Kill the Calm Before the Storm

Year: 1024

A week has passed since the clash between the Jaegers and Night Raid at the Valley of Ruin. Both sides suffered greatly in this bloody battle, but for the Jaegers, it was a truly crushing defeat. Bols, the pyro-wielding executioner, was lost in the fight and Kurome had taken a near-fatal blow by being stabbed in her neck and then almost roasted to a crisp by electricity. As for Wave—his pride was more hurt than anything else the young man was rendered useless before the fight.

Meanwhile, Aquilo had to come to terms with the idea that he underestimated the strength of his rival. He hated himself for it; in fact, it was a defeat that he didn't take lightly. Right now, Aquilo was walking through the halls of the palace making his rounds to check on the Jaegers before he had an appointment with someone important.

"I figured he would've grown stronger, but never would I have imagined him to grow that strong after his first defeat. Seems like time is a formidable ally to a select few," he thought to himself recalling the recent battle. It was a humiliating loss for him. He felt like not only did he fail himself but he failed the General who trained him.

Aquilo rounded the corner of a corridor heading to a meeting to give his report. It was something that he wanted to do immediately but upon his return, he was ordered to rest and recover for that week. It was then that he found one of his comrades from the Jaegers.

"Wave?" he called out to the youthful boy.

"Ah… Major General Aquilo," he addressed in a respectful tone. The young officer put up a hand.

"No need for formalities. We're a part of the same team after all."

"Ah right, sorry about that."

"It's fine. How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, just extremely disappointed in myself over recent events and saddened by the results."

"Hey, don't blame yourself," Aquilo says, patting him on the shoulder, "Walk with me? I'm on my way to deliver a report to the General." Nodding in agreement, Wave walks side by side next to the man known as the Silver Fox.

"Aquilo, have you heard about Kurome's condition?" Wave asked cautiously, unsure of how exactly to talk to a man he hardly interacted with.

"I heard that she barely made it back alive if it wasn't for you finding her on your way back to the battlefield. It's good to know there is someone here who will always return to the battlefield to aid his comrades even if circumstances prevented him from doing it right away," he smiles slightly as to reassure the youth then his face turns serious again, "What's the nature of her condition?"

"Her nervous system is in a severe state of disarray. Someone tried to sever her central nervous system by stabbing her in the neck with a needle. Luckily with her doping, her body was able to shake off most of the damage but a significant amount has been done. On top of that, her muscles are experiencing spasms due to the amount of electricity she took which no one can seem to explain how that happened," Wave explained.

"Raizo…"

"What?"

"Raizo is the only person from Night Raid with the ability to command electrical energy. He must have somehow ended up confronting Kurome and shot her with a surge of lightning. That's the only logical explanation…damn."

"That son of a bitch…isn't he the one that you were looking for?"

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I saw him. I tried to get him to see things but, he's too consumed by hatred to see the bigger picture."

"Hatred for what exactly?"

"For me. I'm not sure if you heard the story about the Order of the Blood Wolves but…"

"Wait, the alleged rebellion of the elite clan of assassins that were wiped out 5 years ago? Wasn't their uprising thwarted from the inside by someone who stayed loyal…no way, that was you?"

"Yeah. I'm the reason why the clan was assassinated. I sold out my clan but if I hadn't done something; imagine what would happen to this country? It would have been chaos."

"Hey, I'm not criticizing your actions. I can't imagine the struggle you went through witnessing such an event but you put the good of the people above all. I'm just sorry to hear that it had to come to that."

Aquilo would only smile slightly at the boy's concern. They rounded various corridors as they spoke to one another. The Jaeger's quarters were much like a private estate built with very Roman or Greek architecture. The walls and stone are carved and etched with marble and quartz. This fancy structure was complimented with a large garden that encircled a massive fountain along with the courtyard in which the Jaegers trained on occasion. Once outside of 's office, it was here that the two had parted ways since Wave had set his mind only on catering to Kurome while she was resting.

The young officer would knock on the door creaking through the threshold slowly. His green hues peering into the dark corridor that accepted his presence, a cool breeze coated the air as a gradual chilling feeling slipped down his spine. As he stepped closer into the chambers, he would see the domineering woman sitting behind her desk going over documents and cross-referencing items in various textbooks. It seemed that she was looking for something but the aura of the room felt like she was ready to take on anyone who dared to walk into her chambers with hostile intent.

Clearing his throat, Aquilo spoke up at last. "General? You wished to speak with me right?"

"Ah Aquilo," she says lifting her gaze to see the source of the voice that had come into her domain, "I did and so did the minister. He'll be joining us shortly so just have a seat."

Taking the general up on her apparent kindness, he would close the door behind him going ahead to take a seat on the nearby leather couch. Looking around the general's office, she seemed to be someone who must have enjoyed books given the massive library she had stacked on the shelves against the wall. Behind him, he saw what appeared to be the mounting of various weapons, most likely from powerful opponents she has fought or just things that fancied her interest.

"Have your wounds healed?" she asked him in a casual tone as she moved from behind her desk to lean against the front and speak to him directly.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be able to continue fighting in the field as soon as you have orders for me," he responded promptly though he felt a stinging sensation in the back of his mind as his memory reminded him of what happened to cause his injuries in the first place.

"That's good to hear. It seems like your old friend is stronger than you anticipated," she continued. Aquilo would tense slightly hearing her words as the memories of the encounter bore into his mind even deeper. His hands involuntarily clenched together as though he were agitated by his superior's words. The thought of being outmatched by someone he had figured to be dead was truly humiliating.

"I wasn't expecting him to grow so much in such a short time. What is further vexing is that it seems his Teigu still has room to grow and evolve."

"The only other lightning-type Teigu wielder I'm aware of is Budou. Your friend is a powerful threat to the Empire if he is anything like that man. I think I might want to test your friend's capabilities, Aquilo."

"Well, that may happen sooner than you think," he says, "I have hatched a…" at that moment the door opened and a giant older man came walking inside munching on a slab of meat. It was none other than Minister Onest who seemed to be eating a lot out of stress lately.

"Prime Minister, it's good of you to join us," stated as she motioned her hand to a nearby empty chair for the official to sit. Taking kindly to her suggestion, he came into the chamber and sat down biting off a piece of his snack.

"Thanks for the invitation General, I heard about how Night Raid managed to dupe your forces and the battle at the Valley of Ruin," he spoke as he got comfortable. While Aquilo and his team were fighting Night Raid in the canyon, her team encountered a large band of mercenaries and had to deal with fighting them off, hence why she couldn't rush to the aid of the rest of the Jaegers. It was quite a clever tactic that Night Raid devised, even Aquilo had to give the rebel assassins that much credit but it was costly as they lost one team member while the other was injured. He sighed heavily to himself while recalling these facts.

"Indeed, we were outmaneuvered but our losses haven't cost us our morale. My team is even more determined to deal with Night Raid now than ever. Now that we know what we are up against, we shall be prepared to fight them again soon," preached as her attitude didn't skip a beat. She wasn't the type to let small mistakes or trivial defeats keep her down. Granted, the loss of Bols did weigh on her mind; she sought his family and had them well cared for so much as they never had to worry about living in poverty ever again.

"That is good to hear General, I know for a fact that you will not fail. As for you Major, what are your thoughts on recent events?" Onest asked as he and the Esdeath turned to him.

"I've already started my next plan of action. I didn't bring this up before but I have an insider amongst Night Raid. In addition, I have baited Raizo into falling right into my hands. His need for information about the whereabouts of his mother will cause him to come to us. All I need is your approval to take a small platoon to the Archive. If I take Raizo away from Night Raid, then their forces may diminish in power," he explained.

"And you're sure you can get him with this tactic of yours?" Onest asked in slight wariness.

"Yes, my contact will make sure to press him to go ahead with my trap even if he has doubts about it. Raizo is a very determined individual and when something piques his interest, he will pursue it to its end," Aquilo answered firmly.

"Then I shall support you. I'll have a portion of my troops assigned to your command when you are ready to depart Aquilo," nodded agreeing with the boy's conclusion.

"Thank you, ma'am, I shall not fail," he bowed his head in gratitude to them both. Aquilo knew that Raizo would take the bait. The lone wolf had succumbed to his blood lust when going after him so he would definitely fall for his desire to see his only blood relative left alive.

"You always were predictable, Raizo." Aquilo thought.

At an undisclosed location south of the Valley of Ruin were the members of Night Raid. They had kept low to recover from the recent battle they had and also to plan their next move. Although they did not suffer any casualties, they still had their fair share of injured. Leone had to be patched up by Lubbock after losing her limb in her part of the fight. It didn't take much considering how Lionelle had the passive ability to give the user regenerative properties. Najenda had to take it easy as well given the fact that Susanoo's secret move allowed him to greatly amplify his power output but at the cost of the life force of the user. She surmised that she could do that move two more times but still, it dealt a blow to her. The rest of the team was relatively okay just resting from battle fatigue.

The young assassin was holed up in his private room. During the week that had passed, he was in a small coma or something for about three days. The use of his teigu had put a drain on his body both physically and mentally. During this time, Yuki or Akame would come to check on him and make sure he was kept hydrated as well. When he woke, it was like he was in a hypnotic state. He didn't speak or acknowledge much and only moved on instinct. Yuki expressed that maybe this was a result of using his teigu for so long without really controlling himself; combining this fact and the discharge of electricity he used against Kurome saving Chelsea's life, it was like his body was a battery that lost its charge.

In his mind, Raizo was processing his memories and the words Aquilo said to him. Mother is alive…but how? He couldn't believe it but if it were true, he had to find out where she was and liberate her. Who knows what the capital did to her. Just the mere thought made his blood boil. It had been only 5 years but that aching uncertainty of the fate of the woman who gave birth to him took a toll on him. The feeling of a slow creeping sorrow filled his heart as he was standing outside staring at the horizon, tears forming in his eyes as they trailed down his face. This was one of the very few times in which the boy had an actual moment of humanity.

It was at this moment that he had someone approach him from behind. It was a female, one who took a fancy to him to be exact. Sensing his sadness, she gently pressed herself against him from behind wrapping her arms around him. Her ample bosom kneaded into him softly as she put her chin on his shoulder kissing him on the cheek. Feeling this sensation, he knew who it was.

"Leone?" he asked in a broken tone and a bit of surprise. The buxom blonde would smile softly at him as she embraced her chosen partner. This feeling she was giving him wasn't like before. Normally she would be extremely forward with him and very flirtatious plus they even had a night alone together too but this time was different. It was like she knew he was in pain and that she wanted to care for him and just be the shoulder he could lean on. Not even caring anymore, he would lean his head against hers and let his tears flow more and more sobbing heavily.

"I'm here for you Raizo; I told you before that you are mine. I mean it, I'll be here to shoulder your pain with you," she whispered to him lovingly. She chuckled in the back of her mind thinking of how she never would have imagined herself being this way with someone, especially in this life; however, it was refreshing to have someone to care for more intimately even if they were living a life in which any of them could wind up leaving their partner behind.

"Uh… thank you, Leone," Raizo spoke again in a soft tone.

"Ahem," Yuki coughed, "Hey you two, the Boss is calling a meeting for our next move," she said in a flat tone as if ignoring what she had seen. The pair would break up their moment to head inside to join the others for the meeting. After a brief walk, the crew was gathered together around a small table. Najenda had a map spread out on the table standing there as if nothing happened to her.

"Glad you're back in the land of the living Raizo," Najenda smirked seeing him walking into the room. Everyone else expressed their signs of relief as he entered.

"Good to be back," he spoke in a calm and collected tone.

"About time you wake up from your beauty sleep, all better now?" Mein jeered at him as per her usual façade.

"Give him a break Mein, you know he was just dreaming of Leone, lucky guy~" Lubbock winked.

"At least he gets attention from the ladies Master Pervert," remarked Leone as she gave him a playful wink. Lubbock was tactically defeated in an instant. After having a small laugh, Najenda began to brief everyone on the next assignment.

"Alright everyone," she began, "We now know what we're up against when it comes to fighting the Jaegers. Yes, we managed to take down one of their members; however, we only fought half of their forces. We still don't know the abilities of their other team members plus we still have the General. There is a chance that the next time we fight them, it will be all of us against all of them. By now, they are probably going over each of our abilities and assessing how to deal with us properly so we need to move fast if we want to keep them on top of their toes.

Headquarters just sent us a mission pertaining to our next target. We will be heading east of the Capital this time around to deal with a member of the religious group known as The Path of Peace. There is a member among its ranks who is secretly working with the Capital to overthrow one of its highest-ranking officials—Boric. Our mission is to track him down and end his life before he makes his move for the takeover."

"Seems pretty straightforward but also risky," Leone began, "But there's gotta be a catch to this right?"

"Of course, Boric is protected by the Four Rakshasa Demons. These guys are the best of the best when it comes to being executioners," Najenda responded.

"Big deal right? I mean how tough can they be if they aren't a part of the Jaegers," Tatsumi asked, doubting the severity of the name.

"You would be wrong to underestimate them, Tatsumi. These guys were trained to fight on par with or even exceed the ability of Teigu users despite not wielding teigu themselves."

The room became quiet after hearing those foreboding words. Someone who could fight against Teigu users without having a Teigu themselves? That should be damn near impossible. Surely beings such as them had a reason to be called "Demons" if that were the case.

While everyone was discussing the objective, Raizo had been lost in his world thinking back on Aquilo's words. It probably wasn't exactly what he said at the time but in his mind, that's what the words were. His mother was a strong individual. If he found her, who knows what kind of secrets she had in relation to the Capital? Not to mention the joy of having his mother back in his life and away from the enemy would put him at ease.

Najenda had peered at Raizo from the other end of the table. She raised an eyebrow not having seen this expression on his face before.

"Something wrong Raizo?" she asked him. All eyes in the room turned to the red-eyed rebel. He was still in his mind when Leone elbowed him in his side to bring him back to their world.

"Wait…what?" he asked looking at everyone confused.

"I asked if there was something wrong Raizo, you seem distraught," she restated her concern.

"I am actually."

"Care to share with us? We're a family you know," she says reassuringly. He would take a sigh knowing he couldn't hold it any longer.

"It's about what Aquilo said to me at the end of our fight. His words have been echoing in my mind this whole time. I can't get them out of my head."

"Go on…"

"He said that he knew where my mother was…"

As if a bomb had dropped, a deafening silence coated the atmosphere of the small corridor. Each member looked at the other and then back to him like this was something major. Najenda would take a deep breath before inquiring for more information.

"Where is she?"

"He said that if I wanted to find the answer I'm looking for to head to The Archive."

"In Old West Town?"

"Yes, that's where he said it was."

This changes things. The Archive in that small town contains a vast amount of intelligence that could prove useful to the revolution but Najenda knew that such a treasure trove of secrets wouldn't be unguarded. It also smelled of a trap.

"I'm guessing you wish to pursue this endeavor, am I correct?"

"Yes. My mother was never found in the ashes of my clan's home when they were slaughtered and she wasn't executed either. Therefore she could be dead or alive, but I never received any closure on her."

"I see. This could perhaps prove to be a good side mission then," the eye-patch woman pondered, "I'm not comfortable sending you alone though. For all we know, it could be a trap."

"I'll go with him," Yuki volunteered in that instant, "Raizo and I were a part of the same clan after all and I too would like some closure on the matter."

"True but I feel like this isn't enough…" Najenda continued expressing her concern over the matter at hand.

"Well, what if I go? I'm good at infiltration and reconnaissance," spoke Chelsea. It was true, her teigu allowed her to disguise herself as anything so she could blend in with the enemy if there were any stationed there or scout the grounds as an animal.

"That sounds reasonable. All right then, it's decided. Raizo, I'll let you, Yuki, and Chelsea head to The Archive in Old West Town to find out the information you seek about your mother but I also want you to look for anything that can give the Revolutionary Army an edge on the Capital. The rest of us will head east and deal with Boric before he moves to take over the Path of Peace. Is everyone on the same page?"

"Yes ma'am!" Night Raid responded to her orders. And so the curtain rises on the next act. The cast has been chosen and the actors move to their respective stages. While riding high on a chariot of victory, Night Raid moves to take out two birds with one stone but little did they know; a deadly battle greater than they could've ever realized was approaching them.