A/N: Chapter 21 of One final breath. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. Akame ga kill belongs to the rightful owner.
Special thanks to the reviewers as well as to the readers who Fav/Alert this story.
Chapter 21: Kill the Human
Road path...
"We'll arrive in town soon." 'Bols' spoke as he and Kurome continued their walk. They were almost out of the woods but there was still a couple more miles until they reached the next source of civilization.
"They might be waiting to ambush us..." Kurome replied.
...Hmm...What is it with this target? Chelsea frowned as she followed Kurome obediently. There's something I can't put my finger on...She's not making any definite openings, either. Maybe I should hold back and retreat for now...
"The captain will probably return soon." Kurome smiled, "Let's be careful until then..." Suddenly she started to wobble and fell to her knees, hand against her head as she let out a goan of pain. ...It's because I didn't get to finish my sweets.
"K-Kurome, are you okay?" 'Bols' asked, placing his hand on her back. "A-Are you hurt somewhere?"
"It'll be fine..." The girl spoke, "if I can eat my sweets." Popping open her sack of sweets she started to munch on one before grabbing another.
"You look like you're in pain..." 'Bols' rubbed her back with encouragement. "You poor thing. I know, I'll say a charm to make you feel better!" In that instant, Chelsea got rid of her Bols disguise and stuck a needle in Kurome's neck. The girl's eyes widened in shock, unable to react fast enough as she stared into Chelsea's eyes.
"There..." Chelsea stood up as Kurome slumped forward. "no more pain. Good bye. Both targets, assassination complete." She said as she looked at Kurome's motionless body. Looking off in the far distance, she remembered a time when she met her Teigu. Working with another group she stumbled upon her Teigu locked within a glass box in the storage. She was instinctively drawn toward the object and stole it for her own use. Thanks to her new found powers, she joined the Assassination squad of the Revolutionary Army with the objective of changing the depraved world.
I'll make it a peaceful world soon. Chelsea smiled as she turned around, leaving Kurome's body behind. And you can be born again once that happens. She walked away thinking it was the last of her duty.
"Hey..." She froze as something evil rose behind her. She didn't even want to turn around as Kurome stood back up, her Teigu in hand. "That charm just now...it's not working." Looking back, she noticed that Kurome had really crazy eyes, something wasn't natural about her. "It's very painful, and I'm suffering quite a lot."
"I'm sure I gouged into a vital spot...!" Chelsea quickly hopped back, shivers running up and down her spin as the energy from Kurome increased.
"A while after Big Sis left, they manufactured a new drug." Kurome explained as she continued to eat her snack. "A strong medicine that strengthens the body even more...on one hand, it's a bit strenuous. But surprisingly, even to me," She unsheathed Yatsufusa from its sheath and pointed it at her. "it seems that if you want to kill me...you'll have to at least do something like squash my heart or separate my head from my body." Knowing that it was really dangerous for her to stay Chelsea threw a smoke bomb as a cover. Kurome looked in surprise as the smoke cleared up but her enemy was nowhere to be found.
"Kuh! To think that she's halfway to not being human anymore..." Chelsea growled as she continued to run, as fast as she could down the path. "I'll transform and run away!" Suddenly the sound of a pistol rang and her mind couldn't grasp what had happened as her Teigu was destroyed as well as four of her fingers were shot off. Looking behind her she realized that Doya and Natala were hot on her heels.
"Hahh. Hahh." Kurome slouched forward as she felt her strength fading. "I can't move...this might be it for me. But...if that's the case," She carefully wiped away some blood from the corner of her mouth. "Then while I'm still conscious, I'll kill that woman...! She said 'Both targets, assassination complete,' just now...she must have..." An image of Bols serving tea entered her mind and she was immediately filled with rage. "She must have killed Bols! Natala, Doya!" She screamed and her two dolls looked at their master, "Slice her into pieces!"
"Hahh. Hahh. Hahh." Chelsea wheezed as she broke through the forest, her legs burning from running at top speed.
Her hand was still bleeding but she was more focused on escaping. Suddenly Natala appeared right in front of her, an emotionless expression on his face as he drew his spear.
Is this it? Chelsea watched as the spear inched closer and closer, the beating of her heart ringed in her ears. Her breathing slowed down as she tried to slow down. Am I...going to die? I'm going to get...redemption for...everything I've done...right?
"RRRRAAAAAGGGHHHH!" I roared, smashing my fist against Natala's face which stopped him from chopping Chelsea's arm off. Chelsea stared in shock as I landed in front of her, my teeth bared in anger as Natala tumbled across the ground.
"Wha-?!"
"Get down!" I quickly pulled her to the ground as a bullet whizzed over our heads. I lifted my left hand and fired my flame ball in retaliation. Doya's eye widened in surprise as the ball exploded in front of her face and she disappeared into the forest to take cover as I fired some more. I turned my gaze back to Natala who stood back up with his weapon poised'; he slowly used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.
"Good, I made it just in time. We're going back to Night Raid...together." I said as I helped Chelsea stand and took one look at her injured hand. It looked like a bullet blew off four of her fingers already and the blood was still dripping out. Scowling, I took out some bandages and wrapped her hand with care. "Since you are still one of the newest recruits in Night Raid I refuse to let you die so easily." She gazed at me as I finished the treatment and smiled.
"Yep." Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, "Sorry that I made you worry." I gripped her uninjured hand gently.
"It's okay, let's get out of here-whoa!" I pushed her away as Natala came between us, his spear inches from cutting my entire arm off, blood running down my arm from where his blade touched me. Making sure that Chelsea was safe I charged at the doll, my fist raised. Twirling his spear above his head, he accepted my challenge. As we danced I was so focused entirely on keeping Chelsea safe that I forgot that there was another enemy hidden within the trees.
Bang. Time slowed down as I felt a sharp jab in my chest before Natala head-butted me.
"Sonya!" Chelsea yelled as I tumbled back, holding my chest in pain. Rushing to my side, she looked up to see Doya standing with her gun trained on us. Natala strode forward, his own weapon pointed at us as well.
"Time...to go!" I gripped onto Chelsea's hand and my Teigu flashed brightly as I teleported us away, leaving a small indent in the ground behind that showed that we were there.
"Shit!" Kurome glared as she caught up. "They got away...but not without casualties." She murmured as she noticed splotches of blood on the ground. "Hopefully it was enough but for now," She looked to see her dolls waiting for her next command, "We need to go back and meet with the Captain."
Log Cabin...
"Najenda!" Chelsea kicked the door as I fell on the floor, gasping for breath as the red stain on my shirt got a little bigger. She immediately knelt beside me, her own chest heaving.
"Sonya! Chelsea!" Najenda rushed in with Susanoo and Rabac on her heels. "What happened out there?" I lifted my head to say something but I was too preoccupied trying to ignore the pain.
"Sonya's life might be in danger if that bullet isn't out of her body. I'll get started immediately." Susanoo said as he held me in his arms. Rabac helped Chelsea to her feet, her wounded hand gently cradled against her chest.
"They destroyed...my Teigu." The auburn-haired assassin said to Najenda before Rabac led her to the room for the wounded. Leone was busy testing out her arm but freaked out when Susanoo rushed me to one of the empty beds. While I was away Rabac helped reattach her severed arm so now she's got both her arms back.
"How is she?" She asked as Susanoo took my top off, gazing at the wound with his naked eyes. "Is she going to live?"
"The bullet isn't too far in but I can't be sure." He replied, using tweezers to navigate through the blood clots. "...Here we go." Pulling his hand out swiftly, he showed them the bloody bullet and threw it in the trash. After administering some medicine and putting gauze on my wound, he gently wrapped my chest with bandages. "Her life is no longer in danger, now all she needs is rest." Walking over to Chelsea who waited patiently for him, he held her wounded hand gently, "Now on to you."
"Thank goodness." Leone released a sigh of relieve, smiling as she noticed that I had fallen asleep.
"We're back." Akame's voice floated through and she looked surprised when she walked in; the door closing announced Tatsumi's presence as well. "Oh. When did they come back?" Then she narrowed her eyes, "What happened?"
"Sonya!" Tatsumi rushed in and knelt by the bed, looking over in worry. "Are you okay?"
"She's fine. She just needs rest." Leone updated him as I did not hear his question thus I did not reply. In fact I just rolled over and continued to rest.
"They just arrived before you did thanks to that Teigu." Najenda said as she looked over to see Susanoo patching up Chelsea's hand. "Both of them sustained some injuries but they should be good as new. Unfortunately Kurome's dolls destroyed Chelsea's Teigu so I need to think on how to proceed from here."
"You don't have to." Chelsea said before wincing as Susanoo began to stitch up the wound, "I can just go back to the Revolutionary Army for the time being." She smiled. "It feels weird to say this but I might take a small break from my duties."
"Very well." Najenda nodded and sat down at the table, grabbing a piece of paper. "I'll send a message to the Revolutionary Army to see if they can find another suitable Teigu for you." Rolling up the paper, she whistled for a bird. The animal flew down and landed outside and waited patiently while she tied the note to its leg. Stroking its feather in appreciation, she let it go and watched it disappear.
"Thank you. Though I'm not sure if there will ever be another Teigu quite like Gaea Foundation." Chelsea looked down in sadness.
"We'll do what we can but for now, rest up." Najenda spoke before turning to the rest of us. "I have received word that the Jaegers plan on attending a party hosted by our next target: Advisor Borick."
"And something tells me, we're going to crash it?" Mein asked with a grin, "Sounds like fun."
"Knowing Mein, she'd be the obvious wedding crasher." Tatsumi commented causing the pink-haired princess to glare a hole in the middle of his head.
"At least I get invited to parties. You're so boring nobody ever invites you." She shot back.
"This party is happening tomorrow night." Najenda said, ignoring their little argument. "Get plenty of rest and we'll set off tomorrow."