Chapter 6: Hado's Claim

Hado followed behind Konya, a smile plastered on his face as she limped and struggled past the thick brush of the forest.

She was still slowly dripping blood, the red liquid leaving a small trail as they walked.

Hado had let her rest for a few hours before they started the journey, he wasn't sure what he was going to do with her, but he had decided to leave that until she had actually led him to his destination.

He didn't know if he would be able to bring himself to kill her, even though he knew it was necessary.

Hado looked forward at the girl walking beside him. She seemed so frail, almost fragile against the harshness of nature around them. She was like a butterfly trapped in a thorn bush.

"I can't walk any longer," She complained, looking back at him and seeing his deep blue eyes staring back at her with that predatory smile on her face.

She quickened her pace, but not enough to where it seemed like she was trying to get away. She had nearly forgotten that she wasn't in any position to make requests for rest.

"Are you..." She said slowly as they climbed over a fallen tree, the large trunk hard to get a proper hold on. "Going to..." Her voice cracked as she thought of the possibility.

She wouldn't put it past the empire to do undesirable acts, and it seemed very likely every time she looked at the man behind her.

"Going to what? Let you go? Kill you? Both of those answers are no..." Hado said, not understanding what she was insinuating.

"I don't think I'll ever see my home again." She admitted to herself quietly, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she took a step further away from him and leaned against the same fallen tree.

Hado could tell that she was exhausted, her breathing heavy and labored. He couldn't allow her to get comfortable though.

It was a weird feeling, as if he wanted to see her suffer. It gave him joy seeing her barely able to stand and look at him with pity.

'I've never felt this way before...' He thought to himself as he lightly kicked at her, pushing her off the tree and letting her sprawl to the ground.

"You may rest once we're near the empire... Until then, keep walking," He commanded, barely able to keep himself from laughing as she struggled to get up, tears now falling as she imagined her squad leaving her behind.

"It's rough isn't it?" He said, seeing her look longingly to the side. "Being abandoned as you were... They never even checked your body," Hado got real close to her face, grabbing her chin and flashing his bright white teeth. "They deemed you worthless, are you worthless?" He asked.

Konya shook under his touch. 'This is it...' She thought, closing her eyes as tears streamed from them.

"Well? What was your name? Sayomi? Are you worthless?" He asked, smiling widely as he saw her shivering body, her fear in control of her body.

"Y-Yes..." She said, crying as Hado squinted his eyes.

He hadn't been expecting her to admit it, but the way she did it woke something up inside of Hado, his heart beat wildly as he felt the strange emotions from the insects inside of him, as if they were sharing their feelings with him.

"Huh... Okay, well don't be right now, I need to get to the empire, and you are my best shot..." He said, wiping her tears and letting her go. "So let's hurry it up."

She nodded silently, taking a few steps away from him and walking in front of him.

As they walked, She tried to keep her eyes open, but they kept getting heavier and heavier as she followed after him. She had only made it a couple of minutes when she fell to the ground, unable to move anymore.

"Damn it..." Hado sighed, crouching down next to the woman, looking at the soaked cloth where he had stabbed her.

He quickly ripped the cloth from Konya's body, revealing her back as she shuddered.

'So this is when he's going to do it? I knew it...' She thought, silently crying as Hado talked to himself, or rather, the insects living inside of him.

He'd been experimenting for the past few hours as they walked, and he could almost feel their responses. It wasn't perfect, but he could pick up bits and pieces of speech from the insects.

'Is there any way to treat this?' He asked, placing his hand over the wound.

There wasn't anything to really stitch her up, and using the dirty cloth didn't even cross his mind.

"Stop, blood," He felt some of the insects say. There was much more, but those were the only words he had been able to pick out.

In the next second though, one of the jeweled wasps crawled out from his hand, stabbing into Konya and digging underneath her skin as she shook, thinking the worst.

Hado watched as the wound, which had been bleeding before, began to close up, just enough to where the blood was stopped.

'Woah, is that what you guys did to me?'

'Special, Are you, Great home.'

'Figures...'

Hado ripped the rest of her jacket up, wrapping it around her body as she stopped shaking, feeling the change within her.

The wasp that had caused the change didn't leave the girl's body, though it buzzed and sent tons of words to Hado, he couldn't make out what it was saying, but it seemed as if it wasn't coming back out.

"Do you feel better? If so let's go, I'm getting impatient," Hado said, standing up as Konya glanced up at him, a strange look in her eyes.

"What did you do?" She asked, looking at the jacket wrapped around her waist, slightly blushing as she saw she was now only wearing her pants and the bandage wraps for her breasts.

"I gave you my blood, I can heal people with it," He explained simply, lying completely as he saw her try and comprehend what he had said."Are you ready to walk?" He asked again, this time with an annoyed tone to his voice.

"Y-Yes," She said quickly, standing up, surprised as she felt her body didn't ache anymore. "Do you have an imperial arm?" She asked.

Hado looked at his arms. "Hmm, Imperial has something to do with kings, doesn't it? Yeah, I suppose I do, in fact, I have two imperial arms," He answered, smiling at his body before looking back at her. "Let's go."

More time passed as they walked before, finally, Hado saw the large dirt trail, and to the right off in the distance, the makings of a large wall.

"We... Are near the empire," Konya said, collapsing once again, falling asleep instantly as Hado smiled at the empire in the distance.

"It's... Perfect!" He yelled out, laughing as he let Konya sleep, soon he'd be in the empire, and he could start his promise.

"You're mine..."