From the Side
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Disgaea 2, but I do own a copy of it.
A/N: I apologize for the delay, a lot has happened in my life recently. Special thanks to Natural'Kaoru who was the only one to review the last chapter… And a thanks to Watery-the-Strange and Beauty-Queen-Etna-the-Demon-Lord who at least reviewed the first one.
(PLEASE Read and Review?)
~*~
"Veldime? Isn't that place the location of Overlord Zenon?" one male demon asked, leaning back in his chair. The velvet covering made it a comfortable throne. He found himself unwilling to get up despite the importance of the message he just received. Instead, his red eyes closed and he didn't even put effort into pinning up his long black hair or tossing on clothes other than his red silk robes he slept in that night.
The White Dragon tried to keep calm, even though he felt greatly insulted by the seemingly sleeping state of his boss. "Yes, and rumors are there was a Snow Clan there and a few other hidden demons even before Zenon turned it into a Netherworld."
After a long pause, the response came. "Why are you telling me this?"
"We have reason to believe you'll find the man you've been after there," the dragon replied.
"What reasons?"
"It was pricey, but we managed to bribe the Dark Assembly into telling us that they warped him there."
"You trust the Dark Assembly? The place that makes profit off of being evil, lying, and otherwise causing trouble to any respectable demon?"
"Even the Dark Assembly can tell the truth with enough Hell."
The boss finally sighed and stood up. "Fine. We'll get ready and head there soon. You are dismissed. Go talk to lady Friday and see if you can get the Veldime warp for us specifically."
"Immediately, sir."
~*~
Due to the darkness of the Cave of Evil, there ended up being a division in ranks. There were those who could see really well in the darkness, as if it was their second home. That included Fenrir and the three ninjas. Then there were those who could at least make out silhouettes. These were Hanako, Waffle, Brandon, and Tink. Then there was everyone else, who probably wouldn't be able to spot something even if they were given the exact location with very fine detail.
They'd been traveling for an hour with this whole problem, letting the sibling ninja's lead with Hanako and Waffle while Fenrir followed in the back, Zane took the left side and Brandon and Tink took the right side. With that they felt a little safer, knowing ambushes would be harder to pull off.
Ran stopped for a second and glanced at her brother, Shito stopping as well though he didn't turn. "See it?" she whispered, glancing ahead again.
"Yes. Orcs. Should we tell the others?" Shito replied, keeping his expression calm. Ran's expression wasn't so much.
"If we do, we tell them that we're going after them ourselves," Ran growled, her eyes focusing on the lead Orc. "Look at the one in front. He's got something that may interest you."
Shito didn't move. "I noticed a while ago, Ran. However, he's not the leader, probably just a lieutenant. There's a lot too, I recommend we call the others."
"You're going to cower away because of numbers? We'll have to face hundreds more in later!"
"Even so," Shito muttered. He trailed off though, leaving the two siblings a little ahead of the rest of the group and in silence. It wasn't until Zane, abandoning his post at the side, appeared that the two moved again.
"See something?" the ninja said, looking at them as though he already knew.
Ran hesitated, leaving her brother the chance to nod. "A few orcs ahead."
"Should I tell the others?" Zane asked, his eyes still neutral but knowing.
"Yes, but tell them to leave the leader to us," Shito noted. The other male ninja nodded and then jumped back. Soon everyone was in battle positions again.
"I can't see a thing," Zarame muttered.
"We'll have to fight blindly then," Adell said. "Makes the fight more fair!"
"Fair? Fighting with vision's fair, this is giving them a handicap," Rozalin replied.
"That's fair in Mr. Chivalry's book," Zarame added.
Due to the darkness, the group's activity became limited. Fenrir stayed behind, to keep an eye on any further ambushes, and the two related ninjas went on ahead. Zane and the four that could see a little bit decided to take care of the weaker orcs.
Waffle would fire an arrow from the side to attract one orc's attention, letting Zane jump up next to them and surprise them, but even then he'd transform into a log and once more appear behind them, taking the enemy out in one it. Brandon on the other hand chose to take things up close in person, probably because all he saw were the silhouettes. He held his gun next to his target, charged a blast from the Godfather he held and then fire, the attack pushing him back quite a distance. Hanako kept shouting cheers to the others, making them laugh and boosting morale surprisingly, while Tink "guarded" the group with no vision.
"Tink, you could do something useful for once," Zarame growled. "Besides looking at Geos."
"I'll have you know I AM doing something useful. If I flee, you know zat means an enemy is near, oh ho ho!" the frog creature stated.
"That's not something you should proudly announce," the samurai replied, sighing.
~*~
"Taro, Taro! Wake up!" Kuno muttered, shaking the boy's body.
"Uh… Oh? Where am I?" the small boy whispered, sitting up. His gray hair was slightly red from hitting his head on something, and he had scratch marks all over his body, but over all there was nothing too severe injury wise. For this, the Nekomata breathed a sigh of relief. Using only her right hand, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail to get it out of the way and began to bandage Adell's younger brother.
"Don't move too much or the bandages will fall off," Kuno said, grinning as she finished. "I'm glad I brought that tunic with me to use like this. I think I have some cotton candy with me too, that'll make you feel better."
"Uh, Miss Kuno? Are you okay?" Taro asked, looking at Kuno's arm that she refused to use. The cat demonn jumped.
"Mrow? What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. It just hurts a little, but I didn't have enough bandages to cover everything. Don't worry, when Miriam finds us she'll patch us up real well. Come on, let's go towards the exit. Maybe we'll find the others."
"Okay," Taro responded, nodding. However, as he stood up he fell back down, one foot flung out now. "Ow." He held back the tears as he turned to see what stopped him from getting up. One root had wrapped around his leg, holding him immobile.
"How'd that happen?" Kuno asked, frowning at the plant. She tried to pry it off with one arm, but failed. "I can't get it off!" she cried, pulling on it with all her might. Her hand slipped and she fell backwards, hitting the roots behind her but not getting tangled fortunately. She sat back up and thought for a moment. A sharp object could easily remove it. Zarame… but he wasn't here. He might not even care to go in this place. She could break it open herself, but the force required using her one arm or her feet would likely hurt the boy and put him in a worse condition than she was.
"We'll have to wait here, then," the pink haired girl muttered, patting Taro's head. "I'll guard you for now from anything that may come.
~*~
The minions were easily disposed of but even as Zane was tying up the last of the, he knew that Ran and Shito's fight was not over. Nor was it going to be over soon, unless it ended in a way no one wanted.
Ran was standing a fair distance away, her staff held readily by her side but panic making her unable to focus any tricks she knew. Her brother on the other hand was kneeling on the ground, horribly battered and breathing heavily. He clenched his fists and attempted to stand up again, but the leading orc's mace came slamming down onto his head again. Ran yelped for her brother, who took it silently.
"Shito!" she called, running forward and standing in between the orc and her brother.
"You two look familiar," the monster muttered, chuckling under his breath. He stared at them for a few moments before noticing something tattooed on Shito's right hand, revealed from one time where his hand slid on a rock. "Oh, you must be Aki's brats. I heard some survived. Does that mean you're after… this?" He pulled out a feather that was tinted the color of flames. "It was Aki's after all. Key word being was there."
Ran glared at the orc and then jumped over him, landing directly behind him to strike with her staff. "This is revenge for Aki, scum!" she shouted, striking the orc hard.
The hit landed precisely as she wished, doing more damage than she normally could have and spurring a reaction from her enemy as well.
"You ninja brat!" the orc roared, spinning around to face his female opponent. Shito took this chance to stand up again, though, and punched the orc into the air with an uppercut. Before the orc could figure out what was going on, Shito jumped up after him and began a furious combo of fists and feet. He punched the orc back down and his sister finished him off with a fire spell she had picked up from Nagi. Watching the fire burn, the two carefully removed the feather from the enemy and turned to walk back to the group.
"Shito! Ran! Good you're okay!" Adell shouted when they came into the light provided by a fire Nagi made with a few roots. Nagi smiled at them and nodded.
"Welcome back, did you take out the boss?"
"Of course! We would not come back defeated!" Ran stated, standing proud.
"Say that after our injuries are treated, Ran. Miriam, can I get a heal here?" Shito replied, limping over to sit next to the priest. Miriam laughed and began to cast a spell, the healing surrounding the entire group.
"Keep this up and I won't have any more energy before we get to the Overlord. But I'll certainly be the best healer in all of Veldime."
"Will be? You already are," Shito said in awe as he stood up, fully healed.
"If you say so," Miriam replied. She pulled out a bottle of Egg Yolk and downing it in one gulp.
"Uh, Miriam? You shouldn't drink so fast! You might get sick!" Nagi called.
"I need to keep up with you guys," Miriam replied, smiling at Nagi.
After an hour of resting, Adell stood up. "We should get going. We're only a little bit of the way through and Taro's waiting for us at the end!"
"And Kuno," Zarame added, sighing.
"Right, and Kuno!" Adell cheered.
~*~
(R and R please. Up next: Cave of Evil's end. Who's Aki? And what does Zane know that he's not saying?)