Hello once again and welcome to chapter 19 of The Glacial Ones!
Firstly, a question, how many people actually read the authors nots I put at the start and end of each chapter? Please, if you have a question feel free to ask it, but it would be helpful if you made sure I haven't already answered it before. I saves me having to repeat myself.
Now the, Reviews!
AraelStannis: Thank you, really, for this review. It was very informative and easy to understand. One your comment about focussing less on fights without Harry or Esdeath, believe me, I wish I could just have skipped the one in chapter 17 and 18. Seriously, those last two chapters have been a slog to write. Unfortunately, I feel that some things are too important to the overall story line to miss. And I really, really wanted to save Bols, so it was necessary. On the other hand, I admit I may have gone too far with the fight scene. Anyway, thanks for your review and keep up the good feedback!
Silent Lurker: Hello again! Firstly, Bols death flag might not be as death like as first planned. He won't escape unscathed, nor will he be part of the Jaegers afterwards, but I have a plan for his survival. I know I really shouldn't, but I can't help myself.
Also, on your comments about the Teigu, yes, I am still doing the Teigu, though Fal and Luna seem to have been chosen but not finalised. I actually never thought about side effects beyond the classic exhaustion, so that brings another helpful dimension to my Teigu designing. Also, any and all feedback on by Book of Lies Teigu idea is always welcome. Thanks for your review and pointing that out to me!
Allhailthesith: *Tired sigh* Yes, they will be going to the Potterverse at some point, probable in a sequel if I decide to take a break after the Akame Ga Kill timeline is done. I have said this many, many times. Thanks for the support though.
Finally, thank to everyone else who reviewed and has provided support so far. I appreciate it a lot.
Anyway, enough chitchat onwards to the story!
I do not own, in any way, shape, or form Akame Ga Kill or Harry Potter.
-T.G.O-
Chapter 19: Old Soldiers Never Die
Flicker Stepping, Harry decided, was a kind of ability that was very annoying to have at the same time as being irreplaceable.
Insanely useful at the same time as pretty much completely useless.
It was useful for what he was doing right now, which was sprinting across the rocky terrain at an honestly ridiculous speed in search of the rest of the Jaegers. On the other hand it was only really useful for long distance travelling and, since he spent most of his time travelling with Esdeath, he very rarely actually had a chance to use it.
His foot slammed down on top of a boulder, distracting him from his thoughts and sending him blasting forwards as he practically flew across the terrain, diligently ignoring the dull ache of his body as he went.
Flicker Stepping was a mismatch of different speed techniques that involved reinforcing and enhancing his leg muscles as well as regulating the air flow around Harry and reducing gravities hold over his body, allowing him to move between twenty to thirty metres each step at high speed. As well as damaging his body a bit as he did.
Harry winced slightly as he pumped a little more power into his legs in order to leap a particularly wide ravine, ignoring the constant tugging on his core the same way he ignored the ache that was slowly enveloping his body.
Landing on the other side of the ravine he shot forward again, sailing over the landscape as he travelled onwards, feet thumping on the ground every few seconds as he entered a small patch of greenery, landing on a tree top and using it to launch himself up again, preparing to leap again. He spotted something below him.
He grabbed a branch and spun himself around it several times at high speed to shed some of his excess momentum before releasing it and skidding along the ground. Groaning in his head as he staggered slightly as he came to a stop, almost falling on his face. This was why he couldn't use it for combat. Travelling a minimum of twenty metres a step was all good and nice, put it didn't help you if your enemy was only five metres in front of you, unless of course he was charging them.
And the excess momentum was a pain to get rid of without crashing.
Coming to a stop, he turned, looking over at a rather shocked Wave who was leaning against a tree with Grand Chariot in one hand, looking like he been hit by a charging danger beast. It was a rather close comparison to the truth.
"Hey, Wave. What are you doing here? Where are the others?"
He just stared at Harry in muted shock before shaking his head to clear it.
"Harry? How did you get here?"
Groaning, Harry pretended that his questions had not been ignored and answered.
"Part of my…Teigu, I suppose. Esdeath sent me to check up on you all when she realised that you were facing the entire Night Raid. Now where are the others?"
Wave nodded at his explanation.
"I got blasted away in the first attack and flew fairly far, but it you just continue on the way you were going you should be able to find them fairly easily."
He groaned slightly as he tenderly touched his side.
"It'll be a moment before I can use Grand Chariot and catch up though, so you had better go ahead. Just don't die, okay? I'll never forgive myself."
Harry nodded with a grin.
"Okay! I'll head over there and see if they need support. You follow when you're ready."
He turned back towards the direction he had been going, crouching low before vanishing in a blur and a burst of leaves.
Wave just shook his head tiredly as he slumped back.
"Seriously!? He is going to do more fighting than me at this rate."
Gritting his teeth in pain he pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on.
"I need to hurry up and return to back everyone up."
Grand Chariot slide from its sheath.
-T.G.O-
A twisted dissonance of steel clashing with steel filled the air as Tatsumi, still in Incursio, wielded his crimson spear against the corpse puppet who was protecting Kurome, Natala.
Leaping backwards and landing in a crouch, Tatsumi shot towards his opponent once more, a barrage of spear jabs and thrusts being deflected by the far more experienced former assassin.
Swinging his spear in a wide arc, Natala slammed Tatsumi backwards, the younger boy skidding across the ground from the sheer force of the attack before leaping forward again sweeping his spear low towards the corpse puppets feet, Natala easily jumping over the attack and sending a flurry of jabs towards his opponent.
Tatsumi jerked backwards once more, landing in a crouch a few metres away from Natala and leaping up yet again, releasing his own flurry of jabs towards the spear wielding corpse puppet, forcing him backwards step.
Natala braced his feet against the ground, his spear a blur as he block his opponents lightning fast jabs before ducking low underneath Tatsumi's attack and slamming the butt of his weapon into Incursio's armoured stomach.
Tatsumi let out a blast of air as the force of the blow knocked the oxygen from his lungs and lifted him off his feet, sending him flying backwards to land just barely on his feet several metres away. Natala remained where he stood, intent on protecting Kurome perfectly as Tatsumi struggled back to his feet and dropped into another combat stance.
Several metres behind Natala, Kurome just watched with a grin on her face, holding up a hand above her eyes to remove the glare of the sun.
"Natala's doing pretty well today!"
Standing behind her the giant Kaiser Frog began to jerk around, sounds of discomfort leaking out of its mouth. Kurome spun, running around the side of the large danger beast in time to see parts of its flesh bulge out as though something were slamming into it from the inside.
"She's still struggling?! But acid that powerful should have…"
Her sentence trailed off as she noted the massive wound in the Kaiser Frogs stomach, acid leaking out of it.
She let out a sigh, completely ignoring Tatsumi as he continued his battle against Natala.
"You're a pretty new addition, so I didn't realise that it was all leaking from a damaged portion. Hmm, I suppose there's no point then is there."
Just as she finished speaking the Kaiser frogs back exploded in a shower of gore, a beam of bright light shooting up from inside it and into the sky. A hand reached up from the large hole in the danger beasts back as Kurome watched, Tatsumi stopping his attacks and leaping backwards to see what was going on.
Mine pulled herself out of the danger beast, clothes half dissolved by the remaining acid and her expression furious.
"That is the single worst thing that has ever happened to me!"
Tatsumi looked up at her in shock.
"Wait, what?! What is going on here?!"
She just glared at him, pointing a finger in his direction.
"It was absolutely terrible! Support me here, dammit!"
Suddenly she spun her from where she was still half buried in the Kaiser Frog, turning in time to see the gunslinger corpse puppet she had knocked off the cliff leap back up the cliff face, her two pistols pointed towards Mine.
She reached for Pumpkin.
The corpse puppet squeezed the triggers of her pistol.
Susanoo slammed his foot into the gunslingers head in mid-air, sending the corpse puppet hurtling away once more as he leapt in out of nowhere. He landed on the ground behind Tatsumi, placing Najenda on the ground beside him before shooting forward once more. He practically teleported in front of Kurome, his right hand thrusting out towards her head as she fell backwards.
She jerked her head to the side, Susanoo's hand passing through the air she had just inhabited as she place her feet firmly on the ground, leaning forward as she drew her katana straight across her opponents chest. She just barely missed Susanoo's core as she slashed a cut along his lower rib cage before he leapt backwards to were Najenda was standing.
The cut had healed before he even landed.
Najenda looked over at their opponent, scowling.
"For every corpse puppet she isn't controlling, she regains more of her original mobility and skill."
Across from them Kurome licked some blood of her hand, and gave a malicious smirk.
"Make sure you all stay focused and finish her of as fast as possible. Otherwise, you'll have to fight us as her newest corpse puppet."
Tatsumi, Mine and Susanoo all readied themselves.
Their war was coming to a close.
-T.G.O-
Blood splatter through the air as the bald corpse puppet leapt in the way of Akame's descending blade, just barely saving Bols life as the katana slashed down across the corpses back. Cursing in her head, Akame leapt backwards again before diving to the side as Bols sent a plume of fire towards her.
She landed in a crouch before leaping back to where Leone was waiting.
"Damn, that guy is annoying as hell!"
Akame just nodded, watching as the corpse puppet retook his place in front of Bols, shield at the ready.
There was a moment of perfect stillness.
A massive wave off fire shot towards Akame and Leone, forcing them to dodge to opposite sides as the flames swept through between them, searing the air. Akame shot forwards once more, Leone a step behind her as they converged on Bols and his guardian.
The corpse puppet prepared itself beside Bols as he sent out another wave of fire towards the approaching members of Night Raid, both Leone and Akame leaping high into the air above him as the flames incinerated the air they had been standing in.
Bols brought the barrel of his Teigu up towards them, shock written on his face as he gazed up at the two.
"Jumping?! Even though they can't dodge in mid-air?!"
As he spoke, Leone grabbed Akame by the ankle and, spinning once in mid-air, hurled her back down towards Bols.
Bols cursed.
"Shit! I can't fire yet!"
Beside him the corpse puppet leapt upwards to intercept the falling girl. Akame pulled her katana free in mid-air, blade flashing.
She slammed into the cliff wall, kicking off it as Bols sent a wave of fire towards her.
Off to the side, the corpse puppet fell to the ground, both legs removed as he struggled to sit back up and continue his objective.
Akame landed on the ground, Bols turning his flame thrower towards her, as above them, Leone dropped down with a vicious grin, reaching with her remaining hand for Bols Teigu.
The corpse puppet pointed the arm with his shield attached towards the plummeting woman, a hidden lance shooting out of a small gun hidden beneath his shield.
The small lance slammed into Leone's hand, knocking it off course.
Bols reacted, pulling the flamethrower to point it at Leone, preparing to release a wave of fire to incinerate her.
Leone bit down as she fell.
She landed behind Bols in a slide as he stared, gaping at the air were his Teigu's barrel had been moments before. Behind him Akame sliced apart the corpse puppet that had been guarding him.
Leone spat out the piece of barrel that she had bitten down on.
Bols began to sweat.
"You…bit off part of a Teigu."
He turned to face Leone as she stood, grinning, Akame standing beside her.
"Like this you can't use your Teigu anymore, can you?"
Bols scowled behind his mask before deciding on one last desperate, gambit. He held the broken Teigu above his head, pointing it at the sky as he shouted.
"Trump Card, activate!"
Leone and Akame flinched away, cursing as Bols, taking advantage of their surprise, pulled the massive fuel canister off his back and hurled it into the sky with all his considerable might, pulling out a small detonator as he did.
Leone's eyes widened.
"No way, you've got to be kidding!"
She dived for the corpse puppets shield, dragging Akame behind her as Bols threw himself to the ground, slamming his thumb down on the button as he did.
Far above them the fuel container exploded.
Then there was Pure Devastation. With capitals.
Shock waves of pure energy exploded from the massive canister, slamming into the ground and cratering it as it swept onwards, tearing apart the cliff faces nearest to it and obliterating everything caught within the massive blast radius.
-T.G.O-
Far away from them, the rest of Night Raid spun towards the massive explosion, Tatsumi reacting the quickest.
"What the hell was that?!"
Suddenly remembering that they had their own opponent to worry about, he spun, the others mere seconds behind him, only to find that Kurome and Natala had vanished from sight.
Najenda cursed.
-T.G.O-
Far off in the distance, well, not that far actually, Harry changed direction slightly, a blur flying over the rocky terrain as he travelled towards the explosion.
After all, if that wasn't a sign of Night Raid and the rest of the Jaegers, then nothing was.
-T.G.O-
"Are you alright, Leone?"
Akame looked at the girl who was currently holding her tightly behind the corpse puppets shield, both singed and burnt despite their protection. Leone grinned up at her, eyes briefly wandering over the massive crater they were now inside
"I'm fine, Akame. You still have work to do, remember? Don't worry about me."
She gave Leone a disbelieving look.
"Leone?"
Leone grinned back.
"I told you, don't worry, I'm pretty confident in my regeneration ab…"
She toppled over to the ground, Akame giving her a shell shock look before grasping her by the shoulders and lifting her up.
"Leone!"
-T.G.O-
On the other side of the crater, Bols staggered away, glancing briefly over his shoulder.
"It seems I managed to just barely escape in time."
He staggered again, walking slowly away from the explosion as he glanced at the detonator in his hand.
"I hope Kurome is okay."
His mind began to drift as he continued onwards, replaying memories of the times he had spent with the rest of the Jaegers.
"It would be fun to have another dinner all together, wouldn't it?"
Realising he was babbling to himself now, Bols shut his mouth and focused on continuing onwards, placing one foot in front of the other as he walked. The sound of crying reached his ears, and he spun, suddenly no longer tired and weary as he rushed over to the little girl crying under a nearby tree.
He never questioned why there was a little girl so close to what was practically a war zone. Instead he rushed over, crouching down in front of the girl.
"Are you all right?"
The girl looked at him and screamed.
"A ghost!"
He just chuckled and pointed a finger in the air, waving it.
"Of course not. I'm not a ghost, so don't worry."
Glancing down, he noted the shallow injury on her leg and pulled a roll of bandage from… somewhere. Reaching down, he gentle took the girls leg and tried to start wrapping the injury as she tried kicking him away, yelling in fright as she did.
"Don't worry. It'll be fine, just calm down, okay."
Bols smiled through his mask.
"See, it'll be all better soon!"
The girl grinned up at him from her place leaning against the trees trunk.
"Thanks, mister!"
He smiled again, leaning back. As he did as the girl started moving forwards.
"But mister, all those places you burnt, they won't get better like that, will they."
The girl wrapped her arms around his neck as she spoke, a small, thin needle sliding through the back of his mask and into his spin. He had barely enough time to make a soft sound of surprise before he slumped forwards, the girls still holding his suddenly dying body up as she transformed back into Chelsea.
"She was a child from one of the villages you burned, you know. That girl you saw. The Empire suspected them of aiding us, the Revolutionary Army. Though I doubt you remember single individuals from those you kill."
She stood up, letting him slump to the ground as she walked away, pulling out a makeup kit and, with a flick of her wrist, turning into Bols as she walked away.
"Now I just need to find Kurome."
Behind her Bols lay on his front, arm desperately reaching towards the air in front of him as Chelsea walked away.
"No… I have to… return. They're… waiting for me. I have to return… to them…"
Tears began to stream down his mask.
"No… have to get… back to… them."
He sobbed as loudly as his dying body could allow as he realised that he was about to die.
"I have to… say…"
He slumped forwards, his life slowly draining way.
…
…
…
Bols passed away, alone, tears streaming down his face.
…
…
…
Or he should have anyway.
"Hey… can't… Bols…"
Something hot swept through his body, the pain in his neck fading away as he heard a distant voice, small hands reaching out and touching the wound on the back of his neck, something accompanying the space in front of him.
"Come on… die on me yet… what about Maggie… Tiffany."
He jerked, two words burrowing deep into his dying brain.
Maggie, his wonderful wife. Tiffany, his equally wonderful daughter. A spark of defiance lit inside him.
No…
No.
NO.
He struggled to stay awake, assisted by the burning energy that swept through his body. He refused to die! He would not leave them alone! Never!
"That's it, Bols… keep going."
The voice was becoming clearer, more familiar as the dark shroud of death was drawn, kicking and screaming, from his mind.
Clarity returned as he gasped for breath, reaching up as the hands left the back of his neck.
"Good work, Bols. That was a close one, I've never healed wounds like that before."
He struggled to look up, squinting his eyes up until his saviour came into focus.
"Harry?"
His voice was a weak, croaky whisper.
Harry nodded from his position crouched in front of Bols.
"Correct. Now, what are we going to do with you? I can't carry you, and I doubt that you can stand at all. To be honest, I doubt you'll ever be able to move properly ever again."
There was a sudden crashing nearby and Harry glanced up, noting Wave landing nearby, dressed in the black armour of Grand Chariot.
"What convenient timing."
Spotting Harry and Bols, Wave ran over too them.
"Are you two okay? What happened?"
Harry just raised an eyebrow.
"I am fine, I only got here after the assassin left. Bols, as I'm sure you can see, is not. I've stabilised him, but he still needs medical attention. Even then, I highly doubt he will ever make a full recovery."
Wave glanced up at Harry for a second as he wordlessly reached down and helped Bols to his feet, supporting the larger man easily with Grand Chariots enhanced strength. Harry just looked back at the two, before turning his gaze to Bols, face serious.
"This isn't time to go into details, nor do I know the full details, but you have to understand that when I found you, your brain was in the process of shutting down. If we had Stylish it would be different, but we don't, so I doubt you'll ever be able to work as a soldier again."
Bols just nodded dazedly. Getting up close and friendly with death tended to do that to people.
Harry turned back to Wave.
"Bols is too heavy for me, so I need you to carry him to the horses and then lead him back to the city, okay? I'll go find Kurome and bring her back."
Wave looked like he wanted to argue before realising the truth in the younger boy's words and nodded.
"Roger that. I'll start heading back now. Good luck, and make sure you don't run into Night Raid. They could still be around."
Without another word he turned, using Grand Chariots massive strength to leap into the air with Bols, powering towards were he knew they had left the horses. He just hoped that they hadn't bolted in the conflict.
Or been killed on accident.
Behind him Harry watched the two for a moment before leaping upwards and scaling the nearest cliff, reinforcing his ears with his ability until he heard the sound of gunshots.
Vanishing in another blur of speed, Harry rocketed towards the source of the noise, bouncing off the cliffs and various boulders as he came closer, the sound of combat, one sided combat by what he was hearing, dying away as he finally reached his target, skidding along the ground as he came to a stop.
He came to a halt, gazing at the scene around him. Two of Kurome's corpse puppets were standing around, Natala and Doya if he remembered correctly. A second glance noted that they were both standing over a woman's corpse with one arm lying beside her and the fingers of her other hand blown off, her head currently held in Natala's hand. Turning, he saw Kurome staggered towards him from the woods a demented smile on her face.
He crushed the feeling of bile in the back of his throat. Killing he could do, easily. Torture? Defiling corpses? There was a reason Esdeath could not convince him to join her in her favourite hobby.
Instead, he turned his gaze over to the staggering Kurome, quickly moving to support her.
"Kurome? Can you still travel?"
He was intending to ask if she was alright, but really it was blatantly obvious that she wasn't.
She clutched onto his arm as she staggered, her two corpse puppet moving over to help as she stared up at him blankly.
"Harry? How did you get here? What…"
She trailed off distractedly.
"Esdeath sent me back to check on you all after she realised you were facing the entire Night Raid. Good thing she did too. Wave has already headed back towards the city with Bols."
Her head jerked upwards looking at him as he let Natala take pick her up, noting that he had given the woman's head to Doya. He was hoping they would leave it.
"Bols? He survived?"
Hope kindled on her expression as he nodded.
"Just barely. He won't be fighting anytime soon, if ever, but he survived. Anyway, we can talk later, for now let's meet up with the others."
She nodded, Natala leaping up in a burst of speed, still carrying her as Harry followed moments behind.
He shook his head as he moved. What a mess this was. One of them had barely fought but was still bashed up pretty bad, another had barely escaped death and would never be combat worthy again, and the last was recovering from a psychotic fit and minor withdrawal symptoms.
What a mess indeed.
It could, he decided, have been worse.
He could have been a second slower.
-T.G.O-
And that is chapter 19 complete!
I really hope people enjoyed it!
I'll admit, I'm not confident about this chapter, but I seriously want this part of the story over. It's a a pain in the ass to write, especially with school.
Anyway, what are people's opinions on Harry saving Bols like that? I'll go more into detail about it next chapter but I will point out that Bols will never be fighting again. He has be effectively pushed to the background without me crying because I had to kill him off. So, feedback would be wonderful thanks!
And as you probable predicted, any and all likes, dislikes, ideas, constructive criticism or advice are all welcome and accepted!
Please Review!
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you have enjoyed the story so far!
Goodbye until next time!