Time for another update everyone! I had a good birthday, and it was even better because lots of people reviewed! Hehehe. Well, before I start eh next chappy, some A/Ns:
1) Don't own WHR! For like the millionth time!!
2) Vira has had the worst writer's block for her two stories! Sorries for the long update! Hope I didn't leave you in suspense…hehehe! The next update should be much quicker.
3) I am going on vacation! After the next update, I'll probably finish this story completely. Hopefully then, I can focus more on my other story! (go visit it please) Hahaha! Anyways, that's what I'll be doing soon enough. With luck I won't die on the plane! Lol.
Yep, that's enough A/Ns for the moment, now onto the story!:
It is said that all good things must come to an end. Where there is a beginning…there is a finish. A balanced equation. No matter how hard we want it, we cannot prevent the inevitable—the final stage of it all. This is the simple truth one must learn to face.
The days went by quickly. March flew by…then April…and then May. The students studied hard at every hour of it. They practiced. They read. They battled against each other in order to train. Amon could tell his pupils were growing stronger and stronger as the days continued to pass. Soon…they would become hunters.
And Robin.
She would become one, too.
Amon was afraid for her. It was a strange feeling, really. Fear was something that he just wasn't used to. And he never would be either, because this wasn't something that he could easy hide behind a mask. And the pain. He had almost forgotten about it, but there it was. With his fears, there was always a pain that followed…the pain of thinking what could happen to her if she wasn't careful.
They both knew they were living in the eye of the storm. The temporary calm. And there was no other alternative to escape it but going right into the storm; the danger that Amon had feared. He chose not to show it, but she knew.
Somehow, she always knew.
But they couldn't think about that right now, so they occupied themselves with the thought of final exams. Even so, whenever Amon would go to sleep…
"Come with me."
"…Where?"
"It doesn't matter. We might not have as much time as we had originally hoped for."
"…What do you mean?"
"I think…that you know. You know what I mean."
"No…Robin…"
"I must do this, Amon. I must do this for them…for the witches…it's my obligation to help them in the Factory. It's what my mother would have wanted, after all."
"But I don't want you to."
"Then come with me…I can show you. And we'll be together."
"I don't understand…show me what?"
"That which you fear most. You DO fear, don't you?"
"I-"
"-It is inevitable. All living things fear. Amon…it's okay to be afraid."
"I'll only be afraid if you're not with me."
"I can't always guarantee that. Please, Amon…enjoy this time we have now. The end may be closer than you think. Rest now."
He did not know if it was some trick of his mother's, but lately Amon had been dreaming of that conversation with her. Robin's body was never really there—only her voice—and neither was his. Was it something that he was supposed to take to heart? Amon could only assume so.
'I won't allow Robin to be treated the same way my mother was.' He thought. The muscles inside of him clenched involuntarily. There was no way he was going to let that happen. 'I'll stay by her for as long as it takes.'
For a little longer at least, things would remain calm…
"I want all of you to stand over there, next to that tree."
The eager trainees crowded around the tree; amongst them was Robin. It was the Final Exam day in his class—after it was over, they would be full-fledged witch hunters…or at least, the ones that passed. But this time, more space was required than just their classroom.
"Now, I need all of you to pay attention, because I'm only going to say this once. I've invited a friend over here to test your strength. Like you, he has a craft—the complete control of wind. It's your job to avoid being hit by him with his attacks and also do some damage of your own. He will be wearing Orbo so there's no reason to fear hitting him critically. Understand?"
There was the usual slow nodding that he saw every year at this point of time. "You will go in alphabetical order. Begin."
The boy named Ryobe stepped up first. Everyone watched him curiously as he approached his opponent. Amon could see Ryobe shaking from all the way over from where he was standing.
"The first move is yours." His friend said gruffly.
Quick as lightning, Ryobe melted some nearby rocks until they became a puddle. He formed the liquid into a sort of moat that rested calmly between the two craft opponents.
He smirked. "Good." The wind kicked up suddenly and blew straight at Ryobe. "…But not good enough."
Ryobe was hit slightly, but he quickly recovered. "Take THIS!" Another attack shot out of himself and against the wind. It managed to push through and bounced against the other's shoes, which melted into the ground.
"That's enough." Amon shouted. "Ryobe, come here. Someone get him new shoes. The next person is up."
As this transaction was being made, Amon spoke to Ryobe briefly. "Ryobe, your attack successfully hit him. However, his attack managed to land on you. But since it wasn't direct, you have passed this test." He smiled from ear to ear and nodded quickly.
Amon turned his attention back to the next student. As his friend was changing his shoes, Amon glanced at Robin out of the corner of his eye. She was talking happily with a girl student named Yuma. Robin had already insisted to him not to give her any special treatment for the test, and of course he wouldn't. Still, Amon knew she would pass with ease. With her glasses as an accessory, Robin would have no problems at all. He was quite confident about her abilities. But she wasn't up for a while however, and so Amon turned his attention back to the current student who was about to begin.
Eventually, it was Robin's turn. She approached him with an impressively calm manner. She had been watching all the previous exams and Amon was positive that Robin had studied his technique enough to understand all of his weaknesses.
"I'm ready!" She cried.
Amon nodded. "Then you may begin."
The wind had immediately begun to pick up. It swirled around her, but she managed to dodge it. Robin cast a flame at him…but it was only an experimental one. The powerful current swept through the fire easily. He smirked in triumph over this, but Robin had only smiled back.
"Wind feeds fire…" She mumbled. "If my flame is strong enough, you will only multiply my power…" She stood up fully. Her opponent heard her say this, so he unleashed several, sporadic air attacks at once. Robin stared at them intensely, and as they swept closer to her, she easily blocked all of them with her fire. "…You see." She continued. "It's no use trying to fight my craft with wind." With that, Robin opened her eyes suddenly to the fullest extent, and a fiery tongue shot out from them. Amon watched as, thankfully, the Orbo deflected her attack…but it was certainly a direct hit nonetheless.
"That's enough." He called. "Next student."
As Kazuko stepped forward, Robin walked back to him slowly. Amon tried to keep his manner as professional as possible. "Your accuracy and evasion was high. You also maintained a good ability to think quickly." He noticed that she was starting to blush slightly, which made him warm up a little inside. "You've passed the exam, Robin." She nodded happily and walked back over to her friends after giving him a gentle smile.
As Amon scribbled some things down on paper, he wondered how Robin would do in her other exams. She appeared to be very confident, so he knew she would not be worried about it for the rest of the day.
"Today is a fine day for the STN-J, and for all of us as well. After a year of hard work and training, the students that you see seated before you will now become fully fledged as hunters. I have seen them work hard for this moment, and now that it has finally arrived, I am very pleased to see the great number of achievements that have been made. Congratulations to all."
It was three days later. Kosaka was making a speech to all the parents and guardians—not to mention the students and staff—about the 'great honor' of promoting them to hunters. Amon stared at the ground in a boredom that had reached its ultimate heights from yet another one of Kosaka's speeches. His gaze wandered over to the place where Robin was sitting. She was smiling happily, and it was indeed something to be proud of. Suddenly, she looked over at him—and caught him looking back at her. Robin gave a small wave, and he nodded back.
"…And so," Kosaka continued, "It is my great honor to present each of these graduates here today with their STN-J hunter license and training completion certificate. Again, I congratulate you all." There was a round of proud claps.
After that, the usual ceremony came—Kosaka called each of their names and they came up one by one. "And don't forget that there will be a banquet this evening at the STN-J!" He reminded all of them after it was all over. "I hope to see you there!"
Amon stood up. He had hoped on talking to Robin for a minute or two, but then several parents had walked up to him in order to give their thanks for being 'such a wonderful teacher.' He managed somehow to bear all of it with a straight face, but inside he was growing more and more impatient. Amon knew that she had given him signs to show that she wanted to go somewhere with him in order to celebrate—perhaps to Harry's for some lunch. At this rate however, it wasn't looking like it. Gradually, Amon pushed his way through over to see her. But the closer he managed to get, the further she was being pulled away by her friends. Robin saw him trying to move to her however, and she quickly mouthed the word 'banquet.' He nodded to show that he understood, and turned around to go to his car. It was settled then. He had no reason to stay here now, especially considering how crowded the area was.
As Amon approached his car, he noticed there was a piece of paper stuck on the windshield. He picked it up and studied the scrawled writing. It read simply, 'The Mizu Bridge, 3 o'clock.' Amon looked around sharply, but no one was there. He muttered some things under his breath angrily and crumpled the paper up into the nearby trash can.
"Leave the gun in the car." A voice said from behind the bridge's corner. Amon recognized that voice from somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.
"Show yourself first." He ordered from his car. "…And be quick about it." He added. "I need to be somewhere soon."
Amon heard a sigh. "…Very well." A figure emerged out of the shadows. It was Juliano, Robin's grandfather. "You're even smarter than I thought, Amon. But that will be for the best soon enough."
Amon scowled. "You don't have short-term memory loss at all. I knew it the first time I saw you, but I didn't know why acting would serve any purpose to you at all, so I didn't mention this to Robin."
Juliano smirked. "We all have our secrets, Amon." He answered cryptically. He looked at him. "…Including you."
His eyes narrowed and he pointed the gun at him despite his previous agreement. "Just tell me what you want already."
The old man sighed. "Please Amon, put the gun away. You don't need to worry about anything." After a moment or two passed, Amon reluctantly lowered his gun. "…Good. Now, come over here so we may talk…"
Amon approached him cautiously. "This had better be important."
"It is—I've come to warn you. I know all about your mother, and I know you read the book about what happened to her. I see it in your eyes that you agree I'm telling the truth. I brought you here because I'm positive the same thing that happened long ago to my daughter is gradually happening to Robin and yourself."
Amon stared at him. "What do you mean?"
"You would be wise not to stick your nose into things it doesn't belong. I sense that your power will emerge soon enough, Amon." He looked at him. "…You know that what I speak of is true."
He scoffed. Did Juliano have some sort of craft as well? The power of foresight, perhaps? Or was he just wise and experienced in his old age? "How can you possibly tell all of this?"
He smiled. "History repeats itself. That is all I will say for now." Juliano looked to the sky. "The mask of obliviousness that I have chosen can show me many things. I know what Robin is about to do with the Factory. You cannot stop her, and neither can I. The best we can do is accept the way she is…just like…her mother…" He sighed. "I don't have much time left here…"
Amon glared at him. Frankly, he didn't really care how much time Juliano had left…the liar that he was. "…Why are you telling me this?"
Juliano turned to look back at him with a very serious expression. "I know what your relationship is with my granddaughter, and, contrary to what you may think, I truly embrace it. All I want is for you to take care of her…when I'm gone. I know you are very capable of doing this, Amon." He glanced at him watch. "Do what you feel is right. But now I must go—addio, and remember well what I said."
Without saying another word, Juliano left. Amon watched him walk down the street thoughtfully, and then turned back to his car.
"Amon, what's wrong?"
It was two hours later, and Robin was helping him, as an STN-J staff member, set up before the banquet would begin. Amon knew it was clearly written on his face that something had been bothering him, but he chose not to talk about it.
"I…it's nothing. I'm fine." He replied monotonously.
Amon could actually feel her suspicion rise. Robin tried to catch his eye, but he turned away from her in order to set the boxes down.
"Well…" She said after a moment. "We should, um…move those over there into the storage room. And the ones next to them can go somewhere in the hallway, I suppose…right?"
"Yeah." Amon bent down to begin the process of moving them. "We'll need plenty of room in here for all of the people expected to come…"
As they were doing this, the speakers across the room suddenly turned on, and a soft melody which would be used for the future banquet as background music slowly kicked in. Robin smiled and closed her eyes. "I remember…I remember…this song that my mother used to sing…" She listened carefully and began to hum quietly to the tune. To Amon, it was like nothing he had ever heard of before.
"Sing it…" He prompted gently. Robin looked surprised for a second, but then she nodded and opened her mouth up to amplify the chords and reveal the verses. Amon was immediately wrapped into her wonderful song…which in any other moment he would have seen as strange, especially because he was never one to particularly like music.
Soon after the song ended, Robin opened her eyes again and smiled. "Did you like it, Amon?"
"…Yes." He answered truthfully. "I didn't know you could sing like that, Robin."
She nodded. "Well, there are a lot of things that you don't know about me." She chuckled and turned to continue stacking boxes.
'I want to know more.' He desperately thought. 'I want to learn everything about you, so please Robin…don't leave me.'
Review Responses:
Beautiful Witch Hunter Robin: Arigato! And don't forget to update your story! I wanna find out what happens next!!
Vega03: Yeah, it was sort of uneventful, wasn't it? Heh.
DarkPyroPlanet: Yes, I'm afraid the plot needs to be a little more detailed…well don't worry, because the end will sure tie away a few knots! Promise! More fluff will come soon enough!
Haruya: Yeah, all of my stories go to twenty chapters (just like all of them start with 'the' lol).
chii-chan: I swear that's all you ever say! Well thanks though!
Kaidence: Bah, it's not your fault, lots of other people make me blush 'round here! Heh! Thanks for the review!
Youkai no Yume: CAKE! Vira = happy. =D Oh, and your e-mail sent me a virus, you might wanna look into that, lol.
Goth Musician: Hahaha I know exactly what you mean. Lately I have been staying up to like 3 in the morning! I'm a bad Vira…
Namiko-Daughter of Sekhmet: Aw, thanks for the present! Glad you liked it!
insanereader: Why thank you lots! =D And you made me blush! Bah!
Dust'in: Yes, they certainly do rule! I wish I could be Robin…oh, bad thoughts! XD
Gundamwinggirl: Hahaha, I wonder what would happen if Amon were to encounter a chocolate kiss…he'd probably shoot it with his gun! Lol! Doesn't seem like the type to eat one of those things…
Meichan: Yeah, I think Sakaki and Doujima are cute as a couple, but not too many fanfic writers embrace it…'sides, Amon and Robin are better!
Shawn Provoncha: lol, will you ever stop typing in caps!? Anyways, thanks lots!
row: Yeah he sure does…my b-day was pretty fun, got a lot of cool gifts!
Wake-Robin: Yeah she'll find something in there, the only trouble is, I haven't decided on what exactly that should be! Lol.
Kagome Of Summer Dances: Ah, anyone can write as good as me! (because I write horribly…lol).
yukari youkai: Love child!? HAHAHAHA!!! Yeah, I guess it was! Heh!
Yuna of Paradise: Yeah, Doujima was the same girl. I hate my brother too, in fact, that sounds just like something he'd do, because the computer is in his room and I don't trust him very much…
Neko-Yuff16: Arigato! Glad you liked it!
DreamCatch89: Yes, we all luff WHR! And I'm SO mad that they took it off! Hopefully, they'll come to their senses! Until then, fanfiction!
Rose with Thorns: Well, it's unbelievably hard keeping Amon in character, so I'm glad you approve.
Yuna of Paradise (again): lol, well if you're going to look at all of my other stories, then do yourself a favor and DON'T read my Rurouni Kenshin one. It was like my very first fanfic and quite frankly, it's awful! I have improved much since then!
Cat: Thanks for the happy birthday! =D Glad you're not sick of Amon and Robin fluff!
TheUniverseBeyond: Ah, don't worry about it! A late review is better than no review at all! And yes, everything will be explained…soon enough! Hehehe. In fact, the next chapter will probably be the one!
And that's all! Hope you guys liked this chapter! More fluffiness to come, and such! Oh, and more explanations to! Remember, if you're confused about anything, just ask! I'll be happy to answer anything. Anyways, R&R! Arigato, ja ne!