A.N- Sorry for the massive wait on the chapter but the health issue nearly put me down for good. So had to spend a few months recovery. Apologize if it's not up to full standard, it's gonna take me some time before I am back to 100%.
To ShadowDeathSkull, What are you confused about? Anything I can do to help?
To PaperbackAlloy, Sooooorrrrryyyy for the massive wait. I will try my best to keep it up to standard
To Guilherm1012, Thanks for understanding, I apologize it took this long.
Now everyone thank my Beta Tripletronicle and enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 20
"'The darkness has always been my strength. Even before I forfeited my sight. 'For one to command the dark, one must only live in the dark'. Those were the words that were told to me when this relic was passed to me." Mordin thought to himself with a grim smile spreading across his face. Traveling through the shadows were always taxing especially when bringing 'guests'. The three unwilling members of Group of Terror were still bound in darkness but each member glared with hatred. Mordin grimaced, bending space was excruciating normally. "The trip shouldn't be too long." Mordin muttered as the darkness that encroached the entire group.
Leone, Sheele, Akame, Kurome, and Susanoo starred in both awe and confusion.
"Okay, so doesn't anyone want an explanation about what the hell that was?" Leone asked in disbelief.
"It must have something to do this." Akame said as she knelt and picked up the letter. She stared angrily at the red crest that was Esdeath's symbol.
"Big sis, what should we do with this?" Kurome asked looking at the letter in Akame's hand.
"we should take it to the boss." Akame said, looking down at the letter. Before she passed it to Susanoo. "Take this to the boss, let her see it first before Tatsumi. After all, he is still probably recovering from his wounds." Susanoo nodded once before he grabbed the letter turning around leading the way towards Night Raid HQ.
Mordin stretched his arms as he walked through the shadowy mist. The three unwilling guests were still bound in the very darkness that Mordin emanated from his body. Mordin snapped his fingers at the flicker of blue dim light burned into existence. The dim light barely lit more than a few meters from the source. The chains holding Womyn, Remus and Gin suddenly snapped around them disappearing into the ether. Gin stood up in a flash fists bared.
"Do you really want to dance that dance again. It didn't end well for you." Mordin said as he walked away from her. Gin looked around her surroundings her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. She saw shelf after shelf in the room each one filled with books. Remus walked forward passed Gin her eyes were glossed over as if she was about to cry but fighting the urge to scream.
"Why didn't you kill us?" She asked Mordin her soft voice was filled with fear, the sound of it made Gin scoff. The fear in her voice upset Mordin, he never enjoyed taking life.
"Now why would you ask such a question? Aren't you happy to be alive?" Mordin asked in return as he sat down behind a large thick wooden desk, it was littered with quills and inkwells. Gin looked puzzled for a second till Mordin smiled. His smiled held warmth but the fact that his eyes were covered uneased Remus. "As I said the only one I wanted to kill was your leader. You three have suffered far too much at the hands of this empire." Mordin stated angrily, venom-filled his voice. 'This empire is such a fallen star compared to what it was meant to be. If the first emperor saw this, I bet he would fall into despair.' Mordin thought to himself.
"How do you know what happened to us?" Womyn asked as she walked beside Remus holding her hand to give the frightened girl support.
"As your leader so eloquently put it before I ended his horrid life, I am the Lord Curator, well I am supposed to be, it's nothing more than a glorified titled now, thanks to Honest. Greedy, Fat, Bastard, Whoring, Pig…" Mordin's voice filled with spite as he ranted on, shadows forming around him, almost consuming his surroundings. He waved his hand and the tendrils returned to his presence. "I apologize, that was not something I should've shown you."
"So you attacked us to prevent The Prime Minister from succeeding at stopping this accursed rebellion?" Gin asked as she stormed forward till she was standing in front of Mordin. He smiled at her courage.
"No that was not the reason. The true reason was that I was ordered to deal with you. I am still honour bound to obey the Emperor. Despite who he keeps as company. The emperor was informed of your group by Honest, who despite his namesake, told quite the intricate tale about how you assassinate innocence and help the revolution. In other words, Honest sent you to die. He sold you out." Mordin said calmly, lying was something he had ample experience with. 'And if these girls were going to reclaim some semblance of a normal life, it would be beneficial that they seem his actions as a form of kindness.' Mordin thought as he waited for Gin's response, He could hear her heartbeat accelerate as anger and disbelief flooded Gin's mind. The heart rates of the other two behind Gin also elevated.
"You may not believe me but that is the truth." Mordin said sternly. He would rather their hatred aimed at Honest then Esdeath, at least this way he could keep them focused at a target which they stood a fraction of a chance at killing. 'But first things needed to be done about their health.' He thought calmly.
"So if that is the truth what are we supposed to do now." Gin asked in shock.
"Hmm, first I would suggest that we deal with your addiction to the performance-enhancing drugs. Then I will guide you three to a temple complex far north in the mountains, near the border with the northern race, there, there are holy hot springs, infused with healing properties, from an ancient danger beast's blood I believe. If any place on this earth that can help repair the damage done to your bodies that is the place." Mordin said calmly as a tendril of darkness begun caressing along the shelves looking for a particular old rough large tome was pulled from the shelf. Mordin smiled slowly as the book was gently laid in front of him.
"I believe this book contains the general location for the hot springs and the how to traverse the difficult landscape." Mordin said as he gently opened the book, the shadows begun to trace each line, flipping through the pages at an incredible speed. "Yes, this book does have the general location, I would like to take you three there, but, I... as I said I am honour bound to the emperor. I won't betray him unless his rule truly fails. The chance of failure at the moment is very high but I think Honest still has a chance to subjugate the Empire. If that possibility shrinks to such a point where open war is the only option, well the shadowy viper that lays at the heart of the empire will be unleashed."
The entire of Night Raid gathered in the great hall with the exceptions of Deagora and Tatsumi who rested in the infirmary. Najenda read the note with curiosity, the note was handwritten in Esdeath's hand, it went on about how their battle made her heart sing. Najenda sighed at half the letter till she read the bottom half, fear and caution-filled her mind.
"They have sent the Elite Seven to work with the Jaegers?" She asked aloud. Akame looked up to her sister, both of their faces, held contempt. The gathered assassins muttered uneasily amongst themselves.
"The Elite Seven…" Akame whispered, she clenched her fist, her knuckles turning white but the sound of clanging paws drew her attention to the entrance of the great hall where the pitter patter of Deagora heralded his arrival. He came strolling in, the silvery skin reflected the torchlight all around him.
"So, why was the Imperious Dragoon here? uhh creepy tentacles." Deagora asked as he stood in front of the gathered assassins.
"Delivering a message." Najenda replied. "How long do you think Tatsumi will need to recover. With this news, we are gonna need to act fast. It couldn't happen at a more unfortunate time for us." Najenda said with a shake of her head.
"I do not know. If we tried moving him now, it could cause more damage. If I tried to accelerate his healing now, it would probably be counter-intuitive." Deagora responded.
"Hmm, I feared so, We are in quite a loathsome predicament. If we are to survive this new threat, our only hope is to try and catch the Elite Seven when they are separated from the Jaegers. If we are forced into a confrontation between both teams, it would surely result in our demise." Najenda stated to the gathered assassins. Each member nodded to her, knowing full well the end game was approaching and they needed to get stronger or they all will die.
Esdeath sat patiently waiting, the Jaegers and Elite Seven had gathered waiting for the report from the Group of Terror team, Esdeath knowing full well that Mordin had dealt with them. 'I dislike using such indirect tactics, but, If I am to keep him safe, I have no choice. When we meet again Tatsumi you will accept my feelings.' She thought to herself as she began to angrily tap her finer. She had to bite back a smile. Though the members of Elite Seven were beginning to get impatient. Esdeath held a small cache of dossiers from Mordin, in-depth information of the members of Elite Seven. Esdeath grabbed the first document, the leader of the Elite Seven even though their numbers had decreased to five strong. The leader was Najasho, a short young man with spiky blonde and bright golden eyes. He wore a military outfit with some similarities to Esdeath's own outfit. It consisted of a long trench coat with golden epaulets and a suit underneath. He had two metallic arms eerie similar to Seryu's arms. Esdeath read a side note left by Mordin. 'Subject Najasho, captured by the Oarburghs, they amputated both of his arms. Lucky to be alive. Like most members of E7 holds a strong hate towards Akame. Psyche profiling suggests mental instability. Yet, appears to still hold strong affections towards his comrades.' Esdeath traced her finger along the final line. She had to be impressed with Najasho's exploits, she looked at the young individual, looking at his weapon, the Water-Dragon sword. An impressive weapon, not as great as the Teigue, or Imperial relics but still an impressive weapon. Esdeath looked at the next document referring to the member known as Poney, a young girl with green eyes and long auburn hair worn in a ponytail and decorated with a few hairpins. She wore a beige tank top along with the unique shingu Yocto-bottoms, a pair of trousers. Esdeath looked at the in-depth information Mordin had gone into for the unique Shingu, it accelerates the user's abilities and amplifies their leg power. However, the increase is not great, very reliant on user's natural strength, thus the strength of Pony is rather strong. Esdeath was grateful for the more in-depth information. The third member was a young girl with amber eyes and short light brown hair. She had quite the curvaceous figure. She often wore a long brown and white dress, with brown boots. Her weapon was the Shingu Prometheus, dual pistols. 'Deadly ranged weapons, with the ability to manipulate the bullets mid-flight, twisting and turning its trajectory, even capable of firing in many different forms. Downside was that the more they are used in quick succession, the accuracy declines. It appears Shingu are quite inferior to Teigue, though working injunction to your Jaegers will be a very potent combo.' Mordin's notes trailed on, each one giving more information about the members present. Next was Green, a young man with black hair and green eyes. He wore a green jacket with a black t-shirt and black pants. His shoes were black and a pair-glass hung off the tip of his nose. "He wields the Shingu Sidewinder, a powerful whip that moves in accordance with its possessor's will, unfortunately, this Shingu also has a flaw where the whip's strong characteristics make it hard to control. Man, they really failed to make Teigues didn't they?' Mordin was leaving questions for Esdeath, she chuckled to herself as she read them. "And last but not least the so-called 'father', a man who adopted these children turning them into killers, Gozuki, is a middle-aged gentleman with blonde hair and green eyes. He has a small neckbeard. He usually wears a white shirt with black pants and a red scarf. This individual may be a problem for you as he raised the children of E7 as his very own, meaning he could still have feelings for Akame, though this may be true, those feelings could be of rage and other annoying emotions. Furthermore, with him present your Jaeger Shanta may have conflicted allegiances. He is a skilled warrior and a former member of the Rakshasa demons, like any of those members he can manipulate his body. Oh and here is an interesting bit, he was the former wielder of Murasame." Esdeath took in the information Mordin had given her when the doors of the meeting chamber swung open revealing the Lord Curator, stroll in with a dread look on his face.