Daemon was growing sick and tired of the Vongola, and he wondered how much longer he'd be able to last.
After he and Ricardo had burned down the old shack, in a fruitless attempt to send Giotto to his grave early, Daemon had been forced to follow his old family to Cozart's mansion. Even though his house hadn't been burnt to the ground, he still had to spy for Ricardo. It was making him sick and agitated to be around his old family, but his new boss wouldn't move him until he revealed something useful for taking down Giotto.
And, at this rate, it would take several lifetimes.
The Vongola insisted on being completely calm and collected, despite losing their home, and were even cheerful. Giotto seemed to be happy around Cozart, for whatever reason, and the emotional turmoil that had driven the family apart had almost completely blown over. Even Alaude was more absent than usual, which took away any of the mist guardian's opportunities for amusement. Daemon felt that he had missed his chance; if Ricardo had believed him when he had told him when they should strike, the Primo would be dead and gone and Daemon could take his rightful place as the Secondo mist guardian.
It was all so frustrating. Why couldn't his revenge just happen already?
Daemon flicked his lens against the table in boredom as he waited for Giotto to get on with his speech. His old boss had called an "A-level importance" meeting, which basically meant that everyone had to be there. As if not everyone came to the meetings anyway.
Now as the last to arrive settled down, Giotto stood at the head of the table and cleared his throat obnoxiously.
"Everyone, as I'm sure some of you have noticed, more and more families have been incorporating the power of the internal flames within everyone's bodies into their fighting style. Even the weakest families have turned overpowering because they are using rings and we are not. Well, now that's going to change!"
Daemon hadn't really been paying attention during Giotto's spiel (borrrring!), but he suddenly gained intense interest as his old boss pulled a box from his coat. When he opened it, seven rings glittered inside.
"So we're using rings at last…" Daemon thought, gazing hungrily at the rings. Ricardo had already given him a ring, being his mist guardian, but the psychopath could feel that something was special about the rings that Giotto was now distributing.
These rings gave off a powerful aura, broadcasting strength. Daemon could barely wait to accept his ring from Giotto.
He knew that Giotto had a close tie to the creatures that monitored the balance of Earth. They had made all of the rings that now existed, but none were more powerful than the ones they kept guarded. If Giotto was truly special to the species, and they had waited so long to give rings to the Vongola, then there was no doubt that they would provide him and his family with the most powerful rings in the world.
Yes, these rings had to be part of the Tri-ni-Set!
When he received the ring, Daemon put it on immediately. Lighting up a flame in the next second, he admired the pure indigo color. The flame burned strongly, with no specks of other flame colors that sometimes appeared in weaker rings. Amazing… Even the color broadcasted the rings' strength!
As Daemon was distracted admiring his ring, he nearly missed Giotto speak again.
"Now, I know a lot of you have never even heard of using rings in battle, so I will be holding a practice session in the courtyard to teach anyone who needs it. That's all for today!"
Daemon's head snapped up as he watched four of the guardians follow Giotto out into the courtyard for the practice session. That was right…. These idiots had no idea how to even ignite the flames! That was it! That was their weakness! He had to tell Ricardo immediately!
Excitement bubbled in Daemon's chest as he teleported out of the meeting room. Revenge would come soon!
Daemon was so excited about his plan that he forgot to teleport to outside of Ricardo's door (the Morte boss liked people to knock before just randomly teleporting into his office) and instead landed directly in the room. This was the only explanation that the mist guardian could come up with for why Ricardo looked like he was going to murder him.
Ricardo's feet were up on his desk, which was usual for him, but his long hair was out of its ponytail and instead ratted down his back. He was writing something on a paper with one hand while his other hand flicked orange flames irritably. He had dark bags under his eyes, and he was already glaring before he looked up at Daemon. His glare deepened.
"We've been over this a million times, asshole. How long will it take you to remember to knock first before you just teleport in here?!" Ricardo slammed his pencil onto his desk and violently stood up from his chair. Leaning heavily on the desk, he hissed into Daemon's unconcerned face. "What the hell is so important?"
Daemon, used to his new boss' raging attitudes, just answered calmly. "I've found the Vongola's weakness."
This calmed Ricardo considerably. A sadistic grin upturned his snarling lips and he sat back in his chair with satisfaction. He propped his feet up on the desk again and pulled a brush out of his desk drawer before, surprisingly, starting to brush his hair with it.
"Oh? And what might that be?"
Daemon was so distracted by his boss brushing his hair that he didn't respond for a minute. He'd never watched Ricardo take care of his hair before, and for some reason it was strangely soothing and majestic. To see such a violent creature be so calm and gentle with something was just…
"Daemon!" Ricardo was irritated again, which stopped his melodic hair brushing and allowed Daemon to snap out of his trance.
Blinking a few times in disturbed confusion, the mist guardian pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and coughed into it (old nobility habits never really went away).
"You know the flames that we ignite rings with?"
"Of course." Ricardo started impatiently brushing his hair again, but Daemon did his best to ignore it.
"Well, as it turns out the Vongola didn't know about it at all until today. They just got these very powerful rings, but if they don't know how to use them then we can use that to our advantage. Plus, after that, we can steal the rings from them and use their power for our own benefits!" Pride coated Daemon's voice as he spoke. He knew the plan would work flawlessly once Ricardo took the reins. The Vongola would never suspect a thing.
Ricardo, done brushing his hair, sat back in his chair, his hands folded under his chin in thought. Suddenly he laughed and sat up with a malicious glint in his eye.
"Daemon, you sure do come up with some twisted ideas. But I like it! Now all we have to do is set the plan in motion. I'll send Gregario to steal some good rings for us, you'll lure the Vongola into a pre-set trap that I'll get Aldo and Calogero working on immediately. Then, once you get out of the way, we'll take care of the rest…"
"Get out of the way?" Daemon interrupted with a frown. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Snorting at Daemon's ignorance, Ricardo violently pointed a finger at his mist guardian. "What would we do if someone found out you were still alive? You know full well I can't take the chair until all of the guardians are dead."
Daemon spluttered, his mind turning in panic. "I know all that, but I thought—"
"Thought what?" Ricardo sat forward angrily. "That you would get to kill them all yourself? Are you a complete idiot? If you killed them, I could never take the Secondo position; there's no way I'm risking that just so you can avenge some woman."
Anger stirred in Daemon's chest. How dare Ricardo talk as if Elena was some sort of object…! However, before he could retaliate, Ricardo was once again standing in his personal space. His face was so close and threatening that his spit was flying onto the mist guardian's face. "Don't you understand that joining with me has completely ended you? The moment Giotto hits the ground, you'll also cease to exist. You'll still be alive, but you will live your whole life completely out of touch with the real world and your real identity."
Daemon was speechless. His plan was slowly slipping out of his fingers. There was no way he would feel satisfied with revenge if Ricardo and his other guardians took care of the whole thing… What was the point of all that he had done?
"What's the matter, Daemon?" Ricardo sneered gleefully. "Isn't hiding your identity what mist guardians are good at?"
Suddenly the fog in Daemon's brain turned into pure anger. He pulled his lens from around his neck, lit a flame in his ring, and lunged at Ricardo. He would never let this bastard take away his one chance to avenge Elena….!
A blast of hot flame hit Daemon in the shoulder and he was thrown back into Ricardo's office wall. When he regained his bearings, he looked up at Ricardo. The Secondo's hand was still slightly smoking from the previous blast, even though his hand was lit in preparation for another shot.
"Don't forget, Spade." Ricardo's voice was cold. "We made a deal. If you're not going to uphold your end of it, I'll kill you now."
Daemon gritted his teeth. Of course he hadn't forgotten. His life was spared only if he helped Ricardo bring down Giotto. It had just slipped his mind in his anger. He had been duped; he didn't realize that keeping his life would require giving up his revenge. It just wasn't fair!
"Oh?" Ricardo walked over to where Daemon was still lying on the floor and jerked up the mist guardian's right hand to get a better look at his middle finger. "Is this the Vongola ring? Marvelous, marvelous!"
Daemon just glared at his boss as he sat back and did nothing. What could he do? He'd been played for a fool; he'd thought he had been the one holding all the strings, when in fact it had been Ricardo. He suddenly didn't want to live forever anymore.
"Alright, trash, get out of my sight. I'll inform you of the plan later tonight," Ricardo spat as he threw down Daemon's hand. The mist guardian growled at the glint of triumph in the Secondo's eyes.
Before he could do something he would thoroughly regret, Daemon teleported to the one place he could always find comfort to address his inner turmoil.
Elena's grave was alone, as always. After Elena had abandoned the aristocracy, her family had disowned her and refused to even mention her name. Daemon wasn't even sure that they knew she was dead.
He was the only family she'd had left. And now, he was the only one who ever visited her.
Crouching in front of her grave, Daemon brushed his fingers against the surface to clean off the dust. His façade with the Vongola had prevented him from visiting Elena as much as he'd wanted to, and the build-up of suppressed emotions had almost become too much. Not only that, but he'd missed her dreadfully; visiting her was never enough to heal that wound, but it helped some.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured, succumbing to his emotions.
Only here did Daemon allow his tears to fall; only here did he submit to his grief and guilt. The mist guardian blamed Giotto for everything, which was why he was so intent on enacting his revenge, but deep inside he blamed himself for his beloved's death. If only he hadn't let her join the Vongola… If only he had been there when she was wounded!
"Elena, I feel like an idiot. I underestimated Ricardo; I never thought he'd actually be able to turn the tables on me. But I won't give up on you, my love. I promise to avenge you, even if it costs me my life." Daemon gave a small, sad chuckle and rubbed Elena's grave affectionately. "Besides, maybe joining you early would be preferable anyway…"
Like always, as he sat there and mourned, Daemon slipped into memories of his time with Elena. It was the only way he could escape the aching pain in his heart, even if it was only temporary.
Daemon was at one of his dreaded aristocracy parties, pretending to be decent to the thousands of people he didn't know and who all despised him. He was slightly drunk, which was the only way he could ever survive parties like this: the tight and uncomfortable clothes, the forcefully polite socializing, the horrible food. Sometimes Daemon wondered why he stayed in the aristocracy.
When he was freed from a boring old man complaining about the crummy image mafia forces were giving rich people (Daemon was still struggling to follow what that old fart had been talking about), Daemon staggered his way out to the balcony. The fresh air on his face was liberating; he could feel his head clear and his irritation drain from his body. If only he could stay out here for the rest of the party.
It took him a few moments to realize there was someone else out on the balcony.
The person was a woman: she had long, blonde wavy hair and she wore a pure white dress with matching ribbons around her neck and arms. When she turned to see who had joined her, Daemon observed that she had large, innocent looking eyes.
She was definitely an aristocrat.
"Oh? I suppose I'm not the only one who finds these parties a bit suffocating." Her voice was soft and bell-like, and she looked her fellow aristocrat in the eyes when she spoke to him.
Daemon joined her on the balcony railing, leaning his arms on its surface. "I don't see how anyone could enjoy these parties."
"Quite true," she laughed. "Are you Daemon Spade?"
He looked at her, surprised. "You know me?"
"Of course. Everyone talks about you."
Daemon scoffed and looked down on the party below. "I hate it. I wish they would leave me alone."
"Then why don't you leave?" The woman wouldn't take her eyes off him, and he found when he looked up at her that he couldn't take his eyes off her.
"What do I have outside of this? At least here I have a life."
"What if I came with you?"
Daemon blinked at the woman in surprise. Was she serious? She seemed to be—her eyes held amusement, but the tone of her voice was completely serious. But why would she leave with him? He didn't even know her name. They were complete strangers. And yet… For some reason he wanted nothing more than to run away with this stranger.
"What's your name?"
"Elena."
Months later, Daemon and Elena found themselves safely integrated into the Vongola family with the aristocracy far behind them. Elena had sympathized with Giotto's opinions on the mafia and had decided to join Daemon when Giotto came to scout him out for his family. They were lying on the field above the shack they now called home (the run-down building was like a breath of fresh air compared to the suffocating nicety of their aristocrat home). Daemon had just returned from his first mission, covered in cuts and bruises with a broken arm to boot.
"Really, Daemon, you have to be more careful," Elena sighed, pasting the last bandage over Daemon's forehead.
"I was being careful. Crazy people just tend to have a different definition of 'careful' than normal people do." Daemon nuzzled Elena's caring hands, trying not to grimace from the pain he was experiencing.
Elena laughed the tinkling laugh that had first helped Daemon fall in love with her. "Crazy people don't know they're crazy, Daemon. So you're not crazy."
Daemon smiled and leaned on his good arm, propping himself up so he could kiss his girlfriend properly. She wrapped his arms around him, supporting him, and he used his now free hand to caress her cheek. When they separated, Daemon pressed his forehead against Elena's.
"I think you're the only one who understands me, Elena. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," Daemon murmured.
"Maybe you'd really go crazy," Elena giggled. "But don't worry; I'll never leave you, so long as you promise you'll never leave me."
Daemon smiled. "I'd rather die."
Perhaps it was naïve, but at the time the mist guardian truly believed Elena would keep her promise and that they would live together and love each other forever.
After hours of grieving and remembering, Daemon left his only love's grave. He walked slowly back to Ricardo's mansion, taking time to recollect himself and think out his new plan. Ricardo had stabbed him in the back, but that didn't mean that Daemon would just lie down and take it.
He would get his revenge. No matter what it took.
(A/N) Wee, finally finished this chapter! :D Took me long enough… I'm really sorry about that! But I'm glad that I was able to update this story before I go back to school in a few days *sobs*.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (even though it's a bit short compared to the last few chapters)! Just to let you know, the next chapter will be the last. It will be the huge finale chapter with every member of the Vongola's POV mashed up into one giant ball of feels (at least, that's how I hope it will turn out, haha). So that will probably take a long time to upload, but once it's there, you'll never have to worry about my horrible updating habits again! Yay!
Sorry to ramble on about pointless things. But thank you so much for reading, and any reviews are not required but appreciated!