Chapter 18 - The Challenge of Thunder
One of the Western Villages of the Empire - Akame Ga Kill World - Moments after the end of the previous chapter
(Scáthach's P.O.V)
There is a tense silence that settles between both myself and the newly revealed Akame, our hands held tightly against our respective weapons but neither of us moves into a combative stance just yet as Akame's red eyes shift from my hooded form to the young Boy Emperor currently standing closely behind me as he looks at Akame with wariness and uncertainty.
"Reports from the capital say that Esdeath was slain at your hand but you took her body with you the moment she was slain, why did you do so?" Akame asks, making me quite intrigued that this is the first thing she asks of me, not anything about why I am here or why I seem to be protecting the Boy Emperor, just inquiring about the events of a short time ago.
"Does it matter so long as Esdeath is no longer a threat to your rebellion against the empire?" I ask in turn, intentionally being evasive with my words which I know full well that Akame can take note of but chooses not to inquire further as she simply nods before deciding to ask another question….
"Why did you take the Emperor from the capital?" Akame asks as the next line of inquiry with her not bothering to beat around the bush here, prompting me to chuckle as this is something I am more than willing to share even if it might not ring true just yet to the stoic assassin.
"Simple my dear Akame, I intend to show the Emperor what Prime Minister Honest has hidden from him, the true depths of corruption that his beloved empire has sunken to because he was led astray by one man's ambitions of power," I say while noticing the boy emperor behind me curling his fists as he is trying to still come to grips with everything that I've shown him over the last day or so that I've had him in my grasp.
Truth be told I am hoping the Boy Emperor finally understands what has come about because of his own ignorance and the Prime Minister's machinations over the years, it may seem harsh but I believe that by showing him all this he may come out of this entire situation a much better ruler.
Still, time will tell if he has the makings of one just yet…
Akame for her part shows no visible reaction to my words beyond the very minor widening of her eyes before they narrow almost gradually back to their prior position, her posture is still as guarded as ever but there is just a very faint feeling of relaxation that emanates from the ravenette.
Either way, Akame does not respond verbally to my answer just yet as she stares intently at both myself and the Boy Emperor, giving no hints of her thoughts on the matter before gazing at the carnage behind me and my green-haired charge.
The bodies of the Tax Collector's men in the middle of the village paint a very peculiar picture in the mind of the stoic assassin, not to mention she had noticed tracks that imply one of the men escaped but what she doesn't know is that my two personal pets have already seen to the man's demise.
Speaking of both Giratina and the Darksteel Vajra return to the depths of my shadow, having used their abilities of Shadow Travel to jump from shadow to shadow before reaching my own while this entire conversation has been playing out, feeling their satisfaction of taking down a potential loose end to the safety of their mistress and her charge palpable in the back of my mind.
"Regardless I believe we should work on tending to the village, as we do have fresh corpses that are just sitting in the middle of the road that need to be buried, no need to sink to their level in denying them at least a gravesite" I say as while others might prefer to dump the bodies in some river or random pit/cave to waste away to nothing, the sins of the lives they have led should never follow them into the dark embrace of death.
Akame at long last gives a visible expression at my words, responding to it with a knowing nod as her hand grasps her Teigu ever so slightly tighter as she is fully aware of how the curse of her blade works when it strikes an opponent's flesh and what it can do to do the living with but a single cut.
With that, we soon began to get to work on giving the dead at least a respectable gravesite, even if it does end up being a small group grave not far from the village but well out of sight of those who live in said village, not wanting to give them a reminder of the carnage that has happened here.
Surprisingly the Boy Emperor actually volunteered to help dig the gravesite himself, expressing a desire to show at least a modicum of dignity to those whom he had given the death sentence himself which shows that there is indeed a hint of a good ruler buried under years of manipulation from Prime Minister Honest.
The people of the village watched as the Emperor himself toiled for perhaps the first time in ages to give the proper respect to subjects that belonged in his empire seem to also give him some goodwill from the folks here, as after he was done exhausting himself to bury the dead despite offers from myself and others to help, the villagers offered him some food and drink which while he first declined said offers, his rumbling belly almost immediately after the denial forced him to agree.
This may just be one village, but at least now he has a chance to fix his image across the empire and prove that despite his youth, he is very much a capable ruler given time away from the poisonous whispers of Prime Minister Honest and his cronies in the capital.
Although part of it may be the fact that all that I've shown him over the last day or two has given him plenty of reasons to change his ways before he is brought to the gallows to be executed as a failed ruler, even if he was magnanimous in defeat after being brought out of that behemoth of a Teigu in the anime canonical version of events.
"You should know that Night Raid has been declared the culprit behind the Emperor's kidnapping from the capital," Akame says out of nowhere while the two of us are watching over the Boy Emperor being tended to by the villagers and speaking to him directly about the various grievances they have with the state of the empire.
I couldn't help but grimace and nod at Akame's words as truthfully I had considered that as a possibility in the back of my mind but didn't think that Honest would actually go through pointing fingers at Night Raid despite this not being their modus operandi at all.
If this is true then that can only mean one thing…
"The rebellion that Night Raid works under thinks you have the Emperor in your grasp and is already asking for him to be transported to their grasp for execution?" I ask knowingly, to which Akame nods her head in confirmation of my assumption, her gaze never leaving the Boy Emperor's form even with it surrounded by villagers, the green-haired young boy grimacing as he is trying to speak to the people as best as he can to assuage their fears over what happened not too long ago.
Before our conversation continues, however, there is a commotion coming from the only other road out of the village as soon I spot a very familiar man at the head of a small squad of Imperial soldiers approaching the village on horses, that man being none other than General Budo himself.
I soon turned to speak to Akame about how to handle the situation only for her to have already moved out of sight entirely for the moment she saw General Budo at the head of the squad, she knew that she was not up for a direct assault on the man as his Teigu gives him a very dangerous edge compared to the men he's leading.
As for me, I rush over to the Boy Emperor as with General Budo here we must leave before we're spotted and I really do not want to lose my charge to Honest yet again, but once again I'm surprised by the Boy Emperor….
"Lady Scáthach wait, I want to speak to General Budo and try to convince him to help me stop Un…Prime Minister Honest from destroying my Empire" The green-haired youth says, while at first I don't exactly want to take the risk, I also can see the benefits of the General potentially joining our side at the same time.
But before we can reach a decision General Budo and his men have already arrived at the village, with the man himself getting off his horse and looking at the villagers with a discerning gaze before his eyes spotted both myself and the Boy Emperor next to me.
"YOU, HOW DARE YOU KIDNAP THE EMPEROR!" General Budo bellows before he rushes forward to try and attack me, moving at incredible speeds as he is about to land a lightning-charged punch to my face when the two of us soon hear the Boy Emperor speak.
"General Budo, You will Cease your assault on my protector at once!" The green-haired youth shouts, prompting Budo to halt his attack right before his punch could land, his fist inches away from hitting my face but at the same time his body was just moments away from being skewered by my two Gae Bolg copies that manifested in the split few seconds that the command from the Boy Emperor gave to General Budo.
I can see the man's hand twitching noticeably as the words of his emperor ring out in his mind before he slowly and carefully pulls his body away from my person before kneeling before the Boy Emperor, prompting his men to do the same.
"Your Majesty I am pleased to see that you are unharmed despite being absconded from the capital, however, I must ask why you have called your Kidnapper your protector as this woman has slain General Esdeath in her attempt to take you" General Budo inquires without missing a beat, every bone in his body professing true loyalty to the empire and his emperor despite how young the boy truly is.
What follows is the Boy Emperor giving an abridged version of events regarding what followed in the time that he was in my care, calling his viewing of anime more of a vision granted by a Teigu that one of her subordinates has access to while of course not speaking any of the events regarding Night Raid yet due to not being sure what to think about them just yet.
He also chose to hide Esdeath's revival mostly because it's well known that no Teigu can bring back the dead so the means to do just that could send ripples throughout the empire if this got out, even though it will eventually at some point…
General Budo listens to all of this without giving a hint of his true thoughts or feelings about things, except for the time when the Boy Emperor reveals that he understands now that Prime Minister Honest is not the caring uncle that he used to think him as but a despot using him to corrupt his empire.
That one revelation brought a relieved smile from General Budo as it appears that he hoped that his emperor would one day realize the truth about the Prime Minister and now he has, meaning that he will be able to bring him down with the approval of the Emperor himself.
"Your Majesty if I may, I ask that I bring you back to the capital so that we can remove the Prime Minister from his position with all due haste so that we may begin to rebuild the faith of the people for the empire without the corruption of Honest" General Budo requests but the Boy Emperor looks to me and while this may be a good idea at first glance, the rot is too entrenched right now to agree to that, prompting me to shake my head and interject here.
"General Budo was it, your idea would have been a sound one had Honest only had his role as Prime Minister for under a year but by this point, the corruption has become too entrenched into the foundations of the empire, so his return would only serve to result in the emperor's demise" I say bluntly, General Budo's fists shaking on the ground as he keeps his kneeling position, but he says nothing to refute that claim as he takes a moment to think on what I just said and begrudgingly agrees to my point.
"General Budo, I must agree with Lady Scáthach and respectfully decline your request, I am perfectly safe with her for the time being and want to learn more about being a better ruler from her in time," The Boy Emperor says, prompting me to smile at the faith he has in me and for General Budo to go stone-faced again before standing up and turning to face me with his expression becoming resolute, his mind made up about something.
"Lady Scáthach, I wish to challenge you for the right to protect his Majesty from the likes of Honest, do you accept?" General Budo requests, while the Boy Emperor tries to decline in my stead, I give the green-haired youth a look and shake my head as I understand what General Budo is trying to do.
General Budo wants to see for himself if I am worthy of being the protector of the Emperor himself…
"I accept your challenge General Budo, but only on the condition we move this battle away from the village as neither of us wants to endanger the lives of imperial citizens in our conflict by accident no?" I say with a confident smile, prompting the blonde man to nod his head and bark orders to his men to stand guard on the emperor while the two of us battle it out, with me secretly commanding my Darksteel Vajra and Giratina to shadow travel into the Boy Emperor's own shadow to stand watch in turn.
The Road just outside the village - 5 Minutes later
(General P.O.V)
Scáthach and General Budo both stand in the middle of the dirt road out of the village, with the Reincarnate donning her Gae Bolg copies in her hands ready to strike while General Budo looks at his opponent with a stern, uncompromising gaze.
The Village Elder is the one who has decided to step in as the one to signal the start of the fight looking at both the woman who saved his village and the man who wishes to protect his emperor with every fiber of his body before raising one hand up in the air to signal that he is about to start the contest of arms.
The moment the man swings his arm down, both Scáthach and Budo are a blur of movement with Scáthach ducking under an incoming punch from the General before thrusting her left hand Gae Bolg copy to try and strike at Budo's waist.
Budo's body ignites with electrical discharge as he blurs out of the way of the attack before trying to arm-bar Scáthach in the stomach, only for her cloak to turn into misty shadows and suddenly jump out at Budo, trying attempt to grapple the outstretched arm.
It's only the General's speed that allows him the chance to speed away from the grasp of the Shadow Shroud of Power and back away from his opponent, the shock of the sudden change to Scáthach's cloak fading quickly as he looks at the strangely alive misty shadows that make up the black cloak now.
"You possess some form of Teigu, like the late General Esdeath, Elemental in nature…" General Budo says aloud to his opponent as it's the only explanation as to how Scáthach's cloak came alive just now, to which the woman herself does not deny that assumption nor does she confirm it either.
Scáthach then moves to go on the offensive as she blasts off in a sudden burst of speed that briefly catches General Budo off guard before he is forced to use his armor to block and guard the various attempts to strike at his body, noticing that his armor is denting and buckling under the attacks of the red spears in Scáthach's hands.
It is during that one of those attacks that without warning Budo goes from defensive to offensive out of nowhere and bats one of the spears out of her grasp, grabbing it and using it to try and perform a counterattack against the reincarnate.
However what General Budo never really knew is that his opponent was a woman unlike anything that exists in his world, and up until this point had been intentionally holding back out of not only an attempt to prevent Budo from accidentally being killed by her hand but also to make it seem that the General is still the pillar that he presents himself as.
But with the stealing of one of her spears, the latter half of that statement goes right out the window…
In one swift movement, Scáthach blurs forward and buries her fist into Budo's stomach, denting the armor with her bare hand and sending the man flying, the General dropping the spear as he is left greatly winded and injured by the unexpectedly hard punch to his armored torso.
Scáthach soon catches the Gae Bolg copy in her hand and rushes forward, running fast to match the speed of General Budo's flight before jumping up as she twirls her twin spears in her hands before thrusting the blunt ends of her spears into the already dented part of Budo's armor and sending him slamming into the ground hard enough to make a small crater around his body.
Budo lies on the ground unable to move his body as he is not still completely winded from the earlier attack but also he feels that he has multiple broken bones in his body from the impact to the ground, his armor being the only thing that prevented him from ending up a corpse although his armor needs some very serious repairs now once he gets back to the capital.
But the man tries stubbornly to get up in an attempt to continue the fight, straining his injured body to try and maintain his role as the protector of the emperor but as he leans forward, his entire body is suddenly wrapped in shadows that come from Scáthach's shroud, the woman pointing her spears at Budo.
There is a tense silence before the general finally, at long last, concedes to Scáthach with her being declared the victor by the rather shaken and surprised Village Elder as he never at all expected such a ferocious and yet short fight between the two at all.
The shadows that have Budo in their embrace relent and Scáthach holds out her hand to help the injured Budo up, with the blonde general accepting and soon being pulled up with Scáthach pulling one of his arms up on his shoulders to help bring him back toward the village.
"You are….stronger than I had expected Lady Scáthach," Budo says during the walk back into the village, with the Boy Emperor watching as the two of them reenter the village and look upon the general with concern over his injuries, Scáthach noticing Akame on a nearby treetop having watched the entire exchange and looks at the reincarnate one more time before leaving to report back to Najenda to tell her what happened.
"Against anyone else, perhaps you might have been the truest Bulwark for the emperor that he could have, but truth be told I am much more than I think you'll ever come to know," Scáthach says, slightly hinting at her true nature to Budo who can only nod in agreement to her words, his battered body an echo of her statement in perhaps a rather painful way to the general before he suddenly grabs at Scáthach's shoulder and looks her straight in her red eyes.
"Protect his Majesty for as long as you can, guide him so that he can be the emperor he has the potential to become," General Budo asks Scáthach, to which the woman can only smile and nod at the man as his men soon help him to one of the villager's house that offered to host the general and his men due to the fact they are not like the corrupt agents of the empire and also because it was a request from the emperor himself.
Eventually, Scáthach and her charge know that they must leave shortly before more imperial soldiers arrive at the village to inquire about the Tax Collectors but before they can do so, General Budo requests to see them one last time before they go.
"Your Majesty, Lady Scáthach, if you both are truly set on changing the empire for the better then I ask that you find the previous Prime Minister Chouri who can help you find a political means of ousting Honest from his position," General Budo says as Scáthach vaguely remembers the name Chouri but doesn't exactly remember where she heard it from, but regardless on her thoughts on the matter the Boy Emperor agrees to see that the ex-prime minister is found.
As the two soon depart the soldiers under General Budo's command all salute them as the general himself manages to stand himself up straight despite the immense difficulty to do so because of his injuries and broken body, saluting resolutely to his emperor.
"ALL HAIL HIS MAJESTY EMPEROR MAKOTO!" General Budo declares with all his strength, with his men echoing their general's words in a display of sheer loyalty to the crown, showing that despite almost the entirety of the empire being corrupted by the quagmire created by Prime Minister Honest, there are still some souls that stand fast against the tides of greed and corruption.
The Boy Emperor, whose name is finally revealed to be Makoto, turns around and waves to his subjects one last time before they disappear into the nearby forest, with Scáthach opening up a portal back to her pocket dimension to let the others know of the situation that just unfolded today.
Today for both Scáthach and her charge was an overall positive experience for almost all involved…
Dr. Stylish's Lab, Imperial Palace - At that very moment
(General P.O.V)
"You have brought to me a very delicate challenge to fulfill Prime Minister, I hope you know this" Dr. Stylish says while focusing on the body that he has on his examination table, his attention currently on the autopsy of one of his recently deceased test subjects while the fat Prime Minister merely chuckles in agreement to the madman's comment on his most recent request of him.
"Indeed but if there is anyone that can solve this little conundrum I have it would be a…stylish man such as yourself no?" Honest says, internally cringing at his attempt to stroke the madman's ego to get what he wants out of him, which thankfully seems to have paid off as the good doctor seems particularly jubilant at the praise laid upon him by the Prime Minister himself.
"Of course Of course, but such a request will take time and a rather healthy supply of test subjects to ensure that the end result is just perfect for what you intend of it, just leave it to me and you'll see the fruits of my labors in no less than a month or two~!" Stylish says as Honest grins maliciously and hods before placing a small wooden box on the table from out of his pocket, walking out of the lab, and looking forward to what Dr. Stylish can accomplish in the timeframe he has given him.
Once Dr. Stylish finishes his autopsy and records the results meticulously, he grins and turns his attention to the box laid on the table and opens the lid before peering at the contents inside of it and his smile turns from jubilant to downright demonic in nature.
"You will become my magnum opus, my most stylish of endeavors once I am done picking apart your hidden secrets~!" Dr. Stylish says as he reaches two fingers into the box to retrieve one of the samples the Prime Minister has given to him to allow him to begin work on the request.
Said sample being but a single lock of green hair…
Author's Notes
IT LIVES!
Seriously though welcome to the next chapter of Wrapped In Shadows, it has been months since I posted a chapter for this story and to be honest, this chapter has been through draft after draft as I couldn't really be satisfied with how I wanted this chapter to go.
Ordinarily, I would try to give a three-section plot discussion as per usual here, but this time I will be doing just one as it's going to focus primarily on 2/3s of the chapter which gave me the issues in the first place, with that out of the way through…
Akame and Budo
I am not going to lie, I had multiple versions of this chapter in my head over the months that I have been unable to get this off the damn ground again, ranging from Akame and Scáthach fighting to General Budo fighting a reinforcing Esdeath.
It didn't help that around this time I started to have a lot of plot bunnies and other stories starting to pop up which resulted in me diverting attention away from Wrapped In Shadows which only made matters worse.
Eventually, it was all I could do to just work on this chapter bit by bit as I slowly but surely got my muse for this story back in full strength again, at least now I not only have this chapter out but I do have a vague idea of what I want to happen for the next 4-5 chapters as well.
One other thing I wanted to do here was to FINALLY give the Boy Emperor a name in a way that I hope didn't feel too jarring, which was one of the things I was having trouble with trying to write correctly before I finally ended up with what you see here.
Now then with that out of the way, Next time on Wrapped in Shadows: Akame's report and the Hunt for Ex-Prime Minister Chouri begins!
See you all in a month hopefully!