sky. But instead of falling..
.. it rose, brighter and brighter, higher into the embrace of the darkness.