Chapter 2
Kill The Ice Queen
It was only them two, Najenda and Skyrah out in the woods. Not many words had been spoken in the few hours they had walked, so both were very aware of how eerily quiet the deep woods were, no birds chirped, no animals moved in the brush, and no wind blew. Everything was still. Skyrah had the suspicion that they were being followed, but was reminded by Najenda that not a soul would follow them, Night Raid was specifically ordered to stay at the base.
But did that really mean someone else couldn't be following them? It was very possible, and could very well be happening now. But Skyrah decided to trust Najenda, she was older and had much more experienced.
"She's close." Najenda said after a few more minutes.
"How can you tell?" Skyrah asked, looking around for the woman she met years before.
Najenda exhaled loudly, drawing Skyrah's attention to the steam she created from her breath.
Skyrah pulled her sweater off, revealing a lightly armored sports bra. She immediately felt the change in temperature from when they had left.
"Was it really necessary to blindfold me as we left your base?" The now less-clothed girl asked.
"It'd kind of defeat the purpose of a 'Secret Base', if you knew where it was, don't you think?" Najenda chuckled, slowing down her stride.
Skyrah sighed, "I guess you're right." She replied.
The air suddenly became freezing cold.
"What is the meaning of this, Najenda?" A voice asked.
The voice was easily recognizable, it was Esdeath.
Directly in front of the two, Esdeath stepped out from behind a tree, along with five others.
"I mean no harm, it is just me and her." Najenda said. "She said she knew you, so I wanted to give her back to you."
"What?!" Skyrah exclaimed, "I thought you came out here so I could talk to her!"
Esdeath was suddenly right in front of Skyrah, looking down at her face with piercing eyes.
"Skyrah?" Esdeath questioned, her eyes widened.
"Yeah, it's me."
Esdeath immediately embraced Skyrah, holding her tight against her cold body. She held the young girl with such passion, it reminded Najenda about the stories Tatsumi told about the few days he had spent with her.
"I'll be off." Najenda said, turning around and beginning to walk away.
"Kill her." Esdeath said softly, looking over to the five others that accompanied her.
"What?" Skyrah pulled back from Esdeath.
Esdeath kept her close, locking eyes with the young girl.
"She is an enemy to the Empire, Skyrah, she would have done the same thing to you." She said in a soft voice, smiling down to her.
Skyrah heard the first hit, and ripped herself away from Esdeath, turning around to see a white haired man smash his fist into Najenda's stomach, causing her to fall to the ground in pain, where the man jumped on top of her, continuing to hit her in the ribs.
"Don't look." Esdeath grabbed Skyrah from behind, covering her eyes with her hand, and grabbing her around the waist with her ice arm, holding her in place.
Najenda screamed, and seconds later a sickening crack echoed through the woods, followed by another scream, and another crack.
"Let go of me!" Skyrah yelled, elbowing Esdeath in the stomach and sending her backwards.
Skyrah saw the man still atop Najenda, blood on his fists from her newly broken ribs.
"Stop it!" Skyrah yelled, "She's not even fighting back!"
It was true, Najenda seemed to have stopped even shouting, only a muffled moan came out of her mouth, yet the man did not stop.
"Enough!"
Skyrah took off towards the man, her boots flying off from the sudden speed.
Right as she got close enough, she used her sudden momentum to lean into an uppercut, hitting dead on his nose and sending her target upwards with a trail of blood following him.
She locked eyes with the man while he was still in the air, jumping up and grabbing him by the back of his head, smashing his head back into the floor as they landed.
Najenda looked up at her savior, releasing a large, bloody grin.
"Get out of here." Skyrah said, lifting her up and hearing another rib snap.
Najenda winced, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"I can't walk, kid." Najenda said.
Esdeath released an angry shout. "What are you doing, Skyrah?!" She shouted. "That woman is the enemy!"
"Even if she is your enemy, have you no mercy?!" Skyrah backlashed, clenching her fist at Esdeath.
"You think this is any time for mercy?!" Esdeath shouted. "You are still too naive!"
"Maybe I am, but at least I won't kill someone who went out of their way to return something to you." Skyrah said, seeing the white-haired man struggle back to his feet, pulling a blade from under his robes.
Skyrah finally got a good look at the guy. His white hair almost completely masked his face, where his eyes were blindfolded, and a large grin seemed to be stuck to his face.
"So sexy!" He yelled, ripping off his robes to reveal an extremely built body. "Finally a girl that can fight, I'll keep you as my plaything!"
Skyrah narrowed her eyes. "Beat me first, if you win I'll let you have whatever you want."
"This bitch wants me! I know it!" He yelled.
"Sacher, wait!" Esdeath shouted.
The man, 'Sacher' charged Skyrah with his blade out.
"Loputon Voima: 150 percent!" Skyrah shouted, smashing her fists together, causing a cloud of hot steam to come pouring from her arms and legs.
Both Esdeath and Najenda became very interested in the technique that had been used.
It had been awhile since she had to power her Imperial Arms over its normal state, but this timing was just too impeccable.
"What the hell?" Sacher growled, licking his lips as his target vanished in the steam.
"Stay down this time!" Skyrah yelled, leaping from the cloud of steam, connecting her fist with Sacher's face, sending him rolling across the floor of the forest into the trunk of a large tree.
Sacher was out cold, it had seemed that his blood was still flowing though, judging from the bulge in his pants.
Esdeath let out a yell in frustration. "Kill Najenda, and bring me the girl alive!" She shouted, disappearing back into the woods.
Najenda suddenly felt herself picked up, and whisked away back into the woods.
Skyrah was in a dead sprint back through the woods, carrying Najenda bridal style, staring forward with intense focus.
"They're following us, Najenda said, looking back over her carrier's shoulder.
"Look ahead." Skyrah said, her mouth splitting into a grin and her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "They wont catch us."
It was clear to the leader of Night Raid now that the kid who was now running with her aimlessly through the woods was, in fact, on her side.
"Mine's going to be pissed at me." Najenda mumbled to herself.
"Huh?" Skyrah asked, looking back down at Najenda.
"Nothing, don't worry."
Skyrah watched as Najenda slowly closed her eyes, a soft smile on her face.
Her wounds weren't fatal, so Skyrah let her rest as she ran back in the way she thought the hideout would be.
With a little help from Najenda, Skyrah got back to Night Raid's secret base. Akame and Tatsumi stood in wait, both standing upon sight of their boss being carried by the girl with metal limbs. Blood covered the chest of Najenda, and Skyrah looked perfectly fine, running with a big smile on her face.
Within seconds, Tatsumi had rushed over and rushed Najenda inside.
Skyrah went to follow, but Akame grabbed her by the arm, holding her back.
"What happened?" Akame sounded frustrated.
Skyrah looked down where she was being held, then back at Akame.
She explained the story, being stopped multiple times by a very livid Akame, but carrying on to try and calm the angered girl down. It was clear to Skyrah that the girl before her already did not like her, and tried to hide her own frustration.
"All I tried to do was help, I don't need to be interrogated." Skyrah growled, pulling away from Akame.
"I'm not interrogating you, I'm just worried that you plan on doing the same as Esdeath, and wanted to make something clear." She muttered back.
"What's that?"
"If you turn out to be working for Esdeath, I will personally kill you." She said, narrowing her eyes.
"I just saved your boss!"
"You also found out where are base was."
Skyrah grit her teeth, Akame had a point, and she saw where she was coming from, she was just trying to protect her group, and saw Skyrah as an enemy.
"The last time we dragged someone new back here, they almost killed Mine in her sleep." Akame said. "Turns out Esdeath had sent him, and a ring he wore, made him seem much more friendly to women, but Tatsumi saw through his facade, and killed him before he killed all of us." She explained, drawing her sword and pointing it directly at Skyrah. "So I swear, I will not let you put any of us in danger."
"Akame, I-"
"Don't talk, stay out here for the night and we will decide what to do with you by tomorrow morning." She said, walking back into their hideout and slamming the door behind her.
Skyrah pulled her hair in frustration, smashing her fist into a nearby tree shortly after.
She walked the perimeter of the base a few times, staring at the ground as she walked, and eventually stopped at what looked like training grounds, there were training dummies against the wall, upon closer inspection from the darkness, she found wooden training weapons lining the walls.
There were also covered walkways, which would protect her from the weather while she slept.
Skyrah laid down on the wood, using what remained of her ripped sweater as a makeshift pillow.
She stared up at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, not feeling the least bit tired. It was probably from the country she had recently come back from knocking off her sleep schedule.
She eventually leaned up, and immediately catching her eye was a training dummy.
Skyrah grinned, a little training would probably make her tired too.
"You and me, bud." She said, eying the training dummy, who did not seem to share her excitement.
After a few errors, she managed to get the dummy stuck into the ground where it wouldn't move.
"Alright, time to get started." She said with a large grin on her face, clearly visible in the moonlight. "Loputon Voima: 110 percent." On the way back to Night Raid's base, she had dialed her strength back down to it's normal level at 100 percent.
She started off slow, quick jabs to test the dummy's strength, and noticed that it hardly moved. Skyrah started to warm up, sending blinding punches that moved the dummy around slightly, she started to slide around on her feet, using momentum from her hips to increase the force of her punches, and practiced keeping her guard up.
"125 percent." She said, smashing her fists together, seeing steam begin to rise from her arms and legs and feeling her blood heat up.
She slid around her target with less resistance, sending barrage after barrage of punches while keeping her eye directly on the head of her opponent, as if to make it guess where her next barrage would hit.
"140 percent." Sweat was already pouring off of her body, almost instantly transferring to steam as it touched her metal appendages.
She now moved with ease in one direction, losing a bit of momentum when she changed directions, but quickly picking it back up.
"160 percent." Her blood was much hotter, and steam rose from her entire body.
Skyrah could now move much faster, she dodged fake attacks and began to use her legs in combat, gliding through the air before swooping down on the dummy, giving him powerful kicks all around his body.
"175 percent!" She shouted, becoming a blur to any spectator as she masterfully threw precise punches and kicks at her unmoving opponent, sending it rocking back and forth, only to be kept upright by another volley of hits.
She came to a stop right in front of the dummy, breathing heavily for a few moments.
"100 percent." She said, her voice groggy.
The girl grinned wide at her opponent, crossing her arms in triumph.
"It seems you were no match for me, I'm afraid." She said, mocking her opponent.
"It seems so."
Chills went up Skyrah's spine and she quickly turned around, wearing a massive blush as she did.
Sitting there on the small set of stairs was Najenda, a small smirk on her face as she locked eyes with Skyrah.
"I'm so sorry!" Skyrah said, falling to her knees and putting her hands together. "I didn't mean to wake you!"
Najenda chuckled, "You didn't wake me, I couldn't fall asleep in the first place." She said, pointing to her ribs, where she wore thick bandages.
Skyrah looked up from her place on the ground, her eyes wide. She quickly stood back up and went to Najenda, standing up in front of her.
"How long have you been sitting there?" Skyrah asked, scratching the back of her head.
"Long enough."
Skyrah blushed even harder, looking back at the dummy then back to Najenda.
"Yeah, sorry about that…" She apologized.
"I already told you it wasn't you that woke me." Najenda smiled up at the sweating girl.
"Alright, what do you need then?"
Najenda narrowed her eyes, looking at the no longer steaming Imperial Arms.
"I noticed that you were calling out percentages while fighting, what exactly are you doing?" She asked.
Skyrah looked down at her metal limbs. "My Imperial Arms has an ability called 'Limit Break', it lets me power them up past their normal strength." She said. "At the base strength, 100 percent, everything is normal, my strength, speed, and stamina. But anything above that is considered Limit Break, and gradually boosts my abilities." Skyrah explained.
"Well just now, you went up to 175 percent, and earlier you only went to 150 percent to fight that man in the woods."Najenda said, showing how much she had paid attention. "Why don't you just max yourself out each time, and just wipe out your opponent?"
Skyrah chuckled a little, "The maximum power is 500 percent normal strength." Najenda's jaw dropped as she said that, she had just seen what 175 percent could do, and she looked unstoppable.
"What could you ever need that much power for?" Najenda asked, baffled.
"I wouldn't know, none of the users have ever gotten that far." Skyrah explained.
Najenda was confused now. "You said none had gotten that far, what does that mean?"
Skyrah put a hand underneath her chin, "Hmm, how do I explain it…" She pondered. "I guess it's like this… the Imperial Arms begin to cause strain on their user with growing intensity the further they get away from the base strength, so it's hard to really estimate how powerful 500 percent really is." She explained. "The last person who used them was in some circus, and was careless with its power, so he tried to push it farther than even the last person, who was extremely fit, had ever done, and it killed him, just like the guy before that."
Najenda was shocked, the Imperial Arms before her could kill their user just from using it's power?
"How far did they get with it?" Najenda asked.
"The first guy went to 200 percent, the second went to 210 percent, both of them died shortly after activating that much power." Skyrah said, "It pretty much crushed their bones from so much stress on their body."
Najenda understood now, but had one last question. "So how far can you go with it?"
Skyrah grinned wide, she was waiting for that question. "I'll show you."
The girl backed away, getting close to the dummy which was in the middle of the training grounds.
"Loputon Voima…" She began, closing her eyes and spreading her arms out.
The wind blew through the surrounding trees, blowing her hair to the side as she had her back to the moonlight.
She bent her knees, opened her eyes, and smashed her fists together all in quick succession. "220 percent!" She yelled, a blast of heat and pressure making the dummy behind her lean and the stand it was on crack as it bent.
Skyrah turned around instantly, carrying her fist straight into the middle of the dummy, launching it off into the woods.
Najenda lifted up her metal arm and sent her hand flying to the back of Skyrah.
Skyrah leapt into the air, flipping backwards and connecting her foot to Najenda's extended hand, smashing it off of it's course and into the dirt.
Najenda noticed that Skyrah was now facing her, she let out a large exhale, seemed to shudder and was suddenly directly in front of her, fist positioned under her chin. The leader of Night Raid's eyes widened in shock. She was completely baffled.
This wasn't even half of it's maximum power, and if she was able to be this powerful with half of it…
What could 500 percent even be amounted to?
Shikoutazer? Esdeath? Akame? Possibly even stronger than all of them.
What could stop such monstrous strength and speed? If kept at this level, Akame would have trouble in her base form, but could easily wipe the floor with her if she used her Trump Card.
"100 percent." Skyrah said, stumbling backwards and falling down, barely catching herself and staying upright.
"I see just how much strain it puts on your body." Najenda said, standing up and holding an arm out for the girl to take.
Skyrah smiled, taking her hand and standing back up.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay out here for awhile if I could, just so I can decide what I do next without Budo and Esdeath." She asked, a small blush on her face.
"That's fine, I'll show you where the bath house is in the morning, so you don't reek of sweat all day." Najenda said with a smile, "Stay here for as long as you like."
"Thank you, Najenda." The young girl said, watching as the older woman walked away.
"Don't thank me yet, you won't be freeloading here, I'll expect you to put in just as much work as everyone else." She said, turning back to the girl and being met with a huge smile.
"Of course." and with that, the two separated.