Next chapter. This time it begins with Esdeath.

Chained Secrets

A large, private room with snow-white walls and royally colored banners on the walls contains the Jaegers standing together in its center.

Tied to a bare steel plate, Wave is found with many precise injuries. Several tears have visibly already flowed and are still flowing. His suffering is supported by pathetic and broken sobs.

"I hope you've learned the consequences of such mistakes, Wave." Esdeath says with a tone that penetrates the ears in a frightening and threatening way.

"Yes... Understood..." the obviously tortured Wave answers in a weak voice and nods briefly. His extreme fear at this moment cannot be described in words.

"Good. Then you can free him now." commands Esdeath and steps up a staircase with moderate speed. At its end is a throne-like seat where she sits down. Next to her seat Run stands still and with a neutral expression.

Bols comes closer to Wave and removes the heavy stones from his upper body without much effort. "That's done, little Wave." he says to Wave to take away some of his fear.

"I'll unlock him from his chains." Seryu clarifies with a friendly smile. She also comes to him and manages to tear the grey, rusty chains apart with her mechanical arms.

Wave straightens up as good as possible and gets support from Kurome when getting up and standing upright. "Thank you Kurome..." he thanks her, still weak.

Koro appears behind Esdeath's seat and crawls frightened to Seryu's legs. "Oh, don't worry, Koro. The General has done justice again." She calms Koro and lifts him into her arms to embrace him tightly.

While Wave, Kurome and Bols quickly turn around at the foot of the medium-high stairs to Esdeath, Seryu puts her dog-like teigu back on the ground and then does the same.

"General, how do we proceed now?" Seryu asks curiously. The punishment on Wave did not disturb her much, but gave her another impression that Esdeath enforces justice everywhere.

Esdeath has her legs crossed as usual in her silver throne, but this time she rests her hanging head on one fist. This posture seems somehow depressed, her facial expression and aura also confirm this.

Before someone reacts to the question, there is a quick knock on the door. "Come in." tells Esdeath from her seat without paying attention to the people who are just coming in.

Two soldiers step up to the stairs and bow there. "General Esdeath... You are expected at a meeting." reports the knight on the right. He avoids eye contact out of fear of her.

"The meeting is in the usual room." adds the other knight. He is older than his partner and appears more confident and experienced.

"Understood." answers Esdeath merely as she stands up and walks to the door with the knights behind her. She stops in front of the door and turns her head back slightly over her shoulder. "Jaegers, you're off duty today except for the supervision." she says and then leaves her room.

Run walks down the stairs to his known partners shortly after she has disappeared. Now all of them stand silently together.

"Have you noticed that the General is different somehow?" Seryu asks worried about her.

"Yes, she did not seem satisfied and pleased even after the punishment. Besides, she is much more merciless and imprecise during her torture in the torture chambers than before." Bols answers while scratching his head.

"Something is bothering her... Maybe the thing with Wild Hunt..." Kurome thinks, but it doesn't seem to make much sense to her and the others.

First of all, Run gets an idea in his head. "No, it's this person she was talking about. The one we were supposed to find unharmed." he says and reminds everyone of the reunion at the mountain.

Wave slowly tries to stay on his own legs by pulling his arm away from Kuromes shoulder. "But we know nothing about him. Who could ruin Esdeath´s mood like that?" asks Wave, who swings slightly back and forth while standing.

Everyone has asked themselves this question anyway, without any answers. "Do you think there's someone else who knows him, too?" Seryu asks after some time of thinking.

"If so, then only the Prime Minister Honest or one of Esdeath's closest soldiers can be considered." Run answers this question with one hand on his chin. "However, we should not involve the Prime Minister in such things. It might not end well for us if we happen to bother him." he adds in a serious voice. The fear of Run is easily understandable for those present.

"How about Captain Gallius? He has been at Esdeath's side for a long time and has a rank high enough to know her close people." Kurome concludes after a short time. Her eyes are more focused on Wave, inwardly concerned that he might get some problems from his wounds.

"Good idea, Kurome. Gallius is a kind and reliable person. If he knows something, he would certainly tell us." says Bols with multiple nods as a sign of his friends' approval.

"He should be down at the training grounds as an observer now." Run adds, opening the large door through which Esdeath had passed. Everyone steps through one after another and he is the last person to close it again.

Further down in the large courtyard of the gigantic palace, the training ground for the soldiers of the Empire is located under the open sky. Some of them compete against each other with wooden weapons, others show their fighting skills to a present inspector and a few sit on the edge and rest bathed in sweat.

The presence of the Jaegers is quickly noticed by everyone in the place, as they enjoy a higher standing, especially due to Esdeath, which quickly silences most of the unnecessary conversations and keeps the fighters more focused in order to please the Jaegers positively. Another intention is that they are also afraid that insufficient soldiers will be reported to Esdeath.

A man in uniform with a noble-looking medal on his chest steps up to the Jaegers who wait at the entrance gate. Seryu waves to him with a happy expression. "What are you doing here? Do you want to join in again?" asks the man, who is a few years older than most of the Jaegers and also Esdeath. "And what happened to you, Wave?" he asks worried about him.

"I'm past Esdeath's punishment..." answers Wave with a little smile, but it seems forced. Run signals with a quick hand signal that they should leave the place.

Gallius shows the present examiners, who are all ranked below him, since he is currently considered as Esdeath's right hand, that he is leaving. They all leave the training ground and walk as a larger group on the stone path.

"I understand. Since her return, her behavior is really merciless, even towards us she behaves much more brutal than before." he tells them, while he walks centrally in the group and is surrounded by the Jaegers.

"We suspect that we have the solution to the problem, but we need your help." Wave says as he steps next to him, trying to keep up the pace of the others.

"We are on the same side, of course I help. What's the problem?" Gallius asks in his grey uniform, which makes his rank and his superior clear.

"A person unknown to us, a boy to be precise, is the target of the general. We are supposed to find him and take him prisoner unharmed." whispers Run Gallius into his ear, who listens carefully.

Gallius lifts his head again and thinks for a while until they find a quiet and empty seat by the wayside. "Do you have any more information about this person?" Gallius asks further while sitting down at the wooden table. The Jaegers all join in at the same time.

"She said that he is dressed in dark clothes..." Seryu answers thoughtfully. Koro sits quietly on her lap and is caressed tenderly.

"Besides, he is probably good with fire." Run suddenly adds when the others silently continue to think about it.

"Where did you get this information, Run?" asks Wave, wondering if he overheard any of Esdeath's words.

Run smiles slightly in Wave's direction."She hadn't noticed until she arrived that the fire was from Bols, but no one in the empire can create such flames." he slowly explains to him, whereupon Wave nods as he understands.

"A male person with dark clothes and a special talent in dealing with fire..." sums up Gallius quietly, so that no one but them can hear it. However, they are already avoided by the few people passing by, because nobody wants to make a mistake against Esdeath. "Besides, he is very much in the interest of the General, so much that she lets herself be influenced." he says additionally.

The expectant looks of the Jaegers are all directed at him. "Do you know such a person, Gallius?" asks Bols hoping for an answer from him.

"Who can that be? He couldn´t be-..." Gallius thinks in the meantime, while he scratches his top of his head under the short, brown hair.

Suddenly he stands up in one quick movement and looks behind the puzzled Jaegers with his removed cap on his chest. "General, is there anything I can do for you?" says Gallius standing up straight and with a sincere voice.

This is enough for the Jaegers as a statement, so that they also stand up and show themselves loyal with a small bow. "Within a few weeks, we will be heading off to the west. Prepare everything for a trip lasting several days." says Esdeath as she stands in front of the table with her arms crossed. "But what are you all doing here together?" she asks with a slightly warmer mood than last time.

Everyone in the small group looks at the others helplessly, making Esdeath recognizably skeptical. "We have spoken about you, General. We are interested in why you have changed so much lately." Wave suddenly says. His friends consider whether his statement can be classified as courage or stupidity.

"We think it is because of the unknown person we are looking for. That's why we wanted to question Gallius, but he seems to have no information either." Run continues honestly. He shows Wave that he supports him and the others do the same by nodding.

Esdeath grabs her cap with two fingers and gently adjusts it. "His name is Zero. He is one or two years younger than me." she finally says seriously.

For Gallius, her words cause a surprised reaction, which can be seen on his face. " Could it be Zero, who was here about a year ago?" he asks curiously, but also with a shock from his voice.

Esdeath nods as a short answer. "He reappeared alive, but I lost him. To make it clear, he is my lover and he belongs to me." she then says seriously. Her open, blue eyes show her seriousness. "Now get ready. Jaegers, you stay here in the palace during my mission." Esdeath determines with her authority before she turns around and takes the shortest way into the palace.

Inside the beautifully decorated corridors of the palace, with a long red carpet on the floor, she walks with an eerie aura, avoiding everyone passing by, towards her private chambers. "This feeling is even worse since I met him again. Is this the feeling of love?" asks the calm Esdeath in her mind, due to her inexperience with love. "I will find you and then you can never leave me again, even if you want to." she determines in her mind as she pulls her cap a little over her eyes.

"Have you finally woken up?" Leone asks impatiently. She is currently leaning against a bare, gray brick wall with a seriously cold look in his direction.

In response, she gets a sinister and scary grin from Zero, who is behind the bars. He nods briefly, causing her to walk down a dimly lit corridor until she disappears from his field of vision behind a corner.

Zero looks around in his small cell and hears the clattering chains attached to his hands, arms and legs. This allows him to move only minimally to either side. "Another dark prison..." he states silently. However, he notices that he seems to have all his belongings with him except his sword.

With dull steps Najenda appears and slowly behind her all the others too. They all have a serious expression on their faces and their posture seems neutral as they come closer and closer.

"Are you ready to tell us some things?" Najenda asks with crossed arms as everyone arrives at the cell bars after a few seconds. She stands closest to him and behind her the Night Raid members have formed a semicircle and watch Zero silently.

Forced to stand still by the chains on his arms, he looks towards her at eye level. "I think you should tell her everything first." he answers, continuing with his sinister expression.

Najenda smiles as a mute answer. "What do you mean by that, Zero?" Akame asks neutrally and comes one step closer to his cell.

His blood-red eyes cross Akame's serious look. "She has more information than she has revealed. Or am I wrong?" he says. Any movement at this moment is heard through the rattling of the chains.

"No, that is true." Najenda answers confidently. Her gaze does not leave the new prisoner once.

Her allies, who stand quietly behind her, look at each other with a certain confusion. "Why didn't you tell everything you knew?" asks Mine, breaking the momentary silence that had formed.

"As a test of loyalty. Are you so loyal that you would attack a mate in spite of less evidence?" claims Zero. He had a long time to think in his cell and came up with this idea during that time.

"Your escape was proof enough. Besides, there is more proof that you are not working against Esdeath." answers Najenda to him before someone interferes.

"You lied to us for so many months..." Tatsumi says. He is the first one to show some emotion in the form of disappointment. His posture reflects his sad state.

"When did I lie to you?" Zero asks in a confident voice. The empty look of Zero crosses Tatsumi's depressed look.

Lubbock comes stomping quickly against the bars with a visible rage and grabs a steel bar with both hands. "When?! We kept insulting Esdeath and her dogs and made fun of them." he shouts. Zero's stubbornness has finally upset him.

"I never considered the Jaegers a serious threat, but when did I ever say anything bad about Esdeath?" Zero answers with short laughs in between. His face now varies between his sinister grin and a serious, empty expression.

"You-..." Lubbock wants to say while the others behind him think. "You have-..." Suddenly Najenda steps forward and puts her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. After a look over the same shoulder he breaks his sentence and goes back again with strong steps.

"This is one of the further proofs. He never actually said a bad word about Esdeath." says the calm leader of Night Raid, looking at her allies. "Besides, he has kept something from his past hidden from us, or not?" she asks and turns back to Zero with a determined look.

"His past?" Tatsumi asks, confused. He is barely aware of Zero's past, since he is the newest member of Night Raid after Chelsea and Susanoo.

"He is from the southern villages that were attacked and destroyed some time ago." Leone tells the three who don't know the story yet, in a neutral tone. She leans against the dark and slightly scarred wall just like before.

"We can prove that. But he didn't tell us what he did when he left the villages." Najenda adds. Her cold gaze staring at Zero would force anyone else to give up, but Zero is used to worse.

"What did he do?" Chelsea asks curiously. Her interest in the stories is clearly visible in her face. Zero also shows a certain curiosity because he doesn't know what else she has up her sleeve.

Najenda notices the interest from Zero. "Within the revolution, we have many former soldiers of the empire, including those with higher ranks and correspondingly more knowledge." she says before pausing to inspect the faces of everyone around her. All except Susanoo are visibly waiting for her to continue. "One of them was present during the attack on the southern villages and told about the well planned invasion. We know Esdeath and Arias both led the attack, but the entire plan is said to have been worked out by someone else who knew the area well." she says. A new cigarette is already in her mouth during the tellings.

Everyone suspects the same thing, but really doesn't want to accept it. "But not-..." Akame says slightly stuttering. Her disbelieving look is directed at Najenda's unreadable face.

Zero's curious face becomes an expression of insight this time, because he knows how it will continue. He keeps tapping with one finger against the chain attached to his wrist cuff above his head.

"The head behind it is Zero." reveals Najenda with a serious tone.

Author´s Note:

Nothing to tell from me this time. Next chapter is in work.

Hope you all enjoy reading my story.