Author's Note: Enjoy!
The 53rd Night- Stigmata Diaboli Part II
Kingdom of Breaker, 7019 Years Ago
The giant waiting room was packed with men chatting with each other, sharpening their weapons, and scanning the others for tough opponents. Leaning against the far wall away from the men, Stigmata looked out into the crowd. Some of the men eyed Stigmata, because Stigmata wore no armor and cause of the cross etched into his skin at the base of his neck. Stigmata looked to the men, who looked away quickly. Stigmata scoffed quietly, and was about to close his eyes until a hand down and slapped his shoulder.
"Stingy! Haven't seen you since the war of Mater!" the man with short light brown hair said happily with a wide smile on his face. Stigmata stared at the man indifferently before he crossed his arms over his chest.
"… It's Stigmata," he said sourly and the man shrugged calmly.
"Whatever you say, Stingy."
"… It's Stigmata," Stigmata repeated and the man shrugged again.
"Whatever you say, Stingy. Anyway, have you seen any female warriors? I'm itching to flirt with some cuties!" the man said with a large grin replacing his smile. Stigmata looked at the man and sighed.
"Cute and warrior never work together, Megiddo," Stigmata said and the man Megiddo jolted.
"Seriously? But what about these Amazons I've heard about? Voluptuous women of the forest who can sure dish out pain," Megiddo said and Stigmata stared ahead of him indifferently.
"Who usually stay within their forest until to capture men for breeding. They then kill the men after their use is over," Stigmata stated and Megiddo sighed sadly.
"Good job at killing my mood, Stingy," he said sadly and Stigmata glanced at Megiddo, who stood just a tad shorter than Stigmata.
"… It's Stigmata." Megiddo waved Stigmata's comment away with his hand as he peered at the crowd eagerly. Stigmata sighed bitterly and looked away until Megiddo yelped. Stigmata looked over to see Megiddo happily point into the crowd.
"Liar Stingy! Cute and warrior do go together!" he said as he pointed towards a young girl who looked around nervously. The girl ran a hand through her short dark green hair as he looked around for something. Megiddo ran off while Stigmata resumed his indifferent stare at the crowd. A short while later, Megiddo dragged the girl over. The girl looked at Stigmata nervously before she curtsied politely to him.
"H-Hello, I'm Thorwald… But people seem to call me Thor…" Thor said shyly and Megiddo grinned widely while Stigmata nodded.
"Stigmata," he said and Thor glanced to the Stigmata's cross at the base of his neck. She drew back a little while Megiddo chuckled.
"Don't worry about Stingy here, he's usually gentle."
"… It's Stigmata," Stigmata replied uselessly as Megiddo didn't care with a wave of his hand. Thor looked off at the crowd and frowned.
"Where could he be…?" she wondered quietly and Megiddo perked up.
"Who are you looking for?" he said and Thor looked at him.
"My husband," she said and Megiddo was down for the count as he cried on the floor. Thor looked at Megiddo in surprise while Stigmata just ignored Megiddo. Thor excused herself and Stigmata's vein in his cheek pulsed lightly as he had started to get annoyed by Megiddo's crying.
"Would you stop crying?" he asked, trying not to lose his temper. Megiddo sniffed and looked up at Stigmata.
"Easy for you to say, Stingy. You're not as handsome as me," Megiddo said and Stigmata's foot grinded down on Megiddo's face while he looked at Megiddo indifferently.
"Who would want to be you anyway?" Stigmata wondered under his breath before he removed his foot from Megiddo's face and surveyed the crowd. He noticed Thor back in the crowd with a bulky man carrying a large sword on his belt.
"Gylfi, dear, try not to get too hurt, okay?" Thor said and the man named Gylfi nodded with a smile. Stigmata looked elsewhere in the crowd of men (and Thor) to see a man who wore a black hood over his head to hide his face. On the man's cloak was a dark purple cross as the man stared straight at Stigmata. Megiddo recovered when he noticed the man and waved him over.
"Gosforth! Haven't seen you since-"
"The War of Mater, I know," Gosforth said, his smile seen under the hood. Megiddo paused for a long period of time before he nodded.
"You know, people do get annoyed when-"
"You finish their sentences?" Gosforth wondered and Megiddo finally lost all motivation to talk to Gosforth. Gosforth turned his head to Stigmata nodded to him. "Hello, Sir Stigmata."
Stigmata hummed curtly to greet Gosforth before the hooded man turned back to Megiddo.
"By the way, Megiddo, I found some very nice girls back home that you'd like. When do you want to meet them?" Gosforth asked and Megiddo cheered happily.
"As soon as we win this tournament thing!" he said loudly, making nearly the entire crowd stare at him angrily. A laugh echoed out of the men, who moved aside as two guys walked over to Stigmata, Gosforth, and Megiddo.
"You think you're gonna win? Ha, I bet a slug can fight better than you!" the guy on the left said with a swish of his eerie blond hair. The man beside him wore glasses, even though his hair was hidden behind his curly brown hair.
"Why hello, Bvalle. I thought you went crying home to Mommy after we beat your sorry a-" Megiddo started to say until Bvalle cut in.
"One, you didn't beat me in that fight, and two, my Mother could kill you with one hand," Bvalle snapped angrily while the man with Bvalle greeted Stigmata and Gosforth politely.
"Stigmata and Gosforth. How have you been?"
"Fine, Qiyamah. Thank you for asking," Gosforth said happily while Stigmata had returned to his indifferent stare. Suddenly, the loud grind of the large double doors alerted the men of the opening of the doors to the outside fighting space. The men (and Thor) flooded out of the room into the large ring built in a wide field of grass. Onlookers watched from the edge of the ring as the men looked around. Stigmata grimaced at the sunlight that hit his eyes.
"Hello, all of you." The men (and Thor) looked to see a little red-haired kid sitting on the edge of the ring ahead of them. Some men laughed at the kid who addressed them politely.
"What the hell is this? A kid?" some shouted and the kid smiled coolly. The mark of the skull and salamander reflecting the sunlight under his left eye.
"Now, now. Be quiet. You may call me King. And it was I who called you all here," King said and most of the men laughed at him.
"You're joking!" many shouted, but King ignored them.
"Okay, begin," he said and then men fell silent in confusion. Some turned to other men for answers until the first scream of the long afternoon filled the air. The men (and Thor) looked to see one man fall to the ground with his own sword impaled in his chest. Stigmata flexed his fingers slowly while looking at the men.
"What? He said start," Stigmata said and Megiddo shivered in fright.
"Oh, Stingy, you scare me so…" he muttered before the rest of the men geared into action. King watched from the edge with a smile on his face as the men basically brawled, but with weapons. Many of the onlookers had left immediately after Stigmata instigated the crowd at the very beginning. King sat through the whole thing until the moon rose into the air and only eight people remained standing. The eighth man hung in the air by his face as Stigmata held him there. Stigmata dropped the eighth man onto the ground so only seven were left standing. King chuckled and clapped cheerfully.
"Congratulations! You seven have won!" he said while Stigmata, Megiddo, Gosforth, Bvalle, Qiyamah, Thorwald, and Gylfi stood in the bloody dirt. Megiddo wiped blood off his face, Qiyamah cleaned his glasses off, Bvalle ripped his bloody sleeves off, Thor tried to get the blood out of her hair, Gylfi flexed his large bloody muscles, Gosforth looked down at his bloody cloak, and Stigmata stood silently without a speak of blood anywhere on him. King smiled to the seven and held his hands out. "Now tell me your names, please."
"Bvalle, Soldier of Babylon, my liege."
"Qiyamah, um, I'm just a librarian in Babylon with some knowledge of poisons, my lord."
"I'm Gylfi! You'll find no stronger man than me!"
"It's "than I", dear. I'm Thorwald, mercenary. People seem to just call me Thor, milord."
"The name's Gosforth. I sell stuff at very nice prices. I'll even give you a discount, if you want."
"I'm Megiddo, but girls tend to call me Megiddo. As long as I can look at cute girls I'm fine for anything, my king."
"… Stigmata Diaboli."
Thor and Gylfi looked surprised at Stigmata as he was the only one of them that possessed a last name. King smiled and nodded happily at them.
"Alright then. As I told you, I'm King. That's the name the people in this kingdom gave me after we completed building this whole place. And now you seven will be the knights… Hmm, no, not catchy enough. You seven will be the Seven Knights of Breaker! Yes, much better," King said with a grin and the seven looked to King before they knelt before him.
Edo
Lavi swung his hammer at Stigmata, but it was stopped by Stigmata's hand. Stigmata blinked and sighed quietly.
"Dazed off there," he said indifferently before he pushed Lavi's hammer away. Lavi gritted his teeth as his hammer hit the wall. Lavi gripped his hammer's handle before the red seal appeared on its head.
"Hi Ban: Gouka Kaijin!" Lavi shouted and slammed the hammer down on the floor. Kiki escaped the house before the fire snake erupted out of the roof and engulfed Stigmata. Stigmata stood in the center of the snake before he raised his hands to the side. Purple orbs identical to the Earl's appeared in front of his palms. The snake was blown apart by contact with the orbs as Lavi watched in surprise. Stigmata landed on the ground in front of Lavi. Lavi flinched before Stigmata slammed his flat palm against Lavi's chest, which sent the Exorcist backwards through a wall.
"Come on out already," Stigmata said calmly before Mugen fell down at Stigmata's head. Stigmata vanished as Mugen swung past. Kanda gritted his teeth as Stigmata appeared in the air above them. Stigmata glanced behind him as Aroc was in the air above him with a wide grin on his face.
"Feu Noir!" The blaze of black flames collided with Stigmata's back and exploded onto the ground below. Aroc grinned triumphantly until he heard a sigh above him.
"I'm getting bored," Stigmata said before he grabbed Aroc by the back of the neck and locked both of Aroc's arms behind his back with only one arm used. Aroc gritted his teeth in pain before Stigmata pushed his feet off of Aroc's back and flung the dragon Exorcist into the scorched ground. Stigmata landed on the ground before he swerved away from Mugen's blade. Kanda gritted his teeth before he rapidly slashed at Stigmata. Stigmata dodged the blade repeatedly before slamming his hand against Kanda's head like a shotgun blast.
"Are you even trying?" Stigmata wondered as he flexed his fingers with Kanda on the ground with an angry look on his face. Kanda jumped to his feet and slashed upwards at Stigmata. Stigmata held his hand in the path of the blade before his hand was surrounded by a dark purple glow. Mugen's blade collided with the glow and halted in its tracks. Kanda scoffed as he pulled Mugen back and swung at Stigmata's head. Stigmata ducked out of the way by curling up into a ball at the same time as flipping backwards. Kanda looked down right before Stigmata snapped his legs up into Kanda's awaiting jaw. Kanda gritted his teeth as blood rolled out of his mouth before Stigmata landed on his feet and slammed both of his palms into Kanda's chest. Kanda was propelled backwards into the talisman-covered house.
"What is this guy?" Lavi wondered while he wiped blood off his chin. Kanda got back up on his feet with a glower. Aroc coughed harshly and gritted his fanged teeth at Stigmata. Stigmata flexed his fingers slowly with the same indifferent look.
"What kind of fighting style is that?" Lavi asked and Stigmata stared at Lavi silently.
"It is my style. Fighting by using your opponent. This "style", as you called it, leaves me without blood stains while you are covered in them. Weapons are for those who can't fight with their own body," Stigmata stated coolly and Lavi smirked.
"Okay then," he said before deactivating his hammer and putting it back in its holder. Kanda and Aroc looked at Lavi while Lavi cracked his knuckles. Lavi held his hands up in a fighter's stance as he looked towards Stigmata. "I'll play it your way, Sting Mantra."
"… It's Stigmata. Why can't anyone get it right?"
I've been wanting to make a fic with the seven knights where Allen and Lenalee were sent back in time. But since I bet hardly anyone would read it, the idea's been placed low on my to-do list.
Next Chapter Preview: Faced with against the Knight Stigmata, Lavi, Kanda, and Aroc are faced with a difficult choice as they must either focus on Stigmata, or find the Fragment before the arriving Akuma do. Meanwhile, Lenalee is given the job of watching over Gin. Next Time: Stigmata Diaboli Part III! See ya there!
Noah Corner
Keria: ... Megiddo reminds me of someone.
Derek: Me too. But who?
Roade: Hmm...
Cedric: *drinking while watching girls walk by*
Noahs: *look at Cedric* Oh yeah.
Nylph: See Readers next time.
