Chapter Seven
"Meman momom monthing mmmf mif," Yusuke mumbled through his gag. He turned in his seat to look at Kurama pleadingly. "Mmm mef mo, meaf?" Kurama didn't do anything. He was shocked, although he should've been more cautious about trusting Mitarai. He had allowed his empathy for a boy that had reminded Kurama of his own situation get the better of him. He looked around when he felt his whip being blown to bits.
"You could've just asked me to remove my whip, Yusuke," Kurama scolded Yusuke lightly, looking sadly down at the remains of his rose.
Yusuke sweat dropped and looked at Kurama incredulously. "Umm, Kurama, you realize what you've just said, right?"
A "hmm" was the only response he received.
"Is this about Mitarai?" Yusuke asked, taking a guess as to what had startled Kurama so much.
There was no response to his question.
"Listen, Mitarai wouldn't join the Death Eaters, he's not like that!" Yusuke continued, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Kurama.
"We don't know what went through his mind when he joined us. He could've just joined for a less honest reason than what he said."
"But, Kurama, you checked him! You believed him to be…"
"I never checked to see if he was telling the truth," Kurama told an astonished Yusuke.
"You mean that…why?!" Yusuke asked.
"My own past clouded my judgment. It lead me to trust him implicitly."
Yusuke stared at Kurama, amazed that they had made such a mistake in people's character.
"Why don't we just watch the meeting. Maybe things aren't as they appear."
………………
Voldemort looked up to see that Hiei was staring at a soon to be Death Eater, a bit of confusion showing on his face.
"Well Hiei, I hope you know what you are about to be initiated into," Voldemort smirked. "The others, of course, know first hand, some more than others. And I hope that Severus has managed to remember to tell you." If the Dark Lord had been hoping for a response to this statement from Hiei, he was sadly mistaken.
"No, he failed to mention what being a Death Eater would entail. I was, however, able to draw my own conclusions."
Voldemort's smirk widened. There seemed to be much potential within this one to rise within the ranks, and to serve him well. Within that one previous statement he had sensed a large amount of cunning, intelligence and power.
However, Voldemort's eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion, Hiei seemed to be an individual who didn't serve anyone. The fact that he had decided to join him indicated that he was more likely to win the war in the long run, or Hiei had his own agenda. He'd have to keep a watch on that one. It wouldn't do for him and a few others to start a rebellion within his ranks. That coupled with that type of Occlumency barrier and…Voldemort stopped that train of thought there. He would resume the particular pondering later, after the meeting.
Hiei waited. He was getting rather annoyed at Voldemort's study of him. If Voldemort was taking so long to make his initiation official, than that would mean that his loyalty to Voldemort was already being questioned. His position as spy could already be jeopardized. Maybe he should've had a bit more of a humble attitude during his last statement.
Then again, the Death Eaters, and the others that Voldemort had allied himself with wouldn't be that hard to defeat without a spy. There would just be a few more humans dead. That wouldn't be a big deal. Ningenkai was crawling with them.
Hiei was torn from his musings as Voldemort finished his.
"Hiei, take your place in the line. In between Draco and Oren," Voldemort gestured toward the two. Draco and the two stupid looking ones to his left moved over, creating an empty space. Hiei joined his place in line.
"Now, for your initiation and trial. After the rest of the Death Eaters arrive, you shall be initiated into the ranks. After that, Death Eaters who have been assigned to a specific task will come forward and state if it was successful or not. If it was, then they will be rewarded, if not…" Voldemort trailed off and smiled maliciously. "If anyone of my Death Eaters has succeeded in gaining information, that information can be used to mark an area down for attack.
For your trial, all of you will be sent, on your own to attack one of these areas. Through this trial, we will measure your strength and your teamwork capabilities, we will see if you work well under pressure, and if you obey orders well," Voldemort's eyes settled on Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. "Don't be afraid to cast the Unforgivables; Severus has taken the liberty to create a potion that will render all spells cast unable to be registered in the Ministry."
…………
"What the hell's wrong with Voldemort? He just keeps staring at Hiei. Does he suspect him already, or does he just have a fetish for short pessimistic demons?"
"I bet that Voldemort is naturally paranoid. With him being the Dark Lord, there has to have been more than one assassination attempt, and rebellion. Hiei wasn't exactly submissive like the others. While this might make Voldemort favor him slightly, it will also make him suspicious of Hiei."
Yusuke blinked. "I just asked a question, and you're not going to gag me?"
"No, it was actually one that is relevant to the current situation."
"And that would mean…"
"It wasn't stupid."
"Hey! I resent that!"
…………..
"My lord, what if someone fails the trial?" Draco asked.
"Are you planning on failing the trial, Malfoy?" Voldemort asked archly.
"No my lord," Malfoy hurriedly started to explain, thinking that the Dark Lord was displeased, "it's just that, before people were just punished. Now there is a rumor that says that anyone who fails will be killed."
"Let me assure you that people who have already received the Dark Mark are in no danger of being killed unless they displease me, or have died by enemy hands. Since I have no room for failures within my ranks, the ones who fail he initiation trial will die by either my wand, or by enemy wands."
Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle paled.
…………..
"My God!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"What is it?!" Kurama asked urgently. If Yusuke had noticed something…
"Voldemort is a perverted old man!"
"Come again?"
"And you are too!"
Kurama took a deep breath , and resisted the urge to hit Yusuke on the head with something. "What I meant was to repeat that again, and to, perhaps, clarify."
"Oh, well Voldie said that they would die by either the enemies' wands or by his. I found that pretty perverted. I mean, will all the wands be used at once? And what about Voldemort? Isn't he older than Genkai? How can he possible get it to function properly?!"
Kurama choked. "Thank you for that disturbing mental image," said Kurama sarcastically, glaring at Yusuke.
"But really, what type of person does those things?" Yusuke asked, ignoring Kurama's question, and hoping that the innocent act was working.
"The same person who thinks those thoughts?"
Yusuke winced. "Alright, I get the message. I'll shut up."
…………….
After Voldemort had outlined what occurred during each different type of Death Eater meeting, they only had to wait a few minutes for the first of the Death Eaters (not including Snape and Lucius) to arrive. After they arrived, they moved to grovel at Voldemort's feet, and then took, what seemed to be, predetermined spots. Several minutes later, and a circle of Death Eaters had begun to form. Voldemort was sitting in the center of the circle with the initiates standing several feet away, also enclosed within the circle.
Hiei glanced quickly around the circle, wondering which one of them was actually the power human allies, that Voldemort had, in disguise. As he searched, he noted that the circled seemed to be more for intimidation than for any type of defense or offense. Except if an assassin was in the middle. Then it was excellent for defense.
Once it seemed that everyone had arrived, Voldemort began speaking. "Tonight should be a cause for celebration. These are the first new initiates of the second reign!" Voldemort said, standing from the bench.
The Death Eaters started whispering to each other, wondering how loyal these newcomers were, and how fast they would rise within the ranks.
"You shall be marked tonight, however, you shall have to be tried before you can truly be called one of my family," Voldemort informed the initiates again, this time for the benefit of appearances. "Crabbe, Vincent, come forward."
"Bear you left arm," Voldemort commanded. After Crabbe had pulled up the left sleeve of his robe, Voldemort touched the point of his wand to Crabbe's inner forearm.
"Per hic nota me militio vos (1)!"
Crabbe screamed. Draco was startled. He never imagined Crabbe to be capable of reaching the same high notes as a girl.
Voldemort smirked. If Crabbe and Goyle were anything like their fathers, they would provide for excellent entertainment.
The ritual continued until only Hiei and Draco had yet to be Marked.
"Hiei."
Hiei didn't move. "I will not be branded like some sort of errant cattle," he spat. The Death Eaters moved forward threateningly.
"And what makes you think you have a choice?" Voldemort asked.
"And what," Hiei mocked, "makes you think you can force me into anything?" He asked arching an eyebrow.
Voldemort was reminded of the mind barrier; a wall with glowing red eyes in it, surrounded by a trench containing black fire, and shuddered in spite of himself. He had just realized that his was a demon. A formidable one, considering that he could call upon the Darkness Flame technique.
"Ah, so you're Hiei!" A random Death Eater stepped forward. "I was wondering when Reikai would begin to involve itself into the Wizarding world's affairs."
"Oh, and who are you?" Hiei asked, shifting so he could reach his katana easier.
"Not that it's any business of yours, but since you can't do anything with the information, I'll tell you." The Death Eater removed his mask. "My name is Shotaro(2). I'll a demon summoner."
"Demon summoner? Well don't presume that you can control me."
"Wouldn't dream of it. The demons that I summon aren't from the Makai," Shotaro stated. Hiei gritted his teeth as the presumptuous human turned his back in him and strolled over to Voldemort.
"Lord Voldemort," Shotaro began, ignoring all the shocked and disgusted looks he receiving from the Death Eater circle because he dared to address Voldemort as an equal, "May confer a decision with you?"
Voldemort nodded his head in assent.
Shotaro took out a wand and cast a Silencing charm. He then turned back to Voldemort. I think we should allow Hiei to leave this meeting alive."
"What did you say?" Voldemort asked in a deadly calm voice.
"If we allow him to live, then he can report this meeting back to his superiors in Reikai."
Voldemort smirked as he realized what Shotaro was referring to. "You're playing on fear."
Shotaro smirked at how naïve the Dark Lord could be, "Exactly."
……………..
Hiei watched as the two discussed whether or not he should be allowed to live. He smirked. Koenma had granted him the right to kill any Death Eater, except Snape. If they were going to allow him to leave, then he was going to kill as many Death Eaters as possible.
He looked to the left and decapitated a random Death Eater faster than the untrained eye could follow.
As the head fell on the ground, Oren took a step back.
Hiei looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Oren move back. He thought that it was to prepare an attack, and so, he too went on the offensive.
Oren's eyes widened and he quickly created a shield around himself. The moment Hiei's katana touched the opaque shield, it began to corrode and fall to dust.
…………
Draco blinked as he suddenly found a random Death Eater without a head.
Lucius had known for a while that Severus was a traitor. He had passed Severus information that had helped the Order of the Phoenix with the Ministry raids. Severus knew he was trustworthy, and that he didn't want Draco to become a Death Eater. Neither of them did.
Therefore, they devised a plan.
Severus was going to attempt to bring another spy into the ranks. The spy would, during the trial, help Draco escape, and then claim to have witnessed him die.
The spy had refused, and because of that, Lucius had to think of another plan.
When Draco had found out, he had agreed to go along with it. He didn't want to serve the Dark Lord either.
And now, the plan wasn't going as expected. Severus' spy was openly attacking the Death Eaters, and Draco was indecisive. He didn't know if he should help Hiei, keep up his Death Eater façade and attack him, or run.
As he watched Hiei's katana disintegrate, he made up his mind. If he attempted to stay neutral, he would eventually be killed. If he became a Death Eater, he would be force to serve a snake-faced bastard. If he just tried to escape, the Dark Lord would know where he was and kill him because of the Mark. However, if he was going to go up against Voldemort, he would need protection. There was only one way the Order of the Phoenix would trust him.
Draco ran forward toward Oren, drawing his wand on the way.
A/N: Well, I was going to update this weekend, but something was wrong with the school computers, so the file didn't send. I won't be able to update for at least the rest of the week because of midterms.
1. It means something along the lines of: "By this mark you shall serve me."
2. I wasn't in a very creative mind frame, so I used my classmate's name.
Reviewers:
Megami Muse: I hope you enjoyed the update!
Genny62890: I comment on thing on the TV too sometimes. No one's there it hear it. I do it more when I'm reading a book it seems. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
FireFox6: Really?! ::eyes light up with happiness:: I was trying to add a bit more mystery to it. I'm glad it didn't ruin the story.
Talon and Skittles: Think you! I'm glad people are intrigued.
SilverDemonSoul: I'm not a big fan of him either. In fact, later we'll find out why he joined Voldemort. The reason's kind of insulting.
MistressKC: Huh, never heard of Spirit Magic. I'll have to check it out. Depressed Harry is good, isn't it. What Voldemort saw wasn't very original, but to me, at least, it made sense.
kitkit: Yup, better believe it. It's Sea Man. I don't really like him either, but it suits my purpose. I thought it would be ironic to have Yusuke reading, and Hiei bowing to Voldemort. But, I can kind of see Yusuke reading something on the Dark Arts, and Hiei's submission was necessary.
The Youkai Nightmare: You're just like Genny and me! But commenting is fun. I can't tell you why Mitari is there. It's a secret…until later.
Yavie Aelinel: I read your story. I liked it, and now it's on my favorite's list. I have two. One of , and one on my computer. Eventually, I'm going to have to move half of my stories to the one at home. It sucks.
CuriousDreamWeaver: I wrote more. Hope it's still interesting.
Bluespark: You're welcome! Hope you enjoyed them.
Anyway, I can't think of many more plot twists but…never mind. I just thought of one. But that one can't be included until later, much later. Anyway, I need to think more about what's going to happen next, so it may be a while before I can update this. And I swear that I'm not abandoning this fic, so don't worry.