Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of The Lioness and the Wolf. Enjoy the 1400-Word chapter. I don't own AGK, Takahiro, Square Enix and a few others do.
(Jace's Cabin)
Jace was gone for the majority of the day. Leone decided to pass out in her chair, quite exhausted for better or worse. Her thoughts turned towards Honest.
Leone had almost left the world thinking she cleansed it of everything it needed. Both Honest and Esdeath died as they deserved; the world didn't need assassins in a time of peace.
Now she saw there was just simply something going to replace it. Matias or whatever name he adorned himself with just took his place. She knew more than anything now that sin could never just be killed.
"Man, first Honest then someone else…" Leone muttered, rubbing at her temples. "Is Jace right? Is there nobody left without me?" Leone asked as she closed her eyes.
Lubbock, Sheele, Bulat, Susanoo, Chelsea. All suffered horrible deaths at the hands of a heartless empire that didn't care about them at all.
She didn't know about Akame, had the girl who was the best assassin in the group left? She heard Tatsumi and Mine had stepped outwards from combat. And Najenda had retired to help lead the empire to a better future.
"Man, Night Raid is gone." Leone stated which caused her to blink as the door slowly opened.
Jace slowly entered as he turned to look at her. He held bags within his hands, both bags filled with food, it felt more like they were a married couple than a pair of warriors.
"Sorry, I decided to get groceries," Jace stated slowly putting the bags on the counter. "I got… Caught up thinking about before." Jace said, crossing his arms and looking at Leone intently.
She hummed, part of her knew about her urges that the Tengu brought out. Her imperial arms were part of her, it always would be. She knew it had to be part of the same with Lupusnal and Jace. A part of him would always be the wolf he claimed to be.
"It isn't all Lionelle." Leone said, tapping the belt upon her hip. "If it was? Then I'd just be after you like that…" Leone stated, humming as she looked through the food, he had bought with them.
"I don't let my Imperial arm get to my head, Leone…" Jace pointed out as he sighed and rubbed at his arms, thick with sweat at the moment. "That's how I get into trouble. When do I do that? People die." Jace pointed out, shaking his head.
"You don't think when I first got this thing it didn't mess with my head?" Leone questioned which got a shrug from Jace. "It ALWAYS used to mess with my head," Leone added and got a raised eyebrow from Jace.
"Is this supposed to be reassuring or…" Jace asked as he slowly turned back to the room. "It's funny, though. I never thought I'd be here. I expected to die when we attacked the empire. They had outnumbered, outfought if it wasn't for Akame? I'd be another corpse on the battlefield nobody would care about." Jace put in, curious about where his feelings stood at the moment.
He knew for a fact that Matias would return soon. A small hole in his plan wouldn't stop him. it would just make him more cautious and harder to nail down. He'd go to the ground and become damn near unstoppable if they let him…
On the other hand? Matias was just about out of resources. When he was still a colonel? It was at least possible to order supplies from the chain of command. But with the war over with? Many of those soldiers either retired or joined the new empire to try and protect the peace it had created.
Jace fell into a grey area where the empire didn't see him as an asset or an enemy. It both annoyed him… And was yet something he understood.
"You're thinking about that Matias guy, aren't you?" Leone asked, kicking her feet up on the sofa.
"No, not really. He's just a mad dog to be put down for the moment." Jace said, sitting in one of the old chairs. "I'm just remembering how I never used to think I'd ever survived the war. There's not a place for people like me the more I think about it." Jace added, gaining a chuckle from Leone as she cracked open one of the drink bottles.
"Yeah, I didn't think about that part of the plan." Leone stated as she turned to look around with interest. "Too busy fighting, the boss used to get mad when it came down to it. Used to think I'd die in the war, then I met you." Leone added which made Jace chuckle as he brushed off his coat.
"Well, people didn't understand things like fate or crap like that," Jace said and hummed. "I remember almost getting killed by Matias a few times, then things always seemed to either favor him getting away or… I don't know, life always seems to have a weird sense of humor." Jace added, sitting back in his chair as he looked at Leone.
The blonde assassin was silent for a while as Jace hummed and drummed his fingers on his arms.
"I heard Matias lost 2 ships because of what happened at the moment," Jace stated as he turned to Leone. "We've done plenty of damage to him, but he'll come back from it sooner or later. He always does, I wish Esdeath put him down. He's as bad as Wild Hunt… I heard you killed one of their members." Jace pointed out and got a nod from the assassin.
"We're you a colonel in the army?" Leone put in while Jace nodded. "I'm surprised Esdeath didn't kill you. She killed thousands of soldiers." Leone put in as Jace slowly sat up and then shrugged once more.
"I was a small fish in a big pond," Jace stated, looking at his coat which sat on the chair next to him. "So were you guys besides a few. Esdeath only wanted the best… I wonder if she's satisfied with what she got." Jace said, sighing as he remembered the various scars the battle gave him.
Leone hummed and nodded, leaning forward in her seat as she leaped to her feet. She walked to the fridge to pull out another drink.
"Your Tengu mutated your body, didn't it?" Jace said, leaning back on the sofa. "I noticed you're FAR more cat-like than you were before. I'm wondering if you're absorbing your imperial arm, it's quite interesting." Jace stated while he brought his hand to his chin.
"You think I'm absorbing Lionel despite wearing it?" Leone asked, popping off the cap of one of said drinks.
"Yes," Jace stated as Leone split the cap into the sink. "I do, you've been able to tap into it when you came back. I think your body absorbed it. That would explain why your taller, stronger, faster, better at fighting." Jace added as the lion-like assassin took a swig of the drink.
"Aw, you do care enough to pay attention to me." Leone pointed out, leaning on Jace as the former rebel colonel could only roll his eyes.
"Oy…" Jace muttered and shook his head. "You know I have almost no resources left when it comes down to it. Still? I have some friends, just like the ones who helped me gain this house." Jace stated as he cracked his fingers.
Leone hummed and sniffed the air. She smelt someone or something in the air. Jace crossed his arms, curious as to who or what she smelt.
"Bad guy?" Jace questioned as he hummed and looked for Lupusnal. "Damn it, I don't know where it came down to it," Jace stated while he looked for the weapon in question.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to apologize for the chapters being short. The next chapter will be 2-12 weeks and will show Jace and Leone bonding more and more about Leone's powers and Jace's backstory. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!
P.S: Next chapter will be 1200-1500 words when it comes downs to it when it happens to come down to it.