A/N: Well, said this would come out yesterday... but I fell asleep instead. So... here it is. The next chapter of this story. I hope it doesn't disappoint.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW oh please, please, please REVIEW
The stench.
Dear god, the stench. It was the worst part of war. The piles of bodies, covered in their spilled fluids, rotting in the midday sun. The smell had a physical presence. It oppressed those around it, smothering them in its grasp.
But she didn't care. She couldn't care, not if she wished to live. She pushed through, clawing her way out of that pile of corpses, dragging herself out and towards her fallen commander. Towards his Teigu. She was sure of it, now. It called to her, it whispered in her ear and told her to grasp it. It was hers. She couldn't die now, she couldn't die ever. Ieyasu had defected to that stupid revolution, and Tatsumi was most likely dead. She was the last hope for her village. She needed to live, to get the survivor's bonus, to get a Teigu and get onto Esdeath's Special Forces unit. The pay could save her village. So, she needed to live for them. For her family, for her friends. For the hope that her love was alive.
But mostly to prove she wasn't weak.
It took ages to get to the fallen man, his large frame destroyed by the hammer that had torn half of it into mulch. He still gripped the bow, refusing to give it up even in death. He hadn't truly been a wielder of it, but he had enough of a connection to use it, and he surely wouldn't let the revolution have it. All for the Empire; your body, your mind, your soul. Sacrifice yourself so that others may sleep in peace. That was his way; he followed that code to the end. But it was useless now; death had gripped him, and tugged his reach beyond the range of the empire. Dragged off to heaven or hell. Or maybe just to nowhere. It didn't matter to her.
She reached down and gripped the longbow, tugging on it to pull it out of her captain's hands. They held tight, refusing to let go, even in death. So she chopped off his fingers and lifted up the weapon. It sat nicely within her hand, but it felt incomplete... dormant. She slowly looked it over, until she slid over a release and it's full length sprung forth. It was huge, with the reach from one tip to the other being over two meters in length. It was made of a simple, white, bonelike substance. The grip was well worn leather from the look of it. Overall, nothing truly out of the ordinary.
Except for the voices.
'Ohohohoho, dear barer mine, come to fill this world with teeth?' A voice rang in her head, her eyes widening at the sudden unwarranted intrusion, 'Frightened now, oh wielder mine? Don't be, for you are death incarnate. So long as I am with you. Though, who am I? And who are you?'
She was shocked, but she got over it. She was was strong.. She needed to be. To kill and kill and kill again. Victory within her grasp, so long as she had this Teigu.
'Those flies before you are in your way, oh little killer mine. Smash them with your glare! Look at all the teeth to spill!'
She drew the bow, an ethereal arrow notching itself upon it, extending as she pulled back the string.
"Death's Grasp: Thousand Yard Stare!" She whispered harshly, the words just coming to her mind as she released the arrow.
It flew true, splitting into four beams which decapitated three enemies each. She notched another arrow, and repeated the process until the enemies began to converge on her.
'Don't let them lay their mortal hands upon you, oh goddess mine! They must be quelled! The dead come for me, but the dead cannot have me!'
She scowled at them, and notched an even bigger arrow. Victory was assured. She was inevitable.
"Death's Grasp: Devourer of the Heavens! Let the Shinigami consume you!" She screamed, letting it fly as her arrow turned into a long, ethereal drake, devouring all of enemies in front of her, "Death's Grasp: Eye of God!"
She fired a bolt towards the sky, piercing the clouds after a few seconds. And then there was silence. The enemy, some Western Tribe rebels, stopped their charge into the routing Imperials, and stared into the sky.
*THUNK*
A single arrow came down and split a rebel's skull in half. There was a moment of silence more, and then the crazed revolutionaries charged with renewed fervor.
*THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK*
More arrows then began to rain down and kill the rebellious tribesmen.
*THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK**THUNK*
The arrows came down like rain, splitting skulls in half as if they were made of clay. The enemy force split and began to flee in terror. What was this? This wasn't an ability of the Teigu that they'd heard about! And how come there was a second user anyway!? What was the likelihood!?
'Don't let them run, oh goddess mine. Spill their teeth for me.'
She notched arrow after arrow, firing into the retreating soldiers. They fell like flies as she smashed them. No one met mercy, no one met any forgiveness. She was death; nothing more, nothing less. She was entropy incarnate. And she stood alone on the battle field, every ally having fled, and every enemy now laying in a pool of their own blood.
She was alone. And on top. She felt exhilarated and free. Everything was looking up.
"Tatsumi... if your alive..." Sayo said, smiling up towards the heavens, "I'm coming for you..."
She smiled brightly as the soft evening sun fell upon her face. This was the beginning. Of change, of a new future, of her grand hunt.
"I'm coming for you..." She repeated, "...my love."
Esdeath smiled from her spot in the doorway, her strong, gorgeous frame leaning against the wall.
"So, I take it you heard what happened?" Tatsumi asked, smiling back.
All he received was a chuckle and a brighter smile.
"Well, regardless of that, I am back." He continued, "And I was wondering if my spot was still-"
Esdeath bounded forward in that second, squeezing the boy in an inexplicable hug.
"Oh yes! Of course the spot in my bed is reserved for you!" She said, "I haven't even washed the sheets... "
Her face was red, and a mad look had overtaken her as she held him. He simply smiled at her.
"No need to, I can clean myself at will. Best ability of the Tyrant." He said, "Though many-"
Wave chose this time to interrupt, quite weirded by the flow of the conversation.
"Are we going to ignore the moral bomb of a tale we just heard from him?! Cause, I think that needs addressing!" He shouted, "And also, not cleaning your sheets is terrible for your hygiene! It must reek in your room!"
"Agreed." Kuromi added in her usual monotone, "Mine smells of meat after a while. That reminds me of my sister. I hate my sister."
Wave simply looked at her while justifying his name by flailing about.
"Now your getting off topic!" He shouted, a vein bulging in his forehead, "We're just ignoring and forgetting how Tatsumi brought up how he was involved in what must be the worst genocide in the past half-millennia? I mean, that's your primary motivation for fighting with us... and-"
Tatsumi raised his hand and chuckled at that, Esdeath soon joining him.
"Primary reason? Primary reason? No, that was simply a tale of my childhood that was meant to display the wild and unforgiving nature of the world. I don't care; the Nortfolk are dead, and my and Esdeath's tribes live on." Tatsumi said, "I joined you to seek revenge, and to get payed. Well, that and to pursue a relation with Esdeath."
Tatsumi frowned at this, a look of reminiscence crossing his features.
"Hmm, though it is unfortunate that I'll have to end the relationship I had in Nightraid. Mostly because she was quite strong..."
Esdeath simply giggled at that, beginning to draw circles on his chest as she stared dreamily at him.
"No, no. You can keep it up." She said, "I'm sure we can... 're-educate' them to be loyal. I always wanted a dog, growing up. And now I get a bitch."
Esdeath chuckled cruelly at that, while Tatsumi nodded.
"Include me in her 're-education', then." He said, tilting his head back to look up at her position behind his chair, "I imagine Najenda will be fun..."
Esdeath perked at this.
"Najenda? Oh, I'm sure she'll be... fun." The blue haired woman said, though internally she scowled at her luck. Of course it was her that he would love. Stupid, awful, rival general Najenda. Scheiße. They always seemed to be competing...
'They're insane...' Wave thought.
"I'm surrounded by nutjobs..."
"Look at yourself, fish-head." Kuromi added.
"Hey!"
Kuromi shrugged, still blank faced.
"Just saying."
At this point, Esdeath and Tatsumi were still in the midst of a discussion over torture techniques, with Tatsumi mostly discussing the Tyrant's capabilities as an 'interrogation tool', while Seryu listened in. Run was still sat down thinking over what Tatsumi had said, and comparing it with his own experience and views. Kuromi was eating cookies, and insulting the rather rambunctious Wave. Bols was at home with his family, supposedly. And Stylish was... bursting through the doors.
"You will not believe what an unfashionable discovery me and Bols made!" He shouted as he entered the room, "Tatsumi is a-"
"Part of Nightraid, we know." Esdeath said, "Well, he was. But he came back because of me! He even said so!"
The large masked man that was Bols suddenly shouted with glee at his commanders successful discovery of love, holding his head in his hands as he cooed.
"Oh, that's so sweet! I told you he'd comeback on his own!"
Tatsumi just sweatdropped at all this.
"Well, I came back because Nightraid stabbed me in the back, and because the Empire was more accepting of my new batch of genocidal thoughts. Esdeath is, though, a solid boon of being here, i guess." He said jokingly, Esdeath punching his shoulder with an exclamation of 'You jerk!'
Bols laughed at that, while Stylish was left faceplanting. Though he picked up at his realization of what the young Jaeger had exactly said.
"New genocidal thoughts? How so? Betrayal? No, that wouldn't be enough... Evolution of a Teigu, perhaps?" The stylish doctor asked, getting up into Tatsumi's face.
The boy chuckled.
"Comes as part of the package when you fuse with a millennia old demon dragon with a 'might-makes-right' philosophy and the ability to evolve at will."
Stylish's eyes widened.
"You fused with a Teigu? Can I get a sample of your flesh!? This is... beyond amazing! Esdeath's tests yielded no results... but hers was meant to fuse. Yours... maybe it holds the secret to creating Danger Beast-Human hybrids. I've desired this for so long... this is much more stylish news than the location of a Nightraid base!" Stylish inquired, smiling at the young boy in front of him.
"Sure, I can give you..." Tatsumi said, pulling out his blade and slicing along his wrist, "... a hand!"
He burst out laughing, contrasting the scared looks of his new teammates, as his hand grew back in seconds, and his blood immediately clotted.
"Well, gross as this is... this will do stylishly! Thank you, my boy!" The doctor said, turning towards the exit, eager to experiment, "If you need anything- anything -just ask me!"
Bols sighed as he turned to Esdeath.
"I have to get back home now, it's 2 a.m. and my daughter no doubt misses me..." He explained, "I'll give the location tomorrow... if it's even necessary still."
Esdeath waved him off.
"Oh forget about it. Tomorrow we all have off." She responded, "I need to... get re-acquainted with Tatsumi."
Esdeath's blush was full tomato level at this point, and a crazed look filled her eyes.
"In fact..." She continued, moving towards the door, "We should start right now! Come on, Tat~su~mii~ii!"
The boy grinned deviously at her, following the general out the door, before she quickly stopped.
"Go ahead love." She whispered to him, before turning to face a certain orange-haired officer, a wicked smile splitting Ice Queen's complexion, "Care to join us, Seryu?"
The girl in question just shook her head.
"Suit yourself! Wait up, Love!"
Bols peered down the hallway towards them, sighing as the disappeared into a stairway.
"Hmmm, I wonder why they went there... that's the dungeon, right?" He asked, scratching his head.
Wave sighed.
"Of course... just... of course."
Afterthought: I know the end was rushed... I just couldn't get it right and rewrote it, hmmm, maybe... seven or eight times. Can't get the feeling right, so this is the best I got. Sorry.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Thanks! \(^_^)/