Chapter IV

"Hide, hide, witch! The good folk come to burn thee, their keen enjoyment hid beneath the gothic mask of duty."

-Hide! Hide! Witch! By Mark Clifton and Alex Apostolides


"Long day?"

Amon glanced up as Master set a cup of coffee on the counter in front of him.

"You look tired," Master said with a warm smile, gesturing to the steaming mug encouragingly. Amon said nothing, resting his elbows on the table and taking a sip.

"Do you have anything for me?" He said after awhile, keeping his voice low. Master pretended not to hear, but took a few steps closer as he continued washing out empty glasses.

"Oh, just a few rumors." He paused as a customer entered the café, then smiled when he saw it was Robin, who smiled back as she came and took a seat at the bar. "Good evening my dear," he said, frowning a little as he saw the dark circles under her eyes. "Well, it seems everyone's been working late these days." He set a cup of espresso in front of her, and Robin muttered a tired thank you. "Amon, you shouldn't work the poor girl so hard." Master scolded lightly. Amon glanced at Master, then at Robin, who was looking a little red in the face and trying to pretend she hadn't heard the comment.

"It's no business of mine how hard she works." He said coolly, taking another sip of his coffee. "About the rumors . . ." he added, shooting Master an expectant look from his steely gray eyes. The older man smiled, setting down a glass and picking up another one as he talked.

"I've heard of a rare type of witch…one that has the power to change their very form."

"Change their form?" Robin repeated in surprise. Amon glanced at her in annoyance—he didn't appreciate eavesdroppers.

"Yes, they can supposedly take on the appearance of anyone they choose." Master continued, ignoring the tension swirling in the air between the two Hunters. Most of it, he noticed, was coming from Amon. "But supposedly, it takes a great amount of power and focus."

"The Ogham wheel . . ." Robin whispered. The gears were turning in her head now, all the pieces were starting to come together. The similar murders, with no one suspect they could be traced to. A witch that didn't seem to use their power to kill. The Ogham marks for change, and the tape that seemed to show two different people.

Thanking Master for the drink, Robin placed some money on the counter, but he waved it away. She smiled, thanked him again, and without another word, walked out of the café. Amon watched her go out of the corner of his eye. He, too, was beginning to fit everything together. They had their witch, now they just had to find it. Amon signaled Master for another cup of coffee-- and something stronger to go with it. It was going to be a long night.


The next morning, Robin found herself in the briefing room again, seated in front of a computer terminal. She hated the way the eerie blue glow of the monitors made everyone look gaunt and pale, like tormented spirits.

She couldn't help but glance at Amon, who stood looming behind Michael, like a deadly shadow. Why did he always make her sit as far away from him as possible? Wasn't she his partner? Maybe he was afraid of her, of her Craft. Taking another look at the stoic man, she brushed that idea away. Amon seemed a man unafraid of anything, incapable of fear. Perhaps devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

Robin was jarred from her haunting train of thought as Michael began to speak.

"These are all the suspects for the murders, the four on the right are from last night's."

"Subaru Tokaki, Takeda Mizuru, Uematsu Yoichi, and Yuki Keisuke?" Sakaki read.

"Well, the video showed a man and then a woman next to the body," Doujima said. "Maybe they're working together?"

"No." Amon said brusquely, startling everyone. "There was only one witch. A shapeshifter."

"Shapeshifter? I thought they were just a myth." Karasuma said incredulously.

"Myth or no, it seems we have one on our hands." Amon replied coolly. An awed silence fell on the room for several minutes as each Hunter tried to comprehend what Amon was saying.

"Wow," Sakaki said after awhile, breaking the silence. "We've never had to deal with anything like this before. What're we gonna do, Amon?"

"We'll just have to narrow down the suspects. We'll focus on the four from the recent murder."

"Well, I can eliminate one of them already," Michael interrupted. "Keisuke Yuki died a year ago, in a car accident." He brought up the man's picture onto everyone's screen.

"But. . ." Robin murmured, her voice trailing off as she looked at the young man on the screen.

"This is the young man on the tape . . ." Karasuma said, finishing Robin's sentence for her.

"He definitely doesn't look dead," Sakaki added.

"That must be our witch," Michael concluded. "I also discovered that Keisuke Yuki was the victim's nephew."

"Something that cannot be. . .a great surprise. . ." Karasuma said quietly. "What would it be like, to meet someone you thought was dead, then find out they were going to kill you? It's terrible."

"How will we ever catch them?" Doujima asked. "We don't know what they really look like.

"But we do." Robin said. Five heads turned to her in curiosity. Robin pointed to the video, where a young woman stood over the dead body. "It's her."

"And how do you know this?" Amon asked skeptically. Robin narrowed her eyes at him, then stood up, straightening to her full height so everyone could see her.

"The Ogham wheel is hard to master, so the one we saw was a very simple one. It's designed to last long enough for whatever spell the witch has to cast. A way to focus the witch's power long enough to perform the spell. Shapeshifting would require a lot of power and concentration. So after the witch killed the person, the spell would wear off."

"So . . .whoever is there after he's dead . . .is the witch." Karasuma said. Robin nodded.

"Good work, Robin." Amon said curtly. Robin looked up at him in shock. Had he just complimented her? Or was he being sarcastic? She wasn't sure, but either way, it was a strange thing to hear praise coming from Amon. "Michael, get as much information as you can on the witch. We'll meet back here tonight." With that, he dismissed them. He was just about to close the door of the elevator, when Robin slipped in next to him.

The two rode down in silence, but as soon as they reached the ground floor, Robin stopped him.

"Amon, what did you mean earlier?"

"About what?" He replied coldly, walking to his car. To his chagrin, Robin's Vespa was parked next to it, and she continued to follow him.

"When you said 'good job'?" Robin said. He paused, looking at her over his shoulder.

"I meant exactly what I said," he replied, climbing into his car and slamming the door. Robin watched as he drove off. She should have known better than to expect a direct answer. Sighing to herself, she climbed onto her Vespa, hoping she would have time for a nice, long bath before she had to return for the hunt.