Helga breathed outward clasping her throat as she managed to materialize in the demonic realm. Her entire body was on edge, yet she had managed it. She stood a fraction but leaned with her arms on her legs as she breathed out slowly and rather in pain. I’m a higher level servant. I am a higher level servant….She breathed inwards a fraction before finding that she had not appeared in Aeirin’s area at all. Instead, she was in a black abyss place….Noiren’s place.
“Well what do we have here?” a familiar voice said. Helga’s eyes grew as she forced herself to look up. Tight black clothes…. Three belts….A… Spade and Heart keychain on the left leg of a dark pair of pants…. The fallen Valkyrie forced herself fully up and stared at Black Jack Spade, Noiren’s highest ranked Servant second to none of the servants in any of the classes. The dark almost raven haired demon said nothing but crossed his arms as he stopped walking and grinned with what could only be described as all but metallic teeth.
“BJ Spade,” Helga said after a moment forcing her eyes into a narrowed position. Almost instantly, the Valkyrie formed her sword and forced herself to hold it as though she were getting ready to attack him. To meet up with Spade… was death. Always. This, Helga knew. There was no talking. There was no pleading. There was death. Pure and simple death. “Leave me alone, Spade. I am going back to my own master soon.”
“Heh….” Black Jack smirked to himself, and in that instant, Helga felt a hand go through her chest. The dark haired demon was now at ear point with the long blond haired air woman. Helga felt her entire body cave forwards as blood gushed forth from the hole in her chest. In one cruel movement, Black jack ripped his arm from the Valkyrie and watched her fall backwards onto the ground. Helga’s eyes were in a petrified state of pure and simple shock.
Black blood splashed onto the floor and only seemed to cause the dark haired demon standing upright to grin a fraction. Raising his bloodied hand, Black Jack licked his fingers with a twisted tongue that ran over his fingers and black nails that were once again forming into something more human to say the least of things. “Mmmm delicious….” The demon smirked as he looked down at the other demon who was now trying to force herself to back away from him. Upon seeing this, Black Jack walked forwards a few more steps and finally rested his foot sharply on Helga’s stomach forcing her down even further on the ground. “I haven’t eaten a higher servant in quite a while….” BJ grinned. The look of fear expressed on Helga’s face was the look of one knowing they were… in that instant… going to die. “When was the last one? Oh yes… Ryoen’s servants…. They were tasty… very very tasty… except the runt of them of course… You’ll make a fine desert….. something once so noble and now so fallen… such a taste… is a delicacy I must inform you….”
Bending down and taking hold of the woman’s throat, Black Jack raised Helga off the ground and to the point she was not touching the ground at all. “I wonder if you’ll taste like candy…. Something sweet for all your devotion to Aeirin…. Or maybe you will be bitter like one of those candies the humans seem to love… what are they called… Sweet Tarts yes?” Suddenly pressing his lips violently to the other demon’s, the dark haired demon kissed the blond haired demon sharply… bitterly… and in that moment, he consumed her. After a few seconds more, Black Jack Spade released the only remnants of the other demon… a Valkyrie pendant.
“Are you eating again, BJ?” a voice called causing the demon to look over and wipe the black blood off the corners of his mouth. “You’re going to get fat you know.”
“Heh not as fat as you, Rit,” BJ answered back. Ritticker put her hands on her hips as she walked up and finally proceeded to smack the side of the other demon’s face. A chip seemed to explode into the air, and in half a second, BJ’s hand was on his face before he released it again and smirked at the raven haired girl in front of him. “Aw can’t you take a joke?” Suddenly his hand was on the back of Ritticker’s head as he forced a kiss on her lips. The female demon recoiled in fear that she was about to be eaten, yet after a moment, BJ released Rit and smirked to himself. “Your lips are still the tastiest…..”
The female demon said nothing but crossed her arms in front of her and sighed outwards. “Jack I swear….” Rit began.
“And hello Lao… hello Ace,” BJ smirked causing Ritticker to silence and turn to see her other comrades. “Did you want some of my meal? Sorry I was never a good sharer.” Neither of the two male demons that had just walked up said anything but simply stared for a moment.
“So are we heading to the human world soon?” Rit asked finally rubbing the kiss she had received off of her own lips. BJ smirked a bit and then turned his head back.
“Ya… soon enough,” he grinned a demonic grin that would have caused anyone to have cringed at that point in time. However, in another second, his face become somber and something else as well. “Damn I’m still hungry.”
“You’re always hungry, BJ,” Rit answered back.
~*~
“Fine, fine I’ll leave you be then. Your servant failed by the way. Don’t underestimate my son.” Asa finished before disappearing. Aeirin stared blank faced and appeared to make no comment. However, after another moment, a smirk worked its way on her face.
“I never would,” she grinned lightly back. “And she didn’t fail. She did exactly what was expected of her.” Aeirin continued on lightly before walking away. “Have a good day, Asa.” A lump had formed in Aeirin’s stomach, yet she refused to address it. Instead, she ignored it and continued onwards once more. She would make no comment…. On how she felt at that very moment in time.
As she walked down the hallway once more, Aeirin’s eyes caught sight of four of Noiren’s servants walking down the hallway as well. She froze for a moment and watched them pass. BJ turned his head a moment and smirked before walking onwards.
~*~
"Hi, Aiba-kun!" Sephira said waving at said boy. "Didn't think I'd find you out here! If I had known we were going the same way I would have walked with you!"
"Where are you going, by the way?" Aiba asked wondering if maybe Sephira had a house around the area or something of the like.
"Well... I was going to the school..." Sephira answered back after another moment.
"You don't have anywhere to go do you?" Aiba asked blinking to himself in the familiar mannerism he did when he suddenly thought of something that turned out to be truth.
"Heh heh! Nope!" I laughed lightly. "I was just going to stake it out there. I'll live!" Sephira said aloud. Aiba nodded a bit to himself unsure of whether or not to say anything else. “So do you have a house around here or something?” Sephira asked.
“Uh…. Kind of…” Aiba answered back rubbing the back of his head and laughing a fraction. “It’s Nino’s house… er… apparent… but since we’re brothers he’s been letting me stare there.”
“Ah cool,” Sephira answered back with a light grin on her face. “So are you like worrying him or something being out this late?”
“I…. don’t think so….” Aiba blinked before shaking his head.
“You should head home and make sure,” Sephira said after another moment. Am I being… pushed back home? Aiba blinked a fraction. Sephira just nodded to herself a bit before saying the words ‘head home again’. Aiba nodded after a moment and sighed.
“Ok…” he answered back. “Bye then…” With that, the dark haired boy headed home.
~*~
Nino opened one eye and stared up at the pale white ceiling feeling strangely tired. The ceiling bore the resemblance of a flat iron press just disfigured in coloration, and it seemed not as high as it had been the night before. The dark haired man let out a sigh. He had somehow managed to get back to sleep on the couch, yet now he was awake and finding that morning light was pouring into the area. The after feeling of illness had somehow been pushed out of the way of it all, and now there was no remnant of it. The dark haired man said nothing but sat up and found his muscles cramped from lying on the couch. However, in half a second, the dark haired man froze seeing the white haired man with his eyes closed and his back pressed up against the bottom of the couch.
Did he stay here all night….. Nino thought to himself groggily before turning his head and freezing yet again. His hair…..the dark haired man stared at how short Matsu’s hair had become. It was no longer long but simply to the back of his neck. However, in the front there were still longer bang areas. Nino said nothing but shook his head again and sighed outwards.
Nani was sitting on a chair not far off and eyeballing him with a calm stare. Feeling an eye on himself, Nino turned his head and stared back at the cat staring at him. The dark haired man was careful to get off the couch without waking the white haired man and slowly made his way over towards the kitchen as though he had not seen the cat at all. Opening the refrigerator, Nino stared inwards for a moment and began going through what there was that was actually stored in the fridge.
Good morning Master…. Nani’s voice mused a bit causing the dark haired man to look up and stare a fraction. The black cat had jumped up and was now sitting on the bar of the kitchen and staring at him once more. You look better than you did previously…. The dark haired man sighed outwards and fished out the one percent milk that was already probably bad anyways and opened it. The rank smell of codding milk caused Nani to recoil a fraction and shake her head in irritation. Nino said nothing but took a sip, coughed, and spit the milk back out before disposing of it in a trash can.
Walking over towards a box on the bar, the dark haired man opened it and took out a package of cigarettes and what appeared to be a fresh lighter before walking out towards the back door. The cat said nothing but simply followed. Upon walking outside, Nino closed the back door once more and fished out a cigarette before starting to smoke it. I haven’t seen you smoke in a while, Nino……Nani sighed outwards as she looked up at the dark haired man.
“I just needed a smoke,” the dark haired man answered back as he breathed out a fraction and held the cigarette between his index finger and his forefinger. “Why are you here, Nani?”
I was worried for you… I am your Cat after all….Nani sighed back. And as I did many years previously with other Masters, I will watch over you. Nino said nothing but simply brought the cigarette to his lips again, inhaled, and then exhaled. After a moment, the dark haired man put the cigarette down and just stared outwards towards the rising sun. Are you sure you want to do this? Nani asked.
“If I don’t, he’ll die,” Nino answered back closing his eyes and not saying anything for a few seconds before looking back again. “And I refuse to see him die again.” The cat smile took to Nani’s face for a moment before she bowed her head and nodded a bit.
But if you let him die….. Nani started but stopped when she caught the caustic stare of the dark haired man she called her master. Forgive me… I know that is not your way of things….. Nino said nothing but simply looked out again and closed his eyes once more. I only tell you what I foresee… when you are caught between retaining the purity of your soul and keeping your body alive. When that time comes, you’ll have to answer for everything you have done in life.
“You don’t need to tell me,” the dark haired man answered back crossing his arms in front of himself. “I already know.” Nani’s cat eyes widened as she caught sight of what had formed in the dark haired man’s hand. The usual form of a gun yet it was far more designed than usual. A skull and crossbones appeared to be branded into the side of it. Playing the grim reaper to someone, Nino? Nani asked aloud. The dark haired man didn’t answer but simply released the gun back into nothingness.
You are a very odd shaman indeed….Nani commented to herself yet allowed Nino to hear her thoughts. You are the first Vessel to have a modern weapon be the center piece of your weaponry, and you are also the first to live through Noiren’s attack on your soul, yet that is what makes you special, no? A cat grin appeared on Nani’s face once more. Nino’s eyes narrowed, and in half a second, he had fished out yet another cigarette, light it, and started smoking it.
The female cat’s ears dropped a fraction, and she looked away. You are also the first Necromancer to not be killed by the Council on sight. Nino coughed and all but choked on his cigarette before ripping it out of his mouth and continuing to cough. Your mother always did tell you to quit smoking……Nani mused a fraction before returning to her seriousness.
“Nani….” Nino coughed out before managing to regain his stamina. “You know what happened…..” he finally finished.
True. I know a lot of things…..Nani sighed to herself. But it doesn’t mean anything. You’re still a necromancer in everyone’s books even your own.
“I have not since…” Nino started before breaking off for a few seconds. “Since the first time…. Drop the subject, Nani.”
Forgive me… Nino….Nani mused to herself. But you understand my interest in you won’t die out any time soon... That and you are my master after all.
Nino said nothing but shook his head and finally moved downwards to pet the cat who happily took him up on his offer. The day continued on into the rest of morning hours. However, Nino did not move during this time until he started to hear the sounds of Matsu waking up and moving off of his strange seated position the previous night. Nino finished yet another cigarette before pushing the back door open and walking in again. Nani, in her effortless ways, walked inwards as well and simply moved off only to jump on the bar counter and watch as the white haired man fidgeted with what appeared to be stale food. Upon seeing Nino enter, Matsu put on a light smile and waved a fraction.
“Morning, Nin,” Matsu grinned before looking down at the food he had just brought out of the refrigerator. The mold had managed to all but devour the bread in stock, and everything else had exhaled so much ripening gas that all the fruit had gone bad. With this knowledge, Matsu was trying to determine what exactly to do with it all if anything at all were to be done. Nino stared at the food for a moment before shaking his head and flopping back on the couch.
“Still not feeling well?” Matsu asked lightly turning his head to one side. Nino said nothing but simply sighed outwards again. “Ah…..” the white haired man answered back with a nod to himself on the matter before starting through the food again. “I guess we’re just going to have to deal without eating this morning… it’s probably for the best…” Matsu sighed outwards as though not agreeing with the statement he had just posed. Nino said nothing but stared up at the ceiling for a moment longer before turning his head and staring at Matsu once more. The white haired man was frowning more than usual, yet neither one made any comment on this.
An hour passed before a knock on the door caused the white haired man’s head to turn and caused him to watch towards the door. The dark haired man made no motion from the couch, yet over the course of the hour, Nani had managed to get into his lap and was now purring making him a rather dark vibrator.
“Ah hello again, Mitsukana. Are you here to escort us to the area?” Matsu said lightly. The brown haired boy nodded a bit as though unsure of what else to say. Matsu nodded back before looking back at Nino before looking forwards again. “We’re coming,” he said lightly.
Nino said nothing but rose off the couch. Nani, who was cued by the motion of Nino getting up, jumped off the dark haired man as he got up and sauntered with the dark haired man as he made his way towards the door. The cat was frozen for a moment before she too began to follow the group.
No one said anything, but there was now a silent procession away from the guest house and up a rather steep hill. The dark haired man stared downwards and simply said nothing while Matsu simply forced a smile yet retained the silence none the less. After a moment, they came to the top of the hill, and a half note of fear jumped between the dark haired man and the white haired man. Standing there was the eldest elder of the Council himself.
The Elder, at one time, had had a name in truth, but neither the dark haired man nor the white haired man had heard him called anything other than ‘Elder’, so with that, they simply went with the name and went on with life. Matsu forced a sudden smile in order to detour any sort of irritated look that would spring from his sudden deep emotion waking up once more. Nino simply looked darkly at the man and sighed a fraction to himself. Nani meowed and looked pleasantly up at the old man and simply turned her head to one side and then the other as she sat down by Nino’s left leg.
The old man stared a moment at both men before sighing outwards and forming a strangely grandfatherly look on his face. “Welcome, thank you Mitsukana. You may leave now,” he said aloud before stepping sideways and allowing the dark haired man and the white haired man pass him. Sukan nodded before turning around and leaving. There were not meant to be any other spectators to this event, and everyone knew this well enough. Matsu smiled even hared than before, and it was beginning to hurt his face.
“Hello Elder,” Matsu said aloud before allowing his head to turn as his single eye moved towards the area. It was set up with four large totems in a rhombus format along with a white circle and four other circles within it within the area of the large rhombus. Matsu froze for a moment and looked at the ground with his one yellow eye. However, Nino had already taken the steps forwards and was entering the totem area. After another moment, the white haired man looked up again and followed suit. The Elder was the last to enter the area for the black cat knew better than to enter herself into such a ritual and had remained sitting outside of it.
Upon stepping into the area, Nino found his muscles tighten sharply. The ground seemed to produce a faint black light as he stepped down on it. As Matsu did the same, the white haired man noticed the same thing except that his area was white. “Stand there and there....” Elder said aloud making directions with a calm hand. He could have even looked like a traffic director had he been in a different place and a different time. Nino followed this order along with Matsu.
Both of them stood across from each other and simply stared for a moment at each other. Matsu closed his eye and slowly took off the bandages showing the patterns that could have easily been mistaken for tattoos on the other side of his face. Nino said nothing but found his stomach cringe for half a second.
“With the power of our Mother Earth,” Elder began with a calm almost monotone voice. “I call on the seas to our East, the land to our West, the winds to our North, and the fire of the South. Bring forth a balance between these two men once more for one has brought back the other in sacrifice of his own…..” Nino felt the power waver over him and the sudden pressure on his mind was impossible to ignore. He found his fingers already at the side of his face as everything in his mind began to twist again. The thoughts… the emotions…What he was lacking…..And in that moment, he suddenly felt nothing at all and simply sank into a darkness around him.
Not again….Nino’s thoughts were loud around him even though he didn’t speak them. He felt a pressure around himself… as though he were sinking into the ocean forevermore. Oxygen was leaving him in bubbles that he could not see but could feel. But to… keep him alive….. The darkness tightened around him like a black hand squeezing the last life out of him. I don’t care what I’ve done….. I don’t want……Suddenly the feelings of chains wrapping around him seemed to run through the dark haired man for half a second… before nothing more.
Nino opened his eyes and found himself staring blankly at the sky above him. Hell…. Was the first thought that came to mind before he finally found the will to force himself up. The dark haired man found that he was on a cot like structure. Not far off, Matsu was sitting on one similar to his own but much higher up to the point the white haired man could swing his legs lightly. There was a genuine light smile on the white haired man’s face, and the bandgaes had resumed themselves once more on his face.
“Morning, again, Nino,” Matsu grinned a bit. “But it does seem more like later morning, now…” he sighed outwards lightly. Nino said nothing but simply got off the cot and started out of the obscure tent that they had been in. “Where are you off to?”
“To get out of this hell,” Nino said caustically. “I don’t even get why the hell I came back. Are you coming?”
Matsu sighed again but smiled lightly. “Yep,” Matsu answered back before jumping off the bed and starting to walk alongside the dark haired man.
They had only been walking a few minutes before Mitsukana seemed to walk up towards them. Nino gave him a sharp threatening eye that caused the boy to step back a for a few seconds before shaking his head, managing to return his will, and starting to walk towards them again. Matsu smiled lightly and let out a laugh. “Sorry for the scare, Mitsukana,” Matsu laughed a fraction before walking on as he found that the dark haired man had already continued walking and was on the verge of leaving him.
Nino walked and was sure enough going to leave the area completely right then and there if he could find a way off of it. However, as he continued forwards back to the place Sho had dropped the two of them off, the dark haired man found his mother standing there with her arms crossed. In half a second, the dark haired man had formed his spirit gun and was aiming it straight at his mother.
“Get me back to the city before I shoot your head off,” Nino threatened sharply. His mother, who appeared thrown back if nothing else, looked shocked before looking sharply back at her son and then finally nodding. Placing a seal on a tree before she walked off, the woman made no turn around to talk to her son but continued to walk away. Nino stepped forwards and found Nani sitting in the tree looking at her master with a suspicious eye before finally jumping down from the tree and standing next to him.
“Heh… you really should learn to be kinder,” Matsu grinned a fraction only to catch Nino’s eye and force another light laugh. The dark haired man said nothing but shook his head, stepped forwards, and placed his hand on the seal. In half a second, both men and the cat found themselves back in the city. The dark haired man sighed outwards and crossed his arms in front of himself before starting to walk off towards the school that had started the entire investigation. “We need to kill those demons already,” he said aloud. “And finish all those spirits that are haunting the school still.” A gun was already forming in the dark haired man’s hand. Matsu said nothing but followed as well.
Nani stared at the two men before sighing outwards as if in pain before simply walking in the other direction and back to their apartment. Her mind was on millions of things at once. That ceremony… the shift in spiritual aura…. The emotions…. Everything… She knew it would happen… She was aware that it would happen… Yet still… Yet still…..Suddenly bumping into something, the cat stopped and looked upwards. Her eyes grew sharply and then narrowed. In that moment, the black cat froze.
“Ookami….” She said aloud.
“Hello, Lady Nani,” the Wolf in the form of a dog stared down at the cat. “We have a problem.” The Cat’s eyes narrowed.
~*~
Nino walked with Matsu through the street, yet the dark haired man all but appeared to be alone in the way that he was walking. His steps were solitary, and he made no look towards the white haired man only a foot if not a few inches away from him. Matsu, however, looked at Nino a few times even as he walked as though recognizing that he was there but not saying a word about it. As both came towards the school once more, Nino’s hand twitched, and very fluidly, he formed his gun in his hand. Matsu said nothing but formed his katana. Both walked silently into the school.
Silence was what filled the school for the most part. Students were either away for the day or something of the like… It was a day off if ever there was one. Occasionally, a normal student would pass and do a double take on their sights of the dark haired man and the white haired man. However, for the most part, it was empty.
Nino’s head jerked to one side, and in half a second, he shot off his gun. A ghost cringed where he had been shot but suddenly disappeared again. Matsu sighed to himself but made no comment, and both continued forwards again. It moved in this way…. The dark haired man would sense it… and shoot it… without a second thought. The white haired man would simply look for a moment before moving on silently…. It was the way they had been in the beginning of it all… at the beginning of it all.
_________________________________________________________________
zzz long post.
D< No one run into BJ or any of the others or I'll maim you with a magikarp k thanks.
