Chapter 2: The Hunter's Sister
"Revenge?" Yuji said, taking a fighting stance and letting his body glow silver. "What have I ever done to you?"
Neftier smiled darkly. "You'll pay for what you did to my brother," she said.
"Brother?" asked Yuji, somewhat puzzled.
"I'm sure you're familiar with a plan to devour this city's entire existence," the woman replied. "A plan you thwarted."
"Devour this city?" Yuji said aloud.
Could it be? he thought. Her brother is…
"Friagne!" he said aloud. "Your brother's Friagne!"
"Too true," said Neftier. "He always loved that little doll of his more than anyone else. But she was his downfall."
"Friagne was insane," Yuji said. "He would have ended up bringing chaos to the world."
Neftier chuckled. "Yes, he was insane. He was insane because he didn't let me help him. He always thought that he and his little doll would live happily ever after with no one to help. Well, look what happened to him."
"I'm sorry with what happened to your brother," Yuji said, relaxing his body. "You have all the right to attack me. I have never felt anything like that yet, but no doubt, I will soon."
"Hmhm, good speech little Mystes." Neftier said as she produced a black wand. "Are you trying to trick me into letting you go? What kind of a fool do you think I am?"
The wand transformed into a beautiful, black javelin. "My brother preferred killing Flame Hazes with a gun, I like using something a little more flexible," Neftier said. "This Hougu is called the Death Spike, and it will be the last thing you'll ever see."
She swung the Death Spike. Yuji narrowly dodged the flying projectile. He looked behind. The javelin embedded itself deep into the wall of his house.
She…she just threw it? Yuji thought. Why? She won't have a weapon anymore.
The Mystes looked to Neftier again. She still held the Death Spike. The Denizen swung the javelin twice more. Two spikes sped from the one in her hand. Yuji evaded the first. He threw a silver fireball to deflect the second.
"I'm sure you've figured it out by now," Neftier said. "Every time I swing, a duplicate flies at you, and each needs just a little Power of Existence, unlike my brother's energy wasting Trigger Happy."
As Yuji dodged and deflected more spikes, thought of his enemy. His keen senses could still feel the presence of Shana, Wilhelmina, and Margery, and they were undisturbed. Why couldn't they sense Neftier? And why hadn't he sensed her as well?
Could it be an Unrestricted Method? he thought.
"Why can't I sense you? And why are you going after me instead of Shana?" Yuji said. "Why?"
"I won't answer the first question. But do you really want to know the answer to the second?" Neftier said, pausing her barrage. "I plan on something much more harsh for the Flaming-haired Blazing-eyed Hunter. I'll take away the person most dear to her, just like you two took away Friagne."
Yuji's rage began to build. How dare she try to do such a thing!
From his pocket he produced a bookmark. In an instant it transformed into a giant broadsword.
"Ooh, looks like things are getting a little more serious," Neftier said before unleashing a shower of spikes at the Mystes.
Yuji took cover behind the wall of his yard, with Blutsauger, his giant sword, acting as a shield against the spikes.
"Face it Mystes, you are no match for me!" the Nega-hunter boasted.
Yuji decided his next move. He jumped out into the open, to Neftier's surprise. The Denizen made it rain spikes on him. Yuji gathered as much Existence as he could into the Blutsauger and swung it in a wide arc at the javelin shower.
A great blast of Existence came from the sword. Both Neftier and Hecate – who was hiding behind a corner—were blinded by the bright flash.
Neftier suddenly felt the heavy hilt of Blutsauger strike her abdomen. She recoiled and fell on her knees, dropping the Death Spike and letting it return to its original state.
"H-how?" was all she said.
She looked up at the Mystes. He still looked angry.
"Go ahead, kill me," she said. "Let me suffer the same fate as my brother."
Yuji turned Blutsauger back into a bookmark. "No, I won't," he said. "But I want you to leave Misaki forever."
Neftier grinned wickedly. "I can't do that, o merciful Mystes," she said, half mockingly. "And I don't think you're in a position to tell me what to do. That crazy attack made you use up a lot of your Existence."
"It's almost midnight," Yuji said calmly.
Neftier picked up her black wand. "Then I guess I'll just have to kill you before – ungh!" she suddenly felt weak. Though the Death Spike needed little energy for one shot, a hail of spikes took a lot out of her.
"You're lucky. Let's call it a draw tonight," she said before disappearing in a flash of red fire.
Midnight came quickly, and Yuji repaired the damage done in the Fuzetsu. After removing the Seal on time he felt an odd presence nearby. He shrugged it off. It was too weak to be anything, even a Torch. He decided to check it out the next day – or later that day, since it was midnight. The training that afternoon had him dead tired, and the battle with the Denizen just made things worse. All he wanted to do now, was rest.
YNYNYNYNYN
Hecate peeked out from her hiding place. "He has become more amazing from last time," she said to herself.
