When they arrived at their new hideout, Haru was mildly surprised to see that it was just a different version of their old building. Except for the exterior design and the location, it looked almost exactly the same as the old hideout. His suspicions were proven correct when they entered the building and found that the interior was pretty much the same as the old place. Their exploration was cut short when Najenda called them all into the main hall. She was holding an intelligence report from one of the Revolution's spies. Since the day of revolt was drawing closer, the Revolutionary Army had been dispatching more spies into and around the capital.
And judging from the look on Najenda's face this particular report was not a good one. "It seems that in our absence a new kind of Danger Beast has been showing up around the capital," she told them, sighing, "They are reported to be vaguely human in shape and possess some basic intelligence. As a result, they have focused their attacks on isolated settlements and people on the move. While the capital has taken action to try to eradicate these creatures, they've suffered serious casualties doing so."
"You don't sound too happy about that," Tatsumi observed. "Of course she wouldn't be," Haru replied, "Just imagine how many people have been caught and killed by these things." Just thinking about it made Haru's blood boil. This whole situation was spitting in the face of his goals, and he wasn't about to let that stand. "So, what are we going to do?" he asked, even though he would take action without an official order.
"Normally, I'd say that this is something we should leave to the capital," Najenda replied, "But, there's no telling how many of these creatures there are, or if they will eventually form larger groups to attack larger populations. So for the moment, we're on the same side as the capital. Night Raid will move to exterminate these monsters." While Haru and Tatsumi were pleased at this, Chelsea clearly wasn't.
"I think we should stay out of this one," she commented, drawing everyone's attention, "If we step in, we run the risk of being forced into a fight with the capital. Besides, these creatures are taking a large toll on their standing military. It would only benefit us in the long run if we let them waste more soldiers." "And leave God only knows how many people to their fates?" Haru demanded, taking a step forward, "I've witnessed a Danger Beast attack when there's no one to fight back. I will not allow that to happen again, not as long as I'm still breathing."
Grabbing his sword from where he had left it, Haru left without another word while trying to contain his temper. He knew that Chelsea really wasn't a cold-hearted person; that she was only trying to help them all survive without undue risk. But he couldn't just sit back when he knew that people were getting killed like this. As he walked out the main door, he noticed that the sun was starting to go down. Probably best to move at night, anyway he thought as he checked his various straps.
"Hey, Haru, wait up!" he heard from behind. Turning, he saw Lubbock, Tatsumi and Akame jogging to catch up with him. "So, you guys decided to join in?" he asked, smiling. "Najenda gave us the okay to act at night," Lubbock replied as he came to a stop, "We're the first group to head out. We're supposed to switch out with the others tomorrow." "Alright, that works," Haru said as he turned and lead the way.
After they had made it a safe distance from the hideout, they split into two groups. Akame and Tatsumi would head south to a cluster of villages while Haru and Lubbock would move west into the hills. Knowing full well that most large Danger Beasts favored that kind of terrain for their dens, Haru was hopeful that they would be able to find whatever these things used as a nest and crush it.
"So, you make a move yet?" Lubbock asked after a few hours of walking. This caught Haru by surprise and he remained silent as he tried to come up with an answer. He knew that trying to act oblivious wouldn't work, since Lubbock and pretty much all of Night Raid was aware of his…situation. "It's not really the time to forge bonds like that," Haru replied, trying to use Akame's argument for his own purpose. "Like you actually believe that," Lubbock said dismissively, "And I doubt that she does, either. If you ask me, it's high time that you bit the bullet and just said it."
"This coming from the guy who can't admit to his own crush?" Haru shot back, turning and smiling as Lubbock flinched. "Hey, that's a low blow!" he protested. "An assassin uses whatever means available, right?" Haru replied, laughing as Lubbock just glared at him. He was laughing along with him soon enough, however, and they continued their patrol in good spirits for the next hour.
"Alright, I'm heading up top," Haru said as he began to climb. "Why?" "Because I might get a better idea of where these things might be from up there," he replied as he disappeared up the rock face, "Just try to not get caught while I'm gone, alright?" "I believe that's your specialty, matchstick!" Lubbock replied as he spread a few of his wires out. Meanwhile, Haru was making steady progress up the rocks and found himself at the summit in short order. The view was amazing as he watched the sun starting to peak over the horizon, albeit a little cold from the altitude.
Drawing his cloak around himself, he scanned the area as thoroughly as possible. No sign of these monsters he thought, maybe they've been removed from this area. As if to prove him wrong, Haru spotted a shadow moving across the moon out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw it was a flying Danger Beast and that someone was on its back. Oh great, did I run into the enemy on my first night he wondered as he looked around for a place to hide. Spotting a likely group of rocks, Haru made for them while praying that he hadn't been spotted. And of course those prayers went unanswered.
Before he got more than a few feet, he watched as someone landed in front of him, kicking up a large dust cloud in the process. "Alright, surrender right now," said a familiar voice, "I'm taking you back to the tortu-" Please, PLEASE don't let it be who I think it is he begged. But as the dust cleared, Haru saw that it was indeed Esdeath and that she had been prepared to attack him. Once she saw that it was him, she stopped cold and a blush appeared on her cheeks. Not knowing what else he could say, he just raised a hand and said, "Hey."
While he was trying to appear mildly surprised, on the inside Haru was raging at his luck. WHY, why, in the name of God, must you always screw me over he screamed at it. Meanwhile, Esdeath walked over to him swiftly while sheathing her sword. The blush disappeared quickly, and Haru braced himself for a long lecture or at least a slap across the face. Instead, she just grabbed his shoulders and hugged him. "I missed you," she said softly as she held him tighter. Not knowing if he should really respond or not, Haru lightly hugged her back before trying to pull away so he could breathe.
"What are you doing out here?" she asked as she stepped back slightly. While her grip loosened by a bit, she wasn't about to give him a chance to run off again. "I heard about the Danger Beasts attacking people around the capital," Haru said, trying not to lie outright, "I wasn't about to just let them go around and kill people, so I decided to try and wipe out as many as I could." "Well then, I'm impressed with your progress," she said, her hands shifting to his arms, "I can tell you've gotten stronger. I wonder how much…" "I don't think that now's the time for that," Haru said, taking a step back.
Suddenly, Esdeath stiffened and turned to look behind her. Grabbing her sword, she unsheathed it while saying, "Come out, I know you're back there." While Haru wondered who she meant, a man in a ragged cloak with the hood up stepped out from behind one of the rocks. "Wow, and here I thought that I'd hid myself pretty well," he said, sounding amused, "But, I guess that's what is to be expected from the capital's strongest." "Who are you?" Esdeath asked as she pointed her sword at him. "And what makes you think you can just steal my outfit?" Haru asked as he stepped up next to her. "Well, well, I didn't think you'd be here, too," the man said, smiling, "To think that I'd attract two of the Demon wielders at once. I guess this means that play time is over."
Reaching into his cloak, the man brought out some kind of charm. "So, I think I'll have you two clean up after some big toys," he said as he held the charm up, "Shambala, activate!" In an instant Haru and Esdeath were surrounded by a bright, purple light. Looking down, he saw an intricate symbol in the same light on the ground and that it was easily three meters in diameter. "Stay close," Haru said, grabbing Esdeath's arm, "God only knows what this thing-" He didn't even have time to finish his sentence as the circle activated and they were teleported.
"-does," Haru finished as he looked out over water, the sun shining in his face from the wrong direction. What in the hell he wondered as he looked around. They were standing on a beach with tropical plants to their back and the ocean stretching out in front. This can't be real he thought as he reached down and pulled a knife out of his pouch. "Well then, this is an impressive trick," Esdeath said as she looked around before noticing Haru with his knife, "What are you doing?" Rather than answer her, he brought the blade up and put the tip into the palm of his other hand. He put enough pressure on the blade to pierce the skin and cause some serious pain, but when Haru looked up he saw that everything was still the same.
Whipping the blade off on his shirt and returning it to its pouch, he said, "Alright, not an illusion. Pretty sure that would have broken it otherwise." "Not a bad idea," Esdeath mused as she took a second look around, "I think we should get some height and figure out where we are." Before Haru could ask how, she knelt down and placed her hand on the ground. In a flash, she froze a circle underneath their feet before raising them off the ground on a massive pillar of ice. That's impressive Haru thought as he looked around again before feeling his spirits sink.
They were on an island. An island in what looked like the middle of nowhere. "Alright, how in the hell did he do this?" Haru asked, trying to keep his frustrations in check. "Well, that was definitely an Imperial Arms that he used," Esdeath said, "Judging from its ability, I'd say that it is one of the more powerful ones. If I had to guess, I'd say we're somewhere south of the capital, but I'd need to see the stars to be sure." Taking another look around, he couldn't find anything to dispute that claim. However, they were soon pulled from these thoughts when a massive creature emerged from the surf and started walking towards them.
It looked a lot like the final form Stylish had used against Night Raid, but it looked incomplete. It also didn't look happy to see people on its island. "Now that is one big, ugly Danger Beast," Haru said as he unsheathed his sword. "Hmph, it seems to think it can ruin this moment," Esdeath said as she brought her hands up, "It's time you learned your place. Weissschnabel!" At her command at least a hundred razor sharp ice shards formed around her, just hanging in the air and giving Haru plenty to think about. She's on a completely different level from me he realized as he tried not to gape, I can only ever make fire directly; she's creating ice remotely, and on a huge scale.
A solid second after she created her ice shards, Esdeath waved her hand at the creature and sent them soaring at it faster than Haru could track. It was also far faster than the creature could hope to move and it soon had a majority of them stuck in its body, causing it to roar in pain. This only seemed to piss it off, however, as it started to lumber towards their ice tower. "Okay, got anything else?" Haru asked as he prepared his own attack. "As a matter of fact, yes," she replied, kneeling, "Grauhorn!" This time, instead of dozens of ice shards, a massive spear of ice emerged from just below where they were standing on the pillar and flew at the thing's head.
This time, however, it was on guard and managed to shift its head enough to avoid a serious blow. Great, it's learning Haru thought as he prepared to attack. "You're not as weak as I thought you were," Esdeath said, "But let's see how you deal with the next attack." Before she could really do anything, Haru had leaped down onto her ice spear and was sprinting towards the creature. It hadn't yet moved clear of the spear, and if it was the same as what Stylish had used then it would have a person controlling it. Sure enough, he spotted a person in a small hollow in the creature's head. You're mine he told himself as he charged.
The creature wasn't about to go down without a fight, however. Bringing one of its arms up, it brought its fist crashing down onto the spear and shattered it. Leaping from the main body just as it started to collapse, Haru jumped between several of the larger shards before he felt like he had gotten close enough. "Zündung!" he cried out as he brought his sword down. The wave of fire, thankfully, was well aimed and it crashed right into the being in control of the creature. It gripped its head and bellowed in agony as the fire ate away at it before collapsing to the ground. A good kill, to be sure, but it still left Haru with one problem; he was now in free fall with about 30 feet of open air between him and the ground.
Guess it's time for one of my new tricks he thought as he spun so he faced the ground. Reaching out with his left hand, he focused his fire into that arm before ejecting it with as much force as he could. The blast was enough to slow his dissent so when he hit the sand it only hurt a little. But when he heard crashing behind him, he felt his spirits plummet again. Turning around, he saw another one of those creatures barreling straight for him. Haru tried to get back onto his feet to move, but his legs gave out just as he stood up, leaving him helpless. Well, shit he thought as he watched it get closer.
It was at this point that Esdeath stepped in. Leaping from the top of the ice tower, she spun to face the new threat. "Sorry, monster, but that man belongs to me," she said as she snapped her fingers, "Hagelsprung!" This time, it was a massive ball of ice that formed just behind her. And when he said massive, he meant freaking huge. Like the size of a small mountain huge. Esdeath just smiled as she spun to the side, letting the ice ball pass her by before crashing into the second creature and crushing it. She then waved her hand and created a kind of ice slide that swerved around to where Haru was still lying. She slid down safely with a triumphant smile on her face.
"Well, that was impressive," Haru admitted as he picked himself up. This time his legs managed to support his weight, albeit with a little trembling. He must have hit the ground harder than he thought. "I was hoping that I could use that to show off for you," Esdeath admitted as she walked over, "But it seems you're more than capable of taking care of yourself. Just another reason why we're so perfect for each other." Don't get too far ahead of yourself Haru thought as he leaned up against one of the trees. "So, now what?" he asked as he looked around.
"Well, you should definitely rest first," she said as she walked over, looking concerned, "Then we should explore the rest of this place." "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan," Haru replied. He had definitely pulled a muscle on that less-than-spectacular landing. Sliding down into a sitting position, Haru tried not to grimace as lances of pain shot up his right leg. Yeah, that's gonna smart for a while he thought as he pulled his leg up and tried to massage the knot away. Seeing this, Esdeath kneeled down next to him before reaching out and taking his calf in her hands. She then proceeded to massage the muscle, leaving Haru staring at her in surprise.
It wasn't unpleasant, but it did bring to the surface a lot of the thoughts and feelings he had been trying damned hard to suppress. Goddamnit, why can't this be easy he thought as he let his head rest on the tree. Once again, he thought that he'd made his choice. He even had that letter he had prepared and everything. But now he wasn't so sure he could carry through with that plan. After a few minutes Haru picked himself back up before unclipping his cloak. They were on a tropical island, after all, and now that he didn't have to focus on fighting he realized that it was actually quite hot out.
As they explored the island, their priorities shifted from looking for potential threats to looking for food. Over the next few hours they gathered several different fruits, a few small animals and a rather nice tan. Esdeath had decided to remove her jacket at one point so she wasn't so uncomfortable in the heat. However, it turns out that she didn't have an undershirt, so she was left in her bra. While she wasn't bothered by this, Haru had to force himself not to stare. She was, after all, a very beautiful woman.
By the time they had completed their exploration, night had already started to settle in. Setting up a small fire near where they had first appeared, they cooked what they had caught during the day and enjoyed a rather nice, if somewhat basic, meal. Looking out at the ocean as the sun set, Haru couldn't help but enjoy the moment. Despite everything, he couldn't help but think that deep down Esdeath was still a good person. Of course, that could just be because it's me she's with he thought gloomily. Lost in these thoughts, he didn't notice her shift so she was sitting next to him. He did, however, feel her hand find his.
"It's almost like we were on a date today," she mused as she looked at the water. He just nodded in reply, not trusting his voice at the moment. Noticing Haru's hesitation, Esdeath decided to try being more direct. Of course, he knew full well what she was going to try and start, and he tried to think of something else they could do before they reached a point of no return. "You know, I just remembered that we don't really know that much about each other," he said in a moment of inspiration. "Don't we know all that we need to?" she asked as her other hand moved up to his chest.
"Well, no, actually," Haru replied, trying to keep his heartbeat steady, "How about I go first?" Trying to pull his concentration away from her almost contagious desire, Haru told her about where he come from and what he had been through. He made it a point to avoid telling her about his time in the Revolutionary Army or Night Raid; no point in provoking someone that could easily kill him. "Well, I could tell that you had been through some difficult times," she said when he had finished, "But to live through such challenges and keep your head held high; that's very impressive."
Sitting up and turning to face him, she smiled and said, "I guess you would like to know about me now. I was a member of the Paltas clan, near the northern border. We were hunters and fighters, and my father was the clan's leader. Eat or be eaten; I was brought up in that wonderful environment, taught how to hunt, kill and harvest from some of the most powerful Danger Beasts around. Both sides would give their all to survive, and only the strongest would prevail. Living like that was fun and I enjoyed every moment of it."
"One day, a rival tribe from across the border attacked our village while I was away hunting," Esdeath continued, "When I returned, all of the huts were burning and my father was near death. He told me, "We were weaker, and so we lost. It can't be helped." After that, I hunted on my own for a while before joining the capital's army." "Well, that explains what you did when you lead the attack on the northern tribes," Haru said, trying to remain clam. Inside, however, he was reeling from her story. He was also hoping against all odds that the conclusion his mind was coming to was wrong.
"They were a powerful opponent," Esdeath said, looking confused, "I did what I did to cut costs and set an example to the others. It wasn't out of some sense of revenge, if that's what you mean." "So you froze all those people, caused all that destruction because it was your job?" he asked. "As I said, it was to set an example and spare my forces from excess losses," she repeated, looking frustrated, "I don't see why you're so worked up about this. They were weak. It is what they deserved."
Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT he thought as he tried to keep his reaction to himself. He had always suspected that what was wrong with her had been something fundamental to her character, but he had hoped against it. He had hoped that it was some kind of brainwashing, or that she had possessed somewhat justifiable reasons behind her actions. Hell, if it wasn't for the fact that they had the same type of weapon he would have blamed her behavior on the Demon's Extract. But it wasn't any of those things, and that made his choice painfully clear.
She had been raised on the most basic laws of nature, and she had ingrained it so deeply into her being that he wasn't going to be able to change it. Esdeath wouldn't be turned against the capital, because they would allow her to act as she saw fit while the Revolution wouldn't. She would never side with or fight to protect those she deemed too weak. Despite what she claimed to feel for him, Haru was sure that if he chose to fight against the capital that it would also mean fighting her. I guess it's decision time he thought as he looked down and away.
Before he could really agonize over the choice before him, the ground off to his left lit up with the same purple light that had sent them here. Standing up quickly, Haru gathered his cloak as he prepared for…something. He didn't know what he expected to happen, but after a few moments it became clear that nothing was going to come through the circle. "Maybe that's our way back," Esdeath said as she walked up next to him. "Even if it is, we have no way of knowing what's on the other side," Haru said as he put his cloak back on. Unsheathing his sword, he walked forward while saying, "I'll go through first. Give me a good ten count and then follow."
Without waiting for her approval, Haru stepped into the light and felt a sudden rush. There was a blinding light and then he found himself back on the peak where he had started. It was still night out and freaking cold. I guess we're back he thought as he looked around. Suddenly remembering what he had told Esdeath, he realized that he had about 8 seconds to make his escape. Before he turned and left, Haru found a clear area with a small amount of vegetation growing on it. Lighting a small fire to illuminate the area, Haru took the note out of his pocket and pinned it down with a rock upwind of the fire.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he stood up and dashed for the cliff edge. Not a second after he got over the edge, he heard a slight whine behind him and figured that it was Esdeath coming through the portal. While he felt like trash for running, he knew that trying to talk her down or explain would be a waste of time for both of them. He moved as carefully as he could to avoid drawing attention until he had gotten a good distance away. It was then a matter of deciding how best to get back to the hideout. Lubbock would have gone back long ago once he realized Haru wasn't coming back down anytime soon. Lord only knows what he told the others this time. He was definitely not looking forward to explaining this one.
As he made his way back, Haru found himself dwelling on the decision he had just made. There was no turning back now; he was committed to a path. And even though he still felt guilty about it, another part of him felt…better. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he said, "I'm an assassin and warrior for the Revolution. I'm committed to changing this nation so no one suffers needlessly again." He said it more to cement the idea in his head than anything, but it still made him feel a bit better. By the time he had made it back to the new hideout, the sun had started to rise. As he looked at the fortress in the cliff, he could feel his spirits rising. I'm home.