(30/10 Edit : Next chapter delayed because of irl distractions. Should be released in 4-5 days.)
Not late by normal standards but late in regards to the promised deadline.
The consequences. (2/2)
Leone yawned deeply as she walked through the camp. Her hands behind her head.
It was growing rather late into the evening. The sun had almost completely settled. The sky slowly turning from blue to black. She had decided to go for a stroll in order to ease some of her boredom. But now she wasn't really sure where she was. The camp around her was in constant motion. Makeias' men constantly raising tents and structures. Picking down others. Leone could not see any patterns in their work but she was sure that there was one. But it did make it harder for her to navigate her way back to her tent. Since the entire camp was constantly changing.
"You don't have any idea of where I can get some food?" she called out to the small group that was following her. Her guards. Makeias had sent some of his own personal warriors to supervise her stay. The long and slender figures following her around wherever she went. Always keeping a distance. There was about twelve of them and they had never responded to her even once. This time was no exception.
"You know, if you never answer me, I won't even know if you can understand me." she called out to them as she walked on. Leone had fought against their kind before, back in Garu. She had actually killed a couple of them in her struggle to get to Najenda. So she was unsure if they held some sort of grudge towards her.
She sighed as she walked on. Looking around for some kind of landmark that she recognized. The group behind her continuing to shadow her. After a long while she sat down on a stack of wooden boxes. The stack placed between two tents. She stretched her legs for some moments. She considered activating Lionelle and use the teigu's superior smell and instincts to find her way back. But she didn't know how her guards would react to that and she was determined to at least not initiate any trouble while she was a "guest" in Makeias' camp. She didn't want to make things harder for Akame.
"Are you lost?" the voice of a young man called out to her from her left.
When she turned her head she saw how a young lad was walking towards her. Wearing an piece of dark cloth around his head as an eyepatch and having a long black coat over his shoulders. Almost reaching down to the ground. A sword strapped across his back under it. She had seen this young man a couple of times before. It was Wave, ex-jaeger and leader of the fleet that Makeias had at his disposal.
The young man wore a friendly smile as he walked up to her. "These camps can be hard to navigate at first."
"Tell me about it." Leone said. "I have started to wonder if they keep the camp so chaotic just to mess with people like me." she gave him a warm expression. He was the only one in this camp that she actually liked a bit. Not that she had talked to him before.
"Yeah. I felt the same when I first came here." Wave said. "But the truth of the matter is simply that most units in these camps already have specific orders. So they don't interact with each other. Everyone doing their own thing. So everything just seems like chaos if you don't belong to a unit. May I?" he said and gestured to the box beside her with an arm.
"Oh, by all means."Leone said and scooted over a bit.
Wave sat down beside her. He reached in under his coat and brought forth a wineskin. He took a swig of it and then offered it to her.
"Ohh hoh, trying to charm me, are you?" she asked with a teasing smile but took the bag from him nonetheless.
"Just common hospitality, my lady." Wave answered.
Leone took a deep gulp from the bag. It was wine. Strong and sour. But Leone was not a picky drinker and the strong alcohol burn felt good through her stomach and chest.
"Soo..." Wave said as she brought down the wineskin. "How has your stay here in the camp been so far?"
"Boring." Leone said and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She had been in the camp for five days and she had not found much to entertain herself with. Especially since she was trying to avoid any trouble at all. "Having this cheerful group staring at my neck wherever I go hasn't helped." She said and nodded at Makeias' guards.
Wave gave them a glance. "I am sure you can understand that they are necessary."
"I never objected to their necessity. But you asked me how I felt so.." she said with a shrug.
Wave nodded. "Many in this camp fear you greatly."
"Do you fear me?" Leone said and smiled playfully at him.
"Should I?" Wave answered and gave her a more composed grin.
She leaned in towards him slowly. But Wave didn't back off. He held his ground. Looking at her while keeping his stale smile. When they were so close that Leone's nose was about to touch his, she backed off.
"Well, you have some balls, I will give you that." she giggled and took another swig of the wine.
"Thanks for that, I guess." Wave said and leaned forward a bit. Putting his elbows on his knees. "My lady, I want to ask you a question but first of all I need to know something."
"Okay."
"I need to know if you resent me." Wave said and turned his eyes to hers. "Leone of Night raid, do you hold a grudge towards me?"
Leone leaned forward a bit as well as she looked at him. Waiting for some moments before speaking. "Much of my life has been destroyed by the faction that you served for so long. In this struggle I have lost six of those dearest to me. Three of them at the hand of the jaegers. So what do you think?"
Wave just looked at her. His expression empty. Leone straightened up and drank deep from the wine. Giving it back to him when she was done. "So how many?"
"What?" Wave asked as his eyebrows raised slightly.
"How many of your friends have we killed? You have to be an idiot to only look at the casulties on your own side. The world is not black and white."
Wave was silent for some moments. Thinking about his history. "Three. Three of my dear and dysfunctional friends have been killed by Night raid. I am not able to count everyone I know that has fallen to this conflict."
Leone nodded. "Not that I think that these things can be measured that easily but it does seem like we are even in that regard."
"So it does." Wave said silently.
Leone looked at him for some moments. "I don't hold a grudge against you, Wave." she said and gave him a faint smile. "I know a little bit about you. Our spies have given us some information about your history. I know what happened at Garu and how you lost your eye."
Wave returned her small smile. "I am glad to hear that."
"Don't misunderstand me." Leone said and her smile grew wider. "If your faction chose to turn against us then I will beat the living shit out of you. But I will not resent you ,Wave. It seems clear to me that you are trying to make the situation better. In whatever misguided way you can."
"Well, thanks for that at least. If it is any help, I am no longer a member of the jaegers. As you know."
"So, what did you want to ask?"
Wave drank some of the wine before he spoke. "I am worried about Kurome. She took my place and I wish she hadn't."
Leone nodded slowly. She knew what he was talking about.
"I am afraid that she might not come out of this alive." Wave said somberly.
"Do you think that she will attack her captors?" Leone asked.
"No. I don't think that she will jeopardize this entire operation. Kurome is good at staying the course." he answered. Ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that was reminding him that she had already betrayed the empire by her own initiative. At least to some degree.
"Then you don't have anything to worry about." Leone said with a carefree shrug. "I doubt that she will come to any harm."
"Doubt?" Wave said and looked at her. The worry plain on his face.
"Well I can't guarantee anything." Leone admitted. "Those sisters have a strange relationship. I have talked a lot about this with Akame but I still can't understand it. In some strange way she regards Kurome as her responsibility. Since she couldn't make Kurome do the right thing she feels that she needs to be the one to stop her."
"I sort of know what you mean. Kurome has a similar idea of the situation. Just vice versa." Wave said and looked up at the sky. The last of the sunlight was disappearing and some of the stars were starting to become visible.
"It seems like they are both immensely stupid in their own way." Leone said with warm smile.
"Aye. So it does." Wave said and handed over the wineskin again.
"Though, as I said, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Akame is the one in control over the situation. Even if those two can't work things out through other means than fighting, Akame will not allow that to happen. She will prioritize the mission over her own wishes."
Wave sighed lightly. Allowing her reassurance to sink in. Even if he knew that she was uncertain herself.
"But you really seem worried about your colleague." Leone said and smiled mischievously at him. Leaning in towards him again. "Is she something more than that to you?"
"It's nothing strange about a commander worrying about his subordinates." he said and looked off to the side. Not meeting her eyes. But Leone could see the slight redness appearing on his face. Her instincts had been right.
"Ohhh?" she said. Leaning in even further. "I thought there was something more to it. The way she looked back at you as she left your group seemed so compassionate."
"You think so?" Wave said. His eyes immediately returning to hers. Too late realizing that he had walked right into the trap.
Leone got a triumphant look on her face as she leaned back. "I knew that there was something more between the two of you." she said and nodded to herself. "The way you simply accepted her decision to ignore your orders down at the meeting seemed a bit off."
Wave simply stayed silent and drank some of the wine.
"Sooo... it is easy to see that your relationship has become more intimate relatively recently." Leone thought out loudly. Grabbing her chin in a thinking pose. She looked at Wave. "Since you still seem to be unsure of how to handle the situation. Did you butter those biscuits recently?"
Wave started to cough heavily. Trying to speak up with wine in his throat. Leone just slapped him on the back.
"There, there. It is nothing to be flustered over. It's only healthy for two young lovebirds to explore those kind of things." she said loudly with a wide smile.
"We... cough have.. cough not.." Wave sputtered.
"Really? That's a shame." Leone said and gave him one last slap on the back. "A young warrior like her could need some exploring in her life." Leone said with a smile. "I have seen too many young boys and girls so focused on fighting that they die without ever experiencing some of the more basic joys of life."
Wave cleared his throat as Leone kept talking.
"Really, you should try to get to that. Doing the do might change your outlook a little. And it might get some of the ill will out of her system as well. People in our positions might die any day. You need to take care of all the opportunities that you have."
Wave looked at her as he straightened up a bit. "Even if you say that, Kurome and I are commander and subordinate. It would be inappropriate if we..." his voice trailed off.
"And gods forbide that we ever do anything inappropirate." a new voice called out to them from the side. The rather warm and friendly atmosphere dying immediately. Replaced by cold tensity. Leone and Wave both turned their head to their visitor.
Makeias was walking up to them. His ruined cloak blowing slightly in the wind. A step behind him walked Liza, the little blonde girl that now acted as his bodyguard as a punishment. She was wearing her usual attire. Dirty rags and a helmet way to big for her head. Both of them were barefooted.
Wave and Leone only stared at Makeias as he walked up to them. He himself could feel that he had killed the mood with his arrival.
"Ohh don't let me bother you. You seemed to be getting along fine."
Wave looked a bit uncertain of the situation while Leone glared at Makeias. "Can I help you, pillager?"
"I am actually only here because of you." Makeias said and smiled at her. "No one had seen you at your tent for a couple of hours now, so I was notified. And since I was close by I choose to handle it personally. I was worried that we had a situation but it seems like you were just out here drinkng with my dear admiral."
"Yeah." Leone said in a disinterested tone. "I was actually enjoying myself before you came here. For the first time in days."
"I couldn't help but notice that you already seemed to resent me when we first met down at that meeting. I don't remember harming you. So why the resentment?"
Leone looked at him for a moment before she spoke. "Did you kill Najenda?"
"I did." Makeias answered immediately. His smile lessening slightly.
"Then why do you need to ask that question?" Leone said. Open in her hostility.
Makeias shrugged. "Would you have preferred it if I let Esdese have her after I had beaten her then? I think you yourself know more than most what that would mean."
"Or you could have just rolled over and died." Leone said coldly. "Then a couple more thousands of people wouldn't have to suffer the looting and raiding you are currently bringing to them."
"You are being a bit unreasonable here, Leone." Makeias tried. His smile staying.
Leone rose up from the box. Dusting of her clothes. "I am heading back to my tent."
"Come on now." Makeias said as she started to walk past him. "Is there something I can do to elevate your opinion of me?"
Leone stopped when she was standing beside him. Makeias quickly jumped on her hesitation. "What if I gave you some valuable information? Huh?"
Leone gave him a sceptical look. "Like what?" she said. Her voice bored and annoyed.
Makeias smile grew wider. "How about the tale of Tatsumi the traitor?"
Leone immediately took the bait. "What do you mean? What more is there to know?"
"A lot." Makeias said engimatically. "A whole lot, actually. Few things are as they seem to be at first glance."
Leone turned towards him. No longer bothering with the subtle power play. The possibilities of what was to come was enough to make her discard all the charades. She still remembered so clearly how Tatsumi had come for her down in the torture chambers. She still wasn't sure of what to make of that. And he had fought against Makeias back in Garu. She still wanted to believe.
"What do you mean?" she repeated. "Tell me."
Makeias smiled. He reached out with a hand towards her. "Friends?"
Leone looked at him and then at his hand. The only part of him that wasn't covered in bandages. Apart from his head and bare feet.
"If we can't be friends then maybe we can at least regard each other as future allies?" Makeias tried and reached a bit further towards her.
Leone reached out to grab his hand. "Fine." she sighed reluctantly.
She didn't know what it was that gave her the warning. Maybe it was the way Makeias skin repelled her. Or maybe it was how the blonde little girl beside them seemed to be both annoyed and disgusted by Makeias' offered hand. Or maybe it was just her intuition. But for some reason, she knew what to do just a single moment before it was too late.
She stopped her hand. Just a centimeter from Makeias'. When she stopped Makeias moved in the last bit to grab her. And that was when she realized that something was up.
She immediately activated Lionelle. Her body changing in the fraction of a second. Makeias hand grabbing her large, more beastly hand. His eyes widening in suprise.
Now that Leone had the extreme instincts of Lionelle activated, she could feel it. Makeias might look suprised but whatever he had intended to do was still happening. Something was coming. Something from under his skin was getting ready to move over into hers. She didn't know what it was or why it was trying to move into her but she wouldn't allow it to do so without some resistance.
A tenth of a second after their hands had touched, Leone closed her beastly hand with all the strength she had. A fast as she could. Squeezing Makeias' hand until she felt several bones snap in her grip.
"Gaah!" Makeias exclaimed and immediately withdrew his hand from her grip. Tearing it away from her hold before Morbus had gotten a chance to work it's way into her now very resistant body.
He took a couple of steps backward. Holding his hand. Bent slightly forward.
Everyone around them moved extremely quickly.
As soon as Makeias had backed of, Liza put herself between Leone and Makeias. Smashing her naked foot down into the ground between them with such force that it created a small dust cloud around her knees.
The group of Makeias' personal guards that had been shadowing Leone all this while immediately leaped into action. All of them drawing their weapons. Creating a circle around them in less than two seconds. Wave only managed to get inside the circle of guards by immediately moving up behind Leone. A hand on his still sheated weapon.
"Let's just all calm down a bit here." Wave called out loudly. His eyes shifting from Leone to Liza and to the circle of tall guards that were slowly closing in around them.
"So Makeias uses a little child as his bodyguard?!" Leone shouted mockingly. Taking a fighting stance. "Does the little girl want to play with the grown-ups?" she taunted.
Liza smashed her fist into her open palm with such force that it created a loud bang. Wind blowing against Leone's face. A grin plastered on the small girl's face.
"Everybody just relax for a moment!" Wave shouted. "This is folly. Come on, Leone. Stop this."
"I was not the one to make the first strike, Wave." Leone shouted back without turning around. Her eyes glued to the little child in front of her.
Wave shifted his focus to Makeias. "General, make them stop. We're going to lose Kurome at this point."
Makeias looked at Wave for some moments. Then he simply turned around and walked away. Still slightly hunched over. Holding his heavily damaged hand.
For some moments it looked like he was just going to leave and let the situation unfold. But after he had taken a couple of steps, the little girl straightened up, spat to the side, and then turned around and ran after him.
Leone remained in her fighting stance, looking at the circle of drawn swords around her. But some moments after Liza had run off, they started to back away as well. Slowly withdrawing back to their usual distance.
A little while after that, Leone relaxed from her fighting stance. Straightening up a bit. Still keeping Lionelle activated. She looked after Makeias as he disappeared away into the camp.
"You have a funny way of picking sides, Wave." she said silently. "You leave the ice queen to join up with the pillager. Were there really no better choices around?"
"Don't think too badly of us, Leone." Wave said. Still unsure of what it was that had triggered that troublesome situation. "We are trying to make things better."
Leone sighed and looked at him. "You might be a bit naive Wave, I am as well, but at least you got some spine. Unlike that one." she said and pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. In Makeias' direction.
Wave looked at Makeias and then gave her doubtful smile.
"Ohh I am fully serious, Wave." Leone said. Deactivating Lionelle. Her appearance going back to normal. "He is recourceful and very dangerous, I am well aware, but he is still a coward at heart. He hates taking risks. I can tell."
Wave sighed. "Maybe you should go back to your tent, my lady. It seems like there is only trouble waiting for you out here."
"Yeah." Leone said. Looking around the camp. "You're probably right."
"Want me to walk you there?" Wave offered.
"I don't like to come off as needy but the fact is that I would probably not be able to find my way back without some guidance." she admitted.
Wave gestured with an arm for her to come with him and they started to walk through the active camp.
"By the way, Wave." Leone said after walking in silence for a while. "Do you know what the pillager was talking about regarding Tatsumi?"
"Nope. Can't say that I do." Wave answered honestly.
"Pity." Leone said. Walking with her arms behind her back.
Makeias' offer had managed to get her thoughts going. And a part of her instincts told her that there was something important hidden behind his words.
Tatsumi's chains clinked as he walked down the corridor. Surrounded by a group of guards. He was limping heavily on one of his legs. He wasn't even sure why. His feets and hands were chained together. Making it hard for him to walk, even without his damaged leg. All his chains were connected to a cable. Which the man behind him was holding. A giant of a man. Shirtless and muscular. Wearing one of the big helmets of a torture master.
The man's obvious proffesion made Tatsumi reason that they were on their way to the torture chambers.
He had come back to his conscious two weeks ago. Tied up in some sort of infirmary. Heavily bandaged and unable to move. Hurting greatly. Some attendants and doctors had come by after a while but none answered his questions. Or spoke to him in general. He had asked them what had happened and how he had gotten to the infirmary but no one talked to him.
He had considered to refuse to eat what they gave him in response. But in the end he decided against it. For all he knew, he might be sent to a painful execution at any time. So then it made no sense to torment himself since his fate was probably already sealed. So he stopped asking questions after a while. Simply eating the food and medicine they gave him. Making it easier for them to treat him.
And he had been hurting pretty badly. The biggest damage seemed to be his shoulder. It seemed like they had operated on him while he was knocked out. Since he could see that he had been stitched together. It still hurt a lot and he couldn't move one of his arms around very well but at least it didn't hurt when he remained still. His face had been a diffrent matter.
It seemed like the punch that had knocked him out had been a harsh one. His nose had been broken in three places and three of his front teeth knocked in. His face flattened out in the middle. But amazingly enough, the doctors had managed to fix him up him pretty well. But it had been one of the most excruciating experiences of Tatsumi's life. The worst had been the teeth. They had attached some sort of plastic holder to his face. Steadying it up to it's former position as they allowed it to heal by itself.
His mouth had been a diffrent matter. His teeth had been knocked in but they hadn't been shattered or torn completely from their sockets. So the doctors had done several operations on him and then attached a bracelet to him that had slowly pushed his teeth back into their places. It had hurt a lot. But the worst part was that it never stopped hurting. It hurt day and night, not allowing him to sleep properly. Only getting any proper rest when he was drugged down. When twelve days had passed and they finally removed it, Tatsumi had forgotten how it felt to be free from the pain. And astonishingly enough, when he explored his mouth with his tongue again, his teeth were back in their proper places.
During all this time and all his suffering, no one had come to talk to him. No one had come to visit him. He had no idea of what was happening in the world outside of the small room he was in.
But after two weeks of his isolated treatment, the guards came for him. Led by an officer and a torture master. He was chained up and then led away from the infirmary. One of the doctors coming with them. The group moving through the palace.
Tatsumi had tried to ask the guards about where they were heading but no one answered him. They also avoided eye contact with him. The only interaction he got from the group was from the torture master behind him. The big man giving him a hard shove whenever he was slowing the group down.
Tatsumi was almost convinced that he was heading for the torture chambers. He could see no reason as to why they would heal him and pamper him up if he was only heading for an execution. He reasoned that they wanted to build him up a bit before they broke him with torture. To make his fall more agonizing for him. Or more rewarding for them.
The group walked like that for half an hour. Not passing by a single person. Tatsumi still had a hard time determining where they were heading when they turned around a corner and walked into yet another long corridor. Empty with the exception of one person. The one that had put him in that state to begin with.
Esdese was standing beside the door on the other side of the corridor. Leaning her back against the wall. Her arms crossed over her chest. One of her hands holding Incursio. She straightened up when their group entered the room and started walking towards them. Meeting them at half the way.
Her expression was cold and hard. Tatsumi had a hard time reading anything from her except cold authority. Her presence just as strong and dominating as usual.
As she moved up to the group she met his gaze straight on. The first one who had looked him in the eyes for fourteen days. Just that little act made him smile faintly. She still acknowledged him. Maybe as an enemy or as a victim but she still gave him some sort of recognition. After being ignored by the world for two weeks, that meant something to him.
The guards stood at attention and saluted her when she got close. The doctor bowing deeply. Esdese didn't respond to any of them. Her unfriendly eyes glued to Tatsumi's. The group parted when it became clear that she wasn't interested in anyone else. She walked directly up to him.
"Hey." he said gently and silently when she got close.
Her free hand came up and gabbed his jaw in a hard grip. She turned his head to the side roughly. Causing Tatsumi to wince since his entire face was still sore. She looked at his head, up and down. She then turned it to the other side. Just as roughly. Examining that side as well. After that her fingers moved into his mouth. Forcing it open as she looked at his teeth. She let go of him after that.
"He is paler than I had hoped." she said in her hard and authorative voice.
"He will get some more color to his skin soon enough, great general" the doctor said in an apologetic voice. "He has been under intense care for two weeks straight. It is only natural that he might be a bit pale."
"And he is limping on his right leg." she said. Her voice foreboding.
"We decided to focus on his other wounds, great general. The damage in his leg will heal well enough on it's own."
"His chest posture is very stiff in comparison to the rest of his body." she said. "So I guess you didn't manage to fix his shoulder either."
"His shoulder is fixed, great general. It will just hurt for a couple more days." he said. When Esdese remained silent he continued on. "Excuse me if I step out of line, great general, but look at him. It has only been two weeks. His current condition is a small miracle. And we have worked tirelessly to make it so."
Esdese looked Tatsumi straight in the eyes. Her gaze hard and powerful. For the first time in a long while, he didn't want to meet it. But he did. For some reason he felt like he couldn't show her any hesitation right now.
"Very well." Esdese said and looked at the doctor. "You are dismissed."
The doctor bowed deeply and turned around. Walking away from the group. Esdese herself turned around and started walking in the opposite direction. The group starting to follow her after some steps. Tatsumi himself limping along the best he could.
But it was harder now. Esdese kept a slightly higher pace than they had before and the group moved to keep up. Making it hard for Tatsumi to keep up with them. It didn't take more than a minute before he started to stumble. Slowing down considerably. And when he did, the torture master behind him shoved him on forward. But since the tempo was too high, the shove was too hard.
Tatsumi's chains did not allow him to take longer steps. So he simply fell down on the floor. Catching himself with his hands as he landed on his knees. The group slowed down at this. Unsure of what they should do. The torture master behind him grew annoyed. Since it could be seen as a failure on his part since he was holding the prisoner.
"Get up!" he said angrily and pulled at Tatsumi's chains. Unknowingly making it harder for him to do so. Tatsumi slowly started to stand up but apparently not fast enough. The torture master put his foot on his back.
"Didn't you hear me?" he said a little bit louder and kicked Tatsumi in the back. Making him fall forward. Landing on his chest. The pain in his shoulder exploding. But Tatsumi managed to muffle his pained grunt. None of the guards noted it.
But she did.
It was apparent that the torture master thought that Tatsumi now was nothing more than a regular prisoner. That his betrayal had reduced him to just another of Esdese's victims. Another name in the long list. He didn't understand that Tatsumi would never be just another enemy to Esdese. He didn't understand that she still stayed true to her promises.
None in the group had time to react to the immediate response. Suddenly Esdese's heel hit the side of the torture master's knee in a stomping motion. The horrible attack sending the man's knee bending sideways in almost ninety degrees with a sickening crunch.
The man grabbed his leg and screamed as he fell down. All the guards around them jumped up as he did. Startled since they hadn't had time to react to Esdese changing her position.
Esdese would have paid more attention to a fly than the now screaming torture master. She bent down and picked up the leash to Tatsumi's chains. Moving some of her hair away as she did. She looked at him as she straightened up.
"Can you walk?" she asked in her cold voice. Her expression still hard.
"Yeah. I can." Tatsumi said and started to stand up.
Esdese waited until he stood up and then walked past him. Now carrying his leash herself as they walked on. Leaving the wounded man behind them. Esdese every now and then looking at Tatsumi over her shoulder. Checking that he was keeping up.
To Tatsumi's suprise, he quickly realized that they were not heading for neither the torture chambers or the prison dungeons. They were moving up into the higher levels of the palace. Where the elite lived. After walking for a while, he knew where they were heading.
Twenty minutes later they had arrived at Esdese's chambers. The guards walked with her into the rooms as she led the way. Tatsumi following behind her. He immediately noticed that something was diffrent. The big, beautiful rooms were not as deserted as usual. There were diffrent kind of smiths and construction workers on their way out of her chambers. Packing up equipment and materials as they prepared to leave.
Finally they reached their destination. A room in the middle of her quarters. The entire room had been remodeled from how it had been two weeks ago. And Tatsumi could see why.
The room looked like a very big prison cell. When you walked into it you were met with black bars, three meters into the room. They spread out in a long line. Sealing off the rest of the room. Behind the bars, the room was very spartan. It contained a bed in a corner, a chair, a table, some basic training equipment and a sofa. The room had no windows. It had one door except the one they moved in through. At the opposite side of the bars. Leading into some sort of bathroom.
An older man stood waiting for them when they entered. Clearly some kind of construction worker.
"Everyhting done?" Esdese asked as they entered.
"Just on schedule. As promised." the man said. Holding his own hands in front of him.
Esdese walked forward and grabbed one of the bars. Pulling at it strongly. But it didn't budge. She nodded. "And everything is up to the standards that I requested?"
"It is. The walls and floors have been fortified as well."
Esdese looked at the room for some moments. "Good. You will have the payment you wished for. Now leave."
The man bowed down and then hurriedly walked out of the room. Esdese walked over to the side of the room. A small pedestal with chains had been raised from the floor. A couple of meters to the left of the door that they had entered through. Some meters from the bars. It was easy to see that it was intended for Incursio. Esdese sealed the teigu into it. Locking it in place with chains that seemed to be made out of something other than steel.
Tatsumi looked at the strange pedestal. Wondering why they would keep Incursio in the same room as him. It seemed lika an unnecessary risk. Even if the iron bars would make him unable to reach it. Then Tatsumi suddenly remembered that he still had Morbus in his arm. And that infection might awaken if he didn't have Incursio close.
After she was done with Incursio, Esdese turned to the soldiers. She nodded to the doors. Dissmissing them with the gesture. They left immediately. Well atuned to their leader's commands.
Esdese walked into the cell with Tatsumi. Closing the bardoor behind her. When she turned around Tatsumi had also turned around. Looking at her.
"Hey." he tried again. His voice small.
She looked at him for some moments. Then she walked up to him and started to undo his chains.
"So what?" he asked. Trying to seem more relaxed than he was. "Is this where I am going to live now?"
"This will be your life from now on, Tatsumi." Esdese said. Her voice still cold and unfriendly. "You will never leave this room without being leashed up to me."
Tatsumi sighed. He still didn't know what she had found out. He knew that it must have been something rather grave. He stayed silent for some moments. He had thought about this a lot during his time in the infirmary but he couldn't really draw any conclusion when nobody spoke to him. But now she was talking to him. The best course of action seemed to be denial for now.
"Were you trying to kill me?" he asked. He didn't sound annoyed or complaining. Just sad.
"I intended to fight and defeat you. Wheter or not you survived was up to you." she said. Her voice still cold as she took off the last of his shackles.
"So it didn't matter to you then." he said. Trying to get eye contact with her as she looked at his chains.
"I never said that. I said that it was up to you to fight to survive. My course of action was always clear." she said as she took a step back from him. Looking him up and down.
"But that does mean that you didn't really care." he said. He didn't have to fake the pain in his voice. But nothing seemed to melt Esdese's coldness towards him.
"Do you think I would have gathered the best doctors to treat you and remodeled my own home if I didn't care?" she said. Irritation creeping into her voice.
Tatsumi stayed silent for a while after that. For the first time in a long while, it felt really hard for Tatsumi to approach her. He wanted to get close and hug her. He wanted to press himself against her. That usually made her irritation with him disappear. But it was much harder to do so now. He didn't know if she was no longer inviting him in some subtle way or if it was just because he himself felt more insecure about the situation.
He guessed that this was how most people usually felt around her.
After some long moments of silence, he tried to take a careful step towards her. "Why did you attack me?" he asked.
"If you didn't know that then you would have asked that question earlier." she said and crossed her arms over her chest. "I know."
"What do you know?" he asked and tried to move a little bit closer to her.
"Everything." she said and looked at him. Her eyes fierce and piercing.
That answer didn't help Tatsumi much. It could mean anything. He had no idea about how much she actually knew. But it was really hard to ask her about it without revealing anything. He decided to start as small as he could.
"Don't you remember the situation with Bellany? That was just false accusations as well."
"Bellany has already testified against you." Esdese said. Her eyes not leaving his.
That gave Tatsumi something. Esdese knew about the imperial archives. But did she know anything more?
"She also relieved me of those accusations before. What makes you believe her more now?"
"She is not the only factor, Tatsumi. I know that you have framed many diffrent leaders within the empire."
Tatsumi looked at her for some moments. He started to suspect that she was being vague on purpose. Was she trying to make him commit a mistake?
"People have been trying to fram me for something like this ever since I joined you. Why do you believe them now?"
"Because now it has been proven beyond doubt Tatsumi. I have given you the benefit of the doubt for a long time. But not anymore."
"So what, I will not even get a trial to defend my innocence?"
"If I would have allowed there to be a trial over your fate then your head would already be on a spike on one of the gates of the capital." Esdese said. "You are only alive because of my power. Because I could pull some strings and get you written off from the records."
"So these "offences" have been concealed from the rest of the empire?"
Esdese nodded. "A few people know about them. But they will stay quiet. Since they know that you won't be an issue anymore."
"What if I could provide you with proof of my innocence?" Tatsumi tried.
"Can you?"
That made Tatsumi stop and think. He couldn't really think of any, right now. Not anything that would alter the situation enough.
"What if I called upon some people to vouche for my innocence? If you allow me, I might be able to bring forth some people that can prove my innocence for me."
"Give me their names then, Tatsumi. I will handle their questioning in the torture chambers. When they are no longer able to think straight enough to make up a lie, I will trust their testimony."
"And by that time you will also have ruined them." Tatsumi said bitterly.
"I am not playing around with this situation. I will not take anymore risks." Esdese said. Her hard tone unyeilding.
It seemed to Tatsumi like he wouldn't be able to convince her of his supposed innocence. He needed to try and handle this situation out from the assumption that he would not be able to convince her otherwise.
He looked her in the eyes for a long time. Then he slowly took a carefule step towards her. It was much harder to do than he had thought. Before this it had always been his mind that struggled against his body's wish to be near her. His flesh and instincts drawn to her. But not now. Now he just felt insecure. He didn't know what their relationship was anymore. He didn't even know if he still had her affection or if she was just keeping her promises.
Her eyes followed him as he took another step towards her. Her expression still cold as she looked down on him. He slowly rose one of his hands up. Looking at her with uncertainty as he moved it towards her. She just looked at the hand and remained passive. Neither encouraging or dicouraging him.
He gently put his hand over the side of her stomach. Where his hit had landed during their fight. He looked up at her.
"Does it still hurt?" he asked silently.
"It stopped hurting three days ago." Esdese answered. Her voice empty and matter-of-factly. Tatsumi couldn't help but notice that her expression had gone from cold to empty.
Tatsumi very slowly and gently started to rub his hand over the spot. His hand moving over the smooth fabric of her uniform. "I'm sorry." he said silently.
"It was a good hit, Tatsumi. You should be proud over it." she said.
Tatsumi looked down at where his hand was touching. Lightly pressing his hand into the side of her stomach. Feeling the softness of her skin and the hard muscles underneath it.
"I love you." he said lowly. Without looking up at her.
Esdese was silent for some long seconds before she answered. "And I love you, Tatsumi." she sighed and tenderly put her hand over his. "Fighting you for real has made me realize that I will probably always love you."
"Even though you were okay with me dying in our fight?" Tatsumi said and looked up at her.
She nodded while looking him in the eyes. A serious expression on her face. "But now I know that I can't let you run free. I now know that I will never be able to control you fully. So I will need to restrict you. Since I now have learned that I can't trust you."
For some reason that hit Tatsumi really hard. Not only for the devestating effect that simple statement had on his plan, but also because of something else. Something deep inside of him was hurt by those words.
"You need to trust me." he said and looked up at her. "I have not betrayed you in-
Smack!
The slap was quick and hard. Causing his head to move to the side. Esdese moving her hand way too fast for him to have a chance to see it coming without Incursio.
"Don't lie to me." Esdese ordered in a hard tone.
Tatsumi looked at her in suprise.
It was not the act in itself that had suprised him. It hurt a lot, his current state only amplifying it, but he had learned to live with pain. It was not the slap itself that hurt him the most but the manner in which it was delivered. Esdese had slapped him uncountable times before. Either when she was reprimanding him or when she was playing around with him. But this was diffrent. There was no underlying affection or joy in it. The only feeling he got from her was cold muteness. She was hitting him just like she hit her pets.
She was training him.
Tatsumi's eyes got filled with a hurt expression. Looking directly at her. Met by her cold blue eyes. "So that is it, huh? Now I am nothing more than another one of your pets."
"You will always be the only person in this world that I will ever love. I know that now, Tatsumi. But from now I will have to treat you more like one of my pets. Giving you privileges only seems to make it harder for me to keep you. I will need to reforge a bit of your free will. I will need to train you a bit."
"Then I am just another pet now, aren't I?" Tatsumi said. Sounding upset.
"No, you are not."
"What is the diffrence if I am treated just like one?"
"All the diffrence in the world." Esdese said. He thought he could see a hint of that affection in her face but it was so faint that might just imagine it. "Do you think I would ever allow one of my pets to live after talking back to me?"
"But you will not trust me anymore?" Tatsumi asked. His voice small.
"You have proven yourself that I can't do that." Esdese answered coldly. "I always knew that you would be a bit unruly. But there is diffrence between beating up some of my subordinates and honestly working to topple the very empire that I have sworn to protect."
With those simple words, Esdese made it clear to Tatsumi just how grim his situation was. And far beyond the scope that she was aware of. If she wouldn't trust him then he wouldn't be able to do anything anymore.
"Will you at least let me have some visitors?" Tatsumi said and looked at her. Searching for a solution in his well-hidden panick.
"Maybe sometime in the far future. But I will supervise your meetings personally so it will only be when I have the time. So not so often."
Tatsumi felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice over him.
It was over.
He would not be able to interact with the world outside at all for months, maybe years. And even then he would not be able to do much if Esdese would keep an constant eye on him. He had been too slow. And now the prime minister had managed to render him useless by Esdese's own hand.
He had lost.
Pain filled Tatsumi's face. Esdese looked at him.
"Besides myself, you are now the strongest warrior in the empire, Tatsumi. It does not become you to let a simple slap cause you tears."
Anger filled Tatsumi at those words. Born from sadness and pain. "Yeah, cause that is the only thing that you will ever understand, isn't it?" he said. Much louder than he had intended. "Strength and pain. Those are the only things that you can wrap your head around."
Esdese's eyes narrowed but she didn't say anything as Tatsumi continued. His voice growing louder with every word.
"You are nothing but monstrous hurricane of suffering and despair. You had the luck to be born with the potential to become the most powerful being in existence. And you have only exploited that opportunity. You can't even cause happiness when you try to. All you try to protect and lead either die or turn against you. And you don't even seem to realize that you are the cause of it."
Tatsumi was basically shouting now but Esdese stayed still and looked at him. Listening to him.
"You are the reason why everything is going wrong for every group of people that try to follow you. Haven't you understood that yet?" he shouted at her. All his panicked sadness driving him on. His despair making him lose his composure. "You are incomplete. Dysfunctional and broken. You lack half of what makes a human being. And instead of that your other abilities got so much stronger. Cause you lack compassion! You don't know what empathy is! And you don't have the slightest idea of what love is-
Smack!
The second slap echoed loudly through the room. The force of it causing Tatsumi to stumble slightly to the side. Both his chins bright red now. A suprised expression on his face. His eyes slowly traveled back to Esdese's. Met by the same hard coldness of her eyes.
She met his gaze steadly. Still holding up the hand that had delivered the slap. He looked shocked and hurt. She could even see a slight bit of fear hiding in his expression. But then it all disappeared under a deep frown.
He swung at her with the arm that was not attached to his damaged shoulder. Esdese catched the fist in her hand before it had even reached the mid-way point between them.
She raised her eyebrows a bit. There was no strength in the punch. No real force behind it. She looked at him for some moment. His frown was gone once again. Replaced by that deeply pained and sad expression.
She started to close her hand around his fist. As punishment for trying to hit her. She squeezed it way past the point of pain for him yet his expression didn't change. To her suprise. She closed her hand as much as she dared without damaging his bones. But his expression still didn't change. He was just looking at her with those hurt eyes. His expression still.
After some moments she stopped applying the pressure. Since it didn't seem like he cared if she crushed his hand or not. She slowly let it go. Her arm falling down to her side. They both stood like that for a while. Just looking at each other. Trying to understand what their relationship was right now. After a long while, Tatsumi spoke.
"Please don't do this, Esdese." he said. His voice small and timid.
She turned around and started to leave.
Tatsumi got a suprised look but then immediately followed her. Still not knowing why he was limping so heavily.
"Don't lock me up here. I will wither away." he tried as he struggled to catch up with her as she walked through the room. "I will never grow stronger if I can't face any new challenges."
Esdese didn't slow down her brisk walk. Tatsumi tried to catch up with her but due to his limping he started to stumble and fell over. Letting out a small shout as a blast of pain hit his body. Still extremely sore from all the intense treatment.
The sound of his pained scream made Esdese stop in the doorway of the bars. She stood there for some moments. Not turning around or looking at him. Then she walked out of the enclosed part of the room. She turned around and closed the bardoor. Locking it behind her. She looked at him as he lay there on the floor. Staring at her with begging eyes.
"This will be your life from now on, Tatsumi."
With those words she turned around and walked out of the room.
"Wait! Esdese!" Tatsumi shouted but she slammed the door shut behind her with such force that it was a wonder that it didn't break.
Tatsumi stared at the door for a long time. Not bothering with getting up. It didn't matter. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, to him. All was lost. He remained there on the floor as the full gravity of the situation dawned on him.
Sheele had died fighting the injustice and cruelty of the empire.
His brother had died while giving him his own power. Entrusting him to continue his fight after he had died.
Chelsea had lived a life of regret and death. Yet had tried to use her horrible skills to make things right. Being dissected for information as a result.
Lubbock had died fighting to the bitter end. Struggling. Unwilling to give up until his body was completely destroyed.
Mine was tortured to death. Suffering one of the worst ends possible. Only because she had tried to save him.
Najenda had died while knowingly fighting a battle she couldn't win. Sacrificing herself for the dream of a better world.
All of them had tried. All of them had fought. All of them had paid a grim price.
His friends. His family.
And he had failed them all.
He had partnerd with the enemy they had fought together. He had stood by as the empire continued to supress the weak and destroying those that opposed it. And the worst part of it all was that he had enjoyed it. He had denied and ignored it a lot. And Esdese had pointed it out many times. He had always known that she was right. He had enjoyed the comforts and privileges of being her partner.
He had always justified it with the fact that he was fighting the empire in his own way. Slowly working towards it's fall. One small step at the time. But now he had failed.
He had failed to make it all meaningful. He had failed to give a purpose to his friend's sufffering. He had failed to justify his own actions.
Now it didn't matter whatever plans or ideas he might have had. The only thing he had managed to accomplish was fornicating with the enemy of all his friends's dreams and hopes.
Without the justification of making the empire fall from behind the scenes, he had no way to defend himself against the dark redemption of his own morals.
He had betrayed them. As simple as that. He had covered the fact up with his greater intent and his hidden ambition. But now those plans had failed. His hopes had died. The simple fact of the situation staring him in the face. He had left them to their struggles while he took up the comforts of being Esdese's mate.
Tatsumi curled up on the floor as the full scope of the situation fell down on him.
He started to cry.
Slowly and silently at first but slowly growing more strongly. He tried to supress himself for some time but then realized that it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. And as he lay on the floor, sobbing violently, he understood that there was another reason he was hurting so badly. He realized that the fact that he had probably destroyed his relationship with Esdese hurt him greatly. Almost more than the fact that his plan had failed.
And that realization only made him more disgusted with himself. The fact that he wanted that relationship back filled him with self-loathing.
He wanted to die.
He cried for almost forty minutes before sleep took him. He fell asleep right there on the floor. Not even bothering with getting to the bed. It didn't matter to him. Nothing mattered anymore.
When he had slept for almost ten minutes, Esdese started to stir behind the door. Slowly moving away.
She had stopped on the other side of it after she had closed it. Listening to his crying. Observing him while remaining hidden. Just like she had visited him during his drugged down sleep in the infirmary. Looking at him through the nights. Bringing Incursio with her. Since she was afraid that Morbus would awaken if Tatsumi didn't have his teigu close to him every now and then.
It was back. That horrible pain in her chest. She had almost forgotten how bad it could ache. She had stood there on the other side of the door, holding a hand over her chest as she listened to his sobs. It hurt her so badly.
Every fiber of her body wanted to go back in there. She wanted to scoop up her badly hurting mate and carry him to the bed. She wanted to hold him and lick up his tears. She wanted to shower him with kisses until he wasn't hurting anymore.
But she couldn't. She wouldn't allow herself. Even if it took a lot of effort to quell the wish of her strong instincts.
She needed to do this. He had left her no choice. She would have to solve this somehow. She would have to make this work again. In some way. She would have to completely restrain him for a start. Then she would need to retrain him. She would need to make him behave again.
She slowly started to walk away from the door. Her pace slowly increasing until she was walking briskly. Her steps steering her towards the torture chambers. She needed to get some of this out of her. She needed to destroy something.
Something beautiful.
Author's note:
In the end this chapter grew extremly long as well. The three latest chapters have been some of the longest I have written. These scenarios have needed to breath a lot more than I expected.
This story got a dose of hate/trolling during the week that was. However, for every hateful comment that was posted, I got several messages and comments defending this story and urging me to ignore the negativity. The whole experience became very encouraging. Thank you!
We are now about halfway through this arc. The next chapter should be in about ten days. I know that I said that this one would be released after seven and failed miserably, but I think that the next chapter won't be as long. Hopefully.
Thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews/comments. They are what keeps this show going.
Take care of each other.