Disclaimer… I do not own Maple… Aeons do not own maple!
Okay, so Nathan admitted he might have gone a little over dramatic on the peak. What? If he was going to all the trouble of scaring them off, he might as well have fun with it. Cracking his knuckles, Nathan slammed his hands into the earth, and an entire chunk of Howler's Peak broke away, plummeting down into the abyss of the canyon. Unfortunately, that chunk was the one with everyone on it, and several people were screaming their heads off. Nathan did not laugh, but you could tell by the mad glint in his eyes that he was enjoying himself. Twisting his hands and then pulling them upwards, the segment of the cliff halted abruptly and rocketed into the sky, now levitating even higher than usual. Hands glowing with the amount of geokinetic energy he was using, Nathan took a menacing step forward. This was going to get interesting...
Far below the underground, in the dankest and darkest crevices of Bellocan, Laeigh was waiting. Normally, he could change forms at will, but when Aeons had sealed him away he had been trapped in his current form. With a vaguely humanoid body, Laeigh's skin was not so much a solid as a semi-liquid, black and sludge-like. However, there were some parts of him obviously unhuman. For starters, he had the head of a boar, with blood red and pupil-less eyes, and two gleaming tusks protruding from his cheeks. He also had five spines on his back, each of them glistening with venom. His hands were clawed, as were his brawny feet, and he had two tails, both covered in an array of spike-like protrusions of bone. Chained to a wall, a tag on his forhead kept him from escaping. "Your move, Laeigh." Hitori said, fiddling with a Knight chess piece. Ah, Hitori. That book worm archer that had almost killed him. Now he lead the life of an in-betweener, one who had died with a perfect balance of sin and justice. Sometimes he came to play games with the demon: games of skill, games of chance, and sometimes the ultimate game. Laeigh didn't really hold a grudge against the wily gamer, who was quickly rising in the spirit world, having had personal audience with the time brothers Once Was, Am Now, and Will Be. Laeigh jerked his head at a black Rook. "That rook. Up three spaces.". "Are you sure?". "Yes.". "Are you really sure?". "YES! Just move the stinking piece, will you?". "Hmm...smart move.", Hitori commented, moving the piece. "However, not smart enough.", he added, moving his white Bishop forward. "Checkmate.", he said, relaxing back. Laeigh bowed his head in defeat. "You still keeping up that promise?", Laeigh asked as Hitori put away the chess board. "Of course! If you beat me at any game, I will set you free, blah blah blah. But really, do you think you can actually beat me? I'm an in-betweener, we live to play games." Hitori explained. "I nearly got you that time.", Laeigh growled. "Ah, but 'nearly' never won a bucket of squid in gnomish roulette, did it?", Hitori chuckled. "In what?". "Oh, sorry. Its out of a book, by somebody called Eoin Colfer. Some human from a world called...uh, Dirt I think it was. No, no, they called the planet Earth, and the soil dirt. Or maybe it was the dirt that was called soil. Ah, humans from that world are so very confusing. Apparently, if someone is 'bad', then they're good, and if it's 'hot', then its cool. How does that make sense?". Laeigh grunted, not having heard a word of Hitori's ranter. Suddenly, Laeigh's head snapped up. He began sniffing the air, and roared. "AEONS! A BLOOD DESCENDANT OF THOSE FOOL AEONS!", he shouted, causing rocks to tumble from the ceiling. It could have been coincedence, or it might not have been. However, it was fact that one rock, more of a pebble really, tumbled onto Laeigh's seal and ripped it apart. Laeigh roared in delight, ripping his chains away and stalking upwards. He paused. "Hey, Hitori?", he asked, "Aren't you going to try and stop me?". Hitori laughed. "Me? Stop you? This is the most interesting thing that has happened in five centuries, of course I'm not going to stop you.". Laeigh grunted, and then dissappeared in a cloud of dark magic, returning to the surface. Several seconds later, just before Hitori was about to depart to the spirit world, an angel he recognized appeared before him. Wearing a halo of pure light, Kastallia descended from heaven itself. Then she cuffed Hitori sharply on the head. "Ow! What was that for?", Hitori asked, rubbing a sore temple. "For letting Laeigh get away, you idiot!", Kastallia yelled. "Its not my fault! Nexon and Wizet let the demons run amuck, yet they forbid the inbetweeners to interfere! How does that make sense?", Hitori explained, skulking out of hitting range. "Don't lie to me, I heard every word you said!", Kastallia retorted, stalking up to him and cuffing him on the head again. "Alright, alright! Sheesh! What do you want me to do?", Hitori asked, disgruntled. "Get Laeigh back and seal him away,", Kastallia ordered, pointing at the spot where the demon had disappeared, "and if you don't, there'll be hell to pay.". With that, Kastallia disappeared, leaving Hitori to sweat it out. He gulped nervously. When an angel said the "h" word, they meant it quite literally.
The moment Nathan had taken his step forward, that was when the earth rumbled. Laeigh burst from Howler's Peak, roaring his lust. Cackling madly, he sniffed the ground, then looked up. His eyes locked on Freya. Nathan realized the danger, and knew they were no match. Making a pushing motion on both sides, he swept upwards with his right hand and then pushed forwards. The rock sped away, with Laeigh hot in pursuit. The Silent waited no more.
Kevin wrote this chapter.... Hitorihyuuga...