Miles away from the Imperial Capital, in a small port town, were a few familiar figures. A man with black hair and icy blue eyes with black markings upon his slightly tan colored skin was talking to the Captain of a ship he and his party were to take.

Behind him, about a few feet away, were three females, two women and a young girl. One of the women had black hair that was as close to a raven's feathers, accompanied with red eyes, while the other had auburn hair and red eyes, close to the color of a ruby red. And lastly, the young girl had an aesthetic of pink. Long pink hair with bangs that hung just above her pink eyes, and a pink outfit to go with her.

As she watched her adoptive father talk with the shipmaster, the girl then looked up at her adoptive mother and aunt.

Air: "Mother? Auntie? Is Father still trying to gain us passage?"

Akame: (sigh) "He is. Although... This is taking longer than usual."

Chelsea: "I'll say," she says, resting a hand on her hip. "Everything else has been going smoothly, and yet it's still taking us forever to even get a ship we can board on. ...He really didn't think this through, didn't he?"

Akame: "You can't really blame him, Chelsea. We all decided to come with him on a whim when he meant for this to be a trip solely for him."

Air: "But we can't leave Father alone... Right...?"

The young girl looked up at her adoptive mother with expecting eyes, wanting her to agree. Of course, that was the correct answer. Akame simply smiled and laughed as she crouched down and kissed her daughter's forehead, making her giggle at the receiving of affection. However, when they looked back to the icy blue-eyed man, he was shaking his head in annoyance, his fingers rubbing his temple as he seemed to be irritated.

Worried, Akame ran up to her husband and soon hugged him. Her arms snaked around his neck as her love instantly relaxed in her embrace, his hands soon wrapping around her waist as he let out a sigh.

Akame: "Is something the matter, love?"

She released the hug and rested her hands on his shoulders. The icy blue-eyed man, Akira, simply sighed again and shook his head.

Akira: "Not really. But..."

Akame: "But what?" She raised her eyebrows.

Akira: "They said that the next ship to take us to Wakoku will be tomorrow morning. So we're stuck here for the night."

Chelsea: "'Wakoku'? I thought you said it was Jinwa."

Akira: "I thought it was, according to Rongo Rongo. Apparently I was wrong. In any case, I'll go over to the local inn and book us two rooms. I'll be back, you three go find us somewhere to eat lunch. And for the love of god, don't spend all our money." 

Akame: "No promises."

Akira: "I forget how much of a glutton you are," he groaned in annoyance. "Ow!"

Akame: "Just because you're my husband, doesn't mean I can possibly ignore what you just said!"

Akira: "Even if it's true?"

Akame: "Sh-Shut up!"

The ravenette blushed madly as she kept slamming her fists against the man's chest, although the strikes were quite weak. It was clear to Chelsea and Air that they were just play fighting... Although, they were attracting quite the amount of attention. Soon enough, they did just as they had planned. They rented out two rooms at the inn for the night and went out to eat lunch before they roamed around the port town for a bit. Once sundown had arrived, they returned to said inn so they could sleep and catch the early morning.

Later that night, however, Akira could be seen looking out the window, his hands leaning against the window sill. He was lost in thought. Lately, he had been receiving visions.

Visions of the distant past. His past.

In these visions of his, they were always the same. He was in a boat, cowering in fear as he was huddled up in one of the ends of the boat, a storm raging on as the boat rocked and reeked as it crossed over large waves. It was like he was waiting for his small boat to be toppled over, never to reach the destination he doesn't even know where. The only thing that could keep him comfort, however, was the same raven skull necklace he had gotten since his birth. 

Though those questions had always lingered in his mind. Who was he, really? Where did he come from? Who were his parents? Did they ever love him?

He soon grunted as he shook his head of such thoughts. If he dwindled on them any longer, he knew he wouldn't get much sleep. Especially since a long ride over the ocean awaited them. Before he could head back to the bed, he felt arms wrap around him comfortingly, the black-haired man letting out a content sigh as he leaned into the embrace of his wife. Akame then kissed his cheek, soon whispering into his ear lovingly.

Akame: "What are you doing up so late?"

Akira: "Nothing," he replied with a deep sigh. "Just... Thinking. That's all."

Akame: "You know you can always talk to me about it. Was it those nightmares again?"

Akira: "No... They weren't nightmares. Just... Some old memories from when I was younger. Much younger."

Akame: "You know... You never told me much of your past."

Akira: "That's right. I don't remember much of it. From where I come from, at least. The only thing I remember was sitting in that boat while a raging storm was going on."

He clenched his hand, seemingly remembering the event again. It's not that he was terrified of what happened, it was rather that he was confused. Confused at the fact that he was left alone on that boat, not even sure if his own parents had even loved him or not. Akame saw that he was clenching the window sill very tightly, prompting her to grab his hands as she led him to the bed.

She then wrapped her arms around his body, tightly so that he couldn't escape. He was about to protest, but Akame silenced him with a kiss, then sinking her face into the crook of his neck as she began to cuddle up to him.

Akame: "You worry too much, dear. It's not good to dwell on such things."

Akira: "I know, I know."

Akame: "...Hey. If this never happened... You know... Would you ever think we'd still go to Jinwa? To this Wakoku place?"

Akira: "Honestly... I don't know. A part of me wishes that it never happened... But a part of me also thinks that if it did never happen, I would still go over there anyway."

Akame: "Why is that?"

Akira: "When I read through Rongo Rongo... I heard that there were individuals with mysterious powers. Powers like my own..."

Hearing this much from him, she rose her upper body as Akira did the same. She was intrigued, as evident by the keen stare she was giving him.

Akame: "So what you're saying..."

Akira: "That this place may have insight on my past? Probably, yeah. ...For the longest time, I always thought I had no blood family left in this world. But when I read about it, I felt like I had chance that there still was someone out there. But then... I remembered how I was washed up alone on that shore. I sometimes wonder... Whether they even loved me or not."

The red-eyed girl could see the eyes of sadness hidden behind those charming blue eyes of his. Instantly, she responded by engulfing him into a hug, something he was already used to by now, but was something he was always willing to accept from her. And as always, the tone of her voice was very soothing, like they were music to his ears every time she spoke.

Akame: "Don't say things like that. I'm sure they did love you. And if they didn't, they're quite possibly crazy. They haven't seen the man that you've become. A loving and caring man who not only protects their loved ones, but ensures that they're happy. No matter what."

Her hand would then brush and caress against his cheek. Akira closed his eyes as one of his hands made his way up to it and grabbed it, keeping the hand in place on his cheek. Akame's touch was one of the many things that kept him calm and what he found soothing to him.

The icy blue-eyed man let out a sigh of content.

Akira: "You know... I often wonder how I was able to marry a woman as wonderful as you. You're too good to me, you know that?"

Akame: "Just shut up and kiss me."

The man chuckled as he noticed how needy she was, the red-eyed girl leaping forward as he engaged herself into a passionate kiss with the one she loved. Though it wouldn't be long when their hands began to get frisky and began to go under their clothing. It was interactions like these that they were truly able to relax, aside from spending time with Air. It was moments like these that they cherish, wanting such things to never end.

---

Akira and Akame were standing at the front of the ship, what felt like hours. It was already the afternoon, having been hours later from when they boarded the ship to head to their destination. The weather was currently fair, a gentle breeze blowing and clear skies, perfect conditions to be sailing out on the ocean.

The red-eyed girl looked up at her partner.

Akame: "How long until we reach the island?"

Akira: "From what it sounded like, maybe a few more hours? They said we were close."

Akame: "...Will we really find something there? Something to set us free from this curse? And that we will really be able to start a family this time?"

Akira looked down at her, only to see pleading eyes from her. Truthfully, he wished there was something. The place they were going to held Murasame's origins, but it also held the origins to Harvester, something that he kept to himself. He didn't tell her much, but the terrors of the Lich still lingered within his mind. Each and every night, it sounded like his voice was getting louder by the second, especially when he was alone. 

Grasping her hands, he squeezed them tightly. Akame responded with the same action as well, looking into his eyes which held a determined look in them.

Akira: "We can only hope. But I will not stop until I find something. Something that will free you from this unjust punishment. You never deserved such a thing."

Akame: "Akira..."

Akira: "If anything... That whole mess was my fault. I let him... Use me, control me. And I hurt you in the process--"

Akame: "Akira. You know you could never hurt me. That moment, that wasn't you. That was 'him.' You know that. So don't say it was your fault. It never was."

Briefly, he silently stared at her. Once more, like last night, Akame cupped his face with her hands.

Akame: "We'll get through this. Together."

He simply nodded. They closed their eyes as they were about to share a kiss together before a loud boom filled the air. This caused them to halt and look up, suddenly a storm began to rage around them.

Thunder and lightning began to erupt as heavy rain was brought down upon them. The crew of the ship began to be scrambled all over the place, shipmates and crewmates running all over the place while they tried to get things in an orderly fashion. Akira gripped onto Akame's wrist tightly as he pushed her forward toward the back.

Akira: "Hurry! Get inside! I'll help the crew out up here!"

Akame: "Akira, wait--"

Air: "Father!"

The two looked over to see Chelsea and Air heading over to them, coming out from the inside the ship. He was about to tell them to head back inside, but Akira was then thrust to hit the left side of the ship, prompting him to let go of Akame's wrist.

Something had struck the side of the ship, causing everyone on board to lose balance and the ship began to tip over. Desperately, Akira extending his arm out to to the love of his life, who now had Air within her grasp as the two did the same thing. But it seemed like that their arms were inching away from each other by the second, the distance between them growing larger.

And suddenly, everything went black.

The only thing Akira heard was his daughter and Akame calling out his name as he plunged into the raging sea below. Darkness consumed him.

---

Akira could be heard groaning, slowly fluttering his eyes awake as he weakly looked up. Pieces of wood and other debris of the ship he was on had floated onto the sand beach he was on.

However, there was no sign of the crew. Nor were there any sign of Akame or Air. Only Chelsea, the auburn-haired girl face down on the sand as she seemed to be unconscious. Grunting and heaving himself, Akira began to slowly crawl his way to her. His eyes would soon widen he sees two figures soon appear standing over the unconscious girl. However, his eyes were still blurry due to him having just woken up, but anger vegan to surge within him.

Just when he was about to get up, a foot stepped onto his hand and began to press down on it. Akira hissed in pain as he weakly lifted his head up.

???1: "Commander, what do we do with the survivors?"

Soon, another person came into view, which now stood over him. It was a woman around his age, maybe older by or two years.

Her skin was tanned, nearly like his, just darker. Her dark black hair deeply reminded him of his wife, the only difference was that the woman had golden yellow eyes. Soon enough, his vision began to clear as he gazed up at the woman, who held a shocked expression. But her eyes displayed relief, tears beginning to appear and flow down her face. Speaking of her face, it looked similar. In fact, her face structure was quite similar to his own.

Akira: "Who... Are you...?"

???2: "You... You're alive," she whispered, but he was still able to hear it.

Akira: "What...?"

???1: "Commander. What do we with the survivors?"

Her expression then morphed to a stern gaze.

???2: "Spare them. We take them with us. And anyone who questions is, they'll have to deal with me and suffer the consequences. Understood?"

???1: "Y-Yes, Commander. At once."

???2: "Sorry about this."

Before he could respond, the woman lifted up her foot. It then struck his face, Akira's vision fading to black once more as he began to lose consciousness.

However, one question remained toward him, daunting on his mind.

Who was she and why did it feel like he's seen her before?

---

And that was the second prologue chapter. Originally, I did not plan to have a second prologue chapter, but then I thought it'd be cool to show how they got here in the first place.

This chapter was heavily inspired by a certain someone that is also doing a fic on this. Props to you, good sir.

In any case, hope you all enjoyed it as the next chapter won't be out for a while.