Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, but if I did. . . .I'd be wearing a giant button that says "I own Witch Hunter Robin." Obviously I'm not wearing the pin, so I don't. Okay, I shall shut my trap and proceed to the story. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Broken Alliance
Throughout the room rang the sound of a bullet exiting Jaden's gun. Amon watched the bullet trail closer to his skull, but did not dare move. Somehow the ex-hunter knew his partner would drive the bullet off course, which thankfully she did. He heard Jaden's displeased hiss as the bullets fell lifelessly to the ground.
Amon backed away from his attacker, rubbing his right knuckle across his face. Robin's flames had lightly nipped him. He watched the petite body beside him from the corner of his eye.
"That wasn't a wise thing to do love," said Jaden flicking a piece of hair from in front of his face. He grinned and reached towards his other gun holster. Before he could grab the Orbo gun from it, he heard Amon's guns load. The man looked up to see both Amon's guns drawn, pointed straight at him.
"Who are you?" demanded Amon.
Jaden threw his head back, chuckling and then forward; grinning devilishly at the dark haired man. "I've already told you who I am," he chuckled. The sly witch started walking towards Robin. Amon's guns pressed against Jaden's chest as he tried to approach Robin.
"That's far enough," breathed Amon.
The witch looked at Amon irate. "I'd lower those if I were you," he said whipping out the Orbo gun. He had the barrel pointed straight at Robin. "One shot of this would kill her you know. The bullets in this gun hold triple the amount of Orbo that one normal Orbo bullet carries. You wouldn't want one of these baby's in her would you?" he asked grinning.
Amon snarled, glancing over at Robin and back at Jaden. "She can throw off your attacks."
"Dare to find out?" he said.
Much to Amon's surprise, Jaden pulled the trigger. Robin instantly dodged the bullet, causing it to only graze her shoulder. She clutched her shoulder, looking at the little bit of green liquid that had escaped from the bullet.
"Just that little bit has disabled your powers love. You'll be of no use for hours," grinned a very satisfied Jaden. "Should I try again?" he asked tauntingly tapping the trigger.
Amon kept the guns pointed at Jaden, but hesitantly lowered them. "Why do you want us?" asked Amon.
"Hmm, it's quite simple really. As long as I give SOLOMON the Devil's Child, they'll give me what I want."
"And what do you want?" asked Robin.
Jaden smiled at the chestnut-haired witch, tilting his head to the side. "To protect my kind."
Amon stared at the man as if he were insane. "But is she not one of your kind?" he asked coldly. He did not notice the look of hurt that come to Robin's face as he spoke of her that way.
"That she is. . .but often one. . ." Jaden lifted the other gun towards Amon once again. "Or should I say two lives, must be given up for the sake of millions."
"That's quite enough Jaden," said a voice.
Jaden paused and looked towards the balcony. A woman slowly walked into the room. Her black coat danced in the wind as she passed Amon and Robin. Amon recognized the woman; she was the one whom let him go the night before.
Robin gasped, looking at the woman in disbelief. "Minami," she breathed.
"You know her?" asked Amon curiously.
"Yes, we had met back at the convent in Italy a few years ago." Robin stepped forward, to get a better look at the woman. "I thought you had died."
The woman smiled and started to laugh. "Yes, that's what most thought. SOLOMON had sent me to America to handle some business. I had remained there until the Factory incident. That's when they decided to assign me to the STN-J. My main assignment was to locate both of you, using the members of the STN-J. Unfortunately it didn't seem to work, so I had to enlist the help of others," she said walking towards Robin.
Amon protectively stepped in front of Robin, keeping her away from Haze. Robin tugged on the arm of his jacket in protest. He looked down at her and huffed. The man didn't trust this woman at all, but Robin seemed to. Robin was determined to confront the woman. He stepped to the side, warily watching the two talk. If Haze tried anything, he'd be ready.
"So you are here to kill me?" asked Robin.
Haze looked over at Jaden, and back at Robin. "Yes, that was what I was sent to do," she said pulling out her gun. "And I intended on carrying out my orders." She swung around and pointed the gun at Jaden. ". . .But. . ."
The gun went off, leaving Jaden no means as to escaping nor defending himself. His body was thrown against the wall, due to the impact of the bullet. Robin turned her face away at the site. Amon sneered at the bloody scene.
"Why?" asked Robin sadly.
Haze put away her gun, smiling as she did so. "Because, I made a promise that I must keep," she said turning towards Robin and Amon.
"But how are you associated with him?" asked Amon tilting his head towards the crumbled body lying against the wall.
Haze looked over at the blood-soaked body. "SOLOMON wanted Robin disposed of by any means necessary. Even if that meant making deals with witches. I told Jaden about what the Factory was planning and he sent his team to retrieve you both. By doing this, I told him that SOLOMON swore to not touch a single witch that harbored themselves within this mansion and the others. He believed it and got Robin."
"But why? If you never intended on killing me, than why did you want me? What is this promise?" asked Robin curiously.
"And how did you know what the Factory was doing?" asked Amon
"Because, I was told to protect you by Father Juliano. He knew that SOLOMON would still pursue the hunt against you, so he asked me to find you. You have no idea what SOLOMON has planned. About me knowing the Factory's plans? Well, lets just say I have informants."
"What does SOLOMON have planned? Jaden said it involved Orbo," said Amon.
"Yes, it did involve the Orbo. Zaizen left orders with his scientists before you came to confront him at the Factory. Those orders were to capture you both before SOLOMON if he was killed. Needless to say he was believed to be killed and his orders were carried out. When I received word of what the Factory was doing, I also passed the word to SOLOMON. I expected the order to stop the Factory, but not the order to kill you both." Jaden reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed it over to Amon.
"This was the order given out by Davis Stretten, the new head of SOLOMON."
Amon looked over the note and handed it over to Robin. "I thought Father Juliano was the head of SOLOMON?" asked Amon.
Haze walked over towards the balcony; staring out at the landscape. "Father Juliano was asked to step down from his position after dismissing the hunt on Robin. Many SOLOMON leaders, including Stretten were furious by the sudden change. So Stretten found a way to make Juliano resign. Now Juliano has no power within SOLOMON, but he still has enough contacts to know what's going on."
"Now that he has no power, he can not truly protect Robin. So how is it that he enlisted the help of one as yourself?" Amon asked curiously.
"Well, I've always been a faithful SOLOMON agent until now. Though they still believe I am. I have known Juliano since I was a child and trusted him more than anyone. So I felt that I must remain faithful to him. . .and Robin," she said slightly smiling at Robin.
Before Amon or Robin could respond, Haze walked up to Amon and held out a set of car keys. "You both must leave now. If you don't, SOLOMON will surely get you. Now drive back to Nagira's office, but leave the car a few blocks away. He will be waiting there for the both of you. Nagira will tell you more once you get there."
"But what about the Factory testing? Why were the tests done on us for Orbo? If they planned on using us for Orbo, why hadn't they done so?" Amon asked coldly.
"As I said, Nagira will tell you more," hissed Haze. She pointed towards the balcony. "Get going now! The car is in the garage waiting."
Robin wanted to say something, anything to her old friend. Yet she couldn't find anything to say to her. After all these years, she finds the friend she believe to be dead, alive. "Thank you," she finally said. 'It's better than nothing' she thought to herself.
The drive to Nagira's office was quite awkward and quiet for the two ex-hunters. Neither one spoke a word to the other. Truthfully neither could think of anything to say. It had been only two weeks since their last meeting, yet it seemed like years.
Nagira stood at the window to his office, peering out at the busy street. He had been waiting there ever since he had received the phone call from Haze. The phone call was most unexpected, seeing as he knew nothing about this woman yet she seemed to want to help his brother and Robin. Though he felt uneasy for trusting the woman, he had no other choice. It seemed the only way Robin and Amon could leave Japan would be by the means of this woman and Father Juliano. It had been nearly one hour since the phone call and in that time he had managed to run a few errands. Though Hana had thoroughly scolded him for doing so.
Amon and Robin exited the black car, which was the same model as the one Jaden had driven earlier that day. Both walked down the bustling street, looking around cautiously for anyone whom seemed suspicious. Though Amon thought if anyone appeared to be suspicious on the street, it had to be them. Robin was still her usual attire of a pilgrim dress with a crimson overcoat and Amon wore his favorite black jacket. Anyone from above could easily pick out the both of them, seeing as they blended into the crowd like a pair of black cats blend into a pack of white wolves.
When they finally arrived at the door to Nagira's office, they heard what appeared to be a shouting match from inside. Robin recognized both voices immediately. From what she gathered, it appeared Nagira had cancelled his appointments for the day and Hana was not at all pleased. The girl had witnessed matches as these many times. She had always ended up being in the middle of the two quarreling adults, asked which one was right and which was wrong.
"Hmm, sounds like Nagira is the same as always," Robin whispered.
Amon slightly grinned as he listened to them fight. To him, there was nothing better than hearing his lazy brother get chewed out. He didn't understand why, but it just seemed so satisfying to him.
Robin reached up to knock her small knuckles against the door, but the door swung open. Luckily Robin pulled her hand back in time to keep from hitting a very angry Hana in the face. Hana hadn't as much as looked at Robin nor Amon. Her head was still turned towards Nagira, who sat at his desk, nursing his reddened cheek. It appeared Hana out of anger, slapped him.
"I am tired of you doing this! This is the third time this week that you've cancelled your appointments. What will your clients begin to think? I surely know what they're thinking. 'That Mr. Nagira must not care about his client's well-being.' 'He is a lazy old dog that only worries about getting money without working.' That's exactly what they're thinking and it's true!" She yelled furiously.
"I am leaving and I'm not coming back for the rest of the week!"
She turned to walk out the door but stopped as she stood in front of the two ex-hunters. Hana was about to scold the two for standing in her way, until she recognized one of them. Her angered face smoothed out as she looked straight into Robin's eyes.
"Ro—Robin?" she asked in disbelief.
The witch nodded and smiled. "It's good to see you again."
Hana could barely believe what she was seeing. She thought she was looking at a completely different Robin than she had seen weeks before. The girl seemed as if she had gone through years of turmoil. "You came back," she said with a slight smile.
"You two need to get inside before someone sees you," whispered Nagira, whom was standing directly behind Hana.
"Before someone sees them? What on Earth are you talking about?" asked Hana thunderstruck.
"We'll talk about it after these two come in. Lock the door behind you," he said motioning to Amon.
The four settled down in the office, all staring at each other as if one of them would drop dead at any second. Robin noticed the way Hana's eyes kept racing from Amon to herself. She realized that Hana had never been introduced to Amon. Nor did she even know that he was Nagira's stepbrother.
"So, what were you saying out there? You know, about them getting inside before someone saw them?" asked Hana curiously.
Amon wasn't sure how much information he wanted disclosed to this woman. He was sure Nagira would start telling her everything. Before Nagira could even have a chance open his mouth, Amon spoke up.
"Some men are hunting the both of us." He decided that giving her only a little info at the time would be safe. As she asked questions, he would find a way to answer them that didn't give her incriminating information.
"Why are they hunting you?" She turned towards Robin and frowned. "You're not running from the law are you? What did you and your little lover over here get yourself into ?" she scoffed, throwing her hands onto her hips.
Nagira turned his face away from the group, trying to keep his composure. The look that had come to Robin and Amon was priceless in his opinion. Amon looked like he wanted to pluck his head into the ground. Robin was about as embarrassed as Amon, who's cheeks had turned a bright hue of red.
"I did nothing," Robin said innocently, trying to ignore the last comment. Somehow even with the softness of her voice, that didn't seem believing to the woman. It was hard to even talk after hearing Hana say something like that.
"These men just hunt you for being slightly different. If they sense any abnormalities with you, they feel that they must hunt you." Amon was trying the best he could to steer the conversation away from SOLOMON and the STN-J.
"And what do you mean by different?" she asked.
"Things like if you just heal too quickly or have exceptional speed," said Robin quite abruptly. Amon hadn't expected her to answer and in a way he was glad she had. He hadn't quite figured out the answer to her question.
"Really? Why hunt people like that? I mean if I had extraordinary hearing, they might hunt me?" she asked sarcastically.
Robin could tell at this point that Hana didn't believe a word either of them were saying. She nodded and waited to see what the woman would say next. Instead, Nagira cleared his throat and broke into the conversation.
"Yep, so you better be careful Hana. They might come after you next!" he said jokingly. He looked over at the woman and soon his smile faded into a livid frown. "It was a joke."
"Nagira, you talked with Haze?" asked Amon, trying to change subjects.
"Ah yeah, she called after you guys left to tell me you were on the way. She said that you were to stay here until further instructions. Seems Juliano has plans for you two."
"Father Juliano has plans for us?" asked Robin in disbelief.
"Yep, it sounds like he's setting it up so you two can get out of Japan. Don't worry little brother, I don't think he's trying anything."
Hana nearly fell out of her seat as she heard the word 'brother' coming from Nagira. "He's your brother!?" she asked dazed. When she caught the slight nod from Nagira, she began to laugh. "You must be kidding me. I would never have thought it." She eyed both of them. "Hmm, I do see some similarities. Though from the looks of it, I'd say he does more work than your worthless hide," she scoffed.
"Hey, that hurts you know," Nagira joked. He walked to the window behind his desk, smiling as he looked out. "Yep, he's my little stepbrother. You wouldn't think it, considering how standoffish he is."
Amon grunted at that comment. "I have reason to be."
"And why is that?" asked Hana.
"I believe the next thing he'll say is 'it's none of your concern' and leave it at that," laughed Nagira.
The ex-hunter just glared at the older man. He then looked out the corner of his eye at the seat next to him. Robin sat there quietly listening. She seemed very still, too still in Amon's opinion. Her hands were folded together, lying in her lap. Amon noticed that they were slightly shaking.
An hour passed before Nagira was finally able to get Hana out of the office. By this time, Robin and Amon had grown weary. Neither seemed intent on continuing their discussion of Juliano and their move. Nagira had told the two to remain in the apartment upstairs, the same one that Robin had stayed in weeks before.
It hadn't changed much, except for the small couch that lay in front of the windows. Robin wondered whom would be taking the only bed in the room, but Amon had already taken his place on the couch. Near the door of the room sat the food Nagira had managed to pick up on his way back from the Pachinko parlor. The chestnut-haired witch had declined eating and instead, proceeded to bed. Amon couldn't help but worry, something he rarely did. Something just wasn't right with Robin.
For the following week, everything pretty much remained the same. Nagira had both of them doing little tasks around the office to keep busy, while trying to keep Hana from hounding Robin for every little mistake she made. Even Amon was ready to bite the woman's head off for her constant lecturing. During breakfast Robin usually helped Hana file paperwork, while Amon and Nagira ate quietly watching the two women work. Lunch seemed to be the only time Robin joined the two to eat. Amon wasn't quite sure why she insisted on being so busy all day.
Soon the week had passed and Amon lain awake on the couch, staring up at the ceiling like usual. Nothing could have sent him to sleep that night. The dark haired man laid their thinking of all the events from the past week. So much had happened and yet so much still needed to be explained. Jaden, Haze, nor Nagira had given him all the information that he sought after. No one would tell him what this master plan for Orbo was.
Amon turned onto his side, facing the bed where Robin lay. Though it was far off the ground, he could still see the young woman's bed untouched. He sat up and looked around. Robin was gone.
"Robin," he called out. No answer came from the bed above him. He got up from the couch and walked towards the doorway. Slowly he slipped on his jacket and slid into his shoes. Amon knew something was terribly wrong. It wasn't like Robin to suddenly disappear during the night.
He stepped out into the cold night air, nearly falling back at the force of the wind. Nagira had told him earlier that they'd be expecting bad weather, but Amon hadn't imagined anything this bad. The sky was thick with rain and lightning ripped through the black clouds. Off in the distance he could hear the booming thunder, slowly approaching.
Amon glanced down at the door to his brother's office. The lights were off, but the door was cracked. He stepped down until he was standing right in front of the door, which he began to open but stopped. From where he stood, he could hear to voices quietly hissing to each other.
Nagira sat at his desk, glaring intently at Robin whom looked absolutely guilt-ridden. Amon could tell Nagira had been giving Robin a hard time about something, but what he didn't know. It wasn't like Nagira to get overly mad with her like that.
"You have to tell him," he said, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand.
"But Nagira," she said softly. "How do I know for sure? I mean, Haze could have been lying."
"I doubt it kiddo. Haze seemed positive about it. After all, that would explain why SOLOMON's so intent on hunting you now. Don't you agree?"
Robin slowly nodded and sighed. "I suppose so. Though, I don't see how this is connected with Orbo," she said innocently.
Nagira smiled, "don't tell me you can't piece it together Robin? I thought you were smart," he teased. "On a serious note, what are you going to do?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"I don't know," she answered, her voice horse and shaky. It was beginning to take all the energy in her not to breakdown in front of Nagira. "I just don't know."
He put one hand on her shoulder and smiled, trying his best to cheer up the pain stricken girl. Of course nothing he could say could possibly help the situation. "Everything will be fine, don't worry about it," he said. Nagira wasn't sure if that was the best thing to say to her. It only seemed to put her in an even more depressed mood. "At least you've got your health, that counts for something doesn't it?" he joked.
Not since Robin had arrived had Nagira managed to sneak a smile out of Robin, until that very moment. Her smile seemed to make all the gloom that once filled the room disperse. Even Amon felt his heart lift at the site of her smile. Of course, he still had no idea what had made her so depressed in the first place.
"Listen, I talked to Haze right after you two went up to the apartment. It seems Juliano has set up a little place out in the countryside. She said there are a few more homes around it, mostly owned by some old folk. You two will be staying there unless SOLOMON receives word that you're there. As of now, they think you two are headed for the United States. Haze had it set up to look like you two boarded for there earlier today. Of course SOLOMON will spend a good while in America looking for you two, so you should be safe here for now."
"How did she set it up?"
"She didn't tell me. All she said was that she set it up to look like you two went there. That's about it. SOLOMON assumes that you two would want to make it out of the country, since that seems like the most logical thing to do. Haze knows how they think, so she can stay one-step ahead of them." Nagira looked towards the door and froze. He spotted Amon standing right at the door.
He scrambled to his feet, panicking over how much of their conversation his little brother had just heard. "Amon!" he choked. Nagira mentally kicked himself for the way he was acting. The poor guy was acting like he had just done something terribly naughty and had been caught.
Robin just sat there staring at Amon. She was thinking just as Nagira. 'How much did he hear of our conversation?' "Is everything alright Amon?" she asked in her usual peaceful tone.
"No, everything is not alright," said Amon, pulling the door open and making his way into the room. "You two are hiding something from me and I want to know what that something is," he said coldly.
Nagira and Robin both looked at each other uneasily. Both knew something they didn't dare want to tell Amon. How could they tell him without getting shot at? Well, at least that was the question Nagira was asking himself. Robin was more worried about how Amon would feel if he knew the truth. None of this was fun to her, seeing as she never liked lying to people she truly trusted.
"Amon, you might want to sit down for this," said Nagira, motioning for his brother to sit on the couch.
The ex-hunter slightly shook his head and grunted. "Just get on with it." He knew what Nagira would do next. It what he usually did when he was in a situation like this, stall as long as possible.
"Well first off I think I should tell you what Haze said."
"I heard everything you said about Haze."
"Okay, so I guess you heard about the house?"
"Yes."
"And the setup in America."
"Yes."
"And about the—."
"JUST GET ON WITH IT!" spat the man. 'I knew he'd stall for as long as he could.'
Nagira cleared his throat and glanced over at Robin. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to be the one to tell him the truth. Robin wasn't sure if she wanted Nagira telling him either. "I'll tell him Nagira," she said quietly. The girl's voice nearly made the man jump through the ceiling. Nagira had never been so nervous before. Of course he should have been, since he was fixing to tell his little brother news he knew he wouldn't like.
Robin smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress, trying to buy herself a little time before she spoke. She wasn't sure how to tell him everything, without bursting into tears. Amon at times could be pretty scary and she was afraid he would end up that way after she told him the truth.
She cleared her throat and spoke slowly, focusing on each word that came out of her mouth. "When we were both at the factory, tests were performed for the purpose of making Orbo."
"Well I know that already," scoffed Amon.
"I know, but there's more to it. You see, you were only used for part of the testing. They didn't see much need for you. I on the other hand, was the main focus of their project."
"Because of your powers?"
"Yes, and they used you because of your own powers. The ones you had not yet known you held. They were using us to make the most powerful Orbo ever produced."
"And how were they planning to do that? If they were going to use us for Orbo, wouldn't we have ended up like those poor bastards at The Factory?"
"Well, it wasn't exactly us—," Robin paused as she heard a knock.
The group glanced over at the door, where Haze stood. As she opened the door, Amon noticed a figure standing behind her. He watched her walk into the room, followed by someone Amon automatically recognized. If it wasn't for the fact there was no scar on his face, he would have assumed the man following Haze had been Jaden.
"What is he doing here?" snapped Amon, taking the group by surprise.
"Easy tiger, he's with us. He's one of my contacts," Haze said, pointing at the man.
"We've got a problem," Jonathan breathed. He was nearly out of breath, after following Haze here. "It's Jaden."
"What about him? " Robin asked befuddled.
"He's not dead."
Finally I finished chapter 4! hides from angry mob Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've had a lot of things going on at home, mostly taking care of my mom. College started back and I'm taking Photography, Spanish, and Art History and Appreciation. I am staying pretty busy in all 3 courses and just recently had to drop Digital Video Editing, due to the work overload. So fanfic writing hasn't been a priority. When I have a little free time, I work on a fic. XD
Anywho, there's the chappie. I though Amon and Robin were just a bit OOC in this chapter, but it was intentional. Amon was trying to be as cheerful as Amonly possible. He doesn't like seeing Robin hurting, though he won't automatically admit it. The next chapter will start to expose some of the secrets that is being kept about the Orbo experiments. BTW, if you have trouble understanding anything, tell me. XP I will try to better explain whatever it is you're confused about.
Sorry for any grammatical errors. I spell check and go over this story many times, but still overlook errors. (I like to stick this in each chapter, in hopes that someone will not make fun of my grammar and spelling)
Preview of next chapter:
The truth revealed. . .awkward moments. . .all alone.