AKAME ASSASINATION (31)
ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO
Along the shores of a great ocean of which would later be known as the Pacific stood a tall lady in a night gown. She had a reputation to up hold, but at the same time she wasn't the type to get into all that political stuff.
"Certainly all this will eventually kill me, will it not?" She would constantly tell her peers, "Of course I love my job, just sitting on a throne built out of roses, looking at all those below me with contempt and hatred. Certainly it is enjoyable."
Even now the sounds of children screaming as their faces are being peeled off and stitched back on echo in her mind. "It is distasteful that they would ruin my afternoon by refusing to live longer. Do they not understand I have a reputation to uphold?"
She was a very dangerous woman, one who would not hesitate to put your life on the line for her own amusement. She was know simply as:
MOTHER JULY, WICKED WITCH OF THE NORTH!
Does the name sound childish? It should, because she is the one who picked it and made it a staple of all witches who would come after her. Anyway, that morning two figures appeared standing behind her.
One of the figures knelt, "My lady, we've been sent as you requested." Angel looked back up at Justine who was busy picking his know.
She tugged on his pants. "?"
"Get down!" She ordered.
"What?"
"I said get down!" Angle stood for a moment grabbing Justine by his hair and pulling him down on to his knees.
"My lady we've arrived."
"Please, call me Mother, its much suitable for me." July dug her feet into the sand, "I'm glad you both could make it."
"What is this even about?" Justine rudely interrupted what would have been a long monologue.
Angel hit him on the head for the interruption. "Show some respect."
"Its ok, I like a little defiance, it shows a stable character." Mother July turned and looked at them, "What we are about to discuss must remain confidential, if anyone were to know about it, it would mean war… well It would mean I'd have to deal with the both of you individually."
"Yes, we understand."
At that moment in time Justine couldn't help but think to himself, 'Wow she's so strong.' A woman who was independent and could think for herself, and one who had the power to execute on her innate desires. 'Why can't everybody be like this?'
***
Justine was a very simple man who valued a bit of integrity, not that he still wasn't an asshat to every single person he met. But even then, he was an asshat who could appreciate a bit of fighting spirit.
"What you said to me in that dungeon." Gil began, "It really helped me a lot, I finally understood what it was I needed to do."
"…" Justine stared at him blankly, "What are you talking about?"
"Um… last year…"
"Also, who are you again?"
In reality when it came to someone as self-centered as Justine the weak people he had met along the way always faded from his memory. As in he chose not to remember them, not because of anything personal he might have experienced but rather because the thought of being associated with the weak…
'…It really kills the whole lone wolf thing, ya know?' In his own words. So in this case, he couldn't even remember Gil.
"You don't remember?" Gil asked.
"?"
Maybe it was because of that fact, maybe it was because Justine didn't remember how much those harsh words he had spoken to Gil that made Gil's whole being shake with anger. Anger? Yes, he couldn't lay a finger on why he was angry yet he already knew why he was angry.
"I was really that weak and pathetic?" Gil whispered mostly to himself, but the other could hear a little bit. "So weak you couldn't remember me?"
He nodded, even in that state of anger there was a certain calm that suddenly circulated through out his body.
"I'm glad you don't remember that me."
'A me that was weak and powerless, a me that couldn't accomplish anything. Now thanks to Dr. Blake and Akame, I can accomplish many things with my own hands. I almost lost today, if it weren't for that girl I'd be dead. I can't let that happen again.'
"Mrs. Jericho." Gil turned and looked at her with a smile.
"Mrs?"
"We should work together on this one, since I don't know where he is, but I'm sure we'll be able to find him together." He proposed.
"Do you really not understand that we're enemies?" Jericho explained, "There is a bounty on his head that's currently been activated and all sorts of bad people will be coming after him, not to mention hired killers from the Vatican. Why are you even sticking with him?"
Gil looked shocked by this question as though the answer was so simple that even a toddler could guess it.
"If I ran away from everything how would get stronger?"
A sudden memory poped into Jericho's head the moment Gil said these words.
'Strong enough to be his friend.'
"You actually mean that don't you?" She asked.
"Yeah, I have no idea where he is." Gil scratched his chin again.
"That's not what I meant…" She sighed. "Whatever, we can work together until we find him…. but after that we're going back to enemies."
She looked at Teddy and Justine.
"No objections here." Justine raised his hand.
"That should be fun."
She then looked around for Angel who she couldn't seem to find. But it was as though Angel was reading the situation because it was at that exact moment that she came walking. "I have no issue with it too."
Gil recognized her, however, unlike Justine he decided not to talk to her and just assumed she too had forgotten about him. In truth she hadn't, in fact she remembered everything from everyday that she spent in that murky village of his. It disgusted her to her core.
However, what didn't disgust her was getting on Mother July's good side. Which taking care of Gil would automatically do.
'If I can at the very least do that, maybe she'll contact us again and I'll be able to see her… wait, why do I want to see her? Its not like its anything weird right? I mean she's my boss… whatever, as long as he doesn't reveal what happened last year it should be fine right? I'll keep a close eye on him and see what makes him so special."
"Yay, now we can all work together!" Gil exclaimed with a smile.
Jericho sighed as Nina refused to put down her spear despite the calm atmosphere that had managed to form this entire time everyone was talking.
Teddy was also extremely happy, but for other reasons of course.
'Iman, I'm glad you're happier now.' He thought to himself.
TO BE CONTINUED!