Chapter twenty-six.
Finally, the seven stakes of purgatory make their entrance!
I do not own Umineko or Naruto.
Seven people were gathered in the drawing room, examining a crumpled sheet of creamy paper. Well…not quite all of them. Hanabi was absorbed in a book she had picked up off of a shelf in one of the bookshelves that were placed around the room, and wasn't listening to the others. Kakuzu sighed as he looked at the piece of paper.
"We found this in Beatrice's bedroom." He said quietly.
"But…this note is just telling us that she did it…" Deidara murmured, resting his chin on the backs of his hands. His brows were knitted in concentration as he tried to work out what could be going on here.
"So Beatrice is really guilty of this crime?" Sasori asked, his hazel eyes flicking over each person in turn.
"Wait a minute." Hidan butted in. He drew an envelope out of his pocket, and held it up so they could all see.
"Kakuzu, after you, Hinata and the dog kid left, we found this on the table next to the gold." He explained.
"It sounds completely ridiculous, what's written inside. The woman calls herself a 'witch' and writes some rubbish about collecting gold and interest and suchlike. And then it said, if we find the main trove of gold from with the sample in the chapel came from, she'll lose her claim to both it and the interest. It's all nonsense." Deidara said, closing his eyes and sighing.
"But, Deidara, when you think about the three bricks of gold that we found in the chapel, can't we assume this vast amount of gold might actually exist?" Asked Neji.
At that moment, Kiba was busy ducking as one of the demons took a swipe at him, almost severing his neck. Hinata looked on, stunned to the point she was unable to move. Kiba spun and slashed, his blade composed only of light whistling through the air as he attacked, resounding with a metallic clash whenever he struck the weapon of his opponents.
Mouths widen open, saliva flying through the air, the goat-demons ran at him full pelt, bringing their own blades down upon his head in unison. Kiba just managed to put up his own arm and block. Suddenly, he saw his window of opportunity. Whilst the demons prepared to strike again, he moved and threw himself at them, cutting a wide arc with his blade.
Kiba leapt back as two of the demons were thrown backwards by his attack, exploding into golden glowing butterflies when they hit the ground. However, it wasn't long before three more launched themselves at him. He blocked and parried, keeping both himself and Hinata safe for the moment. He leapt into the air, drawing the demons with him.
"This…is it a dream…?" Hinata whispered, not believing what she was seeing.
The three demons and Kiba landed simultaneously, but Kiba landed badly. In his moment of weakness, one of the goat-men swiped at him. He just about managed to swing away in time, but not before the enemy's blade opened a deep cut on his cheek. Akumaru hadn't been so lucky. As he saw his master start to fall, he rushed forwards to him, whining. Instantly, the demons turned and sliced at the dog, thrusting deep into Akumaru's heart.
The world momentarily stopped still for Kiba, as he watched the body of his best friend fall to the ground, his blood spearing out through the carpet. Kiba's eyes widened and tears welled up in the corners of them. As he turned back to his attackers, they were full of an all new hatred and burned with loathing.
Drops of blood flew from his wound on his cheek as he continued to whirl and slash, ignoring the pain in his face. He knew that if he stopped for even a second, both he and Hinata would be killed like Akumaru had been.
"Witch's furniture!" He snarled as he span around suddenly, cutting two of his attackers clean in half, their bodies dissolving into butterflies.
"Let me show you just how soft the hell you came from is!" He roared, as with a final arc of his blade he felled the last of the goat-demons.
The room became very quiet, as Kiba stood in front of Hinata, panting after the fight, a drop of sweat running down his face. He began to walk over to the body of his friend, but stopped still at Beatrice's voice. She was laughing. Kiba turned to her, pain and fury filling his dark eyes.
"I'll kill for that! Beatrice!" He roared and leapt into the air.
Kiba swung his blade down at the witch as he descended, and should have sliced her right in half. However, she simply grinned at him and vanished into a cloud of golden shimmering butterflies which then reformed on the other side of the room. The witch looked at him coolly with a mocking smile on her perfect face.
"Respect your seniors, furniture." She grinned, "Do what you're told, furniture. Don't you dare speak to me, furniture; you're nothing but filth, furniture!"
"S-stop calling Kiba that!" Cried out a small voice from the back of the room.
Hinata took a step forward, her face full of terror, but also of determination as she looked at the witch.
"He shielded me from you, stopped those things from hurting me. Because of that, he's human, so don't call him furniture!" Hinata cried, her eyes becoming more determined and fixed on Kiba as she spoke.
"Ahahahahahehehe!" Laughed the witch, leaning back and placing her delicate hand on her hips as she did so.
Her lips twitched into a wide grin as she regarded the two people at her mercy.
"Why don't I make you two the 'ones who are close' for the next twilight? Yes…it would be most amusing!"
The witch's face became serious, but even more menacing as her eyes narrowed and seemed to almost glow that cold cerulean blue.
"Come. Arise. One of the seven stakes of purgatory. Asmodeus, demon of lust!" Beatrice called, opening her arms and looking up at the ceiling.
Kiba leapt back to stand directly in front of Hinata, to protect her from whatever the witch was going to summon next.
A circle of bright white light appeared on the floor next to Beatrice, shining so brightly that Kiba and Hinata were forced to look momentarily away. A noise like a deep buzzing hum filled the room, pressing in on their eardrums. When the noise and the light subsided, they looked back at where it had originated from. Hinata gasped.
A young woman stood on the spot next to Beatrice, about the same-ish age as Hinata. Her hair was bright blond and tied in two long bunches. She was wearing the oddest array of clothing that Hinata had ever seen. A scarlet blazer with sleeves ending in black frilled was worn over a matching scarlet waistcoat that was tightly buttoned over a white shirt. A pink tie tucked into the waistcoat and reappeared under it where the waistcoat ended, just under her bust.
Under this she seemed to be wearing some sort of black leotard with a very short black skirt that was attached to the hips of the leotard. Under this were layers of white frills that made the skirt stand out. A large black bow was tied at the base of her spine to the outfit, the trailing black ribbons swishing around her long and slender pale legs.
On her feet she was wearing tall brown boots, under which long black socks covered most of her legs up to near the top of her thighs. She was devastatingly beautiful. The girl grinned at Kiba and Hinata, her crimson eyes burning into them.
"Asmodeus of Lust, present." She said in a high voice.
"Good. I want you to carry out the second twilight right now." Said Beatrice to her.
Asmodeus gave Beatrice a low bow, and then began to walk towards Kiba and Hinata, smiling widely.
"Hehehe! Look at what wonderful prey the great Beatrice has given me! I will enjoy this! Just look how cute they are!"
Kiba growled and took a step forwards.
"No matter what witch's furniture you are, I will cut you down!"
Kiba sprinted towards the girl, swiping through the air at her with his glowing blade of red light. She danced out of the path of his attack, laughing in that childish way.
"So, little kid, where shall I get you?" She giggled, swaying this way and that with no effort at all as she dodged the swings and attacks coming from Kiba.
"Where shall I kill you? Answer me!"
She chuckled loudly as she leapt backwards away from him. Suddenly, her bright red eyes narrowed at Kiba and her face became deadly serious. At that moment, she leapt into the air so quick that Hinata could barely keep track of her. Kiba stepped backwards, his gaze flicking up.
Asmodeus let out one final childish laugh before she disappeared into a cloud of golden butterflies that swarmed around her in the air. When the butterflies dissipated, she had vanished, replaced with a twisted metallic silver object. She had transformed into a deadly sharp metal stake.
Suddenly, the stake shot forwards at the speed of a bullet. However, it wasn't aimed at Kiba at all, but at the wall. It ricocheted off of it with a clang and flew crazily in all directions, bouncing off of walls, the ceiling and furniture in the room. However, it slowed down as it found its target.
There was a sudden 'whoosh' of air as it sped towards Kiba's back, Kiba himself having not noticed.
There was a wet sounding thud.
Kiba's eyes widened and he spun around. Hinata was facing him, only a few inches away, caught in the motion of falling to the ground as she shielded him from death. Drops of blood were thrown into Kiba's face, his eyes full of horror. The twisted metal spike was puncturing deep into Hinata's back.