Chapter 12: Night Raid
Reaching out, she took the Goblet in her hands and looked to Budo. He seemed to sense what she was asking and simply nodded with his perpetual serious face. It seemed far too coincidental for it to be there. The opposite of Esdeath's Teigu was waiting there for her.
Raven had a decent idea who was behind it. She never heard of this Teigu existing in the original but she couldn't deny that it could have existed and just wasn't found. Holding it up, she put the goblet to her lips as the heavy stench of blood assailed her sense of smell. She started to gulp it down, fast.
At first, there was no particular feeling to it, but then, it began to scorch Raven's throat. Immediately, her own flames fought back against it. The will left over in the blood had tried to assert itself but the moment it was inside her, all it saw was an endless abyss. It didn't even have time to think before its presence was obliterated.
Raven clenched her fingers as the flames were absorbed. She looked at Budo with no signs of possession by the Teigu and nodded her head.
"It's done now. Thank you, General" Raven saluted him in respect, which he mutely nodded to.
"Good. I think that will serve you well in the fight that's to come. Some Revolutionaries have come to the Western front of the Empire. The Prime Minister is nervous they're going to try and take an important town from us. One that runs a few of his slave auction houses. You've caught some attention, working under Esdeath. You're a cut above the Three Beasts and could be made into another General. But they want to 'test' your loyalty to the Empire. Which means, they want you to attack the three thousand strong Revolutionary army outside Retzu town. You're to be deployed there with Esdeath and her forces in three days. But they want and expect you to take out many of them by yourself. Is that something you can do?" Budo asked, sounding a bit concerned.
Raven clenched her fists and closed her eyes. She quickly thought about delving right back into the carnage of war. Unsure of what would happen to her, if she would come out of it in tact or revert back to who she was. But this was a chance to actually make a difference. Budo seemed to respect her and Esdeath admitted she was attracted to her. At the very least, she was attracted to the 'idea' of her. She turned around and looked at Budo with a determined gaze.
"I can, Sir" She affirmed.
"Good.. You may leave now. Though I suspect Esdeath wouldn't mind if you prepared yourself before your mission" Budo said while excusing himself from the armory.
~I'll give her some time to think after our.. heated discussio-Did I make a pun..? Yang is rubbing off on me..~ Raven sighed with a barely concealed smile as she walked out of the Imperial Armory.
What she didn't realize, was that Esdeath was standing off to the side, waiting for her to come out. She was about to get her attention when she saw Raven's eye color flicker from black, back to white. Aside from that, she had one of the purest smiles she'd ever seen a person have. There was no selfishness, malice or greed in it. She stopped, entranced by it as Raven walked off without knowing Esdeath was right there.
"What.. was that..?" Esdeath slowly asked herself, confused over her own reaction.
Soon enough, Raven walked down into the streets of the Capital. She wanted to see the city for herself. On the outside, it was pretty and people pretended to be friendly. At least to her they did. But beyond the main streets, she saw glimpses of the Capital's darkness. It was laughably easy to find, too. As she was walking, she bumped into a blonde girl with a well developed figure, stumbling out of a bar. A flash of recognition lit up her face when she saw her outfit. Night Raid's Leone was here, and she was looking right at her like a deer caught in headlights.
She was likely wondering if she had somehow been caught. To avoid such a misunderstanding, Raven looked her up and down. Then she nodded sagely, as if she were done assessing her.
"You must get hit on so much with a body like that. Very pretty too. Just be careful, okay? Some men in those bars lose their restraints once they get a few drinks in them" Raven complimented/warned her with a small smile.
"Oh! Aha.. yeah sometimes but I can handle myself. I'm a tough girl, ya know?" Leone flexed her arm, showing off her toned physique.
"Hoh.. good. You can never be too careful, right? Well, I'll be on my way. Take care of yourself" Raven gave her a nod and a smile and continued walking as Leone waved to her.
~That was scary.. Thought she recognized me or something there. I have no wanted posters so I think I'm fine. Maybe she was just checking me out?~ Leone wondered to herself.
~I'd rather not out her right here and now and paint a target on my back for Night Raid.. I think they could really help in getting rid of the parasitic nobles who abuse their powers~ Raven shook her head and continued her walk until she met a young man and girl who had stumbled upon a blonde girl in a carriage.
The blonde girl she could recognize straight away. The one who tortured commoners with her family out of what could at best be described as 'fits of jealousy'. The teens getting in with her were the ones Tatsumi had come to the Capital with. She hardly remembered their names though. Given that she was quite old when she watched the anime. Raven decided to discreetly follow them back to their manor. Their deaths could be easily avoided right here if she just killed them all. She'd need to be quiet and use a different means than her sword. Everyone in the manor has to die as well. They could jeopardize her position if she were discovered.
She quickly began to plan out her next moves as she watched the carriage in anticipation.
-Night, Aria's Manor-
Aria was pleased. Her and her parents had managed to drug the commoner country bumpkins they took in earlier that day. The guards had managed to carry the two off to her special relaxation place right after dinner. Aria had excused herself while her Mother lovingly cleaned and maintained her torture tools. Her father had gone to his study to look at the taxidermied peasants he hung up in the trophy area of his study. Aria grabbed her toolbox and proceeded to walk down the halls of her manor, intent on tearing that girl's fingernails off for daring to have better hair than her.
That's when, for some strange reason, the candles blew out in the halls despite there being no draft. She was illuminated by the moonlight alone and sighed in annoyance.
"Relight the candles! Fucking lazy piece of shit guards.." She cursed and proceeded to walk ahead while hearing hurtied footsteps behind her, working to relight the candles.
As soon as she walked outside, she noticed something. Something she really should have noticed sooner due to how unnatural it was. The manor was silent. Dead silent. The only thing she had heard after dinner was hers and the guards footsteps. Not one word was spoken by the eager to please guards. In fact, she hadn't even seen a guard since they took the two bumpkins away. As she approached the warehouse, she noticed a distinct lack of the two guards that were supposed to be there.
Looking around, she tried to spot anyone in the dark. Behind her, she heard a startling 'thud' and as she quickly turned around to see, she saw the crooked neck of a guard's corpse. Seeing that, she broke the silence with a scream and ran into the warehouse. Only to see both Sayo and Ieyasu both free with a look of disgust and resentment on their faces. Before she could utter a word, Sayo grabbed her blade she had reacquired and impaled it through Aria's throat, watching the sadistic blonde noble sputter and choke to death as blood filled her lungs and quickly shot out of her neck.
"Thank you for saving us.." Ieyasu bowed to Raven, who stepped into the warehouse, wearing her damaged black knight armor.
"It's a soldier's duty to fight for and defend the country's people. Take this and stay at the inn. Then you can wait for whoever you plan on meeting. Tell nobody about this too. If others question you, tell them the family was killed by Night Raid" Raven told them while glaring at the now dead young woman.
"Wait! Can we get your name?" Sayo asked, eager to show her gratitude.
"Don't worry about that.. I'll see you two in the future. Now go before more Imperial guards arrive" Raven said while quickly walking into the forest, out of sight.
She then quickly took her bird form and flew away in a hurry before the manor was swarmed. She was back at the barracks before she knew it. Tucking her armor away in her trunk while the rest of her squad were away, she contemplated on the silent massacre she just executed. She didn't enjoy killing. She felt it was just a chore, like any other. But when the direct results saved two innocent kids, she couldn't help but smile in relief. She changed the world for the better, even if it was just a little bit.
She was still a far cry from being the kind of hero Yang and Ruby would look up to. And to be honest, she doubted she ever could be that kind of hero. But it eased the constant heavy guilt that weighed on her since dropping those bombs.
~Your mom's doing a bit of good, Yang.. Just.. don't think about what comes next and it'll be okay. I can still turn things around here. I can still save the good ones..~ Raven thought to herself before passing out in her bunk.
-Three days later-
The days passed by faster than Raven expected them to. Given what she was required to do, she would have thought the wait would be agonizing. But she was constantly distracted by the looks Esdeath threw her way. As if she were a tasty piece of meat and Esdeath were the predator. Given Esdeath's nature, that analogy probably wasn't too far off. Esdeath and her team arrived outside the town, where the Revolutionary army had set up camp.
They were atop a hill and were spotted quickly. Esdeath had a surreal presence on the battlefield but the Revolutionary Army was confident they could take her on alone.
"They're ready to engage us. Raven, dear. You know what to do, yes?" Esdeath asked, her arms snaking around Raven's neck.
"I know full well, General. Excuse me.." Raven shrugged her off and proceeded to walk down the hill at a leisurely pace.
Then, she spoke. Loud enough for all of them to hear.
"I'm going to give you three warnings.. Please, turn away and leave this place, now" Raven ordered.
The Revolutionaries didn't budge. A few even laughed. One woman versus five thousand? Even for a Teigu wielder, the notion was ridiculous. In their minds, not even a General could do that.
Raven took a few more steps.
"I'm asking you.. as a fellow human being. I don't want to rip apart so many families. Go home!" She shouted in anger, yet still they remained.
Calming her anxiety, she walked further ahead.
"General! What is she doing? She knows we-" Nyau started to snarl but Esdeath put her hand up, silently waiting with a small but growing smile.
"She's steeling herself.." Esdeath muttered.
"I beg you.. please go home" Raven closed her eyes as a burly Revolutionary strode up to her, holding his Teigu up to her face.
"So much for the Empire's.. f..or...c...." He didn't get to finish before his head was sent soaring through the air.
Raven held her quickly drawn blade to her side and opened her glowing crimson eyes. Her switch was flipped.
Another massacre to take place.
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Saeko_Kaburagi
Saeko_Kaburagi Thanks for being patient!! I was sick for these two weeks and wasn't able to update. Hope you enjoyed the chap!
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