Mizu: Woot! Another chapter done! Kind of a filler chapter though. Next chapter is where it's going to get interesting. Disclaimer: I don't own -Man. Even if I did, I would to freaked out by the Earl to know what to do with him.
Hidden Demons: The Home of Demon Hunters
"This must really be confusing for you three," Krory sighed as he carried the unconscious demon in his arms.
"Ya think!" Kanda snapped, "What part of it isn't?"
"I'm just a little confused. If Allen's a demon, then why didn't you kill him?" Lavi asked, making sure Lenalee didn't accidentally slip off his back.
"Because he is far more than that," Krory said, smiling down at the white head.
"Can you explain why?" Lavi urged.
"I'm not at the freedom to explain that," Krory sighed, stopping, "We're here. This is where the demonic barrier starts."
"How can you tell?" Lavi asked, looking around.
"Once you go through one, you never forget the feeling," Krory smiled at the three, "You'll see soon enough. Let's go." "Right," both boys nodded, following the tall man forward.
They watched as Allen started to squirm in Krory's arms. There was a pained face upon his normally smiling one and they thought that the saw some tears in Krory's eyes when he looked down at the demon.
"Shush, Allen. Be still. We're almost through," Krory whispered, more to himself than to anyone, "You're pain will be over soon."
"What's going on?" Kanda demanded, racing up to Krory's side.
"It's a demonic barrier," Krory stated, "It's meant to keep out all demons no matter how strong. The only reason that Allen can come through is because he hasn't completely changed into one and the fact that he is an extraordinarily strong demon already. The barrier can't keep him out but it will try its damnest. By inflicting as much pain and damage to him, it hopes to force him out of the barrier. This way, Allen either will flee from such pain or die."
"Die?" the boys shouted.
"He won't though," Krory smiled, "This child is stronger than we could ever know. Even he does not know of the power that he possesses. The only two things on this world that do know are Master Cross and the one that changed this poor thing into what he is."
The boys watched as Krory faught to keep his temper in check, fangs trembling as they were force not to drop down, "I-I must apologize. I'm a bit…bipolar I guess you could say. Should I get angry enough, then my weapon towards demons activates and pulls me towards a more aggressive self."
"N-No problem…" Lavi stuttered, looking around, "So are we still in the barrier?"
"Yes. We're about half way through," Krory stated, looking around as well.
"It feels…warm and comforting," Lavi thought out loud.
"Exactly," Krory beamed, smiling gently at the redhead, "That's how it's supposed to feel to us demon hunters. What about you, son?"
"Same," Kanda mumbled, silently taking in the feeling of safety provided by the barrier.
"Good," Krory nodded, "To us demon hunters, whenever we come close to a barrier like this, we feel at home. That's because these barriers were set up centuries ago by our ancestors. Wherever there is a demonic barrier, there was a colony of demon hunters. In fact, my family's branch of hunters originated in Germany. So whenever I go to Germany and encounter a barrier, this feeling is intensified and I never wish to leave. For that is where my blood is at home."
"Is it that same for everyone?" Lavi asked, warming up to the tall man greatly.
"Oh yes, but it is rare for that to happen in the States. After all, the States are a mixture from all over the world," Krory chuckled, "Though it does happen. I was actually born in this town here so what I feel here is the same as I feel in Germany."
"That makes sense," Lavi nodded, "Allen said something about how demon hunters could and would only raise demon hunter children. What's with that?"
"No one knows. All we do know is that not every child in a demon hunter family will have the blood of a hunter. The ones that are not born with it, though they are still loved by their family, cannot survive within the family itself. So once the child has reached the age of one, the mother must find someone who is not a hunter raise her child for her," Krory explained, slowly his walk, "She never truly wants to be away from her child but she also knows that she could never care for the child. There's just something in our blood that makes it impossible."
"What about baka usagi and me?" Kanda asked, "We're both adopted."
"It's the same thing only reversed," Krory stated, looking over at the normally silent male, "When a demon hunter is born into a family where there are none, the family cannot raise it. They reject it. They don't know why and they really do love their children but they just can't raise them. For the most part, the children are either put in orphanages or foster care. That's where a demon hunter will find them."
"…can demon hunters be with normal humans?" Lavi asked after a few minutes of thinking.
"Of course they can!" Krory laughed loudly, "There has never been a case where we couldn't! It's just that when children are born, something is messed up with our genes. It's a lot easier if one of the parents is a hunter and the other isn't. That way they can keep their children with them."
"So that means all of our parents had to have just been normal humans then," Kanda whispered.
"Or a demon killed them," Krory said.
"What?" the boys asked, "Then why-"
"are you still alive? Duh, it's because you're demon hunter children," Krory smirked, "The demons that blindly kill humans just for fun or food are almost always low level creatures that couldn't ever kill a demon hunter. Even if the demon hunter was only a baby."
"Why is that?" Lavi asked.
"When danger is close and death is even closer, as a child a demon hunter's body will produce a powerful barrier that will kill any low level demon that comes near it," Krory explained as the group came to a paved road, "Think of it as a defense mechanism within our bodies."
"K-Krory," Allen whimpered from the arms of the count.
"We just got through the barrier, Allen," Krory smiled gently at the weakened demon, "We're going to go find Miranda now."
Allen just nodded slowly as Lavi stared at the demon. He seemed disorientated but other than that alright. Lavi sighed relief. During the entire trek through the barrier, Lavi had been so worried about the demon's safety that it had scared him. Here was this demon, apparently the same thing that his family hunted, that he had only known for maybe a week and he had already become like a little brother to him. Lenalee was right. They all had the feeling of trying to protect this demon. Why, though, was still a huge mystery.
"Allen!" a hysterical woman with dark, waving, brown hair screamed as Krory walked into a library, "You've arrived ahead of schedule!"
"Miranda," Krory sighed, leading everyone to the back of the library, "Calm down. Did you manage to find anything for him?"
"Of course!" Miranda nodded, following closely behind Krory as they came to a brick wall.
"Good," Krory stated, placing his hand on the wall, "You three, watch closely."
The three teens nodded. Lenalee, who had literally just woken up but five minutes earlier, was thoroughly confused. Where were they? Wasn't that the man that bit into Allen's neck a little bit of go? Why was Allen basically unconscious in the man's arms? What was going on? The three friends jumped when the wall suddenly split apart revealing a dark hallway leading to a rotating staircase. Rushing forward, Kanda had the presence of mind to grab on of the few torches on the wall. Scowling at the lack of light, Kanda couldn't up but feel a little excited. He had no idea as to why he was excited though. Deciding to chalk it up to the fact that he was a demon hunter, Kanda quickly followed everyone to the staircase.
"It's down a floor, Krory," Miranda stated, rushing down the stairs, "I'll meet you there!"
"Right," Krory nodded, slowly making his way down the steep stairs, "I really need to talk with the scientist about remodeling these things."
"Please do," Lavi and Kanda stated from behind him.
"Scientists?" Lenalee asked.
"Yes. Much like your brother, Miss Lenalee," Krory stated, "Not all demon hunters are out in the field. We have four different types of hunters actually. Scientists who are the ones that study and store any demon that comes into our labs. Finders are those who are trained to go out and search for new young hunters that may have born into non-hunting families."
"What about the old panda?" Lavi asked, "There's no way that he's either of those two."
"You're right. The old "panda" is actually one of the rare hunters. He's a archivist, or as we call them, bookman," Krory explained, walking down a hallway.
"Hey! That's our last name! I always thought that it was weird," Lavi exclaimed, laughing his head off.
"Yes, add to those three those that are always out in the field actually fighting the demons, then those are the demon hunters," Krory chuckled stopping in front of a door.
"So are those the only ones that can actually fight?" Kanda asked.
"No," Krory stated, "Everyone can fight and kill the demons. It's just whether or not they're bodies can handle it. Once we have gained our abilities, every hunter is tested to see what they are best suited for. We've never had anyone not be a perfect match for what they were placed as."
"You know who are our families are, don't you?" Lenalee asked, leaning on Lavi for support.
"That's right. Cross knew them. Actually, all of your families are employed under Cross, just like we are," Krory said as the door they stood at finally opened, "Ready?"
"Ready," Miranda nodded, ignoring Kanda's stares.
"Ready for what?" Lenalee asked as Krory slipped past Miranda to enter the room.
"Allen's lost a lot of strength coming through that barrier. We have to get him fully healthy before letting him wander freely. It could be catastrophic if we don't," Miranda explained as Krory exited the room without Allen, "How is he?"
"He'll be fine after a few hours," Krory stated, stretching, "but, my oh my, hasn't he grown! I remember when he was just a short little bugger and I didn't have any trouble carrying him."
"That was six years ago, Krory," Miranda laughed as she patted the man on the shoulder, "It was long before the incident. You started complaining about how big he was getting when he was eleven."
"Wait," Lenalee interjected, "You knew Allen before he was changed into a demon?"
The two were suddenly stricken with silence as they slowly nodded. Lenalee smiled happily and rushed forward to clasp the other female's hand. "That's wonderful! That means Allen must remember some-" Lenalee started to praise.
"No. He doesn't," Miranda shook her head, "He doesn't remember anything about us and we aren't allowed to tell him."
"Why on earth not?" Lavi questioned, confusion returning once again.
"Allen was the son of a demon hunter," Krory stated, looking away from the group of friends.
"And the greatest demon hunter we had in training ever," Miranda finished, tears welling up in her eyes, "Then…Then that monster took him away from us!"
The older woman suddenly broke into hysterics as she crumpled to the ground. Lavi and Kanda were taken back by the new information. Allen used to be a demon hunter? Then how did he change into a demon? Why did he even let his transformation start?
"We couldn't do anything for him when he needed us most! He's saved us all from death before but we couldn't even stop that damnable monster from changing him into a horrid creature!" Miranda screamed to the ground, pounding her fist into the floor, "If only I was a little stronger! Just a little!" "Miranda!" Krory gasped, "It's not your fault! Don't you say that it is. If anyone's it's mine. I was the one that was supposed to relay the message to everyone. If I had just been a little faster…"
"What the hell are you people talking about!" Kanda shouted on the top of lungs, "Stop going off into your own damn worlds!"
The two older people just stared at the boy as Kanda stalked his way over to where Miranda was.
"And you! Why do you look like my older brother's girlfriend!" Kanda demanded, pointing at the whimpering women.
"Huh?" Miranda sniffled.
"Marie! Marie Noise!" Kanda snapped, "He brought you home two years ago saying that you were his girlfriend. Then he went away for a year and then all of this shit happened."
"Oh! Marie! You're Marie's little brother!" Miranda gasped, clasping Kanda's hand, "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you sooner! Allow me to repent for my crime against you!"
"What?" Lavi and Kanda gaped as the watched the crazed woman pull out a long kitchen knife.
"Ah! Miranda!" two new voices sounded from behind the group.
Suddenly, two men rushed forward and wrestled with the brunette for her knife for a few moments. When she finally relinquished the blade, the three friends finally got a good look at the two. One was of average height with dirty blonde, spiky hair and a goatee. The other was slightly shorter with thick, bushy brown hair, spiral glasses, and a purple necklace around his neck. Both were wearing lab coats but other than that they were dressed casually.
"Geez, Miranda," the one with dirty blonde hair sighed, "How many times has this been today?"
"Um…I lost count," Miranda stated.
"Exactly," the man sighed, "Hm? Who are these kids?"
"Oh! These are companions of Allen's," Krory stated, appearing behind the three friends.
"Allen?" the other man gasped, "He's already here?"
"Yep," Krory said, pointing at the door next to them.
"Then that's just another reason to make sure Miranda doesn't get too upset," the first man sighed before holding out his hand, "My name's Reever Wenhamm. I'm the Section Leader for the North American Science Branch here."
"And my name's Johnny Gill. I'm like Reever's right hand man!" the other man beamed.
"Yeah, not really," Reever chuckled.
"Hi!" Lavi greeted, shaking Reever's hand, "My name is Lavi "Junior" Bookman. I still understand everything that's going on but it's still great to meet you."
"Bookman? Then you must be Bookman's boy, right?" Reever asked.
"Yep," Lavi nodded, turning to Kanda, "And this is Yuu. Kanda Yuu."
"Kanda Yuu…Why does that sound familiar?" Johnny mumbled.
"Marie told us about his three brothers, remember?" Miranda piped up, "You remember how he said that even though Daisya was spontaneous and lived for the moment, he'd be a great hunter."
"Yeah," Johnny nodded, "I always remember him telling us that he also had two other brothers whose abilities have yet to awaken."
"That's right," Miranda beamed, pinching both of Kanda's cheeks in an effort to force him to smile, "This is one of his little brothers."
"Really?" Reever whistled, "Impressive. Tiedoll sure knows how to pick sons."
"Shut up!" Kanda snapped, trying to fight the light blush tinting his cheeks.
Lenalee just laughed and held out her hand towards Reever, "My name's Lenalee Lee."
"Wait…You're Lenalee?" Reever and Johnny gasped, both rushing forward, "Komui let you out of his sight?"
"You know my brother?" Lenalee questioned.
"Of course we do! He's our superior!" the scientists shouted.
"He's an absolute genius but fucking crazy too and a pain in the ass," Reever griped, "All he ever talked about was how he missed his little baby sister. Then when your parents died, Komui raced home."
"Lately, he's been doing all of his assignments from your home," Johnny finished.
"Really?" Lenalee questioned, suddenly filled with such pride knowing that her brother was such a great and important man.
"That or building a new Sir Komurin," Reever muttered, causing Johnny to jump in fear.
"P-Please don't joke like that!" Johnny pleaded, fear quite evident.
"Sir…" Lavi and Kanda started as Lenalee's shoulders fell.
"Komurin…" Lenalee finished, all feeling of pride leaving her.
'That's probably that stupid robot that he's always working on,' the three friends thought to themselves.
"So Allen's in that room?" Johnny asked, pointing at the door.
"Yes," Miranda nodded slowly.
"Um…where's Link?" Johnny asked nervously as he looked around.
"Link?" Lavi questioned.
"W-We haven't contacted him yet…" Krory admitted.
"…you're kidding, right?" Reever nervously chuckled.
"N-No…" Miranda whimpered.
"Shit…We're going to be in so much trouble now," Reever sighed, walking up to the door and placing his ear against it, "Maybe we'll be lucky and he'll still be asleep."
"Asleep?" Lenalee asked, "Wait, Allen said that he didn't need sleep."
"He did?" Krory asked, raising an eyebrow, "Well, then he told you a lie."
"What?" Kanda gaped.
"Both humans and demons need sleep," Johnny stated, "Allen's no different than either."
"Then how-" Lavi started to ask.
"He seemed to be able to make it here without sleep?" Reever asked from the door, "That's because he was pulling on all his reserved strength. He hates sleeping."
"Why?" Lenalee asked, shaking her head, "Why on earth would he hate to sleep?"
Suddenly, there was a blood curdling scream from just behind the door that Reever stood out. The scientist quickly backed away from the door and just sighed. He then looked at the three teens and pointed at the door.
"That's why he hates to sleep," Reever sighed, "In his sleep, his brain tries to repiece his life together, trying to make him remember. And it always starts with the most recent memories. So he has to keep watching his own death every time he falls asleep."
"Wait…what did you just say?" Kanda questioned, eye's widening, "D-Did you just say that the M-Moyashi d-died?"
"You didn't know that?" Reever and Johnny asked, looking at Miranda and Krory, "They don't know?"
Miranda just shrugged while Krory palmed his face, "That's why I say we needed to be careful with what we say when these three arrived. None of their abilities have awoken yet so their guardians never told them anything. And it appears that Allen hasn't told them anything yet either."
"Then you tell us!" Lenalee demanded, "I'm sick and tired of everyone dodging all questions here! You're either going to tell us or I'm going to kick the shit out of you!"
Mizu: Cliffhanger!...sorta. Anyway, I think I've finally figured out how to get where I want to go. I'll stick to this path until the end or at least until an even better path opens up. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter though!
Allen: Wait...I died? What the hell Mizu! How am I supposed to get back to being a human if my human body is supposed to be dead?
Mizu: Wait and see, my impatient little Moyashi. All shall be revealed in the next chapter. Reviews are always welcome as well as suggestions! Ciao for now!
Allen: Tell me now, damn it!