First chapter in a long while that is delivered on time. Yay.
Ripples on the surface.
"Thank you both for coming." The prime minister said and drank some of his coffe.
The long table had three occupants. The prime minister himself, general Gallus the warrior priest and great general Esdese. Servants were walking back and forth from the table with small plates filled with diffrent pastries and confectionery. The prime minister had a big mug of coffe in front of him, Esdese a ornate cup of tea and general Gallus a single glass of water.
"No need for thanks." general Gallus answered in his deep and humble voice. He was the largest man in the room. A head taller than the prime minister and just as wide. The only diffrence being that his arms were much thicker than those of the minister. He was wearing his usual black and white attire. The uniform of those working for his religion. His giant war hammer was resting aginst the back of his chair. He didn't touch any of the plates that were placed on the table. Just drinking from his water every now and then. "If the empire needs me then I shall answer."
Esdese simply answered the prime minister with a nod. Reaching for her cup. She was the smallest one of those sitting at the table but still the deadliest of them by far.
The right side of the big white room that they were sitting in was covered in large and tall windows. The morning sun was shining in strongly through them. It looked like it was going to be a fine day.
"It seems like your operation turned out to be somewhat successful, great general." the prime minister said. "Even if we suffered some unfortunate defections during it."
"We always knew that Makeias's true convictions were uncertain." Esdese said. Sounding completely unfazed. "It is better that he revealed his true colors now when the empire is in a stable period. Instead of stabbing us in the back when we are occupied with other threats."
"Agreed." the prime minister said. "Though we did suffer some other betrayals as well. Some people that you yourself had put in some rather delicate positions." he continued.
Esdese looked at him over her cup as she drank from the tea. Considering if that jab at her deserved some retaliation. Gallus spoke before she got a chance to answer.
"The former admiral Wave's betrayal was truly unexpectable. His history speaks of nothing but loyalty." he said in a troubled voice.
Esdese smiled. Even now, she still took some pride in Wave. "Indeed. Loyal." she said. Thinking about how he had searched her up in the forest two weeks prior.
"It is deeply regrettable that he has turned against us. Another fine warrior led astray by the evil in this world." Gallus said. Resting his hands over each other on the table.
"Truly." The prime minister said. "Especially since he took half of the empire's fleet and two teigus with him when he left us."
"Wave's forces is of no concern to us in and of themselves." Esdese said calmly. "We will deal with them as soon as they choose to reveal themselves."
"He is not the only part of the army that you lost during your last operation." the prime minister said and looked at Esdese with stern eyes. "How much of the imperial military did we lose when Makeias's army disappeared.
"Roughly a eight of our complete forces." Esdese answered. "We always knew that this betrayal was coming. He always had his own agenda."
"Not always." Gallus said in a somber voice. "I still remember how he was at his inauguration ceremony. When he first became general. Back then I could see what it was that made Budo promote him. The war changed Makeias. As it does to so many of us."
"At least if you lack a strong resolve." Esdese said.
"Your operation managed to kill one member of night raid. Their leader, admittedly, but the price was way to steep, great general." the prime minister said accusingly and looked at Esdese.
She met his gaze. Looking him straight in the eyes. Welcoming any challenge to her will. Even when it was him. "Are you getting nervous, minister? You almost sound afraid."
The prime minister huffed a bit. "There is a diffrence between being unafraid and making strategically unsound decisions."
"Things are as they should be. I personally prefer to have my enemies in front of me instead of hiding in my own lines. I have no problems about how things have turned out." Esdese said. A smile spreading on her face again.
"And when these problems your decisions have caused comes to our door, what then?" the prime minister said. He was always very careful to not get on Esdese's bad side but he needed to make some things certain. This was not even the big problem that he wanted to speak with her about.
"Then I will crush them." Esdese said and closed her eyes. Leaning back into the chair. "Just as I have done before. Remember our history, old man."
The prime minister smiled. "I will have you know that I am still in my prime. No joke intended." He shook his head. "I guess I will just have to trust that you will be as reliable as always, Esdese."
"I will take care of these problems for you. You have no reason for concern." Esdese said and opened her eyes. "So do me a favor and see to it that your imperial court stops nagging me about it. Otherwise I might statuate an example of what happens when you complain to me just to relieve your own stress."
"I will see to it, great general." the prime minister said. "Wouldn't want you to get distracted from your work." He took a swig of his mug before continuing. "All right. So we have a clear course of actions for when these forces surfaces again and turn against us. That is half the problem." he turned his head to Gallus. "We might need your help with the other half, general."
"Speak, prime minister. If it is for the empire, then I will always serve." General Gallus said in his deep and calm voice. He had stayed silent and watched most of the exchange between the prime minister and the great general. Feeling that those two had diffrent relation to each other than he had to them. But now he spoke up.
The prime minister nodded. "As noble as always general Gallus. The matter of the fact is that we now find ourselves in a battle of attrition. To be frank, I have no real doubts that the great general can handle these rebels when they actually reveal themselves to us. But in the case of Makeias, he probably won't face us until the last minute. Until then, he will be draining our resources from us."
"What do you mean?" Gallus asked and leaned forward a bit.
"The pillager's forces live up to his name." Esdese said and reached for her teacup again.
The prime minister nodded. "The forces of Makeias are higly trained in guerilla warfare. They will avoid us and fight in ways that makes it hard for us to retaliate. The whole army will only assemble when an opportunity arises to do some real damage to us."
"That kind of coordination would require an amazing level of communication and intelligence network. Do we know how they do it?" Gallus asked.
"Not yet." Esdese answered. "We have been able to capture a party of about thirty of them. I have seen to their questioning personally but they did not give us any information about that."
"They were that loyal to the pillager?"Gallus said.
"Loyalty doesn't come into it. I had them in my personal torture chambers for almost ten days. They had forgotten anything about loyalty or duty long before they died." Esdese said. "They simply did not know anything about it."
"Strange." Gallus said and scratched his shiny and hairless head. "So the group itself were unaware of how they recieved their orders?"
"That or we didn't manage to catch all of the members of their unit. But I find that unlikely as well. If some of the members of their group managed to escape us then those we caught would have told me so." Esdese said.
"We will keep researching about the pillager's communication network. But while we do that, we need to stop his army. Ot at least hinder it." the prime minister said as he took a bun from one of the plates. "That is what we need your help with, general Gallus."
Gallus nodded. "Do go on."
"Makeias army have no resources or food reserves backed up. Nor do they have any industry supporting them with new equipment and materials. So this huge force is sustaining itself the same way it did when Makeias forced his way into hostile lands. After his food lines were severed."
Gallus sighed. "Looting, plundering and ransacking."
"Exactly." the prime minister said. "Regrettably. We have not noticed the effects of this yet but it has only been two weeks. I would say that in ten days we will have heard uncountable reports of this from all across the countryside. And in twenty days, the entire empire will feel the effects of it, as it will shake our entire market. Soon food will become more scarce and the prices of most wares will rise drastically."
"Starvation and poverty is already widespread to an unacceptable degree in our dear empire." Gallus said. "I had thought better of Makeias. He always talked about serving the people." He shook his head. "This must stopped."
"Fully agreed." the prime minister said. It was a nice change of pace for him to have someone this powerful to work with who also saw the value in stability. That had always been one of the biggest differences between himself and Esdese. He wanted a certain degree of stability in order to rule effectivly. She would probably prefer complete chaos if it gave her more worthy opponents to fight. The fact that she had let Wave escape was only one example of where the diffrence in their goals showed itself.
He gave her a look and found her staring back at him. She had taken a backseat in this discussion for now.
"We have been hunting and chasing Makeias's forces diligently these last two weks but we have only been able to catch one squad of thirty soldiers. As Esdese mentioned." the prime minister went on and turned his eyes over to Gallus again. "I think you can see the problem. In two weeks we catched thirty of them. When Makeias forces disappeared they were roughly three hundred thousand man strong. If we continue at this pace, the entire empire will have been ransacked before we manage to root out this problem."
"Then we must dedicate more forces to our search. We should also give the bigger towns protection by stationing troops close to them." Gallus said.
"And where do you suppose that we start, Gallus?" Esdese asked. Sounding like she was talking to a child. "Our military is huge, I grant you that. But we don't know where the pillager's forces will strike. And if we are to protect every bigger town in the empire then our forces will be spread out way too thin."
"Do we have any reason to fear that?" Gallus asked in a humble way. "I was under the impression that all of our external threats had been subdued."
"You can crush any single creatures will to rebell with a single hard lesson." Esdese said. "But when you are handling a big mass of people, you have to be a bit more constant in your suppression. The moment our former enemies sees us in a weakened and spread out state. They will be more likely to rise up again. Not saying that they will do so immediately."
"The great general does have a good point." the prime minister said. "However, we will be putting more forces and effort into searching for the pillager. While we can't spread our forces enough to protect all of our citizens, we can at least hunt down our enemies more efficiently."
"So the imperial army will only go on the offence." Gallus said. "I can't say that I am thrilled about this strategy."
"Thrilled or not, you will do as I order you." Esdese said. Her voice a slight bit harder.
"Don't misunderstand me, great general. I am your soldier. I will serve to my end." Gallus said and bowed lightly to her.
Esdese simply nodded to him and drank some more of her tea.
"We do actually have an idea of how to help defend our citizens." the prime minister said. Trying to lessen the tention. "That is the reason why you were summoned here, general Gallus."
Gallus turned his head to the minister.
"General Gallus, you have quite a lot of influence in your religion's organizations, do you not?"
"I do." Gallus admitted.
"We want you to utilize that. Makeias's defection must not result in another revolutionary surge. To put it simply, we want you to use your religion to propagate that Makeias and his forces are the essence of evil. We need our entire nation to understand that his forces only wishes them harm. And it will also help us shift focus from them not being protected. Hopefully we can instill enought hate towards the pillager to make people cheer us on for hunting him down instead of complaining that we aren't protecting them."
"Makeias is not likely to have any goodwill from our citizens either way right now. We just need to add more fuel to that fire." Esdese said.
Gallus held his chin in one of his big hands. Thinking about the situation. "I don't like the idea of using my religion to spread propaganda. But then again, I am here to serve the empire. And I think that few things would damage our people more than new schisms appearing within our population. We need to stay united in our struggle. Otherwise we will fall. As leaders, we need to emphasize that the things that unites us are greater than the things that divides us."
He looked at the prime minister and nodded. "I will spread this message for you. But the moment that Makeias is no longer deemed a relevant threat, I will make it stop. The imperial court should keep the politics out of the faith. I will only make an exception because of our pressed situation."
"For the good of the people." the prime minister said and raised his mug.
Gallus mimicked his gesture with his glass of water. "For the good of the people."
Esdese watched how their political game unfolded. Not terribly interested in participating. She would let things play out and then take care of the situation that their scheming would create.
"Well then, generals, we all have a lot to do." the prime minster said after a while and rose up. "I will leave you to your tasks. Thanks for coming."
Esdese rose up and Gallus bowed to the minister before leaving. Esdese was about to follow him when the prime minister called out to her. "A short moment if you will, great general."
Esdese turned around to him after Gallus had left. "I thought that we had discussed everything before Gallus arrived. Did this not go as you had hoped?"
"It did." The prime minister said. "But there was something more that I wanted to discuss with you in private."
Esdese put one of her hands on her hip and gave him a questioning look.
"There are some parts of Makeias's betrayal that doesn't add up." the prime minister said. "When you found him he had just defeated Tatsumi and the leader of night raid. And according to Tatsumi, Makeias was trying to kill both him and Najenda."
Esdese nodded to him.
"But why would he do that?" the prime minister said. "We both know that Makeias and Tatsumi met many times before the journey to Garu. So why did he attack Tatsumi then? If he had always planned on killing your partner then he had much better opportunities to do so before this operation."
The prime minister was very careful to not sound too accusing. He didn't want Esdese to get defensive. He just wanted to make her suspicious.
"And then there is the question of Incursio. The last time we heard anything about it, night raid had it. Yet when you found him, the teigu was with him and he had already mastered it's power to a new level and also fought against Makeias with it."
"What are you insinuating?"
"Ohh come now, Esdese. You are a smart girl. Can't you see that we are missing some information here? Something more happened between Tatsumi, Makeias and night raid before you arrived. And whatever it was might affect how we should move forward a lot."
Esdese just looked at him for some moments before she spoke. "I have told you to not worry about my subordinates before. I will handle them. You should focus on your own problems."
"I listen to what you say, Esdese. I just want you to... keep an eye open." He considered mentioning that it was her subordinates that had betrayed them but decided to leave it out. He did not want to nurture any ill will that existed between them. "I suspect that we have not yet rooted out all ideas of betrayal from our ranks."
Esdese nodded. Then she simply turned around and walked out of the room. Passing by the group of attendants that were standing outside of it. Waiting for the meeting to be over so that they could go in and clean up. Not being authorized to move into the room while the meeting was taking place. The group fronted by a small boy with white hair and pale eyes. Wearing a big berret over his head. Covering it up down to his eyebrows.
When Esdese had left the room, the prime minister looked out through the windows. He needed to be careful. He had gathered enough evidence to reveal Tatsumi's true colors. Wave had given him a lot of information and he also had a couple of other sources. But now Wave was gone. He thought it would be wise to strike now and not give Tatsumi any more time.
The problem for him was of course Esdese. He could not risk making her his enemy. That would end him. He was well aware of how protective she could be when it came to her partner. He knew that if he just threw all his evidence in her face, there was a risk that she would still take Tatsumi's side just by reflex. If she interpreted the evidence as a external threat to him. He found it unlikely that she would do that but he could not take any risks. He would reveal the evidence against Tatsumi to her slowly. He would make her suspicious of him long before he delivered the final strike. He would make her reach the conclusion herself. He didn't think that it would take too long.
He already had Tatsumi in checkmate. It was time to tighten the noose.
The sky was grey and the wind was blowing strongly as Wave walked up on the grassy hill. Followed closely by Kurome.
Behind them the sea stretched out as far as the eye could see. His small fleet lay anchored a hundred meters out in the waters. Already preparing to move away. They couldn't stay in a single place for too long. A couple of days at most. Lest they risk that the empire would find out where they were.
As they walked towards the top of the hill, a big owl came flying out of nowhere. It landed on Wave's shoulder. Both of them looked at it in suprise and then both jumped a bit as the owl spoke to them in a loud and squeaky voice.
"Two traitors come. One for compassion and one for love. Both shunned by where they belong." Kurome and Wave looked at each other but before they could react, the big bird took off from Wave's shoulder. It flew up to the top of the hill that they were walking on and landed on the shoulder of Tom-Tom.
Wave and Kurome looked at the tall and slender figure for some moments. None of them had seen him walking up on the hill. He had just simply appeared. After some moments, Wave started to walk up towars him. Kurome followed.
"You suprised me a bit there. We didn't notice that you arrived." Wave called out as he got closer.
"Ohh I have been here for a long while. It is you who just arrived." Tom-Tom said in his low and raspy voice.
Wave decide to not dwell on that weird respons and moved on. "Is he ready for us?"
Tom-Tom nodded. "Follow me, little Wave."
Tom-Tom turned around and started to walk down the hill. To the opposite side of the sea. A forest was stretching out behind it and they slowly walked towards it. After walking for fifteen minutes they had entered the thick forest. And after another ten minutes, both Wave and Kurome had noticed that they were being followed by people on all sides. Not that they could see them directly. The forest was dense. Vines hanged down everywhere and most of the sunlight was blotted out by the trees. When they finally arrived at the meeting spot, it was so dark that a fire had been made in the small clearing.
The clearing was full of people. All standing around the outline of the small glade. Both military pesonal, warriors and Makeias's personal guards. Some small discussions were taking place but they all seized the moment that Tom-Tom walked into the clearing with Wave and Kurome.
As they walked up to the fire, a single figure rose up on the other side of it. Wave's eyes widened slightly at the appearance of Makeias.
Makeias had changed since the last time they met. The first thing Wave noticed was that the man was a lot taller than he had been the last time he saw him. And not by a small margin. Makeias was almost two decimeters taller than he had been before Garu. He had already been a tall man but now he was almost tall enough to reach the shoulders of his guards. He was also a lot thinner than he had been. As if his body mass had simply been stretched out. His hair that had been brown with gray streaks was now completely black. And it looked like it was wet.
He still wore his destroyed general's coat but that was the only piece of clothing from his imperial uniform that he was still wearing. His entire body and arms were completly wrapped in bandages all the way up to his jaw. He had three belts wrapped around his upper body. Two straight around his chest and one over his shoulder to the other half of his chest. Dark marks could vaguely be seen under the white cloth. Especiall at his throat and chest. He was wearing some rather baggy cargo pants but had no clothes on him otherwise. He was barefooted. His feet and his hands were the only parts of his body that wasn't covered complelety in bandages. Apart from his head.
He slowly rose up. His eyes focused on Wave. The few parts of his skin that could be seen were sickeningly pale.
"General." Wave said and walked up to the other side of the fire. Using the man's former rank by reflex. Even if none of them were a part of the military anymore. "You have have been through better days."
"And they are not coming back." Makeias said and looked at Wave. "You as well." Makeias looked Wave up and down. He still wore the black coat that marked him as an admiral. But the biggest diffrence to the boy's appearance was that he carried a piece of black clothing wrapped around his head. Covering up his right eye. Makeias pointed at his own eye.
"By who?"
"Esdese." Wave said with an empty voice.
"Recoverable?"
"I'm afraid not."
Makeias nodded. "My condolences." He pointed at his own throat. A long black spot trailing across it under the bandages. "She gave me a parting gift as well. I could not talk properly for a week."
"She cut off your throat?" Wave said in suprise.
"Yeah. But the worst damage I recieved at Garu was actually caused by Tatsumi. He cleaved my chest in two." he said and gestured to his body.
"And you still managed to survive?" Wave sounded shocked.
"At a cost. Though I am still a bit unsure if I am alive or not."
"What do you mean?" Wave asked.
"You don't need to bother yourself with that, Wave. How are your forces doing?"
"I lost a lot of them when I parted from the empire. But those who stayed have been loyal. The situation has stabilized but it is hard to direct fifteen ships when you are constantly undermanned."
"I could probably give you some men." Makeias said and scratched his chin. "At least enough to man all your ships properly."
"I am grateful for your offer, general. But I can't accept that until I know that we are on the same side in this conflict."
Makeias smiled at Wave. "I guess that it wasn't that hard to realize why I summoned you here. Though I am suprised that you two trust me and mine enough to come walking into out midst alone. Without guards and to a location that I decided on."
"We talked many times before the battle of Garu. I think I got a good grip on your character. I think that even if you for some reason wanted to see me dead, you would still try to first use me to reach your own goals."
Makeias scratched his chin."What about your goals, Wave? You always said that you wanted to stop the suffering in the empire by stopping the conficts within it. That was the reason you gave me as to why you joined the imperial military. Yet now you have created another schism within this huge nation. Ensuring that more conflict is yet to come."
"I realized that you were right all along." Wave said and looked down into the fire. His face filled with bitterness. "We will never see peace with the current imperial court. All sorts of stability that they will achieve will be based on suppression. I had hoped that I could help the empire change from the inside but in the end I was not strong enough to just stand by and watch how it practice it's cruelties. In the end, I didn't have the resilience."
"In all honesty, I don't think that it is entirely healthy to be that jaded to human suffering. You should not regard it as a weakness, Wave. But what will you do now?"
Wave looked up at the other man. "We have been traveling along the shoreline. Stopping plunderers and others who pray on the weak. But it has been hard to do so without attracting too much attention to ourselves. It is hard enough to move around with our fleet without being detected. But the bigger problem is that we actually lack a clear goal or plan. Which is why I was so quick to answer to your message."
Makeias nodded. "It is hard to accomplish much when your entire force is based in the sea. You need to ally yourself to someone."
"There are plenty of rivers that are big enough to allow us to move further into the empire. But doing so without some kind of purpose or land suppport would just be an unnecessary risk." he said and looked Makeias in the eyes. "I have considered talking to the revolutionary army."
"I would advice against it." Makeias said. "You and I have caused way too much damage to the revolutionary movement for them to ever trust us."
"Are you sure about that, general." Wave said. "If you and I could join forces with the revolutionary army then our combined strength would match what the revolutionary movement had behind it in it's prime. And together with night raid, we would have enough teigu's between us to challenge the empire openly."
"I killed night raid's leader back in Garu." Makeias said calmly. Making Wave stop his reasoning. "And if my sources don't fail me, your bodyguard killed another one of their members a long time ago. If you try to join them then you should be prepared to get stabbed in the back. Remember that night raid was created for the purpose of revenge. If that group even survived losing it's leader."
Wave looked at Makeias. His expression a bit sceptical. "But you still want me to join forces with you. Don't you?"
"Yeah." Makeias said with a large smile. "The fact that i revealed my own position to you and that you walked right into my camp with only one bodyguard shows that you and I already have a rather high level of trust between us."
Wave nodded. "And I can't get you to start negotiating with night raid?"
"It is not a choice based on principles. I simply find that risk too big right now."
"He is afraid of Akame." the voice of a little girl suddenly said.
Both Wave and Kurome jumped slightly to the side as they both realized that someone had walked up their side. They hadn't been able to detect her presence at all. Not even Kurome, who reached for her sword by reflex. Beside them stood a small blonde girl. She couldn't be more than fourteen years old. She was wearing what looked like a sack with holes in it for her head and arms. She wore a military helmet that was way to large for her. Her head just filling the center of it.
"Ahh, hello there, Liza." Makeias said. "You returned a bit faster than I had expected."
Liza ignored him and turned to Wave. Pointing her thumb in Makeias's direction. "As you might have figured out, this bastard is pretty hard to kill. But his tricks and abilities means little against Akame. One cut from her teigu and it is bye-bye for the pillager."
Wave just stared at the strange appearance of the little girl before him. Both he and Kurome had already noticed that there was something very strange about the kid beside them. Their instincts warned them of her. But they couldn't see why.
"Wave, Kurome, this is one of my more powerful subordinates. Her name is Liza. Be careful around her. She has a horrible temper." Makeias said and smiled at them. He then turned his head to her. "Did you manage to complete your task?"
"Of course I did. No one will ever hear from them again."
"Did you figure out if they were working together with Kai's other suspects?"
"Not really." Liza said with a shrug. "But it doesn't matter. They are all feeding the crops now."
Makeias frowned at her words. "You were not supposed to kill more than the three names that you were given."
"It is you who always tell us that there is better to be safe than sorry." Liza said. "Now you don't have to worry about insubordination from the other suspects."
Makeias looked at her with irritation. He had a feeling that she had killed those suspects just to spite him. And that was a sour idea to swallow. "Go fetch something to eat. Then head back to the second encampment." he ordered with a nod to the side.
Liza smiled at him in a mocking way and walked off. Confirming Makeias's theory. He looked at the little girl's back as she left. Liza's behaviour had turned even worse after he had taken her brother from her and sent him to the capital before Garu. Her malice was now only matched by her growth. He had always reasoned that the speed of her power growth wasn't an issue since she didn't enjoy violence and cruelty. But that had changed when she lost her brother. Now she might actually be a new Esdese in the making. Even if she was driven more by vengance and pain than joy and pleasure.
Makeias had to remind himself that he still had her brother as an insurance against her. He hadn't allowed Liza to meet Jack after he had been brainwashed and sent to the capital. She didn't know how much was left of her little brother. And that was Makeias main hook on her.
"Entitlement is the first step towards revenge, Wave." he said as the little girl moved out of their sight. "If you think that every single thing in the world has hurt you and wronged you, then all manners of cruelties will seem justifiable. You must never allow yourself to lose that perspective."
Wave simply nodded as Makeias's eyes returned to him.
"Anyway, Wave, lets get down to the real question. I will not join forces with night raid and I advice you not to do so as well. I would however be more than happy to make an alliance with you in order to change the state of the empire and eradictate the revolutionary army. Do you want to join me in this undertaking?"
Wave looked at Makeias. He had come here in order to make this deal but there was something that he needed to check first.
"What is your goal, Makeias?"
Makeias's smile didn't reach his eyes. "That is some very valuable information that you're asking for. We are currently fighting a war in which we are outgunned and outmanned. Giving away such information to the wrong source could mean our end."
"Then how do I know that our ambitions align?" Wave said and met Makeias gaze.
"I can promise you this, Wave. I strive for stability. First we overthrow the warmongering court and the structure they have established, thus destroying the support for night raid and the revolutionary army. If the leadership of the empire is fixed then the revolutionary movement will lose it's purpose. Then we weed out those that are still fighting among them. Aquiring peace in the empire. And then we will destroy all the existing teigus."
"That is quite a hopeful mission statement." Wave said and smiled.
Makeias returned the smile. "Well, a man can dream."
"Just one more thing, Makeias. I need to have a say in how we are going to do this. I can say that I already have certain objections to how your operation works."
"I can promise that I will listen. I can not promise that your objections always will change the plans." Makeias said as he walked around the fire to them.
Wave shrugged. "Well, that is better than most organizations that I have been a part of."
Makeias reached out with an open hand and a smile. Wave looked at him for some moments. Then he returned the smile and grabbed Makeias's hand. "For the people"
Makeias shook his hand. "For the people." he repeated as his smile grew further.
Suddenly Wave's arm winced back slightly by reflex. He would have moved his hand away from Makeias if the other man's grip on him hadn't been so strong. Wave didn't know why but for some reason his body rejected Makeias's touch. As if the other man's touch was damaging him.
A bit of worry crept into Makeias expression. "Is everything all right?"
But before Wave could answer, the strange sensation was gone. Just as quickly as it had begun. He looked at Makeias for some moments. "No sorry. It's nothing."
Makeias nodded and let go of Wave's hand. "Good." he said and gestured to the woods behind him. "Come. Let me give you some insight in how my organization works."
Wave nodded. I am guessing that you already have some sort of scheme going." he said. "Considering how well your forces seem to have coped with leaving the empire."
"I told you before, Wave. There is no such thing as a perfect plan. The world is too chaotic for that. If you want to be prepared then you sould have a plan ready for every possible scenario."
"Yeah. I remember." Wave said.
"However, I have always had a clear goal in mind. For more than three years now actually." Makeias said calmly.
"This is impossible." Tatsumi complained in a shaky voice. His legs shaking even more.
"Higher." Esdese ordered. Standing right beside him.
"Willpower can only do so much." Tatsumi said as he struggled with the small iron bar on his shoulders. The thin piece of metal weighing far more than most training tools.
"Higher!" Esdese said a bit louder. Her arms crossed over her chest. One of her hands holding Incursio. They were standing in the middle of a training hall. There were a few others in it but most of them tried to act unpertubed by the pair of teigu users that were training in the middle of it.
"Are you even listening to what I am saying?" Tatsumi said as sweat ran down his face.
"HIGHER!" Esdese exclaimed. Actually sounding threatening.
And that was enough to make Tatsumi's instincts give him the last push. With a grunt he managed straighten up and lift the metal bar until his arms were straight.
Esdese smiled. "See. I told you that you could do it. Now hold it like that for-"
Esdese didn't manage to say anything more before Tatsumi collapsed down on his back with a loud "thump". The metal rod landing on his chest. He pushed against it but couldn't get it off him.
"A little help?" he grunted up at Esdese who was looking down at his struggling.
She sighed but when she bent down there was a smile on her face. She grabbed the metal rod with a hand and lifted it from Tatsumi. "Your synchronization with Incursio is off the charts but when it comes to your basic body strength, you still have ways to go." she said as she straightened up.
"If I had Incusrio I could easily lift it." Tatsumi defended.
"If you had Incursio fully activated, you could easily break it." Esdese said. "We are not here to train you with Incursio. Frankly I don't think training you in that regard would make a diffrence. The growth of your power with the teigu even exceeds my own. We are here to train you against Incursio. A good start to that will be to level up your physique a bit."
She threw the piece of metal a bit up into the air and caught it again. She leisurely swung with it in the air a couple of times for old times sake. It was an old tool she had found when she was alone and roamed the north. After she had lost her clan but before she had joined the imperial military. The density of the rod was extreme. Making it heavier than an elephant. She had used it as a tool to fight with for a little while but had then left it for faster ways of fighting.
"Okay, get up. Next we will train your midsection for a bit."
Tatsumi was about to get up when he noticed how a single man walked into the training hall and then immediately left. Only to then enter it again and walking over to the left. That was his signal. His guest was coming.
Tatsumi rolled over so that he was lying on his stomach. "I'm spent, Esdese. I need to rest."
"Nonsense." Esdese said while she looked at the metal in her hand. "You can still go on for quite some time. I can tell."
"Do you ever consider that you might be wrong sometimes?" Tatsumi said down into the floor.
"Of course." she said and poked him in the side with the rod. "I just know that I ain't wrong right now."
"I need some rest."
Esdese put the end of the rod into his back. "Maybe you just need some motivation." she said and started to loosen her grip on the tool. Making it's crushing weight slowly press down on Tatsumi.
"Ok, ok" Tatsumi said immediately. "I will get up." It was meaningless to challenge her in these areas, he knew. If it was for the purpose of training him and make him stronger, Esdese had no qualms about inflicting a lot pain upon him in the process.
Esdese lifted the rod from his back. "See. Just some motivation needed." she said and smiled down at him.
Tatsumi turned around and looked at her with accusing eyes. "Could you at least get me some water."
Esdese shrugged with a smile. "Sure." She threw Incursio to him and then turned around and started to walk over to the locker rooms. "Start doing some stretching."
"Yeah, yeah." Tatsumi said and rose up. He sighed in relief when she left the room. Because just some moments after she had disappeared into the locker rooms, Izou walked through the training hall's main entrance.
Tatsumi turned to Izou as the other man walked up to him. Nobody payed the samurai like warrior any special attention. When he got close to Tatsumi he stopped. Both of them stood still and watched each other without saying a word. Then Tatsumi very slightly bowed down to Izou. The motion so small that it was hard to detect. But the same second he was finished, Izou mimicked the movement.
They looked at each other some moments. Then they both reached down to their blades at lightning speed.
Tatsumi immediately activated the first step of Incursio and turned invisible. He didn't want any of the bystanders to understand what was going on. He jumped to the side of Izou and then came straight at him with his spear. But his opponent could feel where Tatsumi was coming from and jumped to the side as he swung at him. Izou immediately couterattacked and swung his sword in Tatsumi's direction. Forcing the younger man to block the attack and move out from his invisibility.
After that they started to swing at each other in an incredible speed. Tatsumi made sure to stay on the defensive but still push enough to force Izou to take the initiative. Not allowing the fight to slow down. Not that it seemed necessary. Izou was an extremly capable swordsman and Tatsumi could already feel that if he didn't summon Incursio's full ability, he would lose. But just as Tatsumi had hoped, it was not necessary.
As they reached the seventh second of their fight, Esdese attacked Izou from behind.
Izou only barely managed to avoid the swing of Esdese's giant sword by jumping to the side. His eyes were wide in suprise but he didn't have time to say anything before Tatsumi and Esdese pressed the attack together.
The fight was very short after that. Izou didn't stand much chance against a fighter of Esdese's caliber and now he also had to worry about Tatsumi. It was over in less than ten seconds.
Izou was forced to block a swing from Tatsumi's spear from the front when Esdese utilized her superior speed and jumped past his side. Spinning around as soon as she had passed him. And while he was blocking Tatsumi, she swung her sword down towards his feet. Cutting through half of both Izou's ankles with a single swing. Severing his heels.
Izou screamed out as he suddenly lost all the ablity to stand. He raised his sword to strike at Tatsumi as he was falling down on his knees but before he could start the swing, Esdese's hand closed around his own from behind. In less than a second, she froze his hand and then crushed it with her own. Leaving a frozen stump as his sword fell down on the floor.
Izou winced heavily from the pain and then his furious eyes moved to Tatsumi's.
"This is not wh-" was all he had time to yell before Tatsumi kicked him in the throat. Damaging it's vocal folds enough to prevent him from speaking clearly. Izou coughed and spat violently as Tatsumi slowly straightened up.
"Any wounds?" Esdese asked him as she still held on to Izou's handless arm. Lifting him slighty with it.
Tatsumi shook his head.
"What happened here?" she then asked.
"I don't know. Izou just came in here and started to train. Then he suddenly attacked me out of nowhere. If I hadn't aleady had Incursio activated, I would be dead now."
Esdese nodded at him as Izou suddenly started to wheeze and spit loudly. Trying and failing to speak. Esdese looked around in the training hall but all the others that had been there had fled the moment the fighting broke out. As she did that, Tatsumi moved down and pretended to search Izou for other weapons. After some moments, he found what he was looking for. A small piece of paper hidden inside on of his pockets. Tatsumi could almost feel his heart stop but did his best to conceal any reaction.
"You don't have to check him, Tatsumi. He won't leave this room alive." Esdese said and looked down at him. Tatsumi nodded at her.
Then as nimbly as he could, he took the small piece of paper and hid it in his sleeve while it was still in Izou's pocket. He held his breath as he straightened up and moved away from Izou. Esdese's eyes following. She looked at him with a questioning expression. He nodded at her and after some moments she nodded back and turned her attention back to Izou. Her shift in attention filling Tatsumi with relief.
"So..." she called out loudly and grabbed Izou's hair as she turned him around towards her. Lifting him up with her grip. "How do you want to die, former member of Wild hunt?"
Izou tried to speak but the noises he made were impossible to understand. Halfway through he just started to cough.
"You are leaving it to me, I take it. How generous of you." she said and smiled down at him.
Izou's remaining hand slowly moved down and grabbed his sword. Esdese eyes following him. Interested in what he was hoping to accomplish. But then he simply lifted the blade up and offered it to her. Esdese looked at it in suprise for a little while before she took the blade from him.
"I get it. You want the blade that has been your partner to live on." Esdese said and looked at him. Holding his sword in the hand that wasn't holding his hair. She lifted it up and looked at it up and down.
"This is a beautiful weapon." she said and moved the sword around in her hand. "And almost perfectly balanced as well."
Izou nodded the best he could while she was lifting him with her grip on his hair.
"I will admit that it is a bit short in range compared to my current sword but I think I could manage." she said and held the weapon to the side while looking at it. "You know what, if you ask me nicely, then I might actually take this weapon as my own and carry it through all the glorious battles I will participate in."
Izou tried to say something but only hissing came out.
Esdese turned her face to him. Giving him a curious look. "What was that? I can't hear you."
Izou tried to speak again but the results were the same. Coughing and wheezing.
"Do you want me to use this sword as my own?" she asked and looked at him questioningly.
Izou tried to nod but Esdese grip on his hair had tightened. Making it harder for him to move his head.
"I guess you don't want me to bring this sword into new battles, then?" Esdese said and looked at him.
He tried to speak again but to no avail. He mustered all his strength and managed to shake his head.
"No?" Esdese said and looked at him. "You don't want your legacy to continue? Is that what you mean?"
Izou looked at her and finally realized that she was playing with him. She had no intention of letting him have any joy before his death.
A certain hopelessness filled Izou's stern eyes and Esdese realized that the jig was up. A smile spread across her face. Sadistic and threatening.
"Well, a sword without a wielder is pretty useless. Wouldn't you say?"
She struck the sword down into the floor. Then she bent it slightly and stomped down with her heel on it's mid point with all her might. With a loud crack, the black blade shattered into two pieces. One third of it flying away across the floor. The other two thirds of the sword still attached to the handle Esdese was holding.
"Not much balance left in it now, swordmaster." Esdese said and put the blade in front of Izou's face. "Now it is barely comparable to the blades we equip the regular footsoldiers with." Esdese said and studied the man's face as despair and sadness filled it.
"Ohh, did you like this weapon?" Esdese teased cruelly. "How sad. It's time as a serviceable sword is now over."
Tears started to fill the corners of the man's eyes but his expression was still stern. Esdese had planned to make him cry loudly before his end but now a more fitting idea had found it's way into her head.
"If you loved this weapon so much then it is only fitting that you should become one with it." she said.
Suddenly Izou's lower body was sealed in a block of ice. Locking both his arms in place by his sides. Esdese took a step back from him and looked at the now detroyed blade.
"You know, down in the southern parts of the empire, they hold these huge carnivals." Esdese said as she trailed a finger along the side of Izou's broken weapon. "They have entertainers there that are specialized in all diffrent kind of tricks and shows. One group that always amazed me was the sword swallowers." Esdese said as her smile got wider. Her sharp eyes moving down to Izou's.
"I have tried to recreate it with many diffrent people but never really managed to make it work." she said and grabbed his jaw with the hand not holding the sword. "Well, they swallowed their swords, all right, but they did not really live through the process."
Izou's breath got faster as he realized what was about to happen. His eyes moving around frantically. Searching for a rescue.
"But since you really liked your weapon that much, I think it is only fitting that you should become it's sheath."
Izou tried to talk and struggle but the ice crawled up on his back until it had made it impossible for him to move his head around.
"Now," Esdese said as she moved close to him and lifted the sword so that it's broken tip was at his lips. "you don't want to contract your throat in any way, while we do this. So don't try to swallow or cough. Then your throat will squeeze your beloved blade and it will destroy your throat from the inside. So you will have to work strongly against your gagging reflexes or this won't end well. For you."
Esdese's hand took a harder grip on his jawbone and forced his mouth open. "Okay, here is your beloved. Accept all that is left of her." Esdese said and started to insert the blade into his mouth.
Izou managed to hold his dignified demeanor for some moments. But the panick and regret showed through as soon as the ruins of his belowed weapon started to touch the back of his tongue.
Tatsumi watched in silence as Izou started to scream in muffled terror. The man trying to not move too much. His eyes moving around in panick. He listened as the man's screams grew shriller and shriller and watched how Esdese's cheeks grew slightly red and how her smile grew even wider. Showing off all of her sharp and white teeth.
Tatsumi would normally have left earlier but this time he stayed and watched for a while.
This one is for you, Lubbock. ,he thought. The one who killed you now pays for it. And soon the empire that led to your end will as well.
He beheld the scene for a little while longer before he turned around and walked over to the locker rooms. Behind him Izou's screams were turning into desperate gurgling sounds.
"I warned you not to do that." Esdese almost shouted in an excited voice. "What kind of sheath refuses it's beloved sword? How useless are you?"
She continued on as Tatsumi walked out of the training hall. He walked over towards his locker and took up the small piece of paper that he had taken from Izou's pocket. He looked at it for some moments.
The letter contained a simple challenge to Izou. Telling him to come and fight Tatsumi in the training hall in a fair and honest duel. In the letter Tatsumi had written that he had wished for a chance to avenge his friend's death and he had ensured Izou that he had explained the situation to the great general and that she had given her consent to their duel. No matter the outcome.
Tatsumi scrumpled up the paper, put it in his mouth, chewed it and swallowed. If Esdese had found that note then everyting would have been over.
He knew that Izou would readily accept the challenge. He was the kind of man that welcomed a good challenges between warriors. So Tatsumi had put a watchout outside of the training hall to signal to him when Izou was arriving. The most dangerous part had been to initiate the fight without Esdese realizing that it was a duel. But he had been lucky and that had worked out smoothly.
Now his friend was avenged. But that was only half of the purpose of Izuo's death.
He walked up to his locker and took off his shirt just as Esdese walked into the room behind him. Unpertubed by the fact that it was the men's locker room. Not that there was anyone there but Tatsumi. She was wiping off the blood that her right hand was covered in on a piece of cloth torn from Izou's attire.
Tatsumi didn't turn around as she walked up to him from behind. She wrapped her long arms around his neck and let her hands move down his body. She put her chin against the side of his head. Her fingers lazily moving across his stomach.
"Sure you didn't take any hits?" she asked
"Positive!" Tatsumi said and snuggled up against her. Trying to be as affectionate as possible without things seeming out of place. Esdese moved her mouth down to his ear.
"What happened here, Tatsumi? Why were you fighting?"
"I honestly have no idea. He just attacked me." Tatsumi was confident that the few onlookers would be unable to really explain how it started.
"You sure about that?" she said and moved her lips closer to him. Tatsumi could basically feel how her lips moved against his ear as she whispered into it. "I don't mind if you just wanted him dead, Tatsumi. He was never one of mine. I have a grudge to settle with all members of their group."
Tatsumi slowly stroked his head up against hers. "He attacked me out of nowhere. Sure, we looked at each other for a while and I will not say that the atmosphere was relaxed in the room. I had a grudge towards him as well. But I did not do anything to provoke an open attack."
"Good riddance then" she said and kissed his ear. It seemed like the torture had gotten her a bit fired up.
"Then why do you think he attacked me?" Tatsumi said as she started to slowly kiss his face. "Do you think he was sent by somebody?"
Esdese snuggled a bit against the side of his head and then put her chin on his shoulder. Thinking about the situation as her hands started to work with Tatsumi's belt.
Tatsumi knew what she was thinking about. Those thoughts and suspicions were the main reason behind this little plan. Esdese was well aware of who Izou had worked for. She knew that if he was ordered to do this, then there was only one place where the orders could have come from.
And even if she was unaware of it, Tatsumi also knew who Izou had worked for. The prime minister.
Author's note:
Just in time.
A rather lengthy chapter this time around. With this we have started our new arc. This one will bring more change to the setting of this story than any of the previous ones. As this chapter gives clues to.
I reread the latest part of the manga the other day they and it hit me that the characters in it really have aged through the span of the story. And I don't just mean their personalities but their actual appearances has actually changed. Especially Tatsumi and Esdese. When you look at them in their first chapters of the manga, Tatsumi looks like a boy, not a man, and Esdese's feauters are not as sharp as they are in the newer chapters. Now the two of them actually look like grown ups. They just changed very slowly over the course of the story. Just as the characters in Full metal alchemist; Brotherhood.
It feels good to be back on schedule somewhat. Especially in regards to those that follow this story but don't have an account here on the site. Regularity means more in that regard since they don't get any notifications about new chapters. And I really don't want to lose any readers.
With that being said, the coming week will be very busy for me. I am hoping that I will get the next one ready in 10 day but there is a risk that I won't manage.
Well, we live in hope.
Have a great day and take care of each other.