Chapter Ten- Kill the Mourning
The Capital- Imperial Palace Gardens
Wave was walking down the hall with Kurome. He had heard about the fact that Stylish and his crew of super-soldiers were believed to have died in battle, as Stylish's lab was left with his most of his equipment and important notes unremoved.
The only group with the power to do this would be the Night Raid.
Wave, knowing Seryu would be horribly broken up about the whole thing, was confidently making his way to where she and Koro were in the garden. He spotted her a few minutes before solemnly cleaning her gear from the dining hall window and remembered his mother's advice: "If there's ever a girl in need of cheering up, be a man and help her out."
Kurome doubted his success, sporting her usual glum, unfazed expression.
Wave finally made it to the green-grassed courtyard with the marble walkways, and spotted a female figure.
"Seryu! I'm here for you!" he shouted brazenly.
Suddenly, he registered one of the most bizarre images he'd seen thus far in the capital- it was the commander, with Seryu nuzzling herself in her arms, and Esdeath smiling down in a comforting, borderline motherly way (especially strange considering Seryu was the older of the two).
Wave just stood aghast while Kurome gave him a comforting pat on the back, as if to say 'Better luck next time.'
Esdeath then noticed his presence after he shouted out. "Oh good, I'm glad you two are here so I didn't have to send for you. Minister Honest has asked if we would send a small group to defend the Minister of Finance. He is rumored to be on Night Raid's list of targets. I have appointed you two to defend him immediately."
"Yes ma'am!" Kurome shouted confidently.
"Y-yes, anything you say, commander." Wave stuttered, still a little hazy given what he had just seen and trying to shake the feeling of uselessness and dejection he'd become accustomed to.
Esdeath gave an intimidating smirk and they departed, and Seryu finally collected herself from her state of turmoil.
Esdeath then went off to further discipline the Minister's guards in the torture hall on their subpar methods. She had been through many drills with them- whipping them, getting them on all fours and digging into their backs with her boot, chaining them to walls, scorching them with hot wax. None of these methods seemed to cure their stupidity and lack of creativity so she'd have to try something more drastic. Luckily she was warmed up from her session with Wave a few days prior.
As Wave walked with Kurome, he had been able to get past his own feelings of inadequacy and the strangeness of seeing Esdeath so kind, and felt very happy that someone had seen to it that Seryu was okay and that she would be comforted in her time of duress. 'I guess she really does care about us, in her own strange way.'
Wave and Kurome found their job was even easier than anticipated: they were merely to go to the Minster's quarters every so often and check in if there might be an emergency that their spies in the Revolution might report on, though those spies have become sparser after so many being snuffed out.
The Capital- Marketplace
Esdeath made her way briskly down the capital's streets, traversing the crowded marketplace, with Run carefully trailing behind. Her celebrity had diminished as she was now just another frequent patron, having come and introduced herself to all the shopkeepers and traders upon her arrival at the capital, so she could walk at her own pace and not feel the pressure of people staring.
Esdeath continued surveying the area with a certain anxiety, which Run took note of immediately.
"Captain, is something the matter?" he asked calmly, not wanting any upset to be detected if they were being followed.
"It's nothing, it's just whenever there's a lot of people I want to search for Tatsumi."
Run then remembered he had brought something along to show her, hoping to ease her mind. Though knowing her personality, he sheepishly pulled it out. "Uh, captain..." he said, waiting for her to turn to him, which she didn't, merely turning her ahead slightly, as if starting to turn around. "We have discovered several lookalikes of him among the army. If you wish, we could arrange for you to meet them."
Her expression went from slightly interested back to solemn, her hope having been that Tatsumi had been found.
"There's no need for that, Run." She said, fastening her cap back down, but appreciating his effort. "There is only one Tatsumi in the world, I will accept no substitute." She continued walking forward.
Run bowed, apologizing for his interference, before thinking to himself to keep an eye on Esdeath, as she's less disgusting and more intriguing than he thought. Another thought crossed his mind—'Did the general really love Tatsumi as a person or an ideal? Obviously it isn't just the looks that factor in, yet she fell in love with him at first encounter. So possibly it's what he represents to her that she has an interest in? Could that be manipulated, or is there someone that can represent those ideals equally as well if not better so her mind can be refocused?'
Run then continued walking forward as to catch up with Esdeath, noticing her pause in deep thought, probably about Tatsumi or the Night Raid or something. That's pretty much all she thought about these days.
The Capital- Outskirts
A carriage drawn by a single horse and steered by two farmers was barreling down the rocky path, trying to reach the capital's gates before dusk turned to night.
"We have to hurry! Get out this area before nightfall!" one shouted in a panic.
Suddenly, the carriage was thrown almost on its side, as the horse seemed to shriek out and reared up suddenly, when three giant humanoid creatures lunged up into the air from the forest.
These were the human-type Danger Beasts that were rumored to be stalking the mines and cabins around the area, eating all the unfortunate souls who crossed their paths.
All the farmers could do was scream in terror as their fate closed in. Suddenly, they felt massive, booming footsteps run along the roof of the cart, and a smaller but no less huge human leapt up, grunting and knocking one of the beasts to the ground with a crushing blow to the face.
The other beasts closed in and the human suddenly produced a massive flamethrower, and burned some into dust in a fiery spiraling inferno. The other beasts, terrified themselves, fled.
The men were in awe, before their savior turned to face them. He spoke in a soft and somehow serious voice: "Everyone, there's nothing to fear anymore." He was a behemoth, and had a ghostly white mask resembling some sort of apparition or skull.
The farmers froze, thinking they had been sent from the frying pan into the fire—somewhat literally.
"I defeated those Danger Beasts, so there's no need to quiver in fear like that…" he reached out, appeared like a demon beckoning them to Hell, backlit by roaring flames.
Suddenly, a cold hand touched one farmer's shoulder, and he screamed and spun around, before being faced with pretty young lady with reddish-brown hair and metallic arms in a green cloak-type outfit, holding a little puppy-type creature.
"It's all right now, the flames of justice have purged evil."
The farmers sighed in relief, realizing they were soldiers from the capital, and continued talking to Seryu.
Wave approached the area, having stayed back, knowing that Bols was best equipped to defeat the beasts quickly enough to save the farmers, and drive the rest to where Esdeath had laid her trap.
Wave went to comfort Bols, who seemed upset at the lack of recognition for his efforts and the fear he seemed to instill in people, but Bols was actually just happy that the farmers had been calmed down.
The group finally caught back up to Esdeath, who had frozen the beasts solid and captured them alive, per the minister's request. She had just finished scolding Kurome, whose mouth was watering, that she could not eat them.
Esdeath had met with the emperor and minister, the emperor thanking her, as her presence not only helped decrease the Danger Beasts in the area and improve the effectiveness of the 'interrogation chambers' (as he put it, unaware most were just being tortured for speaking out, not to be questioned), but also seemed to quiet Night Raid's activity in and around the capital.
He again suggested that the minister's son Syura would be a great husband, as he has such a bright future ahead (seeming to completely forget how abysmal their last meeting went), but Esdeath again reminded the emperor she had found someone in Tatsumi, and she would seek him out despite his disappearance.
The emperor had been quite impressed with this, and the minister later told Esdeath of the emperor's interest in love per her influence and his plan to drown the young boy in decadence once he's of age. Esdeath smiled that she had such a positive impact, and warned Honest not to let the boy get any "adult diseases."
Honest again asked about all the men who were falling at her feet that she surrounded herself with, even before this new love of hers or thoughts of marriage, and she coldly insisted they were just pets and not her partners. She seriously needed to ask Tatsumi when she found him about what to do about them and if she should keep some human footstools around, however. She did enjoy the attention, even if it was by pathetic dregs masquerading as legitimate suitors.
Esdeath had also shared her secret to loyalty and strength in her men: showering them with respect, affection, and rewards to make them appreciate her. Esdeath has successfully pulled this off with Seryu just the other day. Not to say she didn't care for Seryu or her men at all, but definitely not as much as the care they probably had for her.
Honest then instructed her to capture some of these rare new Danger Beasts for himself to study and possibly duplicate, and that's what led to their involvement.
Wave and the others caught up and greeted her. Run was not present, scribing some of Esdeath's plans for her at home to send out to her troops stationed in the North.
She had been in the forest with the others earlier, slaughtering more of the humanoid beasts, which is what scared the others into the farmers' path to begin with.
She had seen Wave in his Grand Chariot in battle finally, not just training, and was impressed with how much power and energy it had (and probably took to maintain), as well as his impressive abilities for only a three-year veteran of the Navy. He even managed to tear a Beasts' head off with some effort.
His style was even more polished than Tatsumi's at the tournament, and his weapon was much more advanced and strenuous than a blacksmith's sword. He was in many ways Tatsumi's equal, yet she couldn't see him as anything but her subordinate. Was it his lack of a truly pure smile from his military days jading him a bit? That seemed his only missing quality. Or perhaps he had reached his full potential already and there was nothing left for her to draw out of him? No, his slip-up with Tatsumi and the Night Raid proved he still had a long way to go.
She couldn't quite hit the nail on the head, but composed herself to not let anything on. She wanted to push these doubts from her mind, as she should never doubt herself or others may doubt her as well. That is not what the Empire's Strongest does. Thinking about all this was so new to her, though, she felt one could forgive her for overthinking it.
The Capital- Imperial Palace, Seryu's Quarters
Seryu got ready for bed, getting into a green nightgown, and tucked Koro into a little blanket area she had for him and went over to her small wooden desk, looking at on old sketch of her father—her only image of him. She set her little candle, the only light in the room down, and asked her father for guidance, something she did nightly.
"Father, I hope I have lived up to your expectations today. I try to honor your memory and your drive for justice." She said, hoping he would hear her somewhere.
She paused because she pondered what he would think of her feelings that were developing. They were strange and unexpected. She really liked Wave as a comrade and friend, and felt there was something a little more to them. She found herself enjoying his company a lot, and he was good to Koro, and always helped her out in need or attempted to. She had heard him come to comfort her when she was with Esdeath, and appreciated his efforts to check in on her. She found herself blushing whenever he told a joke or held her chilled artificial hand in his still warm, human one.
However, since that day, she couldn't help but feel strange emotions about the captain as well. When the captain took her in her arms and cradled her and hugged her close to her chest, she felt so safe and secure. The same way she felt with Wave that night when he put his coat around her. She was so confused about these feeling for two close allies, and how different they were, and how she felt her feelings for Esdeath might be frowned upon by people.
She even worried hearing about the captain being sent to find more Danger Beasts in the mountains that evening. She knew Esdeath could handle it herself, but Seryu wanted to go and help her, even if she was weaker.
But she also got to have more time to spend with Wave, so she couldn't help but feel a little happy.
How could she care about two people at once? She wished there was a way to be with both of them, free from judgement.
She was so nervous of what her father would've thought, that she tried to push these feelings from her mind.
She was very tired, and figured this could all be her fatigue setting in. She and Koro had spent the afternoon exterminating more and more of these human-like monsters with feverish glee in the outskirts and on trading roads. She did enjoy her work a lot, no matter how dirty or violent it was. It was justified violence, after all.
She had heard that Run and the captain had received intel about the beasts being some escaped experiments by Dr. Stylish, her beloved patron, made from vagrants and political prisoners, hence why these were a new type of beast unseen before, and their superior strength to humans and intelligence for a monster.
She wouldn't hear any of this. She couldn't believe her friend and mentor was a mad doctor creating these abominations that hurt the citizens of the capital. She forced herself to not even consider it.
She settled into bed, and drifted off, thinking of both the captain's flowing blue hair and icy eyes and porcelain complexion and Wave's darker features and strength. She smiled softly as she drifted off.