As they made their way towards the upper districts, Haru had to admit that as uncomfortable as the smaller hideout might be, it sure beat the hell out of having to infiltrate the city every time they went on a mission. They had passed three patrols in the span of two blocks, and every time he was nervous that one of the guards would recognize him. However, the fact that they made it to their destination without being stopped proved that his face hadn't been put on a wanted poster. While he was grateful for that, he was also very suspicious about it. He couldn't think of any reason Esdeath would have had to keep his allegiance a secret.
Shaking his head, he tried to banish those thoughts as they arrived at the meeting point. The woman they had made contact with had been the daughter of the Emperor's teacher, and she had become the go-between for the Revolution and the various officials in the Imperial Court that opposed the Minister. When he had heard that there were still dissenters in the royal court, Haru was suspicious at first. He had assumed it was just some elaborate scheme to lure out any real dissenters. But these men and women had proven time and time again that they were honest in their conviction, and as a result he was rather excited to meet them. They had been fighting a battle every day to remain unknown while they gathered what information they could for the rebels, and he respected them for that.
He was not a fan of their plan to get onto the palace grounds, however. The three of them were going to have to hide on one of the food carts heading to the kitchens. He couldn't speak for the other two, but Haru felt every bump in the road as he tried not to sneeze from the flour he was hiding behind. Tatsumi, ever the lucky bastard, was using Incursio's invisibility to remain ready near the cart's gate in case they were discovered. As for Lubbock, he got to hide behind several stacks of cheese rolls while keeping them upright. If Haru hadn't been so worried about the possibility of death, he probably would have found this incredibly funny.
After a grueling hour of keeping quiet as best as they could, the cart finally came to a stop. Breathing a sigh in relief, Haru then waited for their contact to return. Sure enough, they heard her talking briefly with several men before she came up to the back of the cart. "Okay, the guards have stepped away," she said, lifting the flap and motioning them out, "We need to move quickly."
He didn't need any encouragement as he got out from behind the flour bags. They were then forced to sneak around and through several buildings before they finally got to her property. Once they were inside the main gate, they all breathed easier and slowed their pace. "Well, that's got to be one of the most interesting ways I've infiltrated someplace," Haru said, brushing some stray powder off his arm, "Though definitely not the weirdest."
"You had something worse?" Tatsumi asked. He had removed his armor a while ago, and he looked glad to be rid of the excess weight. "We had this one job about a week before we met you," he explained, smiling at the memory, "There was this one man that worked in a local morgue, and he made a lot of money selling body parts. Lubbock and I had to play dead to get inside, and I can tell you that coffins are not comfortable." That got a laugh out of Tatsumi, while Lubbock just grimaced at the memory. It hadn't been his favorite job by a long shot.
Rounding the main house, Haru saw the large property this woman owned. The back patio opened up to a large, well-kept yard with a small collection of trees to one side. It was a beautiful piece of property, and Haru found himself marveling at the small flower garden. It was clearly cared for, since he couldn't spot a single plant aside from the intended roses, bluebells and lilies. Even through his blindfold, his interest was obvious to their host. "That was my mother's garden," she said, walking up next to him and smiling sadly, "She used to spend hours out here fussing over them. I remember she would get so mad when she saw so much as a blade of grass growing with them."
"You said 'was,'" Haru noted, turning to her, "Was she…?" "When my father was framed and imprisoned, my mother spoke out against it," she told him, refusing to meet his gaze, "She was locked up, too…" "I'm so sorry," Haru said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "We're going to get them out, I promise you." She just nodded before leading them out into the yard. Apparently, today was one of the few days where all of the officials would have enough free time to meet with them. While they were taking an incredible risk gathering all together in one spot, they were willing to risk it to help Night Raid infiltrate the palace.
So we get to spend almost an hour talking with a bunch of politicians Haru thought as they approached the shed where they would meet, can't wait to hear what they will want in exchange for their help. Noticing his friend's mood, Lubbock came up behind him and smacked his back. "Don't worry about it," he said, practically reading Haru's mind, "We'll be in and out in no time, and then you can go back to your girlfriend." "Don't make me hurt you, Lubbock," Haru said, trying to sound mad. Of course, it didn't work and he just laughed it off.
When they got to the door, the woman knocked on it several times before waiting for a response. And none came; no answering knock or verbal challenge was issued. Years of instinct kicked in as Haru's senses when into overdrive. Reaching back and resting his hand on his sword, he slowly turned and scanned the area around them. Lubbock and Tatsumi, meanwhile, had noticed the small amount of blood leaking from under the door. "Oh, this can't be good," Tatsumi said, drawing his sword. When Lubbock kicked in the door, they were assaulted with the stench of freshly killed corpses. The officials were all dead, slaughtered and scattered about the room.
"We need to go," Haru said, grabbing the woman's arm. Before they could even take a step away, the bodies began to glow. Haru recognized the same kind of explosive trap that Stylish had used with his own soldiers, but that didn't save him from the blast. It tore the shed apart, sending the four of them flying across the yard. Pulling the woman in and wrapping his arms around her, Haru managed to take most of the blow from the landing for her, although it hurt like hell to do so.
When they came to a stop he released her and slowly got up, feeling a lot like hammered shit. "Okay, are you guys still breathing?" he asked, getting to his feet. "Well, if you are, then you're going to wish you weren't shortly," said a familiar voice from behind him. Turning around, Haru saw that they had company; a lot of company.
While most of them appeared to be guards, a group of them wore cloaks and where holding spears. But it was the two men out in front that got his attention. The one on the left had white hair and dark skin, and the look in his eyes made Haru's skin crawl. The other one was taller and more muscular, with blonde hair and rather elaborate armor on parts of his body. Haru could sense the power coming from these two, and knew right off the bat that they were Imperial Arms users. He also knew that people this obviously powerful would be a handful, even for the three of them.
He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Tatsumi and Lubbock had tensed up, ready for these guys to attack. Laying his hand on his sword, Haru decided he would be the voice for the group. "So, who are you two supposed to be?" he asked, trying to sound bored. "You don't need to worry about this old man," the white-haired guy said, waving his hand, "I am Shura, and I'm here to put all of you vermin in your place." "Wait, Shura? As in Onest's son, Shura?" Haru asked, shocked. Shura just nodded with a smug smile.
"Well, damn," Haru said, looking at Lubbock, "Looks like I owe you some money." "What are you talking about?" Shura asked, finding the fact that he was being ignored annoying. "Well, you see, Lubbock and I had a standing bet," Haru said, looking at him and smiling, "He bet that Onest was a human, while I figured he was just some sick creature in a human's skin. But you're clearly human, so I guess I lose." Judging from how the guy's face clouded over, insulting his father was one of his buttons. "You're going to regret that," he growled. Waving his arm at them, he sent the spearmen at the three Night Raid members.
Tatsumi summoned Incursio and quickly put himself between them and his friends, only to be swept aside when the larger man moved. He had discarded his cape, revealing a pair of bracers on his arms with large cylinders. "I am your opponent, rebel," he said, smashing his fists together and sending arks of electricity flying, "My Adramelech will pass judgement on you!" With that, he charged again and pushed Tatsumi further back. Haru would have gone to his aid, but the spearmen were on top of him in the next moment. The first swipe just grazed his temple, severing his blindfold and hurting a bit but doing no real damage.
He and Lubbock quickly fell into a pattern; Haru would deflect the attacks and send them back, while he sent his wires out into their surroundings, weaving his own traps in preparation. It worked wonderfully, until Shura decided to step in. "You all back away," he said, withdrawing a vial from his pocket, "They're mine." Jabbing himself in the neck with it, he smiled and continued, "You know, you can get some pretty good stuff here in the capital. Now, let's see how well your little tricks work against my Shamballa!"
"Wait, Shamballa?" Haru said, feeling the pit of his stomach drop away. He didn't even have time to shout a warning before Shura teleported right between them. With a swift kick, Haru was sent flying away while Shura spun around and punched Lubbock right in the chest. Rolling and coming up on his feet, Haru swung around with one of his knives out. "Zündung!" he cried, throwing it with all his strength only to watch Shura teleport away again. Before he could even regret the fact that he had missed, Haru felt a fist in his gut and the air leaving his lungs as Shura hit him again. Staggering back a few steps, he wheezed as he fought to stay upright.
"Got any other smart remarks, rat?" Shura asked, smiling evilly. "Yeah, you punch like a child," Haru said, standing up and glaring at him, "Now how about I show you some real power? Thýella!" Flames leaped into life around his feet, swirling and growing rapidly. However, Shura just teleported away again before leaning back against a tree, smiling smugly at Haru's display of power and looking a little bored. "That all you can do, Demon's Sight?" he taunted, stretching, "I figured you would be more of a challenge than this." "I'll show you a challenge!" Haru said, igniting his sword.
He sent a wave of fire at the trees, slashing through them and setting them ablaze. But once again, Shura just dodged the attack with that annoying smile still plastered to his face. This didn't deter Haru as he continued to lash out, and he had quickly scorched a decent-sized area while he kept the fire at his feet alive. As long as the ground I'm on is on fire, he can't get near me he reasoned as he lashed out again. "Alright, this is getting boring," Shura said, sighing, "I expected you to be more entertaining than this after watching what you did with my toys on that island." "Those Danger Beasts were your doing?" Haru said, shocked.
"Of course they were! And it was so entertaining watching them rampaging around," Shura said, laughing, "But it was even more entertaining watching you and your friends scrambling around, trying to kill them." Before Haru could tell him what he thought about that particular statement he had teleported again. This time, he appeared in the air right in front of Haru in mid spin. He just barely had enough time to bring his arm up to defend before Shura kicked him and sent him crashing into the flower garden he had been admiring earlier. Shaking his head to clear it, Haru got back on his feet and took a moment to stop the world from spinning. "So, that's your idea of fun, is it?" Haru said, preparing for the next round.
"You should know something before this goes any further," Shura said, crossing his arms, "If you keep boring me, you're going to end up like that other toy." "What other toy?" Haru asked, confused. Shura just pointed behind him, and when Haru turned around he inhaled sharply. The woman that had brought them here had been pinned to the ground with one of the spears. "She wanted to save her family so bad that she sold you and your pals out," Shura said, and Haru could practically hear the grin in his voice, "Such a stupid little toy; she didn't know that they had died a long time ago. But she was useful, so that's something, I guess."
"…That's how you think of people?" Haru said as he turned back around, one hand moving to the pouch at his back, "As toys?" "Of course they are! All of the people in this Empire are my toys!" Shura exclaimed, putting his hands up as if celebrating, "And once I succeed my father, the very throne will be mine and this entire Empire will be my plaything! It will be glorious!" Taking a deep breath, Haru decided that he had had enough. Pulling a booster out, he shot himself in the leg, saying, "I cannot allow something like you to exist." "What makes you think you're in any position to kill me?" Shura asked, "I laid marks all over the palace grounds and in the air. There's no way you can hit me, and there's nowhere you can run."
"Is it ready, Lubbock?" Haru asked, ignoring the brat in front of him. Stepping out from behind a tree, Lubbock replied, "It took longer than I thought it would since that bastard wouldn't stay put for long, but yes, it's ready. One of them is in front of you, at eye level." Reaching out, Haru grabbed onto the nearly invisible wire. "This ends it, you pathetic excuse for a human being," Haru said, his eyes smoldering, "Verbrennen!"
The golden fire lept to life at his command, traveling along both ends of the wire rapidly. Shura didn't seem too impressed with this whole display. "Congratulations, you're destroying your friend's weapon," he said, crossing his arms, "Is that supposed to be a threat?" Haru just smiled coldly as the fire continued on. After a few feet the flames split down several paths, weaving through the trees before the real show began. One of them stopped in the air, triggering a purple glow before reappearing across the field. While it continued on its way, both ends of that connection glowed brightly for a second before bursting into balls of flame.
That got Shura's attention as he watched these flames crisscrossing across the field and sky. "What is this?" he said, his voice starting to shake, "What the hell did you do?!" "You never noticed, did you?" Haru asked as he continued to feed energy to the growing net of fire, "I would never lash out that openly without a reason. While you focused on taunting me, Lubbock was weaving a net around you, throwing out and attaching wires to you when he could." "It wasn't too hard to figure out where you would go," Lubbock said, staring coldly at Shura, "You shouldn't have been so obvious with your movements. You always teleported to where you were looking, and the distance was fairly regular."
"You think this is enough to stop me?!" Shura said, bringing his Imperial Arms out, "Did you forget about all of the marks I placed? I can just outrun your stupid little flames." "Normally, you could," Haru admitted, holding up his empty vial, "But this booster gives me enough strength to keep this fire alive for a while. Since it's so small compared to most of my attacks, I figure I could keep it alive for a few hours before running out of strength. How about you?" Shura just looked pissed off, glancing around as he tried to figure out a way out of this trap. All the while, Haru's flames continued to weave a net around him, burning away his marks as they closed in to consume him.
"If that's how it's going to be," Shura said, bringing his Imperial Arms up. Before either of them could react, he had teleported in front of them. "Then I'm taking you with me!" he finished, bringing his fists forward and hitting them both. Haru knew that Lubbock's wires would protect him from the blow, but he could feel several ribs crack from the impact as he flew back. Rather than let them land, Shura pursued them. But in his haste, he left himself open as he focused on Haru first. He didn't see Lubbock's spear before it was too late, but he did feel it go into his back.
"Two pieces of advice for you, freak," he said, reaching out towards Shura, "First; never turn you back on an enemy. And second; never threaten the life of someone's best friend." Before he could reply, Lubbock clenched his hand into a fist, dicing his heart instantly. Haru watched as the life left his eyes and he collapsed without a moment to spare. In spite of his boasting, Haru could feel the booster starting to wain as he started to get back up. Maintaining his trump card for such a long time was a lot more taxing than he thought it would be. He was stopped short, however, when Tatsumi's unconscious body flew in from the side and crashed into him.
Rolling the kid off of him, Haru checked him for a pulse and breathed easier when he felt one. He was obviously hurt, since he had lost Incursio, but he was still alive. The guy he had been fighting, however, didn't seem to have taken any damage in their fight as he walked over. "I hope you're ready to face your judgement," he said, looking between Haru and Lubbock, "Surrender now or be taken prisoner, either way you're coming with us."
"Please tell me you have a plan," Lubbock said, inching closer to Haru, "I'm not too eager to try that trick again." "Well, I do have a plan," Haru admitted, shifting his position so he was on one knee, "But you won't like it." "What, am I going to have to play dead?" he asked, already preparing himself for it. "You're going to have to run," Haru said, channeling all of his strength into his left hand as he set it on the ground. Before he could argue the point, Haru put all of his power into the ground, crying, "Zündung!" as he caused a massive explosion around them.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lubbock asked, coughing from the dust and dirt. "Go now," Haru told him, tossing him his boosters, "You've got a few seconds, maybe, to get clear. Use the waterways and get back to the hideout." "But what about you?" "I'll be fine," Haru told him, feeling his strength fading, "I couldn't escape now, even if I wanted to. Besides, I think there's someone that needs to have a word with me. Now, go!"
Lubbock hesitated for a moment, torn between helping his friend and getting out so he could report what had happened. With a grimace, he chose to run, dashing through the cloud without looking back. Haru breathed easier, thankful that he had gotten away. In truth, he had no way to know what Esdeath would do once he was captured. Assuming they would capture him after killing the minister's son. He was torn from these thoughts by a large boot connecting with his stomach, knocking him back and leaving him gasping for air.
"I bet you think that was clever," the big man said as he stood near Haru, "Kicking up a dust cloud to give your comrade time to escape. But I assure you he won't make it off the palace grounds." Haru just smiled up at him as he felt himself passing out. If he had any regrets about how this turned out, it was that he wouldn't be returning to Akame for a while.
Hours later, Lubbock managed to return to the hideout through the back door. He was soaked, shivering, bruised and pissed off. He couldn't believe they had been suckered so easily, and he felt guilty that he had used Haru to get away. No, I didn't use him he told himself, he wanted me to go. At least this way I can get him out. As he walked through the door, he peeled his coat off and slung it over his shoulder as he made his way down into the hideout. He was definitely not looking forward to delivering this report, and he hoped that Akame wouldn't be there.
When he got down into the main room, he saw that Najenda's group had in fact returned from their mission first. Akame looked at the door expectantly, waiting for Haru to come back. But no one was following him, and she looked at Lubbock in confusion. Not knowing what else he could do or say, he walked over and placed Haru's bag in her hands without meeting her eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "No…" she said, clutching the bag, "Don't say it… don't tell me he's…"
"No, he's alive," Lubbock replied, "We got ambushed, and he bought me time to escape. By now, he and Tatsumi have been locked up in the dungeons." While it was a relief to know that Haru was still alive, it was in some ways worse to know that he had been captured. The Empire wouldn't treat two rebels with anything resembling decency, and she knew it. Turning around, she grabbed Murasame from where she had left it before turning back to the door. But before she could get more than two steps a metal arm stopped her.
"And where do you think you're going?" Najenda asked. "I'm going to get them back," she replied without looking at her, "I'm not leaving Haru to rot in some hole." "You go out there now, you're just going to get killed," Najenda told her, "We need to come up with a plan first. We have the time." "And how do you know that?" Akame asked, her voice trembling. "Because I know Esdeath," she replied, turning away and pulling out what maps they had of the palace and dungeons, "She won't just kill him outright, and she will keep Tatsumi around in case he proves useful as leverage. Regardless, that gives us a day, two at most, to come up with a plan to get them out."
While her heart was screaming at her to go out and bring Haru back, she knew that Najenda was right. Rushing in would just waste her life, and while she felt like she would die for him, she didn't want to test that just yet. Turning back around, she helped Najenda lay out the maps and blueprints as they began to plan ways to get in and out. Almost an hour later, they were interrupted when Mine came barreling down the stairs with a wadded-up poster in her hand.
"How could you?!" she demanded, rushing up to Lubbock and glaring at him, "How could you let those two get taken prisoner?" "How the heck did you figure that out so soon?" he asked, surprised. "Because of this!" she said, opening the poster so they could all see it.
'In response to their many crimes against the Empire and its people, the traitorous members of Night Raid known as Tatsumi and Haru have been sentenced to death by public execution tomorrow in the grand arena.'
"They decided that faster than I thought," Najenda said, taking the poster and looking at it closer, "Clearly, the minister wants to send the Revolution a message." "But we're not going to let that happen, right?" Mine said, looking between her and Akame. Leone just walked up behind her and rested a hand on Mine's head. "Don't worry, shorty, we'll get your man back in one piece," she said, smiling. "He's not my man," Mine mumbled in protest. She didn't want to let it show, but she was seriously worried about Tatsumi. As often as they had fought before, he had always been there for her before. It felt wrong not to have him there now. "Don't worry, Mine," Akame said, looking determined, "No one is getting executed. Not if I can help it."