Hello again and welcome to Chapter 9 of The Glacial Ones!
I'll start this off as I always do with the Reviews:
Silent Lurker: I much prefer the Shamballa idea as well, though I was thinking of him using it to return and then being redirected into Hogwarts by the Goblet of Fire. Either way Harry is going to be able to use Shamballa. The idea of him being able to teleport pretty much anywhere is to enticing to not do. I am going to have so much fun with him just casually teleporting through Hogwarts wards. Also about the whole conquest thing, Esdeath has interest in ruling anything. She just wants war, meaning that her and Harry, as well as anyone who joins them, will be more like high class mercenaries than anything. As for what worlds they may go to I personally like the idea of Naruto or RWBY (look it up you don't know).
Anyway, thank you all for reviewing, you're all a massive encouragement. Keep it up!
Anyway, on to the story!
I do not own, in any way, shape, or form Akame Ga Kill or Harry Potter.
-T.G.O-
Chapter 9: Where a Tale Diverges
The atmosphere was oddly comfortable, almost like they were a family gathered together for an evening meal. The Jaegers where spread throughout Esdeath's dining room and the kitchen next door, conversing softly and preparing for their dinner.
Wave and Bols were located in the kitchen, cooking up Wave's fish, much to the relief of those who had to put up with the smell, with Wave assisting Bols were needed.
Stylish and Ran were standing together not far from the table in the centre of the room, talking quietly as they observed the other members of the Jaegers.
At the head of the table sat Esdeath, chatting pleasantly with Seryu on her left with Harry sitting at her right, chatting, or making whatever you call conversation between two emotionally and socially distorted people, with Kurome who was sitting beside him as she waved a feather duster above Kuro's head.
It was an odd sight.
It made them all seem almost…sane.
Maybe they had found companionship in their own various versions of insanity. Maybe that was why Wave felt so out of place and uneasy.
Across the table from him Seryu turn to look at Harry, her happy grin still stretched across her face.
"So, Harry, how come you're here? How did you meet Esdeath?"
Harry shot her a faintly amused look.
"I am here because this is where I live, Seryu. Technically I'm not actually part of the Jaegers."
All those present shot him surprised and curious looks, bar Esdeath who simple watched the byplay with a small hint of amusement.
Stylish looked over at him curiously.
"So why were you at the meeting room?"
Harry turned to face him throwing an elbow over the back of the chair and subtle checking to make sure there was enough room between him and the scary, sparkly, man.
"I just tag along were ever Esdeath goes. She wanted me to observe you all while she got ready for her little game."
He saw no point in hiding their intentions, as they were hardly anything worth waging wars over.
He turned his gaze back to Seryu, pulling his elbow down from the back of the chair.
"As for the second part of your question on how I meet Esdeath, well…I was this little, frail as glass kid facing off against his first Snow Dragon…"
He watched the expressions of those around him with some amusement before continuing.
"I assure you, it was not intentional. As you can see, I survived the encounter and, suffice to say, the Snow Dragon ended up with its skull splattered all across the snow. Esdeath saw me kill it and got curious so brought me back to her army's camp after I feel unconscious. Then, just minutes after I woke up a few hours later she dragged me out into a field nearby and started trying to kill me. Not the best of introductions I've ever had."
The rest of the Jaegers looked more than a little perplexed at the sequence of events.
"In the end I survived long enough for her to decide that it would be more fun to slice me up every day than just kill me."
He shot a mock glare at Esdeath, who simple sent an amused and entirely unrepentant grin back.
"And then I ended up falling unconscious again from overusing my abilities."
Kurome looked at him, a spark of curiosity and interest filling her normally blank eyes.
"You have a Teigu? Which one?"
Harry just grinned right back, eyes flickering ever so slightly towards Esdeath who gave a miniscule shake of her head, unnoticed by the rest of the group.
"Its name is…!"
Harry leaned towards Kurome as he whispered.
"…a secret!"
The last words were practically sang out, earning a sweat drop from most of the Jaegers and another amused smirk from Esdeath.
Kurome almost pouted, which, Harry noted, was probable the most expressive he had seen her since they had first meet.
Seryu gave him another of the happy grins that seemed to be permanently glued to her face before turning back to Esdeath.
"What about you General Esdeath? What do like to do in your spare time?"
Esdeath closed her eyes for a moment as she swirled her wine around in its glass before placing it down on the table in front of her.
"Torture and hunting for the most part, and when I'm not I tend to study quite a bit."
She looked thoughtful before turning her gaze down towards Harry.
"And training with Harry I suppose."
Harry gave her an empty, deadpan look, devoid of all emotion.
"Esdeath, your training normally involves slicing me up as many ways as you can without crippling me and then letting me regenerate so you can do it again."
"Exactly. I find it quite enjoyable."
Harry just sighed tiredly, ignoring the odd looks the pair were getting from most of the other members of the Jaegers, and listened quietly as Esdeath continued to speak.
"By the way Seryu, has the report about the spare teigu you obtained come through yet?"
Seryu nodded, slightly flustered at the sudden change in topics and attention.
"Y-yes it arrived recently. The scissor Teigu that we retrieved from the vile Night Raid is currently being held at the main office of the Imperial Police. Unfortunately we have been unable to find anyone capable of wielding it."
Esdeath nodded.
"What a pity…at this rate the Prime Minister will take control of it. That would be such a waste of a good Teigu. Hmm…"
She looked thoughtful for a second before turning her head towards Harry as he spoke.
"Perhaps we could put on an entertaining little show in order to find someone capable of using it, preferable with enough skill to not drag the rest of the team down?"
Esdeath stared him in the eye for a moment before smirking.
"An interesting idea. Unless someone else has another idea, we will follow through with it."
She looked around the room for a moment to make sure there was no other ideas floating around, and noting Wave and Bols walk into the room holding platters of food.
"Good, then we will put on an entertaining little show to see if we can find anyone capable. Now, it seems our dinner has been prepare. Thank you Bols, Wave."
The two men placed their platters on the table, nodding in acknowledgement to Esdeath's thanks as Stylish and Ran pulled up chairs opposite each other. Wave and Bols sat down together near the end of the table, a collective thanks sent their way from the rest of the Jaegers as they prepared to eat.
None knew just how important the next few days would be for the history of the Empire.
Indeed, for the history of the world itself.
And many, many other world beside.
-T.G.O-
Harry sat down on his bed that lay positioned parallel to Esdeath own massive bed, as he refused to use the same bed as her, and looked up at Esdeath as she stepped from their shower, dressed in nothing more than a towel.
He crushed the odd feelings that tried to well up inside him. He didn't have time to try and decipher them.
"Esdeath…I was wondering, what do you intend to do if you find someone who is capable of using those scissor Teigu?"
Esdeath looked at him for a moment, amused that he hadn't already figured it out.
"Get them to join the Jaegers of course. One more Teigu is always helpful in the long run, especially if we intend to hunt down Night Raid, who have their own as well as powerful users."
Harry deadpanned at her.
"By 'get them to join', you mean force them to, right. What if they are sympathetic with that Revolutionary Army people keep bringing up, or a part of Night Raid trying to regain their ally's weapon?"
Esdeath sat down in front of him, pulling out a small note book he sometimes saw her with and starting to draw in it as she stared intently at his face. He ignored the slightly odd behaviour as he listened to her answer.
"In the first case I'll just kill them or send them down to one of the torture facilities for opposing the Empire."
Harry flinched slightly at the thought as Esdeath grin grew, filled with a maddened, sadistic bloodlust.
"If it was somehow a member of Night Raid then I will capture and torture them myself to find the rest. I have several torture techniques I have been wanting to try but haven't had the time to. Either way it's unlikely that Night Raid would enter our little competition, as I didn't say anything about the Teigu in the advertisement and I doubt they would be needing money so much they would enter a tournament sponsored by me."
Harry nodded his understanding. What she said was true, Night Raid wouldn't have lasted long if it didn't think things through and just charged into suspicious tournaments sponsored by their enemies.
No one in a powerful assassination group like Night Raid would be stupid enough to enter.
Right?!
-T.G.O-
Harry resisted the urge to yawn, just barely containing it. It wasn't that he was tired, no, he was simple bored. Really, really bored. Whose good idea was this tournament anyway? They deserved to be shot.
Oh, right, that was him. Next time he would keep his mouth shut when he had ideas like this.
Though, to be honest, after spending all his time around Esdeath and her highly trained army, plus the Three Beasts until recently, he had never realised how truly boring fights between normal people and low level grunts actually were.
Sitting beside him Esdeath didn't bother to hide a yawned, covering her mouth with a hand as she watched another dull fighter finally defeat yet another boring warrior. She was going to have to up Harry's training as punishment for this, though to be honest there hadn't been any other ideas and she hadn't realised herself how boring it was going to be.
It didn't change the fact that she was bored.
Standing to Esdeath's left Ran looked at the two with no small amount of amusement. He was no real warrior and found no real entertainment out of conflict, but even he was finding this boring.
At least Wave was down there on the stage and got to actually do something other than observe.
Instead Ran amused himself by watching Esdeath and Harry interact, trying to find another piece, another hint to the mystery that was the younger boy.
He, like most of the Jaegers, had tried to dig up as much information on the boy as possible. It wasn't as though he saw Harry as an enemy or even a potential enemy. In fact he found that the boy was actually rather nice and more emotionally stunted than insane like many of the other Jaegers.
But it didn't change the fact that he was close to Esdeath, the Empires Strongest. Nobody even remotely normal could get truly close to Esdeath, let alone a child seven years her junior. The fact that they had apparently meet just under three years ago, when Harry was only about ten, made it all the stranger.
He wanted to know what it was that had made the merciless, homicidal sadist that was Esdeath decide to keep him around.
So far he had gotten very little, other than the fact that he had a Teigu of some kind, though he had never seen it. It was possible it was like Esdeath's own Teigu though and a part of his body.
Snapping back to attention as the crowd roared once more, Ran turned his attention away from the mystery that was Harry and back to the stage below him in time to see some kind of wannabe samurai standing with one foot on top of another man in a victorious pose.
Across from him Harry shock his head in mild disgust before turning to Esdeath beside him.
"Esdeath, if I ever make another suggestion like this, please stop me."
Esdeath looked at him from where she was resting her face on her fist, her elbow resting on the chair as her eyes opened from their previously bored half-lidded state. She shot a half-hearted glare in his direction.
"Oh, I intend to. Very much so."
Harry felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He decided he wouldn't make any more bad suggestions ever again.
Esdeath's training was bad enough when she wasn't trying to actively hurt him.
Turning his attention to the stage below him he watched as Wave declared the last match of the tournament, introducing a large, bull headed man called Karumi in the east corner and a smaller, brown teen by the name of Tatsumi in the west corner.
Harry grinned.
"Hey, I know him!"
Esdeath raised an eyebrow and he shrugged sheepishly before explaining.
"Well, I've only meet him once. I ran into him that time you let me wander the city alone and he thought I was lost. I didn't think he would be a fighter though, he seemed pretty disturbed by the injuries I got while we were training. Maybe he has a different training style?"
Esdeath sighed and slumped slightly.
"I thought for a moment that we would see an interesting fight."
Looking at the teen below her she observed his movements and stance.
"Or maybe it will be after all."
Standing beside her Ran sweat dropped. He had seen the state Harry was normally in after Esdeath was finished with his training. The teen below, Tatsumi according to Waves introduction, was probable simple worried for Harry's health. Neither Harry nor Esdeath seemed to realise that what they did would kill most people.
In fact he was pretty sure Harry would have died a long time ago if it wasn't for his abnormally fast regeneration. Ran still hadn't figured out if that was part of his Teigu or something else.
Another part of the mystery that was Harry.
Harry focused his attention on the teenager below, blocking out the other man's taunts as he observed his body language. Esdeath glanced over at him, grinning when she what he was doing.
"Have you noticed it yet?"
Harry startled slightly at the sound of her voice, before turning and grinning at her.
"Maybe this match won't be as dull as we first thought it would be…his body language is too ready, to serious for someone who just sees this as a competition and his build is too slim for blacksmithing to be his primary focus. A warrior hired by another group perhaps?"
Esdeath's grin grew wider.
"Well done. Despite how he looked when we first saw him he is currently the most dangerous out of all the combatants so far. I take back my previous words, this could be an interesting match after all."
Down on the stage below them Wave finally gave the signal to begin, the large bull headed man, Karumi, charging forwards with a surprising amount of speed for such a bulgy man, his fists down at his sides ready to punch outwards at a moment's notice.
The teen, Tatsumi, braced his legs against the rock tiles of the stage below him, looking as though he was going to try and block the incoming punch.
Karumi appeared before him, fist cocked back at his waist.
Tatsumi's legs bent, bracing hard against the tiles below.
The larger man's fist slammed downwards with devastating force towards the younger teens head.
Tatsumi jumped.
Karumi's fist slammed into the tile below where Tatsumi had been standing moments ago with crushing force, shattering a hole in it on impact, jagged shards of carved rock flying up as long cracks ran throughout the rest of the tile.
Above him Tatsumi sailed through the air, his leap sending him several metres up above his opponent, where he began to rotate as he started to fall.
Realising that Tatsumi was behind him and probable about to attack, the larger man spun around at the last moment, arms crossed over his chest just in time to block Tatsumi's mid-air spin kick.
Tatsumi's kick slammed into the bull headed man's crossed arms with crushing force, sending the larger man sliding backwards several metres across the smooth arena tiles as Tatsumi landed on one hand, spinning himself into an upright position as he darted towards his opponent.
Karumi let out a yell of anger, charging forward to meet him in a barrage of blows, the large man's equally large fists slashing towards Tatsumi from multiple angle with a surprising amount of speed.
Not enough though.
Tatsumi's hands flashed in front of him as he deflected blow after blow from the man before him until the man finally overshoot, Tatsumi's deflection sending his arms wide and leaving his body defenceless.
Cocking bag a fist Tatsumi slammed it forward into his opponent's stomach, causing him to gasp for air before raising both of his hands above his head, ready to pulverize the teen before him.
Ducking low and spinning himself on his hands Tatsumi sent the heel of his foot slamming into the bull man's ankle and sending him tumbling downwards.
Tatsumi continue his spin, his other leg flashing out and his knee colliding with the falling man's skull with a crunch, driven by the momentum of Tatsumi's previous spin and sending the larger man tumbling in the opposite direction to when he began his fall, out cold before he hit the ground.
Harry watched Tatsumi dust himself off.
"He has exceptional skills after all. Our first judgement was wrong."
Esdeath nodded, moving her eyes from the teen as he stood in the middle of the arena and glancing at Harry.
"Indeed, that was better than I expected. We seem to have found a capable possible wielder for the Teigu after all. Your idea wasn't entirely useless."
The last part was said with an almost teasing tone, which caught Harry more than a little off guard, though he hide it well, instead pouting cutely.
"It's not like there was any other ideas."
Esdeath turned back to the arena in time to see the teenager below give a dazzling smile, filled with a kind of youthful innocence and grimaced slightly.
She hoped she wasn't about to let a naïve fool into the Jaegers.
Deep down inside she had the niggling feeling that in another life that smile would have been important. She ignored it though, instead standing and pulling Harry to his feet beside her and turning to Ran.
"I can trust you to deal with things from here?"
Ran nodded silently and began to walk down to the stage below as Esdeath walked from the observer box, dragging Harry behind her as she left the makeshift stadium.
She would never know how fate gave up and died that very moment, murdered rather indirectly by the child she was now dragging behind her.
-T.G.O-
Far away, on its throne that's not quite real, in its kingdom between all kingdoms, the greatweakmonstrousstrongparadoxical being that was more fantasy than reality sat, a none existent chin resting on top of a none existence hand that could bring entire worlds to ruin with a single motion, as it watched the happenings belowaboveinsideoutsidearound it.
It turned it's none existent eyes that was bigger than entire dimensions towards the little world in which it had seen fit to interfere in by throwing a metaphorical stone into the metaphorical pond. And so it saw the first, true, metaphorical ripples it actions had caused. And it laughed.
All across the cosmos an infinite number of worlds suddenly found themselves facing the apocalypse as an equally large number of worlds found themselves dragged into world, or intergalactic in some cases, wars that would end in oceans of blood.
Thousands more just sank back into the Abyss Between Worlds, fading from existence.
All because the being that was more fantasy than reality and didn't actually care, had laughed.
How or why its laughter resulted in this?
No idea.
As I keep telling you, magic is incomprehensible.
So, once again, stop trying.
You'll go insane.
And then it'll be your fault, not mine.
-T.G.O-
And that is chapter 9 completed!
I hope you all enjoyed it!
Anyway I am just going to point out this is where the story will start to properly diverge, since Esdeath isn't love sick for Tatsumi he will be introduced to the Jaegers as a possible ally. Meaning that when he flees later on he will be branded a traitor and a bounty put on his head. And that's just one change.
Also in chapter 6 I gave a response to Tsunashi777 review. I would like to know your opinions on the idea of turning Air, Fal and Luna, from chapter 23, into Harry's version of the Three Beasts. And please read up on them before you respond so we're all on the same page.
Anyway, once again, any like, dislikes, constructive criticism or ideas are all welcome and much appreciated.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this part of the story!
Goodbye!