A Long Awaited Duel.
One year has passed since the war began. Akame has since then fully recovered and was back to her peek condition. However, the war had not been put on hold while she was recovering, and even after only one year, everything had changed. And so had the people involved in it. Even Esdeath who lives for combat and would normally revel in a war like this... yet she couldn't enjoy it, because Byleth wasn't with her. Byleth's death hit her harder than anyone might've realized. Esdeath tried to move on, and even tried to find love elsewhere. But no matter what she did, and no matter how many women she took to her bed... non of them could make her feel the love that Byleth once made her feel.
Right now, a naked Esdeath sat up in her bed, with another random woman sleeping behind her. Esdeath just starred at the floor, feeling disgusted with what she's been doing. The woman woke up and hugged her from behind.
"I enjoyed our time together. Do you want to hare more fun?" The woman asked seductively.
"No... please, get dressed and leave..." Esdeath said silently, making the woman sad.
"Oh, alright... thank your for letting me stay the night" The woman said as she kissed Esdeath's cheek before putting her clothes back on and left.
Esdeath rubbed her face. She had broken the hearts of several women in her efforts to heal her own. She felt worse each time, and felt like a disgrace. Esdeath, the powerful and feared warrior... reduced to a womanizer. Sylvain might've found that impressive, but his opinion hardly matters. Esdeath's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, making Esdeath sigh.
"Don't tell me you have forgotten something" Esdeath said before the door opened and it was not the woman "Edelgard?".
"I rarely forget anything. But you forgot the war meeting again" Edelgard said.
"Sorry, I was busy" Esdeath said.
"No you were not. I saw that woman walking out of here and you are not dressed yourself yet. This fooling around with women needs to stop, Esdeath. You won't fill the void in your heart like this" Edelgard said in a tired tone.
"Trust me, I've noticed" Esdeath said as she stood up, not caring if Edelgard could see everything. She only cared what one person thought of her body.
Edelgard sighed "Esdeath, I understand. Byleth's death hit all of us really hard. And I understand you needed time to move on. But it has been a year now, and we need you to focus on the war".
"Youd don't understand, Edelgard. She was the first... and only person I ever felt a true connection with. She made me feel something I never believed I could feel. I finally knew the joy of love... and now it's gone forever" Esdeath said, sounding far more emotional than she ever would otherwise.
"Love is a doubled edged sword. It can be a source of great joy and sadness. But you I told Akame something when she lost her father, and I will tell you the same thing: Are you waiting for time to heal your wounds? Or have you curled up in a corner and lost the will to carry on? Only you can truly understand your own sadness. Others can sympathize or even empathize, but all anyone else can offer are the tears of an outsider looking in. So I have no intention of crying for you, or of standing still with you. All I can do is promise to reach out my hand when the time comes for me to move forward. There is a war going on, that will decided the future of our home. will you follow us into battle? Or will you just sit here with no thought for the future that is fast approaching? There is a choice to be made. Akame made her choice, and I hope you make the right one as well" Edelgard said, giving the same speech that helped Akame move on from loosing her father.
Esdeath was silent before she went tod a different room. Edelgard waited until Esdeath came back out, wearing her war attire "You ar right. Sitting around doing nothing will not do anything. And sleeping with other women won't make me feel better. There is only one thing left to do. Punish those who took Byleth from me. I am ready. Lady Edelgard. Our enemies will shatter before our might".
Edelgard smiled "You are the greatest warrior in the entire Empire. We will need you to win this war. Now is the time to once again show the world the power of liberation".
Esdeath smirked. Finally, her love for battle was back. And she was ready to get back out there. She lost Byleth, and now she realized she could have her revenge. By killing every member of the Church responsible for her death. This wasn't just a battle against an opposite side, this was Revenge.
Meanwhile, Akame had been sent away from the Empire to investigate the reports of soldiers from The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus being in this area, who has proven to be the most dangerous foes of the Empire. Akame wanted to spend more time with Kurumi, but her sister reminded her they've had a year to catch up, and Akame needed to get out of the Empire for a while. She had mostly fixed her relationship with Edelgard, but she still was hesitant if she wanted to swear loyalty to the Empire. Maybe this little trip could help clear her mind. She was torn between what she wanted to do. Kurumi was clearly loyal to the Empire, but after having spent so much time without swearing allegiance to any faction, Akame was uncertain of what to do.
She sighs as she leans on a tree. She then heard someone nearby. Believing it could be an enemy, she pulled out her blade and got out of hiding. But who she was made her stop dead in her tracks "Felix...?".
His looks had changed, but it was unmistakably Felix "Akame".
There was silence for several moments until Akame spoke "When I was sent out here... I didn't expect I would meet you".
"Nor did I... so you really did join the Empire" Felix said, sounding disappointed.
"I am not certain yet. They did a lot for me this past year, even reuniting me with my long lost little sister. Who I expected I would never see again" Akame explained.
"So you aren't really loyal to them. You just owe them a dept. Not sure if that is any better" Felix said.
Akame sighs "It's complicated. Nothing is clear to me anymore".
"Well, then I can make one thing clear for you. It's time for our duel" Felix declared.
Akame gasped "What? But we agreed to-".
"This is war, Akame! War doesn't care about old plans. At anytime in this war, one of us could die. And I refuse to risk that before we finally had our duel. I am done waiting, Akame. We will settle who is the greater warrior, right here and right now" Felix declared.
Akame looked down before she sighed "So be it. But do you have any spare sword? Murasame kills anyone with a single cut. If we are going to have a real duel, I want to defeat you by being the better warrior. Not just by getting one lucky hit".
"I see. Very well, I always do carry a spare sword" Felix said as he tossed over one of his blades.
Akame caught it and stabbed Murasame in to the ground before pulling out the normal blade "Alright Felix. I am ready now".
"Good, then no more words. Let's do this" Felix declared as he got ready.
Akame did the same. The long awaited duel begins now.
Felix then rushed at Akame, who parried his strike and then brushed the her sword back across his, looking to connect with Feix's side. Felix backed away, and unleashed a series of quick strikes to force Akame back. Akame blocked them, but was still pushed back by the sheer force of Felix's blows. Felix kicked her in the chest and she slid back several feet away. Felix had gotten much stronger. Felix went for an overhead strike, but Akame blocked it and elbowed him in the chin. Felix staggered back before Akame delivered a kick of her own, sending him on his back. But Felix quickly got back up and quickly went on the offence again. He slashed at Akame's neck, but she raised her blade, pushing him back, before using her feet to leap of a tree behind her, flipping over Felix and kicked him him in the back. Felix grunts and swings his blade again, but Akame blocked it and kicked him in the knee. Felix buckled, and Akame delivered and overhead strike with her sword, which Felix managed to block.
The force of the blow was strong, and with Felix already being unbalanced, he was forced down on a knee. Akame pressed down on him with her blade, and he barely kept it away from his face. So this was how deadly Akame was when she wasn't holding back. Felix couldn't help but to feel excited, he wanted this duel for so long, and it looked like it wasn't going to be disappointing. Yes, this was the duel he had been waiting for.
He pushed himself back up, and managed to force Akame back and blocked her next strike, elbowing her in the ribs and then slashing her in the back. Akame staggered forwards, but luckily the strike only cut her clothing, exposing some of her back, but didn't slice deep enough to injure her. She turned around with a cross cut but Felix blocked it and kicked her in the gut. Akame slammed into the tree, and Felix slashed at her again, but she dodged it, and Felix only hit the tree. They then clashed blades again, as Felix was searching for a way through Akame's guard once more, and this time he would make sure his strike cuts through flesh. But Akame kicked him in the chest, making him stumble back before she slashed wildly at him. Felix backed up, parrying strike after strike, each one being faster and stronger than the last. He managed to knock Akame back with a kick, but both soon entered a blade lock.
They tried to overpower each other, but both had gotten tired from the axing duel. Both were used to ending fights quickly, and rarely had any prolonged duels. This trully was a clash between equals. The struggled continued until Felix lost his footing on the slippery ground. Akame had the perfect chance to kill him... But instead of cutting his head of, she slammed the pommel of her sword in to his head, with enough force to knock him out cold.
Akame was breathing hard before she collapsed on the ground, laying down on her back next to Felix. She kept taking long and hard breaths before looking over at her fall opponent "Damn you... Felix...".
Felix's eyes slowly opened as he felt some heat. He blinked before he noticed a lit fire a safe distance away from him. Close enough to warm him, but not enough to burn him. He groans as he rubbed his head. What happened?
"You're awake" Came the voice of Akame who was sitting on the other side of the fire, she wasn't wearing the clothes from their duel, she was just in her undergarment.
"Where are we?" Felix asked, before noticing he was only wearing his under pants "What happened".
"We are in a cave. It began raining while I dragged you over here. I had no choice but to undress us both so our clothes could dry. I was lucky to find enough dry wood to make this fire" Akame answered.
"So... I guess I lost the duel then... You should've just killed me" Felix said.
"The duel was only meant to show who the superior warrior was, there was no need to kill you" Akame said simply.
"We are enemies now. Duels between enemies normally end in death" Felix said.
Akame finally lost her calm demeanor "Damn it Felix! Do you really hate me that much?! Is your desire to kill me that strong!?".
"Well what do you want me to say? You are on one side of the war, I am on the other. It's called reality Akame. We can't change it no matter how much we want to" Felix said, slightly raising his voice as well.
"But we don't have to be enemies!" Akame shouts, causing a tense silence before she leans back "I don't conicder you my enemy, Felix. I never did... and I never will. You are my rival, but not my enemy".
Felix sits up "Wishful thinking... I don't hate you Akame. I never did. You are among the few people I feel some kind of connection to. You never bothered me with talks about noble deaths or glory in killing. You are the only person I've ever met who shares at least some of my views. How could I possibly hate someone like that? The one person who actually understands my values".
Akame was silent for a moment "It... means a lot to hear you say that, Felix. I always wondered what you really thought about me... what you really felt about me".
"What I feel about you doesn't matter now... As long as this war lasts, we will be forced on opposite sides..." Felix said, sounding a little sad.
Akame stands up and walks around the fire "Then let's forget about the war for tonight. Just for tonight, let's not be enemies. No sides, no forced conflicts. Just us, and only us" She kneels down, with her legs on each side of Felix's body before she placed her hands on his shoulders "Can you do that, Felix? Just this one night?".
Felix looks at her for a few moments before his hands found their way to Akame's hips "Fine... just for this night".
Akame looked relived and kissed him... and he slowly kissed back. After a minute of kissing, Akame pulled of her undershirt, exposing her breasts. They kissed again before Felix lays Akame down and gets on top of her. He pulls down her remaining undergarment, and she did the same to him.
For just this night, they were not enemies... but something far more.
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Sorry, I might need to jump forward a bit. Otherwise it will feel like this story is standing still.
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Tell me what you think of the chapter.