Chapter 36
Jade and the Devil left the throne room and went right into the Devil's study.
Her friends waited in the throne room.
"Do you think she's in trouble?" Amber questioned.
"It's hard to tell," Violet replied.
"Yeah, the way I look at it there's two possibilities, either she's being forced to stay out of further interrogations, or she and his majesty are coming up with a plan to get some actual leads on this protracted investigation," Mark declared.
"For her sake I hope it's the second choice," Paco stated.
"Yeah, I do too," Dante replied.
"I think one of us should wait here for when she comes out," Mark suggested.
"I'll volunteer myself," Dante said.
"Okay, we'll be in my suite if you guys decide you need to talk," Violet stated.
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Several minutes later Jade stormed outside of the Devil's study and walked right by Dante. She looked anything but happy.
"Jade," Dante said following her as she continued down the halls of the palace.
"Jade, come on, stop and talk to me please," Dante said.
Jade did stop and just looked at her friend.
"I'm really not in the mood to discuss my feelings right now Dante," she stated. "I'm really pissed."
"Yeah, I kind of gathered that from you storming out of your father's study, and the throne room," Dante replied.
"I'm actually thinking it's time I take matters into my own hands," Jade stated.
"What do you mean?" Dante questioned.
"Doing some investigating of my own," Jade replied. "You up for joining me?"
"Well, it does sound interesting," Dante said. "Plus, I'd feel like a bad friend denying you help. So sure, as long as I get to kick someone's ass."
"I'm sure you'll get the chance," Jade said. "We leave tonight then."
"Where are we starting though?" Dante questioned.
Three Days Later
Jackie and Viper were heading out of the castle when they saw Mark, Amber, and Violet walking in their direction, each holding a bag of souls in their hands.
"Hi guys," Amber greeted.
"Hey, how come there's only three of you?" Viper asked. "Where are Jade and Dante?"
"They're away on business," Mark stated.
"What kind of business?" Jackie questioned.
"Something with the investigation," Violet stated. "That's all we were told."
"Jade and Dante didn't tell you where they were going?" Jackie questioned.
"No," Mark replied. "Look, if you want more answers, you're better off asking the Devil himself."
"Why haven't you all asked him for more details?" Viper asked the reapers.
"Jade and Dante are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves," Amber declared. "We have confidence in them. Besides with them gone, we have double the amount of souls to collect until they return."
"Yeah, so if you'll excuse us, we have to get back to work," Violet said before walking away.
"Yeah, but like I said, you're better off just asking the Devil for details," Mark repeated before he and Amber went off as well.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask the Dark King," Jackie stated.
"Normally, I would say we should be more trusting of Jade's decisions," Viper said. "I think at least knowing where she is would put both of our minds at ease a bit."
So the two of them headed off to Devil's throne room.
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In the Throne Room
Jackie and Viper didn't even need to tell the guards why they were there. One of them simply went over to the throne before returning over to where they were standing and ushering them in.
"Your majesty," Jackie said as he and Viper approached the throne.
"I assume you two are here to ask about the whereabouts of my daughter," he said.
"Yes," Viper replied. "Her friends mentioned that she and Dante are away doing some investigating of their own."
"They are correct," the Devil stated.
"If we may ask, where exactly are they your majesty?" Jackie questioned.
The Devil paused for a minute, as if debating whether or not to tell them, before he finally spoke.
"I'm afraid I don't know exactly where they are," the Devil stated. "If I had to take an educated guess though, I believe they would start in the Kingdom of Treachery."
"Why in the Kingdom of Treachery?" Jackie asked.
"That's where a majority of the members of the Opposition have been reported being seen," the Dark King said.
"Not very smart for a group trying not to get caught," Viper stated.
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Days later
In the Kingdom of Treachery Jade, Dante and Mamoru were still looking for clues, but so far they hadn't found anything that could be classified as concrete evidence.
"Jade we've been at this for five days," Dante confirmed. "How many more members of the Opposition can we interrogate?"
"As many as we can find," Jade stated.
"Why are you complaining?" Mamoru asked Dante. "You seemed to be enjoying kicking the shit out of every Opposition member we've interrogated so far."
"Okay, I'll admit, this is more exciting than slaying kappas any day," Dante stated. "We've looked through more than half of the kingdom of Treachery and no Opposition member we've found have confessed to playing any part in the theft of Zyon's soul"
"They all could be lying though," Jade declared. "Just because they didn't have any tangible evidence doesn't mean they're automatically innocent. Someone else can be doing all the actual dirty work and they're all just trying to save their sorry asses."
"Alright, you've got me there," Dante replied. "So whose house is this that we're looking in on?"
"Lord Graysen," Jade stated.
"Another one of your father's ex-advisors?" Mamoru questioned.
"Yes," Jade replied.
The three friends crawled their way over to one of the house's windows. While Mamoru turned in the other direction to make sure no one was coming by who could get suspicious of them. Dante and Jade looked through the window.
Inside they saw a tall man with thinning blonde hair move about his kitchen with a book in his hand. They saw him but the book down on his counter and rummage through the cabinets on the wall as if he was looking for some things. When he turned around the saw he had vials of some oddly colored liquids in his hand.
"What do you think is in those vials?" Dante asked.
"I don't know," Jade said, "but it's got me suspicious, and so does that book."
Next thing they saw was Lord Graysen pick up the book and head over to a door which he opened, and then he descended a flight of stairs.
"Okay, going into the basement with vials of strange-looking liquid and an ancient-looking book, not suspicious at all," Dante said.
"Come on," Jade said moving toward the front door.
Jade knocked on the door several times
"Who's there," the voice of one of Lord Graysen's servants said on the other end.
"We are Reapers from the central kingdom," Jade stated. "Open up now."
"I don't believe you," the servant's voice said. "Go away pranksters."
"Seriously, we're giving you the chance to do this the easy way," Dante's said.
"Go away," the servant shouted.
Before the servant could even blink his door was flew off the hinge and was on the floor, curtesy of Dante. The servant looked absolutely shocked to see who was now standing in his doorway.
"Princess Jade," was all he said.
"Dante," Jade said looking at her friend.
Dante sped over to the man and grabbed him so he would not try getting away.
"Come on Mamoru," Jade said looking at the Shadowkahn.
Mamoru nodded and soon both disappeared into the shadows, leaving Dante to keep the struggling servant restrained.
"Don't bother," Dante said looking at the older man. "You're not going anywhere."
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Meanwhile with Jade and Mamoru
Jade and Mamoru walked through the shadows and down to the basement, where they saw Lord Grayson descend to only a few minutes ago.
What they saw from the shadows was definitely not something they were expecting.
Surrounding a table were men wearing red cloaks, and they were chanting something.
"Other members of the Opposition?" Mamoru whispered.
"I can't imagine who else they would be," Jade replied.
Jade and Mamoru moved closer to the scene through the shadows to try and see what was on the table.
When they were able to get a peak they couldn't believe what they saw.
"Holy shit!" Mamoru whispered.
There were bones on the table!
"Come on," Jade said.
Mamoru nodded and they walked back through the shadows up to the first floor area of the house, where Dante was still restraining the servant.
"Come on Dante," Jade said. "We have to get back to the palace."
Dante nodded and hoisted the servant over his shoulder before him, Jade, and Mamoru sprinted out of the house.