Sitting up quickly, Haru just barely managed to bite back a cry of fear as the dream faded from his mind. Putting his head in his hands, he tried to get control of himself. It had been almost a year since he had relived that night, and it had left him shaken to his core. Feeling something damp, Haru brought his hands away and realized they were tears. He had been crying in his sleep. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he wiped the tears away before he just sat there and brought his mind back under control. I'm of no use to them like this he thought.
After a few minutes, he had collected himself again and buried those memories back where they belonged. It would do him no good to dwell on the past today. After a light breakfast, and drawing the short straw to kick Tatsumi out of bed, Haru found himself looking down on the city of Kyoroch. While it wasn't nearly as big as the capital, it was impressive in its own right. "So, what's our plan?" Haru asked, looking over at Najenda. Taking the cigarette out of her mouth, Najenda let out a puff of smoke as she thought over a good plan of action.
Finally, she said, "We need to get a good idea of the terrain, so a few of us are going to scout it out while the rest of us secure a temporary base nearby." Pointing at several of them, she continued, "Lubbock, I need you to scout out the area around the main church. Mine and Tatsumi will scout the outer districts. Finally, I want Akame and Haru to follow up on a lead. We heard rumors of a secret escape tunnel in the city's graveyard, so try to find it if it exists."
Damn you, Boss Haru thought as they split up to carry out their tasks. He didn't miss how Akame's look brightened a bit at being paired with him. Even after all he had said, after avoiding her for the last few days, she still didn't seem willing to let him go. Nothing good can come of this he told himself as they skirted the city. But his heart, in its usual fashion, wasn't listening to his mind's advice.
They learned through passive gossip that the Jaegers had gotten here a day ahead of them. There was no doubt in Haru's mind that they were going to act in Borick's defense. He just hoped that Bols would have the intelligence to steer clear of the battles that were sure to come of it. As they reached the graveyard, they noticed that there were several mourners and a small service happening on the far side. "We should wait someplace safe for nightfall," he suggested, getting a nod of approval from Akame.
They found a nice tree to climb into, and Haru propped himself up on one of the higher branches to get a better view. He hoped that Akame wouldn't use this time alone to try to work things out with him. "Haru, I wanted to ask you something," Akame said after a while. Well, so much for that hope he thought as he asked, "Is it a big or small question?" "I just wanted you to promise me something," she said, looking up at him, "If something happens to me, I want your word that you will finish this."
"Where's this coming from?" he asked, concerned over what she meant. "Seeing Leone after that last fight," she replied, smiling weakly, "It's just… I know that any one of us can die at any time, but I never thought to make preparations for it." "Well, there's no need," Haru told her, looking back out at the graveyard, "You're going to live through this." "I want your word, Haru," she insisted, ignoring his comment, "Swear to me that you'll finish this, whatever happens." "Will that include dealing with your sister?" he asked without looking at her. He hated putting her on the spot, but he had gotten a good measure of her conviction on this matter a while ago.
She hesitated at that, knowing it was something he had fairly strong feelings about. "I would prefer to…deal with that on my own," Akame said after a while, "But, I suppose it does." "Then I'll have to make sure you live through this," he said, smiling sadly, "Because that's one thing I won't promise you." After that, they spent the next few hours waiting patiently for the graveyard to clear out. By the time they could come down and start searching, the sun had long since dropped below the horizon. And while Haru would never admit it out loud, he had always found graveyards unnerving at night.
While Akame checked out the mausoleum, Haru went and inspected some of the larger headstones. Kneeling down before one with an angel carved into it, he was in the middle of searching for a hidden trigger when he felt someone behind him. Whirling around, Haru dropped one hand onto his sword hilt as he saw that four people had managed to sneak up on them. One of them was a tall, pale man with stiches on his body and a smile that reminded him of Zank. To his left was another man wearing a black coat with the hood up, completely obscuring his face. The last two behind him wore masks. The boy had a bow in his hand and a quiver across his back, and looked quite a bit younger than him. The girl stood with her hands out and empty by her sides and looked to be about the same age as Haru.
"Well, that's fairly impressive," Haru said as he stood up, "So, out for a late-night walk?" "Hehe, you could say something like that," the taller man said, clenching his fists, "We heard that there were rats sniffing around. You should be honored that I've been sent to take care of you." "Oh? And why is that?" Haru asked. "Well, that's surprising," he replied, looking offended, "You must really be new here to not recognize one of the Four Koukenji Rashasa Demons." "I'm sorry, the what?" Haru asked, trying not to laugh but unable to keep a chuckle out of his voice.
The taller man just scowled at him in response. By this point, Akame had come out of the mausoleum to see who was talking. When she saw their guests, she stiffened slightly. "I-Ibara?" she asked, sounding surprised. "Oh, now this is a surprise!" the tall man said, turning to her, "I had heard you were working with Night Raid, but I didn't think I would get to see you again so soon. It's been a long time, Akame." "You know this freak?" Haru asked her, ignoring the glare he got from the man. "We were comrades before I left the capital," she replied, unsheathing her sword, "It appears that you haven't fared too well since then, Ibara."
"On the contrary!" he replied, smiling again, "Not long after you left, I came here and joined the Koukenji Rashasa Demons. As part of our training, we all received extensive body modifications. Now we can beat anyone, even Imperial Arms users!" "We'll see about that, freak," Haru replied, preparing to charge. "Not so fast, Haru of the Demon's Sight," the hooded man replied, stepping forward, "He's not your opponent, we are." "What, are you a member of that Koukenji whatever group, too?" Haru asked. "No, I'm just an interested party," he replied. Waving his hand, he said, "Subject 17, Subject 18, subdue him for me."
Before Haru could do much more than blink, the girl rushed him with more speed than he thought possible and immediately started throwing punches. It was all he could do to keep her at bay, and he had absolutely no openings to counter. Akame tried to come to his aid, but Ibara was in her way in moments. His own attacks forced her on the defensive as well; it was like she was fighting an octopus instead of a man as he managed to dodge and attack in ways that shouldn't have been physically possible.
Dodging another blow aimed at his head, Haru saw an opening and brought his sword up towards her midsection. She seemed to see this coming as she stepped back just in time to avoid the blade. Before Haru could press his advantage, he noticed that the boy was holding his bow up like he was pointing at Haru. "Lock," he said simply, causing a crystal on the handle to glow. What the hell Haru thought as a beam of light shot at him. He tried to sidestep it, but it still managed to impact his right shoulder. He had expected pain, but it just hit him and dissipated.
"Okay, you have my attention now," Haru said, looking at the cloaked man, "What the hell did he just do to me?" "You've been marked by his Imperial Arms now," the man replied, sounding pleased, "You might as well surrender now, since there's no way you're beating us." "In your dreams, buddy," Haru replied as he summoned fire around his blade. Before he could attack, the boy had drawn and fired an arrow at him. This time, he was able to sidestep the projectile easily, smirking at the kid's weak attempt to hit him. But right after he took a step forward he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. And by sharp pain, he meant that it freaking hurt.
Looking over, he saw an arrowhead sticking out of his flesh and realized he had been shot. He hit me Haru thought, grasping the wound, how? Looking up, he had just enough time to realize that the girl was coming at him again. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Haru brought his flaming blade up and cried, "Zündung!" The wave of fire was well aimed, and the girl didn't have a hope of dodging it. But rather than trying, as most people would, she instead raised her right hand and pointed at the fire. Suddenly, a jet of water shot out from behind her and collided with the fire, putting it out instantly.
Haru just stood there, dumbfounded. He only knew of one water-manipulating Imperial Arms, but it had been sent to the Revolution's HQ. "How?" he asked, knowing they would understand the meaning. "The person that the rebels found to use the Black Marlin wasn't nearly as skilled as the last user, so acquiring it was simple," the man replied, "And as for the boy; he's using the Sure Strike; Archer's Storm, one of the Imperial Arms thought lost during the civil war. Anything it marks can be hit with any projectile, at any distance, without fail."
Haru tried to keep his anger in check as the man spoke; the smug bastard sounded giddy as he talked, like this was something to boast about. "Dare I ask what you have up your sleeve?" Haru continued as he broke the arrowhead off and pulled the thing out, "There's no way you don't have your own weapon." "Oh, I do," the man replied, giving Haru the impression that he was smiling, "But I think you have more pressing matters than what I may have up my sleeve."
Sure enough, the girl was moving after him again. Bringing his sword up, he tried to ward her off only for her to dodge to the side and deliver a hard blow to his wrist. This broke his grip on the handle, and before he could try to recover his weapon he was forced back further by a series of kicks. She's really good at close-combat Haru thought as he continued to dodge, but it's just a show. He knew that people with this kind of skill wouldn't keep missing unless they meant to. Clearly, she was keeping him focused on her while the boy lined up his shots.
As if summoned by his thoughts, Haru noticed that the kid was to his right and had a new arrow ready to fly. This one had a large, blunt tip. As he fired, he noticed that the girl backed way off. That can't be good he thought as he turned and brought his hand up. "Zündung!" he commanded, sending a fireball at the arrow. But as they collided, the explosion was far larger than he had anticipated and it blew him back a few inches. "Freaking bomb arrows? Seriously?" he said, looking between the two. They just remained silent as they fell into their pattern again, but this time Haru was prepared. With another command, he covered his hands in flames and went on the offensive.
He managed to force the girl to dodge a few blows before she jumped back and pointed at him. More water came from behind her, and this time he noticed a large water skin strapped to her back just before it hit him. The impact wasn't as intense as he thought it would be, considering what this weapon had done to Bulat. However, it did succeed in putting his fire out and drenching him, making it difficult to summon more fire quickly. Focusing his power, he raised his body's temperature and felt the water starting to evaporate before noticing that the girl hadn't charged him again. Instead, she continued to point at him before flicking her wrist.
If he had had the time, he would have remembered that the ring gave its user control over all forms of liquid nearby. That would include the water that now covered him from head to toe. As a result, she flung him into the air and through a nearby headstone, knocking the wind from him as he landed and rolled. Coming to a stop on his stomach, Haru planted his hands on the ground and said, "Thýella," causing a large carpet of fire to spring to life and spread towards the two. The boy dodged it by jumping up onto the headstones before leaping from one to the other. The girl was nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't his main concern as he watched the boy draw several arrows and fire in succession.
Rather than trying to dodge them, Haru brought some of his fire up in a wall, incinerating the arrows on contact. Well, at least he managed to with the first few. Had he not created a shield of fire, he would have seen that one of the last arrows had been another explosive one. He certainly felt it as it collided with his shield and detonated, blowing a hole in the barrier just as a pair of arrows came screaming through. The first hit him in the left shoulder while the second impacted his right thigh. Grasping their shafts, he gave a burst of fire and burned them away as well as sealing the wounds temporarily.
Looking around to find the archer, he spotted the girl again. But this time, she had collected a lot more water. Where in the hell he thought before he noticed the trees at her back. They were all withered and black, like they had been wrung dry. She's using the water from plants? Clever. Smirking, Haru couldn't help but enjoy himself. Even though this was likely to end in his death, it was nice to be fighting powerful opponents.
Glancing over in Akame's direction, he saw that help wouldn't be forthcoming. That freak, Ibara, was still able to dodge her attacks with ease as he continued to push her back, proving that his claim about beating Imperial Arms users wasn't just for show. Hearing a roaring, Haru turned back just as the girl formed the water into a giant serpent and sent it at him. Shifting his foot so it was in the flames behind him, Haru took control back and gathered them up into a concentrated ball before sending it to meet the snake head-on. The blast was what he expected it to be; large, loud and completely neutralizing both attacks.
But then he saw a figure charging him through the smoke and prepared himself as the girl crashed into him again. This time, she wasn't just stalling. Haru was able to dodge the dangerous blows, but she was still able to land a few hits as she drove him back. Blocking a kick at his stomach, Haru wrapped his arm around her foot rather than let it go as he prepared to finish her. She had also prepared her own blast of water, and their attacks collided and blew them both backwards.
Landing on his feet, Haru charged up another fireball in his right hand while his left reached down for one of his knives. He was stopped short when an arrow pierced his hand, dispersing the fireball and hurting like hell. Clutching the wound, he grit his teeth against the pain before looking up and gasping. The girl had used this as an opening to charge him again and he had just enough time to register this before her fist collided with his chest, sending him into another headstone. While he didn't go through this one, he felt the stone crack under the impact as he coughed and tasted copper. Dropping to his knees, he took a deep breath before reaching back for one of his shots. Now the gloves come off he thought as he brought it out and jabbed it into his leg.
Feeling the drug kick in, Haru watched in grim amusement as the girl charged him again. Bringing his left fist down, he punched the ground while commanding, "Thýella!" This time, instead of a carpet of fire he created a massive explosion, throwing her up and away. Some of the debris caught her mask, and the porcelain crumbled from the hit as she came back down to the ground. Getting up, Haru burned the arrow out of his hand as he walked forward. But before he could get more than two steps, the boy was between him and the girl with his bow up in a protective stance.
"You really think you can stop me with her out of the way?" Haru asked, summoning fire in both hands as he prepared to blast this kid into ash. He stopped cold, however, when the girl got up and faced him, his fire going out as his arms dropped to his side and his eyes went wide. "A-Aki?" he said, stunned beyond words. Her hair was shorter, and she had a small scar on her cheek, but other than that this girl was the spitting image of his sister. Shaking his head, he prepared to attack again, saying, "Nice try, but I've seen this kind of crap before. You think some cheap illusion is going to rattle me?"
"You think this is an illusion?" the man asked, laughing, "No, no, I can guarantee that these two are the genuine article. Although, it's interesting that you know them personally." "What do you mean 'them?'" Haru asked, already dreading the answer. "Well, it turns out that these two are a pair," he said, gesturing to the boy, "And now, with that little reveal I guess that makes you a set." Haru's suspicions were confirmed when the boy removed his own mask, revealing his little brother, Natsu, underneath.
He couldn't move, couldn't speak, hell, he could barely breathe as he looked at them. "H-How?" he managed after a few seconds, "No, that can wait till later. Why are you two fighting me?" "Because I tell them to," the man replied, removing his hood and smiling. He had long, black hair and a scar down the right side of his face, as well as one of the coldest, cruelest smiles Haru had ever seen. "You're controlling them?" he asked, snorting, "Then there's no way they're my family. No one related to me is that weak." "My Imperial Arms makes that kind of strength irrelevant," the man replied, "A fact that you will soon learn."
When he pointed at Haru, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder followed by an incredible cold. Gasping for air, he collapsed to his knees and clutched his shoulder. Out of reflex, he flared his powers up and tried to fight the cold back, but this only seemed to slow it rather than stop it. "Wh-What is this?" he managed as his arm started to grow numb. "Don't tell me you never pondered the nature of the third Demon weapon," the man said as he walked over, still smiling, "I coated the boy's first arrow with my power, and it was introduced to your bloodstream on contact. Or are you going to tell me you didn't notice that the arrowhead looked darker than the others?"
In truth, he hadn't noticed a change in its color at all. But that didn't matter at this point. If this was some kind of poison, he probably had seconds to neutralize it before he was dead. But the mention of a Demon weapon made that unlikely. He said it was darker Haru thought, trying to figure this out, and all the Demon weapons deal with pure elements. So, what element is dark? If he hadn't been in so much pain, he would have figured it out a lot sooner. "Darkness?" he said finally, causing the man's smile to widen. "That's right, little fire-wielder," he purred, "I control the very shadows with my Demon God Manifestation; Demon's Core."
Placing a hand over his chest, he continued, "Implanted in me is the heart of the only small Danger Beast to ever receive the Ultra-class title. It could manipulate the shadows to hide and fed off the darkness of its prey. It would even encourage their darker nature to increase its food supply. It was a parasite, really, but its power was very real and very dangerous. It was said that even a saint would become a heartless monster after less than an hour of exposure." "So, what are you planning to do? Bring out my inner evil?" Haru asked with a smirk.
"Nothing so dramatic," the man replied, shaking his head, "I found, through trial and error, the perfect balance of power to control people. I just sent some of my darkness into your blood, and as we speak it's spreading throughout your body. In a few moments, it will have spread to every fiber of your being, and then… Then, I will go to work on your mind." The man brought his hand up, and Haru felt the coldness inside him respond and lift him up off the ground. Gasping, he felt his concentration slip as the cold spread further. He lost the feeling in his entire right side by the time he was focused and fighting back again.
"You can struggle all you want. In fact, you've lasted longer than any of my other subjects," he said, smiling, "But you will break, in time. All of the darkness in your heart is my weapon, Haru. Ultimately, you will break yourself." Focusing his powers, Haru tried to burn this darkness out of him. But he felt the effects of the booster starting to wear off. He was on the clock, and he didn't have the time to try the long approach. Pointing at the man with his left arm, Haru prepared to launch a fireball when Aki and Natsu moved into his way. "Get out of my way!" Haru said, hoping they would listen, "You don't have to obey him!"
Laughing, the man replied, "You think petty words will break my control? Hahaha! Maybe I should show you just what you're fighting against!" Bringing both hands up, he increased his concentration. Haru gave a strangled cry as the cold spread faster, and he tried to hold it at bay but couldn't keep up. He lost the feeling in his other leg, followed shortly by his chest and left arm. It then creeped up his neck, and he felt himself starting to black out as the cold became so intense. D-damnit, looks like I screwed up he thought as he slipped into oblivion.
As luck would have it, Akame had finished Ibara off by this point. Looking over, she saw that Haru was in serious trouble and moved to help. In response, the girl moved into her way and raised a barrier of water in her path. It encircled the four of them, and was far too high to jump over. Running forward, she hoped to break through what appeared to be a static barrier. Instead, she found that it was in fact flowing and changing with such force that she was thrown back. Getting up and growling in frustration, she slashed at the barrier in a vain attempt to breach it. "Haru!" she cried, hoping at least her words could reach him, "Don't you dare quit on me now, Haru! Fight back!"
The man just chuckled at her naiveté as he focused on the boy before him. Now that his body had been subjugated, it was time to start working on his mind. Maybe he would do the same with the girl. She was clearly very skilled and would make an excellent addition to his collection. I can always use another pawn in the rotation he thought, smiling as he worked.
Drifting in a black sea, Haru felt incredibly cold as he struggled to figure out what was happening. Looking around, he massaged his arms as he tried to get some warmth back. He even tried to use his fire, but nothing seemed to work as the cold pressed down. Then, he started to hear voices. They were just whispers at first; barely on the edge of human hearing, but there nonetheless. After a while, they grew louder and resolved themselves into proper words.
"Freak of nature. You don't belong here." "You're nothing but a mistake." "Why don't you just do everyone a favor and die?" "Go back with the monsters, where you belong!" "You'll never have the power to save anyone." These and other accusations continued, and at first he was confused as to where they were coming from. Then he remembered what the man had said, and it all made sense. He's using my own fears against me Haru reasoned, taking a breath to calm himself, all I have to do is ride this out. Buy enough time and someone will take him down. But the words soon became much more personal.
This time, rather than just random voices he heard people that he knew; Bols, Esdeath, Leone, Lubbock, and even his sister, Aki. "You threatened my family, you monster!" "How could we ever see you as a friend? You're just a sad little freak." "Why would I ever offer you shelter? You're too weak to be of use to me." "I can't believe I have to place my life in your hands. You couldn't even save your own family." "You betrayed our trust, just as I knew you would. You're just an animal, after all." "You left us to die!" All of them throwing his failures and choices into his face, showing him just how much of a mistake he truly was. Clutching his head, he tried to block them out as they continued to chip away at his mind. But the final blow came from somewhere he never expected. Or rather, somewhere he should have seen coming.
"How could I ever love a creature like you?"
Akame, I'm sorry.