Disclaimer: I do not own Akame ga Kill and Skyrim. They belong to their respective owners.
Enjoy.
The silence in the headquarters of Night Raid hung heavier than usual, like a thick blanket woven from the threads of recent loss.
The air, still hummed from the phantom echo of Sheele's cheerful clumsiness, now only served to deepen the ache in everyone's hearts.
Akame, ever the stoic assassin she is, moved through the dimly lit corridors, each step measured with each breath even.
The weight of Murasame that resting on her hip is now feeling much heavier tonight, a cold comfort in the chilling emptiness left by Sheele's absence.
She is heading to her room, the night's mission being complete yet felt increasingly pointless in the face of the capital's endless corruption and the growing list of fallen comrades.
A soft sniffle, barely audible, reached her ears as she passed Sheele's room. Akame paused, her hand hovering near the hilt of Murasame instinctively, before she realized the sound wasn't one of threat, but of sorrow. Peeking through the slightly ajar door, she saw one of comrades, Mine.
The usually fiery pinkette was curled on Sheele's bed, buried under the simple blanket as her shoulders shaked with her silent sobs. The normally vibrant colours of her attire seemed muted in the dim light, mirroring the dull ache in her chest. Akame's own heart tightened. Mine, for all her abrasive exterior and sharp tongue, had been deeply affected by Sheele's death.
They had been partners, a contrasting duo that somehow worked with their skills complementing each other in as brutal dance of assassination. So to see Mine being so vulnerable is a rare and unsettling sight, indeed.
Akame pushed the door open wide as she stepped into the room and while Mine didn't react at first, too lost in her grief, Akame moved closer and sat gently on the edge of the bed, her presence becoming a quiet acknowledgment as after a moment has passed, Mine lifted her head, her face blotchy and tear-streaked and her eyes red and swollen as she finally noticed Akame yet didn't seem surprised, perhaps sensing the silent assassin's aura even in her sorrow.
"Akame…" Mine's voice is hoarse sounding, barely a whisper.
Akame nodded, her dark eyes holding a depth of understanding that words couldn't convey. Sheele's death had touched them all, but for Mine, who had fought alongside her until the very end, the wound was undoubtedly the freshest.
"Sheele…" Mine choked out the name, and fresh tears welled up, tracing paths through the dried trails on her cheeks. "She was… she was so…" Mine struggled to find the words, her emotions a tangled knot in her throat.
Akame waited patiently, allowing Mine to find her own way to express her pain. "She was kind," Akame offered softly, her voice barely above a murmur. "Always kind."
Mine nodded vehemently, more tears spilling. "Too kind. Even for this world. And clumsy!" A weak, watery chuckle escaped her lips, quickly turning back into a sob. "She was so clumsy, always tripping over her own feet, dropping things… but it was… it was cute, you know?"
Akame nodded again, a faint ghost of a smile touching her own lips. She remembered Sheele's constant apologetic smiles, the way she would try so hard not to be a burden, her gentle spirit shining through even in the grim world they inhabited.
"And she never complained," Mine continued, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Not even when things were hard, when training was brutal, when missions went wrong. She just… she just kept smiling. How could someone like that be… gone?"
The question hung in the air, heavy and unanswered. "It's not fair," Mine whispered, her voice breaking again. "It's not fair that someone like her… someone so good… is gone, and all those rotten bastards in the capital live on."
"No, it's not fair," Akame agreed, her voice still soft but holding a steely resolve. Life in this world is inherently unfair, a brutal truth they lived with every day. But acknowledging the unfairness didn't lessen the pain.
Mine's self-blame surfaced then, as Akame had anticipated. "It's my fault," Mine mumbled, her voice barely audible. "If I had been stronger, faster… if I hadn't hesitated for that split second… Sheele would still be here."
Akame gently placed a hand on Mine's arm, her touch firm and reassuring. "It's not your fault, Mine. You fought bravely. Sheele fought bravely. Seryu was… strong, and ruthless." Akame deliberately avoided using any euphemisms. They were assassins; they knew the reality of their battles. Seryu had been a formidable foe, driven by a twisted sense of justice, and Sheele's sacrifice, though heartbreaking, had been necessary.
"But…" Mine started to protest, her voice thick with guilt.
Akame cut her off gently, but firmly. "There is no 'but,' Mine. We did everything we could. Sheele knew the risks. We all do. And she wouldn't want you to blame yourself. She valued you, Mine. She was happy to fight alongside you."
Mine was silent for a long moment, the weight of Akame's words settling in. The tears still flowed, but they were no longer solely tears of guilt. They were tears of grief, loss and love of a friend that had gone too soon.
"It just… it hurts so much," Mine finally whispered, her voice raw with pain. "I hate this feeling. I hate… losing people."
Akame nodded, her own eyes reflecting a shared pain. "No one gets used to it, Mine. No one should." She knew the truth of those words perhaps more than anyone in Night Raid. She had lost so many, her family, her comrades, countless lives extinguished in the shadow of the Empire. The pain never truly faded; it simply became a part of you, a constant undercurrent to life.
And then, something shifted between them. The shared grief, the raw vulnerability, created a bridge between the usually reserved Akame and the fiercely independent Mine. In that moment, they were not just comrades in arms, but two souls bound by loss, by the shared burden of their dangerous lives, and by the enduring memory of Sheele's kindness.
Akame moved closer, wrapping her arm around Mine's shoulders, a rare gesture of physical comfort from the assassin. Mine leaned into the embrace, her sobs softening, turning into quiet weeping. And then, Akame, for the first time in a long while, felt tears prick at her own eyes. They flowed silently, unnoticed at first, then coming in a steady stream, mirroring Mine's own.
They sat there in Sheele's room, two assassins weeping, the silence broken only by their soft sobs, a shared lament for a friend lost, a poignant moment of fragile humanity in a world drowning in cruelty. They held each other, finding solace in shared sorrow, the unspoken understanding passing between them a stronger bond than any words could forge.
Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from somewhere outside the room, shattering the delicate peace. Both Akame and Mine startled, their tears momentarily forgotten, replaced by a surge of adrenaline. The quiet grief was abruptly replaced by the sharp focus of being trained assassins.
They looked at each other, a silent question passing between them.
'What was that?' Akame and Mind together.
It doesn't sound like any of their comrades' usual late-night shenanigans especially if it's Lubbock who could possibly do something to want to peep on something nor is it Leone's drunken rampages that usually involved more laughter than crashing.
Cautiously, they pulled apart, wiping their eyes and composing themselves, the ingrained habits of survival kicking in instantly. They moved towards the door as they instinctively get their weapons with Akame drawing his Murasame, the cursed blade gleaming faintly in the dim light, and Mine reaching for her Pumpkin, the oversized rifle being held in her grasp, its familiar weight a comforting presence.
They stepped out of Sheele's room and into the hallway, their senses on high alert.
As the headquarters are eerily silent now, the earlier crash followed by an unnerving stillness that sent shivers down their spines, they moved silently with Akame leading the way, Murasame held ready.
They checked the common room, the dining area, the kitchen – all empty, eerily so. The usual late-night murmur that often lingered in the HQ was absent, replaced by a thick, oppressive quiet.
Something is wrong.
Something is definitely wrong.
And then, they felt it. A palpable shift in the atmosphere, a cold, unnatural presence that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end. It wasn't just quiet; it was… charged, like the air before a lightning strike.
Akame and Mine stopped, back to back, Murasame and Pumpkin raised defensively, their eyes scanning the darkness, searching for the source of the unsettling feeling. They were no longer searching for a clumsy comrade or a late-night planner with a perverted streak.
This is something else.
Something darker.
Something dangerous.
From the shadows of the corridor, a figure emerged, appearing to be tall and is cloaked entirely in black, the figure is shrouded in darkness, it's features completely obscured by a deep hood and voluminous robes as it moved with an unnatural grace, gliding rather than walking with it's presence radiating an unsettling power.
"Intruder," Akame hissed, her voice low and sharp.
Mine nodded, her grip tightening on Pumpkin. "Definitely not one of ours."
The figure remained silent, its hidden face fixed on them, an unnerving stillness emanating from it. Then, it moved, faster than either of them anticipated. It lunged forward with impossible speed, it's cloaked form a blur of darkness.
Akame reacted instantly, Murasame flashing out in a deadly arc, aiming for a lethal strike. Mine, equally quick, swung Pumpkin around and fired a blast of concentrated energy. The corridor erupted in a clash of steel and light.
But their attacks seemed to pass right through the figure as if it were made of smoke. It sidestepped Murasame's blade with unnatural ease and absorbed the energy blast from Pumpkin without flinching, the dark robes rippling slightly but remaining unscathed.
Then, it retaliated. A hand, gloved in black, shot out with blinding speed, slamming into Akame's guard, sending her staggering back. Another strike, equally swift and powerful, connected with Mine, knocking the wind out of her and sending Pumpkin flying from her grasp.
Akame and Mine, two of Night Raid's deadliest assassins, were being completely outmatched. The intruder moved with superhuman speed and strength, its attacks precise and devastating. Akame's swordsmanship, usually a whirlwind of lethal precision, was ineffective against the figure's evasive movements and overwhelming power. Mine, even with her long-range advantage thwarted, was unable to land a single hit.
They fought desperately, dodging, weaving, attacking with everything they had, but it was like fighting a phantom. The intruder is simply too fast, too strong and of course, too… otherworldly.
Their clothes were ripped and shredded by unseen forces and their bodies bruised and battered, yet the cloaked figure remained untouched, a silent, implacable force of nature.
Just as the intruder seemed poised to deliver a final, decisive blow, a chorus of voices erupted from the end of the corridor. "What the hell is going on here?!" Leone's booming voice echoed, followed by the sounds of running footsteps and the clatter of steel.
Tatsumi, Lubbock, Bulat, and Najenda burst into the corridor, weapons drawn, their faces grim and determined. They had heard the commotion and rushed to investigate.
Najenda, her single eye narrowed, took in the scene in a split second – Akame and Mine, battered and bruised, facing a cloaked figure of immense power. "Intruder!" she barked, her voice ringing with authority. "Surrender now! You are surrounded!"
The cloaked figure turned, its hidden face seemingly fixing on Najenda. For a moment, it remained still, as if considering her words. Then, both of it's gloved hands began to glow, a blinding, ethereal light emanating from them, growing brighter and brighter.
"Watch out!" Bulat yelled, sensing danger.
But it was too late. The light exploded outwards, engulfing the corridor in a searing white flash. Everyone shielded their eyes, blinded by the sudden brilliance. The light intensified, then abruptly ceased.
Silence descended again, thick and heavy. Slowly, tentatively, they lowered their arms, blinking to clear their vision only to see that the corridor is empty and the cloaked intruder is now gone.
Confusion rippled through the group. "Where did it go?" Leone growled, her teeth bared.
Tatsumi scanned the corridor, his expression bewildered. "Did it… teleport?"
Najenda's gaze sharpened, her one eye darting around, assessing the scene. Then, her eyes widened in horror. She turned slowly to the others, her voice low and grave.
"Akame… Mine…" she began, her voice barely a whisper. "They're gone too."
The realization hit them like a physical blow. Akame and Mine, one of their strongest assassins, vanished along with the mysterious intruder, leaving behind only parts of their shredded cloth and a chilling silence that spoke volumes about the unknown danger that had just invaded their sanctuary.
The grief for Sheele was a fresh wound, but now, a new terror, a terrifying uncertainty, gripped Night Raid's heart. They were not just mourning a loss; they were facing a terrifying unknown, and the consequences, they knew, could be devastating.
Well, here it is. I'm only doing this because of that image I found so here it is.
Now, as always...
Ciao...