The Remire Village Tragedy.
Days went by and it was almost time for the mission to begin. Akame and Byleth were walking together, they didn't have much time together since both were busy with their respective duties as a teacher and a student. So they took the chance to talk for a bit before they needed to head out. However as they were walking, Jeralt rushes over to them, his normally calm and focused face full with urgency. Seeing him like that was enough for his daughters to know that something must've happened. And since not much can shake their father, it must be something really bad.
"We've got to go. Now" He said urgently.
"What's going on?" Byleth asked.
"The situation in Remire Village has changed drastically. We don't know much more than that. We're hearing reports that the villagers are killing each other. Some say houses are burning. Regardless, we need to move" Jeralt explained quickly, making it clear they didn't have a second to waste.
With a nod from his daughters they hurried out. This would be the first time Akame was sent out like this without her classmates. She knew some of the Golden Deer, but not enough to have formed a strong bond like she did with the Black Eagles. She hoped this wouldn't effect the mission to much. She wish her classmates could've come with, but sadly the only reason Akame herself was allowed to go was because Rhea herself allowed it, and there was no time to talk to her and see if the rest of the Black Eagles could come along.
When they arrived in at Remire Village, the situation was far worse than they expected. The village was in total chaos. Buildings burning and the villagers were either running in panik... or they were chasing each other with weapons.
"Kill! Kill! Ahhhh!" One Rampaging villager shouts.
"Haha... Hahaha... Hrngyarhh!" A woman was laughing evilly.
"Help! Somebody, please help!" A child shouts.
"What's going on here..." Jeralt wondered in worry.
"This is unbelievable... There's no way to tell who's lost their mind from who's mad with fear..." Claude said, making no effort to hide his shock.
Hilda looked really worried "If we don't act quickly, things are just going to keep getting worse!".
"It's horrifying" Byleth said in both worry and anger.
"I really don't want to get involved here... but we can't leave these people on their own, right?" Hilda asked.
"You're right. We need to come up with something and quickly" Akame said.
"How about we hit them hard enough to knock them out, but not hard enough to kill them?" Raphael suggested.
Ignatz looked at him "That's too reckless! But... I'll admit, I can't think of a better option".
Marianne made a silent prayer "If some must die, just know it was by the will of the goddess...".
Akame did not like that and wanted to say something that could've been taken as a disrespect towards the goddess, but Leonie beat her to it "Stop that, Marianne! We have to save all of them. There's no way this madness is by the will of the goddess!".
"Nobles are responsible for the safety of commoners. By the honor of House Gloucester, I swear that I will save them all" Lorenz declared.
"For once, you and I agree on something, Lorenz" Leone said.
Lysithea notices someone amidst the chaos "Claude. There are some strange-looking people here".
"So you noticed too. Look. There's a suspicious group hiding amongst the villagers. Could they be the culprits? If so..." Claude trailed of.
"They will not be forgiven" Byleth declared.
"And they will not escape" Akame added.
Claude nodded "There you have it. Our objective is clear. Take down that suspicious group and rescue the villagers".
"There are some suspicious looking ruffians out there, but our top priority is to rescue the villagers! Got it? I'll rein in the villagers who've turned violent. You focus on rescuing the others" Jeralt ordered.
Everyone agreed to the plan and hurried to help as many as they could. Akame noticed a woman running from a man who was chasing her with a sword. The woman ended up falling to the ground and was screaming for help as the man was laughing maniacally, ready to ram his sword right through the woman's back. Akame quickly blocked the strike and kicked the man back.
"Go! Head for the exit!" Akame told the woman who quickly got back up and continued running.
Akame looked back at the man and now that she got a better look at him, se could see his eyes had turned completely white and his veins around his eyes where clearly visible. It was clear something was very wrong with him. Still Akame didn't want to kill him, so she made sure to only use her sword to block his attacks. Something that wasn't to hard, given he fought very sloppily. So Akame was able to easily block and dodge his attacks before punching him in the face and then delivered a swift kick to his gut and finished him of with a strike to the head with the handle of her sword.
"Such madness. Just what happened to these people? And who could've done this?" Akame wondered before continuing onward to help the rest of the villagers.
Meanwhile, Leone punched down a insane villager with her metal gauntlets. Normally she enjoyed a good battle, like a lion would enjoy a good hunt. But this was to much, even for her. Innocent people going insane and killing each other. She felt disgusted to her core that anyone would cause this. But she had no time to worry about that for now, she had people to save. She heard a scream and saw a little girl running from an insane woman who was trying to kill her with her bare hands. Leone quickly ran up and punched the woman in the face, knocking her out.
"You ok kid?" Leone asked the little girl.
"Sh-she killed my mommy. Why did she do that? They have been friends for years, so why did she do it?" The girl asked while shaking and crying.
Leone didn't have an answer, but then she noticed three soldiers approaching. But they were not soldiers from any region Leone knew of. And the look on their faces where enough to tell her that they were the enemies.
Leone's eyes changed before looking back at the girl "Listen kid. I will get you to safety, but I will need you to trust me. Can you do that?" The girl nodded and Leone picked her up before putting the girl's face in her breasts "Then close your eyes, and do not open them until I say so".
The girl did as told and Leone glares at the soldiers. She held the girl safely with one arm, keeping her other one free. The soldiers charged at her, but Leone remained deathly calm. One soldier got close and swung his sword in a overhead strike, only for Leone to simply dodge to the side and delivered a back handed fist to his jaw. The blow was to hard it dislocated his jaw and made him start chocking on his own blood. The second soldier thrusts a spear towards her head, but Leone simply grabs it, moves it aside and the kicked the soldier in the crotch. He didn't have much time to feel the agony of his genitals being crushed from the force of the kick, before Leone quickly followed up with a brutal punch to his head, and a sickening crack was heard as the blow all but shattered his skull.
Leone then turned her eyes to the last one. The enemy soldier took a step back when he saw her eyes, the eyes of an angry animal. He gulped but tried to remain focused and charged forward with his sword, but when she swung, Leone caught his arm with her hand. She pulled his arm a little before... opening her mouth and bit down hard on his arm. Blood flew in to the air as Leone's sharp teeth sunk in to the soldier's arm, making him scream in pain and dropped his sword. Leone let go of him, making him step back holding his now bleeding arm.
"You are an animal!" He shouted.
Leone said nothing as her enemy's blood dripped from her mouth. She then dashed forward, grabbed him by the face and then began slamming his head against the wall of a house. She kept it up until a large blood stain appeared on the wall and the soldier stopped moving. Leone dropped his dead body and moved on.
"Leone!" She looked up and saw Leonie run up to her "You ok? You're bleeding" She got no answer and Leonie grew nervous "Wait... that is not your blood".
"Get this girl to safety. We still have people to save. And trash to take out" Leone said as she handed the girl over to Leonie.
Leonie took the girl in to her arms but was now getting worried about her friend. Just what did she do to those enemy soldiers? Regardless they continued to subdue and save as many villagers as they could, and managed to push further in to the village.
Claude then noticed someone familiar "It can't be… The one giving orders to the weird ruffians… Isn't that Tomas? Tomas! What in the world are you doing here?".
"I'm not Tomas. My name is Solon, the savior of all!" Tomas said before he transforms in to a dark mage, revealing his true form and true name "What's the matter? So shocked you can't even speak? You were so easily fooled by my disguise… I was hiding away in Garreg Mach to get the blood of that little girl called Flayn. With her blood, we'll be one step closer to realizing our goal".
The shock didn't last long as The Death Knight suddenly arrived "I'll have a bit of fun here too…".
"Him again..." Akame said with narrowed eyes.
"That's the Death Knight! He must be an ally of Tomas...or Solon, or whoever he is" Jeralt said.
Akame was the closest so she headed over to the Death Knight who noticed her "Ah, there you are. Wielder of Murasame".
"I am ready for you this time, Jeritza" Akame said as she held up her sword.
"I told you that name means nothing to me! I am the Death Knight!" The Death Knight said in a angry tone.
"It doesn't matter now. All I need is one cut" Akame said.
"Don't be so sure I will give you the opening you need" Death Knight said as he made his horse galloping towards Akame, who had to dodge to the side and block a strike from Death Knight's scythe.
Death Knight made his horse do a sharp turn and ran towards Akame again. She jumped up on a boulder and then jumped of it, with her sword held high for an overhead strike. Death Knight raised his scythe to block the strike and used it to throw Akame of him. Akame rolled on the ground once before getting back up. Fighting the Death Knight while he was on his horse was tricky, but she just needed one good hit. She might have to kill the horse first, a shame, it's a fine steed. Akame got ready to attack again but then she felt pain shoot through her body.
"No... not now!" Akame said in slight panik.
"I see. You still haven't mastered Murasame yet. You are fighting against it's influence, preventing yourself from reaching your full potential. If you are to have any hope of besting me, you need to give your life and soul to the blade" Death Knight said as he made his horse move forward "A shame, I really hoped you would be a worthy opponent. Such a waste".
Before Death Knight could kill Akame, Jeralt charged in with his own horse and thrusts his lance forward. The Death Knight tried to dodge but wasn't fast enough, as the lance barely struck one of the eye parts of his helmet. He cried out loudly in pain as his horse stumbled back. Jeralt quickly put himself between Akame and the Death Knight, never taking his eyes of the deadly foe.
"You're not killing my kid, Death Knight" Jeralt declared.
Death Knight was shaking a little before removing his hand from his eye... showing a lot of blood on his hand, and some was running out of the hole in his helmet "My blade craves their flesh... The weak will eventually die...".
The Death Knight vanished and Jeralt looked back at Akame "You ok kid?".
"I think so... thank you" Akame said.
"Good. Your sister is fighting Solon, with any luck she will have things wrapped up by the time we arrive. Hop on" Jeralt instructed. Akame nodded and jumped on the horse behind her father and the headed back to the others.
As they arrived, Byleth was defending herself against Solon's magical attacks. She then hurried to dash forward, slicing through his magical blast before managing to deliver a strike across his chest, not deep enough to kill, but it still hurt. Solon collapsed to his knees and glared as his enemies surrounded him. Jeralt motioned for Akame to get of, after she did, he made his horse walk closer to Solon, allowing Jeralt to put the sharp end of his lance near the dark mage's neck, keeping him right at his mercy.
"Why have you gone after this village? What are you planning?" Jeralt demanded.
"Heh, I could have conducted this experiment on any test subjects. Now that I have what I came for, I must bid you farewell" Solon said before he transports away.
"Wait! Damn it, he's gone..." Jeralt said in frustration.
"It's over… All we can do now is focus on our next move. I'll have a look around the village. There may still be people who need our help" Claude said, everyone nodded and spread out to help anyone they could find.
After a while, Akame, Byleth and Jeralt had a little family meeting. The ordeal in the village had clearly shaken them up.
"It looks like we somehow managed to sort things out. And casualties were...kept to a minimum. They said they weren't picky about who they used as their test subjects. Because of them, the people of Remire Village..." Jeralt trailed of, and the two sisters looked down in sandness for all those poor souls.
"There you are" They looked up to see the Flame Emperor walk up to them.
"That armor. So, you're the Flame Emperor" Jeralt said.
The Flame Emperor nods "Yes. I believe you have met my subordinate, the Death Knight".
"Oh, we've met him all right. But back to you. You're the one responsible for the destruction of this village" Jeralt said in clear anger.
"Do not get the wrong idea" The Flame Emperor said.
"What in blazes does that mean?" Jeralt demanded.
"It is true that I am working with Solon. But that does not mean our objectives are the same. Had I known they planned to do this, I would have stopped it. You have my word" The Flame Emperor said, and acctually sounded like he meant it.
"Sure that is a great comfort to all who died" Akame said with venom in her voice.
"Your words are meaningless. Now, I'll have to insist you accompany us back to the monastery" Jeralt said.
The Flame Emperor shook his head "I cannot abide that. However, if you wish to join forces, I will hear your plea".
Jeralt looked surprised "What?!".
"If left to their own devices, they will commit countless more violent acts like this one. Do you not wish to prevent that? With the Sword of the Creator and Murasame on our side, Solon would not be a threat..." The Flame Emperor explained.
"Are you insane? Why would we even consider joining you?!" Akame demanded. She couldn't believe this man would have the nerves to ask for an alliance after everything that happened.
"Agreed, we must refuse" Byleth said calmly, but fury was burning in her eyes.
"Pity. Though not unexpected. Pray that you do not live to regret your choice" The Flame Emperor said.
"You will be regretting your choices soon. One way or the other you are coming with us" Akame declared, ready to pull her sword.
Hilda suddenly ran up "Akame! Jeralt! Professor! Have you seen Claude?".
Jeralt looked at her "What's wrong, kid? Huh?" He looked back and noticed the Flame Emperor was gone "Damn it! He's gone...".
Akame sighed in annoyance. Once again their enemy managed to slip away. Later, the family were alone again.
"Hey. I've been meaning to talk to you. Since coming to the monastery...you both have changed" Jeralt said.
"We have?" Akame asked.
"How so?" Byleth added.
"You've been angry since we first arrived in Remire Village. And you both look so happy when you're with the brats. Before the monastery, I'd never seen either of you bear your emotions like that. Not once" Jeralt explained.
"Yeah, I guess you are right" Akame said before smiling "I do feel happy with all the new friends I've made".
"I must admit, my students have made me feel more normal. And I am happy about that" Byleth agreed with a smile of her own.
"Then perhaps it's a good thing we came to the monastery, if only so I could see your faces lit up like that. Or maybe there was never any reason for us to leave the monastery in the first place..." Jeralt said "Then again if we didn't, we wouldn't have found Akame".
"Wasn't I born after you left the monastery?" Byleth reminded.
Jeralt got wide eyes when he realized his blunder "Ah... I've put my foot in my mouth, haven't I? Though I suppose it may be nearly that time... Come to my office when you next have a moment to spare. There's something I need to tell you".
Both sisters were confused by that. But Akame felt her body ache. Maybe her body hadn't fully recovered after all.
Some time later, they were back at the monastery. Byleth went to report to Rhea while Akame decided to head back to heir room to rest, her body was still aching and she felt herself growing more tired by the moment. Maybe another side effect of using Murasame. Before she could reach the dormitory, her class showed up.
"Welcome back Akame" Edelgard greeted with a smile.
"Hi everyone. What are you all doing here?" Akame asked.
"We heard you were back, so we wanted to come and greet you. Sadly Esdeath is on an errand" Dorothea answered with a smile.
"I'm still annoyed we couldn't come along to help you. But I knew you would be fine" Caspar said.
"I am in agreement with Caspar. Your have great strength" Petra agreed.
"Told you she would be fine. Now I can get back to my nap" Linhart said with a yawn.
Akame smiled "Thank you, all of you".
Ferdinand smiled "Of course, that's what friends are for".
"But are you really alright? You look pale" Hubert pointed out.
"I'm fine, just tired, I need to-" Akame began but suddenly stopped.
"Ummm, Akame? You alright?" Bernadetta asked.
Akame didn't answer as everything suddenly began spinning. And before she knew it she ended up collapsing on the ground. Much to the shock of her classmates.
"Akame!" Dorothea cried out in worry.
Ferdinand ran up and gently raised Akame up in his arms "Hey! What's wrong? Akame!".
Akame didn't answer, she was completely unconscious. With no second to waste, Ferdinand picked Akame up and began running with her to the nearest healer. Everyone wondered what happened... but Edelgard had a feeling she knew what it was.
.
Tell me what you think.