Tatsumi leaned abrasively over the barrier that separated him from the view atop the balcony;thinking of the past few days;debating on whether or not to analyze the book that Mura gave him, or to just interrogate her. Thinking of attempting this however, always resulted in another conclusion;considering she always seemed to ignore what he wanted to hear the answer for;promptly going on about something else.

He hesitated a bit before walking back into the room;spotting Esdese sleeping on the bed;very soundly. Her long hair fell down over her face, and shortly drooped over the left side of the bed;as Tatsumi walked in;sitting down at a nearby table. He had set the familiar book on the table, and shifted through it;looking for something to calm his nerves. He had been a little uncomfortable after Akame did what she did earlier during the day. She had been acting like she wasn't herself, but then again, he had acted the same way when all of the abrupt events happened.

After finding nearly nothing besides the old explanations that took him to these Teigu;he leaned back in the chair and sighed heavily;rubbing his hands through his hair;as he heard the small noise of Falorin hitting the front pegs of the chair. He had been exhausted from today's events;which concluded the resurrection of Akame. He still couldn't believe it. He had this feeling inside of him;he was more happy then he has ever been before. He wanted to call this the best day of his life, but he made sure that the moment would invade himself once he saw his family alive and well;not fighting to the death anymore.

He launched a mental inquiry;searching his pockets for Carlian;staring down at the small pages below the bottom of the Teigu book. He wanted to try at least one of these little mementos that the Composer gave him;as he figured he wouldn't have many other times to do so. Everybody was asleep, and oddly enough, Esdese didn't seem to hold him like a beast holding it's prey tonight.

As he pulled the metal instrument out of this sleek pocket, he reached his right hand over to pick up one of the makeshift notes that the strange man made for him;revealing a template sheet. This sheet contained the notes written down in a strange way;revealing three songs that can be used with Carlian.

Skepticism flowed through his head as he hesitantly put the instrument close to his mouth;attempting to follow the diagram that was presented to him.

The only thing he accomplished was making harsh noise until finally realizing he hit the first note correctly;following it up with more failed, loud attempts. He was sure this would wake up Esdese, but he didn't care. At this point, there was no point in being scared of her. He knew how to handle her, and she knew how to control him. That's just the way it went.

As he hit a sharp note;Esdese started shuffling herself in the bed;under the blankets. She was awake now;but just enough to start opening her eyes;trying to grab Tatsumi but only managed to grab the blankets as she began to get irritated.

"Tatsumi...what are you doing?" she managed to mutter;getting a faint vision of him.

"I'm trying to learn how to use this flute."

"Come lay down. Forget about that stupid flute for tonight. You have all the time to do that and yet you do so now?"

"Well, yeah." he responded;not thinking it was a big deal.

"Tatsumi, you either come lay down with me, or I freeze you here."

"Really, Esdese. You don't scare me anymore."

"Oh really?" she stated;as she got up from her bed, stretching as she now stood above it;staring at the back of Tatsumi's head.

"Esdese...I've been thinking. You agreed with me whenever you said that you'd stick by me wherever correct?"

"Of course I did."

"That's not like you."

"Tatsumi...this again." she wore an exhausted expression;having gone over this with him already.

"No, don't. You haven't been acting yourself lately, and neither has Akame."

"Don't compare me to that poisonous snake."

"I'm not... but can you tell me something?"

"What is that?" she responded with a tired look in her eyes;as she lightly walked toward him;stopping when she arrived behind him.

"I think something happened, after that fight. After the Emperor had been killed." he hesitantly explained.

Esdese walked directly in front of the small lamp's emitting light;towering over the front of Tatsumi;staring directly into his eyes. This surprised him a good amount;as he didn't expect her to be moving so quickly after waking up so abruptly. The light that shined behind made her figure seem all the more omniscient and intimidating.

"What has you so worried? You haven't even come to bed yet."

"I think someone, or Something, put us together for a reason."

"Of course that happened, my love. It was fate telling us that we Are meant to be together. Only, I still hate that it took so long for you to realize, but fighting is fun too~"

"It's not that, its...I just have this feeling inside me that just...I don't find myself hating anything anymore. I forgave nearly everybody. I don't...I-"

"Have you been drinking at the-"

"No, Esdese of course not."

"Just come lay down." she said as she considered to force him over to the bed, but decided against it when she saw the look his his eyes. The same look she saw when she first saw him during that contest.

"There's something bigger going on, and I think there was a reason I survived that fight." he said;mildly in thought.

"Tatsumi, you're just tired. You need to stop thinking about this so much. The only thing you need to think about is me~" she stated in a deliberative manner as she stretched her body;obviously trying to excite him.

"That's one of the weakest thing's you've said-"

His voice quickly faded away as he felt Esdese' hand on his chest and her lips on his;letting his guard down in reaction. Her nightwear's gown like bottom made a skidding sound as the fabric touched Falorin. She dis-engaged their lips as she grabbed the left portion of Falorin, attempting to take it off, but failed as she realized it had pulled himself along with it.

"Esdese, don't you have more pressing matters as an Empress then being with me?"

"Nothing is more important then my love for you." she stated as she still held the left side of Falorin wrinkled in her hand. He was about to begin speaking again;but was interrupted as she continued talking.

"Tatsumi, I chose to go with you because I love you. Not only that, but I can find out more about these Teigu, all the while punishing you if you ever disobey me. I'm keeping my eye on you, and you remember that. I'm still the same old Esdese, and you can't change that. I still can't promise no conflict won't come with that snake."

The same scenario happened;as Tatsumi was unable to speak once again.

"Furthermore, if you don't come to the bed with me in about five seconds I'm going to freeze you to the bed."

"Okay, okay."

He got up from the chair, the familiar light making both of their shadows emit the area;shrouding the wall in black. As Esdese let go of him, she reached over to turn off the lamp;being successful in doing so. She closely followed behind him;staring at Falorin, looking for a way to take it off.

"How on earth do you even wear that thing?"

"It's like a robe outfit. See?" he explained as he moved his right hand up to his chest, quickly inserting it into the space between him and the robe;taking it off quite easily. It's long sleeves drooped onto the ground as the bottom did as well. The red design on the fabric faded into a deeper red as he tossed in on the chair he had just sat on;revealing a white T-shirt.

"It's really weird. Why were you wearing that thing with no shoes on at all?"

"It's comfy and also, it just, makes me feel at ease. I can't really explain it, and the only explanation I have is that it's an Imperial Arms to some extent-"

He was startled as Esdese shoved him;causing an impacted sound as he hit the bed;shuffling the blankets as it happened. She quickly laid down with him;somehow managing to get on top of him. She let herself fall down;sinking into the space between him and the right side of the bed.

The smell of the sheet filled every space around his face as she started to caress him;making him feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Can we not do that tonight?"

"Tatsumi...it's been days." she said this as she started to lick his neck;all while disabling his attempts for her to stop.

Tatsumi struggled in his sleep;Esdese' sleepy grasp keeping him from falling onto the floor. He heard voices, and they wouldn't stop. None of them would. He heard a child's voice, and saw an image of that same, demented looking mask.

'This was similar to the visions I saw during Carlian' he thought.

Except this time, he couldn't stop seeing the mask and hearing the voices. The same black void in the eye socket, the same trail of red flowing down the cheeks;this was scaring him to some extent.

The voices he heard were plain as day:

I'm glad that you're back, I'm so very glad you are back.

I will play a trick on all of you.

This demented land will become mine, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.

I will tear this world apart.

All of you humans wear faces.

None of you know what I am, but you will know soon enough.

There is beauty in your suffering.

Hey, I apologize for this one being so short. It's been a hard time recently;somebody in the family has died.

This will be the first time I actually ask you to review. If I don't know whether or not you like the quality, I can't exactly know whether or not to elongate the chapters;explain setting more;or have more dialogue. It will help me a lot. - Jambles