Author's Note: Finally back, better pick up the pace! Sorry for the wait, everyone!

Chapter 52: Kill Your Hopes and Fears (Part Eight: Empire)

The monstrous arm's clawed fingers held still, unmoving, as if there was something deadly or poisonous about the white, almost pale cheek that stood quietly a few inches away.

Tatsumi looked down at the abomination that had become his right arm, his gaze slowly following the bestial shape right up to its clawed fingers; he paused for a moment, as if the white space of cloth between the horrific limb and the face of the woman lying in silence on the bed were an infinite horizon he wouldn't dare stare at.

But his heart pushed him forward, and his gaze fixated upon the bed and the barely living body on it.

The body of the woman he had once feared and saw as more than an enemy, but a monster set on chasing him down, destroying everything dear to him and make him nothing but her property, in a twisted take on love from a mind and heart who he once had thought were devoid of anything resembling humanity.

But she had proven him wrong, hadn't she?

She had changed the world and stopped a war, in her own twisted way, simply because her need for him had been stronger than her madness and bloodlust; it had been strong enough for her to tame her own inner demons and allow the small, buried spark of warmth and kindness inside her to flourish, to embrace him as an anchor to the world and a future were bloodshed and violence weren't her only future.

She had asked for him, but she had not forced her on him…she had begged him to save her from herself, to allow her a chance at what nature and nurture had denied her, and in doing so, she had found a strange but true form of salvation.

She had made him care for her, laugh with her, cry with her and become one with her…as he couldn't deny the truth anymore.

He loved her. He loved her indomitable will, her strength, her devotion and her power, but above all, he loved that behind the armor of sadism and violence she had built around, was a tender and warm side she only reserved for him and him alone, a scared and fragile humanity that truly loved him in a way so pure, so powerful and primal, nothing could stand on its way.

And now he had failed her.

When the worst had come to happen, when her strength and power had failed her, he had been too weak, too slow and too scared to do everything in his power to protect her.

Esdeath would had cut open the world and make bleed to death for him if necessary, without remorse, hesitation or fear.

And yet he had failed her on her darkest hour…and now his right arm had turned into a grim reminder of that moment of weakness and shame.

"If you were to wake up…you would still love me, despite what happened, wouldn't you?"-Tatsumi said outloud, as he raised his right arm. - "You would love me despite this, despite what I have become…what I might turn into…".

Tatsumi let his gaze fall down as he kept talking to her motionless form…

"That's why I love you, Esdeath. That's why I can't allow this to continue…I can live with whatever happens to me, because I know you would never leave my side, no matter what…"-Tatsumi said as he rose up, his voice gaining strength as he did so.

"But I can't live without you, Esdeath. I don't care if I become a beast, or like these murderous freaks. I can live with that. But I can't live with you becoming one as a well…and this war will make that happen. It will force both of us to become everything we've fought to leave behind, to shed and destroy from our former lives. I can't live knowing you might be forced to become what you once were, what you've fought so hard to overcome, just for me…"-Tatsumi said as he effortlessly picked Esdeath's body with his left arm, carefully cradling her unconscious form against his chest as the white sheets wrapped around her body.

"…so I need to take you away from here. Even if it means betraying everyone I care about…I need to keep you safe from whatever is coming. Nothing else matter. I can't allow anything else happen to you, no matter what."-Tatsumi said as he clenched his teeth, suppressing a scream of pain as his right eye began glowing, and he raised his monstrous arm, pointing it at the farthest wall…

Minutes later, after the dust had settled and the thunderous sound of the explosion had settled, Najenda entered the room, or what was left of it, as almost half of it had been blasted outward, leaving a massive view of the city in the distance.

Doctor stood in the center of the opening, his arms crossed over one another, while the gust of wind that now made its presence felt inside the room made the empty sleeves of his coat flap backwards.

"Well, I guess he started to feel better…I just hoped he would had shown a better bedside manner…this view is lovely, but not very practical for practicing medicine"-Doctor said in a flat tone of voice.

"Did we manage to get an idea of where he was heading towards before they lost him in the city outskirts?"-Najenda asked.

"I'm afraid not, General. I've already composed a general report of every eyewitness testimonyand composed a few rough sketches of what Incursio's new form looked like, in order to facilitate our spy and ranger network's tracking efforts. I'd be thankful if you could pass it on to General Kaskade. I rather need to take some personal time, and there isn't much left for me to do here without patients or a infirmary."-Doctor said as he handed her a thick file.

"Thank you. I'm sure she will be thankful for the reports and sketches, but I doubt we will need to pass on information to our network."-Najenda said.

"Oh? Why is that so?"-Doctor asked.

"Because any member of Night Raid knows where he is going."-Najenda said as she stared at the horizon, while Doctor turned around and left her to her toughts.

Much later…somewhere deep and mostly forgotten.

The stone and metal door creaked as it was pushed open, and the man known only as Doctor entered the bright yet musty room.

It had obviously been a mortuary of sorts, as several thick stone walls had slabs with rotting or cracked skeletons on it, while three massive stone altars occupied the center of the room, each large and wide enough for a human body to rest on.

However, despite its old and ruined looks, the room was brightly light thanks to several electric lamps set around it. Some wall slabs had been cleared and now contained rows of books, medical equipment and different jars and containers filled with various liquids.

Lastly, next to the center altar like table, a full body size round mirror had been placed, and next to it a small tray table, upon which an assortment of bloody medical tools and bandages had been left for quite some time.

Doctor walked to the mirror, and slowly removed his glasses, placing them on the stone altar, and then his hand picked up a bloody scalpel from the tray. Fresh blood trickled down from it.

Without hesitation nor trembling, he placed the blade against his temple…and made the first of several quick incisions, one after another, Perfector's movements being so quick and precise that the process took mere seconds.

Once the scalpel had been put back on the tray, Doctor calmly placed both of his hands over his chin…and pulled, a wet, sticky sound filling the room for mere instant.

A calm, steady hand placed the now lifeless face and scalp of hair filled with a clear liked, were the empty visage of the man known as doctor floated slowly, looking like a crude and grotesque performance mask, upon which a purple glow was reflected for a few moments; without missing a best, the same hand picked up a nearby towel and proceeded use it.

The sound of applause broke the silence.

"You know, no matter how many times I see you do that, I'm still utterly impressed. You are much more an artist than a physician, I must say"-Syura said as he leaned back against a wall; next to him, a trembling figure was kneeling, shackled with chains and his head covered with a sack mask.

"I guess there is some truth to that. After all, flesh and bone are as much an artist´s materials as clay or stone"-The man staring at the mirror turned around.

Short, spiked light orange hair covered his head, slowly making it way to his forehead, were a few v shaped bangs fell short of reaching his eyebrows. Eyes of a slightly darker shade of orange stared at Syura, while the handsome yet somewhat tired features of young man turned his expression to a blank frown.

"Guess you'll be needing the usual to regain energy? This one used to be one of the heads of the northern kingdom's sexual trade slaver's ring. Lord Schatten sends him with his regards"—Syura smiled wickedly as he pushed the chained man forward with his foot.

The young man stared down at the hooded prisoner, his face completely void of feeling or emotion, as he crossed his arms across his waist, the gloved forms of Perfector resting on each other.

The hooded man whimpered and tried to speak...

Before he could make a sound, a streak of white cut his head clean from his shoulders, and kept moving forward, stopping mere inches from Syura's face, whose expression remained one of amusement, as his gaze followed the white, thin yet sharp streak suspended in midair in front of him…all the way to the right shoulder of his host.

With the same speed, the elongated coat sleeve rolled back in and returned to its normal, cloth like form…and then streaked forward again, this time followed by its left counterpart, along with several other white tendrils that emerged from the man's white coat, each instantly becoming flat yet sharp streaks of white.

In a single, coordinated movement, all the streaks buried themselves deep into different sections the headless corpse; after a few moments, a sickening sound filled the air as red lines of crimson began to race from the streaks back into the coat, while the dead body shriveled, until in a matter of seconds it collapsed into dust and cracked bones, just as the streaks refolded themselves into the coat.

"That will keep Malice Medica full for a few days. Give Lord Schatten my thanks; without these…feeding sessions, Malice Medica's healing powers wouldn't be able to help me perfect my disguise"-The man said with a smile.

"Of course. After all, Lord Schatten is very aware of the risks you are taking in his name; since only an exceptionally strong human could be able to wield two Teigus at once, and your spying is key to his plans…Arjen"-Syura said.

"Lord Schatten has my undying loyalty. There is nothing I would not do to make his dream a reality"-Arjen replied, just as a white streak emerged from within his coat and handed a thick file to Syura.

"My weekly report. The Emperor's caravan route, and the Teigu users guarding him are detailed in the third section. I took the liberty of suggesting a strike while they rest and restock supplies in four days' time; they will be staying at a small garrison, heavily fortified and with experienced troops, but small numbers."-Arjen said.

"Perfect. Stand by and keep up gathering information, especially on Esdeath and her boy toy's new whereabouts. Ardere already has begun the second part of her plan."-Syura said as he opened a portal.

Arjen nodded.

"Hey, I have to ask, as always…why is a human working for Lord Schatten? It's not like you will gain anything out of it"-Syura said.

"You are wrong. I wil gain more than anyone else from his victory…but only a human would understand that"-Arjen said as he turned around and made a dismissive gesture, causing Syura to put a face of annoyance and disdain as he entered the portal and disappeared.

Once he sure was alone, Arjen placed on his hands inside his coat, and after a few second, took it out, as if he had retrieved something hidden and concealed deep within it.

He unfolded the piece of paper slowly, and then stared at the image on its creased and cracked surface.

On the picture, two young men wearing different versions of the imperial army's uniforms smiled at the camera while placing one arm over the other's shoulders; the leaner of the two had short, orange hair cut in a buzzcut and eyes of a similar color…which made all the bigger contrast when compared to his companion, whose muscular frame was topped with bright blue eyes and a mane of thick, long black hair.

"Soon, a new world will emerge. A better world, unlike this rotten one. A world worth you not being in it…Bulat"-Arjen said as he folded back the picture and stored back inside his coat, close to his heart.

Next Chapter: Arjen's past and his relationship to one of Night Raid's fallen members are revealed.