~Chapter 3~
"Maron," Fin's voice hummed to me. "Maron, there's a demon. Will you go seal it? I can activate your-"
"No," I groaned.
"But, Maron...the demon..."
"Let Sinbad and Access handle it."
"They're working for the devil! If they collect all the chess pieces, the devil will gain power! He'll be able to destroy the Earth!" she protested.
I rolled over and held up my Petite Claire. "Last one."
A huge grin appeared on the Jun-Tenshi's face and she didn't hesitate at all to activate my Petite Claire. "I've already sent the notice."
I scowled at her; she knew I didn't want her sending notices without my permission! But it was too late to do anything to stop it now... "What time and where?"
After she had activated my Petite Claire and waited for me to transform into Kaitou Jeanne, she answered, "At the new construction site downtown. It's in a new jackhammer and it's possessing one of the workers there."
"There are a million workers; how will I know which one?"
She sighed. "You've been out of business for too long. Don't you remember what their faces look like? And how they act?"
Oh, yeah... I'd completely forgotten about that. Maybe I had been slowing down. ...But then, I had wanted to stop being a Kaitou for two weeks now. Fin knew that. That was why she was just glad I was doing this, even if I really meant this was the last time. Though I'd most likely forget about what I said in a few days, I might never go seal another demon again. It just increased my chances of coming across...it. I couldn't go near it ever again... It was too stressful to be around it. No, this would probably be my last mission. After this, I wasn't likely to go on another. Fin had better enjoy this while she could.
For the first time in a long while, or what seemed like a long while, I opened my back door and jumped off my veranda. I still had the makings and moves of a Kaitou, that was for sure. I landed neatly on the ground.
I directed myself toward the construction zone.
"Access, you told me there was a demon here!" Sinbad scolded as he looked over the construction site.
"It is! There's supposed to be a jackhammer around here somewhere. The demon should be hiding in it," he explained.
The Kaitou threw his hands up in the air. "There's jackhammers everywhere! Just look at this place! They're building a huge mall; it'll be impossible to find the demon like this!"
"Don't take it out on me; it's not like I told the demon to go hide in..." the Kuro-Tenshi's voice trailed off as he spied me cautiously poking around, trying to find the same thing they were. "Uh...nevermind, I must've made a mistake... I don't sense a dem-"
"There's Jeanne! Looks like you were right after all, Access."
Kaitou Sinbad jumped silently off the frame of the building-in-the-making.
Access knew this would turn out horribly. He should've stopped Sinbad, but couldn't. If I heard the noise I would most certainly turn around to check it out. And if I saw either him or Sinbad...well... He just knew I would remember everything in an instant. I would remember. I would remember, and I would run. Sinbad would ask him why I ran. He might start to figure things out, even if some of it wasn't true. He might start jumping to conclusions. Access had been keeping quiet to protect him from the truth, because if he knew the truth, it would kill him emotionally. So the black angel had been acting as if he had absolutely no idea what was wrong with me. Now that Sinbad wasn't hidden anymore, my chances of spotting him were almost a hundred percent.
Access's only hope was that I could find the demon, seal it, and get out before Sinbad could be caught.
I was very busy sniffing around, trying to find the right machine. My Petite Claire was responding to a whole army of them! It seemed to be somewhere in the middle of the lot of jackhammers. I was trying to follow it, to let it lead me to where the demon was, but I wasn't having any such luck.
I started moving the jackhammers further apart from each other, that way I could hold up my personal little demon-tracking device to each one and find the right one.
Physical labor was becoming harder than it used to be. It was probably because I didn't exercise anymore. On top of that, as if me being out of shape wasn't bad enough, these construction machines were very heavy. So heavy, in fact, that I couldn't lift them; I had to drag them across the ground. Oh, what I did for demon-sealing...
I heaved another jackhammer into place and got started on the next.
I tugged it into a leaning position so I could drag it more easily. I was busy moving it, listening to my Petite Claire incessantly beeping in reaction to the demon's presence, when I bumped into something. I looked over my shoulder, half expecting what I saw.
Access had chosen to stay where Sinbad had chosen to try to find the demon.
"Oh, no..." he mumbled to himself.
"Been awhile," Kaitou Sinbad said.
I felt my eyes widen drastically and fear grabbed hold of me. I dropped the jackhammer, unfortunately on my foot, and stood petrified in front of Sinbad. I didn't even feel the pain pulsing in my foot. I waited...waited for him to do something. One might say I was watching him like a hawk. I was.
We stared at each other for the longest time, neither of us moving for what seemed like an eternity of forevers.
Sinbad didn't move for one reason and one reason only. My eyes. They were the same as in his dream. Terrified, helpless, weak, hurting. He hated that look in my eyes. Hated it with a passion. Why was I showing these eyes to him? What had he done to deserve seeing these eyes? It was like I was scared...of him. His eyes widened with a new thought. Did his dream have any connection to what was taking place?
He tried to remember more of that dream, but couldn't. Something had been happening in that dream. He didn't know what, but it was something. That something had to have involved him somehow. He tried to remember the scene that dream had been set at. There was...there was grey around my head when he saw me. But all he could see were my eyes; he saw nothing else. There were tears in my eyes; something really bad must've happened to me. I was definitely Kaitou Jeanne at the time, because my eye color was otherwise brown. It was so strange...it was almost like that dream had actually happened in reality...
Access noticed a fifty-fifty opportunity to help me out. He flew down a few feet from Sinbad, and approached his side very slowly, while Sinbad was still thinking.
"Sinbad," he whispered to his friend and partner, "back away slowly."
I flinched when he asked why, but otherwise didn't, and couldn't, move.
"You have to get away from her," the Kuro-Tenshi answered.
Sinbad started to move one foot backward, not bothering to question the angel. He worried that if he talked too loudly or too fast or even too soon, I might get scared and run.
I immediately looked down at his foot, then back at his face. I needed to see his emotions; I needed to know what he was thinking. All the while I didn't even know I was holding my breath.
Once Sinbad had backed away enough for me to feel at least slightly more comfortable, Access moved closer to me. He knew I wouldn't be scared of him since he was so small and couldn't really do much damage.
"Jeanne, we won't hurt you," he told me.
I gulped and kept staring at the rival Kaitou.
He came a little closer to me, catching a little bit of my attention. "It's okay; we're friends. We're your allies. We can help you."
I still held my breath, even though I didn't know it. My face was starting to turn colors from lack of oxygen.
Sinbad kept his distance and watched his angel try to calm me down. It didn't look like I was paying any attention to what he was saying, but I definitely was aware of his presence. The only bad part was that I was too focused on Sinbad; I couldn't bring myself to listen to the little angel.
Again, Sinbad asked himself why I would be so scared. It wasn't a the demon I was scared of, like his first thought, it was him. He hadn't done anything to make me react like this, so why...? Why would I stiffen and stare? I was alert, I was watching his every movement. It seemed as though I was waiting for him to make an important decision that, based on whether or not I took it as threatening, would cause me to flee or actually breathe again.
"Jeanne, you have to listen to me, okay?" Access tried. "Sinbad is away from you now; you're safe."
I halfway blinked, keeping every ounce of my eyesight on the thing that scared me most.
"Please, Jeanne...listen." The black angel moved closer to me, to the point where he could reach out a hand and touch my face.
Finally, I looked at him. He knew better than to actually touch me. I was right on the line of fight or flight. I could easily choose one of the two in an instant. All it took was something to shock me. All it took was one mistake, one false move, and I could either go into a hysterical rage or run and potentially hurt myself or get lost. In order to calm me down even the slightest little bit, Access would have to stay calm, say the right words, and keep Sinbad at bay.
"Jeanne, first things, first, you need to breathe," he said.
I suddenly realized I wasn't breathing, and sucked in air for the first time what had to be a few minutes. I was panting, but I was listening to Access, all while keeping an eye on Sinbad, who hadn't moved a muscle. This was because he knew what his friend was trying to do, and he knew that if he intervened now, I would choose rage or run.
"Okay, now just try to relax. It's okay now. Everything's going to be fine. Just calm down and we can talk about this, okay?" he said. His words reminded me of Fin. He was being very delicate, picking his words carefully before saying them. Then he was doing the more suitable thing by pausing to let what he said sink in before talking again.
"M'kay, are you alright?" he asked.
I wanted to nod my head or speak, but I could only bring myself to sigh a, "Huh..."
I glanced back over at Sinbad, but Access moved in front of me quickly. It somewhat startled me, but also sort of expected it. I didn't move.
"No," he said. "Don't look at him, look at me. Pay attention to me. He's not the one here right now."
I didn't try to look past him, I looked straight at his face.
Access made a wrong move, the one slip-up that would send me into a frenzied, blinded fight mode. He put a hand on my forehead. It was intended to be for comfort and support, but it had a very adverse effect.
I slapped him to the ground and tried to run, only to have my foot, still caught under the jackhammer, stop me completely.
This is where another mess-up came into play. Sinbad made the mistake of coming to aid Access by trying to hold me down. He bent behind me, without my knowledge, and cuffed my wrists behind my back so Access could pull himself together and fly to safety. He used as much of his weight as possible to force me down, thus restricting my movements. It was all done to help Access, but...
"LET ME GO! DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screamed. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"
Miyako looked with concern at the scene unfolding before her. I was trapped by a jackhammer, Sinbad was forcing me down, and I was struggling to escape by trying to beat the living crap out of him. And now I was suddenly screaming bloody murder.
Her father, Detective Toudaiji of the Jeanne Special Task Force, had been told about the notice, and the police had informed her of it. She had gone with her dad to set a trap and try to catch me, but now...seeing this... It was really making her reconsider firing all those nets at me. Right now, it looked less like I was the bad guy and more like I was the victim. Kaitou Sinbad looked like the bad guy right now.
I intentionally convulsed my body, trying to throw him off my back and regain use of my arms. I bucked and squirmed, but nothing was working. He held on with an iron-tight grip. It made it hard for me to breathe, and he probably didn't know how much this was hurting me. It was like being strangled from the lower areas, namely the lungs.
I gasped for breath but still fought for my freedom, repeatedly crying out for help and trying in vain to bite him.
Miyako could stand it no more. Against her father's orders, she commanded the officers under her dad to chase off Sinbad, using force if necessary.
The stronger Kaitou released his grasp on me the moment he saw the cops charge after him. He ran off, planning to seal the demon another time.
I had acted so strangely. I had put up such a fight...and for what? What had he done to make me so...so...frightened? It was almost like I wasn't just scared of him, I was flat-out terrified of him. But why? Why...?
With Sinbad out of sight, Miyako rushed over to help me. She called another officer over to help her lift the jackhammer off my foot. Then she helped me up and let me lean against her so my foot could recover.
I clutched onto her shirt as if my life depended on it. At the time, I felt like it did. Sinbad and Access...and the whole thing...it was awful...horrible...unbearable even! All I could do was cling to her and cry out my pain, my fear. I could've fled when they removed the construction machine. I could've stayed in my furious rush. But I didn't. I wanted that safe feeling of having these people protect me and chase off my enemy. I wanted to know I could trust someone, even if only temporarily. And I wanted to feel someone hugging me, to feel them giving me that warmth I so desperately needed.
"Kaitou Jeanne..." Miyako was about to tell me I was under arrest for breaking and entering, among plenty of other charges, but didn't. Seeing me like this now, so scared and defenseless, she just couldn't do it. Right now I was not a thief who needed to be caught, but a girl who needed to be helped. She knew this and she wanted to help me. Even if she had been chasing me ever since I'd first appeared as Kaitou Jeanne, she felt sympathy and pity for me. I had relied on her. I'd called out for her help. She would make sure I got that help.
"What's gotten her so upset?" one of the underlings asked as Miyako led me back to her father, in the heart of the police crowd.
The sirens on the cars were turned off when they'd gotten close to the site, so I wasn't alarmed by the noise they would usually make.
Upon seeing me so fragile and broken, everyone grew silent and sorrowful. I was best known for my escapades, which I always made with a strong will and an equally strong attitude. But now...now I had become something seen only in the cinemas. Tears were streaking down my face, and for once I didn't attempt to hide them. My breath was hitching and I just couldn't stop it. I let out occasional whimpers and whines. I was beginning to hyperventilate and it felt like I couldn't pull in enough air to sustain me for very long.
But what startled everyone the most was how tightly I was holding onto Miyako, a detective's daughter. I was letting her lead me to her father without any comment or complaint. I didn't ask if we could turn back, I didn't recommend we be alone. I was willingly clutching her and leaning into her, accepting her kindness with open arms. I was grateful to have a cop right beside me.
It was heartbreaking to see the legendary Kaitou Jeanne so delicate and anguished. I had been struck down hard, and they all knew it.
