Chapter 16: Wake

Esdeath rose with a yawn, stepping out of her room into the palace hallways. After the attack, the emperor had insisted she and Arata rest in the castle, an invitation she had accepted whereas Arata had no say in the matter due to his state. Esdeath subconsciously approached his room, Arata's pained groans echoing across the halls as it had throughout the day before, an action that brought about the concern of the palace's occupants. In Roland's terms, it was because Arata had harnessed more of the storm dragon's power than his human body could handle.

She paused by the doors of his chambers, her brows furrowing as his pained howls ceased, the sounds of his heavy breathing replacing them. "Esdeath…san?" Arata whispered, the door opening in reply. "I thought you'd be asleep by now, Arata-san," she spoke in a hushed tone to avoid unwanted attention but even then Arata could sense the worry in her tone or maybe that was simply what he wished to hear.

He pushed himself to a sitting position with a grunt, Esdeath approaching him hastily to hold him up. "Thank you," he whispered, his golden irises shining in the dimly lit room. Taking in Esdeath's black lace night dress with its silk robe, he managed a small chuckle. "You seem lively."

"...your outfit."

She looked at her dress, then back at him with a brow raised, "What of it?"

"For some reason, I remembered that we pretended to be a newly wedded couple."

Esdeath snorted, taking a seat beside him, "I don't think I've mentioned it before Arata-san, but you have a weird sense of humor."

"At least I do not get my kicks from torturing people," Arata whispered tauntingly, grabbing the towel beside him to wipe his sweaty forehead. Esdeath simpered, turning her focus to the door, "I haven't done that in a long time." She glanced around the room, curious at the absence of the maidservants. "The maids on duty, did you ask them to leave?"

"Yes. A colleague of mine will be arriving with a…'cure' for my current problem."

"Cure?"

"Yes…" a shadow outside the room's window caught the attention of the two, "it seems said colleague is here, if you would, General?" Esdeath nodded tiredly, opening the glass windows to let the cloaked figure in. Bowing in respect to Esdeath, the hooded person knelt before Arata, presenting a set of bandages to him, "I have retrieved them, Arata-sama."

The general's brows twitched slightly at the feminine voice, "Bandages?"

"These are no ordinary wrapping clothes, I assure you. These are specially made from a rare danger beast and are used for sealing," Arata explained while the hooded female lifted his hair and wrapped the cloth around his eyes.

"Sealing?" Esdeath shut the windows and took a seat beside Arata on the bed, the consort sparing her a very brief glance, an action the general found amusing,

"The Supreme Order are still humans, after all, there is only so much our body can handle." Arata fastened the wrappings with a sigh, "the seals exist to allow us to draw the power residing in us safely, although limiting the amount we can access."

"Then the one that Hijiri had?" Esdeath's eyes widened in realization as Arata's silence answered her question. "You should get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow, General," Arata suggested, dismissing the messenger.

She crossed her arms with a scowl, "Are you planning on being present at the memorials and investigation?"

"I am. I need to be a beacon of hope to the people at the very least." Esdeath sighed knowing better than arguing with Arata, she asked, "And your bandages?"

"Unfortunately, I can do nothing about them, but there is no problem as I can still sense almost perfectly without depending wholly on my sight. Also," he leaned forward, interlocking his fingers under his nose, "I will need your protection should a conflict arise because in my current state it would be dangerous for me to harness my power."

Esdeath stood, Arata's head moving back as she walked before him, her slender porcelain fingers moving aside his bangs from his face. Her eyes twinkled in amusement when she inspected the bandages, "To think such a time would come. It's not a problem, have a good night, Arata-san."

"Your hands, they're fine?" Esdeath glimpsed at her palms inquisitively, smirking as she looked back at him, "Haven't they always been?"

The door clicked shut and Arata sighed. YOU'RE AWARE THAT BY ENHANCING YOUR SENSES TO SEARCH, YOU ARE ALSO SLOWING DOWN YOUR RECOVERY?

With the attack, how powerful that Ellie was and the fact that she could channel Armaggeddon's power, I believe I have enough reasons to stay on guard.

I NEVER ASKED YOU TO LOWER YOUR GUARD. THE YAMA CLAN BOY IS ALSO GUARDING, SO REST, FOR NOW…AFTER ALL, THE STORM IS JUST BEGINNING.

…

Leone jerked forward, breathing heavily and coated in sweat. She rubbed at her eyes tiredly, the images from her capture lingering behind whenever she closed her eyes. Glancing at her messy bed with furrowed brows, she shivered, her sweaty palms closing around her arms while she drew her knees closer to her chest. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Leone tugged down the zip of her lion print onesie, taking off the cat-eared hoodie and walked out of her room. The base was silent with the only exception being the creaking stairs as Leone descended. Placing the water to boil, Leone leaned on the counter, unzipping her jumpsuit down to her waistline where the bottom stop was and pulling on her black camisole.

She glimpsed around the house absentmindedly, the whistling kettle snapping her out of her thoughts. Leone emptied the hot water into her mug, stirring the milk mixture and tapping the teaspoon on the edge of the cup. Susanoo mentioned this would help with sleep… She gulped it down, wincing at the burning sensation on her tongue. "Fuck," she peeked at her tongue, sighing and tossing the mug in the sink, leaving the kitchen immediately. She approached the stairs, flinching at the sound of a door slamming shut. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her left palm closing around the handrail tightly. Leone's vision was blurry and her knees buckled, her teeth chattering even with her jaw clenched.

"Oi, Leone?" she stumbled back at Hijiri's voice, the latter hopping down the stairs to grab her. She slapped his hand away, her eyes widening in epiphany shortly, "...sorry." He stared at his right hand briefly, slowly approaching her with his arms open wide, "Need a hug or something?"

Leone stiffened, staring apprehensively while the gears in her head turned. Hijiri sighed, waving lazily and turning away. Halfway up the stairs, he paused and exhaled sharply, striding to Leone and grabbing her hand, leading her up the stairs.

"Hijiri…Hijiri wait! Let me go!" Her golden eyes avoided his as she yanked her hand out of his grasp, "I'm fine, so quit it with that pitiful look you got."

Hijiri tilted his head to the side, his gaze impassive, "Good one, 'cept no one's gonna believe that y'know."

"...what?" she scowled at him, wrapping her hands around herself.

Stepping back to lean on the door, Hijiri stated, "I'm not that dense, Leone. You're shaking, you probably haven't gotten any sleep, and," he reached for her face, Leone recoiling, "you're scared cause I remind you of him, right?"

"Wow, so how'd ya come up with that?" she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"You didn't flinch around Tatsumi, Akame, or any of the others during the meeting and we both know you're not a good actor."

"Didn't know you were a fucking detective," her sarcasm remained, a quiet sigh when she noted Hijiri's twitching brows. Rubbing her left arm, she muttered, "...sorry."

"Your pj's are cute."

"...that was random," Leone raised a brow, managing a light chuckle.

"Then you're gonna love this part," he stepped away from the door, smirking. "Why dontcha come in." Hijiri left the door open, flopping on the bed with a grunt. Seconds spanned to minutes, the door finally clicking shut. So she left huh?

"Can't believe I'm doing this." Leone sat on the bed when he scooted aside, his back facing her. "Don't guys usually go, "don't worry I'll sleep on the ground" at this point?"

"That's virgin talk," Hijiri snorted.

Holding her head up with her arm, Leone leaned close to him, simpering, "So you're no virgin?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he mumbled, Leone's grin growing wider.

"...sorry for being such an asshole."

"Don't sweat it, we're all assholes at times, besides, if I had gotten there earlier, you wouldn't have gone through that."

Leone's smile dropped, her hand finding her jumpsuit's zip and pulling it up. She laid next to him, placing her hood-covered head on his back.

"Tsk, you zipped up the jumpsuit?"

" 'course. Bet you're sad you won't get to feel anything?" she smirked, her head still on his back. The two went silent for some time, Leone shifting closer to Hijiri who she assumed was asleep. "If," she looked at the back of his head, interested, "if you get scared, just know that I'm here, got it?"

"..."

"..." He turned back to her.

"That was corny as hell," Leone laughed, Hijiri mumbling and readjusting his position. "But can't say I didn't like it."

"Cheesy. Get some rest, Leone."

…

"So, Run," Esdeath folded her arms, her bountiful chest partially overlapping them, "what do you have for me?" Run reached into a satchel on his waistband, handing her a folded piece of paper, his blonde brow furrowing, "About the danger beast that appeared outside the walls, it was conveniently beaten, right?"

Esdeath looked from the note in her hand to him, raising a brow, "Your point?"

"I believe it was merely a distraction from some other goal, that and the entire terrorist attack."

Esdeath studied him momentarily, sighing as took a seat by a small white table in the corner of her room, "Have a seat, after all, it seems this will be quite long." Run sat organizing his thoughts for the last time before exhaling and speaking, "The affected areas were mainly residential areas except for the capital's production district."

"Points that would not only make it difficult for the empire to recover from but would reduce the morale of the majority of the capital's citizens."

"Exactly."

"But that would be expected," Esdeath leaned back in her chair, her gaze growing cold, "if they couldn't achieve that much I'd call it a failure of a terror attack."

"That is true, General, but here's the difference." Esdeath raised a brow, intrigued, "Go on."

"With how powerful the enemy was, she could've easily attacked the armory or palace, two locations that would accomplish what you stated earlier far more efficiently."

"I believe you have evidence supporting this?" Esdeath's eyes glinted in curiosity, Run chuckling softly in response. "Of course I do, General." He opened his palm, Esdeath placing the paper in it and watching him reveal its contents much to her surprise, "After pulling a few strings, I had an investigation and I compiled a list of imperial arms that went missing as of yesterday." The brief silence was interrupted by a set of knocks on the door, the duo glancing at it inquisitively.

"General, if you could give me a moment." Arata-sama? Esdeath slid her feet into her wool slippers, walking briskly to the door. "I do hope you will forgive my disturbance?" Arata scanned the room, tilting his head at Run's presence.

"You should be resting, Arata-sama." Esdeath stepped back from the door, shoving her hands into the pockets of her lace robe. He turned from Run to Esdeath, his forehead furrowing while he chuckled, "And here I thought I was special." She knit her brows, shifting her weight to her right side. "That aside, I have something I wish to speak with the two of you about."

…

Esdeath gestured inside the room, assuming her seat on the small round table. "Well," she glimpsed at him, "what is it?"

Arata took a deep breath, subconsciously reaching for the edge of the bandages on his face. "Ellie, the archer we fought, was a human that had harnessed Armaggeddon's power." Run's scowl deepened, Esdeath sharing a similar expression. "But I did not tell you that to cause you to worry needlessly, I mentioned it because we need to find the purpose for such an attack and the perpetrators, so we can form strategies to respond to assaults of that scale again." Arata's finger tapped the table gently, his stoic tone hinting at his solemnity.

"Unfortunately, the Yeagers are severely under-equipped to handle fighters with Armageddon's power, especially if they're as powerful as Ellie," Esdeath crossed her legs, noting the brief look of regret that flashed across Run's face.

"While it is just a gut feeling, I do not believe we will be facing any other adversary of that level anytime soon. Armaggeddon is still sealed after all." Arata paused at the end of his statement as if he had recalled something. Continuing, he eased his posture on the chair, "And as for the Yeagers problem, I believe the emperor could always recruit more virtuous soldiers with Imperial arms or train those with an affinity for them."

"That would be a problem, Arata-sama," Run interjected passing the list to him, "those were the Imperial arms stolen during the attack, and what's more was that there was no sign of forced entry in the armory…ah!" he jerked the paper away, nodding apologetically at Arata. "My apologies, I forgot about the bandages covering your eyes."

Snickering, Arata waved off his embarrassment, "It is fine, I forgot about them for a moment myself." It seems I will need to request for Seryuu's assistance… "Anyway, there is a person I should meet as I would be able to get answers, even if it is just a few."

"And who might that be?" Esdeath inquired, skimming through the paper.

"The first of the Supreme Order, the Order of Flames; Hijiri."