I do not own Negima
/\/\/\
The two older demonic brothers sat in in a clearing overlooking the temple where Brent had been layed down to rest, brainstorming their next coarse of action. Falco didn't seem to grasp the danger of the situation.
"We could have taken him." Falco said indignantly.
"Tough talk, but it's worth remembering he was kicking your ass."
He was quick to respond. "Only because you ran off with Brent. Had all kept on him, we would have won."
"But Brent would be dead and you know why that's unacceptable."
"What makes you so sure?"
Very out of character of Averus, he raised his voice considerably. "Do you listen to a word I say? I've dealt with these people before. That pin was dead giveaway, he was demon hunter."
He scoffed. "Pfft. I've dealt with demon hunters before, they're all alike. Did you hear how arrogant he was? 'Last words?'" he said mockingly. "He was going to start a fuckin' monologue and give me an opening at any second."
"That wasn't just another hack with a grudge against demons. He was a congregation agent. Psychopathic cultists who enforce the most brutally difficult training with savage beatings for those who can't keep up." Falco still seemed aloof, but Averus had one more trick. "Remember the battle of Aurelia?"
Suspiciously, Falco answered. "Yeah... the Great War. The first major conflict on the border, in the neutral industrial city of Aurelia."
"Go on."
Falco looked to the sky and searched for what he could remember. "It was an important target for both sides because it could produce a lot of weapons and armor right on the front line. The Helas Empire and Southern Confederacy both sent huge forces to take the city."
"How many were there?"
"Plenty. I think both sides sent an entire airfish fleet. Streets were packed with heavy troopers and cavalry."
"The north sent 12 heavy cruisers and 9 assault destroyers, and they had 5 standard regiments on the ground. The south had 10 heavy cruisers, 9 assault destroyers, and 1 carrier, backed up by 4 regiments, and 2 cavalry brigades on the ground."
"Sounds about right. Man we pulled out all the stops on that one." He said nostalgically. "What's this have to with that demon hunter?"
"The congregation in the magical world wanted to maintain the border and push both sides into a position where they could end the war diplomatically with minimal civilians in the crossfire. They thought the best way to do that was to make both of their armies combat ineffective. And so the congregation stepped in during the battle to do just that. Do you know what happened next?"
"Yeah both strike forces were crushed... you're saying that was the congregation?"
"Yes, guess how many congregation agents it took to decimate these two massive armies. How many congregation agents just like that one we're fighting now did it take?"
Falco seemed a bit more on edge now. "five thousand?"
"Try five hundred."
Falco sat up straight. "You're shittin' me."
"I wish I was. 33,000 infantry backed up by the most advanced magical navy ever, was destroyed by 500 men. 500 men who proceeded to burn the city to the ground because of it's strategic value."
He was almost speechless. "They really are insane."
"I did a lot of research on them after the great war. Had it ended two weeks later, they would have implemented the 'cursed sun' operation."
"What's that?"
"They planned to burn every major strategic target across the wars front line and so on for the next 50 miles outward, effectively creating a 100 mile wide no-mans land of scorched, unusable earth." Falco was completely stunned. "Now do you see why this is such a big problem? We're not up against someone who can be bought, reasoned with, or scared. We need to kill this guy, find somewhere to hide, and wait for them to forget all about us because we are sure as hell not going to fight this one out."
/\/\/\
Ethan had finished the last of his business at the lake. While Fate was missing, he was able to snatch Chigusa from the claws of Chachazero and was prepared to collect the bounty on her. Maruyama's den qualified as a congregation mission (like a base of religious practice, not an agenda), so he could take her there. She walked a few feet in front him, the handcuffs she wore were hidden by the loose sleeves of her kimono. Ethan hid his pistol in the deep pocket of the trench coat he recovered from the lake, and kept it pointed at the small of Chigusa's back. "I haven't found that purpose you were talking about yet, y-you can't kill me." She bargained weakly.
"Calm down, I'm not going to kill you. You're worth more alive."
"Whatever they're giving you I can give you something much more valuable."
"More valuable than $15,000 in gold coin?" She was silent. "I didn't think so. Actually I can probably convince them to give me more seeing as that big demon also had to get dead."
"No! I can get servants! And... and enchanted weapons! And... and... Please don't turn me in." She finished.
"Too late. We've arrived." He pushed her into the bar that concealed Maruyama's den, and led her downstairs. As they pushed the curtain aside, Maruyama seemed deep in meditation, crosslegged, facing the elevated fire dish. "Master?" Maruyama didn't move. A congregation agent in a dark red cloak came from Ethan's left.
"Maruyama-sama can't speak now. I can handle whatever business you're here for, Lord Demandepace."
"This is Chigusa Amagasaki. I'd like to collect the bounty on her." He said, still keeping his hostage at gunpoint.
"Very well sir. I'll find what she's worth." Nobody seemed bothered by the fact that a woman had been brought inside under threat of death, everyone in the congregation was so desensitized, such brutality was almost routine. Ethan waited motionless, all emotion and cognition was gone, he was a weapon and nothing more while he was on mission. The agent returned with a scroll and read from it in a very official, almost regal, manner. "Ahem. For the crime of attempting to overthrow an established magical organization, as recognized by Fraternity Angelus Terra, Chigusa Amagasaki is sentenced to class C imprisonment until such time that she is willing to submit to a period of indentured servitude lasting no more than twenty years and no less than ten."
Ethan examined the sash that the other agent wore, the minute details in the pattern running it's length showed that he was still an apprentice. "Apprentice, as master slayer I wish to revise her contract."
"What sir? It's a standard contract for someone who's committed such crimes."
He looked at Chigusa hatefully. "A personal vendetta."
He gave a sadistic grin. "Hehe. I see, what do you want to change sir?"
"Class A confinement."
Chigusa turned around. "What's that mean?" She said fearfully.
"Class C is a typical prison cell. Cramped, no privacy, 3 meals a day. Class A is even more cramped, more of a hole in the wall really. You have privacy, but that's just because you don't have any light, except for twenty minutes of candlelight to eat your only meal everyday by." She was horrified. "You made this personal when you sent Fate after Haruna. You'll have plenty of time to think about what you've done."
"No. No. What's indentured servitude mean, how bad is that?" She said in a panic.
The agent chuckled a bit. "That's the thing, we aren't going to tell you. It might be better, it might be worse. The suspense is what really drives people crazy." She began to tear up. "Go sit in the corner, a the next caravan from the stronghold should be here in two days to pick you up and take you to the old Bastille." She went to sit down, drained of all feelings but shock and horror. He continued from the scroll. "The captor of Chigusa shall, effective May 11th, 2001, receive the equivalent of $15,347 American dollars in gold."
"Come on man, I took down demon she summoned too, the thing must have 250 feet tall. What say to the price of $18,000?"
"You're not going to haggle with me sir. You get $15,347."
"Fine." The agent held up a fist-sized pouch, jingling with precious metal. Ethan took it and walked away. "Start counting out a few more pieces. I'll be back with three more before the day's over." He stopped with the curtain held above his head. "Look up the bounty sheets for Falco the Red, Averus the Reaper, and Kaore the Demon." The curtain fell and he left.
/\/\/\
Several Hours Later
Brent's eyes opened slowly, the comfort of sleep kept drawing him in, but he detected a presence in the room, even as he focused on the featureless ceiling. The golden rays of sun that warmly showed into the room, were obscured and shadowed around an object that hovered by his bed. As his eyes focused in, he realized it was a human shape, kneeling next to him. Nothing about the motionless entity gave him reason to think it was hostile, but it was certainly frightening to have someone sit still and watch you sleep for any length of time. On the side opposite the figure, he felt something laying next to him, after examining it with his hand, he determined it was a sword, specifically a nodachi in it's sheath. He gripped the handle in the event things went bad, and opened his eyes to signal his consciousness.
It spoke. "Wake up Brent."
He immediately recognized Ethan's voice, and remembered who's side he had been on since last night. He held the sheath of the nodachi down with one foot and pulled it out with another and swung vertically, down at Ethan's head. Ethan tensed up, with his left hand he reached to grab the cinquedia on his right side and brought it in an arc that forced the nodachi and the cinquedia into the floorboards. As his body rotated, he trust the banishing pin into Brent's chest. All at once his lungs and throat felt painfully cold and dry and was unable to move.
Meanwhile
Falco and Averus still sat on the hill above Brent's room. About twenty minutes prior, they had seen someone walk into their brothers room. At the distance maybe 600 yards, it was difficult to tell who.
Falco was uneasy. "I don't like this, whoever that was, they've been in there for too long."
"You're right. Something has him on edge. I can feel it."
"Maybe we should check on him."
"No, we-" Suddenly his back arched back in surprise. "He's in danger. We need to help."
"What's going on?" He asked.
Without a word, Averus picked himself up and ran down to the temple. Falco soon followed.
Back with Brent
Brent was at the mercy of a mentally and emotionally unstable demon hunter, poised at the end of powerful tool designed just to kill demons like him. He stared Ethan in the eyes, defiant and brave to the end, even as his efforts to resist were met with no results. "Listen to me Brent. I'm going to let you go. When I do, I want you to sit back down, and talk with me. I didn't come to kill you." Ethan released Brent, and carefully he sat back down. He was still on guard as the scene was hardly comforting, his would-be assassin sat about a foot in front of him and his weapon was stuck about ten inches in the floor. Ethan retrieved his cinquedia and sheathed it once more. "Brent, I left today all set to kill you, in fact, I was looking forward to it. I blamed you for something very serious. You see, the late Araghast told me Haruna was dead, and you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I began to blame you as her murderer... Imagine my surprise when I come here to find that she's not only alive, but chatting with Kazumi, who by the way I was told was also dead, about how you saved them."
He interuppted Ethan. "Kazumi's okay?"
"Yes, she's fine. There's more to it than even that. During my search for you, I got to thinking. If it's in Chigusa's and Fate's interest to take Haruna, Nodoka, Kazumi, and Yue out of the picture, then why were you enemies? That must mean you don't share a common goal. Not only that, but you fought alongside Negi and the others at the lake. This means you're an enemy of Chigusa, and at least on good enough terms with Negi to fight by his side. So, if you're an enemy of Chigusa, and not strictly a friend or enemy of Negi's, then I have one very simple question. Who's side are you on? What are you after?"
Brent took a moment to glare at Ethan. "I don't have an agenda, I just want to live without people like you hunting me down. That's all I've been after my whole life. Why am I the bad guy?"
"That's just it. We need to figure out if you are or not. Which brings us to my question. Why, if you just want to live and let live, has it been confirmed that in March of 1171, you... I'm sure I don't need to tell you what happened to the Ichigama Inn. Moreover, it's on record that you're directly responsible for the deaths of over 12,000 people in your lifetime. If I'm right about your age, that's 100 every year. Am I right to assume you've killed someone every three days for the past 1200 years?"
As Brent was preparing to speak, Averus and Falco burst into the room. Ethan pulled his gun drew a bead on Falco's forehead. Quickly, he pulled an uzi from the holster in his coat and responded in kind. "Hold on Falco. Put the gun down."
Falco was once again, for worse, stuck in his ways. "Are you crazy? Do you know what these congregation guys have done? That guys a lunatic!" He kept the gun on target.
"He's just here to talk, so cool it."
The standoff went on silently for another 5 seconds, until Ethan spun the weapon in his hand and returned it to his holster. "There, now we can be friends." Falco stood still, staring down the block that comprised the uzi's form. Averus moved forward carefully, and sat down at the side of Brent's bed. A moment later, he followed, but stubbornly refused to stow his firearm, and further refused to stop aiming it at Ethan. He didn't seem bothered. "Where were we?"
"You were talking about the things I've done wrong, and carefully omitting everything I've done right."
"Enlighten me."
"I've killed more than my share of men, but among them were the thieves, murderers, sadists, the Nazis, and people like you. People who think it necessary to kill me because of my heritage as a demon. Those who didn't attack me first, deserved to die, and I think you would agree. I don't take people's lives lightly, I never have."
"Is that so?"
Brent was irritated. "What good does it do plead my case if you're going to shoot it down anyway?"
"Well, prove it."
"Ask anyone who was at the lake. They know I'm not up to anything, if you can't trust them I don't know who you can."
Ethan looked and the ground and was lost in thought. He knew what Ku Fei and the others would say if he went for their opinion, the question was, could he trust them? He continued to stare until he looked Brent dead in the face with a determined look in his eye. He reached into his coat, as his hand entered obscurity, Falco forced the gun to Ethan's temple and everything froze. "... Little jumpy are we?" He asked, quite agitated, before continuing to reach into the coat. He pulled out blue book, Falco pulled his gun back. It was fairly thick and had a loose chain running the length of the spine that had been used to affix it to his hip. Inlaid in matte black on the cover were the words 'Codex: Fraternity Angelus'. He held it nostalgically in his hand before throwing it against the wall. "All the signs were there. The brutality, the zeal, we were just parts of machine that had been long ago corrupted. Pawns to an uncaring and hungry authority."
Everyone was taken back by what he said. "What do you mean?" Averus asked.
"I mean the congregation here on earth has been, for the longest time, ignoring the doctrine we were founded on. The highest echelons of the congregation had been locked in a power struggle for the who knows how long. I don't know when it ended, but we're no longer the models of order we had once been."
"You didn't answer my question."
"The congregation has taken a turn for the worse. I renounce my affiliation with them." Averus was speechless. The unshakable faith of a congregation agent, broken by his younger brother. "Brent, you've shown me that everything I once believed has been false. I owe you something indescribably valuable. You've saved me from living as slave, blinded to reason." Ethan bowed his head.
Brent looked at him quizzically. "What are you going to do?"
"You represent purity where once I only saw filth. You have the potential to right what has been wrong for too many years. I will protect you from the congregation, and we will save this world from it's encroachment and atrocities."
