A/N:

#1. As always, thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows! Knowing that people are ought there interested in my work is what keeps me going! I have nothing but gratitude towards all of my readers and am sincerely grateful for your longtime support.

#2. This chapter isn't as long as the last one! It's nice, compact and straight to the point as far as the story I'm trying to tell.

#3. I've decided to give the "Wild Hunt" somewhat of an overhaul in terms of characterization. As this fic progresses, that will become more apparent to you all.

#4. Although I said there will only be 12 chapters of this fic in my previous A/Ns, the more I think about how I want to progress this story, there will be probably be more.

With all of that said, let us continue where we left out!

. . . As the smoke cleared . . .

In mere moments, the Port Gavin Inn had been reduced to mere smoke and rubble. And having heard the thunderously loud explosion the guards had caused with their mounted cannon, many nearby Port Gavin residents stepped outside their homes in an effort to see for themselves what was going on in the middle of an otherwise peaceful night. A multitude of guards, however, had been stationed around the scene and would not let any civilians pass.

"Ready another cannon ball and keep the cannon aimed at the rubble!", the guard captain yelled to his underlings stationed at the mounted cannon. "The rest of you are to begin digging through the rubble at once! Keep your rifles locked and ready. Our target is every bit as deadly ultra class danger beast. Exercise extreme caution!"

"YES SIR!", each guard said in unison after giving a firm salute. And so they all began doing just as they had been ordered. Several guards begin pulling in another cannon ball and a number of other guards began searching through the Inn's rubble for their blue haired target.

All the while, the guard captain surveyed the scene with a smug sense of satisfaction, snickering as he postulated on what he was going to do with all the reward money he was going to receive upon collecting Esdeath's bounty. Multiple scenarios ran through his head, including one where he was waited on hand and foot by a great deal of servants and another scenario where he was swimming through an entire room filled with gold pieces. The guard captain was so, in fact, enthused about these vivid daydreams that he neglected to immediately notice a short blond haired young woman walking in front of him; a young woman who was wearing a turquoise ribbon on her head and was sporting a matching innocent-looking turquoise dress with a white apron affixed to it.

This blonde haired woman had walked onto the scene, not at all interested in the rampant destruction that had just taken place. Rather, she seemed to be fixated on what appeared to be a compass in her hands; the compass' arrow was pointing to an area in the midst of the former inn's wreckage and she was steadily walking in that direction.

"Hey!", yelled one of the nearby guard as he noticed this young woman who had somehow gotten pass the guards who had blockaded this area. "What are you doing?! Civilians are not supposed to be back here!"

But the blonde paid this guard no mind, instead following the pathway her compass had laid out for her. "That's interesting", she said to herself, clearly not even acknowledging the guards' existence.

And it was at this point that her actions had caught the guard captain's attention. Of course, not so much her actions as it was the sight of her disregard for the guards' authority (or rather his authority to be more precise ) the thrusted him out of his wealth-craving high and instead more along the lines irritated that someone was potentially trying to get in the way of his early retirement fantasies. With snarls trickling through his gnashing teeth, he looked upon some of the nearby guards with contempt and frustration "Don't just stand there you neanderthals! This woman is impeding the town guards in their duties and trespassing on a secured area. Arrest her at once!"

"Yes sir!", these nearby guards said before approaching this would-be trespasser with the intention of seizing her.

Before they could take another step, however, peculiar humming could be heard all of the sudden. Peculiar humming that for some reason coincided with each of these guards coming to a sudden halt in their efforts to carry out their orders. Not just these guards, but even the guards who had been digging through the inn's rubble. All of them stopped what they were doing, almost as if they were entranced by this sudden humming. Humming that, as seconds passed, began to evolve into a full blown song. A song that was otherwise a lyrical jazz treasure trove and a song that appeared to be coming from someone who had been standing on top of a pile of wreckage several meters away.

"Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!" , a young pink haired woman caroled through a cordless microphone. She had a bob-styled haircut and a bunny ears accessory on her head; she was sporting a mini-dress, a collar, matching wrist bands, two black boots and a stylish pair of glasses. "If you can use some exotic booze, there's a bar in far Sombay! Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!"

Every single guard had suddenly become beguiled with this would-be songstress's lyrics. Not a single one of them felt any compulsion to continue searching through the inn's wreckage, stationing the mounted canon or even blockading the area. All of them, including the guard captain himself, had become passionately fixated on this siren's lyrical wonderland.

"Come fly with me, let's float down to Teru!", she continued, blowing a kiss at the guard captain in-between her lyrics. She definitely appeared to be enjoying herself. "In llama land, there's a one man band, and he'll toot his flute for you! Come fly with me, let's take off in the blue!"

It had gotten to the point where the guards had not only become entranced, but were even cheering, hooting and hollering. All the while, the short blond woman continued to survey the inn's wreckage, only without interference now that all of the guards appeared to be preoccupied.

"Well Dorothea", another voice with a tone of the utmost impatience inquired. "Are they here or not? I've got better things to do than listen to Cosmina do karaoke all night."

To which the short blond woman replied with disinterest, "Ever hear the story of the tortoise and the hare? It's called patience, Syura."

"I've been more than patient about my revenge, Dorothea", Syura scowled with contempt, feeling as if his resolve was being questioned. "Why else would I have taken the time to put together my Wild Hunt?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you're trying to get revenge on an opponent you don't stand a chance in hell against on your own."

The ex-prime minister's son responded by gritting his teeth and walking closer to Dorothea. "Why you little . . ."

"Cut her a break, boss", another figure had said before reassuringly resting his hand on Syura's shoulder. "You know how cranky she gets when someone is interrupting her work." This figure appeared to be a tall man with black hair worn in a top ponytail; he was donned in clothing much like that of a samurai; he had a twig in his mouth and had a katana fastened to his belt.

"I'm not interested in your opinion, Izou!", Szyura spat while batting his hand away. "I'm only interested in results!"

"Which you're not going to find here", Dorothea said, while inspecting a particular piece of stoned rubble much like an archaeologist inspecting an ancient artifact . "Nope, they're definitely long gone."

"Damnit", Syura growled. "Slipped away from me again. How long will it take you to get another lock on their location?"

To which the short young blonde replied, "If I had a better sample to go off of, I could do it within minutes. For now, it's gonna be about eight hours at minimum."

"But they were definitely here, right?", Syura inquired, rubbing his chin in a contemplative fashion.

"Yep", Dorothea nodded before letting out a hearty yawn; she looked as if she were greatly fatigued. "I'm gonna find some place to take a nap. Will meet you all back here in about eight hours or so."

"Izou, where's Champ?", Syura asked, his attention shifting to the would-be samurai.

To which the samurai replied while twiddling the twig in his mouth, "Reckon he said something about wanting to check out the tavern and to come get him when we needed him."

"Typical", Syura said, rubbing the palm of his hand against his face. "Make sure he's not causing any trouble. It's going to be enough of a hassle dealing with Esdeath on this hunt. There's no telling what sort of annoyance other assassins and bounty hunters would add to our troubles if we drew enough attention to ourselves."

"Weather wise, it's such a lovely day! You just say the words and we'll beat the birds down to Cacapulco Bay!", Cosmina caroled, having continued to sing the entire time. While she was singing, she glanced in Syura's direction, almost as if asking him what he wanted her to do while Izou and Champ were preoccupied with investigating their target's whereabouts. "It's perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say!"

Feeling enough of his time had been wasted on nonsense, the Wild Hunt leader began walking away, perhaps with the intention of taking a nap until Dorothea was ready. "We know our target was definitely here recently. See if the guards know anything about it. And make sure to keep them out of our way while we're here."

Understanding her orders loud and clear, the pink haired songstress smirked with satisfaction and sang her next set of lyrics with all the more gusto, "Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly! Pack up, let's fly away!"

. . . She left me no choice . . .

No more than forty-five minutes prior to the guard captain's sneak attack on the Port Gavin Inn, the Inn's owner as well as several guards had been evacuating each inhabited room as quietly as possible. The guard captain had been in such a magnanimous mood that evening that he even permitted his daughter, Cornelia to take part in this operation. It was an assignment he figured even she could not "screw up", but it was certainly a change of pace from her usual chores. It was an easy enough task. Escort every guest aside from the ones located in room 439.

Little did the guard captain know or even understand, however, was the complex series of swirling emotions in her head. He had merely brushed them off earlier that evening when they had their father/daughter talk, but perhaps he had made a mistake. Cornelia walked up to room 439 and upon making certain that no one else was watching her, she began knocking on the door.

After several knocks, Tatsumi groggily opened his eyes and yawned before sitting upright in the bed. "Who could that be?"

"Someone with a death wish it seems", Esdeath yawned before sitting upright as well. "I knew I should have frozen the door."

The former assassin proceeded to get out of their bed and see who it was disturbing them at this late hour. "Cora? What are you doing here?"

The little girl promptly rushed into the room and hurriedly shut the door behind her. "You guys have to get out of here! Fast!"

"Calm down, Cora", Tatsumi said before resting his hands on her shoulders. "What's going on?"

"Esdeath", the little girl said, her eyes directed towards the Ice Queen. "That is your name, right?"

"Hmm", she nodded with a polite smile on her lips. "Come to think of it, I did neglect to properly introduce myself to you in the tavern earlier. How rude of me."

To which the little girl responded by showing the pair a wanted poster with a picture of the Ice Queen in her general attire on it, "I don't know why, but somebody put a bounty on your head. 5 billion dead. 10 billion alive."

"What?!", Tatsumi exclaimed, jumping back in astonishment. "That's way more than anybody in Night Raid was ever worth. Who would put out that high a bounty?"

Esdeath, on the other hand, didn't look even the least bit surprised. She tried to hold in her reaction at first, covering her mouth even, but it was all she could do before the room quickly became filled with bellowed laughter. So much so that she was holding her sides. This revelation was simply too much for her to hold in. "Who would do that, my love? Why none other than my sworn enemy, Prime Minister Najenda. It makes perfect sense. Now that the emperor is her puppet, she has decided to capitalize on a golden opportunity to use me as a scapegoat to further her own ambitions with the surrounding nations. Well that's fine, Najenda. Anyone fool enough to try and collect my bounty is perfectly welcome to provide me with some entertainment. And from the look of things, that will start with Port Gavin's ineptly foolish guard captain."

"Wait a minute", Cornelia pleaded, tugging on the Ice Queen's arm. "You're not about to fight my father, are you? You don't need to do that. If you leave now-"

Esdeath flippantly tugged her arm away, determined to have none of it. "Why in the world would I run away from someone who has gone to so much effort to keep me entertained? That would be rude of me and I've never had any tolerance for rudeness, child."

"She's right", Tatsumi interjected. "If it's a fight we can avoid, we should avoid it. Taking on the Port Gavin guards won't serve any purpose."

The Ice Queen grabbed her clothes off the clothes rack and went behind the vanity screen in the room to change back into her regular attire. "It will for me, Tatsumi. When you're attacked, you have to strike back. Had these men minded their own business, I would've let them be, but they've made the foolish choice to come after me and so they have only themselves to blame for the horrors that are to come."

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?", Tatsumi asked, his eyes narrowed.

"That IS how it's going to be", Esdeath responded before stepping out from the vanity screen in her full attire. "Though if you wish to try and stop me, by all means."

"Okay then", Tatsumi sighed in slight disappointment. "I really didn't want to do this, but if that's how you want to play, I guess you leave me no choice."

"I didn't intend to have our rematch just yet, but if you insist . . .", she smirked before posturing her hands in a position to activate her 'Weissschnabel' technique. "Have at thee!"

Tatsumi gazed upon his battle maniac of a girlfriend, but not with any anger or hostility or even the uncanny sense of calm he maintained throughout their entire previous battle. He didn't even try to reach for Incursio. Instead, he merely shrugged his shoulders and uttered the following words: "From the beginning of this trip until the end, you are not allowed to harm anybody unless I say otherwise. That's my request!"

In that moment, upon hearing those words, it looked as if all the joy and enthusiasm had been sucked out of the Ice Queen. She immediately cursed herself under her breath, having recalled the silly wager she had made with him earlier in the day and the stakes she agreed to be bound to in the unlikely event she lost. A wager she thought herself sure to win and a wager she just lost due to blind stupid luck. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious", Tatsumi responded in a dismissive tone of voice before going behind the vanity screen to put his regular clothes back on as well.

The Ice Queen had found herself in a bit of quandary. Were it any other couple, mere words alone might not have had such power, but Esdeath was different in that respect. She loved Tatsumi more than anyone or anything else in the entire world and had already made it a point earlier that evening to tell him that trust and honesty were the cornerstones of any relationship. And so she wasn't going to go back on her word under any circumstance and Tatsumi knew this. Unfortunately, her love and loyalty had placed her into a situation where she would be unable to do the thing she loved perhaps the second most without someone else's permission. Even if only for a limited amount of time, the thought alone frustrated her to no end.

"Once we've dealt with the Omega Class danger beast, you can do as you like", he said after finally putting his clothes back on and stepping out from behind the vanity screen. "But for now, no fighting unless I say so, alright?"

Within a flash, the Ice Queen had summoned a razor sharp edged ice pick in her right hand and had thrusted it inches away from Tatsumi's left eye. Though her outburst was undoubtedly rooted in anger, there was a part of her hoping that her beloved would walk back on this request, at very least for her sake. Nevertheless, there wasn't a hint of indecision in his eyes and he didn't look the least bit intimidated. Thus, with a long and heavy sigh, she dropped her makeshift ice pick and relented. "Very well."

Cornelia watched this scene play out all the while, dumbstruck at never having seen a couple quite like the pair in this room. "So does that mean you two are not gonna fight?"

"Not tonight anyway", Tatsumi chuckled while patting the little girl on the head and sliding Incursio onto his back. "Now lets get out of here."

. . . Madness . . .

Even though it was well past midnight, activity in Port Gavin had taken a sudden uptick; it was not just due to the antics of the Port Gavin guards. Several medium sized ships had recently arrived at the nearby dockyard. Out from these ships had come legions of battle ready armed men and women. Rifles, pistols swords, battleaxes, spears, halberds and more or less every conventional weapon imaginable. And yet despite how armed every man and woman descending down the boat ramps was, there was no solidarity amongst all of them. Some were in groups and some were lone-wolves, but they most certainly were not a collective army of any sort. Rather, they were mercenaries. Each was a member of what was perhaps one of the most renowned professions throughout Bestimmung. In a culture that prioritized strength and power so much, it only made sense that people who made their living killing people and danger beasts would be held in such regard.

And where was the first place seafaring mercenaries ventured to stop after a long voyage at sea? The tavern of course! Having to endure the doldrums of sitting on a ship rocking back and forth for hours on end, there was but one cure; a cold soothing mug of Bestimmung mead. Indeed, the Port Gavin tavern was bustling far more than it had been earlier in the day as scores of mercenaries were hooting and hollering for mead. Agatha, the crotchety waitress that had given Tatsumi and Esdeath a hard time earlier, had her hands full with orders from bad tempered mercenaries. Agatha did her best to take their orders, but with different people yelling and shouting at her from across the room, it was a difficult task.

"Hold your horses!", she shouted back. "I'll get to you! Just one at a time!"

"Wuz the hold up?!", a voice shouted. "Weez been waitin' 15 minutes and weez still haven't gotten our order!"

The elderly waitress cursed under her breath before grabbing four mugs from behind the bar counter and filling them with mead from one of the kegs nearby. She then brought these mugs to a booth with four thuggish burly looking mercenaries. "There. I'll have the rest of your order out once it's done cooking in the oven."

As Agatha was about to walk away, she felt a hand tug on her waist apron. "Whaddya mean yeel ave the rest of our order out once it's done cookin'?"

Agatha turned to look this mercenary in the eye while ripping her apron out of his thuggish hands. "Your smoked ham needs to be cooked in the oven first. Otherwise, it's gonna be cold!"

The mercenary quickly got up from out of his seat and quickly backhanded her face hard enough to send her to the floor like a ragdoll. "Wut the hell kinda town is this? It's one thing that you dun even have an inn for us to sleep at, but now you dun even have the grub ready on time? I oughta' bash your brains in you dumb cunt!"

"Now now my friend, there's no need for any of that", said a soothing voice followed by someone who had just now sauntered into the tavern. Everyone within the tavern had stopped yelling and shouting at this point, perhaps due to the scene the thuggish mercenary had just created as well as the entrance of the man who had just walked in. And quite a presence this man had going for him; he was an overweight, dark-skinned man with puffs of dark curly hair above his ears; he was wearing clown-like makeup and clothing, as well as a small baseball hat with a smiley face on it.

"Eh, waita' minute. I know you. Yer dat fatass freakshow dat wuz with those other weirdos dat sailed in with us earlier. Just who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

"Who am I? In this dreck-filled tale? Hmm", he chuckled while walking up to Agatha, bending down and helping her up. "Yes . . . why I'm just tonight's entertainment."

"Entertainment?", the thuggish mercenary laughed. "The fuck does that even mean?"

"It means that you gentleman are in for quite a show!, he exclaimed while tipping his hat. "But before we do that, how about another drink for everybody ON THE HOUSE!", he shouted the last three words with extra emphasis. Words that were met with jubilant cheers from every mercenary in the tavern.

"This is my kinda guy!", the thuggish mercenary laughed before sitting back down in his booth.

Agatha, who had detected the taste of salt in her mouth quickly spat it out. Blood and two teeth at that.

"Good heavens. This just won't do", the clown remarked while handing her a handkerchief he removed from his shirt pocket.

The old crotchety waitress proceeded to wipe the blood off of her mouth, but showed no appreciation for the efforts of her would-be savior. "I don't know what you meant by 'on the house', but nobody gets mead for free in this tavern, got it?"

To which the clown replied, "My utmost apologies, ma'am! I'll be footing the bill of course. I merely wanted to put you in the good graces of our esteemed audience of course."

"Whatever", Agatha shrugged before walking back to the enclosed kitchen area with the clown following suit.

Minutes later, the clown stepped out from the kitchen area with two large wide-round serving trays raised up and laying flat on both of his hands with shockingly enough mugs of mead to serve everyone within the tavern, yet again earning the jubilant cheers of every mercenary that was present. "Our good and fair waitress is tending to all of your entrees as we speak, but in the mean time, to hell with your sorrows, drink your way to tomorrow and enjoy the show!"

With an unparalleled show of dexterity, the clown tossed one of the serving trays he had been holding like a frisbee into the general vicinity. And through some means or fashion, each and every mug of mead not only landed on a table in front of half of the mercenaries present, but not a single one of them spilled even a single drop. The clown then proceeded to throw the other tray in the same fashion, producing the exact same miraculous results for the remaining mercenaries, causing all of them to not only clamor in astonishment, but to give more cheers and applause.

"How'd he do that!", yelled one of them.

"Now that's what I call entertainment!", yelled another.

"I told yah!", yelled the thuggish mercenary from earlier. "This is my kinda guy!"

"Yes, my friends!", the clown exclaimed. "When life gives you trouble, when it's too much for you to bear, DRINK IT ALL AWAY! INDULGE YOURSELVES UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT!"

Amidst drinking their freshly filled mugs, the mercenaries' cheers grew even louder, even more spirited.

Smiling at the happy go lucky scene before him, the clown began to chuckle. Tipping his hat once more, he began to make his way towards the exit door. "For when you remove everything else in this equation called life . . ."

Suddenly, all of the cheers, applauses and laughs in the room were snuffed out entirely with a different sound; the sounds of choking, convulsing and asphyxiation. ". . . all that remains is madness."

As the clown finally made his way out of the tavern, he noticed the samurai of Syura's Wild Hunt, Izou the Wanderer, leaning up against a nearby lamp post, sucking on the twig in his mouth as usual. "Stirring up more trouble, Champ?"

"Stirring up trouble? Mwah?", the clown responded with jovial laughter. "Tell me, dearest Izou, when you see a string of dominoes lined up and curiosity beckons you to give the first one in line a push, are you anymore to blame for what happens next than the hapless fool who set these dominoes up in the first place?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, the samurai retorted, "Regardless of its cause, a dead body is a dead body and you, my friend, have a trail of dead bodies behind you. A trail that will probably lead to other mercenaries looking to profit off of. Especially in this country. And the last thing we need is the attention of endless mercenaries while we're trying to track down Esdeath."

Wagging his index finger in disagreement, however, Champ did not appear to agree with the wandering samurai's conclusion. "A dead body is just that, my dear boy. A body incapable of telling a tale, so they say. And thus society will be inclined to rely upon other avenues when attempting to determine what happened here."

"Other avenues? What are you going on about?", Izou asked.

"An avenue society absolutely loves trailing down. Circumstantial evidence!", the clown laughed. "Circumstantial evidence portrays quite the intriguing tale in this instance; the tale of an old, overworked and underappreciated barmaid, who after years of having to deal with the brutish demands of mercenaries . . . finally snapped and poisoned every glass of mead she served them, ultimately sending each and every one of them to their early reward. But alas, the poor old woman could not bare her own unspeakable acts and thus attempted to take her own life. Fortunately for society, fate had other plans, her suicide attempt failed and though unconscious at the moment, she remains amongst the living so that she may face justice for her wicked deeds!"

"You hear that, kousetsu? What a waste.", Izou shook his head, his attention directed towards his sheathed katana. "He went and poisoned all of those idiots when you would've been just as happy to take their blood."

"Where is our fearless leader, by the way?", Champ asked, now smirking. "Given how you were casually waiting out here for me, I take it our ice princess is in another castle."

The samurai nodded his head in response. "Looks like Dorothea is gonna be nappin for a while."

"Tsk tsk", Champ remarked, shaking his head. "We really need to do something about these 8 hour leaps our target keeps getting ahead of us. It will take forever to catch them at this rate."

. . . I didn't understand . . .

Were one to travel north of Port Gavin, after clearing through the bordering forest, one would find themselves crossing over miles of vast, mostly flat, treeless areas with minimal vegetation; and at this time of year, despite the readily low temperatures, one would encounter very little snow. In other words, this region wasn't particularly known for its awe-inspiring scenery; a fact Tatsumi and Esdeath had become all too acquainted with after the sun had finally risen several hours ago. Yet that didn't stop them from racing further and further away from Port Gavin via horseback.

Tatsumi made a mental note of how Cornelia had not only helped them escape the inn without being seen, but had further assisted them in borrowing two horses from the guard barracks' stables. To top it all off, she had even secured them a map of Bestimmung. She had done all of these things to help them despite the ire she would surely earn from her guard captain father were he to learn of the role she had in their escape. She had done all of these things to help them despite the twisted sense of right and wrong many of these people in this country appeared to prioritize. The former Night Raid assassin could not help but admire the strength this little girl had managed to muster despite learning what had happened to her older brother earlier that evening.

With a frown having curved its way onto his lips, however, seeds of guilt began to fester in his heart. This little girl had done so much for them, but he had essentially left her in the lion's den to fend for herself. There was no telling what would happen if it was found out that she aided them in their escape. Yet, it was as Esdeath had pointed out before they had gone to bed. What was he supposed to do? Kidnap her and take her with them on this dangerous hunt for the Omega Class danger beast? Or perhaps impose his will on her father by beating him into submission? What was the right thing to do? No matter how much he pondered on the matter, he couldn't come up with an answer he was satisfied with.

Still racing alongside him on her stallion, Esdeath briefly glanced in her love's direction. She had gotten to know him well enough at this point that she could tell when he was reflecting upon something in deep contemplation. She suspected she knew what he was thinking, but was nonetheless irritated with him. From her perspective, if Tatsumi's concern was about Cornelia's well-being, she could have easily made short-work of anyone who would have dared lay a finger on that little girl; she most certainly would have done so if not for him having decided to use that wager they had made earlier to keep her from fighting anyone she chose. And yet despite her irritation, there was the gentler side of her that had been festering since the day she met him; there was a part of her that simply wanted to comfort him with a gesture a simple as wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close to her bosom.

Before she even knew it, she had began to steer her stallion closer to Tatsumi's with her right hand reached out towards him. Inching closer and closer, she didn't know what she was doing, but felt a strong compulsion to do so nevertheless. Yet before she could reach out to him . . .

"Chelsea!", Tatsumi shouted before sharply veering his stallion away to the right down a small incline all of the sudden.

"Who?! What?!", Esdeath shouted with an surprised look in her eyes. With a glance in the direction he was suddenly trotting in, beyond the small incline he had trotted down, she noticed what appeared to be a series of stagecoach wagons several hundred yards over yonder; there were at least fifty of them. The stagecoach wagons appeared to be parked with various people surrounding them. She wondered if Tatsumi noticed someone with his enhanced visual acuity just then.

Upon getting within a couple of yards of these wagons and people, the Incursio wielder hopped off his horse with his attention focused on a dolled up young woman who was dressed in a thick-white fur coat and was leaning up against one of the stagecoaches while several people in front were carting supplies. To Tatsumi's bemusement, however, the young woman was the spitting image of a woman he had known all too well; auburn hair, pink eyes, nonchalant and an oral fixation with some kind of lollipop in her mouth. "Chelsea? Is that really you?!"

"I'm sorry, but . . . who are you exactly?", the young woman replied after removing the item in her mouth; an item which was not some kind of lollipop, as Tatsumi suspected, but rather a cigarette.

"Oh . . .", he remarked with disappointment lingering in his voice, immediately realizing he had made a mistake; the discerning truth was that the real Chelsea would never substitute a lollipop for a cigarette "Sorry. You look just like a friend I used to know."

"This twerp giving you trouble, Ms. Lovecraft", said an approaching tall and burly bald man dressed in a suit and sunglasses; clearly a bodyguard of sorts.

"No, Bruno. He's just a big fan of my work", she replied after puffing a whiff of smoke into the air. "Be a doll and tell the boys to take five. I'd like to have a little chat with my adoring fan inside."

"As you wish", he said with a bow before directing his attention to the men carting supplies. "Alright ladies: Ms. Lovecraft said take five! After that, all of our camping equipment better be tucked away and your asses had better be ready to go!"

With that, the auburn haired woman flicked her cigarette bud away, opened the doors to the stagecoach she was leaning on and stepped right in. "Lets talk."

Esdeath, meanwhile, was observing the pair from a distance up the incline with her eyes squinted. "Damn you, Tatsumi. If I go down there, there's a distinct possibility that someone will recognize me from my wanted poster; which I wouldn't mind if not for that foolish condition you imposed on me. Still, who is that woman you're talking to and why are you going inside that stagecoach with her . . . alone? And what is this tightening feeling in my chest all of the sudden?"

Once Tatsumi stepped inside the stagecoach, he couldn't help but notice the lavish interior within; comfortable red velvet cushioned seats, gold rimmed door panels, an iced wine rack and a gold trimmed vanity mirror; this stage coach was fit for someone of royal lineage. Only this woman did not appear to be someone of royalty.

"Now then", she remarked while looking into the mirror and beginning to apply makeup. "With whom do I owe the pleasure of making your acquaintance?"

"Tatsumi, ma'am", he said while politely bowing his head.

"Sincerely good manners", she giggled. "You don't see that all too often in this country. Now lets see . . . Tatsumi . . . Tatsumi . . . Tatsumi", she openly pondered, rubbing her chin. "Nope, never heard of you. But it would seem you've heard of my big sister."

"Big sister? Chelsea's your big sister?", he replied.

"Well, more like twin sister, but she was technically born 22 seconds before I was. Always has lorded that over me. How's she holding up? It's been a couple of years since I've seen her. Is she still a complete bitch?"

Taken aback for a moment, the ex-assassin realized that it had not even occurred to him that Chelsea might have had family members, much less that no one had made them aware of her fate. He pondered for a moment as to whether he ought to even tell her, given that she had been a member of Night Raid and thus a member of a group that murdered people for a living. On the other hand, it had occurred to him that at very least, her sister had the right to know whether Chelsea was still alive. "Well that's the thing", Tatsumi said with a frown forming on his lips, not knowing quite how to phrase what needed to be said. "Chelsea is . . ."

"Still a complete bitch", Ms. Lovecraft remarked, still giggling. "You don't need to tell me. I know all about her medical school application."

To which Tatsumi replied, openly confused. "Her what?"

"Ha, it's no secret", she said, having stopped applying makeup, only to turn and shift her gaze upon Tatsumi directly. "She's been talking about medical school for years. Not just any medical school, but the elite Redthorn Academy. Based on the look on your face earlier, I'm guessing she left you high and dry without saying so much as a word."

"She really has no idea", he thought, barely able to contain his disbelief.

"Yep, she did the same to me before doing a little vanishing act a couple of years ago. I'll give it to sis, though. Somehow, she really has made dad proud. You might not know this, but the Lovecrafts have always been known for their masterful sense of thespianism. Stretching all the way back to our great great great grandfather, Sir Roderick Lovecraft and his brilliant performance in 'The King and his Sword', theater has always been in our blood. Ever since the day I was born, I, the great Helen Patricia Lovecraft, have been destine for success. A destiny which my twin sister should be sharing at my side. And yet one day, dad filled some nonsense in her head about going out and being her own person. She left our estate back then and has not come back sense. Truly a bitch I'm afraid."

"You haven't heard from her?", he asked.

"She sends us letters every now and then. And dad simply won't shut up about her recent acceptance into medical school. But dear old dad is getting up there in years, so if that's what makes him happy, I guess I can put up with it."

"You . . . don't say", said Tatsumi, seemingly with the proverbial cat having gotten his tongue.

"But enough about my relationship with her. I want to hear about yours", she said with the utmost interest and enthusiasm.

"My relationship with Chelsea, huh. I guess you could say we started off as . . . coworkers. She didn't really get along with anybody at first", he remarked, recalling how they had first met and how she had openly insulted Night Raid for the carelessness the team had displayed through Bulat and Sheele's deaths. "But the more we worked together, the more I began to see that there was more to her than meets the eye. And before I knew it, we had become pretty close friends."

Eyes beaming with enthusiasm and with her chin resting in her hands, Helen replied,"Close friends with sis? This I have got to hear! And don't skimp out on the details, Sir Tatsumi!"

Esdeath was still observing the scene out of sight from Helen's entourage. And as time had passed, she had crossed her arms and had begun impatiently tapping an elbow with her eyes squinted. "It's been 20 minutes since they went inside that stagecoach. Just what in blue blazes are they doing in there . . . alone? Damnit. If they don't come out soon, I swear I'll . . ."

Indeed, it had been 20 minutes since the pair had entered the stagecoach together. Nothing salacious had been going on of course. Rather, Tatsumi was merely regaling Ms. Lovecraft with stories of her older sister; various anecdotes and their antics and adventures. Of course, he made certain not to mention any details about Night Raid, the nature of Chelsea's true profession or her fate, but he did nevertheless honor the younger sibling's request not to 'skimp out on the details.'

"That's just too rich!", Helen guffawed while slapping one of her knees. "I knew she was a bitch, but she actually held a pair of scissors in her hands the entire time?!"

"True story", Tatsumi laughed, holding one of his hands up as if to swear. "And that is how I finally learned the tango."

Before Helen could inquire any further, she heard a knock on the stagecoach window adjacent to where she was sitting. She turned to look in that direction, only to see her bodyguard, Bruno, notably tapping his wristwatch. With a sigh, she nodded her head before turning back to Tatsumi. "Unfortunately, we're on a deadline and need to get back moving. Such is the life of an esteemed actress I'm afraid."

"Where are you headed?", Tatsumi asked.

"To Hertz. Steel Festival starts in two weeks and we're going to have our hands setting up for the play as well as some of the events."

"That's actually where I'm headed; to Hertz anyway."

"Truly?", she smiled, her eyes yet again beaming. "Then this is perfect! Why don't you travel with us then? We've got plenty of food and camping supplies. You can ride with me personally. I'd love to hear more stories about sis."

"Well . . .", Tatsumi answered, pausing to consider the thought. The prospect of free food, shelter and transportation while venturing to their intended destination was certainly promising. On the other hand, the ex-assassin suddenly pictured the mental image of a chibi Esdeath laughing with wicked glee as everybody surrounding her tried to attack her in order to get the bounty on her head. They had gotten lucky in Port Gavin, but now that he knew just how many gold pieces the Ice Queen was worth, Helen's proposal simply wasn't worth the hassle. "Sorry . . . but I can't travel with you."

"Why not?", Helen asked, hoping he would change his mind if she prodded the matter. "Is it Bruno? He's like that with everybody. Besides, this is my production company and I'm the one in charge. No one will give you any trouble here. I promise."

"It's not that", he said while grinning and rubbing the back of his head. "I'm traveling with a friend and . . . I guess you could say she's kind of shy. Not just kind of shy, but really really shy. Super shy in fact! She doesn't like being around other people for too long."

To which the auburn haired actress could not help but sigh in disappointment. "Fine, but do please come see me when you get to Hertz. I haven't had such riveting conversation with anyone in a long time. Promise you will come see me again."

"Sure!', he nodded. "You can count on it."

"As to your shy friend, I'd love to meet her. Get her out of her shell so to speak, but I imagine she'd be hard pressed to work up the courage were we to talk right now."

Still grinning and rubbing the back of his head, Tatsumi thought, "Esdeath? Courage? Geez, if she only knew!"

Helen proceeded to open the doors and step out from the stagecoach with Tatsumi following her in her steed. "In my experience, I've found that shyness is best overcome with kindness. To show your friend that she has nothing to fear from me, I shall give her a gift: This stagecoach and everything inside. Tell her friend that I officially bequeath this to her."

"What?", Tatsumi asked with a surprised look on his face. "But this is your stagecoach. Don't you need it to get to Hertz?"

"Sir Tatsumi! Do you not see how many stagecoaches I have out here? Did you not hear me earlier? This is my production company after all. And the loss of one mere stagecoach is of no inconvenience to the great Helen Patricia Lovecraft!"

"Well . . . thanks then", he replied with a big and cheerful smile on his face.

"And thank you for the riveting conversation!" she giggled while Bruno escorted her into another stagecoach while several other men untied the horses that had been strapped to the front of the stagecoach their employer was now giving away. "Don't forget your promise!"

Tatsumi had begun waving goodbye "I won't! I'll make sure to come see you in Hertz!"

"Until we meet again, Sir Tatsumi", she said before blowing a kiss in a grandiose and exaggerated fashion.

With that, Helen and her production company proceeded to venture forward via all of their horses and stagecoaches. And in almost no time, Tatsumi was left there in an empty field at his lonesome, albeit with the stallion he road in on as well as the stagecoach the twin sister had left behind. Indeed, he was completely and utterly at his loneso- . . . hoofbeats. The ex-assassin could hear hoofbeats trampling in his direction all of the sudden. He looked towards the small incline he had ridden down earlier only to see that Esdeath's horse had charged straight down and was hoofing towards his general vicinity. The Ice Queen wasn't riding it, however.

Noticing something in the corner of his eyes, Tatsumi looked up in the air and saw his radiant blue haired companion swooping down towards him; she must've leapt off her horse before he even noticed. With confusion in his eyes, he yelled out, "Hey! Waittaminute, what are you-"

But before he could finish his sentence, the Ice Queen had tackled him to the ground; she had secured herself firmly on his chest, had used her knees to pin his shoulders down into place and was scowling down upon his face. "Quick question, my love: In regards to this condition that I refrain from harming anyone without your permission for the remainder of this trip, does that include you?"

"Nope", Tatsumi responded with a surprisingly straight-face. "Just everyone el-... YOWTCH"

"Good!", she retorted before he could even finish his sentence.

After a few surprisingly creative yet pain-filled minutes had passed, the Ice Queen dusted off her hands while finally getting up off from her boyfriend's chest and standing up. The scowl on her face had been replaced with a content smile and her demeanor had changed completely. "You know . . . that was surprisingly . . . therapeutic. We should do that more often."

"Yeah . . . ", said Tatsumi as he achingly got up. ". . . lets not."

"Who was that woman by the way and what were you and her doing inside this stagecoach . . . alone?", she replied, shuddering in disgust as she uttered that last word.

"Geez", Tatsumi said, popping his neck as if the ease the trauma he had just endured for the past several minutes. "Is THAT what this is about? We were just talking."

"For that matter, how do you know her?"

"For starters, her name is Helen Patricia Lovecraft and I didn't know her; she just happened to look just like her sister who was a member of Night Raid", he replied, having proceeded to popping his shoulders."

To which Esdeath replied with a surprised look in her eyes, "Helen Patricia Lovecraft? The Helen Patricia Lovecraft?"

"You know her?"

"Not quite, but I have heard of her. I've never gotten to see her plays, but I have listened to all of her opera records. She's got quite a voice. But that doesn't explain why she left you this stagecoach or why she . . . blew you a kiss", the Ice Queen remarked, shuddering in disgust once more as she uttered those last four words.

To which the ex-assassin answered, having proceeded to stretching his arms. "The stagecoach is actually for you."

"For me?", Esdeath asked before glancing towards this alleged gift and examining its features with her own eyes. "And what would prompt such charity from such a renowned actress?"

"She's just a really nice person I guess", he said, once again grinning while rubbing the back of his head. "She actually wanted us to come with her to Hertz, but I turned her down for . . . pretty obvious reasons."

"5 to 10 billion obvious reasons I suppose", she remarked, still inspecting the lone stagecoach. She opened a storage compartment in the back, quickly noticing various supplies and other items. "But that doesn't explain her excessive generosity."

"She's rich", he shrugged. "Honestly, I don't get why you're so hung up about her."

"I'm not 'hung up about her'", she said, with passive-aggressive emphasis on the last four words. "I'm simply skeptical of her true intentions . . . whatever they may be. Which is why you absolutely will not speak with her again unless I am present."

"Which would be fine by me if not for those 5 to 10 billion reasons you just referred to", he said with a sigh.

"Thanks to your new . . . friend, that will no longer be a problem", she smirked with satisfaction, her eyes fixated on the compartment in the back of the stagecoach. She removed what appeared to be many many different coat hung outfits. And from the look of things, they were various stage-play costumes: One of a cat burglar, another of a werewolf, another of a sailor, another of a pirate, another of a clown, another of a caveman, another of a bride, another of a queen and so on and so on. Of course, not all of the outfits were the same size, much less ideal, but several of them appeared to be to the Ice Queen's liking. "General Esdeath won't have to flee every plebeian simpleton on sight. Not when she's nowhere to be found."

At this point, Tatsumi had walked over to where his blue haired companion was standing so that he could get a better look at the outfits that had caught her attention. "I see. So you plan to hide in plain sight?"

"It's not 'hiding', Tatsumi", she said with clear emphasis on her disdain of the h-word she refused to be associated with . . . at least in this context. "In light of my wanted poster, my new wardrobe will merely make me less conspicuous. The only question now is what to wear."

"Won't your hair still . . .", he said before pausing with a fierce blush on his face. "Whoa! Wait! What are you doing?!"

To which Esdeath bluntly replied, having begun to remove her blouse. "Changing clothes."

"B-but you can't do that here out in the open!", he stammered, his face only a few shades lighter than his eyes.

"This again?", she chuckled. "At this point, it's not like there is anything you haven't seen before."

"No way!", he continued to stammer. "We're in the middle of an open field. You can't."

"Oh very well, my love", she laughed, readily amused by her boyfriend's seemingly chaste antics before grabbing several of the outfits, opening one of the stagecoach doors and stepping up inside. "I'll change in here." She closed the door behind her and gave a playful wink before lowering what appeared to be a set of curtains on each window."

Tatsumi, on the other hand, sighed in relief before walking to the front of the stagecoach and noting multiple straps that horses had previously been tied to. He then took the time to guide his horse as well as Esdeath's horse to the front, only to fasten them both in place afterwards.

"Well Tatsumi, what do you think?", she said, have stepped out of the stagecoach.

The Incursio-wielder walked back to the side to have a look upon the Ice Queen, but could not believe what she was wearing; it was a cerulean shaded royal robe with mink fur trims as well as an almost skin tight fine linen cerulean silhouette dress; to top it off, she was even wearing a tiara on her head; without a doubt, she was truly dressed for the part of an 'ice queen.' Tatsumi, of course, was left scratching his head, wondering why she would think this kind of outfit would not draw any unnecessary attention in her direction. "Didn't you say you were trying to go for something less conspicuous?"

"Silence, knave!", she mock-shouted while pointing her finger at him in an aristocratic fashion. "Queen Esdeath shall be as conspicuous as she desires!"

"Queen Esdeath?", he asked, covering his mouth and doing his best to hide his light snickers. "What's gotten into her? A minute ago, it felt like she was mad at me. So what brought this on all of the sudden?"

Esdeath conjured a makeshift ice scepter out of thin air only to then walk up to Tatsumi and point it at him. "Kneel before your queen!"

"She's really getting into this."With a shrug of his shoulders and another light chuckle, he knelt down before her like a knight of legend. "Yes, your majesty!"

"What is thy title, young knight?"

To which he replied, almost hamming up the part. "Sir Tatsumi, my lady! Knight and Champion of Justice!"

Doing her best not to laugh, she replied with her scepter held out over his back, "Very well, Sir Tatsumi! Henceforth, you shall be my Knight and Champion of Justice!"

"It would be my honor, my lady!", he said, still kneeling, now with his head bowed with playful reverence.

"As your first task as knight, your queen commands you to cut down all of her enemies!"

"As your knight", he said, doing his best not to chuckle. "I shall stand in the way of your enemies and shall defend my lady with my life!"

"Hmm", she pondered, inquisitively tapping her chin. "Then again, if you slay all of my enemies, that won't leave any for me, will it? What good is being a queen if I can't fight my own battles?"

Tatsumi raised his head just enough so that their eyes would meet. Then, with a grin on his face, he responded, "If your majesty requires an opponent to be satisfied, she can always face her loyal knight! As long as your loyal knight is around, your majesty will never have need for another opponent again."

For a brief moment, she felt a faint blush on her cheeks. She could not really explain where it had come from all of the sudden, but dismissed it nevertheless with a click and overt clearing of her throat. "Very well, young knight. Henceforth, you shall be your queen's opponent and your opponents shall be your queen's! Now rise!"

Nodding his head while still seemingly hamming up the part, Tatsumi promptly stood up from his kneeled position. He gazed upon the Ice Queen, expecting her to be amused as she made additional queenly demands. And yet to his surprise, it was as if her playful side had been whisked away all of the sudden; she looked uncharacteristically timid and uncertain; she had even gone as far as shifting her gaze away from him.

"So . . . all kidding aside . . . how do I look?"

"Um . . .", he stammered, now even more taken aback at the seeming randomness of her question. "You look pretty good I guess."

To which the Ice Queen sighed before tossing her makeshift ice-scepter away and walking back into the stagecoach.

"What was that about?", he scratched his head in bewilderment. Usually, her shifting temperaments would involve her being flirtatious at one moment and battle-crazy at another, but this, whatever it was, was something else entirely. Anger, passive anger, playfulness, uncertainty, frustration. Yet another sudden quirk in her behavior, but he could not grasp why.

A few minutes later, Esdeath came right back out of the stagecoach, dressed in a completely different outfit; she was wearing a loose long sleeved linen white shirt, a pair of black pants, black leather gloves, high-heeled black boots, an unbuttoned navy blue buccaneers jacket and a navy blue tricorne hat; in other, she was dressed very much like a pirate captain. "This suits me much better", she said, smirking with satisfaction.

"But your hair", Tatsumi remarked, eyeing the Ice Queen's new apparel up and down while walking around her. "Isn't it kind of a dead giveaway?"

"Blue hair is pretty common up north, but just to be on the safe side . . .", Esdeath replied, beaming with confidence before tying her hair into a long pony-tail and securing it with a black hairband. "That should do it!"

"Well you definitely look the part, Es-. . .", he said, pausing before he could utter her name; it had suddenly dawned on him that he wouldn't be able to call her by the name of a notoriously wanted woman when they were out in public. In a city as populated as Hertz, surely even mentioning the name Esdeath would be enough to make various heads turn.

Luckily, however, the Ice Queen was two steps ahead of her boyfriend on this matter. "Gehrman. Captain Maria L. Gehrman."

"So we're pirates now?", Tatsumi remarked, shuddering at just the mere thought of a chibi Ice Queen laughing malevolently on a pirate ship while a chibi version of himself indignantly steered at the helm.

To which Esdeath replied with an all the more smug smile. "It's either pirates or you let me handle this bounty situation the way I wanted to handle it in the first place. Which will it be, my love?"

With but a single sigh, Tatsumi acknowledged defeat. "Fine. Pirates it is."

"Pirates it is, what?!", she replied with that smug smile now imprinted onto her lips.

"Yeah yeah", he shrugged with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Pirates it is, Captain."

"That's what I thought", she retorted with triumphant laughter. "Now then, to Hertz at once!"

. . . She left him no choice . . .

Significantly further northwest was the famed Bestimmung city of Hertz. The very place Tatsumi had visited Chelsea the last time he had been in this country and also the very place he was currently seeking to travel to once again. A proud, wealthy and industrious city and the home of much of Bestimmung's elite; it was perhaps a polar opposite of Port Gavin.

Hours had passed since Tatsumi's encounter with the famous Helen P. Lovecraft and the sun had gone back down. And true to the weather Bestimmung was famous for, a snowstorm had festered its way into the area; weather northerners had grown well accustomed to, but not weather the typical northerner would be foolish enough to stay in without seeking shelter. As such, the streets of Hertz were mostly empty. This was especially the case for the wealthier citizens who lived in estates.

In one such estate, there was a well-dressed middle aged woman with crown braided blue hair sitting in a lounge chair near the fireplace in what could only be described as the den area. And not just any den, but a den full of mounted stuffed danger beast heads hoisted up on the walls: class one ice wolves, a class one ice rhino, a class one earth dragon, a class one ice-bear and even the armor of a supreme class headless hunter.

The flames from the fire place danced restlessly as this middle-aged woman watched, apparently content with gazing upon this sight for hours on end, sipping a cool tall glass of red wine every several minutes as she watched. Once her glass eventually became empty, she decided to grab the bottle she had set on the end table next to her chair. And as she began pouring herself another glass, she paused for a moment.

She suddenly ceased her fixation on the dancing blaze in front of her, instead more fixated on her glass of wine. Narrowing her eyes, she noticed something on her glass; she noticed a reflection. "At first, I pitied your existence. Trapped in an endless sea of madness. But the more I watch, the more I wonder if perhaps you're the lucky one. After all, what is madness but to no longer be burdened by your own inhibitions?"

Within the reflection on the middle-aged woman's glass was none other than a young girl with short black hair and black eyes; a young girl who wore an all too familiar black sailor uniform; it was none other than the crazed former Jaeger, Kurome. And 'crazed' was perhaps an understatement at that moment as she stood adjacent to the middle aged woman with an axe-crazy smile on her face and with a kitchen butcher knife in her hand. She didn't appear to have yatsufusa equipped, but that alone was hardly a significant handicap to a professional killer like herself.

Without saying a word,she lunged towards the middle aged woman while practically emanating with bloodlust. Yet before she could do the dirty deed, a strong pair of arms swiftly wrapped themselves around the black eyed girl's neck; the two arms readily locked themselves into a sleeper hold position. Though she struggled at first, it was to no avail; within seconds, she had lost consciousness.

And who would so quickly put this former Jaeger down and out? None other than the current wielder of Grand Chariot of course: Wave. Despite being dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers, he was more than up to the task. And yet despite his swift victory, he looked anything but pleased with his actions. Rather, a frown had formed on his lips and his eyes radiated with nothing but disappointment and regret.

A/N: And there we are with yet another chapter complete!

Love it? Hate it? Had to have been written by a complete and total hack? Meh? Feel free to leave a review! Feedback is always appreciated! As are follows and favorites! Thanks again and look forward to the third chapter as soon as I get around to it!