Hello again everyone, and welcome to chapter 22 of The Glacial Ones!
To kick things off, I have had a ton of reviews since my last chapter, so thanks to everyone for the support!
Froper98: The only thing that I can say is that it wouldn't fit the character I'm trying to give Harry. He dislikes torture, but is willing to set aside that dislike because Esdeath likes it, as long as he doesn't have to watch. On the other hand, Esdeath will, after properly accepting her feelings for Harry, tone down on it quite a lot until torture becomes more of a pastime for when she is really bored rather than a hobby. Anyway, thanks for your opinion!
Muratira: Hello again! To start with, I've decided I'm actually quite proud of that pun, as its probable the first I've ever intentionally written, just don't many. On the Horcrux…*looks of to the side while twiddling fingers* it may have slipped my mind? Maybe? Anyway, thanks for reminding me about that little problem. I'll get to the crux of it at some point. Anyway, thanks for the review and support!
Drunkle Crow: I am forced to agree with your first points. This story didn't have a stellar start but, considering that it is my first fanfiction, I think I can get away with it for now. It is nice to know that I am improving thought, so thanks for that! As for the Harry Potter worlds, I only intend to do the fourth year since that will let Harry eliminate Voldemort as well as learn a few tricks alongside Esdeath. And look badass as they do it. Thanks for the honest opinion and support!
Silent Lurker: Ah… are you sure you didn't like, steal the god of Fanfictions candy as a kid or something? I've seen both your March 28 reviews late, so your idea didn't work I'm afraid. Maybe you just live in an inconvenient time zone? Anyway, you could try making an account and see if it makes a different or pm me. If you can't do that I'm willing to put up one of my email accounts on my page for a little while if you want. I'll take it down afterwards though. Anyway, good luck and thanks for your continued support!
Vcasualwriter: Thanks! It really means a lot when people give positive reviews like this. About watching Akame Ga Kill, I will point out that the manga and the anime are quite different in a lot of things and this is based on the manga, just to stop any confusion. Except the names. They all came from the anime.
And finally, about writing a story, just try writing a small 500-1000 word prologue and try go from there! I'm sure you could write something if you wanted. I myself just posted the first parts without really thinking I would get past 10000 words. Now I'm at over 80000! Thanks for the support though!
Priestess of shadows: Genius, pure genius. I never thought of having Harry meet alternate Harry's. I don't know if I could do I as anything beyond humour, but it is definitely something to keep in mind for when they leave the Potterverse. Thanks for the idea and review!
EVA-Saiyajin: Harry didn't intend to apparate in the way. In fact he doesn't even know what apparition is yet, it was merely an act of accidental magic when he attempted to use it to stop Susanoo. He was trying for something else entirely, not randomly jumping in the way of an attack. H doesn't like Borick that much. Or at all. Thanks for the review though!
Also, a thanks to Imperial warlord, The Perfect Re TPR, Arawn D. Draven, Tsunashi777, Aku no Kotei, Bloodline Purger and Rydralle for your reviews and support!
And now that that's all done, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I do not own, in any way, shape, or form Akame Ga Kill or Harry Potter.
-T.G.O-
Esdeath had never felt true anger. It simple wasn't something she felt, nor something that really fitted her world view.
She was a homicidal, sadist, maniac.
She was cruel and uncaring. Cold.
But she was never angry.
When Najenda, someone she looked up at as a bit of a role model, left to join the Revolutionary Army, Esdeath was more amused than anything.
When her tribe was wiped out she grieved. But she was never angry, any possible rage crushed by her belief that if her tribe had died, then it was simple because they were too weak.
The closest she had ever gotten to anger was recently, when the Three Beast had been too weak to save themselves from Night Raid. Even then it was more extreme annoyance than anything else.
Esdeath didn't know why she was angry, just that Harry was about to be killed by the biological teigu and she did not like that at all.
So as time froze, everything covered in a sheen of what looked almost like frost, she moved towards where Harry was frozen in mid-air surprise on his face, arms coming up in a futile attempt to save himself as Susanoo's hand thrust into his chest, finger nails just piercing his skin.
In another world, in another time, she would have walked leisurely over to the frozen biological teigu and run him through with her rapier, almost lazily.
Unfortunately for many, this was not that world.
Because Esdeath was angry.
And that was bad. Really, really bad.
Appearing beside the frozen Harry, she grabbed the frozen boy by the arm, pulling him towards her as her other hand sent her rapier flashing out towards the frozen Susanoo.
Power welled up inside of her, lashing out as she released her fury.
The wheel of time began to turn once more.
Harry feel sideways into Esdeaths side where she held him to her body, pale and shaking slightly. He was no stranger to death, but throw a sudden almost certain death situation on top of the sensation of what he would one day learn was apparition as well and the confusion of finding himself somehow in a different location without actually travelling there?
Most people would be shaken.
Around them a wave of ice erupted, half an inch of frost and ice covering everything within twenty metres of the two in an uncontrolled flash of power, a second blast proceeding to flash freeze the nearest stone chairs and pillars before shattering them in explosions of ice shards.
A chilling, ominous wind swept through the room, wailing quietly as it swirled around Esdeath, ice creeping even further along the ground as the windows frosted over and the temperature dropped.
As for Susanoo, he, well… he fell apart. His limbs were sliced into into several pieces each, his head and torso following suit as he fell apart into almost a hundred different pieces in an explosion of blood and gore.
Silence rained, broken only by the pitta patter of blood raining down and the fleshy thumps of the biological Teigu's remains, his core slashed apart and unable to save him.
Further down the chapel, just outside the range of Esdeaths uncontrolled blast of frost and snow, Najenda watched in horror as she saw Susanoo full apart in a rain of blood and gore. She turned her wide eyed gaze to Esdeath who stood like some kind of twisted goddess of blood and fury and all things wrong, clutching Harry to her side as blood rained down around her, freezing into crimson hail stones before clattering onto the frozen cobblestones below.
Her face was cast in shadows, her mouth twisted in a furious scowl and a terrifying aura of murder and blood and death emitting out of her and Najenda came to the frightening realisation that they may have just found the Empires Strongest' weakness.
And they would probably not live long enough to ever tell about it either.
Held tightly against Esdeaths side, Harry felt the blood begin to pump back into his face, his pale look fading away as he recovered from the sudden series of events that had almost removed him from the mortal coil, the soft pitta patter of the rain of blood against his skin snapping him into reality as he took an odd comfort in Esdeaths tight embrace.
Glancing up he felt a small shudder run down his spine as he saw her face, twisted and distorted in pure, undiluted, fury. He had never seen her angry before, and he decided then and there that he never wanted to again.
Across from the two, Najenda noticed a small movement near Esdeaths feet, a spark of hope igniting inside of her as she realised that it was somehow Susanoo trying to regenerate. Not that he could without his core.
Esdeath's voice was glacial as she broke the shocked silence.
"It seems I have an appointment with you, Najenda. In the torture chambers. And I assure you, it will be a very, very long appointment. And when I find the rest of your friends arrive, they too will join you for my hospitality."
Najenda, and indeed Harry and Kurome as well, shivered at the glacial tone that promised a very slow, very painful death to all those who disobeyed. And of course, to those who did obey he and willing enter he torture chambers with her. Behind her a wave of small ice spears, somehow more brutal looking than her normal ones, materialized and surged towards Najenda at high speed, the former general leaping backwards as they approached, her metal arm coming up to block.
Esdeath calmed slightly as she held Harry's smaller body to her own, sneering at Najenda as she collapsed onto one knee, still weakened by the Magatama Manifestation.
"Foolish scum."
Behind her, Borick finally recovered from seeing somebody, or something depending on who you asked, violently sliced into pieces in a literal rain of blood as he noted that Night Raid had been crushed. A lecherous smile grew over his face as he walked down the stairs, rubbing his hands together and licking his lips disgustingly as he eyed up the still regenerating Leone.
Behind him Kurome spoke up to him, annoyed and more than a little confused by his ability to not even notice that Esdeath was in a rather angry mood, instead voting to satisfy his lust. In the middle of a battle. For his life.
"You shouldn't move around on your own!"
She went to follow after him only to stagger as an injury from the previous fight that Harry had been unable to heal flared up.
Esdeath scowled as she turned her burning gaze over to the annoying little insect of a man, still holding Harry at her side absentmindedly. Suddenly her eyes jerked up towards the roof as one of the coloured glass windows exploded in a shower of glittering shards of glass, a wave of shards of ice surging up towards it before Akame and Mine had even begun to fall as they leapt through.
Spinning in mid-air, Akame drew her katana, sending it flashing out in several arcs of ominous steel as she deflected and destroyed the projectiles that had been shot towards them. The Two assassins of Night Raid both landed heavily, crouching even as Esdeath materialized a massive boulder of ice covered in sharp spikes sending it spinning towards the two, intent on shredding them to death in the most painful way possible.
Bringing up her Teigu, Mine pointed her Teigu at the spiked boulder of ice, pulling the trigger as she shouted out its name.
"Pumpkin!"
A blast of energy shattered the spiked ball of ice, sending fragments flying in every direction as the two newcomers took stock of the situation, noting Najenda crouched behind them and Esdeath holding Harry against her side, ice and frost swirling around her and covering everything in within several metres of her.
Then they noticed Susanoo who had somehow managed to pull all his many parts into a pile not far from Esdeath but was unable to regenerate properly.
Akame gritted her teeth in rage, Mine barely doing any better, ironically at the same time as Esdeath began to calm down, her fury dying down to a sense of extreme annoyance, as though the two Night Raid assassin had used up all the available anger in the room.
Choosing to put aside her fury at a target she couldn't touch, Akame shot towards Borick who had stopped, stunned where he was standing next to where Leone lay on the floor.
Esdeath spun, releasing Harry as she went to intercept, only to duck as a figure appeared behind her, Incursio's armoured foot sweeping over her head as he finally managed to recover from Harry's shockingly powerful lightning attack.
Borick turned to flee, panic written across his face as he did, only to stumble forwards as Leone grabbed him by the ankle, giving him a smirk as she did.
Kurome shot forward from her position near the chapel's throne, shouting.
"I won't let you, big sis!"
She was too slow.
Akame grabbed the panicking Borick by the collar before sweeping Murasame across his throat in one smooth movement. She released him, letting him fall backwards with blood pouring from her throat as she swept her blade around to block an attack from her sister.
Kurome gritted her teeth as they clashed, ignoring her only partially healed injuries.
"How dare you, big sis!"
At the same time, Esdeath spun, slamming a heel driven by extreme annoyance and frustration into Tatsumi's chest, smashing part of his breastplate and sending him flying backwards at the same time as Harry reacted to his presence and slammed a hail of small ice shards into the armour as Tatsumi flew backwards.
Tatsumi slammed into the wall, cratering it as he struggled to stay on two feet, cursing his luck with walls and people using him as an improvised battering ram. Across the room, Kurome sent a high blow towards Akame, only for it to be blocked by Murasame before the two disengaged, leaping away from each other to stand near their respective groups.
Esdeath almost growled in annoyance as she pulled the brim of her cap down over her face.
"This is a mission failure it seems."
A sudden sound behind them sent Harry and Esdeath both spinning to see what was happening.
Behind them, floating in the air and emitting an ominous light, was Susanoo in his Magatama Manifestation form, his massive ring floating behind him as he did.
Esdeaths annoyance, fuelled by her recent fit of rage, died slightly as she was presented with something interesting to distract her.
"You fully regenerated, despite having your core destroyed? How is that possible?"
Her eyes followed the trails of light entering Susanoo, landing on Najenda who stood, staggering and exhausted as she feed her life energy into the biological Teigu.
Esdeath leapt towards the already toppling leader of Night Raid, cursing.
Susanoo leapt up behind her, spinning in mid-air as he lashed out with his foot.
Tatsumi staggered forward, summoning his spear into his hand and hurling it towards Esdeath from behind as Harry moved to intercept massive stone hands rising from out of the floor, catching the spear by its shaft at the same time as Esdeath threw up a large wall of super dense ice, Susanoo's kick slamming into it with rock shattering force and sending it and its creator sliding backwards across the floor, smashing through the wall.
Susanoo landed lightly before charging after Esdeath
On the other side of the room Akame leapt over an attack from Natala, Kurome leaping up behind her with her blade poised for the kill only to jerk herself back in mid-air as Mine fired a blast of energy in front of her using Pumpkin.
Collapsed on the chapel floor near Tatsumi, Najenda looked around at the members of Night Raid before speaking to Tatsumi as loud as she could as he prepared to charge forward, having already dismissed his spear from where it had been stopped.
"Tatsumi! Take the others and fall back! The objective is complete, so you need to leave now!"
Tatsumi looked over at her, his quizzical look hidden by Incursio's face plate.
"What? Why? With Susanoo at his current level we might have a chance of beating Esdeath."
Najenda shook her head painfully.
"No. It's simple a power rush from a forced usage of the Magatama Manifestation. He is only slightly more powerful right now. We haven't got a chance of even scratching Esdeath in the state we are all in right now. Anyway, we have been here for far too long. Reinforcements will arrive soon."
Tatsumi sighed and nodded at the same time as Mine fired a blast of energy at Natala, forcing him backwards as Akame exchanges a series of lightning fast sword blows with her sister, leaping backwards and disengaging as Mine shouted out to her.
"Did you hear Najenda, Akame?! I'll use Pumpkin to hold them off for now while we retreat."
Akame nodded as she landed beside her, Kurome and Natala landing opposite them at the same time as Harry sent a shock wave at the two members of Night Raid. Mine and Akame leapt out of the way of the attack as it crushed its way through everything in its path, Mine sending off a series of shots back at Harry using Pumpkin.
The shots slammed into a clear, dome shaped shield as Harry retaliated by sending a series of metre long spears of ice at the assassins, forcing them backwards again where they landed next to where Tatsumi was using Incursio's strength to hold Leone over one shoulder and pick up Najenda with his other.
A moment later Susanoo was hurled from the hole in the wall that he and Esdeath had gone through, tumbling through the air before back flipping and landing on his feet, arms shooting out as he grabbed Tatsumi and his cargo in one hand and snagging Akame and Mine with his other.
Esdeath stepped from the hole in the wall as he crouched, looking down at Tatsumi.
"Make sure you don't drop Najenda or Leone, okay Tatsumi?"
Tatsumi nodded, slightly mystified as he looked up him, Esdeath walking over to stand beside Harry across from them.
Eyes widening, Esdeath prepared to attack the group.
"Running away?! Like I would let you all escape!"
Susanoo spun his back to Esdeath, pulling back his arms before flinging them forwards, hurling the members of Night Raid up out through the broken skylight in the roof. Behind him Esdeath thrust her hand out, sending a wave of ice shards surging towards the escaping members of Night Raid, Harry reaching into his core beside her and releasing a shock wave behind the ice shards, turning them from dangerous, fast moving sharp objects into, well, even more dangerous, super-fast moving sharp objects as they blurred towards their targets.
Too slow.
Susanoo spun back towards the, hand thrusting out towards the hole in the roof.
"I will not let you have them!"
His massive mirror appeared, covering the hole in the roof moments before the accelerated ice shards slammed into it, the mirror sending them slamming back sown into the floor with equal speed, shattering them.
Esdeath stopped, gazing over at the biological Teigu, Harry standing beside her with Kurome and her corpse puppet not far away. The two sides eyed each other for a moment, before Susanoo broke the silence.
"It seems that you cannot do your trump card consecutively."
Esdeath just smirked, her previous anger finally dying away completely, leaving only questions she would look at after the battle.
Across from her and Harry, Susanoo crouched into a low stance, materializing his massive sword in his hand.
"I will not let you go after them."
Esdeath raised her eyebrows.
"Oh? So you will be acting as the sacrificial piece so that the others can escape. Truly, Najenda has some naïve subordinates."
Susanoo just grinned widely.
"I am simply a Teigu. I do what is best for my user and I have already revealed all my tricks, so this is but a fitting end for me, is it not?"
Grinning even more widely, Esdeath began to draw her rapier.
"You… you said your name was Susanoo did you not?"
He nodded.
"That is correct."
She pulled her blade fully from her sheath, a cruel, sadistic smirk stretching across her face as she did before she turned to Harry for a moment.
"Harry, do not interfere."
He nodded with a grin as she turned her attention back to Susanoo.
"Well, Susanoo, we will remember you not as a Teigu, but as a truly impressive warrior. Now, entertain me with your final moments!"
Without another word, the two opponents shot towards each other blades flashing out again and again as they fought, parrying and countering each other again and again, Esdeaths rapier clashing with Susanoo's massive sword.
Again and again they clashed, Susanoo slowly but surely being pushed back by Esdeath with her blade alone, cut and slashes forming over his body as a consequence of lightning fat jabs and slashes that slide past the biological Teigu's guard.
So it went one, harry and Kurome watching from the side-lines as Susanoo was slashed apart until finally all that remained was his black coloured core, resting in Esdeaths hand.
She gave the core a long look as she sheathed her rapier.
"Hmm… It seems that without having a user to provide energy form him in that state nearby, his can no longer regenerate at all. Oh, well."
She clenched her fingers around the core, preparing to crush it when Harry intervened, an idea growing in his mind.
"Wait, Esdeath! Don't destroy it yet."
She looked over at his grinning face, somehow knowing that he had had some kind of genius yet ridiculous idea.
"Why not? We cannot use him."
Harry nodded, still grinning.
"I know. I doubt he is even still alive, But I think that with that I could be able to use my ability to be able to replicate his mirror to a weaker degree! It would be awesome, as well as useful if the people back home have the same kinds of powers as me."
Esdeath gave him a long look, feeling something stir up inside her as she did before she mirrored his grin.
"Hmm… that actually sounds like an interesting idea. We also have the Book of Lies to take back as well."
She handed the core over to him before turning her attention to the nearby Kurome as he slide it into his storage pocket.
"Are you okay, Kurome? Any new injuries?"
She shook her head.
"I was uninjured, beyond agitating my old injuries."
She grinned.
"I'll be back up and running properly by the time we return to the Capital."
Esdeath nodded with a smile, before turning away, walking from the ruined chapel, Harry and Kurome falling into step behind her.
One storm had past. Another now arises.
The question was, who would be in its eye when it did?
-T.G.O-
And that is chapter 22!
It was mainly just finishing the battle scene and next chapter I plan to include some of the aftermath in terms of Harry and Esdeath's relationship with Esdeath now being more aware of her feelings.
Also, what do you think about Harry's idea of replicating Susanoo's mirror? I personally think that mirror is badass and couldn't resist, but if Harry does succeed it will not only be smaller and weaker than the original, but it will also be a physical thing he has to carry, or levitate, around. It will also take quite a bit of energy to use, but the more energy he puts into it the more energy or magic it can reflect. So if he puts enough energy into it he could, theoretically, reflect a killing curse.
I think I just want it to troll the wizards actually.
Anyway, feedback and idea for this are all appreciated. Just remember I will be doing something with the core, it's just a matter of what. Maybe Harry could use it with his mysterious gemstone we haven't seen in a while.
Finally, I find that I am terrible at filler, like simple interactions between Harry and Esdeath, that aren't combat, and find myself needing to diverge from canon far more, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanl!
Anyway, as always, any and all constructive criticism, ideas, likes, dislikes or advice are all welcome and appreciated, so please review!
I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and the story so far!
Goodbye until next time!