More quirkiness on the way. I apologize for all the video game references for those who might not recognize them. Just so you know, it's not all that important that you get the references. They're just fun and random.

To Amon's Angel of the Darkness: I wrote this before I ever read your story which features a certain character named Squall. I never got around to writing a review of your story to tell you about my similarity in thought process, but you might get a laugh out of this chapter. Squally-boy kicks ass.

Chapter 4

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Yawning sleepily, Sakaki sat down in the briefing room with a sigh, propping his chin up on his palm as he leaned over the table. It was too early in the morning for a meeting. He would probably drift off to sleep before Michael even started speaking, and he didn't relish the glare such an act would earn him from Amon. Karasuma sat down next to him, and he felt his partner glance at him with an annoyed expression.

"Late night again, Sakaki?" she inquired softly.

Nodding wordlessly, he rubbed the raw fingers of the hand resting on his lap against each other. He was haunted by the image of Medusa's head flying across the screen, eyes burning the ground around his character as he punched the "x" button frantically, trying to jump out of the way before being petrified. He clenched his fist. Maybe he should have tried to defeat the vampire in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls first. He frowned as Amon entered the room, as aloof and grim as usual. As Sakaki looked at the hunter, he imagined Joachim Armster, laughing wickedly as he floated around the room with knives spinning around him as protection. Yes, he definitely should have defeated the vampire first. Amon noticed his gaze and glanced at him askance, completely oblivious to Sakaki's mental comparison between him and a vampire in a video game.

Smiling to himself as Amon directed Michael to start the meeting, Sakaki watched the images of various graveyards around the city without interest, imagining Amon's growl of frustration as he broke the protection spheres and attacked him with his whip repeatedly. Then it occurred to Sakaki that the mental image seemed a little wrong somehow. Perhaps it wasn't wise to attempt to relate people he knew to characters in Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. Thinking about Leon Belmont, he remembered the dark haired, loner character from Kingdom Hearts. Blushing with embarrassment though he knew no one could hear his thoughts, he assured himself there was nothing disgraceful about playing Kingdom Hearts. It didn't make him any less of a man.

Anyway . . . thinking of that character, also named Leon though he was really a character from Final Fantasy VIII named Squall, Sakaki thought he'd found a more suitable image for Amon. Leon had been pretty frickin' cold to Sora and had actually knocked him out with his sword when he first met him. Remembering all the heartless comments Amon had made toward him in the past, Sakaki recalled the fight from the Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts, replacing Leon/Squall with Amon. He'd kicked Squall's ass during the fight despite the character's totally unfair use of a ten-foot long sword. Grinning, he thought, Is he compensating for something, perhaps?

"Sakaki!" Amon's voice startled him out of his reverie.

Glancing around the room, Sakaki realized from the look on his companions' faces that Amon had probably said his name more than once. "Huh?"

"Were you listening to the briefing at all?" Amon inquired, disapproval darkening his features.

"Of course.

Diverting Amon's anger, and giving Sakaki some of the information he had missed though the effort obviously irritated her, Karasuma asked him, "Do you have any ideas about why witches would be working together like the ones who attacked Robin and Amon in the cemetery?"

Cemetery. Images of zombies crawling out of the ground moaning incoherently popped into Sakaki's mind. Maybe if he used the lighter he found under the abandoned car in the courtyard a few screens back he could set that pile of flammable objects on fire and escape through the door he hadn't opened yet. Creeeaaak. The door opened and--

Shaking his head, Sakaki replied, "Uh . . . no. Not really." He desperately needed to put a stop to these late night video game obsessions. Next he would be imagining Doujima dressed up as princess Zelda teaching him how to play songs on an ocarina. Or he would walk out into the other room to see Chief Kosaka and Hattori dressed up in red and green respectively and running around the office jumping on things and collecting coins. He imagined Kosaka crying, "It's a-me! Mario!"

" . . . will need to keep our eyes open for any other signs of witches organizing," Amon was saying when Sakaki came back from his daydream with a start as Karasuma nudged him with her elbow. "In the meantime, Michael, keep searching for information about local cemeteries. It may be nothing, but it's the strongest lead we have.

As the meeting dispersed, Sakaki turned to meet Karasuma's puzzled gaze. "Who's Lara Croft?" she asked in suspicion, and he realized she must have inadvertently scryed him when she touched his arm.

Blushing furiously, he rose to his feet quickly. "No one . . ." He headed for the door in a rush, almost running into Amon.

"Sakaki," Amon stopped him tersely, looking down at him through the strands of hair shadowing his face. "I want to investigate that cemetery from last night. You're coming with me.

Leaving him no chance for discussion, Amon turned and headed for the door. Sighing in frustration at his luck, Sakaki scratched the back of his neck, watching the dark hunter walk away. He noticed he wasn't the only one watching as Robin paused at the doorway next to him. Glancing at her, he saw the hurt expression in her eyes and realized Amon was leaving her behind again.

"You're not missing out on anything," Sakaki found himself muttering to her, drawing her surprised gaze. He found himself suddenly reminded of Yuna from Final Fantasy X, she was so timid and quiet. "Besides, Seifer kicked his ass on several occasions, and if he'd ever run into Auron, he would have been dead meat." His words clearly did not compute in her mind and he realized with a start what he had said. "Um . . . never mind." Blushing again, he shoved his hands in his pockets and followed after Amon.

He heard Karasuma make a soft comment to Robin behind him, "I swear, I'm about ready to find his apartment and confiscate all his video games if this is what they do to him.

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"So what are we looking for, anyway?" Sakaki asked, scratching his head and turning around in a lazy circle. He barely caught himself a moment before tripping over a headstone, but almost fell over anyway because of his precarious balance.

"Anything out of the ordinary," Amon replied curtly. Repressing his annoyance with his young companion not entirely successfully, he searched the area where the witches had been gathered the night before. He spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and noticed the overgrown remains of a path leading into the trees. Without even motioning Sakaki to follow, he pushed a few branches aside and began tracing the path left behind by the scattered bone-white stones half buried in the earth. Soon he found himself standing in a small circular clearing surrounded by thick foliage. This area had clearly been occupied recently since most of the overgrowth had been cleared. Beyond that though, he had very little doubt that this was what he was searching for when he noticed the circle seared into the ground at the center of the area. An Ogham wheel.

He heard Sakaki scrambling through the brush behind him as he knelt down next to the circle to examine it more closely. Suddenly he found himself regretting the absence of his partner, and wished he had not dismissed her so coldly this morning. She knew far more about these kinds of things than he did, and she would have likely been able to interpret what he saw more easily. Frowning at the circle, he cursed his own fear for leading him to push her away again. Fear of what she was. Fear of letting himself get too close. Fear of losing control. Fear of Zaizen and his orders. Zaizen had no idea what a difficult assignment he had set for him.

"That looks out of the ordinary," Sakaki commented dryly when he had finally disentangled himself from the brush.

"Take pictures of it from several different angles," Amon ordered, putting a halt to his thoughts about Robin. "But don't walk on it of even touch it." He heard Sakaki sigh before pulling out the camera they had brought with them and beginning to take snapshots.

Continuing to explore the area, Amon paused at another burnt spot on the ground. Waving Sakaki over, he pointed at the small charred artifact at the center of the spot. "Take a picture of this too." He swept his gaze over the area again quickly. "There seem to be several spots like this at intervals around the entire circle. Document them all." Sakaki scowled at him as he moved off to do as he was told, but Amon ignored his anger, picking up the artifact with a pair of tweezers and dropping it into a plastic bag.

When he felt confidant they had scoured the area thoroughly, Amon led Sakaki back towards the car, failing to notice the way the circle illuminated briefly at their passing. He also failed to notice the pair of blue eyes watching beneath scattered strands of silver hair, watching them as they left with a curious expression.

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Another short chapter, I know. But I hope you enjoyed it! Had to throw in a little plot at the end. I don't know much about witch craft, so I was kinda wingin' it.