The Devil's Checkmate
By Miaka
Like an activated switch, adrenaline empowered Maron. The sudden appearance of the sword, which she was sure Fin conjured up, left her feeling as though she knew exactly what to do. Without pause, she lifted the weapon up by its hilt, Fin darting out of the way in an instant before.
Maron removed the sheath and admired the blade itself in the moonlight shining in from the open balcony. It was the same clean silver as its cover-counterpart left on the table top, but free of any designs or engravings; the simplicity moved her somehow, or maybe it was the strange familiarity of it.
"Maron?" Fin's small voice broke the trance.
Maron gave her a small smile. "I know, Fin," she said. She faced the dark world outside and abandoned the comfort of her room. The wind that greeted her made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She closed her eyes, dutifully clutching her new weapon as she leapt off the balcony and sent a heartfelt prayer to God.
"Jeanne D'Arc, lend me your powers," Maron whispered. Like a spell, the breeze picked up, cradling Maron as she felt the new divine transformation beginning.
"Strong and serious," she chanted, feeling her clothes from that day melt into the familiar white kimono-like thief garments. Ruby-jeweled crosses suddenly dangled from her ears; the wind pulled her hair back into Jeanne's high golden ponytail.
"Matchless and marvelous," she said next, her voice louder now. Violet irises replaced Maron's chestnut browns, complementing the already angelic appearance. At long last, her white, ribbon adorned boots touched ground.
"'Energetic and courageous!" the last verse rang strong through out the crisp vespertine scene. A light caught her eye; looking up, she spotted Fin guiding her away from the Kusakabe property. She sprinted to follow.
Little did either of them notice that they had been seen.
Miyako could hardly believe her eyes. Jeanne? JEANNE? She was sure that Maron's days as Kaitou Jeanne were over since the battle against Dark Fin. She ran after Jeanne's darting silhouette through the woods, dodging branches and long roots on the ground to keep up. Truth be told, she was glad to be chasing after the thief again, even without the intentions of arresting her. She had thought she'd be investigating the crime scene alone tonight.
Miyako stopped dead in her tracks. But…with Jeanne involved, did that mean the murder was supernatural? She gulped, considering whether or not to get involved.
Chiaki isn't with her, Miyako thought, furrowing her brows. It'd be best if I kept an eye on her then. I'll make it so she won't even know I'm there.
And, with her friend's safety in her thoughts, Miyako kept running.
Jeanne hopped off the Parisian taxi she had 'hitched' a ride on to Rue de Meaux and leapt into the shadows of an alley to the right. As she watched the cab drive on towards its passenger's destination, she could not shake off the feeling that she was being followed ever since leaving the mansion. But Fin was still flying onwards, and so she did not make any pauses. She dashed towards the green light hovering at the end of the alleyway, darkness concealing her until she came to the other end. There she found herself on another main street of the city, the sidewalks lit by high golden lamp posts. Across the way was the marble opera house building. Fin was already at the bottom of the stairs outside. Jeanne followed her lead, avoiding the spotlights projected by the lamp posts along the way and circling around the fountain to reach the stairs.
"There's no security?" Jeanne asked the little angel, eyeing the French caution tape blocking off the theater doors.
"The police are continuing the investigation tomorrow, Maron. But by then, there will already be more victims. We need to get the demon, and we need to get it now," Fin squeaked.
Jeanne nodded, clutching the sword Fin had given her as she ran up the stairs. Rather than disturbing the caution tape, Jeanne and Fin crept around the side of the building and searched for windows that might provide access to the inside. They were unsuccessful until reaching the back of the building, where Jeanne discovered two basement windows peeking out onto the back parking lot. Jeanne slid the left window open and squeezed through, feet first. Fin followed, providing the thief little light in what they determined to be a basement. They searched the room for a minute until Jeanne bumped into a set of stairs going up; she called Fin to go ahead of her so she could see where she was going.
"Do you suppose this leads up to the theater?" Fin squeaked.
"Yes, but shh," Jeanne advised. "We don't want the demon to hear us until we can actually see our surroundings."
Fin's glowing aura revealed a door at the top of the stairs; both were relieved to find that it wasn't locked from the outside. They passed into the lobby of the opera house. The lights had been left on so as not to disturb the crime vicinity.
"It's upstairs," Fin shivered, sensing the evil aura already. Her eyes were wide.
"You can wait here, Fin," Jeanne assured her with a brave smile. "I think I can manage."
"No, Jeanne! I'll come with you," Fin began to insist but Jeanne shook her head.
"If these demons are really as bad as you say, I don't need you getting in the way, got it?" she said, completely unaware of her own harshness. Fin merely nodded, but stared after her sadly as she stayed put in the lobby.
Jeanne ran up the velvet carpeted stairs. All around her, she could hear the screams and panicked voices of the audience members from earlier that evening; but she knew it was a trick of the demon's. She was the only one here.
She reached the door at the end of the stairwell and threw it open by its brass painted handle. Instantly, a shadow-filled breeze lashed at her from inside the theater. Despite that, Jeanne stepped forward, the door violently shut behind her by what she suspected was the demon's will.
"…cOmpAnY…? I hAvE cOmpAnY?!" something raved from the stage. Jeanne cringed; the voice was not so much a voice, but the words were in her head and played out like nails on a chalkboard. She walked to the balcony edge and looked out onto the stage. Sure enough, a large, formless shadow was at center stage.
"ArE YOU thE OnE thEY cAll jEAnnE?" the voice laughed. But now it seemed to be all around her, rather than just in her head. Jeanne drew her sword and glared down at the demon.
"I am. You, demon born in darkness, I seal you here," Jeanne spoke over the black wind the demon was creating all around her.
"...YOU'rE nOt EvEn gOIng tO Ask mY nAmE? hOw rUdE!!" the demon said, feigning offense but laughing as soon as it was done replying.
"A murderer like you doesn't have the right to be calling others rude," Jeanne said through gritted teeth.
"hEhE… YOU'rE mAkIng A mIstAkE, jEAnnE…" the demon said in between horrendous giggles.
"What mistake is that?" the annoyed thief asked, growing weary of conversing with the demon.
"You're forgetting demons are stronger than we used to be." The voice was suddenly clear. The shadows on the stage condensed into a thick black cloud Jeanne's vision could not pierce. She leapt onto the balcony rail to try and get a better view, but to no avail. Just as she was about to dive down onto the stage, the cloud began to thin. Inside, she could see the figure of a person…no, a demon. With…wings?
"I don't abide by God's laws anymore, Jeanne," the silver haired creature grinned up at her. The demon was much like Dark Fin; wings that gave it the deceptive angel appearance, but eyes that could kill. Jeanne could see his wicked smile from the balcony. The demon reached for his waist in a movement far too quick for her anticipation of the moment. He threw something out in front of him and the next thing she knew, something caught onto her ankle and jerked her away from the balcony. Shocked, Jeanne cried out and grabbed onto the balcony rail as the whip that caught her ankle tugged at her. With her other hand, she hacked at the whip with her sword, snapping it and freeing herself. Then she pulled herself up enough to use the balcony edge to back flip herself over the rows of audience in front of the stage. The demon cursed and dodged as Jeanne nearly kicked him upon landing. She landed facing him, her sword drawn out to parry any underhanded attacks he could have sent her way. But the demon's attention was elsewhere; Jeanne wasn't liking the smile on his face. She followed his eyes back up to the balcony she had jumped from.
Her heart stopped.
"Miyako!!" Jeanne yelled. With a smirk, the demon flew up to the balcony before Jeanne could warn her friend. Miyako backed away from him, all too late realizing that the man was no angel.
"Touch her and I'll…!" Jeanne shouted, rage infused in her voice. The demon cut off her threat with a deep laugh, catching Miyako around the waist as she turned to run. He looked up, spotting a small window in the ceiling of the theater and flying upwards. Fuming, Jeanne summoned her red ribbon stick, but not in time before the window shattered. The demon directed the glass shards at her and she just barely rolled out of the way.
Jeanne looked up to the window and realized that even with the ribbon stick, there was no way she'd be able to reach it.
"Damn," she thought out loud. She jumped up and ran towards the backstage in search of another way to reach the roof.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to write more soon.