The Witch Hunter Part Eighteen

[krystalkatz.livejournal.com]

The group stared at Nino, waiting for him to explain what he meant about sacrifices he sighed and then said “Demons get stronger the more mortals we kill, the power feeds us...”

“But Akanishi isn’t a demon; he was one of the royal guard, that was made into the first hunter” Matsu said while Sakurai nodded, Maru was glared at the ring on his finger and then took up the story

“Yes he was, but to become a hunter he had to drink demon blood, hunters now are born with the power but as he was the first... They used Nino’s blood...”

“I was the only demon there” Nino shrugged “Anyway... I thought it would be safe, but it was corrupting him...”

“He was always strange” Toma/Yamapi said sighing “But after the blood...”

“He changed though no-one noticed at first, he became driven by power... If when we feed on regular mortals we get power just think about what killing a hunter does” Nino shivered, “The rush of power is like nothing we’ve ever felt... Akanishi is using that to gain in power... Just think what the whole halls full of hunters would do...”

“So somebody on the hunter’s council is helping Akanishi?”

“Yes” Nino nodded and then looked around the halls again, “We won’t let it happen though”

“Of course not” Maru agreed, touching his nose again,

“I thought this wasn’t your problem?” Nino grinned

“After we’re finished I’ll go back to hating you” Maru told him Nino gave a short laugh and nodded

“Deal... Except it will be one sided since I won’t be here” he said

“Nino...” Matsu and Aiba said, while Maru flinched

“What? It’s the truth...” Nino sighed rolling his eyes “We have to accept okay? Come on, let’s go we don’t want to keep the master hunter waiting much longer, he might think we’re being rude”

“Do you suspect the master hunter?”

“That old geezer? Maybe but I don’t even think he’s in control much, accept officially” Nino answered shaking his head, “But then again he did let Toma and Yamapi stay... So he knows something’s going on... I don’t think he was just being nice... Who was the main one that tried to get you to leave?”

“Elder Luke” Toma answered, Matsu’s eyes narrowed

“The one that was at the monastery?” Sakurai asked with a frown

“The jerk that had me put in a cage?” Nino raised an eyebrow thoughtfully “He was in the area around the same time as Akanishi was in the area...”

“You think it’s him?”

“Could just be a coincidence” Nino shrugged, scratching at his neck, seemingly not realising what he was doing until Matsu grabbed his arm to stop him “Is he here?” he asked with an apologetic smile

“I haven’t seen him...”

“He left two days ago” Toma told them helpfully, Matsu frowned still playing with Nino’s fingers

“He was always a bastard, but he takes being a hunter seriously, I can’t imagine him willingly hurting the hunters”

“That’s what we said about Akanishi” Maru said darkly while Nino nodded “He had his own lover ripped apart...”

“And Ohno...” Nino muttered

“And me” Yamapi/Toma added “I can’t say it was fun”

“Will get him back though” Nino promised and then almost stumbled as he bumped into a female demon “Sorry...”

“Excuse me, your majesty” She bowed politely,

“You’re Abs Vanness, right?” Nino asked remembering her saying her name earlier

“Yes, your majesty...” The demon nodded flashing a smile; Matsu rolled his eyes folding his arms across his chest

“Still a slut” Maru mumbled

“Um... Thanks for joining us...” Nino said aware of Matsu’s glare, the demon nodded

“I’ve only ever served the unholy king... We will beat the pretender” She promised

“Thank-you...” Nino smiled. The demon nodded and then gave a quick smile to the party before going back into the main hall “What? I was just apologizing”

“I thought you didn’t date women much?”

“Are you really going to get jealous every time I talk to someone? My last few days are going to be a nightmare if you are”

“I’m not jealous...”

“Doesn’t feel like it” Nino mumbled ignoring the laughter from Toma/Yamapi and the grins from Aiba, Sakurai and Maru. “I’ve slept with Maru why not get mad at him?”

“We were drunk and you pretty much raped me” Maru said quickly “If you remember we nearly killed each other when we woke up”

“I knew the reason you fought was because you’d slept with him...” Matsu sighed while Toma/Yamapi was nearly howling with laughter, it echoed around the hall, causing the demons and hunters to stare at them.

“Weren’t we meant to be going to the master hunter?” Aiba asked trying to defuse the situation a little, though he was happy that his tense mood from earlier had lifted, though looking at Nino he could see that he was looking pale and the shadows around his eyes had gotten darker. He knew Nino wouldn’t want him to be depressed and when he felt Sakurai’s hand on his arm he managed to flash a smile. They managed to get to the master hunters offices and knocked on the door.

“Come in” A tired voice said softly before the knocking sound had died down.  Pushing the door open they were surprised to see the master hunter sunk low into his chair staring at a goblet of whiskey on his desk, “You’re all here...”

“Are you okay, master?” Matsu asked the old man had raised him since he had been brought here when he was nine. The master hunter shook his head tiredly, draining what was left of his drink

“I held a council meeting... They’re not happy with having demons un-caged inside our halls, nor are they happy that the unholy king and...The trickster are here seemingly giving me orders... And I’m listening to a hunter everyone assumes is crazy...”

“Toma is not crazy; Yamapi is really in there...”

“You realise that would be even worse to them? After the way we’ve treated Toma? If the third is there...”

“I am here” Yamapi/Toma said softly stepping forwards, “You’ve always followed me as faithfully as you could...” The master hunter touched the mark on his neck lightly his hand trembling as his eyes rested on the wrist band on his arm

“Your majesty?” He murmured

“You let us stay... You’ve done nothing wrong...”

“So don’t tell us you’ve started now” Nino said seeing the fear in the master hunters face “Things are going to get bad really soon and even if we are the least likely people you want to trust you have to...”

“I told them that we should follow you” He said “You wear the symbol of the first even though it pains you, you have bound demons into following your party I believe you wish us no harm but there are a few within the council, they have persuaded some of the hunters otherwise, you realise you wish for us to fight against the first hunter?”

“A betrayer, he even let his own lover die” Maru snapped

“Again this war you’re all speaking about, it was never written down, there is no evidence that it ever happened...”

“There’s me, Yamapi and Maru trust us we were there, I was there when the kings died...”

“Speaking of which how did you... Ohno right?” Yamapi/Toma said, as if wondering why he hadn’t realised it before “He really did love you, ne?”

“And I loved him” Nino nodded, looking at Matsu, relived to see the hunter really had already gotten over his jealousy of Ohno, even if he got jealous of everyone else. The master hunter’s eyes almost fell out of his head “But right now this is about bring back the kings and stopping everything that preys on humans, right?”

“And how is that possible?”

“There is away, and it will end with my death” Nino sighed, “But right now you need to get every hunter that is loyal to you and we will start pairing them with a demon... Because there isn’t much time”

The master hunter looked at Matsu and Toma and then nodded softly “I will do so...”

“Good... Excuse me we have to go talk to the demons” Nino said ushering the others out again, “I knew there was going to be problems, Jun, Maru, come with me; we need to talk to the demons”

“What about?”

“There is one way to find out who is against us” Nino grinned, his eyes flashing.

“You are going to ask the blood?” Maru asked touching his nose again “You want to do blood magic in the halls?”

“Not want, need to” Nino said, Matsu frowned at the two not understanding what they were going on about. Nino assembled the demons into a side chamber they stared at them “You are all loyal right?”

“Yes, your majesty” They nodded and Matsu recognised the girl from earlier, Abs Vanness grinning happily at Nino from the front with a few other female demons. He rolled his eyes, though he was pleased that Nino had chosen him.

“So if I ask who are the hunters that are betraying us...? You will tell me right?”

“Yes”

“I could ask the blood but...”

“There’s an elder,” One of the female demons said quickly and Nino turned to her, “He thinks by trusting the first hunter he will be able to bring back the kings...”

“And who is this elder?”

“Elder... Duke or Luke... I don’t know, the pretender said we weren’t allowed to harm him...”

“Are there any others?”

“A few of the hunters would go to the pretender your majesty... But I haven’t seen any of them in these halls...”

“Thank-you... Momo-Kan?” Nino said smiling when she nodded “Is this true?” he asked the others

“Yes, your majesty... But if you wish to ask my blood...” Abs said offering her wrist; Nino flashed her, a warm smile

“Thank you but it’s okay” He said and then looked at the other demons “Is there anything else?”

“There was something about having the true power of the three... They have the rod of Kings”

“Are you serious?” Maru snapped causing the demon to flinch back “Sorry... Um...”

“It’s okay, trickster” She breathed, while Maru and Nino sighed

“The rod of kings?” Matsu said “Isn’t that just a legend?”

“No they never used it not until the final battle, after the war it went missing I tried to find it but...”

“I did too” Maru admitted “The thought of somebody getting their hands on that... Fuck! Trust it to be Akanishi...”

“Well we have Yamapi and his interesting host...” Nino sighed, “With any luck they won’t be able to use it...”

“But having the third take over hurts him... I doubt Yamapi would want that...” Matsu said while Maru nodded

“In all honesty the only reason Toma is alive right now, is because Yamapi’s inside him” A familiar voice said softly, causing Matsu to jump and Maru to stare. The demons turned and were surprised to see Matthew sat on one of the desks in the corner. Nino nodded

“I suspected as much... What are you doing here; I thought as death you weren’t allowed to get involved”

“I’m not but that doesn’t mean I can’t come and wish old friends and my brother well” Matthew grinned “I suspect you have made a deal with Maru regarding the loyal here?”

“Yes... I was going to tell you...”

“I’m used to it... I will honour it”

“Thank-you” Nino grinned Matthew gave another nod and then vanished again

“You know he’s going to get involved right?” Maru said with a raised eyebrow “Even if it’s indirectly”

“You always did know your half brother the best Maru” Nino laughed, the demons were almost grinning now,

“What is this deal?” Matsu asked feeling a little left out. Nino patted his arm and then motioned to Maru

“You’ve been to the after world right? Matthew’s house”

“Yes...”

“Well that doesn’t really exist... It’s more a parallel plain to this one, those that are loyal here will be going to such a place instead of being killed or cast down...”

“You can do that?”

“Yes, with Matthew’s aide” Maru nodded “We’re half brothers sort off; my mother was a mortal... So I can create the place but Matthew has to maintain it...”

“Why not just do that for all the demons?”

“It doesn’t work like that... They have to be faithful to Nino, and most just like killing too much” Maru said with a sigh somehow forgetting that 60 demons were in the room staring at them. Nino didn’t though and with a quick smile led Matsu and Maru out. His neck was aching, he just wanted to rip off the pendent but he couldn’t, not yet, Matsu still needed him. Leaving Matsu and Maru he went to find Toma, he found him talking to himself in the small garden, Yamapi almost yelled when he heard that Akanishi had the rod of kings but looked a little uncomfortable when Nino mentioned what Matthew had said about Toma only being alive because of him

“He talked to himself before he met me” Yamapi/Toma said softly “I don’t know how but as a spirit I was drawn to him, he had no parents he was always alone and so was I... After he nearly drowned I wanted someone answer him when he talked... I didn’t realise at first that he was meant to have died, Matthew told me a few years ago... But he also said it didn’t matter until I got my own body back... Then we’d have to talk”

“So you care about him?”

“You care about the hunter, ne? He grew on me...” Toma/Yamapi said with a laugh

“Yamapi... When Ohno’s back... Tell him ‘Thank-you, and he was right...And I’m sorry’” Nino breathed, Toma/Yamapi nodded and patted his shoulder

“He would understand, about Jun... I just wish you could tell him yourself...”

“It doesn’t work like that...” Nino sighed closing his eyes as he scratched at his neck again, Yamapi/Toma nodded with a sigh, as they looked around the peaceful sunlit garden

“It doesn’t feel like the eve of war, ne?” Yamapi/Toma asked Nino shook his head, as they heard birds calling each other to roost.

“So you’re Yamashita’s hunter right?” Aiba asked as he sat next to a female hunter, pulling Sakurai down with him.

“Yes” She answered “Does Toma really talk to him?”

“Yes” Aiba nodded, with a smile “I think they’re dating but that would be weird ne? More like masturbation than dating...”

“Masaki!” Sakurai said quickly going bright red as he hit Aiba on the head “Sorry, he has a habit of saying whatever he’s thinking... I’m Sakurai Sho and he’s Aiba Masaki”

“Yumi Usagi” The hunter said “Nice to meet you”

“And you, Yumi-chan” Aiba grinned “There isn’t that many female hunters, ne, I wonder why”

“I don’t know...” Yumi admitted

“Sho-chan, do you know why?” Aiba asked turning to face his lover with a frown; Sakurai shook his head sending the hunter apologetic looks as she was called away a confused smile on her face. “Hmm maybe I should ask Nino or Toma...”

“Is it that important?”

“Not really, I’m just trying to distract myself” Aiba admitted and then rested his head against his shoulder, “Everyone feels so tense... In just a few hours we won’t have time”

“Ma-chan” Sakurai murmured softly

“It’s okay... I know Nino won’t want me to be depressed...”

“It’s normal, Ma-chan... He’s your dad...” The monk told him as he wrapped his arms around him. Aiba let out a sigh, breathing in his scent “Whatever happens I’m here with you okay?”

“I know, Sho-chan” The former witch smiled and kissed his neck lovingly “I’m here with you, too”

“I love you, Masaki”

“Me too”

Maru walked out into the courtyard, surprised to see Nino standing there alone, Nino was looking up at the clear sky, as the trickster reached his side he gave a chuckle

“What’s with you?” Maru asked

“I was just thinking that since we’re about to have an epic battle of it should be raining” He answered, Maru looked up at the stars that were shining down on them and then raised a hand, after a few moments rain started pitter pattering on and around them

“Is that dramatic enough for you?” He asked as the water hissed and steamed around them. Nino laughed as the rain ran down his face

“That’s more like it” He said and then pulled out his staff, a crash of thunder filled the air, “When the time comes... Make sure you help Jun, he might get jumpy but it has to be done”

“And you think I can do it?”

“Yes, because you’re better than Akanishi... Plus you want to bring Kame back and fuck his brains out” Nino smirked, Maru glared at him for a minute and then sighed

“I’ll make sure he does what he has to” he nodded

“Thanks, Maru” Nino turned his face up into the rain looking up at the still cloudless sky “I don’t regret sleeping with you”

“What?”

“I don’t regret sleeping with you, you always say I’m a slut but I honestly only sleep with people I really like” The demon told him with a grin. “Kame should have picked you”

“You can’t help who you fall in love with...”

“Not when you didn’t even try, when you get him back don’t wait around for someone else to take him again...” Nino said “Over 2000 years is too long” Maru was about to speak again when there was a loud shout from the gates of the halls, the trickster held up a hand stopping the rain, both their hearts thumping against their ribs in a strange song. What seemed like thousands of voices echoed in the night and they both knew it was time.

Comments

[denyclamp.livejournal.com]

Hahah right right, nino is not a slut, he just loves everyone xD the end is near, nooo T.T