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Chapter 2: Queen of Frost

He felt a strange tug on his soul that roused him awake. It was the same one from before.

Huh? Where am I?

When Tatsumi came to, he realized couldn't open his eyelids. They seemed heavier than usual, like they were weighed down by something, and they quivered slightly when he tried to open them. It'd felt like an eternity since he'd been awake. Where was he? He tried to remember what he'd been doing earlier but he wasn't certain, the incidents of the past all seemed like a blur to his groggy mind, but then he noticed that he was on a bed and someone was running their hands through his hair and humming an almost angelic melody. It was beautiful. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought he was in heaven. The sound of it was silky to his ears, and it made him want to fall back asleep with his head still nestled comfortably in their lap, but he was curious about who it was. Under normal circumstances, he would've preferred a pillow, but this was much better. Could he even move? Did he want to move? Well, there's no reason he couldn't sit back and enjoy this for a little bit, was there? If he was dead, it's not like he had anything to do.

Tatsumi smiled weakly, as much as he could in his current state. He lied there for a minute and just enjoyed the feeling of those soft hands gently kneading at his head. She was playing with his hair. This isn't so bad, he thought. Maybe this was heaven. When he thought of it, he had imagined there would be golden gates and an angel waiting with a logbook in hand for all the souls, but that was probably all just fantasy. Who knew though? He could just be in limbo. If anything, he might just want to stay here for a while before heading on upwards. This was just too good to be true.

Yes, it was...

Tatsumi continued to immerse himself in the experience. He was enjoying it - quite nicely, infact - or at least he was until he heard the woman kneading his hair speak. He almost choked on his own tongue.

"Tatsumi, please wake up." the woman cooed.

Tatsumi shot upright. "Esdeath!?"

As soon as he said those words, a sudden surge of pain rushed up Tatsumi's spine, and he regretted sitting up so quickly. He let out a short yell of agony. His muscles were protesting. Realizing that this was mistake, he immediately, although relucantly, let himself fall back into the woman's lap, and clenched his jaw when he did. Even letting gravity do all the work hurt more than it should've. Now that he was lying back down again, part of him still liked this position but a little less than before. Not a second later, the combination of the pain and looking up at Esdeath's face jogged his memory, and he remembered who the last person he saw was. It all made sense.

"Tatsumi!" Esdeath said with delight, "You're awake!" Esdeath looked down at him gleefully.

"Ugh..." Tatsumi continued to groan, but this time from the pain or the sudden revelation of who he was with he wasn't sure, "Kill me already."

"Now, why would I do that? I thought you'd never wake up. I was so lonely that I waited for you this whole time. How are you feeling?"

"How do you think I'm-" Tatsumi yowled again when he tried to get more comfortable, "Aghhh! Ah, ah!"

"Oh, Tatsumi," A troubled expression crossed Esdeath's face. She looked sad to see him so hurt. "Never mind; you don't have to answer that. Here, let me help you."

"No, it's okay!" Tatsumi quickly cut in, fearing pain as she reached her hands down, "Really, I'm fi-"

Tatsumi interrupted himself when she began to lift him up and his voice filled with surprise. He thought it was going to be painful, but he hardly felt a thing as she pulled him up from under the shoulders. With the tenderness of a lover, Esdeath lifted him so that he was sitting upright with his back to her and she was cuddling him from behind. Then, she pulled him snugly against her, much like a child would their blanket, and nestled her chin on his collarbone. He could feel her breasts pressing against his back. They were more pleasant to rest against than he'd like to admit.

"Comfortable?" she said with her cheeks flushed and a smile on her lips.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind," Tatsumi grumbled with worn-out expression on his face, "I feel like a teddy bear."

Esdeath giggled and placed her hands in his lap, "You kind of are one."

Her hands were in a precarious place. Tatsumi almost didn't hear what she said when he felt one of her hands touch his inner thigh. Right then, she caused a strangely pleasurable shudder to shoot up his body. He didn't think she knew what she was doing to him, but she continued to feel around with her fingers, running them around in small, electrifying circles. He bit his lip to keep from making noise. It felt better than he wanted it to feel. He was so occupied with the sensation that he almost didn't notice how worked up he was getting. No more! No more!

"Esdeath," he uttered.

"Yes, Tatsumi?"

"Your hands..." he said uneasily, "Could you put them somewhere else?"

"Why?" she asked, confused, "Are they bothering you?"

"A little. It's hard to talk when you're moving them so much."

"Oh, you mean like this?" Esdeath ran her hand down his thigh again, brushing it dangerously against his groin.

"Yes," Tatsumi choked with a pale face as he tried to think about math, "Like that."

"Hm," A cunning smile curved up Esdeath's lips, but she stopped and wrapped her hands around his abdomen instead. "As you wish," she said. She sighed contently and then continued, "I can't believe you're awake. We're finally together again, and now that I have you all to myself, I was hoping you wouldn't be in such a bad condition. I wanted to have a little fun."

Tatsumi was startled to hear that. "Fun?!"

Esdeath blushed. "Well, I think you know what I mean."

Lord, have mercy.

Oh, it was going to be a long day.

Tatsumi tried to crane his neck so he could get a look around, but he couldn't turn it much without causing another ripple of pain to shoot up. Despite that, he could still see some of the room from the corner of his eye. On the far side, he could see a window in the bedroom, sunlight peeking in, and some shady trees just outside. He also noticed the bed they were on was an luxurious king size with more than enough room for both of them. No wonder it was so comfortable.

"Hey, what is this place? Where have you taken me? And where are my friends? We're not in the Capital still, are we?" Tatsumi asked.

"Actually, this is an imperial safehouse."

"Safehouse?"

"Yes," Esdeath confirmed. "It was intended for the Prime Minister incase anything happened to the Empire, but he's gone so I decided to bring you. You'll be okay here; I'm the only one still alive who knows where this place is."

"T-that's a little weird, but hold on a minute, the Minister's actually dead?!"

"It seems so. I think one of your friends killed him. I could hardly believe it myself, considering how crafty he is."

"Oh, thank god," Tatsumi said, relieved. "Finally, some good news."

Esdeath's displeasure was obvious.

"Hey, don't tell me you actually liked that guy?" Tatsumi continued.

"No, of course not - he was a vain man - but the Empire is gone now, and I have no way to continue my hunt."

"Your hunt?"

"War," she said simply, "I desire it."

"What?! You can't be serious. If the Prime Minister's dead, then that means the war is over. Why would you want to start another one?"

"Oh, my dear Tatsumi..." Esdeath said, knowing he would never understand, "Good times create weak men, but hard times... hard times create strong men like you."

"You are serious, aren't you?" he said with realization.

"I am. Can't you tell?"

"I can, but I was hoping I was wrong." Tatsumi said colder than usual. He thought his comment sounded harsh, but the words didn't seem to faze her even a little bit. Damn it! Why did it have to be this way? Nothing had changed! Tatsumi slumped against Esdeath and let himself sink further into the mattress. It couldn't be that hopeless. He sighed and said, "You're something else, you know that?"

"I consider that a compliment." Esdeath replied cheerfully. She kissed the top of his head and put extra emphasis on the kissing sound.

Tatsumi grumbled but knew his cheeks were getting warm. How could someone be so cold and yet so sweet? Even now that the Empire was gone, she still didn't seem like she would change. He feared this would lead to a fatal confrontation down the line. He believed people could change, that anyone could be different if they really wanted to, but this was pushing it more than any other person. Are people so easily molded as he thought - like clay that simply needed the right hands to shape it? No... Maybe not. Her history had hardened her into something beyond shapeable.

Had it, really?

Every lock had its key, he supposed, but even with that in mind, Tatsumi couldn't think of anything to fix the situation as he tried to brainstorm. The right words? The right actions? Anything. Maybe he could think of something later on, but right now he was coming up with blanks. He knew at some point he'd have to. If he didn't do anything, he figured she would wreak havoc on the peace Night Raid had fought and sacrificed so much to obtain. That couldn't happen at any cost. As long as he was alive, he would not allow it. But then again, what was he to do?

That won't happen... You aren't the one who will change me... That is the only outcome.

She seemed so adamant to change before, but he wondered just how much of that was true. Ever since their time on the island, everything had pointed to that fact - she would never change - and maybe he was a fool for not believing it so, but he realized now that he had to try. It was what he did. World peace required it. He knew she liked torture: she liked doing all the malicious things he despised and did not stand for, but just maybe, just maybe she liked him more than all that. Would she give it all up for him? He didn't know, but there was only one thing he could do to find out.

He heard something. Someone was calling his name.

The sound of Esdeath's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Tatsumi," she said curiously.

"What is it?"

"Well, I was going to say this earlier, but I didn't want to alarm you. Has your right eye always been red?"

Tatsumi furrowed his brow. "Uh, I'm not sure what you mean. My eyes are green."

"Hmmm." Esdeath thought for a moment, and then, in a spark of ingenuity like that of a true general, extended her arm in front of Tatsumi and conjured up a mirror of ice into her hands as though it was nothing. Knowing he couldn't move, she held it up for him so he could get a good look. "Here. See for yourself."

Tatsumi was impressed by her creativity, so much so that he commented on it, but all that admiration quickly vanished when he looked into the mirror and nearly had his heart stop. With her other hand, Esdeath reached up to his face and pulled his lower eyelid down so he could see better. He realized his right eye was nothing like it used to be. Instead of his regular iris, he had a cross-slit pupil at the center in its place, and it was colored a deep crimson, nearly identical to the eyes of the Tyrant. As shocking as it was, he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. He could see fine, he'd been able to this whole time, but if this meant what he thought it did, then he had a lot more to worry about than his vision.

Tatsumi stared with wide eyes. "The Tyrant's eye," he breathed.

"I like the way it looks on you."

"Huh?! What are you saying?!" Tatsumi said, flabbergasted, "That can't be good! Incursio must've fused with me during the evolution!"

"I see... So that's what that red form was." Esdeath nuzzled his hair, "The fact that you haven't been consumed by your Teigu means you're so strong now, Tatsumi. I'm not surprised you're alive."

"I'm alive and I feel like crap." he muttered.

"You'll get better," she assured him, "I'll make sure you do."

Those words were unusually comforting coming from her. From the enemy. It was strange, really. Esdeath had always treated him well, and so he had no reason to hate her on that front, but she'd caused so much pain to others that it was hard not to think about. Still, she was growing on him with time, more than he'd like to admit, and part of him was scared of what that would mean. What would it mean? He still despised her. He knew that path led to a place he wasn't sure he wanted to go. Maybe it's not what he needed but what she did. She seemed like she hadn't had someone important in her life in a long time.

Just then, the sound of someone's stomach rumbling silenced the room. Tatsumi felt his cheeks get warm again.

Esdeath giggled. "Tatsumi! Why didn't you say you were hungry? You've been asleep so long you must be starving." With great diligence, Esdeath carefully maneuvered herself out of the bed, making sure Tatsumi didn't hurt himself, and then started walking out the door. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

As if I could go anywhere.

"H-hey, where are you going?" Tatsumi said, staring at the ceiling. He was too afraid to try and lift his head.

"I'm going to make you food, of course."

Esdeath making food? Hold on, she's a general. Does she even know how to cook?!

Tatsumi couldn't get the words out of his mouth any faster. "Wait, wait! On second thought, I'm not hungry! In fact, I've decided I'm fasting!"

"Don't be silly. How are you supposed to get better if you don't eat?" she said from the doorframe. Before he knew it, she was already out the door and on her way to the kitchen.

"No, wait! Don't leave!"

Goddamnit.

I hope you guys are ready because this may very well turn into a lemon. Maximum citrus!