Authors Notes: Not much to say this time, surprisingly. Just one thing I'll give you a heads up on. In this chapter, another Nippon Ichi Character will make a brief appearance. (Neither Disgaea or La Pucelle) But it will only be him so don't worry if you don't know who he is. One thing I'd like to point out now, there will be No Pairings(Not counting original chars). This is because romance isn't really my thing, and it sometimes brings down stories. However, the chance it happens in the future will be on random and not pre-picked. I'd like the chars to decide so it doesn't seem forced. This fic is more focused on story anyway, we'll enough of that.
Tired didn't even begin to describe what lady Ayame was feeling. It was more along the lines of someone forcing her to run a thousand laps, and then told her she had a two second break. Not that she was complaining. We'll maybe a little. This is what she had wanted right? To prove herself a capable leader while Seraph Lamington was away on his business.
Still, she could do with out all the paper work and other headaches.
Tomorrow was the annual festival that they celebrated. Each year around this time would make the day when supposedly their ancestors came from Heaven to finally settle down and make a place of their own, leaving their own mark. It was an legend, and it happened so long ago that not even the oldest Angels couldn't recall it. Then again in old age they could scarcely recall their own names these days.
Only this time, it would be open to humans and demons. That was stress enough in itself.
This means I'll have to try to keep the peace by being more alert. This is part of Lamington's plan but it's trouble waiting to happen. Her eyes felt droopy and her head began to dip as she nodded off, head first agaisnt her desk behind a mountain of paper work, her purple hair scattered around in a mess. The Arch Angel was so tired, she unconsciously almost drooled.
"Lady Ayame, Alterra wishes to see you."
With a snort, she woke up, her sensitive hearing picking up one of her vassals voice. She realized with a tinge of disgust she had almost drooled, plus she had snorted slightly upon waking up. Not very lady like. No one will take me seriously if they think I'm some sloppy slob.
"Tell her to come in." She straightened her uniform and tried to compose herself. A blonde-haired woman came inside, holding a small blanket wrapped around a baby, barely a month old from the look of it. Along side her was a rather unremarkable young man, he seemed to be in his twenties-which looked slightly older then Alterra. It was her husband. Kojiro. If she remembered his name right.
"So what brings you two here?" Ayame liked Alterra and Kojiro, they were good people. Alterra was an a high-ranking Angel soldier that had pretty much retired and Kojiro was a human that was part of EDF (Earth Defense Force) and still is..or was until he was laid off. She didn't know the complete details but over the four years since the truce had started between the three worlds they fell in love. It didn't seem long before they were married on Celestia and had a child, little Zoe.
"I just wanted to see if you were all right. You have been pushing yourself far to hard since Master Lamington left on his business. And you have been stressing far to much over the festival, I'm sure it will be fine. Is Prince Laharl coming?"
As the Angel soldier talked to Ayame and Kojiro stood in the background letting them converse; Zoe got curious of her surroundings. Her purple hair matched her eyes, which were soaking up the things around her. She didn't know who these strange big people were or what they were talking about, being to young to understand the world around her. Still, she wanted attention from her mother. She grabbed one of her blonde locks that got in her small line of vision, and pulled with her tiny hands.
"Ouch. Please don't do that to mommy." Alterra hadn't really been hurt by it of course, but it was obvious the baby was likely going to inherent her mothers strength later on.
"Yes, if you feed his ego he's not so bad." Ayame repeatedly told herself she didn't like babies or kids, the thought of having one of her own scared her wingless. But when her friend showed Zoe so she could see her and she got a good look at her, some heart strings were pulled. Part of her told herself to stop acting like one of those elder female Angels, she wasn't going to become one of them, cackling old hens swooning over babies. Nope. Not her. Not this Arch Angel.
But damn it the little imp was cute.
"What is that?"
Blinking once, she realized the only male in the room spoke and her gaze followed where he was looking. Out the window, it was raining. This wasn't anything to worry about, and for a moment she wondered if Kojiro had gotten sick. As much as Earth had rapid changes in weather, surely he saw it at least a few times in his life.
Then it started to change.
Gradually, the water changed in color, shifting to a deep crimson, the same color as the Red moon almost. Ayame, and the rest were completely at a lost of what to make of it. Lamington wasn't kidding when he said how serious the situation could get if it dragged on to long.
Suddenly, the other things that had been bothering the Arch Angel Ayame seemed trivial.
Two young women were playing a game of cards, each of their faces gave nothing away as they tried to get the best of their opponents. Instead of chairs, they used some unfortunate Prinnies, who were sweating bullets nervously. The discomfort of those lost souls was lost on the two card players though. Only the game existed, nothing else would break up their concentration.
The red-head of the group seemed a bit older then her slightly more pink-haired companion on the other side. Anyone coming in would have recognized Etna almost instantly, being a well-known personality. Hanako, the younger one was a slightly different story. She was a newbie compared to Etna when it came to being a Lord, and she wasn't as well-known. This was made up for the fact that she sucked up information like a sponge and was a quick learner. It didn't help Etna was rubbing off on her, either.
"I win."
Hanako would have been annoyed about losing for the sixth time that day, but she admired her to much to let it last for to long. The smug tone was to be expected as her teacher dragged the chips they were betting on to herself. In boredom they played cards to pass the time when Laharl wasn't screaming at them to do something.(Or get the local Succubus away from him)
Since there was virtually nothing to bet on this time around, they decided to gamble with the Prinny squads savings. They would get their money back.. Some of it anyway. Hanako and Etna thought they were doing the Prinnies a favor anyway, they'd waste it on drinks and parties. That wasn't a good way to get to the Red Moon now was it? So they did some community service by 'borrowing' their savings every once in a while. A pocket full of Hell and nothing to do were sinnings best friends.
"It's so boring around here lately." Hanako said after a while. Sure there had been some strange things going on lately but nothing that involved them. Laharl had even run out of crazy ideas to do, but knowing him it wouldn't take long for him get restless enough to try just about anything. Which is why they played cards most of the time, to break the slowness of the day.
"Aww, cheer up. Something will happen soon." Rarely, if ever did she see Etna depressed or down, or even bored. Hanako had no idea what made her tick and went on in her head, but maybe some things were better left unknown.
"How do you know?"
"Just watch. 1,2, 3-"
"ETNA! HANAKO! NOW!"
Just like a cue to a script, Laharl had yelled for them. Etna had ungodly amount of timing.
No matter how many times Etna did it, Hanako would never get how she was able to predict when the prince was going to 'request' their presence for something. Something else she was going to be sure to learn down here.
Not the least bit worried about the potential wrath of an Over Lord, Etna almost seemed bored as she put both hands behind her head walking out of the room with her apprentice following close behind."See? What did I tell ya? It's all about reading people Hanako, the more you know them the better."
When they got Laharl's room, he was pacing back and forth, obviously bothered or restless about something. He hadn't changed much in four years, physically that is. He still had the scrawny body of a preteen boy, a look that hid the ridiculous amount of power he had for someone his age.
"Someone sent me..Distasteful magazines of women. I can't go back into my bed room now." Laharl had chosen his words carefully since Etna was in the room, knowing she would say something smart. He should have known by now that it wouldn't have mattered.
A cat-like grin crossed Etna's face. She had an idea of what 'distasteful' kind of magazine it was, there wasn't much that would in magazines that would make him yell like that. "Don't worry about it Prince. It's perfectly natural as you get older in puberty to have get rid of you're urges you know."
Face turning red(from embarrassment or anger or both was anyone's guess) "Shut up Etna." He snapped with his always clever and final come backs. "I want that..smut out of my room. An proper Over Lord doesn't need those magazines."
Hanako wondered how Etna was one of the few people who could get away with saying things to Laharl with out some sort of injury. She had come to the conclusion that was just how they bonded, like a brother and sister kind of thing. "Why can't Flonne do it?" She didn't want to see what Laharl saw, either.
"She almost went into shock when she saw one of them. She's in her room." Laharl calmed down, for once his whole demeanor changed to being slightly more serious, for a moment anyway. "I got this letter from the Arch Angel Ayame. It's about some festival or something."
"And..? Are we going?" Both of his vassals expected him to say no.
"Of course were going. There's going to be a tournament and free food. You can't have a tournament with out me!" Any chance for him to show off was always good in Laharl's book, then there was the fact he was a bit greedy and ate many times his body weight. It was those two incentives: Food and Fighting that made him go. Plus something else that made him make up his mind.
Secretly, both Hanako and Etna thought another factor was that Flonne was home sick so the Prince could use the festival as a crutch so it would look like a mere coincidence but none of them voiced that. Clever, as far as Laharl went.
"We'll leave soon." Laharl was about to head to his room but stopped in mid-step, remembering why he had ran out of there in the first place. "..But first you two need to get those..things out of my room." Every time he said it got an image in his head which made his bones go cold.
Everyone had a weakness, vampires had garlic and Werewolves had silver bullets, but it just happened that Laharl's had to be scanty clad sexy women. Anything worse then that was over kill to him.
"Oh. I was hoping you would forget. You have such a high pitched mannish scream Laharl." It wasn't Etna this time but Hanako, surprisingly that said it. The red-haired demon was proud her student was learning, now she would just have to see if Laharl would ignore it or blow up.
"Tch. You got guts saying that to me kid." Laharl said crossing his arms with a smirk, despite technically being a kid himself. "I hate guts. For that, you'll pick up the magazines by yourself. Etna, you'll clean the bathrooms. Now both of you get to work, I got to work on something before we leave."
About a few hours later, an unhappy Hanako went along for the trip. It wasn't the fact she had to do the work, we'll not all anyway. It was the simple fact she had lost the bet to Etna to see if the Prince would ignore the comment or say/do something to her. There went about fifty Hell down the drain. She was determined to have the last laugh though, if Etna taught her anything it was how to get back at someone.
Flonne was back in action by this time, having recovered and not wanting to miss the chance to see her home again. While cheerful and upbeat like her typical ditzy self, something was bothering her. Not something that was easy to tell if you didn't know you her, you had to know what to look for. The trip had almost been quick and painless, considering they didn't have to walk.
It had only been a pain for the Gate Keeper. Getting to Celestia to the Netherworld wasn't easy.
Not that Laharl cared, just as long as the ride was quick.
Even if the Prince wouldn't have admit it on his dying breath laying on a death bed as pale as a corpse, he was a bit worried about Flonne. However, he had interesting ways of showing it. Apparently, he showed his concern by taking out his frustration on his vassals, or what ever more convenient at the time.
Lucky for Etna and Hanako.
To tell the truth, Etna actually did like Flonne, but she like with everything else had odd ways of showing it. No one bothered to figure out what kind of logic went on in her head, and no one really wanted to, except maybe Aramis. But that was another story.
"Stop mopeing. You should be happy I even decided to come." In his own way, Laharl was trying to 'cheer' her up. Cute. Almost. Etna could almost strangle the prince at the moment for the unpleasant chore he gave her at the castle though.
"I-I'm not mopeing. I'm just excited." Anyone with half a brain and hadn't lived under a rock could tell Flonne was lying. Her skills with bending or hiding the truth were as much as her Ninja skills.
"Hmph. Couldn't have fooled me." Arms crossed over his small chest he focused on the gate in front of them, not asking Flonne anymore questions, for now anyway. That would soon change.
Two male Angel guards greeted the interesting group of three at an gate. Recognition showed on their faces when they saw Laharl, remembering him from those years ago. It was a look of contempt, not being to happy with losing with some demon child, prodigy or not. This in turn made Laharl's ego inflate his head like a balloon. Etna, would make it her duty to knock him down a peg or two to keep him grounded. She had those photo's of him still, after all. As well as other embarrassing things should he lose his head.
Many people thought Etna was completely careless, but that wasn't true. She was actually a very smart girl who knew how to plan, the ordeal of years ago when she worked for that vampire proved just that. Besides, she had promised King Krichevskoy that she would make sure his final request was fulfilled. She was many things, but not a liar, at least not to people she was that close to when she promised something.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you two are still sore about losing to me, I just did you a favor. If you get beaten by a kid, you don't really deserve to be Angelic Guards anyway." Laharl said smugly, he couldn't help it, the situation was to tempting not to.
"You're not a kid? You realize you technically insulted yourself right?"
"Good one Etna!" Hanako cheered on her teacher.
"...!" Came the wordless pissed off reply from Laharl, he couldn't think of a comeback as he glared back at Etna. So he went back with the bare basics. "Shut up. Both of you."
The guards kept straight faces the entire time, as they turned away, coughing. Easy to tell they were trying not to snickering before sombering up. "Lady Ayame was expecting you three, please come in."
"It's about time." Laharl muttered, as if they had taken an hour for them to let them through the gate when in reality it had taken only a couple of moments. Once they went through the gate, it was a different world.
The whole place seemed over-flooding with all kinds of people of various races. One of the first things that was different about Celestia was that it was a lot more decorated, upbeat one could call it, an sign it wasn't an normal day. Laharl watched impassively and even if he wouldn't admit it and didn't particularly care for it, it was impressive with the kind of work they had done. What did interest him was seeing people were obviously warriors among the crowd of normal-looking folk-relatively speaking anyway considering the kind of people that were here today.
Years back, he wouldn't have thought this was even possible. Humans, demons and Angels were just far to different, but then this had happened. Of course, Laharl for all his shortcomings was smarter then people gave him credit for. This was only a stepping stone, if things progressed or regressed was entirely up to people of the different worlds. Either way, it would give him an excuse to bust heads, whether in a tournament or in an actual fight he couldn't complain.
The Prince was seriously starting to question what Flonne could be worried about, the Love Freak should have been over joyed. Not only was she visiting home, but people were coming together with all that togetherness she always preached about. But she wasn't.
From the side he noticed a few Angel's actually scowl at Flonne. It was done discreetly but anyone who knew what to look for would have noticed it. They were wolfs in sheep clothing. That couldn't have been it? Had she been worried about how some Angels would think about her now that she was a Fallen? After all, Flonne never really got upset when she got insulted, usually.
So it had to be something else, the question was what?
Still Laharl was tempted to say or do something to them. He just couldn't think of an excuse that would be passable with out people getting the wrong ideas about him.
Flonne was the only one that knew who this Ayame person looked like, so they had to follow her but so far they hadn't come across her yet. It was annoying to Laharl when someone invited them and then they weren't even there to greet their guest? Granted, he did that sometimes but that didn't mean everyone else had to go by those standards, or lack of.
"Sorry for the wait." In typical clothing similar to what an Seraph would have worn came lady Ayame coming over to greet them, she did seem a bit tired for those who bothered looking close enough. "I'm Lady Ayame."
For the first time since coming here, the Fallen Angel seemed to have reverted back her normal self. She seemed excited to see her, as if she was some kind of celebrity. "Oh! I know you, I had posters of you on my wall. Hi I'm Flonne, I'm you're biggest fan." In her excitement though, she seemed to have forgotten about her other friends, she was in the same mood she got into when she watched Prism Rangers.
"And what was she famous for?" Etna, of all people asked. You could never tell with that girl, Hanako was quite, only because she was scheming something in that head of hers. Etna knew it was for payback, knowing her student well enough. The demon wasn't worried though, she liked the challenge.
With out really thinking what Ayame would have said or wanted to be known, Flonne blurted out the first thing that came to her head. "She's a famous warrior."
Arms still crossed, Laharl looked her over. She didn't really look like much, even if he himself didn't look threatening at all himself. He tried to get an decent reading of how strong she was by the flow of her Mana-an almost impossible task in someone's relaxed state. From what he could feel, it was a bit weaker then the Arch Angel before her.
"Famous warrior huh? You don't seem all that tough You sure you're an Arch Angel?" Never really one for tact, Laharl spoke bluntly like normal.
Take a deep breath. It wouldn't do to fight small children. Despite these thoughts, Ayame could feel herself become agitated but hid it well enough. It didn't help that this little kid was stronger then her, if he could throw down with the Seraph, then what could she do? Still, she had to be a decent host for this to work, spoiled brat or not.
"Yes I am." Recollecting herself she went on. "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask, though I'm sure the main reason you're here is because of the tournament. It'll start soon enough, but in the meantime you can watch some or participate in some light sparring."
It seemed Laharl hadn't even heard most of what Ayame had said. But the moment he heard the word 'sparring' his interest went up and he payed attention to the conversation. Finally, something worth his time. Hopefully there wouldn't be to many weaklings there or at the supposed tournament. "Why didn't you just say so? Take us there."
Remembering one of Lamigton's exercisers to calm her mind, she smiled. An smile that hid the fact like most people she was a bit annoyed with kid Over Lord. "Of course..Follow me." The Arch Angel position was starting to look less and less attractive by the day.
As they followed Ayame, Etna went a bit closer to Flonne prodding her with small talk. She just wanted to figure out what the heck was wrong with her. And to see what it was, all she had to do was talk to her normally. Often times, people revealed things about themselves they hadn't even realized until later.
"You don't seem to be to happy about being back home." Etna said.
Not small talk, but hey the blunt approach had it's own advantages as well.
"I am..It's just.." Her facial expression faltered for a moment.
"Just what?" She pressed. Maybe talking is all she needs to get this out of her system.
"It's just this day reminded me of something. It's both a happy and a sad day for me."
"Nice. But it's lacking things, y'know detail why you're so gloom?"
"Look were here. I can't wait to meet all the people. Maybe we can make some new friends." Etna could only blink once as Flonne dashed off towards an large open field were many people seemed to be practicing their combat skills. While it wasn't out of the ordinary for Flonne to do something like that, it also had peculiar timing. She hadn't even answered the demons word. It was almost like..
She's avoiding the question? Flonne? What could Flonne of all people, the cheery Angel was pretty open about her feelings and most aspects of her history, so what made this subject so sensitive she couldn't spill it? It was clever, for Flonne anyway to change the subject like that. Etna had saw this side to her only once before-the time she tricked the Prince to getting her pendant when she was an normal Angel.
Just when you thought you knew someone, they surprised you.
"Slow down! I didn't give you permission to run off!" Laharl's yelling went unheeded though, Flonne was already ahead trying to mingle with some of the people already there. Hanako like Etna could only guess what was going through her head. She wasn't to attached to her just yet but she knew her well enough to know she was acting strange today. Once leading them there, Ayame had said she needed to take care of something real quick and had left them alone for a minute.
Still, it was amusing to see Flonne irritate the Prince like that unintentionally. That alone was worth coming along this trip for.
Sour-faced, Laharl came over as did the rest. "What's got into you running off like that?"
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to see if any of my old friends were here." Flonne said sheepishly.
"You never said anything about your old friends." Hanako piped up, not able to help add her two cents into the conversation.
"What ever." The Prince replied after a while, it wasn't that big of a deal. "Obviously, none of them are even here, so running off was pointless for the both of us. I hate to admit it, and Heaven might turn into an inferno, but I agree with Hanako. You never did mention your old friends, not that I care mind you. Just doesn't see like you not say anything about that."
That's because she lied. Etna could have joined in and put Flonne on the spot, adding that little bit of information but something stopped her. It was just a certain look in her eyes, it was a look only a person who went through the same type of thing the other went through. It was that moment when she surprisingly found an kindred spirit, of Flonne of all people. And it was at the same instant she thought agaisnt saying anything.
"Hey Prince, that guy looks pretty strong over there. I bet he can take you." Etna knew just what buttons to push.
"What? That weakling? Tch, probably not even worth my time." Laharl over-confidence was still there, big as his head at times. It hadn't made him go over but it did make him change the subject and Hanako seemed to have lost her train of thought. Flonne looked relieved, Etna could have sworn she mouthed a small 'thank you'. But that must have been the flowery smell of Celestia getting to her head to cause her to hallucinate.
Laharl could see two people in particular who looked like they were going to fight. Normally he would have preferred to jump right into the fray instead of watching. However, watching was entertaining as well. Besides, this way he wouldn't waste his time if they proved weak. "Come on. I want to see if this thing will be worth my notice."
The three stood silently as they watched two men by each other. One was Kojiro and the other was the Angel soldier Noria, the clothing and the color of it was a sign he was somewhat high ranking. His white hair and grey eyes made him stand out like a sore thumb, compared to the other man who had black hair and eyes. They stood along side each other but weren't fighting just yet, some others watched as well, out of boredom or just to see. Laharl just hoped he wasn't disappointed.
"Care to challenge me human?" Norias, at the moment almost sounded like Laharl with the arrogant tone of his voice. Kojiro didn't answer by saying anything, he only shook his head cleaning his blade.
"Nothing to say? Figures, your to much of a coward to say anything. Weak. Your blood is thin just like the rest of your race." Some of the other Angels were a bit appalled at his lack of manners, the demons were just wondering if they would come to blows and the few humans there just wanted Norias to get beat.
"..I don't have time for this." Kojiro muttered under his breath, getting up and slowly walking away.
"I wonder what Alterra was thinking when she married a human." His verbal jabs going ignored, Norias continued. "She could have become part of an noble family, marrying me. Instead she ended up married with a human. If that's not bad enough, you produced that half-breed child of yours."
He could handle insults directed to himself, but not his child. Kojiro stopped walking not turning around or saying anything at first. "Prepare yourself." No other warning came when the young man suddenly lunged forward with the fake practice sword with speed that surprised the Angel soldier, only briefly as he blocked with his own. Jab. Thrust. Parry. And the pattern became increasingly complex as Kojiro pushed his opponent, keeping the pressure on the whole time.
Laharl looked at the scene for a moment, studying and reading both of the combatants before coming to an early conclusion to the fight. "He can't beat that Angel." He said bluntly with finality to his voice.
"Why not? He's not even attacking back." Hanako wasn't nearly as experienced in fighting as even Flonne, and it showed.
If she was going to be a decent vassal, Laharl decided a very short explanation was in order. "Look at him. It's true he's pushing him back, but that's it. The thing is he's using up all his energy quickly and at once and he'll tire out. The Angel isn't even worried, notice his facial expression? He knows what he's doing." That said, it was still impressive he was able to give the Angel trouble at all, not to many humans could do that.
Just like Laharl had predicted, the fight began to go down hill for the other man. Norias took advantage of it and began reversing the situation, making him go on the defense this time around. It was only a short time before the soldier ran his weapon up his opponents sword, and twisted counter clock wise effectively disarming him. The fake blade went flying his hands and Norias pointed his by his throat.
"Dead." He said as Kojiro shrugged off the blade and went to retrieve his weapon. "How can you defend Alterra or you're mut if you can't beat me?"
Laharl had seen enough. It was time to act now, he would finally get to fight. "Hey, Angel. How about an Real challenge? Unless of course you're scared to fight me but that's ok. Just that would prove you're a hypocrite."
Norias was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, he could back down and have others think even less of him. On the other, this was a fight he couldn't win if the stories of this child defeating Seraph Lamington proved to be true.
In the end, he chose pride over health.
"Fine. I'm ready when ever you are."
Laharl didn't really need any more prodding, instead he got one of the smaller practice swords and tested it before decided it was decent. No as good as his normal sword of course but it would do in this case, it shouldn't take the fight more then a few minutes anyway. The Prince stood with a smug expression as he waited for the Angel to make his first move, if he read him right he would know how to make him attack first with out even saying anything. Kojiro thought about going, but he wanted to see this, so he stayed, sitting down some feet away to watch what would happen.
Norias decided to test his child-like opponent, he started off by a few sword strikes, which Laharl easily, almost lazily avoided. As the Angel Soldier got an better idea of what his foe was capable of, he began to gradually start to pick up his pace. It didn't seem matter how fast he went, Laharl seemed to be able to dodge or block his blows with that smug expression never once changing on his face. The fact he hadn't even attacked back once really agitate the Angel, so much that he began to loose his cool.
I'll teach him to stop toying with me. Norias, in his anger wasn't completely thinking straight as he did the first thing that came to mind. If he couldn't get the Prince with an normal strike, he would channel his Angelic energy, hopefully it would get better results.
He never got the chance to complete what he was going to do.
Having since grown bored and having more 'important' things to do, the Over Lord wanted to end this boring fight and call it a day. Most people watching, even the non humans couldn't recall what had happened exactly next, it being to fast. A clash of the fake sword hitting something, an grunt and Norias hunched over out of breath with his weapon dropped were the only sign of anything happening. Laharl was a few feet away, disappointment written all over his face as went back to his vassals, discarding his current weapon as if it was a piece of trash.
"That was a complete waste of my time."
The fact a child beat an Angel Soldier, demon or not was making some of the humans and Angels feel a bit dumb founded, the demons just had their pride hurt that a mere child was able to defeat someone that they themselves couldn't. Out of all the surprised people, Kojiro was the most. So really, the stories of an child beating the Seraph that Alterra told him weren't just an exaggeration. It was true.
As Laharl came back, he notice Hanako over-so-grudgingly give up some Hell to Etna's patient out stretched hand. She had probably just lost another bet no doubt, but he didn't really want to know what it was about this time.
"Laharl that was over board you could have hurt him bad." Like normal, Flonne was ever the peace-maker. Or maybe in this case, just patching things up.
Etna found the situation to fun not to tease Laharl. "Wow Prince. I didn't think you would stick up for someone else, that's so kind of you."
Laharl scoffed."It's next to impossible to give someone fatal wounds with those baby-tooth swords Love Freak. You worry to much." On Etna's sentence he visibly looked annoyed on the word 'kind' however, it didn't cause him to over-dramatically flail on the ground like an fish out of water. He could..tolerate it now. Not that he liked it, but he could deal with it.
"It's not like that! I just wanted to show him his place that's all. Let's leave this area now, It's boring now." Calming down, as much as he could anyway he went in one direction but stopped not to far, his three vassals moving a bit ahead of him. "If you're interested, I'd like you as my vassal." Laharl then continued leaving a still stunned group of people.
"Everything all right?" Ayame got back, having missed the fire works from before. Norias was back up now, angry but still a bit roughed up. She managed to get the story of what happened from the audience, and ordered both Kojiro and Norias to come over so she could confirm things. On finding out it was true that he had insulted the other man among other things, the two engaged in conversation in the Angel tongue.
Normally, it was peaceful, one could say gentle but it wasn't the case this time, after the conversation got underway. The words were stressed and harsh, and Norias seemed to get more angry with every word. Finally he unsheathed his real sword, broke it in half using his strength and dropped it harshly at her feet snarled something in his native language, before spitting on sword and turning on his heel.
The other Angels around faces seemed grim, they know what that gesture had met. An old custom not used in a long time, they hoped they wouldn't of had seen it before. In another way it meant something else deeper, which was told by Ayame's troubled facial expression. She could feel things slowly start to crumble apart and ebb away. King Krichevskoy's and Seraph Lamington's vision seemed that much farther away at the moment.
Not able to take the tension anymore, Kojiro spoke up. "What does that mean?"
"I relieved him of his duty as a soldier for a while, I should have known before hand. As for what that meant.." She frowned. "It means you have enemies now."
Some time had passed since he had ended up here, where ever here was exactly anyway. If it had been days, weeks, or even months he couldn't tell, time seemed hard to tell at times. At times he still had a hard time trusting anyone, but they so have far had been very kind to Noir. So, he supposed he could trust them for now. An paranoid voice he had developed in his stay in that danmed prison screamed they would get him while his guard was down. Normally he would have listened to it, but not anymore.
Some part of him truly believed they weren't going to hurt him. He'd trust for now.
The owners of the mansion he had never met, not even once. From what Noir had gathered they were busy people and were always off doing something or another. Not content with simply free loading, he made himself useful however way he could, mainly just cleaning around the huge structure. Angelique had protested she had everything handled, but he still wanted to do something to make sure he wasn't merely dead weight.
While not unfriendly, he kept a distance between himself, Angelique and that man who he later learned was named Krichevskoy, but Krich was a shorter version of the name. Meals were eaten with him being silent, saying an polite 'thank you' here and there and other such manners, then he would retreat to the large library in the basement. This is where he found some sense of peace sense he couldn't remember anything but his name. He didn't know if he had liked books before he lost his memory, but it was a fair guess.
In the time span of what Noir guessed was a week, he slowly became less ignorant of where 'here' was among other things. All the information he could ever want was in the library, hidden beneath ancient covers of books and dust. It looked like someone literally hadn't been in here for ages, not that he minded. Noir had since gotten permission to revitalize the library, cleaning and tending to it. The hybrid was seldom seen outside his own private sanctuary he had made himself, he would have made it his room if he could get the bed in here.
He found himself reading through yet another book in the comforting silence, the chair once about to fall apart was now repaired. There was nothing he could do with some of the more fragile books that hadn't with stood the test through time, but he made do with what he had. A brown cat stood on the table, watching him curiously. The single bell on it's neck was a sign it was owned by someone. Noir had come to the conclusion some time ago that it was the owners pet.
Something about the creatures gaze disturbed him. In it's eyes he could see something that resembled sentient intelligence in them, but it had to be his imagination or so he had repeatedly told himself. Longinus stood upright, prompted agaisnt an chair which allowed him to read an open book in front of him. A mutual bond was born between the two, they both had an strong desire to read and were both book worms. They would both sit in silence for hours, it had gotten to the point where Noir could flip the page for him with out even turning in his direction.
Noir was the first to pick up the sound of soft foot steps, an woman's. Coming down the basement was Angelique, an tray with drinks in hand and her typical expression. She seemed a bit worn out, it was no surprising since she almost always running around. When ever someone needed something, she would practically bend backwards to accommodate them. No matter what her condition was. It had gotten to the point to where Krichevskoy had to almost force her to get some rest.
Being overly kind is an strong point and an weakness, it would seem. Noir noted to himself as he watched the young woman from the corner of his eye. He was polite enough to give an simple greeting to her, but that was the extent of it. Longinus wasn't able to reach his cup of lemonade, but he was to stubborn to ask for help, it was almost comical. The sentient weapon seemed to be trying to move on sheer will power alone.
After a few moments of standing and unable to move, he gave in. "I require assistance my lady."
Never one to tease, the red-headed woman picked up his cup for him helping him drink. Longnius didn't need food or water to live, but every once in a while it was a nice treat to pleasure himself in.
An content sigh escaped the spear once he was done. "I thank you. How does King Krichevskoy fair?"
"Sleeping soundly." Angelique turned her gaze briefly to the ever enigma known as Noir. He almost always so quite and withdrawn, it was hard to get past his own barriers he had placed around his heart. Again, it reminded her of Croix. In fact, for some reasons they were alike, yet different at the same time. Almost like that other woman and herself, Prier was her name? It had been so long, yet she wasn't an easy person to forget.
"I was going to see the children." She began. "If you want to come Noir, I wouldn't mind the extra company." It wasn't uncommon for him to politely refuse, but they're were instances when he would tag along. Though, one could never tell when those times were.
"Is Krichevskoy coming?" Noir asked softly, not looking from his book.
"No. Longinus is coming, it would just be us."
"I will come then." Noir had nothing agaisnt the King, in fact he began to gradually respect him over time. It was for the simple fact Angelique seemed almost oblivious to the very real dangers of the outside world and Longnius was no protection(since he we'll couldn't move), and Angelique was no fighter herself. This meant if she ran into trouble, she would be unable to defend herself if Krichevskoy wasn't coming this time.
"Good." Angelique seemed genuinely happy that he had chosen to come along. "I'll be right back in a moment." Energy in almost every step, she left the two to go change into slightly warmer clothes for the trip.
Once she was out of the basement completely, Longnius once again tried his luck of trying to drink the lemonade on his own, with no success.
True to her word, Angelique hadn't taken to much time getting ready, seeing as all she had to do was throw on a coat. Longnius of course didn't need anything and Noir himself seemed unaffected for the most part agaisnt the elements for reasons he didn't know. The weather in the Twilight Realm seemed to resemble Parprica a great deal, but they're were certain instances where it was apparent they weren't in the same place.
Carrying an weapon might cause alarm, so for now Longnius was wrapped in a small blanket as Noir held him-much to his displeasure. Grudgingly he had went with the idea, if only to be able to come along and not cause trouble for his other two companions.
The sky was slightly dark on that day, not enough to be considered night time but still enough to be noticeable. Another thing that was noticed that it seemed to practically 'rain' small flower purple flower petals. In reality they were just petals blown in the wind and some just found they're way down which gave the illusion of it raining petals.
They arrived at an small courtyard and in the middle stood a large old tree, closed off by stone around it. Children from the ages four through nine were scattered around the area, a Nun seemed to be watching over them. The moment they saw Angelique, almost all the children flocked to her like bugs to an light. Noir noticed a person covered from head to toe in bandages walking on crutches. On seeing Angelique, they seemed to panic and went the other way to leave quickly, as fast as one could go on crutches anyway.
Neither him nor Angelique knew the person had been Demon Lord Talenarath.
"You came back!" One small girl shouted.
Smiling, Angelique crouched down. "Of course I did little one. I promised didn't I?"
Like normal, Noir felt himself feel out of place among the crowd. He was more at home in his own world then in a group with people. He knew there would be times when he would have to interact which meant it was something he needed to adjust still. But at seeing the utter ease Angelique seemed to have around the children, he knew in his heart of hearts that would likely never be him. It was far off goal to be able to be that social, but then he wasn't sure if he really wanted to.
"Where's Longnius?"
Noir heard one of the children ask, so he gently unwrapped the blankets knowing the spear would be more then grateful to be able to see. He placed him in the slightly soft patch of dirt by the tree so he could 'stand up' with out assistance from anyone. The children almost immediately gathered around the spear. Longinus was always delighted to have someone to talk to, and even more so to have people listen to his stories. Even Noir had to admit his stories were intriguing and could strangely captivate both children and adults alike. An child wouldn't get the deeper morals or lessons and the like to heart, but older people could understand and take the lessons to heart.
Angelique got herself a seat on a nearby bench, the Nun, Janna he believed her name was stood silently nearby to listen. Noir went over to the tree, it drew him for some reason. As he stayed nearby the old relic, Longnius already just started his tale.
"As you know, I have been around for quite some time and I've had many owners before my current one. So I have plenty of tales to tell, now before I begin. Do you remember the lesson from my last story?"
Eager shouts and the like rose it was hard to tell who said what.
"One at a time." Angelique reminded them with a bit of laughter in her voice, they listened right away and were a bit more patient instead of just saying everything all at once.
Meekly, an small girl spoke up."That monsters come in different forms?"
"Excellent work Sheila! It seems at least one of you have payed attention to my lessons." Longinus praised the child, which caused the others to grumble they could have said the same thing. "That story is one people all to often forget."
"I wanna hear it again!"
"Yay!"
Longnius, always happy to give out advice or tell a story was all to eager to do that all at once in a story. "Hmm, very well. Now, long ago in another land lived a very beautiful young woman named Organa that lived in a rich country. People were forbidden to cross to the other country, the residents there were considered evil because though they looked human, their true form was scary to look at. Awful stories were told, and it frightened Organa to not going and thinking the people were indeed horrible monsters."
"One day, a friend became ill from a rare sickness. The only cure laid in the one place Organa was told never to go, yet she had no choice with no one else willing to go. In a long journey, she reached the place and encountered the monsters for the first time. She was surprised when they helped her and were actually kind, not like the stories she had heard. The young maiden cured her friend, but she later learned that the Prince, an supposed noble and kind man had done it out of jealously. It was then that Organa learned that a real monster are often the ones we see in normal people and supposed monsters might actually be people."
That story. It feels like..I've heard before, but where? And this tree reminds me of something. Noir's eyes were closed as he concentrated, his hand on the rough bark of the tree. Trying to recall any memories at all, ones that made sense of why Longnius story sounded so familiar to his ears.
"Are you all right?" Angelique was behind him, obviously concerned.
"I'm fine. It was just-" Noir cut himself off, eyes troubled. Some type of twisted presence was felt, or at least he could feel it. Longnius could probably feel the power as well, having been used to many battles. He couldn't recall just how he could feel these things, but he just could. Just another mystery that would hopefully be solved when he regained his memories.
The stray cats seemed to react strange to, some were actually running away where they had been fine just moments before. All the children began to get increasingly uncomfortable while some just looked out and out scared.
Noir didn't know who or what it was, but he came to an decision quickly. "...Get the children out of here now. I'll hold what ever it is off. Go with the children, they need you."
Janna took his advice and got all of the children rounded up, keeping them somewhat calm but Angelique didn't seem to want to go. She was about to argue, but there was a look in his eyes that made her not say anything, he had already made up his mind about it. Forcing her herself to bring Longnius along, she left and tried not to look back.
It was only when Noir was completely alone did the reality of the situation kick in. Just what was he going to do? He knew he had powers, but he couldn't use them to their full potential at the moment, everything was on the subconscious of his brain. If it came to an fight, he didn't like his chances considering how strong this presence felt. Plus there wasn't the fact he knew he still wasn't at full strength yet.
He could hear slow and confident foot steps, who ever it was sounded over confident just by the rhythm of their walk. An man came into his eyesight, slightly pale-skinned with scars that traced along side parts of his body. A white mane of hair behind slightly elevated ears were an sign of his demon heritage, yet the eye patch was the strangers distinguishing feature. That and the hate-filled and predatory look of his single eye he had left. The two long and sharp blades strapped crossed over his back only furthered his intimidating looks.
"We'll, we'll. This was a rather touching outing a moment ago. You'd think they were scared of me." The white-haired man said, a bit mockingly. "Why the stone-face? Look like you just lost you're best friend."
Emotionless, Noir replied. "You're not welcomed here."
"Of course not. I have some personal business to attend to. Now why don't you be a good little boy and scamper off before you get hurt?" Again, Noir didn't budge or show any emotion. This seemed to amuse the stranger, it actually tickled him that this sorry excuse for an half-breed had the nerve to confront him.
"I like an man that stands up for himself, more satisfying when I knock them down." That over confident grin appearing on the man's face, he drew both his large blades and even then Noir didn't look the least bit intimidated.
"Drop the weapons or I'll drop you." Another, new voice joined in. It was King Krichevskoy, a generic spear in hand instead of Longnius was in his hand as he walked by Noir's side. His more light-hearted demeanor was gone, instead replaced by something more darker and deadly.
"Heh. If it isn't King Krichevskoy." Now with an new opponent to keep an eye out on, he kept them both in the sights of his single eye at all times. "Or should I say Mid-Boss now a days? How's the father of the year-award working for you?"
Noir noticed an tight line appear on the King's mouth, the grip around the spear seemed to tighten a great deal.
"Shut up Seedle. I don't know why you're here or even how you got here but I know just where you're going. Leave or I'll stick my spear so far up you're ass you'll have to piss through your mouth."
Seedle chuckled. "Still the comedian I see? I'd know your lame sense of humor anywhere. But, as much as I love to have it out with you like old times. I didn't come here to fight you. It's good to see you to old friend."
"We're not friends. I'm surprised you can me from this angle though." Krichevskoy seemed to calm down some, but Noir could feel the Demonic Energy about to burst from the calm surface, if given the chance.
The Underlord would have normally said something smart in return, but he really wasn't in the mood. He gauged his threats-King Krichevskoy of course was the biggest one, he would know because he had fought him time and time again. That half-breed, as much as he hated to admit was an wild card. It seemed some power lurked within him, if he could use it to it's full power was something he didn't want to find out or chance. Two agaisnt one in this case wouldn't have been to wise.
"I'll be back. Don't think it's over." An light click as he sheathed his blades was heard, backing away before an portal appeared beneath his feet, engulfing him and then vanishing with him with it.
"Noir! Krich! You two all right?"
Both of them could see Angelique coming back towards them, Longnius in her hand.
"I'm unharmed." Noir then frowned to himself mainly. What was that strangers purpose? Did he even have an motive to begin with?
"Been better." It was obvious this Seedle bothered the ex Over Lord, he still seemed rather..intense. Almost as if the mocking evil man would appear back at any moment when they least expected it. How had he got here? As powerful as he was, he couldn't get to this realm on his own. And just what did he want from this place anyway? The more he thought about it, the more questions he had.
Things had gotten more interesting, but at a price.
Authors Notes: Sheesh long chapter for me, think it was longer then ever chapter four. Anyway hope you guys enjoyed this one. See you next time, hopefully.