Tohru's Demons
Chapter Twelve: The Demon's Real Intent
Tohru nodded and stood up. Her eyes fell on the empty cage for a moment, and then she turned slowly to Artemis.
"Artemis? Why didn't you shoot her...?" she asked in a small voice. The demon froze, looking surprised. He hadn't expected that question and was caught off guard.
"I mean, if you were so worried about me being touched, then..." Tohru trailed off, suspicion creeping into her eyes. "Artemis. May I see your gun, please?" Artemis instinctively grabbed the butt of his musket, now looking distinctively uncomfortable.
"Wh-why?" he demanded. "Wh-what do you want to see it for?"
"Just because," said Tohru, stepping closer. Artemis flashed it at her from behind his back, stumbling away several paces.
"There. You saw it. Can we go now?" he snapped.
"Hand it over, Wolfy." Tohru ordered, holding out her hand.
"Don't call me Wolfy! You know I hate it! And I'm not giving you my gun so you can just kiss my—" Tohru jumped forward and seized the musket.
"NO!" Artemis yelled, making a wild grab for the gun. Tohru turned her back on him and popped out three bullets, catching them in the air. There was silence for a minute as Tohru examined the bullets in her hands.
"Oh, I see now. You know Artemis..." She turned her head to give the demon a half-lidded stare, and in one fluid motion, reloaded the musket, aimed it at Artemis's retreating back, and fired right between his shoulder blades. Artemis fell flat on his face with a yowl, while the Sohmas stared, once again, in flabbergasted shock. "It's kind of hard to kill anything, when you're using rubber bullets." Tohru finished loudly, squeezing a bullet between her thumb and forefinger.
"Don't do that!" cried Artemis angrily. "Those things can be dangerous fired so close!" Tohru advanced on the demon.
"You never intended to kill the Sohmas at all, did you? You were just trying to scare them into coming with us without arguing, weren't you? And no one would be able to ever call your bluff, because you knew I would think you were the type of person that would do that, and you also knew that I was the type of person that would never allow you to do such a thing as killing the entire Sohma Family!" Tohru's voice rose, her eyes gleaming.
"I'll bet you were planning on switching the fake bullets with real ones when nobody was looking, but you're little plan backfired on you, didn't it? You weren't expecting a Familiar Cage to attack, and when it did, you still had the wrong bullets! That's why you didn't shoot the poltergeist! That's why you got scared! And that's why you then became furious and yelled at me! You were never angry with me... you were angry at yourself... because you couldn't protect me..." Tohru had stopped, and she was looking at Artemis strangely. Her voice had dropped as the realization of what she had just said hit her.
Artemis was looking away from her, his eyes hidden behind his bangs, his cheeks flushing, and his fists clenched. Suddenly, his lip curled as he bared his fangs. He whirled on Tohru, his eyes bright with fury.
"Don't you dare confuse me with some sniveling, spineless, pathetic excuse for a snot-rag human being with a bleeding-heart, like some of your friends here." he snarled scathingly. Kyo, Yuki, Haru, Hiro, Kagura, and Isuzu turned on the demon with furious cries. Hatori gave the demon a half- lidded glare, his face perfectly calm, while Shigure pretended to look upset, and Ayame looked affronted. Akito glared coldly in the demon's direction. Kureno's mask of calm never slipped. The only ones that actually looked genuinely hurt were Ritsu and Kisa.
"That was uncalled for, Artemis," Tohru said quietly before any of them could say something. "Don't drag them into this, it doesn't concern them..."
"Oh, but it does. Don't think I wouldn't have shot them. I just didn't realize the bullets were fake..."
"But then, why didn't you want to give me the gun...?"
"Because I didn't want you touching it, dammit!" Artemis burst out, blushing profusely. Tohru stared at him in surprise and perplexity, and then smiled softly.
"Okay, Artemis, I believe you," she said and gave him back the musket. Artemis and the Sohmas stared at her in shock.
"Huh?" said Artemis intelligently, completely taken aback.
"Come on, we'd better get moving. We'll drop by Shiolin and get some horses, first, and then set out in the morning for the castle. Oh, and you'd better put real bullets in you're gun from now on." And without another word she opened a door, this time into a grassy field, and walked through, glancing back over her shoulder.
"Are you coming?" she called. Artemis blinked, not really sure what had happened, and followed after her. Yuki and Kyo glanced at one another, glanced at the cage, and walked through the door without a word, the others a few steps behind them. Isuzu caught up with Tohru.
"We're riding to the castle?" she asked.
"Yeah, we have to. The castle is at least three days from here, if you walk. On horseback, it should be about a day and a half, if we ride fast, that is. It might be longer. Plus, we'll have to deal with the terrain..." Tohru trailed off, looking around thoughtfully. "Hey, Artemis? Which way is the town?" she called. Artemis put his nose to the wind, turning his head slowly. Suddenly he bounded away, powerful legs sending him flying through the air at least fifteen or twenty feet at a time.
Seconds later he came to a rest at the top of a hill, and stood there, looking around, his ears swiveling in every direction. Then he came leaping back and skidded to a halt in front of Tohru.
"There's a road just beyond that hill. If we follow it north, it'll take us to Shiolin in a few hours, if we walk that is," Artemis said. He looked around, noticing the Sohmas open-mouthed stares in his direction. "What?" he demanded in irritation.
"Wow... You're really fast..." breathed Kisa without thinking. Then she shut her mouth with a snap, staring at Artemis with wide eyes. She remembered that this was the person that had threatened to kill them all, that had said he would have no qualms about it, and now she had just complimented him. The demon blinked down at her in mild surprise, and one of his ears twitched. For some reason, Kisa didn't find him very frightening anymore. And she wanted to touch his ears...
"Well, I am a demon..." snarled Artemis, trying his utmost best to cover the fact that he was pleased by sounding annoyed and condescending. He almost succeeded. Kisa shrunk away and Hiro took her hand, giving Artemis a death-glare. The other Sohmas, except Akito, stiffened, not liking the way the demon had spoken to one their youngest members. Shigure was the only one that had seen through the mask, and was looking thoughtfully at Artemis, a small smile tugging the corners of his mouth. He'd had a lot of practice, being around Kyo and Yuki so much, and from creating his own mask of deceit. Haru, on the other hand, looked furious and began advancing on the demon, his fists raised.
"I wouldn't recommend that." Artemis informed him with a haughty look. "Being a demon gives me some advantage over you in hand-to-hand combat. I could snap your spine if I so wished."
"Oh, yeah?" demanded Haru loudly. "I'd like to see you try, you bastard!" Artemis stepped back slightly, blinking in surprised perplexity.
"Oh great, he's turned into Black Haru..." the demon heard someone mutter. Black Haru? Obviously, this was no longer the mild-mannered, quiet boy that, up until this point, he had dismissed as one of the shy types that wouldn't be likely to cause him any problems. He had anticipated trouble from the orange-haired boy, whom Tohru had addressed as Kyo, not the black-and-white-haired youth, Haru he presumed, standing before him, currently looking like he was about to attack.
Which he did. Artemis watched as the boy sprung up to bring his fist down with surprising force, for a human. Artemis caught it, noting with some admiration the strength the boy possessed, twisted deftly, and Haru ended up flat on his back.
"I told you," Artemis smirked, looking fairly smug. Haru jumped to his feet.
"You call that an attack?" he laughed. "It didn't even hurt!" And again, the Ox rushed the demon, this time coming at him with a vicious scissor kick to his spine. Artemis seized Haru's foot, ducked, and threw Haru into the ground face first. Haru leapt up again, snarling in fury.
"You better start fighting for real, or I'm really gonna hurt you!" he shouted.
"Isn't that what you've been trying to do?"
"Shut up you son of a bit—" Haru was cut off, for at that moment, Tohru stepped up and hugged him from behind. Haru's eyes widened as he felt her arms wrap around his waist for the split second before the Curse took hold and, with an explosion and a puff of smoke, Haru the cow was left standing there in utter confusion and shock. The other Sohmas were staring at Tohru in horror. She had never hugged one of them voluntarily, with the exception of Hiro once, and never in the presence of a stranger. Tohru drew back from Haru.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking at him ruefully. "But we can't afford any delays, we must get to Shiolin soon. And you would have gotten hurt much worse if you had continued with your fight."
"Tohru..." gasped Yuki, shaking now. "Y-you just... what... what about... Artemis...?"
"Huh?' said Tohru, glancing at Artemis, who didn't look in the least fazed at seeing Haru turn into a cow. "What about him...?"
"What do you mean, 'what about him'?!" cried Kyo, his voice unusually high. "He saw, didn't he? You just...! You just...!"
"Kyo, Artemis already knows that you all turn into animals." Tohru said softly. "I'm sorry, I forgot I hadn't told you that."
"You told him...?" whispered the Cat, looking confused and hurt and betrayed. "You said you'd never..." Tohru took a step back, looking over their faces, watching as the realization of what she had done sunk in. All of them were staring at her with the same looks of shock and hurt. She had expected this. She had known it would happen, and had steeled herself against it. But it still hurt. The betrayal in Yuki and Kyo's face. The pain in Hatori's. The shock in Shigure's and Ayame's. The disbelief in Momiji's and Kisa's and Kagura's. The fury in Hiro's. The fear in Ritsu's. The horror in Isuzu's and Kureno's. And the triumph in Akito's. It hurt so much, and for a second Tohru felt miserable and ashamed.
"She didn't tell me." Artemis said, folding his arms. The Sohmas looked up at him.
"Oh...?" said Akito coldly. "If she didn't, who did?"
"Rahallion. We needed to know everything we could about you, and when Tohru refused to tell, we turned to Raha. He, fortunately, was not so stupid." Relief swept over the Sohmas like a wave. Tohru had not betrayed them.
"Who are you calling stupid?" Kyo shouted, regaining his old self. Tohru let out a slow sigh. The look he and Yuki had been giving her had been the worst. She never wanted them to look like that again. Like their souls had broken.
"Why did you need information on us?" asked Akito. Artemis rolled his eyes at him.
"Think, fool! The Angels already know about you, including your Curse. We have to know everything they do, or else that gives them the advantage. With me so far?" Akito glared at him, looking livid.
"Who else knows?" he hissed, his voice dripping with venom.
"Hmm, let's see... Aside from Tohru, Raha and myself... Lucifer, Noctifer, Val, Millie, and Grumman. I'm betting Farinata knows, and Metatron, and of course Madame de Morangias."
"Madame de Morangias?" Kyo snorted.
"She's French," answered Artemis flatly. "She's also the First Angel, and the equivalent of God in your universe. At least in title."
"She's... God?" breathed Momiji after a hushed silence.
"God's a woman...?" snickered Kyo, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"What's so funny? Why shouldn't God be a woman?" Kagura demanded while looming over him threateningly.
"I never said God shouldn't be a woman!" Kyo cried, backing up and looking alarmed.
"Morangias is an imposter," said Artemis, cutting short the impending fight. "She isn't really God. She's the First Angel ever to be created, and has convinced people that she is the 'Divine Creator', so she's given immense power and respect by all the people in Hirofuriae. That's where her stronghold is. Metatron is Morangias's most loyal minion and servant. And Farinata—" Artemis broke off then because Haru had just transformed back, making Tohru squeak and whirl around, her hands over her eyes. Artemis raised an eyebrow.
"You still do that?" He asked her curiously. "I would think you've seen them naked so many times that you'd be used to it by now." Yuki and Kyo both gave him disgusted looks.
"Well, I'm not..." Tohru replied, her hands still over her eyes.
"Who is this Farinata?" said Hatori after Haru had dressed again.
"He was the man that figured out how to separate people from their unconscious minds... If anyone should be named God, it's him, if you ask me. He's the one that created Angels and demons in the first place, and started this whole mess."
"And who are the other people you mentioned?" Shigure wanted to know.
"Lucifer you already know. He is the King of Hell and Master of all Demons. Noctifer is his brother, and partner in ruling Hell. Val is an old friend of ours, and is in charge of the reconnaissance efforts. General Grumman Savage is the Combat and Weapons Master, and is currently in charge of training our troops. Millie translates all the old scrolls and books and such that we've been able to steal from the Angels."
"And what is you're purpose...?" asked Akito, a sharp edge to his voice.
"I protect Re... Tohru... in our fights against the Angels." Artemis answered, wondering where Akito was going with this.
"I see... It's not a job that requires brains, that's for certain, so I suppose that makes sense."
"Look you—!" the demon started furiously, but Tohru inserted herself between Artemis and Akito.
"Artemis, I think we should start to get going, if we want to reach Shiolin by nightfall," Tohru told the demon, while Akito looked smug behind her back. Artemis shot him a death-glare.
"I don't think all of us should be on the road," he said tightly. "It's too dangerous. Here it's sheltered. The road would be too open for attack."
"What do you think we should do?" asked Tohru. "We have to get to Shiolin and get supplies and horses."
"I think the Sohmas should stay here, while we go to Shiolin, get the horses, and come back." There was an instant outburst at this proposal.
"But that'll take even longer! We'll be back way after dark!" Tohru protested.
"I'm not going to be stuck here for hours with that damn Rat!" Kyo barked.
"I'm not staying here while you go off and do who knows what to our little flower!" Shigure cried.
"I don't want to be stuck here with nothing to do! It'll be so boring!" Momiji whined.
"You can't leave! What if something attacks us?" Ritsu gasped.
"There's no way in hell I'll stay here if that Cat's here. I won't be able to stand it." Isuzu snorted.
"What, are you just going to abandon us here, where anything could happen?" Hiro demanded.
"No, please don't leave me behind again!" Kisa begged.
"But what if something should happen to you two?" Kureno worried.
"Stay in the woods? With no clean places to sit? My clothes will get ruined!" Ayame lamented.
"I don't want to be out here when it gets dark! We can't even start a fire!" Kagura exclaimed.
"What are we supposed to do until you get back, may I ask?" Haru queried.
"That's out of the question." Hatori said.
"If it's too dangerous on the road, then you shouldn't be going alone. You would have strength in numbers if some us came as well." Yuki stated.
"Would you just SHU-UT UP!!!" Artemis roared, elongating his words to make the point, and all the Sohmas immediately silenced, staring at him, some with surprise and some with stubborn determination. "Look, we're going and we're leaving you here and that's that! So deal with it! And we won't be long, maybe an hour or so, so don't have a cow. No offense," he added to Haru, who shrugged.
"None taken." Artemis blinked, opened his mouth, decided it was better not to comment, and shut it again. Whatever had possessed the Ox was gone now, and Artemis wasn't going to waste time by asking questions.
"You said it was only going to take an hour, but walking it takes several hours, round trip," Tohru pointed out. "And Raha can't carry us, he's going to stay here stand guard. So how do you propose we do this...?" Artemis took her wrist and pulled her into his arms. "Like this." And he bent down and he kissed her on the mouth.
To be continued...
Disclaimer: Look to the chapter prior to the previous, previous chapter before this one (Does that even make sense...? Sorry, I'm confusing myself...)
Oh, cliffie! Wonder what she'll do...? Wonder what Kyo and Yuki will do? Heh, heh, heh. Actually I do know, but I'm no-ot tel-ling! Anyway, I. MUST. HAVE. MORE. REVIEEEEEWS!!!!! Thanks to everyone that has reviewed so far! I love you!
And yes, I said this chapter was to be dark, but I changed my mind. Please be patient with me, I do that a lot. But there will be one other chapter, if not more, that is going to be pretty dark, just not this one. Someday.
Anyway, I went fishing yesterday. We caught like... eight? Not very many, if you consider that on a good day you can catch twenty or thirty. I'm going to the beach tomorrow, so I hope the fishing will be better. Today was a day off to catch up on sleep and stuff. Maybe I might write tomorrow if I'm not too tired, but I don't think so. Look for me again in a day or two.
By the way, Ren, Rahallion and Artemis are actually characters in a novel I'm writing (Why yes, I AM a novelist. I love saying that.), using the inner demon thing, and I was thinking of posting it on the internet, maybe a few chapters, so I can get some feedback. It's very hard being a budding writer, and not even know what people think about it. Of course, my friends think it's awesome, but they don't really count. Sorry friends! But I need objective opinions. But I was rather worried about the copy write issue. I don't want people to steal my story, you know? I don't show it, but I think disclaimers are a good idea. So, my question was, if you post things on this website as an original work, is there a sort of copy write that prohibits people from stealing the story? I know people steal ideas all the time, but I don't want anyone copying and pasting and then putting their name on it. Tell me if you know, it would be much appreciated!
And, in response to Gliere:
Tell my mother I am fine here and that it's much better, thank you. Hey, there's a bug on my screen... Anyway! YOU'RE GETTING A JOB?!?!?!?!?!? O.o Whenwherewhowhyhow?!?!?!? That's AMAZING! And I am NOT confused in Algebra. I just find it vaguely perplexing. And thank you for the advice on Yuki and Kyo. I'll look into that. I'm actually in agreement with you, now that I think about it. See you later, love you lots!
-Raha-
