Chapter 44: Reports of a Captured man

"Guys, We've got a problem!" Leone burst into the dinning room of Night Raid's headquarters where most of the crew were just about to sit down. Hanging from her shoulder the little orange kitten that had been going everywhere with Parc recently.

All eyes were on her, two sets holding curiosity, one holding irritation, the other locked onto her chest.

"Did you run out of people to scam?" Mine scoffed as she filled her plate with a scoop of mashed potatoes.

"No," Leone threw onto the table a satchel, the contents of papers and two gloves falling out. "Parc's been captured by Esdeath."

If there was one way to shut an entire table of assassins up, telling them about one of their comrades being captured, was the way to go.

"What?" Mine was the first to speak up.

"When?" Akame was second, the first to stand up while leaning over the table using her arms to prop herself up.

"Two hours ago. I was investigating a client when he ran past me with Esdeath on his tail. He threw that," she pointed to the satchel and its contents, "and this," she pointed to the cat on her shoulder that had squinted eyes and a feline frown on its face, "at me before running towards the gate."

"Esdeath was firing off icicles left and right, she ended up killing a few civilians in the cross fire." Leone nibbled on her fingers as she finished speaking.

Sheele began to wobble before slumping to the side, her head landing on Mine's shoulder, nearly fainting if the impact against Mine didn't keep her awake. She didn't want to think that Parc was trapped with Esdeath. A fear filling her to the prospect of never seeing him again. A thought that terrified her more than anything in the world.

"Sheele," Mine turned slightly to Sheele, wrapping her arms around her best friend to help console her, while using Sheele's warmth to comfort her own worried mind.

"Is he okay?"

Leone shook her head shrugging helplessly, "I don't know, I didn't stick around to watch. I got out of the city as fast as I could."

Akame fell back into her seat interweaving her fingers together to think. Her gaze soon rising to the satchel.

"You sure he got caught? Not that he's just staying away to not lead Esdeath to us?" Lubbock asked, earning him annoyed looks from Mine and Leone.

"With how hard Esdeath was chasing him. I doubt burying himself ten feet deep would get her off his trail. Yeah, I think he got caught."

During this exchange, Akame leaned over towards the parchments. Pinching the edge of one, bringing it closer to read. It was slightly wrinkled, either from the jostling within the satchel or something else. On it, in oddly familiar handwriting were various dates and times, after each a short paragraph explaining actions taken by various people. Wave, Bols, Seryu, Run, Stylish and Esdeath.

Akame's eyes sharpened at the last name, 'Jaegers?' she thought, rereading through the paragraphs for the missing name, 'where's Kurome?' she frowned placing the page down, leaning to grab another. This one an drawing of the ice queen herself.

[Esdeath]

[Leader of Jaegers]

[Teigu; Demon's Extract]

These three lines written just below her portrait.

Another she grabbed showed of the face of a curly haired boy named Run with the teigu Mastema.

"Uh, Akame," Lubbock drew her attention as she was the acting leader with Najenda out of the picture for a bit, "you should see this," Lubbock held out a particularly rumbled parchment to her, the paper hanging over his fingers showing off a mans crossed out face.

[Dr. Stylish]

[Jaeger Squad]

[Teigu: Perfector]

[2-2-3-0]

Akame looked back to Lubbock who just grabbed two blue gloves that were hanging out of the bag. "You don't think he…?" he trailed off looking up to the acting leader.

"I don't know," she answered. "Leone, do you know anything about all of this? Where he got it?" she asked.

"Nope. I didn't even look at it on my way here. So I don't even know what all of that is."

Nodding along Akame sighed, her lips parting about to explain what she thought they were, until someone elses voice interrupted her.

"I can explain that." All heads shot to the doorway to the dinning room. Standing there was Najenda, her arms crossed with a small frown on her face. Behind her a tall robe wearing man, two bull horns poking out the sides of his head.

"Najenda, your back!" Lubbock excitedly exclaimed, going ignored.

"Welcome back." Akame said, "what is all of this?" she waved her hands to the paper.

Najenda grew closer to the table, lifting up the portrait of Dr. Stylish, glancing to the gloves with a frown, "this… is the intel Parc has been collecting about the Jaegers this last month." She said, "he's had an insider near them. Today was supposed to be the first collection of the intel." Lifting a glove from the table she turned it around in her hand, "But, it seems like something happened and he ended up getting caught."

"Considering I've got a teigu that supposedly belongs to one of the Jaegers in my hand, I'm guessing he had a little run in our new friends and won. Then Esdeath appeared and caught him." She placed the glove back down, scanning through the reports one by one to get a general idea of what was inside.

Mouths hung agape at her explanation, "wait, Parc has someone on the inside? Why are we only learning about this now?" Lubbock spoke up his fellow assassins nodding in agreement.

"Safety for the informant, and Parc himself to a lesser extent."

"Safety for who?" Akame had already grown suscpicious from what she said, mixed with the lacking name of her sister bring forth a thought in her head. One she was unsure how to feel about.

"I'm more interested in the how!" Lubbock exclaimed.

Sighing, Najenda lifted her mechanical hand, placing it down on the table with a thunk that caused the entire thing to tremble and water to ripple within their glasses. "You all know his Teigu works right?"

Realization perked through their eyes, but none said anything, letting Najenda continue to explain.

"Well, turns out he got one of the Jaegers themselves under his control," she admitted looking to Akame to watch her reaction to her next sentence, "Akame's sister, Kurome."

That sent spark flying in everyones minds but Akame herself. All gazes shooting between her and Najenda.

"He didn't know how you would react to the news that he'd essentially turned your own sister into his slave. Even if you two aren't particularly close anymore, she is still your sister. He wanted to avoid a conflict with you on that front."

"I…" Akame narrowed her eyes, she wasn't actually particularly displeased with the idea. Sure, it was a disturbing thought, but it wasn't an idea that was foreign to her. She had lived a life as a slave for the Empire before her desertion, and her sister still did. Only now, the control had shifted onto Parc instead of the Empire.

If anyone, she felt the most comfortable with her sister in his hands. As strange as that thought sounded to her. But one thing she noticed in that moment was a little spark in her heart. As the images of her sister and Parc grew closer together. The closer they got the more uncomfortable she became.

'strange…' she thought, frowning at the feeling in her chest.

"I don't mind." She finally said aloud, "so long as he does not abuse his control over her, I don't mind."

Najenda rose a brow, out of all the responses, calm acceptance was low on the list. Especially after all the talk of Akame wanting to kill Kurome she'd heard in the past.

"Um," Mine's voice reverberated through the room, attracting everyones attention to her and Sheele, "what do we do now? We can't just leave Parc in there. Esdeath will kill him."

A snort from Leone alerted everyone to her, "yeah, I doubt that." Leone looked up from the report she'd been reading, "listen to this, *ahem*, Kill on sight orders have been sentenced to all members of Night Raid, except Parc Evans. Esdeath wishes to bring him and and turn him into her lover. With both the Prime Minister and the Emperor willing to release Parc of any major sentencing's so long as he brought under the banner of the Empire."

Leone sucked in a deep breath, refilling her lungs after that one and done sentence, "Esdeath had also requested during the meeting with the Emperor, formal permission to engage Parc to herself upon his conversion to the Empire. Permission was granted."

Leone's cheek quivered and twitched, a grin forming on her face, "Parc's getting married," her chest heaved out a heartjy laugh, "to fucking Esdeath, oh my fucking lord the poor bastard." She wiped a tear from her eye. Noting the irritated glares being sent her direction.

"What, it's funny because of how crap his luck is." No one responded to her. No one wanted to.

"Good. So it seems likely Parc will be fine for the coming future." Najenda nodded. "There's not much else we can do right now but keep watch over the Jaegers and look for an opportunity to help him escape. Akame, I'm cancelling all your current assignments. I want you watching over him."

"Got it."

"Uh, ms. Najenda," Lubbock raised his hand into the air.

"Yes Lubbock?"

Lubbock looked to the man looming behind Najenda was a suspicious eye, "who's he?"

"Susanoo." She answered simply, "a new member of Night Raid, there's another one," she diverted her gaze to the kitten sitting on the edge of table, "though, she's been with you all for a day now."

Smoke puffed out from where the kitten was sitting. The smoke slowly dissipating as the silhouette of girl emerged from within.

"Yo."

***

************

***

And that's how you tease the appearance of the final girl.