Chapter 33 A Step to the Truth
What happens when one suddenly wakes up in the middle of a night upon finding themselves in the middle of nowhere, and facing an unknown stranger under a sky full of stars?
Confusion? Frustration? Fear? A composition of all three?
Perhaps for normal people, but definitely not for Akame.
In the middle of the grass field, the young assassin is currently quietly observing the girl in from of her.
"You are not Hei."
Barely moving her lips, the silver-haired girl peacefully sits on the ground, her hands on her knees, and her eyes looking down.
"Where is Hei?"
Asking quietly, the monotone of this girl in front of Akame reminds her of the man she is calling.
Emotionless, uncommunicative, direct, and peaceful.
She perfectly correlates the Black Reaper in her manners, her tone, and her spirit.
"Who are you?" Not answering from the silver-haired girl, Akame refutes her question with a question of her own.
As an assassin, one thing Akame learned throughout her career with the empire and the revolutionary army is to never trust in strangers. Anyone could potentially stab you in the back, and logic and intuition has been saving her from lethal traps again and again since the beginning of her life.
"…"
The conversation, upon Akame's question, is falling into a dead end. If neither of the two would like to cooperate, then neither of them would gain any answers from each other.
The atmosphere seems tight. The stars are shining in the background, indicating the many possibilities of this destined meeting.
Nobody is willing to compromise with each other, and nobody is willing to open up the conversation once again.
Patience is a virtue, but maybe not in this scenario.
Akame can wait. One of the most important traits of assassin is the ability to remain unmoved until the correct time comes. Locking her view onto the violet eyes on the opposing side, the young assassin caters herself into the process of reading the other's thoughts.
Usually, the enemy's eyes will tell her everything she needs to deliver her judgement. Intuition is the key to any successful assassin, and a superior skill of observation is required for any determination of threat levels.
But not this time.
Under that shade of purple, her eyes seem to stretch into the tunnel of infinite spaces. If one word must be used to describe her eyes, then that word would be emptiness.
It is the emptiness which no one with a goal in their lives would possess. It is the emptiness onto which the last shade of peace in an entire world of warfare could rely. It is the dimming star in the night sky, searching desperately yet remaining fatefully.
"Akame." Debating internally, the crimson-eyed assassin finally lashes out a compromising word. Surely, if this girl is not willing to cooperate, then it is essential to take the initiative. If she would like to receive the name of this girl, then deliberate means of communication should have a beginning.
"…" Unmoved by Akame's answer to her previous question, the silver-haired girl continues to put on a display of an empty void in her actions. Sometimes, it is rather hard to tell if she is living or not, considering the dull nature of her reactions.
"I know Hei."
It seems as if a star has fallen from the night sky, the violet-eyed girl reacts immediately as the sound of the name of the Black Reaper comes out of Akame's vocal cords.
"Hei?" A small glimpse of purpose rises in the endless void.
"Hei." Akame carefully answers.
"…"
"You name?" Akame was never a person with many words, and she is not going to change the fact just because she needs answers from a strange girl sitting in a flowery garden who is inquiring about the Empire's Most Wanted in a peculiar time of night.
Looking up for the first time, the silver-haired girl evidently straightens her back, and interchanges her first intentional glare at the assassin.
"Yin."
…
In the right moment, the sky has collapsed.
Shattering the glowing stars in every corner of the deep darkness, the sky itself is breaking apart. No one is certain about the true nature of such incident, but the two girls remain collected throughout the catastrophic disaster.
"It's time."
Raising her eyebrow in confusion, Akame suddenly finds her vision of this world darkening as the sky extends its border onto the flowing field.
"Hei."
That is the girl's last word before Akame wakes up in the middle of the night.