Draco and I both met up with Sheele for our next bit of training. He looked as tired as I did. He probably didn't get much sleep either. "Rough night, Amico mio?" I asked him.
"You can say that again, friendo." He replied before yawning.
"Same here. I had a horrible nightmare last night. I imagined that in our absence, my siblings still in our world and my girlfriends and fiancées were attacked and killed by our enemies while we're here and unable to do anything. I woke up in a cold sweat after that." I explained.
"You too, huh? Part of me believe that my siblings and girlfriends can take care of themselves, but the other part says different. And now I want to pray for their safety every day." The blood demon said.
"I feel the same, my friend." I agreed.
Sheele, who had been listening to what we said, smiled and gently placed a hand on each of our shoulders. "It's good that the two of you are concerned and want to protect your families, but you should focus on the task at hand. The others don't like it when people have those kinds of feelings. Your enemy could use those against you and you could die." She explained.
I sighed at this, but deep down I knew she was right. "Yeah. You're right. There's a time and a place for those feelings and a war isn't the place for them." I admitted.
Draco stepped up to me. "Still, We should tell our family about it." He suggested.
"Good idea." I agreed.
"Okay. You two will be training with me today." Sheele said.
"Perfect. A bit of training is just what we need to clear our minds." I said.
"Agreed." Draco nods while smirking beneath his mask. "So what you got in store for us, Sheele?" He asked while stretching his arms.
"That would be swimming with armor on." She said.
I raised a hand at this. "Yeah, about that? I will literally die if I'm in water for like 10 to 20 minutes." I explained.
"Yeah so while I do that, what else can you have Sai to do?" Draco asked while forging armor of blood on himself.
"I guess he can do some laps around the base in heavy armor." She said.
"Alright then. You two might want stand back." Draco said as he ran towards the water and shouted, "Cannonball!" Before jumping in, making a huge splash.
"Come on, man! You know water kills me!" I snapped, creating a powerful heatwave to evaporate the water.
"And I told you to stand back!" He shouted back.
"Whatever." I said, rolling my eyes and putting on heavy demonic armor, running several laps around the base.
Much later, Draco emerged from underwater and started panting. "How was it, Sheele? Not too bad?" He asked in between pants.
"I'm impressed. And you even managed to hold your breath underwater for thirty minutes." Sheele said.
"Well I could've done it longer, but I didn't want burn precious daylight." He explained getting up on land. "Whew! What a workout." He declared.
"And done!" I said, finishing my last lap and leaping out of the armor in one fluid move.
"Excellent work, Sai. You guys are naturals." Sheele praised.
"Thanks. Ain't no biggie. Both of us needed some ol' fashion training." Draco said as his blood armor disappeared.
"Yeah. It's good to work out every so often." I agreed.
"I'm glad I could help. I don't really do chores, so this is how I earn my keep." She explained.
"Why's that?" Draco asked.
Then Sheele started explaining while flashbacks ensued. "I tried to cook..." She began as the meat catches fire. "...but I burned the meat, which made Akame a little upset.
"Not the meat..." Akame said angrily with her knife raised.
"Okay, note to self: never burn any meat near Akame's presence, ever." Draco said while writing down on his notepad.
"I don't think even we could survive that kind of rage." I said with a gulp.
"And I caused trouble for Bulat when I tried to clean." She explained.
Another flashback showed her falling on her butt and getting soaked. Bulat laughed at this. "Just let me deal with this, okay?" He suggested.
"Well, at least he was nice enough to just take over for you." I said.
Next flashback was shown multiple sacks and pots of sugar. "And Leone laughed at me when I went shopping and brought sugar instead of salt."
Leone is shown rolling on the floor laughing. "Why'd you buy so much?!"
"Well damn. At least you got a good laugh out of her?" Draco said with a shrug.
"And when I tried to do laundry, I accidentally washed Mine with the dirty clothes." She explained as Mine was shown reaching out from a whirlpool.
"I'd say you did that one perfectly." I assured her.
"Totally." Draco added while nodding approvingly.
"You know, now that I think of it, you were the only one who wasn't there when we met the team." I pointed out.
Sheele made a bit of a frustrated sound before answering, "Um...I'm sure there was a reason, but I don't remember." She then embarrassingly added, "I'm such an airhead."
"Hey now, no need to beat yourself up. No one's perfect." Draco said.
"Yeah. Nightshade is living proof of that." I confirmed.
Back at the base...
my eldest brother was sparring with Nisha, when he suddenly growled as he sensed something. "Sai... I don't know what you said about me, but I know it makes me angry." He snapped.
Hearing this, Nisha uses her blood powers to form a chain and wrapped tightly around his neck, choking him. "I'm sure hope you aren't going to do harm onto dear Sai, aren't you?" She asked in a nice tone with a scary smile on her face followed by a scary aura surrounding her.
Back with us...
"So, how did you end up with Night Raid, anyway?" I asked.
"Well, it's kind of a complicated story." She started as her flashback started playing. "I grew up in one of the older parts of the Imperial Capital." She added.
The next scene showed her accidentally spilling stuff all over the unfortunate customer. "I've never been able to do anything right. I couldn't take pride in a single thing I did."
"Sorry, I hear." Draco said.
She was then seen with a bunch of people behind her, laughing and smirking at her. "People used to laugh and say mean things behind my back, like I was crazy." She said.
"Eh, that's their opinion. Opinions are like assholes: everyone's got one and they usually stink." I assured her.
"Ha! Good one! May I start using it?" Draco asked.
"But thankfully I had a friend who was very kind to me." She said while the scene showed us a friend she mentioned.
"Aw, how sweet." Draco said.
"No matter what I did wrong or how badly I messed up, she was always there for me." Sheele explained as the flashback showed the sitting at a table, talking and laughing.
"Everyone needs someone like that in their lives." I stated.
"But it didn't last for long." She continued as there's a knock on the door. "One day I was visiting her house, like I always did when a man came to the door. He was her ex-boyfriend." She explained as the flashback revealed a looking really mad.
"Jeez, who pissed in that guy's Cornflakes?" Draco asked.
"He was furious and yelling and breaking things. Then he tried to strangle her." Sheele further explained while the scene is showing things getting broken to her friend getting strangled.
"He must have been drunk or on something. My only thought was that I had to save my friend." Sheele explained as she slashed the guy's neck open in the flashback.
"Nice work, Sheele. Flawless Victory!" I declared.
"Fatality!" Draco added.
"I was surprisingly calm." She continued as she stood there in the flashback covered in that man's blood. "I couldn't believe how quickly he died. My friend was so scared she started shaking." She added as her friend did just that. "But my head was completely cleared."
"I mean it's either her or... yeah, that man had it coming. Plain and simple." Draco said.
"No one will miss him." I said.
"In the end, it was chalked up to self-defense, but I never heard from my friend again. Not long after, the man's friends came, wanting revenge." she told us as the flashback showed her surrounded by a group of men.
"I stand corrected." I said.
"They told me they'd killed my parents and they going to kill me next. Despite all the awful things they said, I was incredibly relaxed." She continued as she armed herself with that knife in the flashback.
One of the men tried take a swing at Sheele, but effortlessly dodges him and kills him dead. "I killed them. All of them. One by one." She said while she charged at them.
"Man I wish we had a popcorn for this. This is getting good." Draco said.
"And then I realized I was good at this. So I thought if I killed bad people, I could make the world a better place." She explained.
"I like the way you think." I told her.
"I was a solo assassin in the capital when the Revolutionary Army scouted me out." She finished.
"I say good on 'em. They made the right call." Draco said approvingly.
"Definitely. Airhead or not, you definitely make heads turn. And roll." I agreed.
"Thank you, both." She smiled.
"You two are doing great!" Just then a wild Bulat appeared as he emerges from the water laughing while flexing his muscles.
"How long he's been there?" Draco asked.
"Too long." I said simply.
The scene cut to all of us present at the base. "Sai, we've acquired Zanku's Imperial Arms. I want you to try it." Najenda said.
"Alright. From what I gathered, they aren't far off from Devil Arms. I can handle this." I said.
I placed the eye-like apparatus on my head and it was as if I was looking through a pair of night vision goggles, as there was a light green hue to my vision. It was also around this time I noticed I could see through clothes! Akame, Sheele and Mine had all been standing in front of me, so I saw Shelley's skimpy purple bra and panties and Akame's slightly more modest white panties with black linings in all their glory, as well as Mine's rather underwhelming black tights and pink tank top.
I was shocked at. "My god..." I said, before becoming overjoyed. "THIS IS THE GREATEST WEAPON OF ALL GODS-DAMNED TIME!" I cried out.
"What do you see, love?" Nisha asked in her concern voiced as walked in front of me, allowing myself see that she is wearing a very skimpy red panties and NO bra! Red steam that was my blood shot out of my ears and nose while my entire head was on fire before I fell back and crashed to the floor, twitching as if I had been electrocuted. In confusion, Nisha took off the Imperial Arm and put it on herself, looking at the girls and seeing the same thing I saw."Oh...hehe. Oh Sai. So naughty." She chuckled.
"It's not a match. Sai's affinity's a little off." Najenda stated.
The rest of the Blades and Bloodgraves tried the device and found themselves incompatible. "We'll have headquarters examine it. I'm sure it'll be a great asset once we know a little more." Najenda said.
"Sometimes on our missions, we come across targets who have Imperial Arms, just as Headhunter Zanku did. Our superiors prefer we try to steal or destroy as many of them as possibly can." Akame stated.
"Interesting. With each Imperial Arms we procured can further the Revolutionary Army's strength?" Nisha asked.
"That's the idea." Najenda confirmed. She then held out a book. Here's a book of Imperial Arms I'd like you all to read." She said.
My dad stepped up and gently took the book. "Well, as much as I taught my children to shared, I'm sure you all have different reading speeds. This should help." He said, tossing the book into the air. Suddenly, it duplicated perfectly into several copies, enough for each of us, Blade and Bloodgrave alike.
"Incredible. There's so many of them and they vary greatly from each other. They're guaranteed to be unique." Katana said.
"So, which one would you say presents the greatest threat to us?" My mother asked.
"It depends heavily on the user. That said, if I had to make a choice, one can manipulate ice." Najenda answered.
"Hey, just like Kool Kat!" Ember said, pointing at Katana.
My eldest sister was actually intrigued by this. "Ooh, another ice-wielder. This could be interesting. Sub-Zero's always great, but he's still human. Maybe this imperial arms makes this guy something more." Katana said.
"You mean this girl." My mother said as my father created an apparition of this person before us. She was a tall, beautiful, and slender woman with porcelain white skin and long, light blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a General's apparel with long sleeves with buttons on the upper arms, a blue scarf on her neck, and high-heeled boots. She also has a tattoo on her chest. And despite it only being an apparition, it still somehow exuded an intimidating aura likely mirrored, if not exceeded by the real thing.
"Wow, she almost even looks like you, Katana. Just with lighter hair and blue eyes instead of red ones." Nisha noted, looking to my sister, only to notice she seemed to be in a bit of a trance. "What the? Hello?" She questioned, waving a hand in her face.
Standing next to me, Draco noticed I was in a similar trance. "Yo, Sai. You good, bro?" He asked, putting a hand on my shoulder and shaking me a bit.
In fact, myself and all my present siblings seemed mesmerized by this vision. "What the heck is wrong with them? Did they finally go fully brain-dead?" Mine asked, earning a slight elbow from Akame.
"Whoa. She's a winner, alright." Kinshiro said.
"What do you mean a winner?" Leone asked.
"Well, it's tough to explain, but the best way to put it is: we Blades have a lot of enemies. Therefor, our lives our constantly in danger and, more than likely, our children's will be as well. That's why we look for only the strongest and most capable people to mate with. Looks and personality definitely play a factor, but power is what gets us hooked." Kinshiro explained.
Nightshade picked up where he left off. "We're born with a sort of measurement ability that allows us to look at someone and gauge just how powerful our children's chances of survival will be. Of course, our own natural talents being passed down will put our child's chances at 50% at minimum. 75% is the grade required to at least get us interested. And that girl with any of brings our kid's chances to a solid 90%." He explained, almost sounding like he was purring.
"But, why aren't your parents like that, then?" Lubbock asked.
"We've already had fourteen children. And those are just the ones that are still alive today. We're done." My father said.
Nisha then walked up to me. "So, Sai... What are our kids chances together?" She asked.
"That's a solid hund-o, babe." I assured her.
Akame stepped up a bit as well. "What about me?" She asked.
I winced a bit, hoping this would offend her, but still gave the honest answer. "That would be about 88%. Still very respectable, I applaud and approve." I assured her.
She looked a bit sad her number was lower than this Esdeath's, but she smiled again. "Alright, then." She accepted.
"What about me?" Leone asked.
"Tied with Akame. 88% Good job." Kinshiro told her.
Mine smirked and walked up at this. "Well then, surely I must be a number that's not even on the scale, right? Like maybe 200%?" She asked confidently.
"Meh. 64%." I said, disinterested, walking away.
"But, why is Katana drooling over another girl? They can't make babies together." Sheele pointed out, surprising everyone.
"Huh. That's actually a good question, Sheele." Leone told her.
"Hey, our dad can warp reality. We didn't get the full range of the ability like he did, but we can change ourselves up as needed to make it work. All that matters is that the person gets about 75% and we're hooked." Kinshiro explained.
Bulat took this chance and leaned in towards me. "Oh, is that right? So, you might be willing to go with the guys after all, Sai?" He asked suggestively.
"Uh, n-no!" I denied his advance, secretly reaching into my void-like pockets and burning pictures of Alucard, both the Castlevania and Hellsing versions.
"Most impressive." Ebon nods approvingly at our family's measurement ability.
"Indeed." Luna agreed.
"But still, she's an absolute monster! She's killed countless innocent people with absolutely no remorse! She's a total monster!" Mine shrieked.
"Yeah, she checks off everything on that criteria you guys have on whether or not you kill someone." Lubbock agreed.
"And she's a threat no one here should take on alone." Najenda added.
"Well, we don't know her full story. Maybe something happened to make her this way." Katana said.
"You just want her for yourself, don't you?" Leone asked.
"Yes. But here's my counterargument: Dat ass. Will be MINE." My sister declared in a tone that left absolutely no room for argument.
"Someone who people are willing to put that much trust in is dangerous." I said.
"Still, even for her, it will take a year to take over the Northern territory." Bulat stated.
"We can only hope." Najenda said.
"I believe it's best for us to get ready in case she succeeded early." Ebon suggested.
"Exactly. You can never be too prepared." My father agreed.
"Yes. Especially how perilous it is to do battle against her in one-on-one combat like Najenda said." Luna added. "We must steel ourselves." She declared.
Sadly, we could never have known that Esdeath had already decimated the Northern territory and would soon be called back by the Emperor...
As Draco, Leone and I were walking in a town filled with many people with businesses. Draco whistles as he looks around. "Businesses must be booming." He said.
"Yeah. I can't remember the last time I saw a place this busy." I agreed.
"Yep! It's a lively part of town. When you're born poor, you gotta keep yourself busy." Leone said.
"I see. Gotta grind through these tough times." Draco said.
"So how've you been, Leone?" A woman asked.
"I could use one of your backrubs!" An elderly lady said happily.
"Hey, we should go and get a drink sometimes!" A man said.
"Leone, will you come and play with me later?" A little boy asked.
"Looks like you're quite a regular in this town, babe." Draco said.
"Yeah. Seems like these guys can't get enough of you." I agreed.
"That's because this is the part of town where I grew up." Leone answered. "I know it sounds crazy but I was famous around here for my back massage-" She gets cut off as we saw a horde of angry mob running towards us.
"Call me Captain Obvious, but those guys don't look friendly." Draco said, pointing at the mob.
"Hey, Leone! It's time to pay up for our bet!" One of them shouted as the others shouted similar things.
"Crap!" Leone cried, turning and running away.
Draco and I looked at each other in confusion, before chasing after her. "Monkey see, monkey do!" We said together, quickly running after her.
"So, what do you guys think about my old neighborhood?" Leone asked while laughing.
"Minus the whole angry mob thing, spectacular!" Draco shouted.
"This get me on your friends' hit lists!" I warned Leone.
After ducking through several alleys, we finally escaped our pursuers. "Whew! That was close. I honestly think it would've taken less effort just to turn those guys into stains on the road, am I right?" I asked, turning around to see no one. "What the?! Leone? Draco? Where you guys at?" I called and received no answer. "Crap, this is bad. They had the map. And what's worse... This is the poor neighborhood! I'm gonna get mugged!" I groaned.
"You there!" A young woman called out as she was seen running towards me while dragging her dog carelessly. "You seem to need assistance, citizen!" She declared.
I turned to see the young woman, who was clearly an imperial soldier. "Oh, greetings, miss. I'm fine, but I appreciate the offer. I just need my friends." I said. I then noticed her very, VERY strange-looking dog. "Um... is that a new breed of some kind?" I asked.
"He's my Imperial Arms, Hekatonkeiru!" She said happily, picking him. "No worries, he only bites bad guys." She added.
That got my attention, as well as my concern. "Oh, wow! Isn't that... lovely." I said awkwardly.
(Maybe I shouldn't have just skimmed the book.) I thought.
"I named him Kuro. Oh and I'm the proud member of the Imperial Guard, Seryu! I am at your service!" She said, saluting.
"Very impressive. You must have had a great teacher." I complimented.
"Yup. I wouldn't be where I am if wasn't for Captain Ogre!" She said, proudly.
This really caught me off-guard. (This cute girl was trained by that maniac?! Never would've expected that. But that means she's gonna be crazy brutal, vicious and unpredictable.) I thought.
I then shook my head to clear my thoughts. "Well, I'm sure he did a great job. I'm sure you'll be a true terror for any villains you find." I said.
"You got that right." She nods. "For justice, I must show no mercy to any evildoers. Especially after what happened to Captain Ogre." She added in serious cold tone.
I gulped at this, but quickly feigned ignorance. "Oh, dear? Did he fall ill or something?" I asked.
She shook her head. "He was killed. It was a work of a villain." She confirms. "I swear, when I find the one who took away the captain from me, will pay dearly!" She added, darkly.
I was now standing in a small pothole that was once the ground beneath me, burnt away from how profusely I was sweating. Have I mentioned my sweat is as hot as lava? "I see. Well, best of luck with that. I'll just be going now." I said, turning to walk away.
"Okay, take care. Let me know when you see anything evil. You can depend on us to rip it into pieces!" Seryu said.
"Yeah, sure- evil- ripped to pieces- all that good stuff! You probably have a lot of important guard stuff to do! Bye!" I said quickly as I waved her away.
"He's right! Let's go, Kuro!" She runs off quickly while dragging her canine Imperial Arms.
"So, that's one more enemy with an Imperial Arms... And she's got it out for me. I should have taken her out right here, but I can't risk that with all these civilians." I said to myself.
[Not to mention, she may have a trump card you wouldn't see coming.] Shuya's voice rang out in my head.
"Dang it! Just when I think you guys faded into my subconscious." I complained at the disembodied voices of my cousins, whose souls I absorbed during my first adventure with Bayonetta.
Oh, you know you love us! Raijin's voice echoed as well.
"So, what are these trump cards? I never saw anything about them in the book." I questioned.
[Try not skimming next time. I was barely able to read about them myself. But they're extra abilities most Imperial Arms users have to turn the tides in desperate situations. And if you aren't ready for them, they'll be almost certain death, even for us.]
"Damn. Then it IS a good thing I didn't engage. I need to let the others know about this." I said, quickly heading for the location Leone, Draco and I were supposed to find.
(More and more of these Imperial Arms keep popping up, some even on par with Devil Arms. And some are even deadly enough to end people like us. Maybe it's not my family back home I should be worried about, but the ones trapped her with me.) I thought grimly.