Kill the Strong One: Tatsumi 8(Part 2)

Esdeath and I stared at each other for a while. "Seriously...doesn't she know she can just ground the dragon first?!" Suddenly, three human-like danger beasts crawled out from beside us. "Oh, now you show yourselves!"

Esdeath sliced and diced them all in very little time. However, one of them was still alive...so she jammed her heel into its forehead. "You are in my way..." Esdeath then turned her attention back to me with a smile and blush, "Is this some sort of dream...I've waiting so long for the moment we could meet again, Tatsumi..."

"Uhhh, Esdeath...are you going to finish that thing off or what?"

Back at the path, Lubbock was getting something on his tripwires. "Looks like someone's coming up from the valley; it's pretty fast too! Who is this guy?!"

The hooded man was running straight up to the summit at an inhuman speed. "They've practically wiped out all of Stylish's creations."

Lubbock went to the bushes, "I should probably hide for now...Tatsumi's not back yet...I'm starting to get a really bad feeling."

The hooded man leaped onto the summit. "Imperial capital...it's so good to be back."

Back with Esdeath and me, "Heheh! I know your scent anywhere, good to see you, Tatsumi." She had her arms wrapped around my collarbone, while holding me real close to her chest—kinda annoyed me now. "So tell me why you ran away, I've missed you so much."

"Actually, I was in pursuit of some kind of pitch-black figure, which ended in me losing Wave, believe it or not. What are you doing here?!"

"Silly boy, I'm here to capture the danger beasts attacking the capital...which leads me to the question of why you're here."

"I was...slaying them...as well. I'm trying to become as strong as I can get." Her holding me started to cut off my airways. "Uhm, can you please let go?"

"I will not."

"I can't breathe."

She released her grip.

I was gasping for air, "Thank you. I heard that there were danger beasts on this mountain."

"A man after my own heart...well, did you join the revolutionary army yet?"

"No, not yet. But I'm not changing my mind. I guess you could say that's the reason I'm out here, trying to hone my skills."

She lightly squeezed my arms, "Yes, I see that...Judging by the amount of muscle you've built up, I'd wager your abilities have exponentially grown." She put her hand on my head, and rubbed, "You've obviously been working hard, and with so much room to improve."

"I don't know how to respond to that."

"The danger beasts are on almost all gone...They have really been a nuisance," she held me to her chest again, "but honestly, thanks to them, we're together again...Love is a strange thing." She was interrupted by something else, "How can there be so many interruptions on a deserted mountain?!"

"You never know."

"You there, the coward trying to hide...show yourself! If you refuse, you'll get no mercy from me!"

A sinister chuckle came from the darkness, "Well, shit...I thought you wouldn't notice me. Not too shabby! Now I understand why everyone is so bloody terrified of you. Anyway, now that the two of us have finally exchanged pleasantries, it's probably a good time for me to stop playing with my little toys."

"So, you're behind this, Syura..."

What he said next was shocking; I thought he would say that we've never met before. Instead, "I'm surprised you still remember me, Kid. But, I apologize as I don't plan on telling you anything. But, if you're in need of a little excitement, I'm willing to let you play with my toys as well!" He took out his secret weapon. "Behold, my Imperial Arms: Shambhala!"

A circle of purple light appeared around us, an in the very center a yin-and-yang symbol manifested; all of which were connected by numerous lines and angles. "This isn't good!"

Syura teleported us far away from the mountain. "Now then, I wonder what kind of game we should play next. Hehuhuhu."

A deserted Island; Southeast of the imperial capital:

"Esdeath, slap me in the face, hard; I must..."

She interrupted, "Tatsumi...I didn't know you were into that...we really are perfect for each other, isn't it wonderful?"

"That's not what I meant. I was gonna say 'I must be imagining things now'."

"Understood...as you wish." Instead, she kissed me. "No, our surroundings feel too real; the cool breeze blowing on the waves, the warm sunshine...everything around us is true."

"At least warn me next time you do that!"

"I assume this is somehow caused by the man we saw...how did he manage to teleport us?"

"That medallion he had...is one of the Imperial Arms."

"So, you know about Imperial Arms already...Rumor has it that the secret art of a lost nation was used to create one that coul manipulate space itself."

"And he's the one who has it, of course."

"Of all the Imperial Arms, I can only think of a handful with the power to control space. Who was that man?" Esdeath placed her hand on the ground, "Let's take a look around!"

"What?" She created a colossal pillar of ice by doing so. "Whooooooooooooaaaaaaaa! Warn me, Esdeath, warn me! It looks like we're on an island; there's nothing but ocean."

"But isn't this a gorgeous view? It's starting to feel kind of like we're on a date, isn't it my darling?"

"Could you please concentrate on one thing at a time?! Besides, I'd rather start wit dinner, first."

"You never know what can happen when dealing with Imperial Arms. In my line of work, you have to be able to adapt immediately."

"You never know what can happen when dealing with a god. That's when, not only you, but the entire world is in danger."

"Now, where were we?" She embraced me again, "Right, we're on a date! Wanna cuddle?"

"Hey, cut it out!" The earth started to rumble, "Looks like we woke up the locals."

A colossal danger beast—very similar to what Dr. Stylish turned himself into—rose from the water. "Well, he's a big fella."

It charged right toward us, "He's definitely pissed off!"

"I won't let him ruin our time together!" She made hundreds of icicles appear, positioned to fire at the danger beast. "You are interrupting; you deserve to be impaled! Weiss Schnabel!" They did shoot and stick into him, but that only made him even more angry than before. "You're still standing? This is getting interesting."

"Hey, you see that wierd spot on his forehead? It has to be his weak point."

"I was thinking the same thing; we must be soul mates. Grauhorn!" She shot an obelisk-like ice structure past his head, completely missing the weak point, "He must be stubborn."

I jumped onto the structure, and ran to it myself, and used my sword to impale the former human in the beast's forehead. "And stay down!" That finished him.

"Well done; though I had originally planned on winning your heart with my own skills, you wound up deepening my love for you, and here I used some of my favorite moves and everything..."

The ground rumbled again. "Esdeath, look out!"

Another one smashed into the ice pillar, breaking it in two; but Esdeath jumped down right before it happened, "Leave it to me, Tatsumi; I'll give him what he deserves!" She manifested an enormous ball of ice—"Hagel...Sprung!"—and slammed it into the second danger beast's head.

"Dammit, Esdeath; don't do something like that again! Seriously, you're an animal!"

Later:

Esdeath and I were sitting on logs; I was eating some grains, while Esdeath was doodling me in her book(talk about a crazy-obsessed stalker). "Those two must've been the last of em."

"So that was what he meant by picking up his toys, which means this was where he was hiding that new breed of danger beast!"

"So, what do you wanna do after our break?"

"First, we'll explore the area, so we can develop a better understanding of our situation."

"Well, we still don't know what exactly we're dealing with."

"We'll only make things worse if we panic; it's best to remain calm."

"I know...Well, we should get to work soon."

"Hmmm! Not quite right."

"Seriously, I think you're being a stalker right now!"

The entire day was filled with identifying the plants, crabs pinching my fingers, Esdeath putting the biggest species of flower on my head, gathering fruits, hunting, and Esdeath showing off in a bikini top.

"*sigh* We searched the island for so long, it became dark."

"Yes, and it's been a lovely time."

"Uh, oh yeah."

"Not only that, but I also managed to figure out where we are."

"Tell me."

"This island is several miles to the Southeast of the empire."

"Damn, he really screwed us."

"Which means...you and I are the only two people on this island, Tatsumi. So then, what would you like to do? You're in charge, go ahead, choose your fate."

These were the choices she gave:

1. Living here together for a bit doesn't seem so bad.

2. No matter what, we must return to the capital and live there.

3. Take me now.

"Seriously, don't all those options mean about the same thing?!"

Esdeath stood up, "Aww, you're no fun at all."

"How can you be so calm all the time?"

"Of course I'm calm; I'm the one who knows how to get back. Don't worry. However, I'll need you to give me your full cooperation. Is that clear?"

"As day."

We went to a glowing spot on the ground. "Just as I thought; The secret was in where he transported us."

"He might get tired of not having someone in his way, later. But still, he must have limits on the number of people he can teleport, and how often. Plus, it has to have this mark."

"Ah, but this only the first way I found. Now, before I tell you the second way back, there's something I'd like to do."

"Which is...?"

She held my face in between her breasts, "Now that we're all by ourselves, let's learn more about each other."

My voice was muffled by her mammary glands, "Hey! I can't breathe!" Then she released me, and I gasped for air, and fell on my back to the ground. "If that's what you want, there's a lot of other ways to do it!"

She leaned toward me, "Want me to stop? Ok, then you have to answer my questions. First off, where did you learn to fight with a sword?"

"*sigh* Well, there was this retired war veteran who used to live in my village; apparently, he was a pretty good martial arts teacher as well. Anyway, I trained under him. He was the closest person I had to an actual father."

"Interesting! Did he teach you about blacksmithing as well?"

"I tried to master as many skills as I could, so I'd make a lot of money; The prime minister has been plaguing my home with heavy taxes, so we're undergoing a severe food shortage."

"To accomplish something like that takes a lot of diligence; you're very talented."

"The veteran was pretty hard on me, but I knew it was for a reason. So what about you; what's your story like? I mean, you didn't grow up in the capital, did you?"

"That's right; I was born close to the northern border."

"Now I get why you like ice in the first place."

"I don't suppose you've heard of the Partas clan."

"As in, 'Hotaru Partas'?"—Hotaru's name is Japanese for "firefly." This was reflected in his outfit which had the appearance of an insect's exoskeleton. He even had red flags attached to the back of his armor, representing the wings of a firefly. His special attacks evoked a firefly's glow and power of flight. Hotaru was formerly a general from the realm of Seido—otherwise known as Orderrealm—and devoted himself to preserving law and order at any cost. So much so that he could have been described as a zealot. Hotaru was more of a lawful-type of neutral because he preserved law and order and harshly punished those who dare break it, but he was not above preserving it to a higher authority.

"Yes; they were a hunting clan that specialized in killing danger beasts. And I was the daughter of Hotaru, whom was their chief. Since you were kind enough to tell me about your past, I guess I'll share mine. Eat or be eaten. I grew up in a wonderful environment like that. The danger beasts and us...The exchange of lives between us as we did everything we could to each other was fun. However, when I was just an infant, my father had to witness an ultra-class dange beast. But, the strong one wins, and the weak one perishes. I had to learn that the hard way one day. I was returning from a hunt that lasted a few days, where I was able to catch a rare species of evil bird; I was sure he'd be proud of me. But then, I discovered what happened in my long absence. A rival tribe had killed everyone...including my father. He died in my arms...telling me...to be strong. I had to hunt danger beasts to survive after that, but since prey was getting scarce, I signed up for the imperial army. It was just a matter of changing the target of hunting from danger beasts to humans. That's the story of my life."

"I heard you killed a northern tribe as an example."

"I mourn for my father, but that, too, was just because he was weak..."

"Still, I think there's a hidden reason that even you didn't know."

"What does that mean?"

"Some people have secrets in them that even they themselves don't know. I think your father didn't want you to get carried away with the idea of you inflicting pain on a living organism; I guess he just didn't say anything because he wasn't too concerned."

"Oh, really?"

I decided to change the subject, "So...is that tattoo on your chest your Imperial Arms?"

She grabbed my hand, and made me touch the marking, "You noticed, huh."

"Demon's Extract; grants whoever is able to master it complete control over ice. In other words, it's an elemental-type. But believe me, it's not an ability unique to you. I knew a warrior named 'Sub-Zero' who was born with that ability; a cryomancer."

"So, there's another person able to control ice."

"Not currently. Not for another nine-hundred years."

I told her about the two Sub-Zero brothers.

Outer Residence of the capital:

Syura was up—he was sleeping with a young woman in her home—and getting ready to open the gateway for us. "Now then, it's about time I opened you a path back home, Tatsumi. Shambhala. Point B, release. There we go."

The young woman woke up, "What're you doing there?"

"Ah? It's nothing. Go back to sleep." He then thought to himself, "Hehe, one day, I'll surpass you, Father. And Kid, this time, I'm looking forward to killing you myself."

Back with Esdeath and Me:

Esdeath ran off to catch an air manta as method number two for getting back to the capital, when the gateway opened. "So, you want to deal with me yourself, huh, Syura? Esdeath! The exit's here! Come back!"

She turned around at the last minute, "Wait! Tatsumi!"

Mountainous region:

We were back to the summit, and it was already dawn; of course, I was wearing Incursio, and was invisible. "Tatsumi...where are you?"

I had to break the news to her, "This is where we part ways, Esdeath; for now, at least."

"Tatsumi...I'm not letting you go, I already told you!" Tears were starting to come out of her eyes.

"You love me, right? Well, it might be the same vise versa. But there's an old saying; 'If you love something so much, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours.' And to be honest, you came to me."

"Promise me, we'll meet again."

"Maybe...but it might not be the same. The next time we meet...it might be as enemies."

I originally planned on having Esdeath and Tatsumi fighting Scorpion on the island, but I didn't have any ideas on how that might work. So, did you see a change in Esdeath's character? Obviously, I made Tatsumi's personality much more calm and collected.

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