Disclaimer - I do not own DGM nor any of the characters.
Chapter Twenty - Battle… Real or Fake?
As he made his way through the forest, gazing around every so often, the Musician's thoughts were focused on the 'battle' that was about to be fought. It had to appear realistic, owing to the fact that he was going to have Timcanpy hide himself away and record the entire affair. Which was why he had every intent not to go easy on the red headed Exorcist. After all he didn't know exactly how good any of the Exorcists could act and this had to be believable or his life, as well as the lives of all those involved, would be in danger.
A smirk played across the face of the Musician as he thought about the prospect of beating a little sense into the red haired Exorcist. As far as he could tell that was the one major plus side to this plan that Lyssa had hatched. In order to make the battle believable he would actually have to land blows. Because Lord Millennium was well aware of his powers, if not the full extent of them.
"This should be mildly entertaining," Nicholas thought to himself idly as he continued to walk. His pace was casual and yet at the same time deliberate… he knew exactly where he was going but didn't want it to seem that way.
Just in case.
"Oh," Road whined to herself as she followed along behind her brother. It seemed like they had been walking forever, and at an unbearably slow pace on top of everything. Road had to hang back in order to remain hidden from her observant sibling, which was only making the situation that much worse. And making her regret her decision to follow him. "This is SO boring… I should have stayed behind and found someone else to play with."
She'd been hoping that her brother would lead her to something interesting but it was beginning to appear as though he had merely been going out for a stroll. This wasn't wholly unlike him and for a moment Road debated turning around and returning to the Ark. She paused however as she watched her sibling come to an abrupt halt.
Golden eyes widened in mild surprise as her gaze fell upon a familiar, red haired figure. The Noah girl perked up immediately at the sight, now grateful that she had opted to follow her brother when he had departed. It seemed as though it was going to be worth it after all. A smile spread across her face as she felt the anticipation build. "This is going to be good…"
"You…" Nicholas made certain to keep his voice calm and devoid of any trace of emotion that might give him away. Timcanpy was hidden and recording this encounter and the Musician prepared to give the performance of his life. A smirk spread across his face as Cross turned to face him, his own features marred by a disapproving scowl.
"Who the hell are you?" Cross demanded, a convincing look on his face that was a mixture of mild confusion and great annoyance.
Stepping forward Nicholas inclined his head ever so slightly to the red haired general who stood a few yards away. "Greetings Exorcist… all that you need know about me is that I am the instrument of your demise."
Cross' gaze briefly swept over the young man, a disdainful expression in his one visible eye. "You don't look like much brat… turn and walk away unless you enjoy pain."
The Musician briefly thought about the 'sister' that he had left behind and he was unable to suppress a smirk. "Pain is an inevitability and something that you grow accustomed to in time… not that I think you're much of a threat."
Reaching down Cross drew a large gun from the holster that he wore at his side, raising it so that the barrel was pointed squarely at the mahogany haired youth. "We'll see just how accustomed to it you are." Having said this Cross pulled the trigger several times in rapid succession, launching a volley of bullets in Nicholas' direction.
In the blink of an eye the Musician shifted to his 'black' persona, his skin paling at the same time that his eyes turned golden and little cross shaped stigmata seemed to etch themselves across his forehead. Holding up his right hand haunting music seemed to fill the air as Nicholas brought the bullets to an abrupt halt. Acting as though they had struck something, despite the fact that nothing was visible, the bullets exploded. A smirk spread across his face as he turned his gaze back to the Exorcist, an arrogant look held in his golden eyes as he taunted the man. "Oh, I don't think I'll be able to cope with the flesh searing pain."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Cross snarled, appearing genuinely surprised by the fact that Nicholas had so effortless negated his attack. The bullets of his gun, Judgment, never missed their target and yet the brat had managed to bring them to a halt without so much as batting an eyelash. A fact that truly annoyed him.
Nicholas grinned as he realized that he had, however inadvertently, struck a real nerve with Cross. The man seemed beyond angry over the fact that his attack had failed. "Oh I apologize, was that supposed to be an actual attack? I thought you were merely playing around."
Unable to resist the urge to laugh out loud as she listened to the taunts that the Musician was directing at Cross, Road was forced to clamp her hand down over her mouth rather hard. That was the only thing that prevented her from bursting into raucous laughter and revealing the fact that she was hiding.
A fact that she knew would anger Nicholas… so it was just better if he never learned that she was here.
Because even the Noah of Dreams had things that she was afraid of and was fairly certain that Nicholas would capitalize on his knowledge in this area. A decidedly disconcerting thought however you chose to look at it.
Cross was forced to grit his teeth as the heard these words from the brat and, for a moment, he was tempted to forget that this wasn't an actual fight. He had been dying to wipe that smug expression off the Musician's face since the first time that they had met and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that. With this thought in mind he once again leveled his gun in the brat's direction. "You're going to pay for that comment brat."
Completely unconcerned Nicholas merely waved off this threat. "I'll believe that one when I see it Exorcist." The young Noah had to resist the urge to call him Marian, since this would make it appear as though the two of them were familiar with one another. But since this was his favorite way of getting under the man's skin it was proving slightly difficult to do so. He actually had to bite his tongue a time or two in order to keep that particular taunt out of the equation.
"I'm going to kill you," Cross snarled, once again raising his weapon and firing several shots in rapid succession. The bullets flew toward the Noah, their course set and their target in sight.
"Such determination," Nicholas said, humming a tune as he eyed the bullets. He was well aware of the fact that the bullets fired from Judgment wouldn't cease until they found their target… or were destroyed. And it was the second option that Nicholas was putting his money on. As the Musician hummed golden threads appeared around him, seizing the bullets before they managed to strike their intended target. The bullets exploded harmlessly mere feet away from the young Noah, who continued to wear a smirk.
Despite the fact that he hadn't wanted to go along with this plan of action the Musician was forced to admit to the fact that he was actually enjoying himself to a small degree. It was always fun to infuriate Cross, there was a vein that popped up on the side of his forehead whenever he got really mad.
As was currently the case.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, you stupid brat…" These words were snarled in a feral tone and for a moment the grin that Nicholas wore faltered. His golden eyes shifted to Cross and he was stunned as the man actually lowered his gun… a second before he rushed forward. Taken aback by this rather abrupt change in tactics the young Noah didn't react in time to prevent himself from being tackled. He issued a small grunt as his body slammed into the ground, rather hard.
And it was in this moment that Lyssa and Maria chose to make their appearance. The two female Exorcists ran forward, weapons drawn as they approached the two fighting males. Not having realized that they were going to intervene in this moment Nicholas made an attempt to free himself but Cross weighed quite a bit more than he himself so it was proving to be a difficult feat.
"Get your fat ass off of me you damn Exorcist," Nicholas snarled in a low tone, attempting to free his pinned arms.
"Master Cross!" Lyssa could tell, by virtue of the vein that was protruding on his forehead, that perhaps Nicholas had taken their fight a little more seriously than he should have. She had to force herself to act the part that she had given herself, holding up her violin and focusing her gaze on the Musician.
It was his move.
Or at least that's what she had previously thought however it proved not to be the case as someone new rushed forward, joining the party uninvited. This unexpected guest was a young girl, dressed in a black and white Lolita dress, with short hair and a decidedly unhappy look on her face. At first glance she appeared to be a petulant child but this first impression proved false as her skin tone turned ashen and her eyes shifted to a glaring golden. "Get your filthy hands off my brother," she snarled, glaring at Cross as she raised her hands and summoned several brightly colored, and sharp pointed, candles.
Nicholas had only been pinned for a matter of minutes but he groaned in dismay as he heard the voice of Road. Using Cross' moment of surprise to his advantage he gained his freedom, shoving the larger male away and leaping to his feet. Things had just gotten complicated, what with the unforeseen and completely unwelcome arrival of Road, and Nicholas' mind raced in an effort to come up with a plan.
Before things escalated from bad to worse.
"Road, I…"
The Musician was unable to complete this sentence due to the fact that Road abruptly turned toward him, seizing him by the arm and pulling him forward. Once again holding out her hand the Noah girl summoned one of her doors, through which she proceeded to drag her very startled brother. Once they were safely inside her domain Road turned toward her brother, a sympathetic expression in her eyes. "That didn't go so well huh Nicky-pet?"
Growling low in his throat Nicholas reached up and ran his hands through his silvery gray hair. "I can't believe that I allowed her to follow me," he thought to himself, wanting to punch himself for having been so unimaginably stupid. His goal was to protect the woman that he cared for desperately and yet his stupidity had inadvertently led one of his siblings, and the most sadistic one at that, right to her. "How could I not have known that she was there? She could have hurt Lyssa and it would have been my fault."
Thinking that he was merely upset because the Exorcists had gotten the better of him Road reached out a hand, placing it on the Musician's shoulder in a comforting gesture. She had been angry with him when he had decided to ditch her in order to go after his own pursuits but now she was willing to forgive him. "Don't worry about it Nicky-pet, you'll get those filthy Exorcists the next time."
Resisting the urge to bash his head into the nearest wall Nicholas gazed down at the Noah girl. "Could you just kill me now and get it over with?"
"Don't worry about it," Road said again, wrapping her arms around him. "Like I said, you'll get them next time and I won't tell Lord Millennium anything about this."
For some reason her words were less than reassuring to the mahogany haired youth. Shaking his head Nicholas began walking away from her. "I think I'm going to go and lie down."
For once Road didn't make an attempt to stop her sibling; she merely watched as he walked away. After he had summoned the door to the Ark and disappeared the girl paused to think about the situation that she had just witnessed. Nicholas had been in control of the fight until that red headed fool had tackled him and then those other Exorcists had shown up. The Noah of Dreams was fairly certain that they could have defeated the Exorcists, despite being out numbered, but something about the look in the Musician's eyes had made her decide against that course of action.
But looking back on the situation there was something about it that bugged her just the tiniest bit. The Exorcist had gained the upper hand, if only for the briefest of moments, so why hadn't Nicholas opted to use his secret weapon?
"Why didn't he summon the Ark?"
A/N - End of another chapter and Nicky-pet had to be 'rescued' by Road… I foresee that coming back to haunt him later. Actually I foresee a lot of things coming back to haunt him later. Anyway, hope that you enjoyed the chapter.