So I like to thanks to the people who have reviewed for enjoying this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter too. And remember to review!
(Afternoon, Mount Fake)
Ratto continued moving through the valley at inhuman speed. His torn up mandarin robe flapped through the breeze as he ran and jumped over ledges, his wounds already healed. He had come close to dying just a while ago, against both Tatsumi and Esdeath, with the latter threatening to bring him to the torture chamber. Right now Ratto had to find a place to lay low and contact his master, as Esdeath would most likely have Imperial forces looking for him. His visible eye narrowed as he remembered the damage he took from Tatsumi, followed by a hissing sound from his throat that promised revenge.
His musings were cut short when he sensed a presence directly behind him. Spinning around, Ratto only had enough time to see who it was before a fist met his face. Upon contact the fist released a short but strong burst of energy that sent Ratto flying backwards, crashing into a nearby rock. Groaning, Ratto looked up to see his attacker.
The person was a large, muscular man, around the same height as Ratto in fact. He wore a long black trench coat that ended at his ankles and were tattered at the bottom and tied around the waist by a black belt that has a golden belt buckle. Sticking out of the coat was a black hood that covered the man's entire head and most of his face. The man also wore black trousers and black ornate leather boots with grey trims around the edges at the bottom. And finally over his hands were black leather gloves with what looked like grey metal plates over the back palm and the fingers. The right hand had a glow of bluish energy around it that slowly died down.
Without so much as a word, the hooded man charged forward, intending to land another blow. Reacting quickly, Ratto raised his left arm and fired five chains from his fingers, hidden under his sleeve. The spiked chains impaled the hooded man through the chest, halting his movements automatically. Ratto let out a howl of victory as he watched his opponent falter.
But that victory was short lived as the attacker simply grabbed the chains embedded into his body with his hands, before easily pulling them out, much to Ratto's shock. And before he could even compose himself the hooded man gave the chains a hard tug, causing Ratto to be pulled out of his crater and flying uncontrollable towards the man. Said person raised his left hand as it began to glow. A grey gauntlet had replaced the glove once the light died down. The gauntlet had golden spikes on the knuckles with a dark yellow skull on the back of the hand. Circling the skull was a red dragon with its mouth opened and looked like it was going to bite its tail.
What happened next was a blur. One second Ratto was flying straight towards his attacker and the next his body had been split in two from the waist down. His legs fell down into the ravine below, flailing wildly as if trying to grab a hold of something. The rest of Ratto fell on the ground directly behind the hooded man whose left hand was stretched forward with smoke emitting from the gauntlet. Remarkably, Ratto was still alive, albeit breathing heavily and blood gushing out from where his waist use to be. The mysterious attacker knew this and walked towards the down person, staring ominously with a pair of glowing red eyes under his hood.
Weakly, Ratto managed to raise his head. A look of fear could be seen in his eye as he stared at the hooded man. "I-I don't want to die…" He croaked, pleading.
The hooded man paid no heed to it however. With silence, he grabbed both of Ratto's arms and with a strong tug, ripped them off from the shoulder joints. Gushing blood followed after that as Ratto finally died, his opponent holding his trophy. With his work done the hooded man spun around and walked away, leaving the corpse behind to bake in the sun.
XXX
(That Night, Imperial Palace, Esdeath's Room)
Tatsumi was really starting to think that someone had set that window up to bother him. For it was letting in the moonlight, while not as bright as sunlight, bothered him. It struck him automatically, trying to bring him out the soft comfort of slumber. He recognized the room as Esdeath's due to the extreme comfort of the bed he was lying on and the window letting in the light that awoke him. Despite the comfort the bed had brought him it did nothing for the pain in his soul.
The past recent events were a blur to him; one moment he had been patrolling Mount Fake, and the next he was back in Easdeath's bed. That was enough to help Tatsumi realized the outcome of today. Anguish filled him at the fact that he was back to square one. Tatsumi knew that he had failed to escape and return to Night Raid. He was still in the clutches of the Empire and it was unlikely he would get another opportunity to escape. However for some reason he could not explain, Tatsumi remained strong, weakness of any kind wasn't something he could afford now if he wanted to get through this.
As if responding to his conviction, the yellow markings on his body began to glow again. Startled, Tatsumi sat up straight at the unusual sight before him. After a while Tatsumi calmed down as he stared at the markings. It didn't hurt but felt rather nice as he moved his arms and looked under his shirt. When he did he saw that the markings were converging on an octagon-shape pattern at the center of his chest. Curious Tatsumi briefly brushed his fingers against the marking.
Suddenly the claymore from before appeared in a flash of light straight into Tatsumi's outstretched hands. Startled Tatsumi dropped the sword, making it fall on the bed mattress with a light thud. After a few seconds he recovered from his shock and got into a sitting position as he picked up the sword by the handle. If the design and appearance of the sword wasn't enough, then the power Tatsumi could feel off of it gave a clear sign of what this weapon was.
"A Teigu…" Tatsumi murmured, recalling the voice in his head back at Mount Fake.
"A very powerful one at that." Esdeath's voice added from behind. Tatsumi jumped a bit, completely taken by surprise by her presence. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She said.
"It's fine" Tatsumi said as he looked back at the sword again. "Do you know what this is?" He finally asked.
Esdeath sat down on the other side of the bead, wearing nothing but her usual nightwear that did little to hide her beauty. She switched between looking over Tatsumi's shoulder at the blade back to the young man's face. She had a content look in her eyes as she stared at both of them. "The forty-seventh Teigu" She began, her voice filled with passion and excitement. Her cold breath sent a shiver down Tatsumi's spine that for some reason felt good to the young man. "Imperator. The one who wields this Teigu is said to have mastery over all weapons. There is some truth in that as I have never seen a finer blade, even for a Teigu."
Tatsumi just stared at the blade in silent awe, marveling at the bronze golden metal. It felt so new to him but at the same time so familiar too. So engrossed he was towards the blade that he could barely make out Esdeath's words. But when he heard the last sentence Esdeath said Tatsumi suddenly blurted out, "The sword isn't the Teigu, just a manifestation."
"How do you know that?" Esdeath asked, both out of curiosity and wonder.
She had placed her hand on Tatsumi's back, gently rubbing it in circles with her slender fingers. To say that it did not feel good would be lying, but Tatsumi tried to not focus on them too much. Instead focusing on answering her question… and hating her.
"Back at the mountain, when I fell. An idol that my village elder gave me broke during my fall. I saw a bronze golden gem in it and when I took it out…it merged with my sword." Tatsumi explained. He felt something beat within him and for a brief moment the markings appeared on his body again before disappearing. "After that I blacked out."
"I see" Esdeath said calmly, taking it all in with relative ease, much to Tatsumi's surprise. It was as if there was nothing that fazed this woman. She just seemed content with the close proximity of their two bodies, relishing in the warmth from Tatsumi's body as it went up her fingers and through her body and soul. Especially when the markings appeared on his body. Though it was brief, she could feel the pulse of power from Tatsumi's body and it felt like an inferno that could melt even her ice.
"Did you find anything else about it?" Tatsumi asked. However the toll of this morning, combined with the emotional stress he was suffering, returned again and tired him greatly. He could already feel his eyelids drooping as he desperately tried to stay awake. The sword in his hands dissipated, as if trying to coax him to get some needed rest.
Apparently his tiredness was visible as Esdeath stopped her rubbing on his back before placing one hand on Tatsumi's head and the other on his shoulder. She soon pulled him into a loving embrace, his head resting against her cleavage. "I'll tell you in the morning. For now sleep." Esdeath said with unusual tenderness, relishing at the contact between their bodies as she gently moved her fingers through his brown hair, planting a kiss on the scalp.
To tired to argue, Tatsumi did just that as his eyes closed completely as he lied in the embrace of the Empire's Strongest. And unlike last night, Tatsumi was able to sleep peacefully in Esdeath's arms. Esdeath soon joined him in slumber, a content smile on her face.
XXX
(Next Morning)
Tatsumi once more awoke in Esdeath's bed. However unlike the last two times he woke up, he felt refresh and ready for the new day. He had a sense of relief and calmness in him, as if he wasn't in enemy territory. Tatsumi noticed that Esdeath was not in bed, though her alluring scent still remained.
It was then that he spotted a note on the bedside table with his name on it. Recognizing the handwriting of Esdeath's, Tatsumi picked up the piece of paper and read it.
'Tatsumi, if you're already up then I wanted you to know the Jaegers are holding a meeting soon. Here is the location of the meeting room. Please come here as soon as you can. Esdeath'
That's right; he was a "member" of the Jaegers in Esdeath's eyes. As he got up out of bed and cleaned himself up, Tatsumi remembered that both she and the rest of them were unaware that Tatsumi was in reality, a member of Night Raid; the very same group that the Jaegers were created to eliminate in the first place. If he ever got back to them then Tatsumi would be able to tell the others everything he learned about these Empire Teigu users. That would be very useful…information…
'Wait a minute…' Tatsumi thought as realization hit him like a ton of bricks…or one of Bulat's fists. He had been so focus on getting back to Night Raid that he had not thought of other possible alternatives. How many could say that they had such a perfect opportunity to be on a dangerous unit on the opposite side of war? And better yet one that was under the command of a high ranking and dangerous General such as Esdeath? Maybe Tatsumi had been looking at this the wrong way: Instead of trying to escape, he should just stay! This would be the perfect chance to get a boatload of information that could be vital for the Revolutionary Army and bring an end to this corrupt Empire even quicker!
With that thought in mind Tatsumi had a bit more energy as he walked out in the halls towards the meeting room. There were still some variables in the way of this new plan. One was finding a way to get in contact with Najenda and the rest of Night Raid without arousing suspicion. The next was of course to master his new Teigu, Imperator. Tatsumi still wasn't sure of how to activate it yet, the first time he did it was on pure instincts and it felt a little bit like how he activated Incursio. All he knew that it formed an armor around him that was similar to Incursio, increasing his physical abilities as he recall. In fact now that he thought about it, Imperator felt a lot like Incursio in way; not-just abilities wise but in a deeper sense, like an advanced version or something. And according to Esdeath, Imperator allowed Tatsumi to have mastery of all weapons, whatever that meant. Still it was a pretty cool ability and Tatsumi was already a skilled swordsman. Tatsumi would have to ask Esdeath what else she managed to learn about it.
After a few turns left and right Tatsumi finally arrived to the meeting room. Said room was a fancy dinning room to be exact, and Tatsumi was momentarily taken in by the setting of the place. He also noted that there were only two other people there as well. One of them was Wave, whom had yet to notice his presence and the other one was…
'Seyru!' Tatsumi thought, the word coming out as a hiss in his mind as he stared at the orange haired girl, sitting on the opposite side of Wave at the large table. The happy, wide smile on her face further increased the rage in the brunette, memories of Sheele's kind smile and warm embrace appearing. The desire for revenge against the psychotic justice seeker was reaching a boiling point. Reacting to his strong emotions the yellow lines on his body began to show again and the air around him began to warp slightly, blades beginning to form.
"Yo, Tatsumi!" Wave said. "You look like you slept well."
The naval man's voice brought Tatsumi back into reality and immediately his dark thoughts vanished. Remembering what Bulat told him about controlling his emotions, Tatsumi managed to rein in his anger, thus the symbols on his body faded too. "Yeah the sleep really helped me recover from that whole ordeal yesterday." Tatsumi said as he sat down beside the dark blue haired man, not wanting to sit beside Seryu, less his murderous thoughts arise again.
"Where is everyone by the way?" Tatsumi asked as he noticed that only the three of them were currently in the room. It couldn't have been that early as the clock in the room said it had just turned noon.
"Ah well the meeting got put on hold since the Commander was preoccupied with some other stuff. We're actually early to be exact, I arrived here an hour ago with Seryu coming here 30 minutes ago and you coming right now." Wave explained as said girl was playing with her biological Teigu, Koro.
Thankfully Tatsumi did not have to wait long for the others to arrive. Five minutes later Bols came in and gave a quick greeting to everyone before sitting across from Tatsumi and Wave at the far edge of the table. After him both Kurome and Run entered the room, the former sitting on the other side of Wave while Run sat directly across from Tatsumi, reading his book. Then it was Dr. Stylish who entered, giving a cheerful wave to everyone before eventually sitting right next to Seryu. Tatsumi couldn't help but noticed that the mad scientist was eyeing everyone in the room like he was trying to figure out who would be his next test subject.
And finally Esdeath entered the room. Her stature emitted strength and authority so that everyone's attention was now on their leader walking towards them. With trained eyes, Esdeath scanned the room and was pleased to see all of the Jaegers here, and was delighted to see Tatsumi here as well, her blue eyes lingering on him a bit longer. Not that anyone noticed since she quickly began speaking.
"I am please to see that you are all here. I apologize for moving our meeting back so suddenly. There were some pressing matters regarding movements of our borders that came up abruptly, which I had to attend to." Esdeath explained.
When no one responded she continued. "Today's meeting is more about getting to know our enemies better: Nigh Raid."
Tatsumi tensed though he managed to control himself. Thankfully no one noticed, paying more attention to Esdeath as she kept talking. "Being an experience hunter myself I prefer to know a bit about my prey beforehand. As such I have required these." Esdeath finished as she passed out several files across the table for all to see. "This is the current information on the members of Night Raid and their Teigu."
"I recall hearing that one of them was killed a while ago." Run said as he skimmed through his copy.
"Yes the member called Sheele." Esdeath replied. "She wielded the Teigu, Cutter of Creation: Extaste, which is now currently in our possession. Thanks to Seryu over here." The General commented as she gestured towards said girl. Seryu just smiled with her cheeks tinted red at the compliment from one that she admired the most. The sight made the rage inside Tatsumi boil again but he managed to control it once more.
"Besides her the only other members of Night Raid we know about are Akame" Kurome's eyebrow twitched at her sister's name. "Who wields the One-Cut Killer: Murasame. Bulat, known as 100 Man Slayer Bulat, who wields the Teigu, Demon Armor: Incursio. Najenda, the leader of Night Raid and a former General, she wields no Teigu that we know about. And recently a girl named Mine who we've confirm wields the gun Teigu, Roman Artillery: Pumpkin." Esdeath said.
Tatsumi was a bit surprise that the Empire still thought that Bulat was alive. But now that he thought about it, he was the only survivor during the battle against the Three Beasts on the cruise line. So it would make sense that no one knew that Tatsumi currently wielded Incursio, or its new form Imperator to be precise. He felt relieved that they still thought Aniki was alive, put any suspicion off of him.
"I can't imagine that this is all of them. Though I doubt they have a large number either." Bols commented off-handily.
"That is true Bols." Esdeath replied. "According to the information I acquired, all the members beside Najenda are Teigu users. So while its doubtful that it is only these four people we can assume that they cannot have any more then seven or eight members."
"But shouldn't we focus more on locating their base? We really can't do anything unless we find where they're hiding." Wave said. Those words made Tatsumi feel relieved knowing that his friends were safe so long as they kept themselves hidden.
"Indeed, so for the time being we'll just have to wait on standby until we can figure out where their little nest is." Esdeath said. She was cut off by a knock at the door and seconds later a soldier walked in and saluted at his superior officer. "Yes what is it?" Esdeath ordered.
"Ma'am! As ordered last night we patrolled Mount Fake for the assailant who attacked Jaeger members Wave and Tatsumi." The soldier said.
This caught both Tatsumi and Wave by surprise. They hadn't expected Esdeath to be searching for the man who attacked them yesterday. But it would make sense to try and find someone who would attack two members of the unit led by the infamous Empire's Strongest.
"Hoh, so you found him?" Esdeath asked in dark voice, sadistic thoughts running through her mind on how to punish the man whom tried to hurt Tatsumi.
Gulping a bit at her voice and dark look in her eyes, the solider quickly replied, "Well to be more precise, we found his body…what's left of it. The men have already set it up in the autopsy room for you to inspect Esdeath-sama."
Tatsumi was surprised that the person who attacked him yesterday was dead. It seems like Esdeath was too though she quickly hid it before anyone else could see the expression. "Very well I will be there shortly." She said. The soldier saluted and left.
Esdeath then turned to face the other Jaegers. "Well that is all for now. For the time being you all have the day off to do what you want. Though I advised honing your skills for future conflicts and to remain vigilant if we're call for action. Everyone but Tatsumi is dismissed. I want talk to you more about your new Teigu." This caught the attention of several people, particularly a certain mad scientists. But no one said anything. "Dr. Stylish I would like for you to meet me in autopsy." She said.
Everyone stood up and promptly said "Ma'am" with Tatsumi reluctantly following. Bols and Run were the first two out, both of them going separate ways. After them Seryu skipped out of the room and, to Tatsumi's relief, Dr. Stylish followed her. That guy gave him the chills. Finally Wave and Kurome walked side by side, with the sailor trying to snatch one of Kurome's snacks as said girl managed to avoid each attempt with ease. All that left were Tatsumi and Esdeath. Tatsumi began to feel uncomfortable relatively quick with just the two of them in the same room.
Not being able to take the silence any longer Tatsumi opened his mouth…only for it to be cut off as his face was shoved into Esdeath's cleavage. The blue haired beauty and pulled him into a hug too fast for him to react. As she clutched him tightly, oblivious to his struggling to breathe, she said, "I knew you were destined for great things! The moment I looked up Imperator I knew it!" She cooed finally able to release her pent-up affections and joy for the apple of her eye.
"Wait! What are you talking about?!" Tatsumi cried as his arms flailed wildly, trying to free himself from Esdeath's grasp, before he died of lack of oxygen.
Finally Esdeath pushed Tatsumi back, allowing him to breathe in air. But her hands still gripped his shoulders as her blue eyes gazed towards his green eyes with intense passion.
"The Great Heavenly Dragon King: Imperator. As I've said before it is one of the strongest Teigu in existence, perhaps even greater then my Demon's Extract. The one whom wields it bears armor in the form of a dragon. Even without the armor on, the user could manipulate matter, to create and summon weapons out of thin air to their hands, cut through anything and be immune to blades. Only two people have wielded it, the first one being Emperor Jimmu, the man whom founded this Empire and a powerful war chief of his time, and who led to the creation of the Teigus themselves." Esdeath said with excitement.
Tatsumi's eyes widened in shock at the revelation, "The First Emperor wielded Imperator?" He asked in slight awe.
Esdeath nodded, still not losing the passion in her eyes for the person she loved nor the excitement of this new discovery. "And the other was a man named Sengoku, a famous general 500 years ago whose efforts ended the Great Civil War and resulted in the loss of nearly half of the Teigu. Legend says that it was form from Orichalcum, the strongest metal in history, and a Tyrant, a Dragon Ultra-Class Danger Beast who could evolve and adapt to whatever surrounding it was in. It is believe that Sengoku was the man responsible to split the Imperator into two different Teigus, in order to hide it from unworthy hands. One was Interius, the Orichalcum stone that you found in that idol. The other was a Teigu made from the Tyrant's flesh, though the name was not written. Your sword must've been that Teigu. Clearly both recognized your potential and formed Imperator once more for you to wield." She said.
If he was shocked before then Tatsumi felt frozen solid. Not so much of the fact that Imperator was made from both the strongest metal and one of the strongest Danger-Beast in history, but why Imperator felt so familiar to Incursio did. It all made sense now: Incursio was a half of Imperator, the other being Interius. And after hearing what Imperator was capable of, it made Tatsumi see why Sengoku did what he did 500 years ago. If the Teigu had fallen into the wrong hands…
His thoughts were broken as he felt cold but gentle hands wrap around his. Tatsumi looked up to see Esdeath staring at him again with love and passion thought impossible for someone as ruthless as her. "You've inherited the power and legacy of the greatest Emperor and General in history, Tatsumi. You should be proud of yourself." She said with a mixture of compassion and teasing. Still the flattery was enough to make Tatsumi blush, his cheeks turning pink.
"Uh…thanks!" He said he gave her a smile. The same smile that made Esdeath's heart flutter rapidly and make heat fill up her pale skin face.
"Well, yes!" Esdeath said as she quickly spun around to avoid his handsome face as much as she could. "Anyway here are the notes I took that talk about Imperator for you to look at." She said as she handed Tatsumi a small black notebook. "Though I should let you know that some of the words are in an ancient language that I can't translate. I however must go to the autopsy room and then meet with the Prime Minister about some things. I suggest you try and practice your new Teigu during your free time." Esdeath said rather quickly as she walked out the room, doing her best to hide her blush.
Tatsumi sweat dropped as he watched the most feared and powerful General walk away like a shy schoolgirl. Seriously, did he have that strong of an effect on her? He decided to push those thoughts aside and focus on more important matters: sending word to Night Raid about the Jaegers and learning about his new Teigu. Right now was probably Tatsumi's best chance to deliver a message to his friends. He may never get another chance like this again. He could read the book along the way too. So with that in mind, Tatsumi made his way back to Esdeath's room to write a letter of the information he would send to Night Raid, already knowing of a place to leave it: Lubbock's bookstore that was in truth Night Raid's hideout in the city.
XXX
(With Esdeath)
"I must thank you again Esdeath-sama. For letting me have the chance to examine the corpse of the fellow who attacked you yesterday." Dr. Stylish said as he stared over the corpse. "I can't wait to run some test on it."
Truth was that he would also rather spy on Tatsumi, whom he still had the feeling was a member of Night Raid, given how well skilled he was. But the maniac doctor could not deny the orders of his commanding officer. Besides he sent his team of reconnaissance test subjects to tail the boy if he ever left the palace.
Back to the present, Esdeath was standing on the other side of the examining table, also staring at the body intensely. The body had already been stripped of any clothing, cleaned of blood and dirt, and now laid bare, revealing a tan muscular chest, with the lower half and arms missing though. The mask from before had also been removed, revealing a relatively normal looking face except for that the eyes were completely white, no pupils whatsoever.
"I did not bring you here to fantasy on future experiments Doctor. I brought you here to help solve a question I've formed." Esdeath replied as she picked up a stack of paper from a nearby table.
"Of course" Dr. Stylish said as he greedily examined the body before pausing when he reached the end. "Well he definitely died of blood loss. However I can't say if it was before or after his lower half was cut off."
"Whether he died or not when that happen doesn't matter." Esdeath said as she trailed a slender finger near the edge of where the waist used to be. "If you look carefully you can see that a portion of the flesh has been burned. Clearly whatever the attacker used possessed powerful flames and force to cut a person in half." She then trailed her cold gaze towards where the arms use to be. "But I believe that the attacker was after the arms."
"Oh and what brought you to that theory?" Stylish asked though he already had an idea as to why. He was curious of Esdeath's reasons.
"Well frankly if the goal was to just kill the man then why take his limbs? Plus this as well" Esdeath said. She then pulled out a paper from the rest of the stack. "I looked up Teigus that matched what Wave saw and I managed to discover not just which teigu, but this person as well." She said as she showed an image. Said image was of the same person whose corpse laid before them. The only differences were that it showed the man having brown eyes and a less savage-like look.
"Sergeant Ratto?" Dr. Stylish said as he examined the picture.
"Was stationed at the eastern borders but went rogue two years ago before vanishing." Esdeath explained as she pulled out another paper. "He was also equipped with a Teigu at the time of his desertion."
The next paper had the image of a pair of dark grey, bulky arm-braces that had claws on them. Another image showed the same thing except the claws had changed into long spear-tips with chains extending from the rest of the braces. The claws now had the images of serpent-like creature. "Serpent Fang: Hydra Arm" Esdeath began. "A Teigu that allows the user to shoot spear-tipped chains with a the limit being ten. The chains can extend to a great length and can have their movement manipulated by the user. Plus the Teigu possess regenerating properties too." She then frowned. "But what bothers me was that according to Wave, Ratto shot dozens of them out of his own body. This Teigu possess no Trump Cards known to us nor should it be able to do that. Which is why I want you to run several tests on the corpse and present me with results by tonight. I unfortunately have to tend to official business for now."
"It would be my pleasure Esdeath-sama." Dr. Stylish said as he bowed towards the general. Esdeath nodded before heading out the door to unfortunately tend to her duties as a General, rather then spend time with a certain young man as she rather do.
As the doors to the autopsy closed Dr. Stylish turned his attention back to Ratto's body, a maniac grin forming on his face, his eyes alit with excitement of the research material he could acquire from the body. "Now then my friend" He said to the body, as if expecting it to be able to hear him. "Let's see what makes you tick." 'And after that I can learn more about you, Tatsumi…and this new Teigu of yours.' Stylish's thoughts as he began his work.
XXX
(Unknown Location)
Deep within the rocky mountains of an unknown island, stood a large fortress of magnificent proportions merged with the mountainside. Though history has long since forgotten its name and purpose, the inhabitants of this ancient structure have not. It was a marvelous piece of architecture, obviously constructed by an advance civilization and still appeared to be in fine shape despite having been made thousands of years ago. And it was still in use since lights could be seen in it. In one of the towers was what appeared to be a study room. It only had a few candles lighting the room plus a fireplace too. From there several voices could be heard through the darkness as people converse with one another.
"What? Ratto is dead? And his body is with the Empire?" A voice asked, male by the sound of it. It came from a red comfort chair near the fireplace, the flames illuminating the person. From what could be seen the man with a lean but muscular figure. His attire was a black, double-breasted jacket, black trousers and shoes along with a black collared shirt that covered his neck underneath and a white tie tucked into the jacket. The four buttons over the jacket's chest area, as well as the two buttons on both cuffs were a dark golden color. Over the tie was an emblem in the shape of a black trident. The person's face however was obscured, nothing but a silhouette of it could be seen. However the light showed that the man had an open book in his hands currently.
Standing across from him was another man, who looked like he was in his mid-twenties. His attire appeared to be one that a butler would wear and unlike the first man, this one's face could be seen clearly. He had a light tan skin, clean shaven face, consisting of black hair that reached his neck, combed back neatly so that it wouldn't cover his face. He had orange eyes that burned like a young sun almost, with a pair of glasses over them. The man's face showed no emotions as he spoke to the seated man. "Yes, we just learned it a few minutes ago." The butler-like man said. A pause before continuing. "What should we do? Retrieve it?"
"Dispose of it" The seated man replied, letting out a regretful sigh. He still held the book open as he continued to read it. "We can't let the Empire learn of our secrets. Plus this gives us a chance to retrieve something I've been meaning to acquire." The man said casually. "Have a team ready in the hour."
"Of course sir." The butler said calmly, as if the fact of infiltrating one of the most secured and fortified place in the world was the same as discussing about the weather. "However several are on assignments, thus we have so very few Teigus on standby: Helios, Puck, Nox, Zeal and Aestas. No more then five." The butler reported.
The seated man was silent for a moment, before turning a page in the book. "Send Nox, I believe he is suitable for the task." The man ordered.
"Understood sir" The butler bowed as he complied with the order. Then without a word he marched out of the studies, leaving the other man to his reading.
And there we go! I hope you all enjoy this story. Next chapter we'll see some more fighting as well as Tatsumi learning a bit more of his heritage. Now as for who I am going to have killed in this story, I am still not certain. Dr. Stylish is a definite since I have plans that involve his death. Also just in case, I want you all to know I am not that good with romance scenes in case any of you were wondering.
Anyway, leave your reviews
Wacko12