Beta read by Shigiya, FabledLife and GamerCrusher55
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-Night Raid Headquarters-
The sound of a stone striking the river echoed softly through the quiet afternoon. Skipping once, twice, then several more times before finally surrendering to the current and disappearing beneath the surface. A second pebble followed moments later, gliding a little farther before sinking as well. Ripples spread across the water, gradually fading until the gentle river looked as calm as it had only moments before.
Standing near the edge of the bank, Akame bent down and picked up another stone. Her eyes lingered on it for a few quiet moments, fingers slowly tightening around its rough surface. Without warning, she hurled it with enough force that it never had the chance to skip. The projectile tore through the air and slammed into a large boulder several meters away. The impact shattered the thrown stone instantly, fragments scattering across the ground before bouncing into the river. Watching the pieces disappear into the water, she slowly exhaled through her nose and closed her eyes.
"What did that rock ever do to deserve that?"
The familiar voice came from behind.
Turning around, Akame found Najenda leaning casually against the trunk of a nearby tree, arms folded as she watched the shattered remains with mild amusement. The newcomer wore the same unreadable expression she usually carried, though a faint hint of curiosity lingered in her eyes.
Surprisingly, she wasn't smoking at the moment, as was her habit.
Maybe she finally took heed of Emiya's advice.
"It's nothing," came the quiet reply after a brief pause. "I was just thinking."
Najenda pushed herself away from the tree with a faint shrug. "Thinking usually doesn't end with someone throwing a stone hard enough to shatter it."
Crossing the remaining distance, she crouched near the riverbank and searched through the loose gravel until finding a flat, smooth stone. With an easy flick of her wrist, Najenda sent it gliding over the water. It bounced once… twice… thrice… four times… continuing well beyond Akame's earlier attempts before finally sinking beneath the surface.
A satisfied smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Heh. Still got it."
Picking up another stone, she rolled it between her fingers as old memories surfaced naturally. "Back when I attended the academy, a few of us used to sneak away after training whenever the instructors weren't paying attention. There was a lake not too far from the practice grounds, hidden behind a line of trees. We'd sit there for hours skipping stones instead of heading back right away." A quiet laugh escaped her. "It somehow turned into a serious competition, and I was the reigning champion. Every day someone claimed they'd finally beat me, and every day I'd prove them wrong."
The second stone skipped across the water almost as cleanly as the first before disappearing into the current.
"I was completely convinced I held the title of greatest stone skipper in the Empire," she admitted with a shake of her head. "Looking back, it was a ridiculous thing to be proud of, but at the time… it felt like an achievement worth defending. Every victory mattered for a prideful brat, no matter how stupid it was."
The black-haired assassin gave no response, merely listening patiently. The river continued flowing without interruption, carrying away the fading ripples left by the last stone while Najenda looked toward the water instead of the girl beside her. Eventually, another pebble found its way into her hand.
"What happened then?" Akame asked. "You make it sound like you lost that title."
Najenda gave her a dry look. "Did you forget who I'm related to and who used to be my best friend?"
She remembered now.
"They also like throwing stones?" Akame asked curiously.
"No, they were never interested," Najenda explained. "Back then, I just brought it up to them and proposed a small competition to show them how good I am. I even achieved a new record when I showed off for them. But the moment either one of those two picked up a stone and threw it, they broke my record in an instant, making it look so easy before losing interest. I learned something that day; never compare myself to monsters and just keep some things to myself. Having anything to be prideful about around those two is bound to lead to disappointments . Ironic, considering one likes to shoot arrows and throw swords of all things, but that same person has no interest in throwing stones. He did try to have me play a game featuring… Wait, was it walnuts? God, I can't remember, but it ended with him kicking my ass again."
Akame grabbed another stone and threw it as hard as she could again, but once more, it did not succeed. Najenda just chuckled as she threw one skipping stone casually, and it went beyond whatever Akame could do.
After chucking several more stones together, Akame finally asked the question that had been on her mind, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"
Najenda replied, "Shouldn't that be the question I'm asking you? What happened? You've been looking a bit out of it since you got back from the mission yesterday."
"Hmm," Akame said before throwing another rock, clearly not saying everything, wanting to keep it a secret.
Najenda wasn't letting it go, though. "Keeping such things bottled up inside is never a good idea. It can lead to distraction, misunderstandings, and rash decision-making. Even Esdeath of all people knows that and how it's better to talk things out or kill it if she had trouble dealing with it. Though, admittedly, it was like pulling teeth with that woman, and I had to get my dear little brother to bribe her with some of his food to get her talking."
Hearing this, Akame nodded, knowing that there was no one in the world who could deny those words. After a bit, she stopped throwing stones. Her hands lowered, and she looked at the surface of the water in the distance.
"I saw Kurome up there.".
After hearing that, Najenda nodded. "Leone mentioned her in the reports. Given that you're alive, either you achieved your goal or your target ended up being stronger than you anticipated?"
Akame stared at the ground with a complicated expression. "Neither. She was taken away by Tatsumi right as we were escaping the place."
Najenda nodded. "That was the right decision he made, given they must have been seen by Esdeath. There was no way she wouldn't have gotten involved sooner or later."
Akame nodded. "I realize that, but still… I can't help but feel frustrated at how things went. I… didn't want it to leave things unfinished."
"Why don't you say it to Tatsumi then?" The white-haired woman suggested. "Tell it to his face rather than taking out your anger on random rocks."
"I can't do that."
"Why?"
She exhaled, taking a seat on a nearby log. Even though she didn't say it, Najenda knew. "Because you know that he made the right call, right?"
Akame nodded.
Najenda scratched her hair. "As bad as it sounds, I know this won't be the last time you run into your sister during a mission. You'll get your chance to kill her another time. Do you believe that your sister will die by the hands of someone else?"
Akame said nothing, but her answer was clear.
Najenda turned around before walking away. "If you are still having doubts, go and talk to Tatsumi about it. He is, unfortunately, the sanest one in our merry band of weirdos, with Emiya being a close second."
After that, she simply stayed there in silence for several minutes. Not being much of a talker did not stop Najenda from leaving; the woman then grabbed a kit where she kept her sword cleaning supplies, with oil and cloth. Starting doing it right then and there, taking a swab of cotton, putting some oil on it, and cleaning her blade. The sound of the flowing river behind her served as a calming tool. Nearly an hour passed with not a single word, the time spent not only to maintain her blade but also to find peace of mind.
As the minutes went by, the sky turned from bright blue to orange as evening approached. Akame looked at her reflection on the sword and saw her eyes, but for a brief moment, she saw her sister flashing across them. Memories of the past times they had lived together while training under the command of the Empire, how they were trained to be assassins, how they used to hold each other for protection or held their hands in comfort…. She continued to stare at it, recalling their last confrontation. Then she closed her eyes, opening them back to see her own face. She finished her work, and finally headed back to the hideout.
As she was walking, she saw a light in the distance and noticed a campfire was lit. Emiya and Leone were talking to each other, and it just happened that she walked close enough to hear their conversation.
"My arm now feels a bit tingly," Leone was saying. "I feel like the regeneration isn't fully done, but otherwise everything is good."
"For you to just feel a bit of tingle despite having the entire thing get severed off is quite a good sign," Emiya replied. "It should take maybe another day before you're fully restored."
"Probably," Leone said. "I'm guessing I need to keep it active the whole time to get it done properly. Still feels weird, though. Like, even when I'm not using it, I swear I've been healing faster than usual. Hitting harder too, just on my own."
"Teigus are more complex than what many people think," Emiya explained. "In a way, they are actually still alive in some form or another."
Leone made a perturbed face, a look of almost uncertainty and worry. "That's kind of scary to think that this thing I'm wearing is alive. Then again, even if it is, it definitely likes me, given how well it works with me."
"Of course, that's how compatibility works," Emiya continued. "There has to be something that's able to think inside to choose its user. I've tested before that it's not just physical compatibility that is necessary but also mental compatibility. So I would believe that whatever creature was used to create your Imperial Arm thinks that you are the closest to matching its power."
"Wouldn't it be angry at me or the humans in general for killing it and turning it into a weapon?"
"It's not that level of consciousness," Emiya clarified. "It's more of an instinctual consciousness that still lingers on, like a program of sor… ah, sorry, bad analogy, do you know what a program is? Never mind, just think of it as instincts without any memories affecting its decision. There are not many Teigus out there where the consciousness is still fully awake."
"But what does that have to do with me being stronger in my normal state even without using the Imperial Arm?" Leone questioned.
"When someone is too compatible with something, there is something similar to a bleeding effect. It's not that strong in the beginning and generally takes time, but the higher the compatibility goes, the quicker it will become. There is a possibility that it might grow too fast, beyond the user's control, and for the Imperial Arm to consume the user itself and take control."
She gave Emiya a disbelieving look. An emotion that was replicated on Akame's face as she continued to listen from the background. "What the hell? I've never heard of that happening before."
"Because no one has reached that level of compatibility," Emiya replied. "But there are a few that are very close. The opposite can also happen, with the user subjugating the Imperial Arm and imposing their will upon it, fully taking control over the Imperial Arm and making it their own power rather than someone using a tool. Those tend to be more dangerous as they do not necessarily go wild out of control and maintain their sanity."
"What the hell, this is the first time I've heard about all of this," Leone exclaimed, only for him to chuckle for some reason.
"You have faced an opponent like that; she's the one responsible for that tingly sensation in your arm after all."
"Of course it's the ice bitch. Not like she's terrifying already. Now, I'm not saying that I'm scared, but a bit worried that the fur ball in my belt might try and pull something while I'm distracted."
Emiya shook his head. "That won't happen with you. You're highly compatible with it, but compatibility isn't determined by the body alone. Your personalities are compatible as well, so instead of one side trying to overpower the other, it becomes more of a mutual exchange. You won't lose your sense of self the way someone else might. You are merely gaining something on top of what's already there."
Leone folded her arms, giving the matter some genuine thought before another question surfaced. "Then what happens years from now? Would I eventually just… fuse with it? End up staying in that transformed state all the time?"
Silence lingered for a few seconds while he considered the possibility. "It's possible," he admitted. "But that wouldn't happen naturally. It would require an extreme situation, something where your survival depended on abandoning your humanity altogether. A genuine life-or-death moment where your instincts decide becoming that creature is the only remaining way to stay alive."
A scoff escaped her lips. "I've already been through plenty of situations like that, especially recently, and the thought never even crossed my mind."
"Good." Relief briefly crossed his face. "Because it isn't something I'd recommend. There's no guarantee that you can change back, even with my unique skills."
That answer caused another idea to form in Leone's mind. Tilting her head curiously, she looked him up and down before asking, "Is that why you refuse to use an Imperial Arm? You're too compatible with one or what?"
Another chuckle escaped him before another shake of the head dismissed the idea. "No. I simply don't see any reason to use one. I've already got more than enough at my disposal. Since I can summon my own weapons whenever I need them, adding an Imperial Arm wouldn't really improve my fighting ability. If anything, it'd probably become a limitation rather than an advantage."
"Makes sense." The blonde stretched until several joints popped before letting her arms fall back to her sides. "Well, the boss dumped a mountain of chores on me, so I'd better stop slacking off after the mission." A mischievous grin spread across her face as she lightly bumped his shoulder with her fist. "So… are you up for another night of fun later? I made sure to buy some special fruits that can keep us going for days hehehe~!"
"Of course you did." He huffed, the sound heavy with fatigue. "Saying yes to you would leave me more beat up tomorrow than if I'd fought an army alone with just a couple of swords."
"Hah! What did you expect? It's the lioness in me that needs a good, hard scratch, and going by what I just learned, you should know we don't just get satisfied after one time!"
"...I'm not going to eat that fruit."
"That's the spirit! You're not some pansy who needs some horny fruit to give a good fuck!" She laughed just as loudly, giving him one last playful wave before turning around and heading back toward the hideout.
Hidden behind the broad trunk of a nearby tree, Akame remained exactly where she had been throughout the conversation. Her attention slowly drifted downward until it settled upon Murasame resting quietly in her hand. Compatibility… was that all it came down to? If so, where did she stand? Would she eventually come to dominate the Imperial Arm completely, or would the weapon one day begin influencing her instead? Perhaps neither outcome would ever happen because she simply wasn't compatible enough. After turning the question over several times without finding an answer, the young assassin quietly exhaled. Maybe that was for the best. There were already enough uncertainties surrounding the cursed blade without borrowing trouble from possibilities that might never come to pass. Only then did another thought occur to her, causing a faint crease to appear across her brow. Why was she still hiding behind this tree in the first place?
"You can come out now."
At this point, she shouldn't have been surprised that he found out about her presence. In fact, Akame most likely also sensed her and left to give her some space. A sensation that could only be described as embarrassment filled her being as she walked out of the tree line, exposing herself to the white-haired man busy adding logs to the fire and tending to the flames.
The greeting came from beside the fire, casual enough that Akame almost kept walking. Instead, she stopped and looked over.
"Hello."
Her expression remained unreadable. "Sorry if I disturbed you. I didn't know you were having a moment."
A dismissive wave answered the apology. "It's nothing like that. We were just passing time."
The man reached toward the fire and lifted a stick with a piece of meat skewered on it. Fat dripped from the edges, hissing when it struck the flames. The fire briefly burned brighter, and the scent of spices drifted through the air. It reached her before she could pretend not to notice.
"Care to join me for a meal?"
That was enough. Within a second, she was seated beside him, the skewer already in her hand. One bite was all it took for her shoulders to loosen slightly. The flavor cut through the haze in her mind, and for a brief moment the doubts that had been circling there grew quieter.
"I wouldn't call myself an expert," he began, watching the fire rather than her, "but even I can tell that something is going on with you. Care to share?"
The question made her pause. A strange urge to check her own face crossed her mind. How did everyone keep noticing? She had always taken pride in maintaining a stoic expression, in keeping emotion hidden no matter the situation. Years of training within the Empire should have made that second nature. Yet lately, it felt as though people were reading through her the moment they looked at her.
"I've gotten rusty."
"Oh? Heh, I wouldn't say you are rusty — quite the opposite." He turned the skewer slowly between his fingers before continuing. "With someone like you, the pattern is usually obvious. You wake up, eat, take care of yourself, train, eat a lot again, and sleep. It's simple. When that pattern changes, people start wondering what pulled you away from it."
Hearing it laid out plainly made the explanation difficult to deny. Another thought surfaced almost immediately. "Does that mean someone like Leone and Mine would be better at hiding secrets and their thoughts?"
She watched as he visibly considered the question for several seconds, tapping his chin while thinking it through.
"I can't say much about Mine. We've bantered enough since I came here, but we're not close enough for me to fully understand her personality. If I compare her to someone I used to know who was similar, I'd say she's about average. Maybe even a little bad at hiding things." A small pause followed right before he blew at the stick that caught fire. "Leone is… different to say the least. People like her are usually the best at it, and they are masters at reading others as well. They can hide doubts, fears, and pain behind a cheerful smile so well that even perceptive people miss it. It's because they understand so much about human body language that they can use that knowledge to their advantage. Even I can't always tell what's going on in her head."
She mentally agreed with that assessment, and the realization made it even harder to believe she had hidden anything from him. Her hands tightened around the wooden stick. The meal was already gone, yet she was still holding it. The memory of Najenda surfaced before she could push it away.
"I take it you already know what happened during our mission at the Path of Peace headquarters." Of course he knew; after all, Leone did not waste a second retelling him everything that happened the moment they got back.
"Things didn't go as planned, and you ended up crossing paths with members of the Jaegers."
Another nod.
"I feel like I failed her twice now." The words came out quieter than she intended, then a sigh escaped before she continued. "I could have finished it right then and there. I could have pushed myself and ended her life, instead of letting this blood feud continue. But I just… I just…"
"You hesitated?"
When she nodded again, his voice remained calm. "I'm not so sure myself; everything just felt too overwhelming back then to remember. Now that I think about it, that's why I wasn't giving it my all from the beginning. I was attacking her with my sword in places where a cut could kill her, but my mind wasn't fully in the fight."
Her own observation landed harder than she expected because it was true. Every strike had been aimed correctly; she never went for anything non-lethal once. With a Teigu like Muramasa, all it took was a single scratch to end it all. Yet somewhere beneath the technique, something had held back.
"…"
Silence settled between them for a moment. The fire crackled softly, and the scent of the roasted meat still lingered in the air. Akame stared at the fading embers and tried to dig deeper to see if she missed anything.
"I told myself I was fighting seriously; I was. I told myself I was doing what had to be done. But when the moment came… my body moved, yet for some reason I feel like I couldn't have done better or maybe… approached the matter differently."
He didn't interrupt.
"That uncertainty is what frightens me," she admitted. "Not because I unconsciously tried to spare an enemy, but because I don't know if all of this is happening because I'm starting to doubt myself or if I'm just overthinking everything and just had my emotions cloud my judgement."
The man watched the flames for a few seconds before answering.
"That's not the same as being rusty. Rust is when the body forgets what it has learned. What you're describing is different. Your body remembered perfectly. Your mind just refused to move as cleanly as your blade."
Her grip loosened slightly around the empty stick. The answer didn't solve the problem, but it gave shape to it. For the first time since the mission, the feeling inside her no longer seemed like a vague weight pressing against her chest. It had a name now.
Hesitation… And hearing it spoken aloud made it impossible to hide from. "Still, there is some hesitation where it shouldn't exist."
Emiya grabbed another piece of finely cut steak meat, piercing it on a metal skewer this time before putting it near the flames. "You would believe that a big sister hesitating to kill her little sister is a normal thing. But I take it that this is either something you were not prepared to feel or a change that occurred just now?"
This time, she did not nod nor deny, honestly uncertain what the answer was in itself.
"I have been observing Tatsumi for quite some time."
That earned her a curious glance. The question in his eyes was obvious even before he spoke it aloud. Explaining what she truly meant proved more difficult than expected. There were still too many missing pieces in her own thoughts, too many conclusions she could not confidently reach. Rather than forcing herself to find the perfect explanation, Akame decided to trust the feelings that had gradually formed while watching those around her. The answer that left her mouth surprised even herself, but once spoken, she realized she did not regret it.
"I watched him continue moving forward after everything he went through. No matter how badly he suffered, he kept trying to protect his friends. They aren't related by blood, yet he treats them no differently than family. Then there's Sayo… She presents herself as the perfect older sister. Even after her younger brother became someone the Empire would call a criminal, someone who has taken countless lives regardless of the reasons behind it, she never abandoned him. I asked her once how she truly felt about everything, and she answered me without trying to hide anything. She told me she hated it."
The memory remained vivid. It had happened shortly before the group departed for the Revolutionary Army in search of a safer place to stay. Sayo had confessed that she wished she would never have to watch Tatsumi leave on another assassination mission. More than once she had considered begging him to abandon Night Raid altogether and live an ordinary life beside the people who still cared for him. Even so, she never uttered those words aloud.
"She told me the only reason she accepted any of it was that she knew this was something he needed. He was carrying too much guilt and too many scars. If she forced him away from the path he chose before he was ready, she'd only be doing it for herself, and that would hurt him even more. So instead, she chose to support him. She wanted him to remember that no matter what happened, he'd always have family waiting for him… and a home to return to."
A faint smile appeared on Emiya's face.
"Despite all the unfortunate events he went through after leaving his village, unlike the rest of us, I have to admit, Tatsumi's fortunate. He's surrounded by people who genuinely care about him. People who love him enough to let him make his own choices, even when those choices frighten them and a family to go back to." His gaze drifted toward the smoldering fire ahead, and so did hers. "In times like these, having that kind of family is rarer than most people realize."
Fortunate… huh, that was one way to look at it. Many members of the Night Raid did not have a family to begin with, or had lost theirs one way or another. The main exception was Lubbock, whose father still remained alive, but the two of them were long estranged. Najenda and Emiya could also be counted amongst that select group, but they could also lose one another at a moment's notice.
"Does that change anything for you?" His eyes shifted toward her again. "Will you approach your sister differently now?"
The question immediately brought Kurome to mind. Countless memories surfaced one after another. Two young girls with nothing to their names except each other. Endless days spent enduring brutal training under the Empire. The gradual transformation of her younger sister into the obedient weapon they had always intended to create. The hatred in Kurome's eyes the last time they met remained impossible to forget, along with the unwavering conviction behind every word she spoke. The answer came to her naturally.
"No."
There was no hesitation in her answer; she could not afford it.
"I won't."
Her expression remained steady as she continued.
"Kurome has become part of the Empire itself. It isn't simply where she lives anymore. It's where her beliefs, her purpose, and her identity all reside. She's no different from Esdeath in that regard and has become a cog in the system I mean to tear down. I don't believe there's any future where words alone will convince her to walk away from it." The swordswoman lowered her gaze briefly before lifting it again. "That's exactly why I have to save her. As her older sister, I can't abandon her."
Emiya let out an amused chuckle.
"And the only way you believe you can save her… is by killing her?"
The question carried no accusation whatsoever, nothing but simple curiosity.
"Do you think I'm wrong?"
A thoughtful breath escaped him before answering.
"Maybe. Maybe not." His shoulders rose slightly in a small shrug. "I'm still an outsider to both of you. I've only been on a few missions for Night Raid. I don't know everything that happened between you and Kurome, nor do I understand what led you to this choice. Whatever opinion I have will lack any weight with what I don't know."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"No, it doesn't." A faint smile crossed his face. "Because the answer people cling to is rarely an actual answer. Sometimes it's the only conclusion they've allowed themselves to accept."
She remained silent, listening attentively.
"When someone spends years believing there's only one possible solution, every other possibility gradually disappears from view. That isn't necessarily selfish, nor is it entirely selfless. It's simply what happens when grief, guilt, and conviction all begin reinforcing each other." His attention shifted toward the trees swaying gently in the distance. "Your sister probably couldn't, nor will she understand why you abandoned the Empire. From her perspective, your decision may have looked like betrayal. At the same time, you've become equally convinced that her path can only end one way. In that regard, neither of you truly understands the other anymore."
He threw her a side glance, but she remained too focused on the fire and drowning in her own mind to notice.
"Both of you have allowed your conclusions to become absolute. Whether those conclusions are right or wrong isn't something I can decide. What I do know is that once someone becomes convinced a single path is inevitable, they stop looking for the others. And unfortunately…" A quiet sigh followed. "That's not the sort of misunderstanding that disappears overnight."
So many thoughts crossed her mind upon hearing that. She did not agree with him, for he had not dealt with the person she had encountered during her mission. But he was right on one thing where she fully agreed — that both of them were flawed.
"Don't kill her." She was a big sister; that had not changed and would not change at any point. It remained her responsibility to do what was best. "Please."
"No promises. If she comes after me, then it's her funeral. I'm not exactly a sitting target happy to let someone cut through my neck."
Getting up, her mind felt lighter despite not having necessarily gotten the answer she wanted. "You are a frustrating person; no wonder why Leone likes you."
"I'll take that as a compliment," grinned the man.
"It wasn't," she said calmly, though showing a small smile. Despite not being blood-related to Najenda from what she knew, these two were indeed still siblings regardless, for it felt she was talking to her as well. "Let's go meet Mine. Together."
"Oh? That's a good idea. I should check up on her. She's been curious about you as well." Emiya found himself wanting to visit the pinkette girl regardless. Most of her injuries had finally healed, and during the past few days her temper had become noticeably calmer. That was hardly surprising. Spending over a week confined to a bed, unable to do anything while listening to reports about her teammates nearly being killed, all while believing she could have prevented it if she'd been there, would have worn down just about anyone. Frustration like that had a way of turning inward until every conversation became another excuse to lash out.
A curious glance drifted toward him. "By the way, do you have any plans with Leone today?"
The question pulled him out of his thoughts. "Well, she keeps insisting we've got something special planned." A faint chuckle escaped him. "Though, if I'm being realistic, there's about a ninety-nine percent chance she'll drink herself unconscious before any of those plans actually happen."
"Anything special?" Her head tilted slightly. "What exactly are you expecting to happen?"
For a brief moment he simply stared at her. Then came a second look, as though trying to determine whether she'd genuinely asked that with a straight face. After clearing his throat, an expression somewhere between disbelief and resignation settled across his face.
"I'm honestly not sure whether you're pretending not to understand, or if you really don't."
"I wouldn't ask if I already knew."
Several different reactions crossed his face in quick succession. Confusion gave way to suspicion, suspicion to helplessness, before ending somewhere close to surrender. "There's just no way you're that innocent. I refuse to believe it."
"Sorry." The apology came quietly, accompanied by a genuinely apologetic expression. "I didn't mean to ask something embarrassing, if that's what it was."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh.
"For the love of… fine." Another sigh followed before he finally gave in. "She's trying to get the two of us to hook up again. There. Happy now?"
The answer was met with a tiny smile that almost disappeared before it fully formed. Somehow a cookie had found its way into Akame's hand, and she calmly took another bite while watching him struggle with his own embarrassment.
"I already knew."
"…What?"
"I just wanted to hear you admit it yourself." She brushed a few crumbs from her fingers before turning toward the hallway. "Come on. If we take much longer, she really might drink herself to sleep before you even get there."
The swordsman remained rooted to the spot, still processing what had just happened. Watching that stunned expression linger on his face proved unexpectedly entertaining. A quiet sense of satisfaction settled over her as she continued walking, convinced that teasing him like that had been worth it. Was it a little childish? Perhaps. A small part of her would even agree if someone pointed it out. Even so, after everything the two of them had discussed earlier, seeing him completely caught off guard had lightened her mood far more than she had expected, and for the first time that morning, the heaviness weighing on her thoughts felt just a little easier to carry.
Getting inside the castle, footsteps echoed in her ears as she looked curiously to see Tatsumi walk upstairs from the dungeon with a tray of empty bowls and a cup.
"Oh, hey there! You disappeared for the entire day. I was worried you might have begun hunting Danger Beasts and got in some kind of trouble," the brunet boy said, making her realize that given everything that had happened recently, her usual routine had been disrupted and she had forgotten to go hunting. This realization nearly made her consider rushing out to find the nearest Danger Beast and kill it before bringing it back for dinner. But her stomach did not grumble given what she ate, and there was still some meat preserved from her prior hunting.
"Oh, if you're wondering what I was doing, I was just trying to have a conversation with Seryu. She is still mostly quiet, but at least she now eats and drinks."
"Is it working?" she asked a question that had been plaguing her mind for a while now, only to see his smile become somewhat subdued.
"No, I mean kind of?" Tatsumi replied. "I can still tell that she's thinking of thousands of ways to kill me and torture me the moment she gets freed from her restraints. She's not even bothering to hide her killing intent whenever I try to stand before her. Even if I tell her that I had nothing to do with killing Ogre, it doesn't seem to work."
So he said, but there was no trace of defeat on his face, and she could tell that he had no plans on stopping and would continue this fruitless endeavor. In her mind, this was a waste of time. She had seen that girl spare a few minutes to go down there to check their prisoner. Those same kind of eyes filled with hatred she had seen on her sister, and knew that the outcome would not change no matter what he tried. But for some reason, she could not bring herself to tell him that… not because she believed that it would be fruitless or he would not listen, but also because she wanted to see if it would even work.
"Without proof, she has no reason to believe you."
"Hard to find proof when I don't know where to look in the first place. And even if I knew, that would mean going back to the Capital, and we both know how that would end. I can't ask the group to risk more members just for me to find a few documents that may not even help me."
She nodded, seeing his point of view. "Why not just end it?" she asked curiously. "Her current state is miserable; she's barely human with everything the Empire has done to her, and even if she were to be let go, I doubt there is much left for her to go back to in the first place."
It sounded harsh; she understood that, and she figured the reaction that would follow would not be taken positively from her words. But instead, the boy smiled.
"I know that Seryu is… a very broken person, to put it lightly. She has a zealous level of loyalty to the Empire and her sense of justice, and I can't do much to change that without some serious miracle work. But still," he stopped, looking back at the staircase down to the dungeon more specifically, "I still can't abandon her. Even if there is less than a single percent chance of saving her, I have to give it a try. I kept that belief with my friends, and they all came out alive. Now I'll do the same with her."
"…"
Frustration welled inside her, growing with every word that left his mouth. No, frustration was too mild. Part of her wanted to grab him by the collar and demand an explanation.
How was this saving the woman? From where she stood, all he had accomplished was prolonging a miserable existence without offering even the slightest solution for ending it. There was no plan, no promise that things would improve, only more suffering stretched across an uncertain future. It was irrational, naïve... yet somehow he spoke with enough conviction that it made arguing against him difficult. Those words Emiya had spoken before returned without warning, surfacing so vividly that it almost felt as though he were standing beside her again. For a brief instant, she saw herself reflected in them, and that realization only tightened the knot in her chest. The feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving her silently clenching both fists before lifting her gaze toward the brown-haired assassin.
Without thinking much further, she stepped closer and rested a hand on his head.
"You're a good boy." she said, patting him gently.
"...What?"
There was genuine confusion in his voice at her action, but no explanation came. Instead, she withdrew her hand and simply walked past him. Every step toward the staircase felt heavier than the last. Fatigue had settled into her body despite the day having accomplished very little, while the constant stream of questions circling inside her mind left her feeling even more exhausted than the fighting usually did. Right now, all she wanted was to return to her room, lie down, and shut her eyes for a few hours. Maybe after some sleep everything would become easier to sort through.
"I should probably get myself checked u..."
Bam!
The violent crash cut her sentence short.
A wooden door shot down the hallway like a launched projectile. It tore free from its hinges, spun twice through the air, then slammed into the opposite wall with enough force to splinter into dozens of jagged fragments that scattered across the corridor. Dust drifted through the air as pieces of shattered wood bounced across the floor.
"Huh?"
The unexpected explosion made her jump on instinct before immediately turning toward the source. Emerging from the destroyed doorway was Najenda, still dressed in what could only be described as a nightgown. It was far too small and showed far too much in Akame's opinion, but she wasn't one to judge a person's appearance. Under normal circumstances, that alone would have been enough to earn a second glance, perhaps even a question. One look at her face erased that thought. Najenda strode down the corridor at a pace bordering on a run, expression set with urgency as she headed straight for her office.
"Did something happen? Are we getting attacked again?"
Strange, Lubbock did not sound the alarm.
"We need to contact every one of our informants near the Empire immediately." She did not even slow down while speaking. "Get everyone to my office. Everyone. I don't care if Mine is asleep or in the middle of recovery; drag her out of bed if you have to. Carry her if she refuses to wake up. If someone is too lazy to get dressed, bring them naked for all I care. I don't care if they're half asleep or completely naked. Just get them here. Now!"
The order left no room for argument.
A small frown formed on Akame's face as she watched the usually collected leader disappear farther down the hallway. She had seen Najenda serious countless times. Calm under pressure was practically one of her defining traits. Seeing her visibly shaken was another matter entirely. It had been so long since she'd witnessed anything like this that she could not even remember the last occasion.
"...Understood."
There was no point wasting precious seconds asking unnecessary questions. Emergency gatherings were part of Night Raid's routine, and everyone knew exactly what their responsibilities were whenever Najenda gave that tone of voice. She had barely taken a single step before the commander stopped outside the office entrance, turning just enough for her voice to carry clearly down the corridor.
"The Empire is under siege."
Akame froze. Did she hear that correctly?
"I received confirmation moments ago through a manta ray courier from one of our scouts." Najenda's jaw tightened. "And according to the report..." A brief pause followed before she finished, "...the force attacking the capital does not belong to the Revolutionary Army."
{Break}
-The Capital-
Of all the disasters Wave had imagined when he first saw the sky turn against the Capital, the last thing he expected was for an iceberg the size of an entire section of the royal palace to descend from the heavens. Its shadow swallowed rooftops and streets alike as terrified screams erupted throughout the city. The impact that followed shook the district beneath his feet; some windows burst outward, rooftops collapsed from the impact alone despite it being far enough, and a blast of frozen wind rolled through the streets with enough force to knock several off their feet.
If that was what she meant by holding herself back, then he dared not to even imagine the opposite of that.
"Holy shit! We barely just got here!" He roared, abandoning every thought of heading toward the palace as he sprinted against the tide of fleeing civilians. "Everyone! The eastern gates are still open! Head that way! Keep moving and don't stop! Stay outside the walls once you get through, but don't wander into the forest unless you want a Danger Beast to make a meal out of you! Stay near the road and follow the evacuation route! Move!"
Rather than simply shouting, he physically directed the crowd, grabbing those who looked too panicked to think, turning them toward the correct streets, helping children back onto their feet after they stumbled, and pulling an elderly man away from a collapsed wagon blocking the road.
Above them, Run soared through the air with his white wings spread wide enough to be seen from nearly every nearby street. The winged Jaeger circled repeatedly over the eastern district, making himself an unmistakable landmark for the terrified masses. Whenever people hesitated or became separated, they only had to look up to know which direction to run. It did not solve everything. Plenty were too frightened to think straight, darting into alleys, crying for missing relatives, or running aimlessly without paying attention to anything around them, but it prevented complete chaos from consuming the evacuation.
Movement on the rooftops caught Wave's attention. A familiar figure bounded across the houses with remarkable speed before landing atop a nearby building, loose tiles sliding beneath her boots. Kurome paused only long enough to study the destruction spreading toward the palace, her expression remaining as blank as ever despite the catastrophe unfolding before her.
"Kurome!" Wave shouted, waving an armored arm until she looked his way. "Did you clear the area outside the walls?"
A single nod answered him.
The tension in his shoulders eased, if only slightly.
"Good… that's one less thing to worry about."
Relief was short-lived. His greatest concern had never been the collapsing buildings behind him but what waited beyond the city walls. The Empire kept the forests surrounding the Capital under constant patrol, preventing Danger Beast populations from growing unchecked, yet that did not mean the wilderness was safe. Thousands of frightened civilians pouring out of the gates, combined with explosions loud enough to echo for kilometers, could easily attract predators from deeper within the forests. If enough of them gathered near the evacuation routes before the refugees had fully escaped, the result would become another massacre before anyone even realized what was happening. That possibility alone had been enough for half of the Jaegers to split away earlier, their mission not to fight inside the Capital but to secure the surrounding area and buy the civilians enough time to escape without walking straight into another disaster.
"Sir!" Wave turned as a squad of imperial guards hurried toward him. "We've gathered another group!"
Behind them came dozens more civilians, though unlike the previous waves, these people were dressed in expensive clothing. Merchants draped in fine silk hurried alongside richly dressed nobles, aristocrats, wealthy landowners, servants carrying whatever valuables they had managed to grab, and even several elderly officials struggling to keep pace. Fear had stripped away every trace of dignity from many of them. Titles and fortunes meant little when a frozen mountain had nearly crushed the Capital. Some clutched jewelry boxes as though they were lifelines, others held children tightly against their chests, while several looked over their shoulders every few steps, expecting another catastrophe to fall from the sky.
"Good work," Wave called back without slowing his pace. "Get them moving with everyone else! Rich, poor, noble, commoner… I don't care who they are right now. Every single one of them goes through the eastern gates. Keep them together and don't let anyone wander off!"
"What is going on here!" one of them shouted, a young handsome man with blonde hair, though he looked a bit frazzled. He looked familiar, but Wave honestly had no time or care to figure out who he was. "I saw the attack! Are the Jaegers rebelling against the Empire? This is treason! You are trying to kill all of us! Do you know who I am—ugh!"
Had it been any other occasion, this would not even be among the top ten of his options, but now he had to resort to drastic measures. Such people could easily cause more confusion and misunderstanding, so he did the one thing that would resolve this and punched the man hard enough to render him unconscious, stunning many of the onlookers.
"I don't have time for this! Listen, all of you, the Jaegers are not rebelling! We are just tasked to keep everyone here safe while our General is dealing with an enemy that got too close to the Empire and was hiding within the walls! You can stay here and keep questioning me and watch as the destruction gets closer and closer, risking your own life, or you can follow our direction and head to the east gates!"
Thankfully enough, many still had memories of what Esdeath had done all those years ago and did not even question him. Having the Capital freeze over just because she was fighting an enemy was not exactly a first-time thing.
"That woman is going to be the end of us all! Can she just push the enemy away rather than freezing our homes again!?"
"I just bought some land from where the iceberg fell! God damn it! What kind of generals do we have!? She's a lunatic!"
"I'm pretty sure I heard some thunder in the distance! The Grand General has also turned mad! What kind of opponent requires both of them to join hands like this!?"
"Must be Nagumo's son. It happened just like this a few years ago!"
Unlike the one he just knocked unconscious, the others did not even seem to question whether or not Esdeath had betrayed them or turned traitor. So certain of themselves that Wave realized he did not even need to come up with another lie to convince them to move away. Though it wasn't a lie still, since she was only targeting a single person. But her way of approaching things easily would cause many to misunderstand and jump to conclusions. Not that he could even blame them for that.
"Someone just grab this guy and get him going along with the others!"
"That's the minister of military affairs…"
"Like I give a damn!" A bit of guilt rose upon screaming at the hesitant guard. Not good; his mind was getting clouded with anger dealing with all these people. Forcing himself to calm down, he took a deep breath and exhaled before feeling more composed. "Sorry, but please come on, just take him away along with everyone else. Are there any who have remained behind?"
The guard nodded. "Many of the families have chosen to go out the main gate rather than set foot here, and some have vanished; their mansions are empty, and we can't find them."
"Possibly due to them having some secret escape route, from what I understand. Never mind. If they want to risk their own lives for a stupid reason, then so be it." The General did agree to keep her focus on anyone who would go against her and spare those who would not get involved, even if they were within the enemy camp. But even he knew that she could not guarantee that there would be no collateral damage that could accidentally end up killing someone without her necessarily doing it intentionally.
"Wave!" A shadow passed above him, and Run returned, landing beside him with grace. "Any issues on your end?"
"Not really. I'm somehow managing to handle it, but there are just so many people."
"The battle that had occurred between Esdeath and Emiya in the past had convinced many to move places, and their most recent ones further added more to that growing group of people. Even if most of them were wealthy ones, it did help make the overall situation more manageable, ironically enough," Run said, just generally making Wave wonder just how destructive this fight was, given everyone kept talking about it, some even bringing up seeing something similar to a pillar of fire that was as bright as the sun. At that time, he was still just a trainee who dreamt of being accepted in the Marines.
"It should take another half an hour before everyone is go—!"
The ground beneath them shook, dark clouds gathered up within the skies as several pillars of lightning began to descend, some even striking the houses nearby.
"Dammit! Grand Chariot!" With a burst of purple-blue light, his Imperial Arm was deployed, and the young man jumped above, right in time to intercept a pillar of lightning descending from the skies and nearly striking some of the civilians.
"Aargh!" Even with his armor, the pain still felt excruciating, to a degree that he never imagined possible, with every muscle spasming out. But he kept strong and did not lose consciousness. His figure was pushed to the side and crashed through a dilapidated house.
"Wave!" Run came to his side, worriedly looking down and trying to get him up, only to be jolted backwards as his armor still carried some volts of electricity, managing to stun him.
"Don't touch me! It will take some time for the electricity to dissipate, and I can't remove the armor as more lightning can descend at any moment." The clouds above made it hard to pinpoint the exact location, but given everyone was on a single path, it gave him some leeway. "This can't keep going on forever!"
"Seems like things are escalating. But I'm not seeing anything on the level of what Esdeath should be capable of, so it seems she's keeping true to her words."
Crackle!
Wave pushed through the streets while bolts of lightning continued crashing down from the storm overhead. Each strike that collided against the blue-plated armor exploded into brilliant arcs that crawled over the metal before finally dispersing. "Urgh!" A painful groan escaped him as another bolt struck squarely across his back. Although the Teigu absorbed most of the impact, enough of the current slipped through to make every muscle seize for an instant. Fingers twitched around his weapon without his permission, his legs occasionally jerking from the lingering electrical discharge.
"Come on, me… you've dealt with worse… shit… why is this so painful? I've been struck by lightning before, and it wasn't this bad…" Ignoring the discomfort, he continued moving from street to street, lifting injured civilians onto his shoulders, carrying elderly people who could no longer walk, and helping terrified families reach the city gates before another bolt found them.
Eventually, fewer cries for help echoed through the district. The streets that had been packed only minutes earlier were now nearly deserted, leaving scattered debris and abandoned carts behind. Once the last group disappeared beyond the evacuation point, Wave finally allowed himself to stop. One knee struck the ground with a heavy thud while he caught his breath, electricity still dancing across the joints of his armor. "Hah… hah… hah…"
"You look miserable." A familiar pair of wings descended beside him as Run landed lightly on the pavement.
"Y-You think so? Hah… hah… I thought I looked filled with energy."
"If you have enough energy for sarcasm, then I should let you know that the Capital is almost completely evacuated," he reported, glancing toward the city walls. "But another problem is about to replace this one."
It didn't take much for him to figure out the answer to that. "The Danger Beasts outside the Capital?" Wave guessed between breaths.
A small nod answered him.
"Even after eliminating so many of them, another horde could arrive at any moment. If that happens, we'll need every member of the Jaegers gathered outside the walls to stop them before they reach the civilians."
Wave slowly rose back to his feet, flexing one hand as the lingering numbness gradually faded. "That's easier said than done. Right now it's only you, Kurome, and me."
"Bols is still missing."
That answer immediately drew a frown beneath the helmet. "He still hasn't come back? I thought he'd already reunited with his family."
"He left to search for them shortly after the evacuation began." Run's expression remained composed, but concern was evident in his voice. "Neither he nor his wife and daughter have returned."
"Damn it!"
His armored fist slammed into the pavement, sending cracks spreading through the stone beneath him. The frustration lasted only a moment before he looked back toward his companion. "Do you know where he lives?"
"I do."
"Then let's move."
Run's eyes briefly settled on the visible tremors still passing through the armor. "Can you keep going in your current condition?"
Wave rolled one shoulder, wincing as another involuntary spasm passed through his arm before the movement settled again. "It's manageable. That lightning isn't ordinary, but Incursio took most of it. My nerves are just firing when they shouldn't, making my muscles move on their own now and then. It's annoying, not crippling. I'll deal with it."
Together they headed toward the middle district, leaving behind the poorer sections of the Capital. The surroundings gradually changed as narrow streets gave way to broader roads lined with carefully maintained gardens, decorative fences, and spacious residences. Spotting the expensive homes around them, Wave couldn't help raising an eyebrow. "I didn't expect Bols to live somewhere like this."
"He has served the Empire for many years," Run explained while scanning the streets ahead. "He is technically a veteran of the army. And people like him with distinguished records receive generous rewards, especially when they work for the side in power. His accomplishments as an executioner and on the battlefield earned him additional compensation over the years. It isn't unusual for officers of his stature."
Despite the beauty of the neighborhood, an uncomfortable silence hung over the area. Flower beds remained untouched, curtains swayed gently through open windows, and expensive homes stood abandoned after the evacuation. Not a single conversation drifted through the streets.
Whoosh!
"Ah!"
Just as they stepped into the large residential square, an intense blast of freezing wind swept across the district without warning. Frost spread across rooftops in an instant. The sudden force threw the blonde off balance while he was still airborne.
"Run!"
Wave lunged forward and caught him before the winged man struck the ground, both sliding several meters across the stone street before finally stopping.
"What in the world…"
The unfinished sentence died in his throat. Far above the district, a lone figure calmly crossed the sky.
Esdeath walked upon icy stairs that formed beneath her feet. Every step created another slab of ice with the prior ones growing into pillars extending towards the ground for support. She was neither in a hurry nor looked around, simply continuing toward the royal palace while leaving a trail of frozen platforms suspended high above the Capital sky with a rapier in hand.
Some of the palace guards tried to bring out siege weapons to aim at her, yet all of them were destroyed with several ice swords forming around her and being fired in unison.
And just like that… she got inside the palace.
Wave stared upward for several seconds before finally letting out a quiet laugh. "She certainly knows how to make an entrance." His gaze shifted toward Run. "Does that mean the Grand General has already been dealt with?" Receiving no answer beyond silence, he shook his head. "Whatever happened over there, it doesn't change what we're here for. Let's find Bols before this situation gets even worse."
"…"
But Run did not immediately follow him and stayed in his spot.
"What? Is something the matter?"
"No… It's just… Well, there have been rumours that the royal bloodline possesses a powerful Teigu beyond anything seen by human eyes. Only capable of being used by those of royal blood, it is said that even the combined strength of all imperial arms would shatter before it." He said, though neither sounded certain whether or not this was real. It sounded like a story or even a legend spread by the people. "I'm just confused, after everything that has happened and Esdeath walking towards them. Why hasn't this weapon been used yet?"
To that, he just shrugged. "Well, that works in our favour, or maybe it's still nothing more than a rumour."
He hoped it was nothing more than a myth, for if Esdeath herself wouldn't be able to contend against it… then what chance did they have?
The residence they had been searching for stood only a short distance away. Its front door was hanging half open, one hinge broken clean off. Both men entered cautiously, immediately finding the interior in complete disarray. Chairs lay overturned, cabinets had been ripped open, shattered dishes littered the floor, and family belongings were scattered throughout the house as though someone had searched every room in a hurry.
"Could all this have happened during the evacuation?" Wave wondered aloud, surveying the damage.
Run crouched beside a broken table before quietly examining the deep gouges carved into the wood.
"I don't think so. This wasn't caused by panic." His eyes followed the marks across the room. "There was a struggle here."
Without another word, they advanced deeper into the house, calling out their comrade's name as they checked each room. Their search finally led them into a bedroom where Bols stood completely motionless beside a small bed. His broad back remained turned toward them, both hands gently holding the torn remains of a stuffed teddy bear whose cotton stuffing hung through long rips across its body. The silence inside the room felt heavier than anything they had encountered since entering the house.
A knot formed in Wave's stomach.
"…Bols?"
The large man didn't turn around.
Then his hands clenched the teddy bear tightly.
"My family is missing."
-------------------
The next 5 chapters of Snafu, and my other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters, Steel Eyed Faker soon to be 3 chapters, Taimanin with 3, Hound having 3 and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.