A/N: Please note that this is the first chapter of my story Dancing on Puppet Strings - if you'd like to keep updated on it's progress at all please visit my LJ which you can find in my profile. :) Please enjoy this!

It was a cool night in Venice, Italy but out on the water it was even colder. The soft splashing against the small boat rocked its occupants gently back and forth as they moved steadily farther away from the dock. The strong, distinct smell of fish carried on an icy breeze made the blond boy shiver and huddle deeper into his black leather jacket. He wasn't afraid or nervous; being a trained assassin almost all of his life had rid him of most of those feelings, though he was very aware of just where they were going.

Ahead of them loomed the foreboding shadow of the island -their destination. This was the place that mothers used in their cautionary tales to will their children to behave. A dark reminder of times gone by that to this day still inspired nightmares.

It was also where they were to spend the night.

Looking across the gondola at the girl with the golden pigtails, Belphegor idly wondered if this was such a good idea. Danger aside, there was probably some rule set in place that said minors were forbidden from even stepping foot on the island as they could find themselves in quite a bit of trouble. None of this bothered him too much of course, but the girl he'd met not 15 minutes ago looked far too innocent for such an expedition. And the doll that rested on her lap, her hands lightly resting about it's middle to keep it in a sitting position wasn't helping to change his mind on the matter. He wasn't even really sure why he'd offered to help her get to the island in the first place! After all, he was a prince; she should have been rowing him across the lagoon.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully lifted the oar on his left side from the water and dunked it in on his right setting the handle in the forcola. It was hard to see exactly where water ended and where the island started, so he had to be extra careful not to run up onto land and possibly damage the boat. Doing so would mean a fee to pay and no way to get back to the city and maybe even a dip into the chilly lagoon beneath their feet. He certainly wasn't looking forward to that and he suspected the same for her, despite her painfully quiet demeanor.

She'd said close to nothing since they'd set off and he was almost more chilled by her silence than the salty wind.

"So," said Bel, "what did you say your name was again?" Most of his focus was on rowing the gondola but he was desperate to hear something other then the sloshing sound that was coming from all around them and even more desperate to prove that she wasn't just a figment of his imagination. He'd hate to end up on an island with such a dark history all by himself because his brain had tricked him with a beautiful imaginary girl.

"Mari," she said gently, the sound almost lost to the waves, "Marion Phauna." She lifted her doll up a bit, one of it's eyes, barely connected by a thread, dancing in the breeze, "And this is Chuck. Both of us thank you, by the way, for your assistance."

Bel watched as she lowered Chuck to her lap once more, noting that despite her friendly words her face was still blank. Slowly grinning, he switched the oar back to the left side of the boat and fixed her with his cockiest smirk. "Well, as I said earlier, I am Prince Belphegor, but you can just call me Prince."

"Mari will remember that." He was only slightly surprised when a tiny smile worked at her lips, her blue green eyes glinting in the light from the lantern at the front of the gondola. Smirk easing away he gave the oar a good, long stroke in hopes that it might speed them up a bit without capsizing the boat.

"If you don't mind me asking, what made you want to go to Poveglia?"

Mari blinked slowly, her smile fading with the action. "Mari wants to see what sort of spirits are there."

"You believe in ghosts then?" He couldn't help but chuckle lightly, figuring she must have been younger then he'd originally thought.

"You don't?"

He shrugged, "Not really."

"You should," said Mari before looking out at the water once more.

Belphegor wanted to press the subject, wanted to ask her what would make her believe in such things but something told him not to. Instead, he decided to bring up the island's questionable history, not particularly fond of the subject but knowing that it was a point that had to be crossed before they stepped off the boat. "Poveglia has a dark past, you know. There could be anything waiting for us – perhaps ghosts or perhaps rabid animals, mad from absorbing the remnants of the plague into their bodies. Is it really a place you want to go?"

"It is." The answer was so short, so straightforward, that Bel hardly believed his ears but before he could question Marion, she continued. "Mari is well aware of what has taken place on this island. In fact, that's what interested Mari in the first place." She tilted her head up to regard him with curious eyes, "Why are you coming?"

"Well, a prince can't just let a beautiful girl go wandering off to a place that's supposedly haunted, now can he?" The words came easily now that they were on a subject with which he was more familiar, however, he couldn't help feeling a tad uneasy as the island's shore grew closer with each passing second. He still wasn't scared, was going to do his damnedest not to get scared, but he couldn't shake the feeling that countless eyes were watching their approach from the darkness of the trees. Perhaps there really was something lurking after all.

Perhaps they should have been worried about something other then just the possibility of damage charges and being stranded until morning.

Seemingly without any such worries, Mari gently rose with Chuck hugged to her chest and Bel had to fight off the urge to tell her to sit back down. Extending her free arm, she reached for an overhanging branch, letting out a soft sound when she managed to snag one. She used it as leverage to help pull them closer to the muddy bank and, after making sure she had a good hold on it, Bel grabbed up the rope from the bottom of the boat.

Taking a spry leap from the gondola's prow, he landed easily on the bank but the squelching sound of mud under his boots made him grimace slightly. They were his favorite pair, perfectly white and imported straight from Japan and he suspected that after this romp through the woods they were going to need a serious washing. With a faint sigh, he swiftly tied the rope around a tree trunk, making sure the gondola was securely anchored in place before offering Marion his hand. He was unable to keep the smile off his face when she accepted his help and it only grew in size when he found her hand was small and soft in his, her weight close to nothing as he pulled her up.

She gave a soft 'thanks' before turning to pick her way through the brush without any signs of hesitation or fear. He couldn't help but be impressed by her bravery yet he knew that if anything did happen on this island it was going to be his job to protect her because bravery was no weapon of defense. Not from the living and certainly not from the dead. So stuffing his hands into the pockets of his trousers, he followed after her and noted with great disdain that Poveglia seemed to be all just one big muddy mess.

Shit. His boots were probably going to be unsalvageable by morning – if they were still alive by then, anyway.

Their chances of survival looked to be about 50/50 at the moment considering that all around them the trees were nothing more then shadowy blobs, shapeless and tightly knitted which made it almost impossible to walk in a straight line. Branches snagged at their clothes and hair, leaves stuck to them and the insistent buzzing of mosquitoes completed the unpleasant hike. Even so, past all of that bothersome nonsense, there was something more in these woods, something much darker, sinister even, daring to betray the island's ominous past.

It now felt as if the eyes were all around them, encircling them from every angle imaginable. Not just in the dense trees and bushes but up in the highest branches and even under them in the wet ground. It didn't seem as if there was any place from which something wasn't watching them but Belphegor knew that there wasn't really anyone there.

He was a member of Varia, he'd been trained in assassination since the age of eight and could effortlessly pick up on a presence. No, he undoubtedly knew when someone was there, knew it as well as the fact that he was a natural blond, yet he seemed incapable of shaking the feeling that told him otherwise. It was a confusing mix of emotions and thoughts with his high level awareness telling him that something was there, just beyond the foliage while his brain, the largest sensory organ of all, telling him that it was nothing.

All in all, it was putting him in a highly tense state, his shoulders aching from how tightly he was holding himself. Possibly more worrisome though was how perfectly at ease Mari seemed.

It was almost as if she had no worries in the world and didn't care about what had once happened here all around them. She didn't care about the thousands of plague victims that had been shipped here to die in an attempt to keep the healthy safe; she didn't care about the patients, a few hundred years later, who claimed to see their ghosts and the mad doctor who performed crude lobotomies on them for such claims. This girl, this Marion Phauna, did not care about the countless lives that had been lost to pain and suffering and torture. This was just a field trip to her.

Quite possibly, she even thought it a game.

Grinning from ear to ear, Bel let a low chuckle escape him as he pushed a hanging branch out of his way. The soft 'ushishishi' sound from behind made Mari pause and glance over her shoulder at him. Even now in the face of his strange laughter, she still wasn't worried. "Are you alright?" She implored gently.

"Perfect," he replied with a nod. "But I do have a question now that we're talking; do you know where you're going?"

"Yes," said Mari before turning forward again to step over a fallen log. "Our first stop is the pit."

He tilted his head to the side, giving this due consideration before stepping over the log as well. "You mean the place where they threw all the plague victims?"

"Mari is unaware of any other pit."

"Great."

(XxXxX)

Not even 20 minutes later, he quickly realized that when Mari had said they were visiting the pit, she'd meant an actual pit. It truthfully looked as if it had once been a well but the scent that still managed to cling to the surrounding area was a big indicator that it had been something else; something truly foul. The trees were thick around them but the small clearing itself didn't grant relief from the otherwise suffocating woods. If anything, the air felt even heavier there, more intense somehow. Bel suspected that this had been the first patch of clear ground anyone would have been able to find when looking for a place to bury the dead and figured it hadn't been picked for any special reason. They'd probably been in too much of a hurry to get off the island and away from the infected to look for a better spot, anyway.

He vaguely wondered how long the plague virus could survive and sincerely hoped they weren't in any real danger, especially when Mari stepped right up to the hole in the ground. At one point, it had been sealed shut with boards and, later, with bricks in what had probably been a desperate attempt to keep the spirits where they belonged. However, he highly doubted that anything corporal could actually stop a ghost – any good horror flick would have told you that much.

There was a gentle rustling behind them, duly noted but ignored by both.

"What are you doing?"

"Mari is trying to hear them," she said as she knelt down, the edges of her black and white skirt brushing the grass silently. He watched as she leaned forward to place her hand atop the bricks, the movement making one of her long pigtails slide forward over her shoulder to partly hide her face. He didn't see when she closed her eyes in concentration.

Bel did, however, note the small statue directly across from her. It was too dark to make out exactly what it was but he figured it must have been a religious sentiment of some kind. It had more then likely been intended to appease the souls of the plague sufferers but judging from the reports of ghostly sightings that persisted even to this day, it was a safe bet to say that it hadn't worked.

There was a sudden commotion in the bushes and Bel spun on his heel to face the sound, three serrated blades in his hand in an instant.

He didn't see anything there and the sound calmed before gradually retreating, almost as if someone or something was stepping away from the small clearing leaving the young man to stare into the gloomy woods in silence.

Mari hadn't even flinched.

After almost a full minute of waiting for something to happen, he finally let out the breath he'd been holding. "I think there's something out there," said Bel as he moved a bit closer to her, knowing that if it was something dangerous it'd go after the weakest of the two first.

"You're right to think that." She didn't bother to look up at him; her focus was entirely on the pit and what lay at the bottom of it. "There are spirits all around us. Some of them are angry, some are just sad and others want revenge. Why did they have to suffer alone? It's not fair to die all by yourself with just equally wretched souls as your only company. Why shouldn't everyone suffer with them?" Her voice sounded distant and preoccupied, like her mind was somewhere else entirely and her mouth was running on autopilot.

Bel chanced a peek over his shoulder and saw just how truly gorgeous she was in front of that pit of death. "Why do I get the feeling you're not just some ordinary cute girl?"

Silently, she rose to her feet, head hanging forward so that her long hair covered her face. She was no longer hugging Chuck to her chest but rather holding onto one of his hands so he dangled limply in her grasp. Mari's clothes danced in the chilly wind that blew through the trees and she waited until they settled once more before replying. "That's because Mari is not a regular girl. Most people call Mari a witch and shun her for it, but that's not what Mari really is."

He turned to fully face her, the weight of his knives between his fingers serving as an anchor to keep him from getting lost in the eerie sensation floating in the air all around him. "If you're not a witch then what are you?"

In the silence that followed, the bushes began to quiver again. It started off small and quiet but quickly worked its way up to an almost violent level.

Mari suddenly jerked into motion, grabbing his free hand and using it to yank him off into the woods. Belphegor stumbled after her knowing full and well that he could easily break free and face whatever was behind them. He wouldn't have even needed to try but he got the distinct impression that his knives wouldn't be affective against it. It left him slightly uneasy, not used to being defenseless against anything and not liking at all how it felt.

"Where are we going now?" He asked over the sound of their running and the terribly loud noise right behind them. Whatever it was, it was definitely following them and, though he may not have been able to see it, he did manage to pick up the sense of uncontrollable rage. That was enough incentive for him to keep running – prince or not.

"To the hospital. We'll be trapped inside at least until morning, but it'll be a lot safer then out in the open woods."

He understood what she was saying, knew it was a good strategy but he wasn't so sure if it would work against spirits. Hey, wait a second! He thought furiously to himself, since when did I started believing in stuff like that!?

There was an abrupt yelp then Mari lurched forward and it was only Bel's lightening fast reaction time that made it possible for him to catch her before she hit the ground. He looked down, expecting to see a tree root or stone but was truly surprised to see a hand gripping at her ankle. Or, at least the bones that normally made up a hand – and it was protruding right out of the ground just like it would have in any two-bit zombie movie.

Ok, I guess this is the point where I have no more doubts, was Bel's grim thought as he gave a quick flick of his wrist. He hadn't enough time to enjoy the sight of all three blades, easily slicing through the grimy white bones like a scalpel through warm butter, though he would later look back on it and smile. Quickly grabbing her up in his arms, his tightly honed senses told him that something was reaching for them about five seconds before he leaped up into the nearest tree.

The sound that followed them was something truly horrific. Whatever it was, ghost or rabid animal or a perfectly normal person playing a really bad joke, it was screaming at a pitch that had never been meant for mortal ears.

It made Bel's skin quiver as if it were trying to get away from him, sending tiny tremors through his slight frame and before it could pursue that desire, he gathered his composure jumping from the tree and making a mad dash forward. Mari, as light as a feather in his arms as he ran, he almost forgot he was carrying her. Adrenaline scorched through his veins, making him sweat and gasp for air as if he'd run three straight miles after eating a Thanksgiving dinner and, most importantly, it made him laugh. Not the small, light chuckle he'd been unable to hold back earlier but a full, throaty laugh that made his stomach ache and tears gather in the corners of his eyes. It was actually sort of fun – the living were rarely a match for him so perhaps the dead could prove to be exciting. Maybe, maybe.

So lost in his own little world Bel didn't see Chuck shift in Mari's arms, tilting it's plush head up as if to regard him.

Some six minutes later, the trees started to thin out more and more until they finally burst through the woods to land in front of the dingy, worn down building that was once the hospital. All the windows looked like they'd been busted in, it's entire surface was bathed in a permanent layer of filth that gave off an eerie sheen but it was still clear what it had once been. He quickly made his way over to the side of the hospital, making sure his back was against the wall so (physically) nothing could get him from behind before putting Mari down. It was only then, when he sat her down on her feet that he noticed the doll was sitting upright without any visible help. He eyed it for a second, his chest still heaving with dry laughter and tilted his head to the side similar to that of a curious bird. Seeing his interest and that wide Cheshire cat grin on his face, Mari couldn't help but smile as well.

"I'll tell you what I am, Prince Belphegor." Standing a bit straighter, she intoned with the same voice of someone who was fiercely proud of her heritage, "I am not a witch, but rather a shaman. I can see and even speak to the souls of the dead and Chuck here is what you might call my familiar." As if on cue, the doll in question began to glow a deep shade of purple and rather nimbly hopped down from her arms to land on the ground between them. "He's my partner and we came here to train."

If it hadn't been for his laid back personality and his open minded view of the world, Bel probably would have been very frightened right at that moment. Then again, if it hadn't been for his little quirks, he probably never would have offered to help Mari get over to Poveglia in the first place. He would have done what any normal, sane person would have and told her she was crazy for wanting to go there and wish her luck before heading on his way. So instead of fainting dead away from pure shock at he confession, he grinned all the more, his shoulders rocking with yet more laughter. "Ooooh ~? Train for what, then?"

"For the Shaman Tournament."

Behind him, something very large and very pissed came crashing through the trees, parting them with ease and galloping right towards them. He started to turn but was cut short by the all but deafening sound of four revolver shots going off in rapid succession. It was only at that moment that he realized the gun attached to Chuck's right hand was real now that there was very real smoke curling from it. Somehow he'd thought it had been a toy, an accessory, something other than a real gun.

"Sounds fun," he managed to say between snickers.

"Indeed."

As Belphegor watched her step forward, effortlessly controlling Chuck in the battle against these ghosts who he was now beginning to see faint outlines, he couldn't help thinking how lucky he was. If he hadn't been strolling along the pier looking for something to do at just the right time, he never would have run into her. They wouldn't have met and he wouldn't have learned that ghosts were, in fact, very real or that shamans even existed! Truly he was a lucky individual – or perhaps it had just been fate. Bel wasn't entirely sure which he preferred to believe but decided that him being a prince was answer enough.

(XxXxX)

Mari turned to face a half formed skeleton that was lurching towards her, it's awkward corpse gait making it slow and uncertain as though it could barely hold itself together. Clearly determined to get to her, Chuck quickly shot both of it's legs clean off and the abdomen hovered briefly before it fell face first in the dirt as he spun back around to shoot yet another ghost. In a last ditch effort to reach her, the skeleton dragged itself along and just as it got close enough to touch her ankle, she kicked it so the head went flying into the air which Chuck easily hit, causing it to shatter and fall to the ground like snow.

There hadn't been very many skeletons, it took far too much energy for a spirit to animate one without the help of a shaman (or at least, that's what Mari had said when Bel asked her about it in the midst of battle) but the ghosts that did choose to implement one weren't very successful. Without any tendons or ligaments to help the process along, walking was difficult and carrying out an attack was even harder. Mari hadn't seemed to mind though, no matter what course of action they'd tried to take she merely shot them all down. And not once did she physically fight any of them, her body apparently nowhere near as strong as her soul.

But that was fine with Bel, as long as she got the job done, he figured.

The sun was already starting to rise but it didn't feel like a whole night had gone by. It seemed like it hadn't even been five minutes since they first set foot on Poveglia and yet already the light was pouring in on a brand new day. He supposed that was what happened when you were enjoying yourself, you lost track of time.

Shifting forward from his perch, Bel slid down off the windowsill to land on the cool dirt. He took the time to dust off his black jacket before making his way over to Mari who, at some point during the fight, had discarded her own coat and was left in just her pretty black and white dress. Her lithe frame was shaking from exertion and she was panting heavily while Chuck showed no signs of exhaustion. With the same energy he'd shown throughout the course of the night, he shot the last of the ghosts watching as they dissolved in a puff of smoke that mingled in with the fine mist hanging over the island.

Apparently being around ghosts and someone as spiritually aware as Mari could increase a normal persons awareness as well because now Bel could make out the fine lines that made up their bodies – nothing too detailed but just enough to tell what they were. And at the moment, for the first time since they'd stepped off the gondola, he didn't see or sense anything else. It looked as if she'd gotten them all. She'd single-handedly gotten all of the tortured souls inhabiting Poveglia.

Or, at least the ones that were brave enough to show themselves anyway.

"Bravo, bravo," said Bel as he clapped his hands in a rather excited manner. "You're amazing. We could use someone like you in Varia."

She spared him a glance before using her forearm to wipe the accumulated sweat from her brow. "Varia?"

He debated whether or not he should tell her – for about five seconds before quickly plowing ahead. "Yeah, ever heard of the Vongola family?" Mari hesitated before nodding an affirmative. "As I'm sure you know, they're a big time mafia family, right? Well, we're sort of like their trump card, their ace in the hole, if you will. We're assassins who do the jobs that most would never be able to accomplish."

She eyed him for a moment, clearly a bit skeptical. "You kill people for a living?"

Pouting, Bel waggled a finger at her. "We don't always kill! Sometimes it's other things like - - protecting the boss in a high level danger zone."

"Mari sees." Bending, she scooped Chuck up into her arms and the purple glow receded until it looked like nothing more then an old cowboy doll.

Bel chuckled as he skittered forward, pulling his jacket off along the way. "It's fine if you don't believe me, I'll show you some day." Before she could react, he had the long black coat draped over her small shoulders and was pulling gently at the lapels to make sure it was snug around her. "I promise."

Marion stared up at him for a second or two before sighing gently. "Bel, Mari won't be able to see you for a while, so it'll have to wait. Sorry."

"That Shaman Tournament you mentioned?"

She nodded.

"Well, what is it exactly?"

"Mari's not sure if she can tell you that ..." she replied, her voice laced with uncertainty.

Bel snickered again, using the coat to pull her closer to him. "Then tell me where you have to go."

For the first time since he'd met her, Mari's face suddenly showed some color with her cheeks now tinted a light shade of pink that made her entire face seem completely alive. "Well, first Mari has to go to Germany,"

"Uh-huh,"

"Then to Britain," she quickly added. "To meet up with friends."

"Yeeeaaah ~?"

"Then," she paused, thinking deeply about something, "we're going to Japan."

Belphegor blinked in surprise – or, at least seemed to. "Really? I'll be going to Japan in a few days myself. Maybe we'll see each other there?"

"... Maybe." Mari smiled gently, hugging Chuck a bit tighter.

The sun was now a fiery ball in the sky, painting everything orange and yellow and making both of their blond heads look almost as if they were glowing. As the air slowly grew warmer from the light, the fog started to fade away and the silence that now hovered over Poveglia was serene. It was no longer an island that harbored damned souls but, rather, just an island.

An island known only by it's tragic past, now had a future.

To be continued ...