Legend:

}-P.S-{ = perspective shift

{background actions or circumstances}

[Characters Writing or letters/notes]

(flashback)

author body note/commentary

*sound effect

^marks a phrase that can be translated from a real language^

/story break for a character/teigu/tentai heiki/monster breakdown/

BOLD: demon talking, outside force talking, basically anything not explicitly human talking

ITALICS: thoughts, expositional description, emphasis on a particular word

Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the following original/fanfictional works: most of these will be referenced and inspired the story being written. All the credits for the original work go to the creators of their respective pieces. I hope that my story will be far enough removed from any individual story that it could become a file off the serial number work, but regardless it still pays homage to these great stories.

Undertale

Homestuck

Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy XII

Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy

+Anima

Akame Ga Kill

Colonel Saber: AGK fanfic

-) 4 days later (-

_Tatsumi_

The rising General had found learning more about Esdese far easier than the vice versa was for the subject in question. this was in part due to the fact that, despite his stature and renown, he actually was fairly removed from the empire in his work, really only loosely working with the imperial army as he commanded his own Legion, held his own stronghold, had many undocumented ventures and plans within his company, this not including the extensive measures he takes to keep information from ever getting out to anyone he doesn't intentionally keep in loop. In truth, he became so far removed he was only of the imperial army in his rank, his goals, and his apprenticeship with grand general Budou.

It was his relationship with the grand General that was his saving grace in many ways, Budou knew of all of his plans and held full reports on all of the various missions and orders within his army. Tatsumi trusted him for several reasons, but the highest was because the man was like a father to him. he was found by the grand general in his youth hunting danger beasts…

flashback:

}- P.S. -{

_Budou_

Half of my company and I were traveling back to the capital, the latter half would be arriving behind us with a new recruit for the imperial army that had gained interest within the higher echelons of the council, a young woman named Esdese. Strong, but arrogant and foolish. She sees no value in life. I do not approve of her addition, However, I have my orders. My only hope is that she grows and matures, she is far too headstrong as she is, and her potential will mean nothing if she becomes another source of corruption that must be taken down. I already must deal with Honest after the rebellion has been quashed. At the very least i can enjoy the peace of a quiet forest for now.

*trrc

I pull my horse to a stop, narrowing my eyes towards the forest.

* GRAAAUGH

An S class danger beast erupts from the forest, it is wounded and clearly, in battle, I prepare to fight. I recognize it as a blazing Liger, one of the same danger beasts used as a component of the Teigu, Invitation of Purgatory: Rubicante. As I prepare to strike it down I hear a rustling from the forest, a boy no older than six or seven emerges from the brush, with a worn down scythe in his hands. He slashes at the Liger rapidly spinning the scythe around elegantly, almost as if this were a dance to him and not a fight. His movements were precise, well trained and swiftly starts to disable it, clearly having worked to push the danger beast into a clearing so as to have access to vital areas. he danced and slid around it, striking at the tendons in the legs and shoulders of the beast bringing it closer to the ground. He was magnificent, capable of fighting a class of creature that had taken armies to kill it in the past. The boy wasted no time before slashing at its neck and slamming the blade down right into the spine killing it immediately.

He fell to the dirt beside the Fallen creature. The boy is panting, repeatedly saying he's sorry, chanting that its sacrifice will not be in vain. He gets up after a moment, somehow still oblivious to his audience as he uses a rope wrapped around his shoulder to tie up the beast. "Boy" He starts not having realized he wasn't alone, he grips his scythe in one arm, clearly not trusting us. "do you realize what you have just managed to kill?" The boy was hesitant, clearly afraid that what he had done was illegal."A danger beast, I have to do this, it's necessary for me to do, so that I can eat."

"you haven't just killed any danger beast boy, that is a blazing Liger, you dispatched it far quicker than a boy of your age should be able to. Inf fact, a boy shouldn't be capable of fighting it at all, much less killing it. Armies have fallen to creatures such as this. Even Generals like me are wary of S class danger beasts. yet here you are hunting one down as if it was natural." The boy obviously didn't follow. It would seem that despite his talent and combat prowess he was still a very young boy. "I told you, I have to do this, I have no food." Budou noted the boy only spoke of feeding himself. "Have you no Family boy?" His face fell. "I'm an orphan, I only have the people back at my village"

Budou decided to probe a little "Where is your village, they must be very proud of you" At this the boy displayed clear distrust. So he does at least have some care for his village. "..." Budou gave the boy a small smile. He had immense skill and potential. "tell you what boy, does your village need aid from taxes and poverty" Budou knew what the answer would be. No village in the empire wasn't under a fatal level of taxes. "...yes" "What is your name Boy?" "Tatsumi...sir…"

Budou offered another small smile to the boy. A light wind blew through the trees, shaking the branches and giving a calming noise of rustling leaves."come with me Tatsumi, I will give you a job in the imperial army, if you do well your village can thrive and no one will ever go hungry again, you won't have to hunt danger beasts alone to survive anymore."

end flashback:

}- P.S. -{

_Tatsumi_

he had found a father figure in Budou, and as such always strove to find his approval. but he never seemed to realize that Budou could never be more proud of Him, he was dedicated to the people of the empire and worked himself into the ground for it. Budou had no children of his own and had come to see Tatsumi as a son. He was proud of the man that Tatsumi had become. A man dedicated to the people.

He proved adept at learning and moved into the imperial army at an alarming rate only being beaten out by Esdese in promotions. She holds the record for youngest General in history at 17, But Tatsumi Holds every other record in the book. His village Celebrated his success and became a thriving community, finally able to enjoy peace as a tradition based Hamlet of sorts. However, Though they were Nomadic and as prestigious as the Partas Clan the Kim-Un-Kur were reclusive and allowed no strangers into their midst. Tatsumi wouldn't have been adopted into his clan, had he not been an infant when they found him. Tatsumi was celebrated for the peace and prosperity he brought to the clan, but he was an outcast to the Kim-Un-Kur, to all but those who adopted him.

This is in part what drove Tatsumi to use his position and influence to remain enigmatic to the world. By remaining anonymous the few people who truly cared for him were allowed some more freedom. This allowed his adoptive elder brother to become a teacher in the capital, and their sister to be an emissary without them being harassed by the imperial army as potential recruits. This also allowed his adoptive parents, the leaders of the clan to dissociate themselves from him. He loved his clan very dearly, but his clan was not his home. Most of his clan was not his family.

Tatsumi Belonged in the Imperial Army. He got around a lot, making impacts across the entirety of the imperial forces. And these impacts led him to his family. And eventually, he would come to find few things mattered to him as much as his Family. In his mind, he owed it to Budou for showing him where he had a family. for showing him that he wasn't just the legacy of the parents he barely knew. "you're an incredibly Quiet person for how famous you are Colonel?" River inquired breaking the young man out of his thoughts. looking over to Esdese who was heeling her horse to remain at pace with his. "if you were being studied like prey by an apex predator, you'd be silent too"

Tatsumi could physically hear Nyau smirking behind him. but more notable to him was Esdese who had tilted her head in confusion. the cute look on her face being something he felt was a sign of the apocalypse. River was fuming. every attempt he made at furthering his master's wishes seemed useless in reference to the Colonel. and far more annoying to the former General is that Prior to having met Esdese he had admired and respected the Colonel. So now that his master wished to acquire him, to help him realize his potential, He had no way to influence the colonel or any way to aid Esdese. The smell of the forest wafted around them, both Esdese and Tatsumi relishing the cold of the snow falling around them.

"So Tell me Tatsumi, would you be against a wager?" Esdese inquired, beginning her initial plan to get that helmet off "That would depend on the wager. If you are trying to hedge a bet that my helmet comes off if you beat me in a spar, there's a snowball's chance in hell I'd take it." Damnit, did he anticipate this?... I'm not becoming predictable, am I? What she wasn't aware of was the fact that Tatsumi was only a couple of steps away from having a rather wide range of psionic capabilities. It was well within the realm of possibility for him to utilize telepathy, but his sense of honour and respect for privacy limited him to his advanced ambience analytical skills. So she wasn't predictable per say, just a lot more easily read for him.

"What if the spar was with me?" Daidara Piped up in the back, noting Lady Esdese's annoyance, his fear of his balls being frozen off kicking in. "I will warn you, I won't allow my skills to be displayed easily" relief flooded the three beasts, expecting it to be a lot more difficult. "Is that a yes then?" Tatsumi nodded his affirmation "we'll have our spar when we get to the Camping point, my Clan is currently placed at a plateau on Mt. Bas^, the climb will take some time so we'll be camping at a clearing towards the base of the mountain." Seemingly from nowhere a man in a black cloak appeared on a Skellquestri, a skeletal horse danger beast, His face was an ashen bone-pale and scars ran both between his mouth and left eye and his right eye across his skull. He was handsome but inhuman. and a smile played across his face unfalteringly. when he moved it sound cracking bones. From a distance, he could easily be mistaken for the undead. Up close he could still be easily mistaken for the undead.

"Commandant! I took the liberty of scouting ahead for you, I can confirm that your area of interest is indeed at ^aithreachas^," he spoke in a chillingly calm voice. Esdese was wary of this man. being around him didn't feel right. it was like his existence was physically wrong. She had a rather strong urge to pull Tatsumi away from him and get as far away as possible. She hated this feeling. But she forced it down and began to study this man, she has heard of him, one of the few well-known members of the Wolves. And an apparent colleague of Dr. Stylish, the imperial arms specialist in the research and sciences division. "Thank you Dr. Gaithson, two steps ahead as always."

Behind the three beasts were all trying to study the newcomer. but even looking at him made them feel sick, chills were running up their spines, and they could hear the screams of people they had killed. T. h. e. y. f. e. l. t. t. h. e. i. r. s. i. n. s. c. r. a. w. l. i. n. g. o. n. t. h. e. i. r. b. a. c. k. s. "Of course Commandant, I am most intrigued by this experiment of yours. I do hope you know what you are doing. the bonding process is rather unique." The familiarity and camaraderie between the two were markedly disturbing for Esdese and her three beasts. "Indeed, I would appreciate if you'd tag along with us, your expertise may come in quite useful." "It would be a pleasure sir, it's always an honour to work with you on matters such as this." the wind blew a rather strange scent into Esdese, she realized it was coming from Gaithson, it smelt reminiscent to a volcano/ "thank you, doctor."

And in a blink, the man known as Dr. Gaithson was just gone. Esdese recovered quickly, but the three beasts still felt as if the Reaper was whispering sweet nothings into their ears. "What is this experiment he referring to Colonel" Esdese asked calmly, assessing everything she could about the encounter, especially how comfortable Tatsumi had become around the Doctor. "there is something I wanted to do with you specifically, as I'm sure you know My legion tends to explore a lot in order to find various artifacts and legends across the planet, We have several that we study without moving for various reasons, and one we came across happens to be in Mt. Bas, we have personally had no progress with this specific legend, so I wanted to take you along and see what you make of it. Doctor Gaithson is a good friend of mine and the lead researcher on the artifacts and excavations of the Autha-Gaulir, he is Also one of the four Leading officers of the legion alongside three of his fellow Wolves. two of whom are in fact his sons, Nomic and Necrosus. The fourth of whom, and my second in command will be meeting us at the campsite, her name is Cruxeis. Be warned, They all love puns." The three beasts sweatdropped at that.

Esdese was more intrigued by how unbothered Tatsumi was at the moment, it seemed that the fact he was now in the company of his soldiers, be they unseen from orders to scout around for dangers, or hanging a few hundred meters behind, put him at ease even when near Herself. she was hoping to capitalize on this and try to gain more information on the rising General. every piece of information she could get was aid in her game. If she was going to beat him in a game of psychological warfare she had to know the young man. otherwise, it would take years longer than she was willing to wait otherwise. She wanted him now, but she knew she had to wait; so she was settled for what he could do to shorten her wait.

"I am glad that you are finally relaxing around me Tatsumi, we will be working closely in the future regardless of whether or not you pass your examination."Tatsumi rolled his shoulders, the sound of his spine popping resounding surprisingly loudly from his armour. "I'm aware. I look forward to the challenge. By working with you I'll have a far easier time gauging my progress in catching up to and surpassing you." The grin on Esdese face would make Death herself think twice. "Ara ara, Careful now Colonel, I am quite competitive. I won't just allow you to surpass me." Tatsumi's reply was immediate. "I'm counting on that fact General."

They came to a clearing filled with soldiers who had pitched up tents and had begun building their portable stronghold. of which Esdese and her apprentices noted that Tatsumi apparently kept his soldiers prepared for war wherever they went. climbing down off their horses, soldiers came to place their steeds into stables. Tatsumi's army was efficient and highly effective. Esdese noted that there was no slacking off anywhere, snipers had been placed in several locations in small teams, many were maintaining the makeshift mobile fort, placing walls of metal around the clearing creating barracks and building in a matter of hours, it would seem that the company was prepared to stay for months if necessary, every corner was busy with people working or training.

Esdese' Militaristic mind kicked in, she became rather curious about the logistics "how fast can this all be taken down?" Tatsumi new that the game was going on "going at a moderate pace we can take down our setup in the space of about three hours, but if we need to move we can cut it down to a third of that time. takes about two hours to set up" Tatsumi's tone held pride. "Lieutenant Nomic!" Esdese immediately perked back up, she had heard about this Wolf. "Yes, commandant?" A short man dressed in civilian clothing came up to them, nothing about him spoke anything of a soldier, his tone was lazy and he looked more like his profession was testing mattress comfort. However the three beasts had broken out in a cold sweat again, this was the exact same feeling they had gotten from Gaithson, and Nomic's disturbing unmoving smile unnerved them. He didn't look like much but He felt dangerous. Esdese was twitching, not because he was causing her to feel anything like the three beasts, but because one of Tatsumi's most trusted soldiers, one of the elites, didn't fit in at all. somewhere deep in her, a sense of OCD was greatly agitated.

"I need you to set up a sparring ring and make it...snappy." If possible Nomics Cheshire grin grew wider, at this point it was likely to split his face in half. lifting one arm up and placing his thumb and forefinger together, his left eye flashed a brilliant blue. "Very punny sir, I'll be sure to...ring out a mat in a snap" And as a matter of fact, with a snap of his fingers objects, glowing blue flew from across the clearing and built a small colosseum. in an unused patch of land. the three beats blanched as they realized that this weak looking man may have in fact earned his place in the Autha Gaulir.

Esdese was more intrigued by the fact that two people close to Tatsumi displayed Magical capabilities, teleportation and telekinesis were abilities that could be granted by the teigu, however, both were accounted for, one was in use by Syura, the prime minister's son, and the other was in use by an imperial researcher, a doctor attempting to make enhancements drugs for the elite 7 and the group of terror. This doctor was now in court due to the extremely questionable ethics of his experiments, notably due to the actions of one Colonel...He is likely to be executed for crimes against humanity. Esdese still didn't know what motivated Tatsumi to have the doctor removed. returning to the matter at hand, for them to have these capabilities indicates that Tatsumi may very well be a highly accomplished Magus. normally this shouldn't be too intriguing given the world they live in however, magicks are a dying art, and few people know anything more than the absolute most basic spells, such as healing, small fire blast, lightning strikes, and other elemental magicks.

The rumours were that Tatsumi had managed to reach a point where he would be known as Magus Magistrata, meaning that he had mastered the mystical arts. if this was true then it would be possible that she could, in fact, learn something from him. Many don't expect it of her but Esdese truly enjoyed learning new things, provided that they could in some way make her stronger. she held close to the belief that knowledge was power.

They walked into the makeshift colosseum, Tatsumi at one end, placing his sword into the ground resting his hands against the pommel. And Daidara across from him, grinning like a madman with his Teigu in hand. "Are you sure you want to do this Daidara? I'm not prone to holding back against strong opponents" Tatsumi rolled his neck out and took a deep breath enjoying the subtle scent of nature around him. He wondered about that though since all the trees were dead for winter. "Good I'll get more experience points from this then." Esdese was paying close attention to the aura of disinterest and lack of attention from Tatsumi. She didn't expect him to be arrogant "don't say I didn't warn you" Tatsumi left his sword in the ground and stepped in front of it, Daidara got in his ready position. Nomic stepped forward to call the fight. "You may...begin"

*BOOM

An explosion sounded like thunder at point blank, everyone noticed Tatsumi was just straight up gone, they looked over at Daidara and saw him folded in half over Tatsumi's fist midair, his spine clearly broken, his face was white in shock. Tatsumi spun around rapidly sending the heel of his foot into Daidara's spine, but before Daidara could go flying spun back around and palm heeled dead in front of his broken opponent, the air pressure alone halting Daidara, who crumpled to the ground in a silent scream of pain. Esdese dismissed her notion of arrogance. "And that's the End" Tatsumi said in monotone. Esdese was bothered now, she had to get a taste of this. For Tatsumi to have done that, to have reached a point being capable of that display, he would be able to provide her at least some challenge. Tatsumi had chill run through his body, he could feel desire rolling off of Esdese. He steeled himself and took another deep breath.

picking up Daidara and placing him on a bench Tatsumi motioned for his Medical officers to take care of the now catatonic Daidara. Tatsumi walked over to Esdese. calmly he spoke. "If you want a Wager Esdese here's my offer, I will spar with you, I will go all out, and if I cannot draw blood before you have beaten me, I will take off my Helm. do we have a deal" Tatsumi reached out a hand to Esdese. Taking it and shaking, Esdese replied. "Be sure to entertain me Tat_su_mi."

Tatsumi took note she was excited. which means that if he was going to gain her respect, he had to exceed her expectations here. at the very least by taking out Daidara so quickly he wasn't worn out like Esdese had planned for him to be. Tatsumi's mind was racing, as he knew that she had no intention of holding back, she wanted him to "entertain" her as she said. He knew she was toying with him. he didn't understand why, but he knew that she was. Really his one real concern here was getting close enough to her to actually draw blood. a feat no one had ever accomplished. Even sensei Budou had never successfully drawn blood from Esdese. And Tatsumi hasn't surpassed Budou yet. so in short what was running through the young man's mind was...fuck, shit, fuck Fuck, FUCK, SHIT!...

Esdese and Tatsumi took their positions across the field of the Colosseum. Esdese was grinning like a kid in a candy shop. Tatsumi actually took a ready position this time, clearly taking this fight seriously. His position was quite feral looking actually. He was placed low to the ground his right arm out hand in a claw, three fingers placed to the ground with his left. The draconic nature of his helm made him look like he was, in fact, a small Danger beast. A fact that Esdese enjoyed immensely. Tatsumi knew that to win this he would need a miracle

}- P.S. -{

_Esdese_

My my, so I finally get to learn something about you Tatsumi. She drew her sword slowly, placing her left foot back slightly, preparing her reflexes to try and outmatch Tatsumi's speed. She knew she was physically stronger and definitely more powerful as he had confirmed to her himself. but after that display. she had no doubt that he was faster than her. Again Nomic came to call the match "You may...Begin" Immediately Esdese called a wall of ice to race down the field between them, trying to force Tatsumi to jump back before she would close the distance. To her surprise, though Tatsumi just swung around slamming a heel into the space her ice would be a split second before it materialized, and the entire wall then shattered. Esdese sensed something behind her and rapidly twisted around to block an impossibility, Tatsumi hadn't moved after shattering her wall, even teleportation doesn't move that quickly, yet here he was striking at her from behind, Tatsumi began to force her back, ensuring she never regained her footing, even her ice was rendered null as he moved fast enough to shatter it before it materialized. Esdese put an extreme amount of force into one of her blocks bouncing Tatsumi back and allowing her to regain her footing, she immediately went offensive, she was determined to make sure Tatsumi lost this fight. She found that she wasn't able to relax lazily like she had become used to in combat. She adored this feeling. It was She kept trying to call her ice but found she had to focus on it to even use it as for defensive purposes due to the rapidly shattered materialization process. She put this aside for now and focused on her physical capabilities.

She was enthralled by the fact that he kept up with her, she was able to get several strikes in on him, but they did little to nothing against his armor, and he seemed more focused on landing attacks on her rather than defending herself. She was annoyed by his speed. Only the fact that her reflexes were perfect and she was able to use her ice to shield various areas in rapid succession kept her from being struck. It didn't make any sense for him to be able to move as fast as he was, she had considered the idea that he was magically enhancing his speed but everything she knew about mystic arts led her to believe that the immediate movement, something that managed to elude her reflexive sixth sense wasn't possible. But, between the trading of blows, moving at a speed unfollowable to any of the onlookers, save for six specific members of the Autha-Gaulir, Esdese noticed that there were glowing marking all along Tatsumi's body. "what magic are you using to increase your speed so effectively?"

dodging multiple blows and looking for openings Tatsumi decided he could use a breather for a little bit to let his mind catch up with what he had learned. for him, time stopped. and then he considered how he should answer her. Tatsumi was naturally inhumanly fast, however, she was right he was, in fact, using magic to increase his speed. More accurately he was halting time so that he could be in a place he shouldn't be. It's incredibly hard to move when time itself is frozen and the spell itself takes enormous mental and physical strength in order to maintain. when time is frozen and the caster is remaining still it's fairly simple.

However temporal magicks are forbidden for many reasons, Tatsumi had been studying time magicks for so long he understood the gravity of every spell, and would only use these kinds of magicks in a very specific way. he couldn't stop time and then touch a person, as it creates anomalies with severe consequences. either he froze time while holding onto someone allowing them the ability to perceive what is happening, or he had to release the spell and then touch a person. meaning in order for him to be moving so quickly without causing severe problems he had to allow some space between himself and Esdese between every blow and her reflexes were so finely tuned she was able to keep up even though he was moving at a literally impossible pace. But he still had an immeasurable advantage from the spell. He had all the time in the world to analyze every second of the fight, determining every forming peace of ice and shattering them before they could be used. He considered how to answer her for a moment and then he decided to unfreeze time and say "I guess you could say it's all a matter of timing." Nomic began to snigger and giggle off to the side.

Having analyzed her combat style Tatsumi believed he had devised a successful way to draw blood from her, and he had to utilize this now, the magick was taking its toll on him, if he didn't win soon he was going to crash. Relying purely on his own natural speed Tatsumi began to attack from all sides, moving at such high speeds that he appeared to be in seven places at once, Tatsumi began to rush Esdese until finally, she seemed to connect for the first time with her Ice. Tatsumi was blown back. Esdese smirked believing she had won. and then shock flashed across her face, she felt something warm trickling down her cheek, she wiped at it with her forefinger and saw blood.

}- P.S. -{

_Tatsumi_

Nearly collapsed on the ground from exhaustion and panting "well hallelujah." Esdese walked up to the young man still enraptured by the rush, and fixated on the blood on her finger "how?" Tatsumi's head raised a slightly to look at her. At least she thinks that was the point of it. "your ice comes to you like second nature. that entire fight was about making you focus on it. taking away the instinct in your ice so that I could capitalize on a pattern break. I was actually moving to that point from behind you when the ice hit me, as I moved in front and while your attention was focused on blocking major attacks, as well as forcing your ice through, I was able to scratch you, literally with a finger as I moved by. I win Esdese." Esdese was speechless staring I fascination at her own blood. Tatsumi had successfully earned her respect. But he also made an extreme mistake Here. Esdese now fully intended to break him by the end of the month.

Tatsumi had just set himself up to be the new prized prey of Esdese. He wasn't just any normal prey now. He wasn't just a goal. To Esdese breaking, Tatsumi was the ultimate hunt. The battle between the two alphas. He collapsed to the ground exhausted. Esdese walked over to him and picked him up, leaning into him she whispered into where his ear should supposedly be. "From this day forward Tat_su_mi, I am going to hunt you, do try to last a while before you break. it won't be as fun if you become my toy too soon." Inside his armor, Tatsumi blanched in fear before passing out.

A.N.

Thankyou to Grezna the Apocrolyph for betaing my story!

Bas = death

Aithreachas = regret

I also do not know how to make it more obvious who Gaithson, Nomic, and Necrosus are. And two of their names are puns. However, Nomic and Necrosus have a secret that was alluded to in this chapter. Props if you can guess what that secret is.

Before I forget, this is not a lemon fic. Sexual activities will be alluded to but not written out. This fanfic is rated M for violence, gore, and a lot of psych shit that I intend to go through. Little late in the story to warn, but this is a warning. This get's real starting in chapter 4. Though, maybe not so much in 5.

R&R

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