Unus Annus.
Weiss laughed as Ruby told her how Jaune tried to guide them towards mistral with the map upside down
"We were walking for almost forty five minutes with an upside down map, I was furious." Ruby added with a quick laugh "And that was the first homicidal thought I had about him." she added that immediately brought down the mood for Weiss
"Have you thought about seeking a therapist?" Weiss asked earning a glare from Ruby "What, just having someone listen to you talk is helpful. I had a therapist until I became heiress of the SDC, then father said 'Schnees must always show that we are strong.' I think it would be a good idea."
"I'm not crazy." Ruby said the air growing colder around her
"I didn't say you were, I was just saying you seem to have a lot of pent up rage that needs to be worked through." she said raising her hands
"I don't need to work through my rage, I just need to you know... shut up!" Ruby deflected crossing her arms
"See, you cant just choose to bottle it up and... NOT confront your anger, if you-"
"Silence." Ruby hissed sounding identical to Esdeath
"See that is exactly what I mean." Weiss commented "You cant just bottle up your anger, it'll come out eventually."
"Oh please you're just jealous that Ruby is more powerful than you." Yang finally voiced earning a glare from Weiss and a satisfied look from Ruby
"No I'm just worried about her mental state. Just like I'm worried about yours." she added causing Yang to roll her eyes
"After you left I did quite a bit of soul searching with Esdeaths' help-"
"Oh you shouldn't do that, it'll turn you into a bloodthirsty psychopath." Weiss snarked preventing Yang from finishing her statement
"At least let me finish." Yang commented crossing her arms
"No." Weiss snarked again as she stood and walked over to the fridge "Where's Jaune, Nora, and Ren?"
"We are taking shifts in searching for huntsman to give us the lay of the land. We haven't found anyone."
"I found one." Akames' voice came from the stairs earning all their attention "She is an officer for the city."
"City contracted huntsman aren't as helpful as independent ones cause they get the reputation of being a nark, so they get suck with being outta the loop, but she could give us a hot spot where most huntsmen meet."
"Qrows' already checked most of the mission boards, they were abandoned." Akame answered neutrally. That fact was concerning, Mistral had the highest population of huntsman than any other kingdom with the exception of Atlas so it should have a constant flow of huntsman
"What?!" Ruby spouted quickly rising to her feet
"Yeah, it's not a good situation." Akame said casually as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out a large chunk of meat that Qrow had cooked for her last night
"Why?" Weiss asked gesturing to the food
"I'm hungry." Akame answered
"You're always hungry." Ruby reasoned as Akame tore into the meat quickly reaching the bone, Akame just nodded as she finished eating and tossed it into the trash can
"We need more meat." Akame added earning a sigh from Ruby
"Can you stop eating so much?" Ruby asked earning a glare from Akame that caused her blood to run frozen "Never mind." Ruby quickly corrected her mistake, she then looked at the ground trying to avoid Akames' gaze
"Jeez Ruby, you're powerful in your own right you just gotta look her dead in the eyes and-" Yang advised looking over to Akame but also froze, her gaze was horrifying "Never mind." Yang quickly corrected her mistake, she then looked at the ground trying to avoid Akames' gaze
"Anyways, I was going to go shopping, would any of you like to go with me?" Akame asked looking over each of them, Weiss stood and agreed to go, Ruby and Yang on the other hand were both trying to recover from their fear, somehow Akame was able to make her killing intent so much worse than Esdeaths' it was like she was hiding how brutal it actually was, or how brutal she actually was under a thin vale of neutrality
(o)
Raven let out a sigh as she watched Vernal and Kurome fight, Kurome had so much ingrained skill and with a few short months of training she became extremely proficient with her Aura and had an easy time catching up to Vernal and quickly surpassing her ability, the only thing that confused her was her semblance, it was the same as Akames' in every way that's not how semblances worked, everyone had a different one, hell her and Qrow are twins as close as a person can get to another biologically and (thank the gods) they didn't have similar semblances so this was strange
"Kurome." Raven said as she watched Kurome elbow Vernal in the jaw then kick her legs out from under her stabbing down at the woman she stopped short
"Yes?" she asked looking up from Vernal
"I wanted to know what your relationship with your sister is."
"She is my sister, she is the only person that understands me, and I am the only person who understands her." Kurome answered, Raven could tell that she believed every word she said with all her heart
"No wonder... you don't even seem like your own person." Vernal commented trying to sit up but the blade began to dance with an orange flame
"I am a tool, I was trained to be a murderer and that is what I am, all in an attempt to be as good as my sister." Kurome said staring Vernal dead in the eyes
"So that's why you have her semblance, you have resonated with her so much you developed the same semblance." Raven said as she entered the arena "The difference is in the fact that your Aura flares up when you use it." Raven added watching as the orange fire died off the blade and was quickly sheathed as she exited the arena
"Maybe." Kurome grumbled, ever sense she was able to fight she has done nothing but avoid talking to anyone, with the exception of herself and Vernal, and even then she barely talked with Vernal, and with Raven she acted more like a soldier following orders
"Me and Vernal will meet you in your room for healing." Raven called after her she just waved as she walked away
"Do you have any idea what to do with her?" Vernal asked as the gate guard ran over to them
"Chief! Chief, we have more visitors." he said panting as he ran up to her
she sighed and looked over to him "So many visitors, I thought we were suppose to be hidden... did you let them in too?"
"I couldn't stop them." he answered as he coughed and panted trying to regain his breath, Raven let out a sigh and grabbed her mask from her belt and walked towards her tent
(o)
Ozpin sat across from Akame both staring at each other
"Akame, I understand that you do not trust me-" Ozpin began but Akame interrupted
"You wear the skin of a child, this is more than mistrust." Akame said coldly glaring at him
"I just want to make sure-" He began but was again interrupted by Akame
"I want honesty, Ozpin. How are you still alive?" Akame asked earning a sigh from the man
"I made some poor choices... and they led to my curse." Ozpin answered as vaguely as he could
"I don't care about some 'curse'." Akame said glaring at him "Why did you want to speak with me." she asked as she stood and moved to the doorway not wanting to speak with him anymore
"I wanted to tell you that me and Qrow believe that you should prepare, Leonardo has proven that he has clearly been ignoring the fail safes that I had put into place encase I were to have died, add in all the dead huntsman we believe that it is a safe bet that he has betrayed us." Ozpin answered folding his hands, Akame nodded at his words and stared out of the room "If your fear is that I will betray you, you can rest easy. So long as Ruby and Qrow follow you I will too. But if you hurt either of them... that is when you should start to worry."
"Please, for Oscars sake, don't do anything drastic should that occurs." he requested that earned a scoff from Akame
"His life is meaningless." Akame said in a cold tone as she exited the room leaving the two to their thoughts
"Well that certainly doesn't make me feel any better." Oscar commented in their mind
"We cant worry about that right now, you need to get back to training." Ozpin said releasing control and Oscar reassumed it and stood
"Yeah, yeah... but Ruby does scare me." he said walking towards the stairs to go down to the training grounds
"Ruby Rose is powerful and when she first entered my academy I had high hopes that she could be a simple soul that could shine a bright light into the darkness... but now... now it seems that she would be willing to deliver the world into Esdeaths' hands." Ozpin voiced in a somber tone
"I don't know anything about that... never met her."
"Unfortunately you'll probably have to meet her." Ozpin said still in a somber tone
"Well here's hoping she takes a liking to me... unlike Akame."
"I should apologize, that is my fault." Ozpin apologized earning a laugh from Oscar
"Yeah... thanks for that. Ruby is scary but Akame... she is beyond scary." Oscar said with a shutter, he could tell that Ozpin felt the same way
(o)
Weiss looked at the large amount of meats that Akame bought, she had her carry the 'everything else' bag as Akame called it, she had grown so much sense they last saw each other and that was something she was happy to know, Akame seemed to have fully integrated with the world of Remnant
"So why did you come shopping with me, when you could have stayed and talked with your teammates?" Akame asked looking over to Weiss, she wasn't dumb and Qrow had told her about Weiss' plan
"I wanted to know you opinion on what we should do with Esdeath?" Weiss asked crossing her arms
"Kill her." Akame answered earning a hum from Weiss
"Did Qrow tell you about everything I told him?" Weiss asked, it was obvious that she had
"Yes, and she needs to die sooner rather than later." Akame confirmed as they began to make their way back to the house
"But how are we suppose to kill her, she always had one of her beast near her at all times." Weiss reasoned, Akame began to think back on how Qrow defeated her, they needed to find a way to separate her from the rest of her forces, but her army was almost three times the size it was before, add in the huntsman and her beasts that causes problems, add in semblances...
"We need to worry about Esdeath once we get to Atlas, killing her is only possible if were there, so we'll deal with that then." Akame said crossing her arms thinking deeply about their choices here, regardless there will be casualties
(o)
"She still wont listen to me... any ideas?" Ozpin asked as he and Qrow traded a few strikes
"I don't have any, anything you do she'll see it as you trying to convince her that you are worth serving, and that wont end well, you just gotta prove that once the chips are down you weren't lying to her." Qrow explained earning a sigh from Ozpin
"You know there are things that I cant tell her." he said earning a nod from Qrow, he knew all too well that Ozpin had so many secrets that he couldn't tell, and that was fine by him, he didn't want to know them, but Akame was a truth seeker she had no desire to let things go unknown that had caused her so many problems in the past, and now that Ozpin was back and she could see that he was effectively immortal it hurt her so much to know that someone was granted such an ability
"I have tried to tell her that but she doesn't want to hear it, she just wants the truth... and I have given it to her but she has chosen not to believe it." Ozpin said jabbing at Qrows gut, sidestepping the attack he nodded
"She probably wont believe you either, I guess the best you can do is just... prove it to her in battle." Qrow offered swinging at his legs, Ozpin jumped over the attack and swung at Qrows head but it was blocked quickly, and they separated
"I will be sure to do that if the opportunity presents itself." Ozpin commented as he shimmered gold and Oscar resumed control then collapsed gasping for air, not being use to the stress of full combat yet, Qrow walked over and placed his hand on Oscars back
"Easy kid. Easy."
(o)
Blake stared at one of the spy in front of her crossing her arms she spoke
"You attempted to escape this facility, we cant have such an uppity individual here." Blake said with a sigh, she was too stressed for this she felt like she was going to throw up at any second
"You're a bitch!" he shouted, earning another sigh from Blake
"Riveting." she commented sarcastically as she walked out of the cell and into the main office where she found a couple of guards talking and smoking
"Hey boss, heard from the doctor that Cilia is gonna make a full recovery." he happily said holding a cigar out to her, Blake took it and stared at it
"Wanna share a smoke with us?" he asked gesturing for her to join them, the other two were happily talking
"Just a little while." she agreed as he lit the cigar and took a drag from it and began to cough violently causing the other three to laugh at her
"It's easier the next time around." the woman commented through laughs, Blake followed her advice and took another drag and found it easier, but she also felt her stress vanish too, it was a strange sense of euphoria
"It's a good thing I don't have an addictive personality, but I can see why people do this so much." Blake commented, the guards then introduced themselves; Scalia and her boyfriend both of which were some of the first few that agreed to join her cause
(o)
Yang stood across from Akame both studying each other, Akame was the first to speak
"Your stance is almost identical to Esdeaths', you need to change that." Akame said as she took a step forward and slashed at Yang who blocked it and pushed her away
"Why do you say that? Bad memories?" Yang antagonized, Akame seemed unfazed
"No, because it is meant to be used with a blade and sense you don't have one you are unnecessarily off balance." Akame answered pressing the attack causing Yang to stumble off balance and ending the fight as she placed the blade on Yangs' neck
"Dammit, how are you still stronger than me?!" Yang questioned pushing Akame off of her
"I have more skill and experience than you, the measure of strength and power is only half of that battle. But you don't have the amount of intelligence to match your strength and power, I can teach you if you want." Akame offered holding her hand out to Yang, who took it, Akame felt the strange metallic hand, as Akame pulled her to her feet she felt the twitch and move keeping itself balanced and in a safe position
"Weirded out by it?" Yang asked watching Akame look it over
"Not really, just interested, the lose of a limb back home would usually result in amputation, then you would have to make do with a stump, but some people like Najenda were able to acquire prosthesis but they were few and far in between." Akame explained "Najendas' was large and bulky though, she preferred to have the heavier version of the limb so she could use it to beat her foes down easier, in the rare occasion that she ended up in a fight." Akame added as she released Yang and began towards the side of the arena where Ruby and Weiss were waiting for their turn
(o)
Ruby walked into the arena and summoned a pair of blades, she had finished most of the repairs for Crescent Rose but she wanted to get better with her blades... that and she didn't want to gauge it because it took quite a bit of time to do that so she figured she would just push that onto Qrow
"I don't think we ever spared in class did we?" Weiss asked drawing her blade and aimed it at Ruby
"Don't remember, I was too busy." Ruby commented earning a laugh from Weiss
"Too busy ogling Esdeath you mean." Weiss corrected earning a nod from Ruby
"Yep, she's very pretty." she answered with a smile, Weiss crossed that one off the list of things that would tick Ruby off
"I'm sure Blake wouldn't have agreed." Weiss said causing Rubys' smile to fade into a scowl
"We're starting now." Ruby said her killing intent burning off of her as she rushed Weiss who immediately began to defend and walk backwards, even though she wasn't in control of the fight she was guiding it, Akame took note that Weiss had a very strong defense now and her offense relied mainly on her semblance, as she walked back Ruby summoned some ice from above the both of them and launched it into the ground freezing the training grounds and causing them both to slide a bit, Weiss used that to her advantage and launched an assault on Ruby, who for the most part protected herself and pushed back a bit, but Ruby wasn't used to the slippery footing so she fell a couple times which Weiss used to her full advantage landing a couple devastating strikes on Ruby but the fight was far from over
Akame watched as she could tell that Rubys' aura pool had grown massive and Weiss knew that too, thus the reason for her aggressive nature, she needed to end this as quickly as possible or Ruby could easily break hers
"Watch these two." Akame said tapping Yang on the shoulder causing her to look up from her scroll "Watch them, and think what you would do in the same situation, and think of what they are going to do next. It might surprise you to know that your minds all work in similar fashions." Akame explained, Yang watched as they moved and did exactly what she expected of them... maybe Esdeath was right about her intelligence
"Being on a team requires a level of knowledge on the people you fight next to, the longer you are in life threatening situations the quicker you understand them and eventually know them just as well as you know yourself." Akame explained as Yang continued to watch and predict what they were going to do, she was wrong about their moves every once in a while but the majority were correct guesses
"But?" Yang asked, there was always a but in these situations when either she or Esdeath were involved
"But it also makes them all the more difficult to kill, and they also have an eye into your mind too, meaning they know your weaknesses just as you know theirs, then it becomes a contests of the heart." Akame answered earning a glare from Yang, she would never betray her sister or her friends
"I doubt I would ever come to blows with my sister." Yang scoffed coldly
"I thought the same thing, I was wrong." Akame said causing Yangs' expression to drop, she knew that Akame and her sister were probably closer than herself and Ruby, and yet they tried to kill each other
"Always remember that regardless of what you want to happen eventually a problem will rise and you will have to compromise... or lose the only person you truly love." Akame lectured in a somber tone clearly reliving an even from her past
"What about Qrow?" Yang asked, confused by her words
"While I love you, father, Ruby, and Neo, Kurome is someone that can never be replaced in my heart, she deserved more than killing, I wanted her to be happy, to grow older with a person she loved and enjoy the rest of her life... I even thought that the empire would let her live a normal life if I proved myself to be the most capable assassin in the Empire, so I worked towards that goal, it took too long to realize that the Empire would never have let my sister lead the life I wanted for her... so I left, after killing Gozuki and Tsukushi, I understood that I had to kill to see the world I wanted... and that's where Night Raid came into the picture." Akame explained her tone unchanged for before but it did sound a little more distant
"I thought you became an assassin in Night Raid to protect people." Rubys' voice came both she and Weiss had finished their match and were listening to her story
"I didn't really care about people until after I was forced to abandon Kurome." Akame said the memories of the village that was burned to the ground by the incineration squad flashing into her mind, the only time she felt something other than disgust while she was there were the two children she had befriended while she was there, and even then she had swapped them with her and Kurome at the time
"Wow... that's pretty selfish." Yang commented earning a nod from Akame
"We all were, the revolution wasn't just about the people, it was because many high ranking officials wanted power, so we dressed it up like the only thing we cared about was protecting the people." Akame explained "People in the world that I once lived in are selfish, but some are selfish with good intentions, and those are the ones you want to ally with. Thus why I joined Night Raid."
"What about the other members?" Weiss asked intreged to hear her thoughts
"Najenda joined because she didn't want to serve an Empire that Esdeath was in, it showed how low the bottom line really was. Bulat joined because he and his commander; Liver, didn't want to pay the bribes that Honest forced on the military to keep the people he wanted in charge, so he was charged with treason and fled the empire to Najenda. Lubbock joined because he wanted Najenda to love him. Sheele joined because she wasn't good at anything else, and we were the first people to ask her. Leone joined because she wanted to kill more nobles and strong soldiers. Mine joined because she wanted to see the injustices committed against her and her people corrected. Chelsea joined because it was what she was trained to do, and her team prior to us was wiped out." Akame answered giving her answers to them
"What about uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked
"I joined so they wouldn't kill me." Qrows' voice answered from the stairs, the earned confusion from the three who weren't there "Come on, I know reminiscing is... 'fun' but Oz has a few things we need to talk about, and we need a bit of a game plan." Qrow added gesturing for them to follow
(o)
Blake reentered her house with a sigh, she was tired and felt sick after dealing with more problems that she cared to admit she was glad to be home
"Welcome home Bla-" Kali began but stopped short when she entered the same room as he daughter
"Have you been smoking?" Kali asked looking a little angry
"Yeah, but it was a one time thing, Cilia survived a blade to the neck and prevented one of the spies from escaping." Blake answered as Kali smacked her upside the head
"You're smart, but sometimes you're an idiot." he mom commented as she pulled Blake along towards the kitchen where she was surprised to find plenty of different kinds of food and three cakes two looked poorly made and one looked delicious
"Wow... what is all of this?" Blake asked as she and her mom sat down
"Well me and your father thought it would be nice to make a little surprise, so we made this as thank you for coming back and doing everything you can to help our people." Kali explained "Your father and Sun also made cakes. Your fathers' turned out the best."
"I assumed that he and Sun made the bad ones."
"No, but they did make a mess of the kitchen, so they are currently shopping, and when they get back they will also be cleaning they made a mess, and I'm sure you don't want your father going off on you for smoking so you should shower and wash your clothes." Kali added as Blake began to scarf down as much food as she could, it had almost been two days sense she last ate and it showed with her speed
"Alright, but tell him that I was happy for what the two of them did for me." Blake asked as she finished the food that she had in her hands
A/N were done, with this one. The next chapter will hold some excitement, sorry about the slow goin' not to worry though, this chapter was pretty fun to write, soon it will be action packed.
Memento Mori