Chapter 29 – Kill The Shadow
The home of the Night raid was splintered, shattered, and utterly destroyed. Susanoo had not yet arisen from the wreckage, not even throwing aside small pieces of wood.
The Marshal then considered something. What if he'd killed Nightraid? The very same splinter cell of the revolution that's given the Empire so many problems in the past. He would be hailed as the new grand general maybe. That'll probably be about it. He wanted more, he wanted something more interesting. What if he hadn't killed them? What if he'd said they'd relocated and he couldn't find them? He could then allow them to rise again and have them kill Esdeath and Budo.
With this, he began walking back. He took a night stroll back to the capitol hoping that they do recover if they even survived his assault that is.
Dawn – Imperial Palace Esdeath's Living Quarters.
[Name] had awoken from yet another peaceful sleep. He found himself in Esdeath's quarters amongst a mountain of sheeting and comfortable covers. He'd just remembered that he was summoned here to be with his captor/lover, General Esdeath. Upon remembering this he looked over to see her sitting at her vanity table brushing her long flowing ice blue hair.
She somewhat cradled her hair and brushed it with great care. Her eyes closed as if she were lost in a trance while pampering herself. The morning sun gleamed through the windows of the room and kept [Name] from falling back asleep. So, he sat up rather than having Esdeath wake him up; which she'd likely do in some strange way.
Esdeath: Good morning [Name]. I hope you slept well.
She said not even looking back.
[Name] stretched and responded.
[Name]: Morning Esdeath. You can say I did.
He got up but forgot that he didn't have any night garbs on. Esdeath hadn't bothered having them catered to him. So, he brought the entire sheeting with him to cover himself up. This finally caught her attention though. Now looking at him, she asked.
Esdeath: Just what are you doing?
[Name]: Well, you didn't give me any clothes to walk around in so I got the next best thing.
Esdeath: But only you and I are on this level. You don't have to hide your body in front of me.
[Name] then began waving his hands to her, assuring her that he needs clothes anyway.
[Name]: No, it's fine really.
He walked over and reached for the doorknob to leave for the Wardrobe room.
[Name]: I just really need someth-
Then as he reached for the knob, he heard a ferocious shuffled as a CHING! noise was made. Something flew past his head! A sharp icicle of sorts sped through the air and stuck in between the door, sealing it shut. His heartbeat sped up and his blood ran cold as it almost impaled his head. He looked behind himself and saw Esdeath barreling toward him.
She closed the several meter gap in two or three steps and they clashed forearms! She then grabbed his arm and hip tossed him, slamming him on the hard flooring below. It winded him but she had him arm locked and prevented him from moving as she mounted him.
Esdeath: I didn't recall granting you permission to leave yet.
After she Judo slammed him on the floor, [Name] struggled to breathe afterward let alone speak.
[Name]: What the hell?!
Esdeath smiled and arose from [Name]'s chest. She even extended a hand to help him up. He then looked at the gesture and took it.
Esdeath: Don't leave unless I allow you to.
[Name] rubbed the back of his head, still sore after what she'd done moments earlier.
[Name]: Where am I, Jail?!
Esdeath: Think of this as your probation period.
She retorted instantly as if she expected the question.
[Name]: I guess I'd be dumb to think I wouldn't get punished for trying to desert.
Esdeath: My thoughts exactly. Even so, you're still getting off rather easily considering your offense. With a lot of hard work and proof of you truly being dedicated to the empire, you'll be in a better position. However, that may take a bit of time.
[Name]: Why?
Esdeath: Given your stubborn disposition of course. But that's neither here nor there. Since your finally here with me, I've worked out a series of tasks that you'll need to have completed on a regular basis. I've filled out your assignment papers ahead of time, and so they'll be in your mailbox once I've got you situated in the palace. That'll at least take a day or two.
She then walked over to her dresser and looked over an assignment pamphlet of her own.
Esdeath: Though, I do have a task you can undertake today.
[Name]: Hm?
Esdeath: I want you to track down and bring the shadow to justice.
[Name]: The shadow?!
He'd almost forgotten that an imposter was roaming about the capital. Apparently, who'd ever taken up the mantle was very effective at doing his old job. They were creating hell for would-be criminals and even imperial officials who were performing suspicious activities in the squalor district.
Esdeath: It looks like you have an admirer other than myself. Whoever this person is they're quite the impersonator. They've been stirring up almost as much trouble as you were back when you were this "shadow". Since this is your mess, I'd prefer you clean it up.
[Name]: Gee, thanks.
He said with absolutely no enthusiasm at all. Esdeath could tell this and smiled at his annoyance.
[Name]: Well...Can I at least have breakfast first?
Esdeath didn't respond at first and it even seemed like she thought about it for a moment. Within an instant she grabbed him and hugged him tightly, his face was being squished against her nearly exposed and firm breasts being unable to breathe yet again.
Esdeath: Of course! I'll even have your favorite meal prepared for you, just say the word!
She gushed.
Dawn – Ruins of the Nightraid Fortress
Susanoo had arisen from the extensive damage caused by the marshal unbeknownst to them. He rummaged through the mass of wood and broken furniture. Najenda, Tatsumi, Chelsea, and Leone had been uncovered. However, Leone had been grievously injured, being impaled through the stomach by a broken piece of wood. Fortunately, Akame, Mine, and Lubbock were then also recovered from the wreckage.
However, she'd sensed the attack coming through her sixth sense and activated her imperial arms just in time. She's yelled as Tatsumi, Mine, and Lubbock helped rip her free as she regenerated her wound. After hours of them using what medical supplies they found to patch themselves up, all of them still in bras, panties, nightgowns, and underwear stood in a circle.
Leone: How the hell did this even happen?
Lubbock: Maybe it was a missile of some kind. That's the only thing I can think of that can do this.
Mine: No missile would take down an entire house built by Susanoo. It's impossible, there's no flames or anything.
Najenda: Mine's right. It seems like this was much more of an implosion.
Akame: Or perhaps the work of imperial arms.
Chelsea: But that would mean that whoever attacked us must've been an imperial.
Najenda clutched her now injured good arm. All of them bleeding and battered. Tatsumi seemed to be in the best shape given how he's a human and Susanoo.
Najenda: We don't even know who did this is or what he or she's capable of. The only thing we can do now is to start recuperating. Prepare for our counter strike on the capital. But first, we need to find a new place of refuge. Whatever attack us, knows who we were.
Tatsumi: Well whatever the case may be, we need a new place to live and we need more things.
Leone: Yeah, I guess we can't really do anything until we relocate and stock up on booze at the very least.
Lubbock: Of course, you'd prioritize the alcohol.
Leone then perked up.
Leone: What are you tryin to say Lub? You callin me a drunk!
She said as she leaped on the injured man and roughed him up possibly even worse. Najenda knew that this attack couldn't have come at a worse time. The revolutions resources were thinning and now the largest resource dealers are within the capital's wall as it's become harder and harder to smuggle resources out. She'll need everyone to scout for things for the assault on the capital in the next few weeks. It's now or never and with the empire finding their hideouts like this the Nightraid isn't in the best position to do much.
Late Morning – Squalor District Store
As [Name] walked the cobblestone streets of the Esdeath kept her word and had whatever he wanted to be made. He still thought about how different living with her would be as opposed to how he lived before with Rom and Kasumi. He walked through the streets of the district absent of barely any imperial guards. Whoever, this shadow was they'd scared them out of their posts.
He needed to find out who this is and soon. If he'd run away again on this mission Esdeath would likely have expected it and sent out a spy to monitor his current progress, though he wasn't one hundred percent sure. She did, however, say that he was on probation and she likely wasn't joking about that. So, completing this mission was a must. He wore the mask that he bought days earlier as to conceal his identity and to intimidate any would-be robbers or maybe even the shadow himself.
He'd read in the newspaper that he read days ago with Kurome that the shadow had saved a man's shop after it was robbed. Since the man would possibly give him some answers on what he'd be looking for, he decided to stop there. He finally walked in, store fully stocked and smelled of smoke meats that he also served. He saw a few people in the store, among them, was three boys. The boys stood out to him for some reason. One of them had red hair, the other dark, and one with silver. The clerk: the man he was looking for, spoke to him making him shift his attention from them.
Store Clerk: Hey, what can I get for you?
[Name]: I need information about the robbery that took place her days ago.
Store Clerk: Yeah what about it?
He replied in somewhat of a standoffish tone as if he'd been asked this before.
[Name]: The shadow helped you out, I need every detail about him; from what you saw.
There was a pause from the man. His body stayed stiff, but his eyes quickly glanced away from [Name] and back to him.
Store Clerk: What's it to you?
[Name]: I'm of the Jaegers; General Esdeath's military subdivision. I've had to find and punish the vigilante and I need you to tell what you saw. At least give me a description of them.
Suddenly all of the activity in the room stopped. Everyone looked away from [Name] nervously continued shopping. [Name] hated when people were afraid of him like that, it just didn't feel natural. It made him feel as though he'd done something to hurt these same people who he'd protected in the past. The clerk broke the silence.
Store Clerk: They aren't all that tall. The body is slender and they didn't look to be too old from what I could tell. They had everything covered up from head to toe.
This wasn't much at all but it was better than nothing. All he'd be doing is creating a scene if he drilled the man any more than he already did. [Name] disengaged from the conversation.
[Name]: That's a start. Thank you.
He then walked out the shop feeling wrong. Though he knew this was a part of the job, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. After he left he noticed that the trio of boys had exited as well and tailed him.
He thought maybe they were just going the same way. But with every turn he made, they made one too. After walking several blocks he realized the boys were no longer there: Good.
This lead was probably the only lead [Name] would find today. It'll be nearly impossible to just wait for when the shadow does come about. He'll probably just have to feign doing a bad thing and bait them out that way. But he'll have to do that later tonight. We wondered, who could this be? Rom, Nightraid, and Esdeath were the only people to know his alias as the shadow and Kasumi had to his knowledge, had no knowledge of him being the shadow but that didn't matter. Whoever, this was they're going to be taken in.
He walked along the cobblestone roads, cheaply made, to the police department to document his progress so it can be made into an official investigation case. He looked over to his side and saw fist fly past his face!
The air whizzed as the red-haired boy he saw earlier came at him. He knew something was off about him. The boy went to continue the onslaught. [Name] within a second brandished his blade and stopped the boy in his tracks placing the sword tip to his throat. [Name] took a deep breath as this was somewhat alarming.
[Name]: Okay, what do you want?
Bet: I heard that you're a Jaeger.
He said with a shortness of breath as the fear of nearly losing his life to the obsidian blade gripped his heart.
Bet: You people aren't welcomed here. The shadow and we made sure of that.
"The shadow and us?" [Name] thought, why would this kid say make it seem as though they're in league with the shadow?
[Name]: You say that as if you work directly with him.
Two other boys came out of two different alleyways and [Name] immediately disengaged and set up with all three of the kids.
Viot: Are you good?
The silver-haired boy asked.
Bet: Yeah, I'm fine. But we need to skedaddle.
[Name]: Do you work with the shadow or not?!
Teg: And so what if we did?
[Name] playing footsies with words isn't going to get him anywhere. The best possible chance he has of getting them anywhere with this mission lies with these children. So, he has to say something drastic, something that'll force them to reveal at least something. [Name] closed his eyes and seethed his blade. He then turned around preparing to walk away from the three boys.
Bet: Hey?!
[Name] then began to walk away, smiling at his trump card rather than what he was going to say.
Bet: Yo Mister! We asked you a question!
[Name] then turned around, looking at each of the boys who seemed to be shaken by his mere presence. The trio was scared by his rank and mission alone, and they had yet to see what he's capable of.
[Name]: It doesn't really matter. I was just hoping the shadow would give themselves up or at least you give him the message for me. I thought you knew him, but if you don't that's fine too I guess.
Viot: How exactly can you guarantee our compliance without proper unless you had the proper forethought into our responses?
[Name]: Because, if I hadn't found the shadow by tonight's end. I would've just started killing people left and right. . .
The boy's eyes widened in shock and fear. They never would've thought that the senseless slaughter of citizens would be allowed on such a scale. What makes this situation worse is that these are official military personnel committing these atrocities. The Imperials were even killing people by not locking up the people who were murderers themselves. This was different, there's going to be someone now actively killing countless people just to draw someone out and it was allowed.
Bet: Goddamn you. All of you imperials are the same!
[Name]: So now, if you do know this shadow or at least know how to get in contact with them, I'd suggest you get them fast and have them meet me at the ruins of that burnt out house at midnight. I'm sure you know which one I'm referring to.
Teg: Yeah, we know where that is.
[Name]: Oh, so you do know them? Telling me wasn't that hard, was it?
Then the mysterious masked man left. The boys knowing the only thing they could do was hand over the "impersonator". When they heard that he was on the hunt, it startled them. No one had actually come there looking for the shadow even when the first one was around. This fact alone had alarmed the trio enough for them to want to attack and potentially scare [Name] off like they'd done amazingly with the rest of the Imperials in the district. They did this as a preemptive strike but in doing so, sealed their own fates by overplaying their hands.
Evening – Imperial Middle-Class District
The still masked [Name] walked more and more in the sun-bathed streets of the bustling city. [Name] had already gone to the police station and filed the report as he'd been instructed. Being done with that he went to go back to his old home. The place where he'd lost his drive to be the shadow himself. He'd lost his mantle, home, and his family all at the same time because he didn't kill someone that he should've. That to him displayed the very problem with being moral during times like these. Him showing mercy to an imperial guard led to them coming right back and killing his friend and maybe his adopted friend and maybe even daughter or sibling to him.
He was still somewhat lost in thought as he'd seen a woman drop her grocery bags and lightly clutching her ribcage. He decided to help out and noticed upon closing upon her that she seemed familiar. She was wearing makeup and a blue wig that didn't quite fit right.
[Name]: You okay?
He asked as he picked up her bags and attempted to hand her the bags. She didn't take them as she was gritting her teeth still clutching her ribs. She was in bad shape.
?: I'll live.
Upon her looking at [Name]'s imperial garbs she straightened up and took her bags. As she did their hands touched, and as they did [Name] felt bandages. This woman was very hurt and hurt all over.
?: Thank you...Soldier.
[Name]: Let me help you. I can-
He forgot that he still had his mask on. It was stuffy and it was annoying to talk, so he removed it. Upon doing that, the woman's eyes illuminated. [Name] noticed a familiar glow, a red glow.
Akame: [Name]?
[Name]: Akame?
He whispered in bewilderment. The two locked eyes for a short moment as he then quickly took her bags from her to alleviate her pains. He then inquired about her injuries.
[Name]: What happened to you?
Akame: Let's talk somewhere else a little more discrete.
A short time later – Atop Imperial Building
A short time later the two walked in silence as they found refuge in on top of a building. After settling and sitting next to each other, the conversation began. She informed him of what happened to the Nightraid last night and how it's a miracle that they're talking to each other even now. [Name] thought, he knew who attacked them. It was the Marshal who had been switched with Esdeath. His imperial arms could manipulate gravity to a large extent.
He likely assaulted them in the night and failed to make sure they died. After telling her that, her demeanor improved as at least the team will know who to kill next.
Akame: The marshal must not be all that smart.
[Name]: Eh, he just got cocky. If Esdeath was there instead of him, I can probably guarantee you'd all be finished.
Akame: Probably, but never assuring your opponent is dead can be fatal. I can guarantee that for him.
[Name]: I'd know that more than anyone. I lost my new family because of that. You were right for what you said after our mission to that fireplace. Me being scared was the reason why I didn't kill before. If I started killing, I'd have a hard time stopping.
Akame: I never liked being right about that. But I suppose it just comes with the territory of trying to do right.
She looked down in her lap and responded with a dejected.
[Name]: Well, no one ever said toppling a tyrannical empire would be fun or easy.
Akame smiled. He liked seeing her open up and have pleasant conversations with him. It makes them seem more like friends the more they do. Before, they were at each other's throats, her more so than him. But now she had warmed up to him. This was nice for the both of them watching the sunset and catching up. But this is where things came to a close for now.
[Name]: It's been cool meeting up with you like this Akame. But I have to go find out who the new shadow is. Esdeath gave me the mission hoping to give me some sort of closure if you can call it that. I can't go too far with you because I might be being watched as of even now. Esdeath basically has a leash on me now.
Akame sighed.
Akame: It's nothing you can't handle. I'm sure.
She said as she'd gotten up. She strained and grunted as she grabbed her bags.
[Name]: Easy.
He said as he came over to her and helped her with her bags.
Akame: Hey. I'm an assassin. You shouldn't be wasting energy tending to me. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself.
This came out of left field. She doesn't want to appear weak in front of anyone no matter who it is. Though her injuries were quite severe, they didn't; in her mind, warrant her needing to be helped twice. Her face had aggression etched on it sparked by defensiveness. [Name] was annoyed by this but he responded without combating her.
[Name]: True, but even assassins need to cared for every once in a while.
She paused and so did [Name]. Her red eyes lost their aggression and immediately gained some semblance of intrigue and possibly even flattery. Though after a second or two the aggression rushed back.
Akame: Well I don't!
She snapped. She then got a firmer grasp of her things. [Name] wasn't going to be mad at her, she's clearly wrong but that'll be her problem. He disengaged her and allowed her to do as she pleased.
Akame then grunted with a great deal of pain.
[Name]: At least let me help you until we split up.
With that Akame had capitulated. She'd given him the bags and they left the building top together with him assisting her.
They walked together for a good bit until a kunai flew past his head with a piece of paper attached to it. Both the masked [Name] and the blonde Akame looked for where it came from but there was no one. [Name] noticing the paper walked over to the side of the building wall, the wall was chipped and the Kunai was sticking straight out of the wall. The paper hung downward and blew in the wind.
[Name]: Believe it or not, but this is at least the third time today that something flew past my head.
Akame: You'll get used to it after a while.
[Name] picked the kunai out of the wall and read the paper. Much to his surprise, there were only a few words on it. This was clearly no accident and this was meant for him. Apparently, the boys were able to relay the message and now the Shadow has found him. The note read:
I accept