Usagi gasped when the werewolf's heavy punch threw her backwards. She had managed to raise her magically strenghtened cape in front of her body to shield herself, but she still had felt the mighty impact of Makoto's punch.
"Whoa, go easy on me, Mako-chan!" she shouted.
"Sorry," the wolf-girl sheepishly chuckled. "Sometimes, I forget my own strength… I don't get many chances to fight in this form, you know?"
The four girls were on the graveyard behind the chapel, training their fighting skills. While Usagi was exchanging blows with Makoto, Rei was sparring with Naru. Grandpa Hino was watching their every move.
"Trying to hit a moving, airborne gargoyle will help you trian your accuracy," Rei told the novice vampire hunter while dodging her whip.
"Well, I still keep missing," Naru panted. "You're a much better fighter than I are."
"A gargoyle has his instincts to help him," Rei explained. "You are a human… but while your instincts are not as advanced as mine, you still have the talent. It's in your blood. With a bit of training, you can become a hunter feared by every vampire."
Naru remembered how easily she had fought the Medusa and nodded. "I guess you're right. I think I'm getting used to this whip. However, I think I also should train working with other weapons. My father's diary told me that the Belmonts usually used an arsenal of secondary weapons, so they wouldn't have to rely on the whip only."
"That reminds me of something," Grandpa Hino suddenly spoke up. "I have something that might be of use for you. Wait a moment…"
He went back inside the chapel. When he came back, he was holding a strange-looking item.
"Isn't that a holy cross?" Naru wondered. "But it's shaped unlike any cross I've seen in churches before…"
"You are right, this cross was specifically made to fight the undead," Hino nodded. "You can throw it like a boomerang, it will return to you once thrown. But it takes some skill to recatch it."
Naru took the cross from his hands. It wasn't too heavy and her slender hands could grip it easily.
"Why don't you try to hit me with it?" Rei suggested from up above. "And don't worry, I can take some damage." She winked.
"Well, okay… here goes!" Naru took aim and threw the cross at the red gargoyle. Rei was able to dodge it, but she miscalculated its flight path and was hit in the back when it returned. With a gasp, she fell down to the grassy ground.
"Ouch…" she muttered while rubbing her backside. "Good throw…"
Naru, on the other hand, had expected the cross to be falling to the ground upon hitting the gargoyle. However, it was still flying back to her, almost catching her by surprise. In the last instant, her hand reached out to grab it out of mid-flight.
Makoto, who had watched the throw with Usagi, whistled. "Good reflexes, girl!"
Naru blushed at the comment. "Thanks!" She walked up to Rei. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, that's nothing," Rei quickly said. "Just a bump…" She stood up from the ground with a wince. "Man, but you've got a strong throw…"
They never noticed how their training was being watched by an attentive pair of eyes. A head with blonde hair, wrapped with bandages, a red bow on top, quickly vanished behind one of the bigger gravestones.
"What do I do?" Minako whispered. "Those girls don't seem too bad, but who knows what they'll do once they see a mummy…"
"Well, not all of them are human," Artemis whispered back. He was crouching right next to her. "Why don't you just talk to them? Are you absolutely sure they have the Eye of Anubis?"
"They do. Isis gift allows me to feel the presence of other gods. And I feel the power of Anubis coming from the werewolf girl. She must have the amulet somewhere on her body. I suppose I could ask, but… I don't like it. As soon as they realize I'm only here because of the amulet, they wouldn't trust me. Who would trust an ugly mummy, anyways?"
"You're not that ugly," Artemis assured her.
"I am. The werewolf and that bat-winged girl are much cooler-looking than me. I'm just a rotten corpse now…" she sniffled.
The others never realized that they weren't alone on the graveyard. "So… what do we do next?" Usagi asked. "A two-on-two match?"
"Wait a minute…" Rei said. "Do you hear that?"
They all listened. "I just hear the wind," Naru shrugged.
"No, Rei's right, there's something coming," Makoto said, her furry ears waggling in the cold night ear. "Sounds like the flapping of wings."
"Gargoyles and werewolves have a much more accurate sense of hearing than most humans," Grandpa Hino stated. "But while I can't hear what you're hearing, my eyes are still sharp." And he gestured up at the clear night sky, where they all could see a dark silhouette approaching them.
"Is that… another gargoyle?" Usagi wondered. She turned to face her red-skinned friend. "Rei-chan, you've invited a friend?"
Rei shook her head. "I've told you I never had any friends… and in all those years, I've never met another gargoyle. So who is that?"
"Well, looks like we're about to find out," Makoto said. "He's heading in our direction."
She was right. The winged figure was quickly coming closer, and soon they all could see that it was indeed a gargoyle, this one male and quite bigger than Rei. His skin was dark blue instead of red and he sported an elongated muzzle, filled with sharp teeth.
Usagi and her friends nervously stepped back when the strange gargoyle landed in front of them. For a moment, the ground seemed to shake underneath his massive frame. He fiercely glared at the small group of girls. "What are you all doing here?" he hissed. "I came flying all this way out here to meet someone, and now all I see is a bunch of kids?"
"Hey, we're not kids! That's rude!" Usagi shouted, feeling offended.
"Prin… Usagi, let me handle this," Rei said. She stepped forth. "What is your name? What clan do you belong to?"
"Well, hellooooo there," the male gargoyle sneered, licking his lips. "I didn't even see you over there, sweetcheeks. Tell me, what's a young hottie like you doing in the company of lowly humans and half-breeds?"
"We're standing right here, you know?" Usagi grumbled. She disliked this guy more and more by the minute.
Rei narrowed her eyes. "Stop insulting my friends and answer my question! I learned all about the ancient gargoyle traditions, it is customary to state your name and clan upon meeting another gargoyle. So who are you?"
"You can call me Gaibon," the male smiled as he tried to grab Rei's hand. "And what's your name, cutie?"
Rei pulled back her hand. "I am Rei. I am of the Firebrand clan. And you?"
"Don't belong to no clan no more," Gaibon shrugged. "Gives you nothing but trouble. I'm an independent gargoyle…"
"He must be an outcast," Rei explained to her friends, her gaze full of distaste. "An outsider who doesn't follow the code of honor like most gargoyle clans do."
"But what's he doing here?" Naru wondered. "Is he working for Carmilla?"
"That stuck-up broad?" Gaibon huffed. "As if! That vampire bitch can do nothing but command you around… my own employer is nowhere as strict as she is. Gives you good pay, too," he snickered.
"So, who is he, then?" Naru asked.
"I don't have to tell you anything, human!" he growled. "The only reason why I haven't mauled you yet is that I am in the company of a lady." And he gave Rei a short bow.
"Sorry, not interested," Rei darkly said. "And if you don't want to tell us, I advise you go someplace else. This graveyard and chapel are sacred places. We don't want any trouble here."
"Tough luck, sweetcheeks," Gaibon smiled. "But I'm supposed to meet a buddy of mine on this graveyard tonight… how should we know that this is the meeting place of 'Girl Monsters In-Training Inc.'?" He laughed at his little joke.
"Well, we don't like you, so get lost!" Usagi commanded. For a moment, she felt like the princess in her was coming to the surface. She LOVED giving others commands.
The male gargoyle didn't seem to be impressed by her order, though. "Sorry, no can do. And I don't like that tone you're giving me, half-breed." He angrily flexed his muscles.
"Are we supposed to be scared of you?" Naru asked, her hand slowly moving towards the handle of her whip.
"Don't get too cocky, little girl," Gaibon hissed. "My buddy will be here any minute… ah, there he is now!"
The sudden rattling of bones made them all jump in surprise. Another figure came stepping through the gravestones. It was a skeletal figure, made of nothing but bones. It resembled a human skeleton, even though it had a long tail and a head resembling that of a pterodactyl. In its bony hands, it was clutching a long spear.
"Slogra, where have you been?" Gaibon asked the newcomer. "Never mind, now that you're here, you can help me teach those brats a lesson."
"Hmmm… sounds like fun," the bone creature cackled. He twirled his spear around as he and Gaibon began to slowly circle the four girls."
"Two on four… and you think you can win?" Makoto asked as she raised her fists.
"Fools!" Solgra shouted. "We have eons of experience on our side! I could easily deal with a dozen of you all by myself!"
"Enough talk…" Gaibon hissed. "Let's show them who's boss…"
And together, the duo attacked. Gaibon flapped his wings as he leapt at Naru, while Slogra thrusted his spear in Makoto's direction. Naru dodged the attack with a skilled backflip and Makoto tried kicking Slogra's spear out of the creature's bony hands. However, he had a firm grip on his weapon and didn't let go. At least she managed to deflect his attack.
Usagi spread her arms. Her cloak fluttered behind her, once again turning into a flock of black bats, which began to swarm around Gaibon.
"Pesky half-breed," the gargoyle growled. He opened his mouth and spat out a couple of fireballs. Most of the bats were scorched by the fire, only a couple of them managed to give him a few scratches and bites. With his own powerful claws, he took them out.
Makoto snarled and tried to punch Slogra, but the skeleton jumped high into the air. Makoto gasped when he landed directly behind her. Before she could turn around, he smacked the shaft of his weapon into her back, sending her flying to the ground.
"Time to scream, little wolfie," Slogra hissed as he approached the groaning Makoto from behind. He raised his spear for the mortal blow… only to be stopped when a whip wrapped itself around his weapon.
Irritated, he looked back to see Naru behind him. "What do you think you are, a Belmont?" he growled as he tried to free his spear from the whip.
Naru smirked. "Exactly!" She pulled out the cross Grandpa Hino had given her and threw it. As Slogra's spear was stuck, he was unable to defend himself against the holy weapon as it hit his ribcage. With a grunt, he dropped on his left knee, but still held onto his spear. But then the cross came flying back and hit his arms. The impact made him lose his grip on the spear, and the weapon fell down to the ground. Naru quickly picked it up and snapped it in half.
"Not so tough without a weapon, are we?" Makoto grinned as she came back to her feet.
"You think you've won? Think again!" Slogra hissed. Throwing a handful of dirt into Naru, he blinded the vampire hunter in-training for a moment before he turned around and threw his body at Makoto. Makoto gasped as she tried pushing back. 'Damn… he's much stronger than he looks,' she thought. 'This won't be as easy as the fight with Karin…'
Meanwhile, Usagi and the two gargoyles had taken flight and circled each other.
"I hate to injure a beauty such as you are," Gaibon shouted. "But you leave me no choice." He exhaled a couple of times and more fireballs came flying at Rei.
Rei growled and opened her mouth as well, spitting fireballs of her own. As they hit Gaibon's fireballs, they cancelled each other out. Then Usagi came diving down at the male gargoyle from above, trying to attack him with a powerful kick.
"Too slow, half-breed," Gaibon chuckled. He grabbed the incoming vampiress with his hand and swung her around a couple of times, until Usagi felt like puking. Then he let go of her, sending her flying into a surprised Rei. Both the vampire princess and her servant then crashed to the ground, in a heap of arms, legs and wings.
"Usagi… take your foot out of my face."
"Only if you quit hitting me with that tail of yours."
Gaibon chuckled. This was going to be easy. The girls might be more powerful than he had anticipated, but they clearly lacked the experience he and Slogra had gained under the service of their master.
"Now for the finishing blow," he chuckled as he inhaled deeply. He wanted to take them out both at once with an extra large fireball.
"Oh no, you don't!" another voice shouted. And out of nowhere, a bright ball of light came flying in front of Gaibon. It was so bright that he had to close his eyes. "Grraaaaahh! I can't see!" And then something hit his head and he found himself falling down to the ground as well.
When Usagi and Rei managed to untangle themselves, they saw their opponent lying on the ground… and in front of him, a floating girl with long, blonde hair was slowly floating to the ground.
A girl whose body was almost completely wrapped with bandages. Usagi blinked in disbelief, but it was true. The only body parts of the girl that were uncovered were her hands, half of her feet and most of her face. The few patches of skin they could see looked somewhat pale, though. The unknown girl was also wearing strange-looking clothes. The only way Usagi could describe them was a white, skimpy robe that somehow made the girl look exotic… even without the bandages. She was also wearing golden bracelets and a golden necklace.
"I didn't want to show myself," the girl said as her feet touched the ground. "But attacking them while they're helpless? That's more than unfair!"
"You undead bitch…" Gaibon growled. "Wait until I get my claws on you…"
"Hey… you all right?" the bandaged girl asked Usagi and Rei.
"Um… yeah, I guess so," Rei muttered as she came back to her feet.
"We're fine," Usagi smiled. "Thanks for the … who are you?"
"Minako, priestess of Isis, at your service," the blonde mummy winked.
"This isn't over yet! I'll make you bitches pay!" Gaibon yelled. "Solgra, give me a hand here!"
There was no response. "Slogra?" Gaibon nervously asked.
Suddenly, his companion came flying through the air, landing next to him as a pile of bones. Gaibon's eyes widened in disbelief. "WHAT?"
Makoto and Naru came next to their friends. Makoto cracked her knuckles and Naru twirled around her whip.
Rei smirked at the male gargoyle. "Not so cocky anymore, are you?"
Gaibon gritted his teeth. "I'll get you for this some day… pray that our master doesn't learn of this…"
"Yeah, then you'll be sorry," Slogra's skull said as he was lying upside down on the ground.
"Gaibon… Slogra… leave these girls alone for now."
"Did… did you hear that?" Usagi asked. "That voice…"
Naru shivered. "Is it just me, or has it become a lot darker and colder all of a sudden?"
"Look!" Rei shouted as she pointed at another figure that appeared behind Gaibon, floating above a big stone cross.
Luna, who had been crouching on a tree during the whole battle, gasped in surprise. "No… it can't be him…"
Gaibon turned around and dropped to his knee. "Lord Death… we've been awaiting your return. Welcome back…" And he bowed his head. Slogra would have done the same, if his body wasn't reduced to a heap of bones.
"Death?" Naru muttered. Could it be? The figure floating in front of them was wrapped in a dark cloak, sure, and it was holding a large scythe… and Gaibon and Slogra were apparently under his command.
Even Minako felt uneasy in the presence of the cloaked being. As an undead, she could feel the powers of Death, moreso than the others. But for some reason… she didn't feel any danger. Normally, her goddess would always warn her if any imminent danger was nearby. But while the hooded figure was certainly dark and powerful, it certainly wasn't a danger to any of them.
"Leave this place," Death told his two minions in a distorted, raspy voice. "I will meet up with you later."
Gaibon bowed his head again. "As you command, master!" He quickly picked up Solgra's head and gave the girls a final glare. "You haven't seen the last of us!" he shouted, then he took off and flew away.
The dark, robed figure slowly came hovering to the ground. The girls were quite nervous, especially Naru. If this was really Death, the personal servant of Dracula, the same Death that her forefathers had fought…
Grandpa Hino fell down to his knees. "Oh please, ancient one!" he pleaded. "Don't take any of these girls with you."
"Stand up," Death said. "I won't take anyone with me this evening."
Hino looked up in surprise. A pair of pale hands were sticking out of the robe's wide sleeves. However… they were not skeleton hands, but instead slender, human hands. They reached up to the cowl and uncovered the figure's face…
"It's a girl!" Rei gasped in surprise.
"I should have known it looked a bit to small to be Death…" Naru murmured.
Luna looked closely at the cloaked girl's face. "But if she's not Death… then who is she? And why does she have this power?"
"I'm sorry for this," the pale girl smiled. "Those two were looking for my father… he disappeared several years ago."
"Uh, that's all right, I guess," Usagi muttered. "But… who are you?"
"Oh, excuse me. My name is Hotaru Tomoe… and I am the daughter of Death."
Everything was silent for a moment.
"Say WHAT?" Naru shouted.
"Again, I am sorry for this," the young girl said as she slowly turned around. "I must leave now…"
"W-wait!" Usagi spoke up as she took a step forwards.
Hotaru looked over her shoulder and smiled. "We will meet again, daughter of Dracula… farewell!"
Then she slowly walked away, her body slowly turning transparent… until she disappeared.
Usagi didn't know what to say.
'Wait a minute…' she then thought. 'Daughter of Drac…'
"LUNA!" she yelled, so loud that Makoto had to cover her sensitive ears. "Get your ass over here!"
The black bat gulped. She had dreaded this moment…
Someone else had watched the whole scene. Laura, servant of Carmilla, leaned against the tree she was hiding behind as she pondered this new turn of events. She didn't know if she should be mad at Death's flunkies for confronting the princess and her allies while she was spying on them, but the appearance of Death's daughter… or at least a being with powers similar to Death that claimed to be his daughter… had taken her by surprise. She knew she was supposed to wait for a good opportunity to take the Eye of Anubis from the werewolf girl… but she also knew her mistress would want to hear about this. And then there was the priestess of Isis… did her appearance have anything to do with Akmodan II? She certainly would have to have a word with the old mummy…
But first… she would have to make sure that Gaibon and Slogra wouldn't do anything stupid that could impede their plans. That duo was far too reckless for her taste.
Author's Notes:
I have to apologize that Ami has yet to make an appearance. I already have plans for her and I wanted her to be in this chapter… but circumstances forced me to change it a bit. I will make sure that she is in one of the next few chapters, I promise.
