Author's Note: It turned out that the last chapter was posted on Okami Princess's 21st birthday. Now that doesn't seem cool until you think about that I posted chapter 21 and that said chapter is Sena-centric, hell his name is even in the title! So yeah, the last chapter, was that cool. And, as a warning, super-long update!
The Story So Far: Hiruma's been kidnapped, and the Devil Bats, along with an inhuman boy named Zork and Shin are off to England to rescue him. Sena, their handy source of transportation, is now unconscious.
Hidden
By: Bar-Ohki
Chapter 22: Yukimitsu, Animal Whisperer
A tense silence fell over the group as Yukimitsu knelt down and touched Cerberus' head.
::I thought I'd do this for formality's sake.:: Yukimitsu explained. Cerberus made a coughing noise and lifted his nose into the air. The dog sniffed several times. He then went back and butted his head against Yukimitsu's hand.
::I can't smell anything, this probably isn't the field they came into. Have Kurita check.:: Cerberus told Yukimitsu.
"He can't find anything." Yukimitsu announced. "…Say, Kurita, is this the field they teleported into?"
"I can't feel anything…." Kurita admitted after a moment's thought.
"I can't See anything." Shin added.
"So we're going to find the field they teleported into?" Juumonji asked.
"If Hiruma left a scent behind, it'd be there." Yukimitsu explained. "You can't pick up a trail if you're in a place the person hasn't been."
"That makes sense." Monta nodded.
"What about Sena-kun?" Taki asked pointing at the unconscious runningback.
"…We'll have to carry him." Doburoku answered. "There's no other choice."
"Do you have anything to add, Zork?" Musashi asked the boy, startling everyone.
"…No, I think that's a good idea." Zork shook his head a little.
"Kurita, where did they teleport to?" Mamori asked as she readied the GPS.
"Liverpool." Kurita answered.
"We're right outside of Birmingham, so they're about 150 kilometers northwest of our current location." Mamori remarked as she messed with the GPS.
"We can totally trek that!" Monta exclaimed.
"It's another Death March…." Togano muttered.
"Seems like it." Kuroki agreed.
"At least we don't have a truck…." Juumonji observed.
"Walking 150 kilometers will take a great deal of time we don't have." Shin observed. "Every hour we wait is an hour where Hiruma-san's life is at risk."
"We could cut through the Underground…." Zork suggested.
"Are you out of your mind!?" Kurita gasped. "The Underground is forbidden for humans!"
"Only humans without an escort," Doburoku corrected Kurita, "back in my days as an Elder I was an envoy to the Underground. I haven't been down in years, of course, but I was one of the few humans that had free passage."
"You still do." Zork assured him. "They haven't sent anyone else down to replace you."
"Really?" Doburoku was honestly surprised by that bit of news.
"Besides, I can hear the echoes from here, there's an entrance near by." Zork pointed out to a small gathering of trees not too far from where they stood.
"What's this Underground?" Musashi asked, wondering.
"The Underground is another world that's beneath our feet." Kurita explained. "It's where all the magical creatures live, well for the most part where they live."
"Sometimes the people of the Underground wander up here and leave some of their magic behind," Doburoku continued the explanation as he started walking towards the trees at Zork's guidance. "That's how Mages came into our society."
"So Mamori has magic because some guy from the Underground gave it to her?" Monta asked, trying to follow the conversation.
"No, one of my ancestors was from the Underground." Mamori corrected. "Some of the creatures down there can take human forms and breed in them…."
"Like dragons!" Zork supplied.
"Like dragons." Mamori nodded.
"You're part dragon?" Taki stared for a minute.
"She's human with an ancestor whose original form was not human." Zork explained for Mamori.
"K-knowledge!" Komusubi remarked, a little stunned.
"Translation!"
"Komusubi explained that Zork is remarkably knowledgeable for someone so young." Kurita translated.
"Knowledge is one of the most valuable things you can trade in the Underground." Doburoku explained. "Having a lot of it is important if you want to survive."
"…What the hell?" Shin stopped. He couldn't see what the actually object was, but he could see the aura.
"You can See it now, eh?" Zork chuckled. "Don't worry, we'll all be able to see it in a moment!"
"See what?" Juumonji asked as they stepped into a clearing.
There was a white house in the middle of the clearing, a perfectly normal white house with a mailbox and everything. Well, the white house was almost normal, all of the doors and windows were boarded up. To Shin the house was radiating a confusing white aura that scared him slightly. It was clear that humans were not welcome here.
Zork walked up to the mailbox and opened it up. He pulled out a pair of gloves, a cloak, a pair of boots, and five shields, one of which had a large spike on it.
"How did that all fit in the mailbox!?" The Huh brothers were staring.
"To Komusubi." Zork read off the back of one of the shields. The small lineman dashed up and took the small metal tower shield from Zork. Juumonji received a medium glass shield, Togano had a huge heavy-looking stone shield, and Kuroki had a small wooden shield. The small, spiked shield went to Taki while Monta and Ishimaru got the gloves and cloak respectively. Musashi had to take off his cleats in favor of putting on the leather boots he received, which fit his feet perfectly.
"We're ready now." Zork assured them as he shut the mailbox and walked up to the house. Carefully Zork tested the boards on the front door, they didn't budge. Frowning, Zork went around the house checking the boards on the windows until on set came off without hardly any work. Not knowing what else to do, everyone had followed him around the house. Without any further ado, Zork climbed through the window and into the dark interior of the house.
"I have guests!" Zork hollered into the dark abyss that was the interior of the white house. Slowly everyone else followed, climbing carefully through the window. Shin handed Sena to Kurita before climbing in himself. Once everyone was inside, the boards flew back onto the window, nailing themselves shut and tossing everyone into darkness.
"What now?" Mamori couldn't help but to wonder.
Cerberus barked loudly. Then the floor disappeared and everyone was falling.
"Whee!" "Ayye!" "Mukaaa!"
And suddenly everyone was sitting in a lush garden, the whole landing part of the fall had seemingly not happened. The sun was shinning and the birds were singing.
"There's a sun here?" Kuroki blinked.
"Is there a reason there shouldn't be?" Zork asked, blinking once. To everyone's shock, Zork's clothes had changed. Now he was wearing purple bell bottoms with a white, half sleeve tunic that went down to the ground (which still had a hood). The too large football uniform top was the only thing that didn't change. Zork simply looked confused by their looks.
"Hemlt armor?" Doburoku was mildly surprised. "How'd you get that?"
"It was Dad's." Zork answered simply.
"Don't you mean helmet?" Taki was confused.
"No, hemlt, it's fire-proof," Doburoku explained, "and it has some other minor protective properties, but its one of the few truly fire-proof things in this world."
"What Doburoku-sensei means by that is that you can't light on fire with magic or by more normal means." Kurita explained. "That's why it's valuable."
"How are we getting to Liverpool from here?" Yukimitsu asked.
"Oh that?" Zork pointed to their left. "We take the Underground's Underground."
"Huh!?"
"He means the subway." Doburoku explained. "Hey, did they ever get around to putting brakes on it?"
"Yes, they did." Zork sighed. "It's really lame now."
"It didn't have breaks?" Mamori was shocked.
"Yeah it this really cool arm-thing that'd pick you up as it flew by. Then it'd stick you back on the platform at your destination the same way! It was fun!" Zork flailed his arms for emphasis. "Now that it has breaks, it's boring."
"Where is this subway?" Yukimitsu looked around, all he could see was more field.
"This way, right?" Doburoku pointed in to his left.
"Yup!" Zork chipped and began walking in that direction. Shin picked up Sena and began to follow the little boy as he led the way across the field. The others followed, feeling a little uncertain. Within a minute they came upon a wooden platform with a hole in the middle.
"Are we going to hop down another hole?" Musashi asked, looking weary.
"Nah." Zork assured them.
"I don't See anything strange about this hole." Shin commented.
That's when the squeaky wheel noises came out of the hole. Slowly but surely, a little platform rose up. A curious little green fuzzball was running in a hamster wheel that was attached to a belt that was pulling the platform up.
"Heya Buzzle!" Zork greeted the fuzzball. It cheeped back at him.
"Is it safe to go down?" Juumonji eyed the platform wearily.
"Yes." Yukimitsu assured them. "There's a magical braking system in place, so at least that's what Buzzle just told me."
"Huh?" "Huh!?" "Huhhh!?"
"Don't you have to touch the animal to talk to it?" Monta was confused.
"Buzzle's partly telepathic," Yukimitsu explained, "he can only talk like this to those who are sensitive to it, like me."
"Woah!" Suzuna was amazed by that. "That's pretty cool, Yuki!"
"Heh…." Yukimistu smiled slightly, not entirely sure how comfortable he was with it.
"Come on, we can't afford to be wasting time here." Juumonji reminded them as he stepped onto Buzzle's elevator. Somehow there was space for the entire group, but barely.
Buzzle squeaked once and the platform began lowering itself down. It was an uncomfortable ride because everyone was packed like sardines. Thankfully the ride was a short one. The elevator stopped and immediately the group got off the platform and stepped into the Underground's Underground. The station looked like a typical European subway station, tiled walls, tiled floor, all including a thin layer of grime over everything. There was a large blue sign that read 'Infidels' Field' on the wall in white letters.
"Huh?" Juumonji was looking at the subway map, which didn't make any sense. It looked like someone had splattered paint on the wall and called it a subway sign.
"Ignore that." Doburoku stepped over to the platform. "It's a lot simpler, you just yell where you are going and the train will take you there."
"That's it?" Musashi blinked. "That's pretty simple."
"Liverpool Gap!" Zork yelled from the platform. He turned around and began counting the people there. "15 for Liverpool Gap!"
"Hurry!" Doburoku ordered. Not long after he finished talking the sound of the train echoed down the large tunnel. Everyone else hurried onto the platform, waiting for the train. The train itself was on a rail that was attached to the ceiling. It looked like a trolley that had come out of a Disney cartoon, and notably there was no driver. The train came to a stop at the platform.
"Name and purpose, please." Some nasally female voice demanded as the doors to the train opened.
"Zork, son of Dalboz, apprentice to the Dungeon Master. I'm trying to get my brother back." Zork announced then stepped on without any issue. "These people are with me."
Doburoku then stepped onto the train without any difficultly. "Could you provide us with a seat? We have an unconscious person." Doburoku asked the train as if it was a living thing.
Juumonji got on the train next, looking distinctly uncomfortable with the entire set up. Kuroki and Togano followed with Komusubi and Kurita at their heels. Shin carried himself and Sena onto the train next. The rest filled on without any hassle what so ever. Once everyone was inside the door shut and the train began to hum and vibrate.
"Ah!" Shin cried, shutting his eyes. The entire train had just lit up a spectacular aura that was almost blinding. After a few seconds the humming stopped and Shin opened his eyes to see a chair had appeared in the middle of the train.
"That was freaky." Kuroki had described the chair's appearance extremely well. To Shin the chair appeared normal, even it appeared in a weird way. He set Sena in it.
"So now what?" Monta asked. On cue the train started moving, slowly picking up speed until it was flying through the tunnels, the stations they pasted faint blots of light on what was otherwise a black journey.
"How long do you think this will take?" Musashi asked, looking to Doburoku for an answer.
"The Underground isn't the same size as the Upground, its hard to say." Doburoku explained. "It's the fastest we have right no-!" The train hit the brakes, bringing itself to a curt stop. Remarkably Sena had not been thrown from his chair.
At the station was a short figure clad in a black cloak standing next to a very awkward looking teenager. She had golden blond hair, with wide green eyes and a very uncertain expression. She was wearing fairly normal clothes, a white wool sweater and some blue jeans. The cloaked figure pushed her towards the train.
"Wait!" The girl protested.
"Name and purpose, please." The nasally voice demanded again.
"Malhavoc, son of Lucifer." The cloaked figure answered in a smooth, deep voice. "I am simply helping a lost child find her way home." The cloaked figure pushed the girl into the train where she crashed helplessly into Taki's arms. Malhavoc, as the figure proclaimed himself, jumped onto the train in a single, simple bound.
The doors slid shut behind Malhavoc, leaving the Devil Bats alone in a train with a man who dressed and carried himself like an assassin.
"Elder Doburoku!" Malhavoc's red, pupiless eyes were now visible in the train light, though the rest of his face was not. He sounded somewhere between surprised and pleased.
"Malhavoc?" Doburoku blinked once. "As in Malhavoc of Vent?"
Malhavoc's cloaked head nodded once.
"Who is he?" Juumonji jerked his thumb at Malhavoc.
"A person, who in the right places and circles of people can probably be considered important." Malhavoc answered smoothly. "Or someone a lot older than you, youngling. Take your preference at your own discretion."
"He's one of the many people I've had the pleasure of meeting during my trips down here." Doburoku answered.
"…Your words are really confusing." Suzuna commented.
"Or perhaps it is your mind that cannot keep up with them, you can't expect me to honestly be trying to keep up with all the new thoughts of human generations, they happen too fast. It's just not a practical past time." Malhavoc yawned then looked and met eyes with Zork.
"What brings you on this train, young Incubus?" Malhavoc asked Zork.
"Incubus!?" The other humans around turned and stared at Zork, shocked.
"You weren't supposed to tell!" Zork snapped back.
"He's not your enemy." Malhavoc put a light hand on Juumonji's chest before the lineman could do something. "Young Zork isn't big enough to eat human souls."
"What?" Juumonji stared at the cloaked figure.
"This is about Lotem's eldest boy, isn't it?" Malhavoc observed. "He seems to cause a large fuss wherever he goes, what an unlucky child."
"Who's Lotem?" Monta asked, having remembered Doburoku mentioning the name around Zork before.
"Hiruma-kun's real mother." Musashi answered. "Zork's mother too."
"Wait! Zork and Hiruma are brothers!?" Kurita, Kuroki, Togano, and Monta were stunned.
"…Something tells me this can be blamed on their level of idiocy," Malhavoc observed, "you have my sincerest pity." Malhavoc addressed the last statement towards Doburoku.
"What's going on?!" The girl screamed, still very upset.
"The Hunters of the Upground did some pretty moronic spell casting the other day." Malhavoc told Doburoku. "They created a melfin in the middle of a field outside of Liverpool. This child," a pale finger pointed at the girl, "wandered into it on accident, of course. Got herself tossed onto my doorstep while she was at it."
"Ah, you want me to have something done about it." Doburoku observed.
"No, I will do something about that myself, you do something about her." Malhavoc corrected Doburoku.
"Why are you leaving me with an old man!?" The girl cried, somewhat hysterical.
"Taki, why don't you make sure she doesn't hurt anybody?" Doburoku asked the player whose arms the girl was currently in. "It's not like you to dump your own responsibilities on others."
"You're human, she's human, you're looking for someone in Liverpool, she's from Liverpool, and taking care for the melfin is a priority for me…." Malhavoc paused and sighed. "That was the epiphany I hoped you would reach on your own."
"Fair enough." Doburoku consented. "What's your name missy?"
"I'm not going with a strange old man!" The girl protested.
"Would you rather be going with a mass murder?" Malhavoc asked her, shutting the girl up. "That's what I thought."
Everyone took a step away from Malhavoc.
"Is he serious?" Mamori whispered, looking at Doburoku.
"I'm not your enemy today," Malhavoc told her simply, "and I doubt I'll be your enemy unless you make one of me. Take comfort in that, child."
"…Malhavoc is better at bluffing than Hiruma is." Doburoku commented after a while. "It's impossible to tell the lies from truths with him at the best of times."
"But what if I am not one who bluffs, but rather one who simply has done a number of strange and horrible things over the course of my long life?" Malhavoc chuckled. "Half-truths are the most powerful form of lie after all."
"I will agree that he is as dangerous as a mass murder whether or not he actually is one." Doburoku remarked. "He's sensible though, he won't kill anyone unless there's some sort of reason."
"And benefit." Malhavoc added cheerfully.
"I want off…." Suzuna muttered to Mamori.
"Don't worry this, train will be stopping soon." Malhavoc assured Suzuna. After the last sound escaped from Malhavoc's mouth the train slammed on the breaks. Most everyone crashed into one another from the resulting breaking. Malhavoc didn't seem to be affected by the breaking, but he was affected by Sena flying out of his chair and into him. With minimal movement, Malhavoc caught the runningback. Unfortunatly the movement caused his hood to fall back slightly, bringing his face into view.
Malhavoc had a very human-looking face. He was adorable and child-like, if you could get past the pupiless red eyes on his pale face.
"That's the face of a mass murder?" Musashi tried not to laugh. Malhavoc was cute, there was no other word for it.
"Humans find Incubus and Succubus very attractive, yet an encounter with one results in death." Malhavoc pointed out. "Just because I am sinfully cute does not make me any less dangerous."
"Here's your runner." Malhavoc effortlessly handed Sena to Musashi, despite the fact that Sena was taller than him. Malhavoc pulled his hood down and stepped off the stopped train and onto the platform in what appeared to be a normal subway station. Well, it was normal if you ignored the fact that everyone else in the station appeared frozen in time.
"Mamori, you need to cast a glamour on us," Doburoku told her, "or we'll cause a commotion stepping into the station."
"Okay." Mamori closed her eyes and concentrated. With one strange syllable everyone appeared to be wearing more normal looking clothes.
"My eyes itch." Zork complained.
"I can't help that." Mamori told him hotly and stepped out of the train. Everyone else followed her.
"What's a melfin?" Kurita asked Doburoku.
"It's a side effect of casting a lot of magic in one place Upground," Doburoku explained, "basically all the magic resonates with the Underground and it makes a portal."
"Ah." Kurita nodded.
"In other words…." Monta needed a different explanation.
"Basically the Hunters that kidnapped Hiruma made a hole in the ground like the one we used to get into the Underground in the first place. Except their hole doesn't have a have four walls to keep bystanders out." Zork explained, Monta nodded.
"Let me go!" The girl was protesting as Taki led her off the train.
"Missy, we want to help you get home, but first we want you to help us." Doburoku told her gently. "Our friend was recently kidnapped and we have to rescue him, that's why we are in Liverpool."
"I don't trust any of you!" The girl protested.
"That's okay," Yukimitsu told her, "you don't have to. All we want you to do is to give us some directions in a minute, then we'll send you on your way."
By now they the station had started moving again and the group had made their way out of the subway and into Liverpool proper.
"Directions? All you freaky people want is directions!?" The girl clamed down a bit.
"Yeah, but one second, we have to figure out where we are headed first…." Yukimitsu held up one finger and walked over to a nearby three were there were some squirrels. Yukimitsu tried to climb the tree and fell.
"Uhh… Yuki-san?" Monta asked. "What are you trying to do?"
"Get to the squirrels." Yukimitsu answered with a sigh. Monta climbed up the tree, caught a squirrel and brought it down without any trouble at all. Yukimitsu took the panicked squirrel from Monta.
::I'm sorry about my friend, but I really need to talk to you,:: Yukimitsu told the squirrel, ::One of my other friends has been taken, could you help me find him?::
::Friend? Taken? Where?:: The squirrel looked at Yukimitsu intently. ::Friend back, yes yes.::
::Here's who I am looking for,:: Yukimitsu sent the squirrel an image for Hiruma, ::He's not human, but should have been with many humans.::
::Purple humans. Lots purple humans!:: The squirrel sent him an image of a building where several purple suited people were walking in. There was a red something on the shoulder of one of the people.
::Thank you.:: Yukimitsu released the squirrel and watched it run back up the tree.
"I know what the building they took him too looks like." Yukimitsu announced. "Hopefully you can help us find it, ma'am."
_=_=_=_=_
Please excuse the Zork references and tell me what you think!