AKAME ASSASINATION (53)
In the silent, boundless theater of his own mind, Gil sat on a fence.
It was a simple, weathered wooden picket fence, stretching into infinity in both directions. There was no logical reason for its presence—perhaps it was just a manifestation of his own state of being. He was, quite literally, on the fence.
His eyes, heavy with a dreamer's weariness, scanned the horizons it divided.
To his right, the land was a study in despair. The sky was a permanent, bruised yellow, the air thick with the smell of dry rot and decay. Crops were brittle, blackened stalks refusing to fruit. Emaciated cattle stood listless in dust-choked pastures, their ribs like the bars of a cage. It was a land of slow, pervasive death.
To his left, the world was a pastoral dream. The sky was a brilliant, untroubled blue. Lush, green fields rippled in a gentle breeze, and fat, contented cows grazed under the warmth of a benevolent sun. It was perfection.
But in the heart of that flourishing paradise stood a figure that chilled the idyll.
Mother July. Tall, imperious, her face a mask of porcelain-pale composure beneath a wide, pointed hat. She stared directly at him, her lips curved into a smile that held no warmth—only the eerie, patient satisfaction of a gardener who knows every flower will bend to her will.
And in the blighted wasteland to his right stood another.
A figure wreathed in shadow, features blurred but for the twin points of crimson light that were his eyes. An aura of raw, primal dominance radiated from him—not malice, but the terrifying, indifferent power of a natural disaster. The fear he inspired wasn't of pain, but of erasure.
Gil was trapped between the wills of two monsters. One offered a gilded cage, a happiness that felt like a pre-written script. The other offered a scorched earth freedom, a path paved with the ashes of the old world. Neither answered the question screaming in his soul: Who am I supposed to be?
"Maybe…"
A new voice, soft as a petal falling on still water, cut through the silent war of his psyche.
"Maybe we can try together."
A flash of vibrant pink hair, a swirl of translucent rose petals that smelled of rain and something painfully familiar. A girl's face, weary and sad, turned toward him.
"Who are you?" Gil whispered, his dream-voice barely a breath.
She looked at him, her expression crumbling with a profound, personal hurt. "How could you forget me so easily?"
***
7 KILOMETERS FROM THE AQUATIC BLUE STATION – NAIROBI BRANCH
Gil's eyes snapped open.
His first sight was the vast, pale blue dome of the morning sky, still streaked with the delicate pink and orange veins of a retreating dawn. The clouds were moving—not with the lazy drift of a normal day, but with a swift, purposeful flow, as if the sky itself was a river.
Suddenly, the view was blocked by a pair of large, curious brown eyes.
"He's awake!" Catherine exclaimed, her face inches from his.
"Seriously?"
Gil turned his head. Akame was walking steadily beside him, his footsteps crunching on the loose gravel of the railway embankment. Their eyes met.
"Bad dreams?" Akame asked, his tone neutral, but his gaze sharp.
"Um… I guess. But I don't really know what to make of it." Gil looked back up at the rushing clouds, trying to hold onto the fading images—the fence, the two terrible figures, the girl with pink hair.
"Dreams can be like that sometimes."
"Yeah…" Gil's awareness expanded to his own body. He was secured by thick, fibrous black ropes. "Why am I tied up?"
"Oh! It's 'cause we didn't want you to fall," Catherine chirped, skipping along beside the large, shaggy creature that was carrying him.
"Fall? Off of wha—"
A low, rumbling growl vibrated through his back. He was strapped to the back of a massive, bear-like dog with fur the color of storm clouds and eyes that held a disconcerting intelligence. It moved with a powerful, ground-eating lope.
GIL
STUDENT UNDER BLAKE & AKAME
ABILITIES INCLUDE: LIGHTNING ELEMENTAL SORCERY & AN UNIDENTIFIED SECOND AFFINITY
AGE: 18 (A PRODIGY WHOSE RAPID GROWTH BELIES HIS YOUTH, AND WHOSE POTENTIAL VEERS TOWARD THE UNPREDICTABLE)
"You were out for a long time. We couldn't afford to wait," Koji explained from ahead, not turning. He walked with a hunter's easy grace. "I hope the ride isn't too bumpy."
"Waited… too long…" A bolt of cold dread shot through Gil. He twisted his head toward Akame again. "The villagers—!"
"The villagers are fine," Akame answered, preempting the panic. "Shaken, but unharmed. Koji saw to that."
"Everybody's okay," Catherine confirmed, beaming. "Thanks to Mr. Koji!"
A wave of relief washed over Gil, so potent it left him dizzy. The last clear memory was of running, of a crushing pressure, then… nothing. The gap in his recollection was a dark, uncomfortable hole, but for now, the safety of others plugged it. He let his head rest back against the creature's warm fur.
Akame gave him a sidelong glance, recalling the quiet conversation with Koji as they broke camp in the grey pre-dawn light.
TATSU KOJI
FIFTH OF THE FIVE SWORDS!
THREE AND A HALF STAR SORCERER & SECOND IN COMMAND OF THE OKINAWA GROUP, TOKYO
ABILITIES INCLUDE USE OF SHIZEN WHIHC IS AN ARTIFACT
AGE: 19 (ALTHOUGH HE MIGHT BE THE YOUNGEST OF THE FIVE SWORDS HE'S THE ONLY ONE TO EVER SHOW AN AFINITY FOR NATURAL SWORDSMANSHIP INCLUDING THE SWORD-SHEATH STYLE WHICH IS THE HARDEST STYLE TO LEARN AND MASTER)
***
"How is Gil?" Akame had asked, his voice low.
"As a student? Phenomenal. A true genius. He learns faster than anyone I've ever seen."
"That's good to hear." Akame's gaze was fixed on the distant horizon. "And in other respects? His character?"
"You're as perceptive as ever, Saikyo-senpai." Koji used the honorific with natural respect. "I did sense something… a fluctuation. During the flame test."
"Oh?"
"The flame turned black. For just an instant. I wrote it off as a sign of a Specialist affinity—a mix of colors. But the more I think about it… black isn't a mixture. It's an absence. A consumption."
"I see."
"I can't say if it's good or bad. It's just… a data point."
"Then keep a close eye on that data point, Koji-san."
Koji shook his head, a humble smile on his face. "Senpai gives me too much credit. I'm not much of a teacher. You and the Sword Master were always far better."
"You undervalue yourself. I'd wager you still haven't submitted your recommendation for a five-star promotion."
Koji shrugged, caught. "Am I that transparent?"
"You humble yourself to a fault. But you compensate with decisive action when it counts. You saved many lives by hunting down the truth behind this mission."
Koji's expression turned serious. "I took the contract on the minister because he was the linchpin. He was working with foreign cartels, using the Aquatic Blue and the checkpoints to flood the country with narcotics. Lately… it feels like we've become philosophers of war, not warriors of peace. The Five Swords debate in halls. We've forgotten how to act."
Akame was silent, listening.
"If you had been there, Senpai," Koji ventured, "things would be different. You saw the flaw in the Vatican's heart. That's why you rebelled."
"I can't justify what I did. Not yet. My methods… they bred as much hatred as they destroyed corruption. I have many regrets." Akame's voice was quiet, a rare admission. "In this new era, a direct war against that system is a war I cannot win—and should not fight."
"But, Senpai—"
Akame raised a hand. "My old path was one of annihilation. It left only scorched earth. I have a new plan now."
Koji waited.
"I will not be the one to sway the masses. Instead, I will help raise a new generation—one that will change this world from within. People who will build an ideal world for everyone, not just the powerful."
"Will it be that simple?"
"Nothing worthwhile ever is, Koji-san," Akame said, a ghost of his old, determined fire in his eyes. "But we can try."
***
As the group moved steadily along the railway toward the distant station, Koji walked in thoughtful silence.
'Saikyo-senpai is different. The fire is still there, but it's… banked. Redirected. He's thinking about builders, not breakers.'
An ideal world.
The concept was vast, fragile. But the conviction in Akame's voice had been real. Koji felt a quiet resolve solidify within himself. If his senpai's new path was to nurture the next generation, then he, Tatsu Koji, would be there to help. He would protect that potential—especially in the brilliant, volatile boy currently tied to the Inugami's back.
CATHERINE
A SPIRIT BOUND TO FLESH AFTER SUICIDE
LOVES CUTE THINGS & POSSESSES NO FORMAL SORCERY TRAINING
ABILITIES INCLUDE: ABNATURALLY RAPID REGENERATION (A SIDE-EFFECT OF HER UNDEAD STATE)
AGE: 17 (AN AGE EFFECTIVELY FROZEN AT THE MOMENT OF HER DEATH, AS WITH MOST POWERFUL SORCERERS)
At approximately 0900 HRS, Comet Year 3999, January 7th, the unlikely quartet—a prodigy, a ghost, a hunter-swordsman, and a living calamity—crested a final hill.
Before them, under the clear morning sun, lay a sprawling mosaic of stone, steel, and smoke: the dense urban weave of railways, spires, and crowded streets that was the beating heart of the nation.
They had arrived.
The Capital of Loliwe.
SAIKYO AKAME
FORMER FIRST OF THE FIVE SWORDS
SIX-STAR SORCERER & WANTED FOR ATTEMPTED DEICIDE (POPE) AND CONTINENTAL GENOCIDE
AGE: UNKNOWN (A SECRET BURIED DEEPER THAN THE GRAVES OF HIS VICTIMS).
TO BE CONTINUE!