Chapter 6: Way to the West - Part II
Suddenly, someone hit Poney's shoulder. "Ah!" Poney woke up and was startled. She found she was still sitting on the deck and realized that she fell asleep just before. Poney turned around and saw a popsicle that was held by a hand in a white medical glove. Then she saw Helen was standing next to her.
"Here you are, just have a bite!" Helen said to Poney friendly.
"Oh, thank you!" Poney answered happily. She then took that popsicle and began sucking it. Helen sat next to Poney and took another popsicle from her medical kit and started eating.
"Poney." Helen said to Poney, "Can you tell me the reason you want to go to Peacock Land alone? That's a long journey!"
"Because there is someone very important to be there," Poney answered the same as before.
"Really?" After heard what Poney said, Helen looked at Poney with her eyes squinted. "Is he who Poney loves?" Helen asked with a bad smile.
"Ugh!" Poney was almost choked and blushed with shame. "It's not what you think! He…he is just my senior for the moment." Poney tried to explain because she didn't want Helen to know she was an assassin of the Empire.
"Hum! Hum! Your face tells me that's a lie!" Helen was eating and making jokes on Poney.
"Oh…" Poney was distressed again.
"What's the matter?" Helen found Poney didn't look very well.
"There were a lot of things that happened before I came here." Poney pulled out the popsicle in her mouth and said. "I used to have many friends and we had experienced so much happiness. But later…" Poney could not go on.
"Oh, Poney…" Helen held Poney closely and tried to comfort her, "You don't need to talk about it if you do not want to."
"Our leader, Najasho. He was very responsive to us." Poney said, "He once sacrificed himself for my survival. However, he is now standing in the Continent of Kuja all alone, so I have to find him and help him."
"I see." Helen seemed understood. "Just let everything from the past go. It is more important to focus on the present." Helen encouraged Poney.
The sunset slowly and the darkness had fallen. However, the ship was ablaze with light because its Twentieth Anniversary Celebration had started. In the center of the deck, the sailors and works set up a temporary stage for showing performances with Western Kingdom's local cultures. Passengers can sit at the tables that are arranged before and watch the interesting performances when enjoying the sumptuous dinner provided by the chiefs.
Poney was sitting at one table and watching the performances. She did not touch the food on the plates in front of her because she had to wait for Helen who had to excuse for a moment. Suddenly, she heard a conversation from behind, "Did you hear that Jack? Our country could have a war with the Empire." Poney turned around and saw three young men who were drinking at a table.
"I've already heard about it, Fabrizio." Jack, a handsome young man with golden hair answered a man who wears a beret. "Our King decided to work with the Rebels in the southern part of the Empire and dispatch troops to march towards the Capital City."
"Ah, that sounds crazy!" another man with brown curly hair joined the conversation, "I heard that the Empire has sent general Esdeath and conquered the Northern Tribes. Do you know what happened next? General Esdeath buried 400 thousand subordinates of Numa Seika, the prince of the Northern Tribes! He was known as "The Hero of the North" with thousands of elite warriors and a fortress city."
"We can't do anything about that, Tommy." Jack said to the man with curly hair, "The King is determined to recapture two important towns occupied by the Empire. Moreover, the current Emperor of the Empire is just a puppet. The whole Imperial Court was disoriented by a fat Prime Minister who wallowed in an extravagant orgy. Even our country does not start the war, others will not give up such a nice opportunity."
"It is true." said Fabrizio, "However, I will go abroad to enjoy my leisurely life. There is no way I will involve the war!" After that, they started laughing at each other. But what they didn't know is, Poney was glancing at them from behind worriedly.
A moment later, Helen came back from the other side of the deck. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Poney!" Helen put her medical kit near the empty seat next to Poney and said, "One of the passengers had a food allergy."
"Oh, I understand," Poney answered.
Two girls then started eating. During the meal, Poney unconsciously noticed that Helen was shelling a shrimp with her hands gloved.
"Helen, why do you wear medical gloves when eating?" Poney asked.
"Ur?" Helen was a little amazed, "Nothing…it's my habit. Poney has been always going barefoot, too."
"Ugh…" Poney stopped talking after hearing these words.
"That's all. We'd better watch the performance." Helen suggested.
"Okay." Poney agreed.
Night Raid Base
After the user of water control, Teigu joined the fire rescuing, the forest fire had finally been stamped out. This huge fire disorganized the whole plan of Night Raid, so all of the members were sitting together next to the table and listening to Najenda, the boss of Night Raid to explain the next step.
"Wow, this fire caused such a giant loss!" Tatsumi was a little frightened after heard the damage caused by the fire.
"I heard that the Empire has sent massive forces and cordoned off the area where the fire started." Said Sheele.
"So only the Empire knows what exactly happened," Lubbock said when he was thinking. Since then, the door opened and General Najenda came in.
All of them stay quiet when Najenda sat on her seat. "All of you, listen..." Najenda said, "Orders were given from Revolution Amy HQ, Bulat is recalled back to complete an important mission, so tomorrow Bulat and I will go back to the HQ. The Teigu which seized from Zanku will be turned over to the higher authorities, too. We are going to set out tomorrow and Akame, you will handle everything from here before I come back." Najenda gave orders to Akame.
"Yes ma'am," Akame answered.
"What!? Why?" Tatsumi did not understand.
"The mission for Bulat is to escort an important politician from Western Country to come to the Revolution Amy HQ." Said Najenda. "As the Empire's corrupt become serious, populist resentment grows. However, things got worse after this disaster occurred. Chaos has been spread among the internal parts of the Empire, so the Revolution Amy thought this is a great chance to defeat the Empire. The politician Bulat is going to escort is coming to sign an important covenant."
"Can you please tell me how it works?" Tatsumi asked.
"This involves a religion called Path of Peace which had spread throughout the whole Empire for a long time." Said Najenda.
"Path of Peace? Oh! I realized." Tatsumi took out the earthy yellow statue with a human body and ahead in a cow's head shape and said. "This was given by the village elder. It belongs to that religion."
"Path of Peace's followers increased in a very large amount during the past ten years and became a large organization in the eastern part of the Empire." Said Najenda. "Recently this organization planned to rebel against the Empire, and we decide to utilize the rebellion."
"Wait! If the rebellion happens, there will be such a great loss on citizens. We should stop this rebellion!" Tatsumi was shocked about what Najenda said.
"If we do not start a rebellion, others will do!" Najenda said. "The Ban Tribe rebellion happened in the South-west part of the Empire is a good example."
"The Ban Tribe's rebellion and The Hero of the North were both suppressed by Esdeath. Their failures were the same. It is they fought with the Empire alone." Lubbock suddenly said. "The Empire still has powerful forces. I'm afraid the Path of Peace's rebellion will be suppressed in a short time, too."
"That's the reason the Revolution Amy will show up." Najenda took out a map and pointed at the route of the Revolution Amy's attack. "By the time the Path of Peace starts a rebellion, the Western Kingdom will launch a war and invade the Empire. The Empire will have to defend attacks from both internal and external, but I believe they can still hold up."
"So, this time the Revolution Amy will start the attack from the southern part of the Empire to the Capital City, then the Empire will be finished. This is our original plan." Najenda finished speaking.
"Then why did you change the plan?" Sheele asked.
"Because this disaster changed the Path of Peace's Archbishop's mind," Najenda said. "The Archbishop started opposing this rebellion seriously after he heard this disaster occurred. Now there is an internal conflict in the Path of Peace to discuss whether this rebellion should start."
"How did this happen?" Tatsumi does not understand.
Najenda took a drag on her cigarette and said to Bulat, "Bulat, it's your time to explain."
"Okay." Bulat started speaking, "During my battles with the Southern Lands, I heard there was an old prophecy among the Southern Lands for a thousand years. The prophecy was talking about a man called "the Chosen One" who can change the whole world's destiny."
"The Chosen One?" The rest of them were puzzled about what Bulat said.
"That's true." Said Bulat, "The general idea of the prophecy was "The danger of the past is not past but sleeps in an egg. When the egg cracks, it will threaten the whole world. A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimately balance in the lightness and darkness."
The whole room became silent after Bulat stopped speaking because everyone was amazed by this prophecy.
"How…how could this be possible!" Tatsumi said with his eyes widen. "Who can have such a great ability to control the lightness and darkness of the world?"
"This is just one part of this prophecy." Bulat shakes his head and said. "The whole prophecy was written in a language that none can understand today. From what I was told, the people who know this kind of language belongs to a race which has thousands of years' history. Unfortunately, this race disappeared in mystery just after the First Emperor built the Empire. This part of the prophecy was spread until today by the people who heard it from this race. Luckily, it was the most important part of this prophecy."
"But how does this prophecy connect to the Path of Peace and this disaster?" Tatsumi was still confused.
"There will some signs occur just before this prophecy come true. This disaster is one of them. Another one is the three stars linked to a gleam which was observed by an astrologer recently. It's a marvelous spectacle that appears only once each millennium!" Said Najenda.
"What!?" Tatsumi, Lubbock, and Leone were amazed.
"The Path of Peace's leader puts deep faith in this prophecy. He persists in waiting for this Chosen One's coming and help him make the whole prophecy come true. I'm afraid we are unable to hope the Path of Peace to rebel against the Empire." Najenda said despondently.
"But for all I know, the Path of Peace's leader has prophetic visions, probably he was right," Lubbock said.
"I agree!" Akame showed up. "If this prophecy comes true, this Chosen One will able to help us to defeat this dark and corrupt Empire."
"The Revolution Amy's divination Teigu gave the same prediction," Najenda said. "But the bad news is, our primary target, the Prime Minister also heard this prophecy will come true soon. He has already sent the Assassination Division and many spies to chase and kill anyone that could be the Chosen One among the whole Empire. I heard that they did not even let off a single infant!"
"Unforgivable!" Leone got angry after hearing this. Akame who stood next to her bowed down her head sadly. She recalled Kurome, her twin sister who was serving the Empire in the Assassination Division. It is unacceptable for her to hear that her sister was sent to complete a mission that is so devoid of a mission like killing an infant.
"Then we should do our best to search for this Chosen One and protect him!" Tatsumi shouted.
"Problem is, none knows where the Chosen One will appear. Even Teigu cannot give any accurate clue, the Empire is so huge that we do not know how to find this Chosen One." Najenda shakes her head and answered.
"No matter if this prophecy is true, we have to do what we should do. For both the purposes of defeat the Empire and stop the Prime Minister's crazy conduct. The Revolution Amy decides to negotiate with the Western Kingdom secretly. We are going to set up allied forces and march towards the Capital City while the Empire is in chaos because of this disaster. For this purpose, the Western Kingdom sent important envy to come and sign the covenant with us, so our mission is to protect this envy's safety."
"I think I know who was sent by the Western Kingdom." Akame seemed understood.
"Yes, you are right. He is prince Louis, the heir to the throne." Najenda answered.
"I see, the Western Kingdom has always followed a strict hereditary system. Only males can inherit the throne." Akame said.
"And prince Louis is the only heir to the throne of the Western Kingdom. So, if anything untoward should happen to him, the relationship between the Western Kingdom and us will flit. Or even worse, we may become hostiles! That's the reason we'll do whatever it takes to protect the prince." Najenda finished speaking.
"Bulat is our strongest member. He is the best one to do this mission." Akame agreed. She just realized the first encounter between her and Najenda. That time Akame was still a member of the Elite Seven in the Imperial Assassination Division and she was ordered to assassinate Najenda.
This time only Mine, the pink little sniper of Night Raid did not say a word. She was very nervous which is different from casual time. Sweats came out of her forehead and flow down…
"What's the matter?" Akame noticed Mine's abnormal signs.
"No... nothing! I…I'm fine!" Mine answered hastily. "Excuse me for… just a moment!" Mine then hurried out of the meeting room.
"What's wrong with her?" Tatsumi asked when he was looking at Mine's back view.
"Maybe she is so tired. It doesn't matter. Just let her stay alone for a while!" Leone tried to cover up for Mine.
Back to the ship
It was midnight, there was a gust of sea breeze on the sea. The ship accelerated under the action of the wind. The sea was so dark and silent and there is nothing else floating on the sea surface. The ship was sailing like a lonely skiff in the dark sea. Only the shining stars accompany it.
The ship's Twentieth Anniversary Celebration was already ended, and passengers have returned to their respective cabins. Only a few sailors were maintaining the ship's stability on the deck. Poney was sitting on a deck chair which was located at the rear side of the ship. She was holding her legs and thinking something.
"Akame, what happened to you? Why did you do that to father and Tsukushi?" Poney said to herself sadly. She was thinking of her stepfather Gozuki and her partner Tsukushi who were killed by Akame. "Those young men from the Western Kingdom have said that their country will attack the Empire soon. I have to find Najasho quickly and come back together to save our Empire." Poney began worrying.
Suddenly, a voice came before her, "Poney, are you still awake?"
Poney turned around and saw Helen was coming to her.
"Oh, I recalled my former friends," Poney answered.
"I see." Helen came and sat next to Poney with a smile. She was wearing a pajama with low chest and high slits. Her silver hairs were shining under the moonlight like an angel. Poney took a carefully look at Helen, her cute face reminded Poney of Tsukushi again.
"What's up Poney? Do I look that good?" Helen asked Poney.
"Er…Helen…" Poney put her head into her knees and said, "In fact, by the first time we meet I found you look so similar to one of my former friends."
"Really?" Helen was amazed. She then thought for a moment and said, "To tell you the truth, I want to make a friend with Poney when I saw you."
"Are you serious?" Poney was happy when she heard this.
"That's true." Helen nodded her head and said, "I know our time together is limited at the moment. But if Poney does not mind, I hope you can come back to me with the person you are looking for after you find him."
"Er…" Poney felt a little embarrassed after heard what Helen's request, but she suddenly realized that Najasho's head was hurt during the mission in Putra and lost his memory. One survived Gravekeeper then found Najasho and ejected an insect in his brain which made the Gravekeeper able to control him like a puppet. Helen has learned a great craniotomy from her foster father, so she might be able to do brain surgery for Najasho to take the insect out of his brain and restore his memory. Having thought this far, Poney felt happy and began to laugh.
"Okay, I promise!" Poney said happily.
"I'm glad to hear that! We will be friends from now." Helen was touched. She then stretched herself and sat on a deck chair next to Poney.
"Wow… what a beautiful starry sky!" Helen was looking up at the sky and wondered.
"Yes, it is." Poney agreed, she was looking at the sky and started remembering the Elite Seven members. "Big sister Cornelia, Guy, Green, Gin, Natala, Kurome, Akame, Tsukushi, and Najasho…" Poney repeated their names to herself.
Suddenly, a bright silver-blue line appeared and crossed the night sky.
"Is that a meteor?" Poney looked at the shining line in the sky.
"Emmm… It doesn't look like." Helen replied. She had seen meteors several times. But this is the first time she found one that can leave its orbit in the sky for a moment after its passing.
"The Empire has just suffered a celestial body's colliding. I hope there is no more disaster." Helen said worriedly.
"I agree." Poney had the same idea. She then bowed her head and made a prayer's act. "Kurome and Natala, I hope you are safe in the capital city." Poney was praying for Kurome and Natala who were still working at the assassination squad.
However, they did not pay special attention to the so-called "meteor".
Hello everyone. Sorry to keep you waiting. I finally finished this chapter. In the story I came out an idea to design the three young fellows from the Western Kingdom according to Titanic. They are Jack, Fabrizio, and Tommy.