Again, I'm sorry for the late update. I'm kind of going through a rough time with all the school work, so I was delayed in getting this out. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 13- Neither Human, Nor Demon
"So, what's the next task?" Naga asks.
It's now morning, and we are all at Furuichi's place again after going home this morning to get changed. We all watch as Hilda takes out the key and the letter. "'Surprisingly, you've made it this far'," she starts. "'Not bad for a group of humans and demons.'"
I frown at the condescending tone of the letter, but I remain quiet so I can hear the rest of the letter. "'This next task requires only one person to do it. You will be going to a very dangerous place. Take the key with you for this task. You will encounter a lavish banquet, but you are not to eat or drink anything there, absolutely nothing! The creature that slumbers there is neither demon, nor human. When you get there, use the key to open one of the three niches in the wall. In there is your item for the next task. Remember, do not eat or drink anything there. Your life depends on it'."
Lamia raises her hand. "I'll do this one," she volunteers, taking the key from Hilda. "I still haven't done a task yet."
"Okay then," Hilda says. She takes the chalk and draws a door on the wall as Lamia takes her earpiece. As she does so, I ponder over the letter, feeling rather uneasy over the choice of words in the letter.
"Neither demon, nor human," I muse to myself. "That actually sounds rather frightening. What could that mean?"
Hecadoth shakes his head. "I have no idea, but whatever it is, this task seems rather sinister," he comments.
We all crowd around the monitor, watching as Lamia makes her way down the hallway. "You know, she looks rather vulnerable like that," I say. "What could this creature be?"
"I don't know, this is the first time I'm ever hearing of something like this," Naga adds. "Whatever it is, it's definitely not worth fighting."
"Whoa, look at this," Oga says.
We look at the screen to see that Lamia has already arrived in what looks like a large dinner hall. In front of her is a large, sumptuous banquet. Each dish looks mouth-wateringly tempting, almost too good to be real.
"Now that's an impressive banquet," Agiel says. "It looks so good!"
Oddly enough, the table is empty of people. But right then, at the end of the table, we see a creature sitting perfectly still in the large chair at the end. "What is that?" I ask, adjusting the image so that I can get a better look at the creature. But upon seeing it, I feel a sense of horror and dread.
The creature is tall, thin, and pale, like something from a child's nightmare. There are no eyes on its face, which chills me even more, and its fingers are long, sharp, and almost black. In front of it, we see a small plate with two red eyeballs on it. Already, this creature has established itself as a threat without even making a move.
"What the hell is that?" I ask. "It's like something from a nightmare."
"I don't know…" Hecadoth says, also taken aback by the creature. "I've never seen anything like it before."
Right then, we notice several paintings on the ceiling. "Oh my gosh…" I gasp in shock. The paintings are depictions of this creature eating several innocent children. I tear my eyes away from the ceiling and see an even more sinister sight: a pile of shoes by the fireplace.
"So… this thing's a child-eater?" Yolda asks.
"This is really creeping me out…" Yuka shudders.
"Lamia, you have to be really careful not to wake that thing up," Furuichi warns her. "Who knows what it'll do to you."
Lamia nods. We watch as she makes her way over to a wall where three niches are located, standing on her tiptoes as she attempts to fit the key into the keyhole to no avail. "Not this one…" she murmurs. She moves the key to the little door on the right and fits it into the keyhole.
She turns the key and opens up the little door. She reaches in to grab the item and manages to successfully retrieve it. To our surprise, it's a bow and a quiver of arrows.
"Bow and arrows? But why?" Kunieda asks.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Lamia, get out of there," Hilda tells her.
However, to our shock and dismay, we see Lamia walking towards the banquet, eyeing a platter of ripe and juicy-looking grapes. "She's going towards the food!" Yuka exclaims.
"What the fuck is that brat doing?" Graphel growls.
"Lamia, stop!" I say urgently. "You're not supposed to eat those! Get out of there!"
"It's only a few," she murmurs absentmindedly.
"Is she under some sort of enchantment?" Isabella wonders.
"The letter specifically said not to eat or drink anything there! Lamia, get out!" Furuichi orders.
"Don't you dare touch those grapes! Get the fuck out of there right now!" Hecadoth shouts. However, it's too late. To our horror, she takes a grape and puts it into her mouth.
"Lamia!" Hilda shouts.
At that moment, I notice the weird creature at the end of the table. I watch in horror as its left fingers slowly twitch to life, moving slowly. Then, its right fingers twitch to life. And then, its head slowly lifts up, a quiet, ugly hiss escaping its mouth. "Guys…" I trail off, catching their attention.
Everyone watches in utter shock as the creature takes one of its eyeballs off the small plate and sticks it into a socket in its left palm, and the eye slowly rolls around. It then takes the other eye and sticks it into a socket in the right palm. Right then, it holds its palms up to its face, the eyes searching the room, looking for the potential victim, which would to be Lamia if she didn't make a run for it.
"What the hell is that?!" Oga asks.
"Lamia, behind you!" Kunieda shouts into her earpiece. "Run! Run for it!"
Fortunately, Lamia is able to turn around and notice the creature, but not before she has already eaten a second grape. Her eyes widen in terror as it lets out an ugly, blood-curdling shriek at her and at that moment, she turns and flees, the item still in her hands.
"Go faster!" Furuichi tells her. "It's gonna chase after you! Outrun it!"
"I know!" she says in a panicky voice as the creature staggers after her, its palms eyeing her as it lets out another ugly shriek.
"What the hell?! Why's that thing chasing her?!" Yuka asks.
"It's a child eater," I say. "That banquet was probably meant to tempt children into eating something, like bait. Once the child has eaten something, it's the last thing they'll ever eat. That creature wakes up and eats the child that has taken the bait."
"But why children?" Kunieda asks.
"Because it can't eat the food in front of it," Hilda says.
At that moment, Lamia rushes through the door, just as the creature starts to sprint after her. "Someone shut the door!" she shouts.
Toujou runs and slams the door as the creature is nearing it, still shrieking after her. We watch as the chalk drawing fades into the walls, the shrieks of the creature fading away until they can't be heard anymore.
Lamia turns to face us, looking apologetic. "I… I'm sorry…" she apologizes.
"You brat! You were told not to eat or drink anything from the banquet, huh?! Why'd you still do it?!" Graphel growls at her.
"Calm down, Graphel," Naga tells him. "What's done is done."
"She sounded like she was in a trance when she had gone towards the food," I recall. "The food probably had her under a spell that tempted her into eating those grapes."
"Well, she retrieved the item, so that's good," Kunieda says.
"But still, that thing was seriously creepy!" Nene shudders.
"So, what's the next task?" Hilda asks.
Lamia takes out the letter from the quiver and starts reading it. "'Did you eat anything in there? You'd better not. That would've been stupid'," she starts.
At that, I see a small vein appear on Oga's head. "I'm seriously gonna beat the shit out of those guys…"
Lamia ignores him and continues reading. "'Are you good at archery? Your next task requires this. For this task, several clay urns will be thrown in the air. You have to shoot each and every urn with the arrows before the hourglass empties and you run out of time. Make sure you can hit more than one urn with an arrow so that you don't waste arrows'."
Shizuka raises her hand. "I'll go on this one," she says, slinging the quiver around her. "I'm the captain of the archery club, so I'll be able to do this."
"I'll go on this one too," Satura offers.
"I want to come as well!" Lord En declares.
"Okay then," Kunieda says. "There's enough time to do this task, so we can do it."
"Be safe, Shizuka," Toujou tells her. "And good luck."
"Yeah. Don't forget, every urn has to be shot down before time runs out," Hilda reminds them.
"We'll help you out," Satura tells Shizuka.
She nods, looking determined. "Let's do this."