Eternal City Crystal Tokyo
Chapter Sixty One
Jun Fudoh let the Devilman form carry her through the air, her large wings catching the breeze and lifting her up into the sky. Flying was one of the few things she truly enjoyed in her alternate form, but there was no time to savor the breeze. She was on a mission, but not one for Lady Minako and her secret operatives, no in this case it was for her friend Nadesico.
"I'm really sorry about this," Nadesico had said apologetically as the reddish brown haired woman sat in Jun's apartment a few hours earlier. She had called this morning, rather hesitantly explaining she needed to ask a favor Intrigued, Jun invited her over.
"It's fine," Jun smiled as she poured them each some tea. The traller woman sat across from Nadesico as asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"
"As you know, our company deals with advertizing, mostly, as well as licensing images and so on," Nadesico explained. "In addition to that we orovide business services of various types to certain individuals, and a woman we contract with has gone missing for over a week."
"Have you tried the police?" Jun asked curiously.
Nadsico smiled faintly as she mused, "I forget sometimes you haven't been raised in our culture." As Jun raised a eyebrow she explained, "If someone chooses to turn off their phone and just go away, they're welcome to in our society. If there is actual evidence of foul play, yes they'll look into it, but other than that no."
Jun frowned thoughtfully as she said, "That seems pretty dangerous, I'd think. A serial killer could do a lot of damage here."
Nadesico shook her head, "We have very good psychological screening of children and visitors to the city. We catch them, trust me."
"Yet you have those Earth-first wackos," Jun pointed out.
"Well, yes," Nadesico conceded. She shook her head, "Anyway, I can't get the police to investigate, and I from the last report she sent I think she's in trouble."
"What does she do?" Jun had to ask.
"She's a secure courier," Nadesico said as she drank her tea, "she guarentees to deliver on time, no matter the cargo."
"Fair enough," Jun nodded. She looked thoughtful and asked, "I take it the missing person is a superhuman, like myself?"
"She's..." Nadesico looked like she was struggling for words, "well, look at the file. It should explain things a bit."
"Damn," Jun blinked, looking at the photo.
"Normally I'd trust her to handle whatever came up, but... her not contacting us in a week is unusual," Nadesico sighed. She looked at Jun beseechingly, "Can you help?"
Jun nodded almost instinctively as she said, "I'll do what I can."
Which was how she found herself leaving Tokyo itself for the first time in months. It was strangely liberating leaving the city, though honestly all of Japan was vaguely similar in being a pastoral wonderland. In the years since Serenity had taken power one of her primary goals had been restoring a balance between man and nature, and she had largely managed it.
It took about an hour to reach the meeting point, riding thermals and using minimal physical effrt. Wing beats burned fuel, and there was no reason to push herself just yet. Seeing the waiting car Jun let herself descend, dropping to the earth not far from the limo, her body shifting to her human form, now sadly naked.
"Took your time, did we?" Alucard drawled as the tall, black haired vampire looked at her with a faint smile. Dressed all in red, he was a fearsome sight, especially when he smiled and his fangs became visible.
"Alucard, I wasn't expecting you when I asked Lady Venus for a car and driver." Jun admitted, frowning at the man with annoyance.
"I volunteered," Alucard laughed, opening the door for her dramatically. "A change of clothes is inside, as well. Aren't I considerate?"
Jun growled, pulling on the simple tunic and pants then climbing in, pulling the boots on as she sat on the front seat passenger's side. "I didn't even think you liked me," she noted.
"Oh, I don't," Alucard said, "but considering your feelings about Lady Venus, I was very curious about why you needed her help."
Jun scowled. "It's too damn far to fly," she admitted with a sigh. "I need to go to Kyoto. Or New Kyoto, I'm not sure which."
"Very well," Alucard started up the car and they were off with a screech of tires.
Jun sat back with a sigh, wondering how this little addition would complicate things. A lot, she decided. Looking over at the smiling vampire she pointed, "You stick out like a sore thumb. Can't you be a little less noticable?"
Alucard looked over at her with a amused expression. "I lost most of my shape shifting abilities years ago," he mused. He brightened suddenly, "Oh, there's always this classic."
Jun flinched as Alucard changed, his body flowing unnaturally into another shape. Where moments ago a tall, black haired vampire stood there was a teen-aged girl, with long white hair. She was dressed, oddly enoughj, in what looked like Russian style winter gear, but she soon transformed that into a odd, white version of the usual trenchcoat and suit.
"That is incredibly disturbing," Jun said, looking at girl-Alucard in disbelief.
She grinned as Alucard answered, "I know, that's why I like it."
Jun sighed and decided to focus on the trip instead.
Japan had change a lot, after she returned from her time in seclusion. The damage of years of war was mostly erased, now, and the survivors had adopted a very different lifestyle to their ancestors. Instead of spreading out across the country the population lived in a few, super sized cities, while the majority of the land was left pastoral. There were even wild animals now thriving in the wilderness sections, though nothing like the beasts in history. It DID, however, make travel rather exciting.
"Incoming!" Jun yelled as the herd of deer burst from cover, looking startled to see a car trundling down the highway.
She almost expected Alucard to swerve into the deer. He certainly had that blood thirsty reputation, but surprisingly she swerved the car, getting the out of the way as the deer bolted for cover. With grim determination she got the car back on the road, and except for a few bumps they were fine.
Jun eased her whit knuckled grip on the dash as she noted, "Nicely done."
"They're beautiful animals," Alucard shrugged slightly, "killing them would be a waste."
It took about half a day to make it to the coastal city of New Kyoto. Partially because Alucard drove like a maniac, partially because the windy roads delayed them. It had to be said that travel between cities was more for fun than business, so direct routes were more rare. Still, after about 300 kilometers, they were there.
"I'm surprised you didn't take a suborbital flight," Alucard noted as they skirted Biwa Lake and headed towards the city.
"I'm not comfortable in them," Jun admitted. She have Alucard a look, "And yes, I KNOW it's strange, considering I can fly."
Alucard smiled impishly, "I wasn't going to say anything."
Jun fought back a growl of annoyance as she checked the map Nadesico had provided for her. Much of the residential development in and around this region of Japan was destroyed in the war years, as were many historical sites. The government of Queen Serenity had set out to preserve the majority of intact structures, but had largely let the region go wild except for the new Kyoto, which had been built near old Kyoto and Kita Ward.
Kyoto was beautiful and hilly, with twisting turns and tree lined roads that seemed unchanged from a thousand years ago. The famous castles still stood, in parts, and the people seemed more... at peace with the world around them. It was a gorgeous place, and Jun found herself wishing she had more time to see it.
"So were to now?" Alucard asked as they went through the oddly... rural looking region. The advanced technology of their era was here, of course, but it was concealed under a layer of carefully preserved wood and stone.
"There's a temple up in the mountains nearby," Jun noted calmly, "she was supposed to be visiting someone up there when Nadesico lost contact with her."
"Then let's go," Alucard said as they left the town and rose up the roads into the nearby mountains.
The roads were a lot rougher as the climbed, the car bouncing a bit. Eventually they hit a point were the roads just got too awful, and Alucard pulled over. According to the map they didn't have much farther so they continued on on foot.
The wooded area got darker and more shadowed as they advanced, less sunlight breaking through. There was a odd atmosphere too, almost a feeling of electricity shimmering across Jun's skin. As they turned a corner and saw the shrine gate she had to ask, "Do you feel that too?"
Alucard snorted in amusement as the young woman nodded. "I was wondering when you would," she noted. "There's something wrong here. Very wrong."
Jun hesitated, then swftly began to strip, getting out of her clothes as efficiently as possible. Only then did she led the Devilman transformation take her, her body swelling with muscle even as huge, batlike wings sprouted from her back.
Taking a few moments to recover from the pain Jun growled, "Let's go."
As they entered the main courtyard of the shrine both caught the scent of blood. Alucard looked around with a fierce frown, while Jun advanced onward. The priest was dressed in traditional shinto robes, sprawled on the stones with a knife in his back. Alucard kneld down, frowning, "This is recent, less than a hour."
"What is going on?" Jun muttered as they headed towards the main temple. There were more bodies on the ground and they heard shouts off in the distance.
"Come on," Alucard grinned as they raced through the temple, coming out the back to a incredible sight.
The black clad figure was surrounded by priests and mikos carrying swords, knives and other weapons, all attacking wildly. She used a massive black scythe to drive them backward, the black jumpsuit clad woman moving with power and feline grace.
Also, she had no head!
"Celty Sturluson," Jun breathed out, only at that moment believing the images that Nadesico had shown her weren't faked. A Dullahan, a real, live headless horseman, running around Japan.
She shook off her surprise and charged in, Jun grabbing at one attacker and flinging him aside casually. Alucard swiftly joined her, and soon the three of them had subdued the attackers. Knocking them out despite their relentless attacking.
Celty picked up a small phone, typing a few keys as it said, "Are you the Devilman?"
"Jun," she corrected firmly, "Nadesico sent me to find you."
Celty's fingers flew across the keys, "You have to help me! They've taken Anri! They have SAIKA!"
To be continued...
Notes: Been working on this chapter awhile. Celty and Anri are from Durarara. Alucard's other form is from Hellsing the Dawn, more or less. My version of Kyoto is mildly inspired by visiting the region via Google Maps.
