Chapter 3: Kill the Tournament, Kill the Past
The following afternoon Tatsumi and Dorothea had their first date, dressed in noble attire Tatsumi wore a green and white hakama while Dorothea wore a bright blue and orange kimono; both outfits were made of fine silk; Dorothea also wore jewelry in the Imperial style along with her blue ribbon something she considered a staple of her wardrobe; the two had gone to secluded place for a picnic lunch that had been prepared for them by Akame whom despite her love of eating food had restrained herself after preparing the meal from eating it. Said meal was a mix of local foods but also some food items imported from Nova Atlantea and Amannar. The food was good, but so was the tea that Tatsumi prepared himself as during his time in Wakoku he had become quite an expert in the preparations of the local teas which most were herbal for the sake of the health of him and his family though a few were based on taste.
Dorothea swallowed a dumpling then took a drink of tea before looking at Tatsumi. "This is good food; your friend really knows how to cook" Dorothea complemented.
"Yeah; now me and my wives are good at making food but Akame back in the day with Night Raid she was in charge of the kitchen well except for the meat because if she was allowed to be in charge of that there would be none; she's an amazing cook but her appetite is about as ravenous as Earth Dragon's I swear I've no idea how she is able to eat so much and still maintain that figure" Tatsumi replied.
"Perhaps she has a high metabolism?" Dorothea suggested to Tatsumi's confusion "Never mind; so how has your life been since you moved to Wakoku?" Dorothea asked.
"Great; I'm just amazed that King Sotetsu was so willing to take me in and on top of that make me a noble and a general; I mean if I knew Soukai was like this I'd have moved here years ago; other than that, my family has been doing amazing, all my wives are in great health and have given me a good amount of children with Spear having the most of them, she's pregnant again right now and I wonder how many kids will come out this time?" Tatsumi replied.
"You are a good father; I know that; my apologies I've had spies watching you ever since I found out you were living on the island; consider it a precaution and really I'm just gathering information just in case an intervention is needed to save the island from an external threat" Dorothea explained.
"Hey, I'm not surprised, if I was in your position and former Night Raid were on the island I'd have done the same thing; so why did you choose Soukai as a hiding place?" Tatsumi asked.
"Well I've been here before and of the locations its far enough from the Empire but closest of Wakoku's Islands to the mainland, personally I just like the scenery and the fact that the locals are friendly to outsiders which can't be said of some of the other kingdoms in Wakoku with the exception of Tenrou but they are way too militant for my tastes, as it stands Soukai is the ideal place to lay low and plan a comeback" Dorothea answered, she smiled and handed him a dumpling with a chopstick he ate it and swallowed. "Good to see you're eating again, the last time I met you in person you hadn't eaten in days and that was in spite of the fact that you give food" Dorothea replied.
"I was worried it would be poisoned" Tatsumi replied, Dorothea chuckled.
"Esdeath provided your food, it was definitely not poisoned" Dorothea countered, Tatsumi smiled at that.
"So, I want to know what was going thru your mind at the time I thought you and Suzuka were going to rape me, you even said that when it came to the prisoners that the women got to have fun with the men" Tatsumi asked.
"That? For starters I was merely stating the facts of the matter to Suzuka we both were of the opinion that someone should keep you safe from women of dark tastes; Esdeath put us in charge of your security, then both of you took what happened out of context. For starters Suzuka and I were merely admitting out feelings, I actually was quite concerned that you weren't eating and had actually brought some chocolate bars for you; we were merely trying to comfort you and I would have given you the food, we were trying to earn your trust and seduce you, also I actually had a plan to give you an out and that being the three of us could have left the Empire and the war behind but before Suzuka and I could do anything further Esdeath came out of nowhere and slammed Suzuka into a wall, she fortunately survived but she did have her nose broken and fortunately didn't lose any teeth; I made a tactical retreat she was completely unapproachable afterwards and I had my hands full with Suzuka's injuries" Dorothea explained, she frowned and shed a lone tear as if the memory pained her, she then reached in her pocket and pulled out about three chocolate bars. "Xenon's Chocolate with nuts from Nova Atlantea, I bought these earlier to make amends it's not the same as the chocolate bars I had for you but it's a reasonable substitute" Dorothea explained and then handed the candy to Tatsumi, he opened the bar found that it was in good shape for having been in Dorothea's pocket and took a bite.
"You're right its delicious; he I'm sorry about that whole thing; you did here me say stop it though?" Tatsumi asked.
"That I did as did Suzuka and we were about to when Esdeath came into your cell out of nowhere, for as much as she stands out that woman could be rather stealthy when she wanted to" Dorothea answered then chuckled. "You know your face was so cute when you were in terror it's no wonder Esdeath was obsessed with you and no surprise that you've got yourself a nice harem of wives; Suzuka should come with me to see you next time, she still fantasizes about you and keeps a copy of your picture in her room as poster" Dorothea added.
"How is Suzuka anyway?" Tatsumi asked.
"She is doing quite fine actually; though I've never understood her masochism, I've had a project involving that, but psychoanalysis was never my strong suit and I barely got a doctorate in it" Dorothea replied. "As far as her feelings for you, they haven't changed much she is however way more restrained then Esdeath was: she is still mourning her fallen comrades however: especially Mez; you know Mez was her sister you know?" Dorothea replied.
"Her sister? I didn't know that; damn that had had to hurt emotionally" Tatsumi replied.
"Oh you've got no idea; she was in hysterics about it especially when her other two friends Ibara and Sten had died too; you know I only brought her into the Wild Hunt out of pity and even with the go ahead to do whatever she wanted she essentially was like me; no participation in the wanton rape and debauchery; I have to note though when you came into the picture she was- quite drawn to you actually and convinced Mez would have done the same; I actually cloned Mez as my first successful experiment and the two are just like family again; you know the cloning has been an interesting experience over all for some reason certain clones have more distinct personalities especially the ones I based on the Jaeger and Wild Hunt blood samples; though really in the latter case it was only Cosmina that I considered worth my time as that poor girl never deserved the fate life dealt her; to have your family wiped out, home burned and driven to insanity then be brainwashed by Syura with into thinking morally repulsive things were good to do; her clone is the best behaved of them; I'll note that the cloning process itself is very tricky I won't bore you with the details but what I need for it is a DNA sample of the template either blood, bone, organs or whatever and a philosopher's stone which is something that takes time to make but is relatively easy to produce, I may note that my experiments on the original Cosmina were informative in the process and no I've haven't bothered with Danger Beast fusions, not enough material and not how shall I put it likeable enough its more easy for humans to like other humans or machines but Danger Beasts survival instincts like fear and rage kick in, also that experiment was a one off anyway and even then I think it was a mistake I should have opted for a simple rejuvenation treatment but Syura insisted on making her strong and hardier then before and as I didn't want to rock the boat given how unpredictable he and more importantly his father could be I followed thru and did what I did, was it what I wanted to do no; if I had my way Cosmina would have remained fully human though I think I may have actually restored her sanity which at that point she'd have realized that everything she did was wrong and would insist on a quest for redemption; anyway I don't begrudge you for putting her down, she had a horrible life and you did her a mercy by ending it I'm just hoping that the afterlife won't be bad for her it would be shame to have her suffer for things that she wouldn't have done if she was in her right mind" Dorothea replied, at mention of Cosmina tears came to her eyes.
"Hey; I know, and you are right I was doing her a mercy; I just wish that she'd never have joined the hunt if she had come to my village or if this was another life I'd have taken pity on her and cared for her" Tatsumi replied, Dorothea kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.
"You are such a caring soul you know that do you regret killing her though?" Dorothea asked.
"No, not when as you said it was mercy; as it was she was too far gone; all that was good about her was lost long ago, she was a shell of a woman, as far as I know things could have gone better but yeah this cruel world we live in was too much for her" Tatsumi replied.
"I see; how many people do you regret killing though?" Dorothea asked.
"Pretty much mainly the ordinary people that just happened to be in the wrong place or working for evil people, also I do regret Bols getting killed by Chelsea and she regrets; I really feel pity for his widow and daughter though; you know I actually ran into them about a year ago along with some other refugees from Boreth's tyranny during a diplomatic mission to Nova Atlantea, I think I'll pay them a visit, but wait you said you had the Jaeger's blood and- cloned them who did you clone specifically?" Tatsumi asked.
"The ones that had stable blood samples that I was able to work with were Seryu Ubiquitous, Dr. Stylish which wasn't surprising as he had taken these samples from the get go for his own reasons I suspect he was planning on delving into cloning, his team, along with Run, Esdeath's blood was stable but I had no need to clone her nor desire to, Bols and Wave's samples however had been contaminated, the clones I did make ended up being malformed and died within a month of completion, however I had more success elsewhere, unsurprisingly the entire Wild Hunt's blood hadn't been contaminated as I took those samples but as I said only Cosmina was worthy my time unless I wanted to clone myself which as much as it would be a nice to have multiple versions of myself doing various things the problem is that one of them might think they are the original and try and kill me, also the Rakshasas were safe to use and all three of them had stable clones" Dorothea answered.
"What do you mean you had no need to clone Esdeath I mean I can understand why you wouldn't I mean I'd have done the same" Tatsumi questioned.
"That's something for me to show you at some point but not at the moment after the Tournament, suffice to say with Esdeath though I have her body preserved by Demon Extract and thus no need for the blood sample if I wanted to clone her but as I said before no desire to do so I'm not in the mood to be thrown at concrete walls like Suzuka was" Dorothea explained. "Suffice to say you won't have to worry about her trying to kidnap you anymore" Dorothea added, Tatsumi laughed.
"Why though did you take her body in the first place?" Tatsumi asked.
"Because of the Demon's Extract of course; I've been collecting Teigus wherever I can get them to keep them out of the hands of Falkland's mad men; can you imagine one of Boreth's dogs with the Demon's extract? That would be terrifying" Dorothea explained.
"I see, so you said you've been collecting Teigu's how many do you have?" Tatsumi asked.
"200, 40 in active use, I've also accounted for the ones under the control of you and your family, I'm building an army for the obvious overthrow of Boreth's regime and liberation of the Imperial people from tyranny but that's taken time and between clones made from other templates as I've no desire to create more than one of the other samples I've used and the C-B3s which are- you'll have to see; point being when you visit me I'll show you everything but for now we've talked enough about pressing things lets enjoy our date and get to know each other better" Dorothea answered.
After that, the rest of the day was spent between the two spending time. The next day Dorothea left along with Mez and the two Princesses, Tatsumi then continued to spend time with his family.
Time passed and during the month not much of major note happened beyond a couple of major events, Tatsumi and Akame married he also married Kurome soon after, the former was long delayed and needed to happen, the latter was Kurome's desire to move on from the pain of Wave's death and to share in her sister's happiness. As for Dorothea she continued her work with redoubled efforts and visited on occasion with Suzuka at first but also brought the seventeen year old Makoto whom was completely somber most of the time; Dorothea however had been playing match maker with girls in his age group and he had begun a relationship with two island girls Karin and Shiraishi whom he enjoyed dating; Tatsumi actually liked the former Emperor and he- felt like a little brother much like Lin and Koko felt like his sisters, Dorothea had actually done her best to be a mother and when focused on her work Suzuka stepped up to the plate.
As the month passed Tatsumi found things becoming more concerning; pirates were becoming more brazen of late and despite the best efforts of the Queen of Wako to reign them in a number of mutinous captains had torn the Wako banner and started their own armada of cruel corsairs whom were just causing problems for other kingdoms though they kept good ties with Tenrou to no surprise as they needed someone to sell their spoils to and because they needed safe harbor to repair; Zuou likewise didn't care that they were preying on his potential enemies it actually was to his benefit to provide for these corsairs; no matter the case Tatsumi was not happy having to deal with the corsairs; they were elusive to catch and naval battles weren't his strong suit but he could make do and win he won many of the corsairs fed the sharks in the aftermath. As it stood however time not spent working was either spent training, with Dorothea or with his family. Dorothea was good on her word with her inventions and the benefits were made apparent with agriculture and medicine which made lightspeed jumps from where they had been, as did other fields to an extent but as it stood however the people of Soukai took time to have her inventions be more widespread; also during this time she and Tatsumi continued dating and- well Tatsumi was actually growing to love her as much as she did him, Suzuka also joined in on these dates and it was easier to get to love her as Suzuka was more laid back about the whole thing; she did admit one thing readily that she wished that she had known trying to get to know him and comforting him would result in Esdeath nearly killing her; that experience however didn't break her feelings she actually did however enjoy that pain. Suzuka's masochism was a bit alarming for Tatsumi as it worried him what she would do if by some prolonged relationship he got her pregnant and how she'd handle being so; would she endanger her unborn child or would maternal instincts trump masochistic pleasure.
All that aside as the days before the tournament grew less Tatsumi was more driven then ever; and even more so when as per the rules of the tournament that allowed anyone from the isles to compete King Zuou himself threw his hat in the ring and was allowed to participate much to Rinzu's objection her father's distrust but it was matter of honor that Sotetsu had said whomever won would get Rinzu's hand and Zuou had his opportunity which meant Tatsumi had to push himself further though he again had to restrain the Tyrant from Incursio to avoid a true bloodbath. By the day of the tournament Tatsumi was ready and had been assigned his own quarters for the occasion; the other contestants numbered hundreds of nobles from across the isles all eager to try their hands Tatsumi however was concerned only though by those from Tenrou, he'd not have any issues with people from Soukai earning Rinzu's hand but Tatsumi wanted that himself to keep her safe from all the other people.
Speaking of Tenrou as Tatsumi finished getting ready to participate a Wolf-sounding horn was sounded as Zuou had arrived and not alone he was in company of his Eleven Stars, and to his surprise one of them noticed him amid the other fighters and came running towards him- with a rapier drawn! Tatsumi quickly drew his blade and parried the oncoming attack, the attacker clad in black armor that was a mix of Imperial and Tenrou style smithing techniques wore a mask but was clearly female, and- a pair of deep angry blue eyes glared at him as they exchanged blade strike after blade strike as the crowd watched in shock. "WHAT the HELL?! Who are you I've never met you before and you're immediately trying to kill me!" Tatsumi shouted she didn't say anything just kept trying to kill him, then countered aggressively a rapier slash cut at his armor tearing thru the first layer of defense it offered and Tatsumi swung not trying to kill but knock out as killing was not an option given the location even if his life was in mortal peril. During these fevered blade exchanges Tatsumi noted a fight opening in his opponents guard and disarmed her throwing his blade aside and tackling her to ground, she continued to resist though she again refused to speak. "Who ARE YOU!" Tatsumi replied then managed to momentarily stun her and in the confusion pull her helmet off she knocked him off and drew a kukri. "It's you! I killed you! YOU BITCH!" Tatsumi yelled, looking at a face he hoped never to see again; a beautiful face normally but contorted with utter fury and loathing, demonic at the moment.
"The name is Aria! Aria! Aria Grundel! You countryside hick! You backstabbing traitor!" Aria yelled back at him then pounced with her blade Tatsumi dodged and avoiding fevered thrusts. "Because of you my life was ruined! My parents are dead and not just that you married the bitches responsible for their deaths! You betrayed me and left me for dead! I had no intention of harming you I wanted to keep you for myself! But no, you just had believe that Night Raid slut! I want you and I want to break you for what you did!" Aria ranted and tackled him again driving her blade towards his hip pinning him in place, Tatsumi kicked her bloodying her nose and she drew another blade but soon four people broke up the fight all generals of Zuou whom looked at both Tatsumi and Aria with a face that said he was extremely disappointed.
"Save this violence for the tournament both of you; I'd expected for my eleventh star to show restraint" Zuou boomed, she was restrained by two of her comrades Yomihime and Muzachi while Tatsumi noted he was being restrained by Amateru and Moegi.
"I had no idea that hick would be here! He's the reason my family are dead! Him and his friends; Night Raid, assassins, and murderers I hate them! And him I thought I could trust but apparently not you Tatsumi are the worst of them; you turned on me when you were supposed to keep me safe regardless of the danger! You signed a contract!" Aria replied.
"That was before I knew that you tortured Sayo to death!" Tatsumi replied.
"Oh, you're still upset about her; why am I not surprised in fact why should I be, you know why I killed her you know why! She and her brother tried to rob me! I was minding my own business in the countryside when they tried to steal food from me; my guards caught them, and we took them home; you know the rest how dare she try to rob me and more importantly how dare she have better hair then me too! But you know what I see that that was a stupid thing of me; a bratty bitchy stupid mistake made someone who was still a little girl at heart; well, I've grown up, but I still have not forgotten what you Tatsumi-kun did to me or what those Night Raid monsters did to my parents, they may have been evil to your eyes but to me they were my loving parents! LET ME GO YOU TWO AND LET ME TAKE WHAT IS MINE YOU ARE MINE TATSUMI!" Aria raged and ranted, screaming for everyone.
"Sayo and Ieyasu weren't thieves they were just people you hated because they were different from you!" Tatsumi yelled back.
"No, they were! I caught that pig of boy eating my filed fish after my guards and I had finished tending to the horses: whom I'm beating Night Raid killed too, just like my parents, my guards, my servants, everyone I've ever known is DEAD D-E-A-D DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU AND THEM! LET ME GO! And that GIRL that Sayo you called her she punched me when I told her to hand him over so I could cut his hand off for stealing! I HATE THEM!" Aria yelled back struggling to escape the tight grip her comrades had on her, Tatsumi was attempting to do the same if only to smack her upside the head to shut up.
"They were likely starving! And so, what since when is torturing and viciously murdering them acceptable as a punishment for stealing anyway!? Also, you honestly deserved being hit in the face you bitch! You know if these two would let me go I'd do that myself!" Tatsumi retorted angrily then spat in her direction.
"ENOUGH!" Zuou shouted and smacked both of them. "Whatever bad blood you have has no place here; this is not a battlefield this is an honored tournament: Yomihime you and Muzachi take Aria back to the ship and put her under guard I'll discuss my disappointment with her later as for you General Tatsumi of Soukai well we'll settle any problems you have with her or me in the tournament if you want to take out your anger, take it out in the ring not here!" Zuou barked Aria was dragged off, and while the two Stars maintained a tight grip on him it was rather gentle. After Aria was away both of them let go of Tatsumi who looked at Zuou with disgust.
"Why the hell is that bitch working for you?" Tatsumi asked, he slap from the two women.
"Don't use such words in the presence of his majesty" Moegi responded.
"At ease you two; as for why she is working for me or rather serves me as my vassal it can be boiled down to the fact that she came to my kingdom with a vast amount of wealth and a shipment of weapons with the means to make more: I didn't ask about her past it was not my place to judge and even having heard of it it's not my concern! What is my concern is that she is fixated on you; why that is beyond me, and I don't care what I do care about is that you are a distraction to her now that's all I have to say next we meet it will be in the ring if we're the last ones standing until then farewell and best hope we never meet on the battlefield Tatsumi" Zuou replied then went inside. That experience left Tatsumi angry and when he was angry the Tyrant tried breaking loose Tatsumi stopped being angry and considered Aria's words about Sayo and Ieyasu being thieves, would his friends have stolen; only if they had no other option, would Sayo have punched her? Yes to that one, but was Aria justified in dragging them to her shed of horrors? Not remotely she should have turned them over to the authorities. "But then they'd have had Seryu to deal with" Tatsumi thought and considering that meant being eaten by Kuro it was better that way; what was he thinking better would have been if Ieyasu and Sayo had never run into Aria at all or if Aria had never been evil to begin with. "Where did that come from?" Tatsumi asked himself at the last thought; then- well he found himself thinking what would have happened if she hadn't been evil; something clicked in him and- he saw in his mind's eye something, Aria but not as she was currently no this Aria was- different entirely; kind caring, and gentle wouldn't hurt a kind soul and was the type to help those need because she loved to do so.
Tatsumi felt himself go into a trance like state and visions occurred like memories of another life, visions of Aria in Night Raid, Aria and Sayo together as friends with another girl as they were shopping and him carrying things for them out of kindness, Aria marrying him along with Spear, Aria pregnant with his child, Aria fighting in battle against nameless horrors no demons alongside him, himself doing battle with a great demon, himself near death and Aria trying her best to save his life, images of- Aria as an Empress and him as Emperor with her to his right hand and holding their son as he held their daughter a blonde sweet girl with his eyes and- the visions faded. "That- what was that?" Tatsumi asked. To his surprise a voice answered. "Part of who you really are" a woman's voice and to his surprise he turned and saw a dark-skinned blue eyed white haired woman clad in resplendent clothes and- with a long white feathery tail.
"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked.
"Someone who loves you, loves you more than anything even if you don't remember me allow me to enlighten you" she replied and kissed him, with that kiss hundreds of memories came back to him, memories of a past life- he was Tatsumi right, yes he was but the memories were also of Tatsumi but a different Tatsumi a noble just and kind soul an Emperor, a Golden Dragon Emperor and the rightful Emperor, and after this barrage came memories of the woman who had just kissed her; she had been reborn too like he was but she was reborn a phoenix her father and mother both phoenixes reborn, her brothers and sisters phoenixes and her name.
"Lillianna!" Tatsumi shouted, she smiled.
"Remember me now, my dear, kind, loving, sweet and beloved Tatsumi; Tatsumi Gildenstrom that's your real name in this life and the life before and always will be your name; Asha has weaved your soul and she has sent me to aid you: I begged and she allowed me; I've been watching you since you came into this world; a world like our own home that you made safe, but its broken, something went wrong and something happened; Asha noticed it and saw the fate it was doomed to you saw it too and you and the others choose to come here anew; replacing the fallen souls of those who were slain; while me and a select few stayed back held as an elite to help you when needed; after what just happened with Aria I couldn't let you linger in confusion anymore; I've restored some of your memories of our first lives more will come in time; and I'll be here at your side and for you" Lilianna explained.
"Lilianna: I- what happened to this world; it's like Eden but it's all wrong; everything is wrong, it shouldn't be like this not at all; we won that war, not Boreth, not Honest, we won" Tatsumi replied.
"Not Honest, not never Honest and he was never Honest either; the monster we fought another name is his you know it" Lillianna explained.
"Volgoth" Tatsumi said, growling the name as memories came back. "He's behind all this isn't he?" Tatsumi asked.
"No, you and I both know he is but a servant of another master one whom is behind all the suffering" Lillianna replied.
"Valtor; but how and why? Why did I come here to this nightmare when I had paradise?" Tatsumi asked.
"To become stronger, to endure harder trials then before and most importantly to save the souls of this world from Valtor's plan whatever that may be and above because you choose to come here to save this world" Lilianna explained, he kissed her.
"I need you Lilianna, I- need your love; I- need Aria and Esdeath; what did this version of me do what happened to this world and how do I know what is true and what isn't" Tatsumi asked.
"I'm here for you, I'll tell you as much as I'm allowed to for the sake of time, know that forces both good and evil are gathering; Valtor wants something and we have to stop him, but do not worry for now we have time to be with each other; the others will in time remember who they are and I've given you the power to remind them but you must keep up the mask of this body, this liar mask Valtor must not suspect a thing for this plan to work we need to draw him out and figured out what he wants; in this battle deception is key and for the sake of all this worlds soul it one we must fight for in the war between Order and chaos, between good and evil, between Phoenixes and Demons stalemate is victory" Lilianna reassured she then raised her hand light glew from it and time slowed around them. "Tild-Klo-Ul" Lilianna spoked and reality slowed to a crawl time moved terribly slow, terribly slow.
"What did you do?" Tatsumi asked.
"I've slowed the flow of time around us; the spell will last for an hour my apologies I'd love to make it longer but I'm still learning the spells from Eternity King Erasiel, speaking of he'll show up at some point; about after you've gotten things under control here in the islands" Lilianna explained. "Now let us make love; you've not had a body in some time, and I've had this new one for 25 years; lets relive old memories; also, the tail is new I hope you like it" Lilianna concluded she then whispered some words and they found themselves without clothing.
"How- "Tatsumi asked, she kissed him he looked at her naked body, ample f-cups in full view, her thick deep caramel skin, and her long white tail like that of a white peacock but with the grace of flame.
"Magic. Let me take care of you; I'll be your guardian angel out of sight with spells that hide me from the sight of evil but also from you, but I'll be there your guardian angel like you were for me on the night we first met" Lilianna replied then looked at his body. "I don't much like those scars; they're not the same ones I remember let me give you a clean new start" Lilianna said and before Tatsumi could say anything she spoke another spell and his body was without blemish. "There it is just like with our first time" Lilianna commented she then before he could ask further knelt and began giving him head her lips warmed him in a way he hadn't felt in a long time granted he'd experienced sex many times in this body and world and all with women that loved him at that but Lilianna's touch brought back even more memories pleasant ones and in his mind's eye the faces of every woman he ever loved either romantically o as family; his length soon was warmed by her breasts as she tended to him exactly how she remembered doing, after time and more memories revealed themselves Lilianna rocked his limit but he didn't remember doing so she then had him ease down and she took him inside her, taking her maidenhood a second time; she straddled and kissed him affectionately with her on top and kindly loving him as she bounded slowly with joy; he was soon nearing his limit again. "Tatsumi I've been without you for so long, give me more children my dear" Lillianna begged, Tatsumi smiled and obliged filling her womb, she then led him thru many positions from varies memories and as the spell began to fade they concluded Lilianna then cast another spell on him a stamina one and another to clean and redress her and him.
"That- was really correct?" Tatsumi asked.
"Real as you are Tatsumi, you may not be in the same body and neither am I but all that we just did proved that you are still the man I love and care for" Lilianna replied.
"How long has it been since- you know?" Tatsumi asked.
"Since you died, in the Magic dimension 23 years, on the true Eden 200 years have passed the Golden Dragon Empire you founded thrives an interstellar star Empire ruled by our Grand-daughter's great grandson Emperor Honest I Gildenstrom the Jolly Dragon as he is called, its safe from evil and Valtor has abandoned all designs on it, his ambitions curtailed by the ongoing War of the Ancestresses, his plans however are completely unpredictable and what he has sight on here is unknown; however Tatsumi there is darkness inside you; the Tatsumi you've replaced has been consumed by the Tyrant Incursio; this monster is inside this body and it wants blood worser still that it has all the pent up hatred for everything the true you loves; I wants Dorothea dead, it wants Aria dead, it wants me dead for showing you the truth- it's an evil you'll have to deal with but its power is needed at this time; when it is no longer needed when you have the blades of the Dragon and have their mastery you will have the strength needed to break and destroy the Tyrant for good all its power absorbed by you and the evil being that it is will be expunged" Lilianna explained.
"So now what?" Tatsumi asked.
"Win the Tournament, earn Rinzu's hand, protect her from this world's Zuou like you did ours; defeat the Wolf King of Tenrou from there you'll be free to become Golden Dragon Emperor once more" Lilianna explained. "I need to leave I'll be watching you; but wait before I go I want to give you this" Lilianna explained and summoned a golden bracelet festooned with peridots and emeralds and along with it box. "Bring these home with you, show them only to those you trust most to keep a secret, restore the memories of those you love; only a single touch will bring them forth just as I was able to do the same for you; the process is slow and takes time, but it will be worth it" Lilianna explained.
"What about the rest of Night Raid; Bulat, Lubbock, Bols, Wave, and Sayo and Ieyasu everyone else that is dead in this world but survived in ours?" Tatsumi asked.
"They will come when you need them most, with the exception of Lubbock he and the soul of Yami wait for their rebirth in the magic dimension Asha asked them to come but Yami didn't want to and Lubbock didn't want to leave Yami and so they wait still for the time of rebirth; so many souls that saw war want to be born and live in a time of peace those two are like that and they wait till the magic dimension has peace that will come in time but not for three more centuries in the time of that world; a blink in the life of a Phoenix and in the in-between of life and death; you however are just a brave and selfless soul always rushing into danger without worry for your own safety out of a desire to do good; bless you my love; and I'll be there but for now you must wait; also Naomi and this world's Yami are alive and well in Nova Atlantea they are yours to love and protect" Lilianna explained she then kissed again and disappeared.
Time returned to normal and Tatsumi noted that a herald walk into his tent soon after he took a look at Tatsumi and at the bracelet and box that he had. "The tournament is going to start soon; I'm guessing a fan gave you gifts?" the herald asked.
"Yes; you just missed her" Tatsumi replied.
"I can tell you still have lipstick on your forehead" the man replied leading to Tatsumi look in a nearby mirror, the man laughed. "Get ready you'll be up first" he chimed and Tatsumi shooed him out, and got ready, changing into his armor. "Tatsumi Gildenstrom" he thought and put on the Bracelet, a memory came back of him getting it 200 years ago, he smiled at his mother as he, Sayo and Ieyasu waved goodbye and then memories of Sayo came back, as he finished dressing. "The Golden Dragon Emperor will keep his Song Empress safe from the Wolf King again" Tatsumi said to himself then left heading to the grounds.
Hours of grueling fights passed, Tatsumi fighting his way as he remembered old fighting techniques bringing them back into reality, each fight ended with a disarmed and yielding opponent beaten using a different technique, the rounds went on and Tatsumi eliminated every single opponent against him as the crowd watched with awe at his skills; with each contest ending quicker and quicker as more of Tatsumi's old techniques came flooding back into him, soon he was the only one left apart from one other.
Tatsumi looked across the arena at his final opponent of the competition, it was all the restraint he needed to avoid rushing in and shedding blood. Unsurprisingly the Wolf King of Tenrou and self-proclaimed Supreme Shogun of Wakoku, if he still went by that title in this timeline, Zuou had made his way to the final bout. "What a surprise; you made it to the final fight General Tatsumi, I wasn't expecting you to make it this far, but you have surprised me" Zuou greeted, he wore only his pants and a wolf-pelt on his shoulders, his chest was fully exposed, and his long black hair was let down.
"You'll find I'm full of surprises Wolf King" Tatsumi replied, Zuou smirked.
"That's a name I wasn't expecting; usually it's just King Zuou or Zuou or Supreme Shogun of Wakoku Zuou that I'm called but Wolf King well that's new one" Zuou replied, Tatsumi readied his bokken. "Is it too much to ask you to concede and let me have the Princess" Zuou asked coyly, Tatsumi frowned.
"Way too much, a Dragon doesn't let a wolf near his treasure or his mate and a Golden Dragon well Zuou a Golden Dragon takes ire with such remarks" Tatsumi replied.
"So, you're calling yourself a Dragon now? All I see is a man" Zuou replied.
"As I've said I'm full of surprises; now let's cross blades; I'm ready" Tatsumi replied, Zuou smirked drew his sword and attacked quickly Tatsumi anticipated this rash strike and parried it stabbing at his opponents thigh and nearly disarming him but Zuou continued an undaunted onslaught; Tatsumi stonewalled with a forest of parries blows like the that moved at a rapid pace and would have overpowered any other opponent; but not Tatsumi not the immoveable object and Tatsumi stonewalled until he had full measure of this Zuou's technique it was similar to that of the Wolf King of his own time line but it was way more offensively inclined and focused on a single blade also Tatsumi noted that this Zuou had sustained a recent injury in one of the previous fights, a twisted ankle as such when Tatsumi went on the offensive that was where he focused the attacks breaking Zuou's roots he then parried an enthusiastic attack and disarmed his opponent.
"I will not yield!" Zuou replied and lunged for Tatsumi the blades were dropped and two began wrestling, that was a major error in Zuou's part, even in his original timeline Tatsumi was a master at unarmed fighting techniques many of which he now recalled but now he had to deal with the added strength that came with having been merged with the tyrant; Tatsumi then decided to school Zuou in the art of the Imperial Fist something which even the original Zuou had never dealt with and this discount version was quickly and utterly punished by Rings 3 and 4 of the Fist using the katas of both to target Zuou's pressure points the result left Zuou limp as a wet noodle and in his legs and Tatsumi stood up and put his foot on his chest.
"Do you yield now?" Tatsumi asked, the king grunted out yes then Tatsumi picked him up and threw him across the ring to cheers from the crowd.
"We have our winner!" King Sotetsu boomed from his box and the audience cheered. "General Tatsumi Hatayama has won the tournament and is now the betrothed of Princess Rinzu; to all other participants a good try but there can only be one winner" the King declared to more cheers.
An hour later… Tatsumi was soon after a bath and change of clothes brought before the King and Princess, Dorothea was also there. "Princess, your majesty" Tatsumi greeted, and knelt with more confidence.
"Greetings and it appears my hopes were right you are going to be my son-in-law; Rinzu you know General Tatsumi?" King Sotetsu asked.
"Only in passing but yes I know him; I'm- surprised yet happy that he won, doubly so in that he defeated the Wolf of Tenrou to do it" Rinzu replied. "We'll be wed on the morrow; no sense in any undo delay the sooner the better everyone has been waiting on this for a while now and you made all the preparations with the tournament father" Rinzu added.
"True; tomorrow you shall wed" Sotetsu replied.
"Your majesty I'd like to speak with your daughter get to know her some more take a walk of the palace gardens if you don't mind" Tatsumi asked.
"I see no harm in it, you're wed her anyway best you two start getting to know each other are you ok with that Rinzu my dear?" King Sotetsu asked, she smiled..
"I'm ok with that; I'd like to get to know him better" Rinzu replied and stood up and took Tatsumi's offered hand; memories were restored both grinned at each other in that knowledge and went to the Palace gardens which were the same in both worlds and that was good for them. "Tatsumi-kun, my Golden Dragon Emperor, you remember?" Rinzu asked.
"Yes, parts of our life anyway; I'm glad to know that you're still the Rinzu I love" Tatsumi replied the two kissed, then talked at length.
Meanwhile… Aria steamed as Zuou returned to his ship angry though not with her but himself and- she knew that it had to have been Tatsumi it had to; his plan was foiled by Tatsumi, there was some beauty in that he ruined her life now why not ruin her new liege's life; hopefully his new mood didn't cause her to fall out of favor so what she did was think and then nap; as she slept she dreamt of a better world, a world where both her parents were alive and- to her surprise she found herself in a wedding dress. "You look wonderful in that dress my daughter; I'm so happy for you" Constantine said, her father's name was Constantine she could never forget that.
"This is such a great day perhaps the best day of my life" Aria found herself saying.
"Your wedding day always is Aria you and Tatsumi will be a great couple; love is love regardless of class; you know that" Angela replied, Aria noted her mother smiling.
"Yes; let the idiots look at me and him they are only jealous that I love Tatsumi and not their sons; I feel like I'm marrying an Emperor" Aria commented.
"Aria its time" a blonde girl who was Spear shouted and Aria left walking down the aisle with her bridesmaids holding her trailing cape and came to the alter Tatsumi waiting for her with- Ieyasu next to him. "Hi sis" Ieyasu greeted.
"Clam it Ieyasu; this Aria's big day and you're in front of the court don't act like idiot more than normal" Sayo commented, Aria noted she was smiling, and she turned to Tatsumi, the oaths were made, and they kissed and were lead away to make love then-.
Aria woke from the dream to reality! she removed her armor and lifted up her blouse looking in the mirror, the scar where the sword had barely missed her stomach was visible and- it felt completely out of place it but that was compared to a dream; an ideal world. "He put this there; yet I still love him; he nearly killed me but I still feel compelled to love him; I don't understand it; he's just a hick a country bumpkin and I'm a noble yet for whatever reason I feel drawn to him like a moth to fire; I don't understand it; not remotely" Aria thought to herself; yet the dream felt so real like a memory but there was no way that was possible she sighed and went back to sleep, the dreams she had were similar and she'd just went with the flow anything to keep her sanity intact.
Tatsumi soon met with Dorothea that evening and gave her a memory infusion; Dorothea was not remotely perturbed by the fact the revelations and took the box off his hand for safe keeping; both of them agreed it was best kept in a secret location and both knew that that with unavoidable war that plans had to be drafted, Dorothea however did stay for the wedding the following day; marrying under the spring suns in a glade of cherry blossom trees Tatsumi was glad to have Rinzu at his side; even if it pained him that neither Aria or Esdeath were there in the audience only a small part of his harem; all of whom had been made aware of their current circumstances; all were ready for whatever was coming; the fact that it in this timeline that Zuou was still alive made Tatsumi's blood boil, what made it boil more was that Falkland was alive, succeeded and had been behind the murder of goodness knows how many of his people; yet they lived on; in time he would reveal the truth; Lilianna visited him that night after their bedding, to the surprise of the other women with Tatsumi, Rinzu and her ladies in waiting now his concubines regardless Tatsumi was glad to see her even if it was only for a short time; she informed him of things she had seen that Zuou was planning war already and explained that due to the War that Mattered not happening in this timeline Zuou's expansion was slowed and he had to adapt, she explained that the Aria of this world walked a hard path of Asha's intervention and Aria had been the first soul to enter this world and her soul now slumbered in the body with the memories of a monster: pity for her was all Tatsumi felt now that and longing; he hoped to meet her again soon enough.
The following day Dorothea took him and Rinzu to her private castle, it was a long journey but by late afternoon they had arrived: the castle was in the Imperial style and required a hard mountain path travel by normal means but Dorothea had secret paths, the castle was shrouded by mist generators fueled by ice from higher up the mountain to keep it hidden from any wandering eyes, inside it was furnished with all the luxury Tatsumi expected of Dorothea on the surface; but a familiar face that had been awaiting her return or rather two familiar faces waited; Tatsumi took one look noting Suzuka which wasn't a surprise the surprise however was a face he had hoped to see. "Esdeath" Tatsumi breathed out.
"Hi" Esdeath greeted and waved like a happy girl.