A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to a new chapter.
School has been canceled March 16th-31st for me. Guess who'll be publishing a lot instead of doing school work? Me.
Anyways, enjoy!
CHAPTER TWO: HORNED SERPENT STRIKES
Elsewhere, on a hill...
A seventeen year old woman with long, wavy, light purple hair and golden eyes was looking out at the town Roseview. She wore a pink tube top, a white skirt, and black heeled boots. She also wore a black cropped jacket and black tights. Her hair blew in the wind, showing a pink Horned Serpent guild mark located on the back of her neck.
"Ah, Dawn. I thought I would find you here." A twenty-five year old male with black spiky hair and golden eyes said. He wore full platted armor that covered his whole body completed with a helmet that had two demon-like horns protruding from both sides of his head and a small tattered cape behind him. His blue Horned Serpent guild mark was located on his left cheek.
"I'm not surprised she's here, Fonias." A twenty-two year old male with loose curled teal blue hair with violet and magenta highlights and magenta eyes said. He wore a magenta tank top with a black victorian box coat with teal embroidery and silver buttons, unbuttoned. He also wore tight gray pants and black combat boots with magenta laces. His magenta Horned Serpent guild mark was located on the back of his neck. A little pale green male Exceed with a yellow belly, yellow stripes, yellow wings, teal blue eyes, long fur, and one fang sticking out of his mouth on the right side was next to him. A Horned Serpent guild mark was located on his back.
"Fonias, Quartz, Peridot." Dawn greeted. "It's good to see you guys."
"Master Yua wants us to put the plan against Harumi and her guild in progress." Fonias informed.
"Are we even sure that the Blood Dragon King will help Daisuke?" Quartz asked.
"Tch, if he knows what's best for him. He has a spell that can transfer blood into Daisuke." Fonias replied.
Dawn ignored her guildmates as she looked up at the sky. "Dusk... where are you now?"
Meanwhile, at the guild...
Everyone at Twilight Phoenix was drinking, laughing, and talking. Dusk was looking at Akame from afar who was talking with Julian while Chii was talking with Aly.
"What's up with you? You're usually fighting with Akame right now." A fifteen year old male with short, black spiky hair and silver eyes said. He wore a long large hooded cape-like cloak with orange details around the ends. Underneath the cloak, he wore a long neck blue shirt with short sleeves, a belt where his buckle had the letter G, white gloves with a blueish finish fastened by buttons, the same on his shoes and short jeans rolled up. His gold Twilight Phoenix guild mark was located on his forehead.
"I don't feel like fighting with him, Ajar." Dusk informed.
"Don't feel like fighting with him? Now that's unusual. You feeling alright, Dusk?" A sixteen year old female with straight black curly hair with blue ribbons attached on both sides of her head and golden eyes asked. She wore a white themed tonic with brown around the neck area, a brown skirt all the way to her toes, and slippers. A blue Twilight Phoenix guild mark was located on her left arm.
"Yeah. It's almost like you're in love with him." Ajar teased.
"W-What?! I'm definitely not in love with that blood sucking freak. No way." Dusk denied his words as he got up, immediately heading straight for Akame and sitting down next to him.
"He's definitely lying. It's as they say, Atugia. Denial is the first step of being in love." Ajar said.
"He's not fooling anyone." Atugia stated as she sighed.
Suddenly, the guild entrance was blast opened, injuring the guild members who were near it. When the explosion cleared, three figures and an Exceed appeared. "Who are you and what do you want with us?" Loji asked.
"We're from the dark guild Horned Serpent. Give us the Blood Dragon King and we'll be on our way." Fonias replied. Even though they were going to attack Twilight Phoenix afterwards.
"Like hell we will! We're not giving you Akame!" Dusk shouted.
Dawn froze up at the sight of her twin brother. "Dusk..." She thought. "He's in this guild..."
"If you won't hand him to us by will. We'll just take him by force." Quartz informed. "Crystal Dragon's Jade Burst!" He clapped his hands together, creating a giant jade orb as he tossed it at the unsuspecting Twilight Phoenix members as it bursts into sharp jade shards, injuring some of the members.
"Stop!" Akame yelled. "Leave my guild alone. I'll come with you."
"What are you doing, Akame?" Dusk questioned.
"If I don't go with them, they'll injure everyone. I have to do this to protect everyone I care about." Akame replied. "Especially you..." He added in his head.
He walked up to the three dark Mages. "I don't know what you need me for, but let's get this over with." He informed.
"I'm glad you finally came to your senses." Quartz said.
"Tch, don't flatter yourself. I'm only coming with you scum in order to protect my guild." Akame informed as he walked out of the guild with Fonias and Quartz. Dawn was frozen in her spot, not moving.
"Dawn, let's go!" Fonias shouted.
"Y-Yes! Coming!" Dawn snapped back to reality as she followed her two guild mates out of the Twilight Phoenix guild.
Later...
Everyone met with the Master. No one dared spoke a word. Dusk was pacing back and fourth, furious that Akame had just left like that. "Will you please stop that? You're giving me a headache." Julian complained.
"What are we doing standing around for?! We need to go get Akame back!" Dusk shouted as he slammed his hands on the table.
"We all know you love him, but we need to make a plan first. We can't just barge into their guild." A nineteen year old male with slicked back light brown hair and amber eyes informed. He wore a black cloak with a faceless oni mask where the eye slits are visible and one horn of the mask is cut purposely, a black sleeveless shirt with brown cargo pants and tape around his feet. A bracelet was on his right wrist. His dark yellow Twilight Phoenix guild mark was located on his left palm.
"Atlas is right, Dusk." A nineteen year old male with spiky midnight blue hair and red eyes agreed. He wore a dark blue cloak with the hood on which was opened showing his chest with a faceless oni mask and the horns cut out purposely. Tape was around his left arm and wore khaki cargo pants tucked into black pirate boots. His silverish blue Twilight Phoenix guild mark was located on the left side of his neck.
"T-That's not the point, Atlas, Nero!" Dusk stuttered, turning red.
"We don't know what Horned Serpent needs Akame for..." Julian trailed off as soon as he realized something. "Unless..."
"Unless what? Share with the rest of us!" Dusk said.
"Akame's Secret Art spell. Blood Transfusion. They might need him for that spell to save someone." Julian stated.
"What?! But the result of Akame using that spell-" Loji started to say.
"Is the cost of his life..." Ajar finishied.
Dusk clenched his fist, remembering when he first found out about that spell. It was about a month after he joined Twilight Phoenix.
(Flashback)
Dusk looked around the guild, looking for someone to talk too. It had been about a month since he joined this guild and no one had given a second thought to introduced themselves to him. He spotted a man with spiky black hair about five years older than him sitting at a table and with his face in what looked like spell book. A tan colored Exceed wearing a green dress and a green bow on her right ear and tail was next to him. Of course, this shocked the other guild members.
"Akame is actually reading a book?"
"That's a surprise. I think this is the first time I've seen him doing something that's not destroying something."
"Something on your mind, Dusk?" His Exceed, Bruno, asked.
"I'm going to go talk to him." Dusk made up his mind.
Bruno looked towards the direction Dusk's eyes were. "Him? Are you sure? He looks busy, Dusk." Bruno stated.
"I've made up my mind. Plus, he smells like a Dragon Slayer. I'm going to introduce myself to him. You can make friends with his Exceed as well." Dusk replied.
The two walked up to Akame and his Exceed. "Hey! I'm Dusk Fortundras, the Star Dragon Slayer. That's my Exceed, Bruno. I just recently joined about a month ago." Dusk introduced himself.
Akame looked up from his book, his red eyes glaring at the teenager. "Akame Ketsu, The Blood Dragon Slayer. That's my Exceed, Chii." He said, his eyes returning back to his book.
"So, uh... What are you reading?" Dusk asked, trying to make a conversation.
Akame sighed in annoyance. This newbie wasn't going to leave him alone anytime soon. So he might as well talk to him. "A spell book that my dragon, Ketsu, gave to me before he disappeared. He didn't have time to teach me everything. I was reading about a Secret Art that he told me about." He replied. His voice was raw and raspy.
"Which is what?" Dusk asked. Akame placed the book down and turned it around, pointing at the spell. Dusk looked at it and saw the words 'Blood Transfusion'.
"Blood Transfusion? What's that?" Dusk questioned.
"Exactly as it sounds. It allows the user to transfer their blood into someone. Though, the cost is the user dying." Akame responded.
Dusk froze when he mentioned about the cost is the user dying, and for some reason, he didn't want Akame to use this spell. Ever. "Promise me you won't use this spell. Unless it's an absolute emergency." Dusk said.
"What?" Akame questioned, confused as to why a newbie in his guild wanted to promise him something like that.
"Promise. Me."
"Alright! I promise!" Akame said. Dusk sighed of relief. "Besides, I wasn't planning on using the spell anyways. I would only use it on someone I care about. Someone I loved who I would gladly give my life for."
Unaware to them, their Exceeds, Chii and Bruno, stopped talking to look at the two. They looked at each other, smiling knowingly.
(End Flashback)
"Dusk. Earth to Dusk!" Atlas shouted.
"Huh? What?" Dusk questioned, snapping back to reality.
"You seemed kinda out of it. Didn't you hear? We already made a plan to get Akame back." Atlas informed.
"Yeah, sorry. I was just remembering something." Dusk stated as he followed Atlas out. He thought back to his flashback. "Don't worry, Akame. We're coming for you. You better keep your damn promise..."
Meanwhile...
Akame was shoved into an infirmary. Which shocked him because he thought he was going to get put in a cell. He looked around and saw that a curtain was hiding something. Or someone. He didn't know.
"What am I doing here?" He asked.
"You're here because we need you to save someone." Quartz replied. He moved the curtain back to reveal a twenty-three year old man with feathered light green hair and his eyes closed. He wore a light green tank top, black pants, and was barefoot. A light green Horned Serpent guild mark was on the back of his left hand.
"This is our guild mate, Daisuke Goro." Fonias stated. "He's a Nature Make Mage, and recently had lost a lot of blood on his recent mission making him go into a coma."
"We heard you have a Secret Art spell. Blood Transfusion. We want you to save that spell to save Daisuke." Quartz added.
"No. I won't do it." Akame said.
"What?!" Fonias exclaimed.
"I won't use that damn spell. Do you know the cost of using it? It costs the user their life. Plus, I made a promise to someone that I wouldn't use it unless it was someone I loved who I would gladly give my life too. Not some dark guild scum." Akame explained.
Quartz clenched his jaw. "I don't care if you made a promise. You will save him." He said.
"We'll give you time to think about it. Hopefully you make the right choice." Fonias added as he and Quartz left. Dawn stayed behind.
"You're close to Dusk, aren't you?" Dawn asked. "When we were in your guild. I noticed how protective he was of you."
"Of course he was, we're in the same guild." Akame replied. "We fight all the time, but I suppose you could call us close friends."
Dawn rolled her eyes at this response. "My poor brother... This guy is oblivious to Dusk's crush on him. Even I could tell when my brother is in love... call it twin instinct."
"You're Dusk's twin sister, correct?" Akame asked. Dawn nodded. "Then why are you helping them? You're fighting against your brother."
"After escaping the dark guild that took me, I ran into Master Yua, and she took me in after feeling my magical energy." Dawn explained.
"And you didn't bother finding Dusk?" Akame asked.
"I thought he was dead after our town was attacked. I was forced to flee by myself." Dawn replied. Before Akame could say anymore, Dawn left the infirmary, leaving Akame by himself.
Akame looked at Daisuke who was sleeping peacefully. "I can't use that spell... I promised him that I wouldn't..." He thinks to himself. He sits down in a chair and sighs. "There has to be another way. There's always another way..."
A/N: There we go!
As you can see, I dropped the idea of having Rogue be Akame's love interest, but he's pretty oblivious to people who are interested in him. So it'll take a while.
First chapter of the first arc is done!
Hope you enjoyed!
~Kyle