Tohru's Demons
Chapter Ten: Enter The Horse And The Rooster
Akito froze, his hands closing tightly on the arms of his chair, his breath catching in his throat as he stared down the barrel of the gun. He clenched his teeth and waited, thinking for a split second that he was going to die, that it was all over...
"NO!" The furious cry snapped him back to himself with a jolt as none other than Tohru Honda, who had inserted herself between Artemis and the Head Sohma, obstructed his view. The Zodiac members were on their feet, and white with fear. Shigure clenched the front of his robes, breathing hard and fast. His two best friends didn't look any better. Yuki and Kyo both looked panic-stricken and angry and shocked and were heaving for breath as if they had just run five miles. Momiji, Haru and Kagura were mouthing wordlessly. Ritsu had hidden his face in his hands. Kisa was the only one that had made a sound, letting out a strangled cry and gripping Hiro's hand tightly, clenching her eyes shut. If Akito died now, they knew their lives would also come to a close.
Tohru was panting, looking at Artemis with a mixture of fear and unadulterated fury. She was practically shaking with rage, her fists clenched at her sides and her body stiff.
"Don't you dare..." she hissed. Several pairs of eyes turned towards her in surprise, having never heard her sound or look so wrathful. She was almost frightening. Artemis apparently seemed to think so, because he looked like he would love nothing more than to turn tail and run away in the opposite direction as fast as was demonly possible. But somehow he stood his ground and met Tohru's infuriated gaze with grim determination.
"Ren, there's no other way," he said quietly.
"They're my friends. I cannot just stand here and let you slaughter them." Tohru replied, her voice tight.
"God dammit, Ren!" yelled the demon furiously. "I'm not going to let them fall into the hands of those winged monsters that have the gall to call themselves our saviors! And if I have to kill them to keep them out of those hands, then so be it!"
"So you're planning on murdering the entire Sohma Family, is that it?!" Tohru demanded. "Because that's what you'll have to do to eradicate the Curse. You'll have to kill every human being with the Sohma bloodline running through his or her veins. That's over a hundred and fifty people, Artemis!"
"I DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Artemis bellowed.
"YES YOU DO!" Tohru screamed in reply. "There's another way...!"
"And it's impossible! There's no way in Hell we could pull it off without risking, and probably losing, our own lives in the process! I won't allow that to happen, do you hear me!?" Tohru seized the muzzle of the gun and pointed it straight at her chest.
"I hear you, loud and clear." She snarled softly in reply. Artemis let out a startled and horrified gasp and froze where he was, shivers running up and down his spine. Kyo and Yuki voiced terrified cries and rushed to her aid, but they didn't dare attack Artemis, which was what they sorely wanted to do, for fear that the gun would go off into Tohru's heart. Tohru reached up with her free hand and gripped the end of the gun, placing her thumb beneath the cock to prevent it from firing.
"Akito-san," she said quietly, never taking her eyes away from Artemis.
"What do you want?" Akito's voice had lost its silky composure and shook audibly. His hands were trembling and he clenched them at his sides. "Well?" he snapped when Tohru didn't answer quickly enough.
"I need the two other Zodiac members, Kureno-san and Isuzu-san, brought here. Immediately, please."
"And why should I do that?" the Head Sohma snapped.
"Because they are in grave danger. We have to get you all out of this world at once."
"I'll get them," said Hatori, standing slowly. "On one condition: you move that gun."
"Huh? Oh, right." said Tohru, and pulled the musket out of Artemis's grasp. Hatori nodded and made his way towards the threshold, slipped into his shoes and departed quickly, fighting hard to keep his breathing steady and normal. Tohru stared after him, biting her lip, and then looked over at Rahallion, who had hid himself out of the way on the refrigerator.
"Raha, would you please go with Hatori-san?" she asked. Raha bobbed his head, walked down the side of the fridge, and flew out the window.
"Why did you have him follow Ha'ri?" Shigure demanded at once, alarmed.
"Surely nothing will happen to him, right?" asked Ayame anxiously.
"No, no, he'll be fine. It's just a precaution, I don't want anything to go wrong." Tohru assured them.
"What could go wrong?!" they both demanded in unison.
"The Angels haven't come here yet, but if something else were to happen to Hatori-san, say if he were to transform, Raha can look after him until he can change back. I don't want him to be carried off by a cat or something." This explanation seemed to make sense to the Dog and Snake and they settled down to wait for their friend to return.
"You mentioned earlier that we had to leave this world," said Kyo. "Where are we going?"
"We're going to Hell," said Tohru, and got the reaction she had been expecting: every one stopped dead and looked aghast at her. "Don't worry about it. It's really not very bad. And it's the only place where you'll be safe from the Angels. That's the only universe that they can't enter. The demons would tear them to pieces."
"Wouldn't they tear us to pieces, too...?" Kyo pointed out.
"Not with me around they won't." Tohru assured him.
"I was wondering... can these Angels open windows into other universes like you?" Yuki queried.
"Uh-huh. Among other things." Tohru replied with a nod.
"What I want to know is, what are you planning to do with us, besides shoot everyone?" asked Shigure bluntly with a jaunty smile.
"Keep you out of Angelic hands mostly," answered Tohru. "Beyond that, we're not really sure." Didn't she just say a while ago that there was another way...? Shigure thought to himself, but decided not to comment. If Tohru wasn't going to tell them then she probably had a good reason for it.
"These demons... They're not like Artemis, are they?" said Haru. Tohru shot a side-glance at Artemis and a smirk tugged at the edge of her mouth.
"Actually, he and two others are the only smart demons there," she said, putting special emphasis on the word 'smart'. "Most of the others of kind of... slow on the uptake." The Sohmas goggled at her and also started smirking.
"You mean he's the best demons can offer in the brain department?" Kyo snorted, snickering. Artemis turned and glared at the Cat over his shoulder, his ears flattened against his head.
"That's right," said Tohru, leaning back on her hands and watching Artemis with a mischievous glint in her eye. "I'd love to see what all the lower demons are like when they're smashed... I'm betting their brains would implode or something since alcohol seems to suck up all capabilities to think..."
"SHUT UP." said Artemis loudly and Tohru did with a satisfied grin.
About an hour later Rahallion came trotting back into the room, followed by Hatori, Kureno, and Isuzu, nick-named, for all intensive purposes, Rin.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Tohru-san," said Kureno politely with a little bow. "And you, Akito-san," he added, seeing Akito standing in the doorway, watching them all coldly. Tohru smiled warmly at the Rooster.
"You, too, Kureno-san. And you, Isuzu-san."
"Yeah, yeah, stop with all this formal crap. I've heard you've been very busy, eh?" said Isuzu, eyeing Tohru critically.
"How much have you heard already?" Tohru asked them both.
"What do you think I heard?" Was Isuzu's sarcastic reply. "Everyone's been talking about your little escapades."
"We heard that you changed that thing..." said Kureno quietly, motioning towards Raha, who was currently walking up the wall towards the ceiling. "...into a boy with a snap of your fingers, that he rekindled your lost memory, that you then turned him into a horse, and then opened a portal into another universe through which you disappeared for three days. And now Hatori-san says that you mean to take us away into another universe because we're in danger in this one."
"Yeah, that about pretty much sums it up," Tohru said, grinning. Isuzu blinked and appraised her, hard eyes looking her up and down critically.
"You've certainly changed while you were away," she said finally.
"I'll take that as a compliment." said Tohru and Isuzu let out a small snort of laughter. "I'll explain the rest of it later, but now..." Tohru extended her hand in a swift, fluid motion, accompanied by a sound like satin being rubbed against satin, and a door to a moonlit beach opened in Shigure's kitchen.
"Ren." Artemis said suddenly, his voice strained. Tohru looked up, suddenly tense.
"What is it?" she whispered.
"We have company. Can you hear it?" Artemis said, his ears swiveling slowly. Tohru listened tensely for a moment. A strange wailing filled the air.
"Oh, shit..." Tohru said.
"'Oh, shit' is right." Artemis agreed.
To be continued...
Disclaimer: Look to the previous chapter
Thank you all so much for reviewing, and special thanks to Cor-Chan for the information on Rin and Kureno! It was most helpful! You'll definitely be seeing more of them later. I hope they don't turn out to be too out of character... Anyway, tell me what you think of Chapter 10! I really hoped you liked it! Hmmm... let's see, what else...? Ah. Yes. I'll be going fishing very soon once I get my license. I'll have to wake up reeeeeeaaaalllllyyy early, though, so I'm going to be very tired for the next few days, so this'll probably be the last chapter for a while. I'll just tell you that the things that are about to attack are really, really horrible. They'll probably give you nightmares...
Heh, heh. Aren't I mean?
By the way, you'll be meeting some more of my original characters very soon I imagine. Well, not original, but I've given them new personalities. Lucifer, for one, and his not-so-well-known brother, Noctifer a.k.a Malacoda. I'm in love with Malacoda, you know. I like his name a lot, but it isn't mine. I first heard that name in Dante's Inferno. Malacoda was a demon in one of the circles of Dante's Hell. I believe he was one of the demons that hung around the boiling river of blood and guarded the souls that were doomed to stand for all eternity in that blood. It was also his job to rake them with grappling hooks if those souls thought it was a good idea to try and sneak out of the boiling river. Gruesome, isn't it? If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's so wonderfully deranged. And just FYI, Malacoda translates to 'Bad Ass' in the Inferno.
Until I get some sleep again!
-Raha-
