Story Warnings: Some violence and strong language. Mentions of deceased OCs.
Disclaimer: If you recognize any names, terms, or concepts it's because they don't belong to me.
Chapter 5 - Macao
The next half hour passed in a blur of dimensional transfers and darkened, upside-down scenery, from where Jabberwock had thrown Furuichi across his shoulder after becoming frustrated with how slowly the teen was walking. For all that the demon was basically a walking monolith of muscle, his shoulder was quite bony, and it had dug uncomfortably into Furuichi's belly.
Now, he was sat in a plush red armchair in the middle of some kind of lounge room, surrounded on all sides by glowering hell-dwellers. The group of demons that had come to collect him was all there, but several more had joined the procession through dark stone halls by the time they had reached what Agiel mentioned was the squad's break room. All of the pillar Barons had eventually shown up and claimed chairs of their own, and about a dozen other Generals had squeezed in as well, bickering over the last few chairs and leaning against the walls. Even Behemoth had passed by, snickering and waving mockingly before tottering off, muttering something under his breath about over-eager youngsters.
A number of demons had shot Hecadoth nasty looks as they made their way in, but Jabberwock's overwhelming presence was enough to deter any legitimate fights. Despite the lack of overt violence, it was nonetheless a small room filled to the brim with the powerful and aggravated members of a demonic military unit. And Furuichi was in his pajamas in the middle of it all. He sank deeper into the chair, trying to become invisible but failing miserably. He was the focus of the squad's attention, after all, although he was still trying to come to terms with the intensity of their interest.
Jabberwock waited quietly for a few more minutes, blandly watching all the demons who entered the room, before finally speaking up.
"Right, all of you shut the fuck up and settle down." All commotion ceased immediately. Furuichi wondered it was like to command that level of respect.
"You guys all recognize this kid. He's the partner of Prince Beelzebub IV's contractor, and the one who was able to use mine and my old man's power within half an hour, with a few other contracts before and in between. And now he's willing to accept permanent contracts, so you better be damn well sure we're gonna take advantage.
"Most of you will only be a part of the unit contract we're going to form. Me and a couple others will make personal contracts. We're here to decide who those are," Jabberwock grunted. Rustling echoed through the room as demons grumbled and shifted discontentedly. One finally spoke up audibly.
"Sir, he was fine to cycle through contracts before, why can't we all have personal contracts?" called the massive, bearded demon. Furuichi couldn't quite see his face through the cloud of cigar smoke surrounding him, but thought the demon's name might have been Basilisk.
"He's good, but not that good. The strain'll kill him faster than those tissues would have."
"Let's not complain about most not having a personal contract. It's quite amazing that all of us could be part of any contract with him at all," said a demon that looked like an older Lamia.
"Right. So, brat, obviously I'll be your secondary, since Hecadoth jumped the gun and took primary. Any thoughts for your third, fourth?"
Furuichi started. "You mean I actually get a choice in this?"
"You're the one who finally decided to accept contracts, don't act like you've got no say," the massive commander growled. Furuichi paled and flinched back, averting his eyes.
"Sir, he didn't know when I showed up that we were aware of his availability," Hecadoth broke in. A few demons bared their teeth at the sound of his voice, but Hecadoth seemed to take the hostility in stride. If anything, he seemed a little smug at the attention.
Jabberwock paused for a moment and briefly averted his eyes from Furuichi, whom he'd been staring at the whole time, to the smaller demon.
"The fuck do you mean, he didn't know?"
"He was genuinely confused when I arrived, sir, and had no idea that we might be aware he was interested in forming contracts. Or that we might be interested in accepting the offer." There was confused muttering around the room, and Jabberwock's frown deepened. Furuichi was mildly terrified.
"Oi, kid. Why didn't you know we were coming?"
"I– I just didn't? I mean, it's not like I put the word out, or anything. I don't know why Lamia was spreading rumors."
"She must have gotten the idea somewhere, brat."
Furuichi paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, and also to consider the young demon's actions. It had been weeks since Dr. Forcas had recommended forming a demonic contract, so why were they only showing up now? There was no time to contemplate further, though, because the way Jabberwock was staring at him gave Furuichi the impression that the squad commander considered 'patience' as valuable and useful as a rash on his privates.
"Well, um. Hecadoth, and Agiel, you guys know I fought Lucifer and the spellmaster she's contracted with, right? Or, well, not so much fought, as got my ass handed to me and my soul torn out, ripped up, and eaten?"
There was a low whistle from somewhere in the room.
"Yeah, well apparently the whole thing jumbled me up spiritually, and I've been having supernatural issues lately," he said with a vague, dismissive wave of his hand. "Dr. Forcas said that forming a contract with a demon might help somehow. That's how Lamia knew. I… didn't think I'd be able to make a contract, though, so I don't know what's up with you guys," he shrugged.
"What's up with us is that there's no fucking way we're missing out on a sweet deal like this," Agiel grinned.
"That's not– I mean, why do you even want the contracts in the first place?"
"Having a contract with a human makes it infinitely easier to traverse the dimensions, and allows full access to our powers regardless of the dimension. Having you, the contractor, in the human world makes you an invaluable anchor that we can hone in on, almost entirely removing the need for a dimensional transfer demon. That you are able to serve as that anchor for an entire military squad is almost unheard of, and is very convenient," Quetzacoatl called from the back of the room. He towered over the rest of the crowd, apparently having made a seat out of the interlinked arms of Vabam and Schethalim.
"What makes me a good anchor, though? Why do you want me?" Furuichi asked a bit desperately.
"You're so strange," Salamander murmured, not entirely answering his question, resting his chin in the palm of his hand and regarding Furuichi with a broad, eerie smile. "You're a perfectly average human, but you have such resilience to demonic power. You've been able to withstand Prince Beelzebub IV's electricity, you were able to accommodate for the vastly different powers of multiple demons within a very short amount of time, you were even able to successfully hold contracts with our commanders. Strange."
"Well, not so average anymore," he said, choosing to ignore the bit about 'resilience' until he had the chance to contemplate that further. "Last week, I woke up encased in several inches of ice, and a few days ago I almost skewered a classmate with a giant icicle."
"Oh~ That sounds like fun," Agiel grinned into his ear from where she had draped herself over the back of his chair.
"Ice, huh. Naga's the best at dealing with that. Hear that, pipsqueak? You'll get tertiary," Jabberwock grunted.
"Thank you, sir!" Naga said, eyes widening slightly as his posture became somehow even stiffer. The pillars seated around him directed ferocious glares in the small demon's direction.
"Yeah, yeah. Alright, the kid can probably take one more personal contract. I'll let the rest of you bastards make your cases to me and the kid, now." There was an instant uproar. Demons were immediately roaring and thrashing, trying to get close to talk to Furuichi and Jabberwock, and striking one another as they interfered. Furuichi paled and shrunk back as spittle and blood flecked across his arm. Hecadoth shifted from his position beside the chair and moved in front of Furuichi, blocking him from view.
Furuichi could not see his face, but he heard a guttural snarl from the demon as he whipped out a fist and punched a General that Furuichi did not recognize across the jaw, sending the other flying back into the crowd. The display of power seemed to simultaneously enrage and unsettle the other demons, who all snarled at him but made no move to approach again. Instead, they called out to Furuichi, voices all pitched to reach his ears over the cries of the others demons, creating a terrible symphony of guttural voices and furious roars. And then it stopped.
Furuichi remembered the first graphically violent anime movie he'd seen as a child. He couldn't remember the title anymore, but he would never forget the awe he'd felt when the hero of the story – some nameless samurai, alone against the world – had taken on a whole battalion of fully armored enemies. The hero had sliced through armor, flesh, and bone, again and again, as easily as if cutting butter with a hot knife, decapitating and bisecting bodies left and right with imperceptible effort. And Furuichi was reminded of that impossible blade as a single, faint hum rang out across the room, slicing through the cacophony and settling the room into a thick, tense silence.
Every head turned to the simple wooden stool back by the coffee machine, upon which was daintily perched the pink-haired demoness who had spoken up earlier, and who had just cleared her throat. Her shoulders were relaxed, her posture dignified, her smile kind and gentle, but her eyes were inexorable and vicious and promised just as much bloodshed as that childhood movie had splashed about generously.
"Commander, I think it would be in the squad's best interests if I was granted the quaternary contract."
Weren't you the one who scolded everyone for complaining about not getting a personal contract, like, ten minutes ago?! Inner Furuichi screeched. Outer Furuichi was far too intimidated to do anything but try to meld into his chair.
"Granted, Laymia," Jabberwock grunted, seeming unaffected by the sheer violence she was emitting. He slapped his thighs and stood. "Alright, that's that. You ready for more contracts now, kid?" he said, already moving over to Furuichi. The teen threw his arms up defensively.
"Look, guys, just wait. This…isn't really going to work, is it?" Furuichi ventured. It was something that had bothered him since Hecadoth had first appeared in his room back home, and he knew he had to bring it up before things got too much more out of control. He started to rise out of his chair, but a sudden spike in pressure from Jabberwock had him sinking back down, trembling.
"The fuck do you mean." His growl was low and deep and it pierced him to the bone. The demons around him weren't unaffected, either. Agiel sagged more fully against his chair, and Hecadoth swallowed audibly beside him. Even those further away seemed to lean more against the walls or their own chairs.
"It– it's an issue of allegiance," Furuichi persevered, trying to swallow but finding his throat dry and his tongue thick. "My loyalty belongs to Oga, who is Baby Beel's father, so of course I support Beel as the next Demon Lord. But you guys support En." He hadn't been interrupted yet, he thought gratefully, and that gave him confidence. He shifted a bit under the terrifying pressure of Jabberwock's power and leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. He stared straight at the demon commander, although he kept his gaze focused on the demon's eyebrows, not quite confident (or suicidal) enough to meet his dark, furious eyes. He pressed on, unaware of the compelling image he made, bright-eyed and intent even in the face of an enraged monster.
"I will do everything in my power to oppose you if you try to harm Oga or impede Beel. Do not doubt that for a moment. You guys might think that having me as a contractor places you in a good position to use my friendship with Oga against him, but remember that I'll also be in position to deny you access to the human world and to report your movements to our army, for counteraction. That kind of mutual distrust doesn't make for a good partnership, does it." He did not phrase it as a question.
The pressure Jabberwock was emitting lightened a bit, and the massive demon surveyed him quietly, intently. He spoke after a moment.
"Our loyalty lies with Lord En, regardless of whether he is our official sovereign. Nothing will ever change that. However, the Demon Lord has officially declared Prince Beelzebub IV as his successor. We are bound to serve him as our future king. The Demon Lord has further issued an order of noninterference with the prince's activities in the human world," Jabberwock said, his voice monotone, but his eyes alight with something Furuichi could not identify.
Furuichi surveyed him, looking for any hint of lying. He did not think Jabberwock was much for deception; he gave the impression of being a fighting idiot like Oga and Toujou, but he would not be the commander of Behemoth's Pillar Squad without having some mind for tactics, right? He could not definitively assess the demon's honesty right now, however, as he knew almost nothing about him. What he did know was that he had make the decision right now, in this moment, of whether to take a leap of faith. He did not notice the hushed, anticipatory silence that resounded through the room, every demon starkly intent on the confrontation and waiting with baited breath for his response.
"…Then there's no problem."
"Excellent." A slow, vicious smile spread across Jabberwock's face, and he resumed stalking over to Furuichi. "Naga, Laymia. Up here," he called offhandedly as he reached forward and snagged Furuichi's collar. With a single, sharp motion, too fast for Furuichi's eyes to follow, he ripped his hand away. The seams of the shirt tore with the sudden, sharp force, and Furuichi yelped as the fabric of the collar dug into the back of his neck. The shredded shirt came away with the demon commander's hand, leaving the teen half-naked. He was too shocked by the sudden move to be modest. A low whistle caught his attention.
"Whew, Heca. That's a helluva contract. It's so big~" Agiel cooed, poking at his shoulder which Hecadoth had bitten, now caked with dried blood. Furuichi turned his head to try to assess the damage. He could clearly see a set of puncture marks from the demon's teeth in the very middle of a replica of the mark tattooed onto Hecadoth's face. He was surprised to see how large it was, so much more so than Oga's contract mark. The shorter arms of the symbol stretched across the width of his shoulder, from the base of his neck to the shoulder joint, and the longer arms darkened the flesh of his left pectoral, almost down to his nipple. He assumed it stretched the same distance down his back.
"Little shit," Jabberwock muttered. "He would have been able to make more than four personal contracts if you hadn't been so stingy, Hecadoth." The demon offered no response to the accusation, only allowing his answering smirk to err on the side of extremely fucking smug. Almost imperceptibly fast, Naga's arm whipped out to land a small, but heavy, fist in Hecadoth's gut. He doubled over, gasping, but his smile did not fade. Jabberwock rolled his eyes and turned to regard Naga and Laymia.
"My contract's going on his right hand. Pick your own places," Jabberwock said to Naga and Laymia.
"Do you have a preference, Furuichi?" Laymia questioned. Whatever violent bloodlust she had displayed earlier had faded, and the warm smile she gave him was reflected in her spring-green eyes. Furuichi sighed despondently.
"No, anywhere's fine. S'not like I'll ever be able to wear a swimsuit in public after this. Everyone's gonna think I'm some kind of punk…"
"You are some kind of punk," Hecadoth snorted, rolling his eyes. Furuichi scowled at him.
"Then I'll mark your left upper arm," Laymia said, just as Naga muttered, "right shoulder."
Almost simultaneously, the three demons brought a gloveless hand to their mouths and sliced open a finger on a fang. Again, nearly in tandem, they gouged a bloodied claw into the flesh they'd chosen to mark. Furuichi tensed and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain that had accompanied the contract formation with Hecadoth, only tripled, this time. He did not have to wait long.
A violent surge of sharp energy coursed through him, as though he'd taken hold of a livewire, filling his senses with ozone and acrid smoke. He gasped, entire body seizing and snapping to attention, and then relaxing past his ability to control. He collapsed limply back against his chair as the feeling passed. But there was no pain. Just an overwhelming feeling of sheer sensation, unpleasant in its own right, but far from the terrible burning of the first contract. His first instinct was to ask if something had gone wrong, but the exultant, self-satisfied expressions on the three demons' faces told him otherwise.
"Why didn't it hurt this time?" he asked dazedly, woozy from the intense sensation. Jabberwock snorted.
"It's like fucking, kid. First time always hurts for the recipient." Furuichi flushed deeply. He wondered how much it had hurt for Oga to become contracted with Beel, but figured the badass wouldn't have even noticed the pain of the contract forming beyond the pain of the baby's temper tantrum that day.
"Also, I was…rough. I panicked when I felt the others coming, and did not take the care I should have. Sorry," Hecadoth admitted. Furuichi stared, aghast. Stop making it sound like you took my virginity, you shitty demon!
"Alright, that's settled. Someone find a room for the kid; let him sleep on the contracts. We'll get down to business tomorrow. Hear that, you fuckers? Meeting adjourned! Anddon't forget to give blood for the unit contract. We'll do that tomorrow, too," the commander barked as he forced his way out through the crowd. Not that he had to do much forcing, of course. The horde of pillars parted like the ocean before a vessel as he walked.
Hecadoth turned to Furuichi, gripped his upper arm, and lifted him bodily out of the chair. The teen swayed alarmingly on his feet for a moment, but was able to catch himself, mostly because the idea of steadying himself on any of the demons around him made his temples break out in a light sweat.
"There should be a room available in the northern wing, where travelling dignitaries stay," Laymia offered, resting a gloved hand on his bare shoulder and guiding him towards the door.
"We've hosted foreign dignitaries?" Naga murmured contemplatively, falling into step with the other two demons and Furuichi.
"Well, no," Laymia admitted. "At least not in the northern wing. We usually put them in the dungeons. But! The rooms are there, and on the plus side, you know that they've never been used!"
"Which is good, because there's no one here who would have washed the sheets," Hecadoth grunted as the four continued into the hallway.
Now that he was no longer being toted around upside down, Furuichi could see that Behemoth's 34th Pillar Squad was…boring. The hallways were narrow, damp passageways of dark gray stone, cold and stark, and the few windows were too narrow and too high up to see much beyond glimpses of bizarrely colored landscape and lethal looking wildlife. Furuichi crossed his arms over his bare chest and tried to unsuccessfully suppress a shiver. They walked in silence, before the discomfort of the situation prompted the silver-haired teen to speak up with a question that had been teasing vaguely at his mind.
"Why are you guys being so…courteous about this?" Hecadoth cast him a bemused look, while Laymia regarded him with a strange sort of concerned curiosity. Naga ignored them.
"What do you mean?" Hecadoth asked.
"I mean, you asking to make sure I wanted the contract back in my room, and then Jabberwock letting me have input into the other personal contracts. Why aren't you just making the contract, if it's so convenient?" Hecadoth snorted, and Laymia gave a light laugh. Naga continued to ignore them.
"I thought you were asking a serious question. Don't mess around, kid," the tallest demon said, losing interest in Furuichi's attempt at conversation.
"Wait! I'm serious. Why not just force it, like you were gonna do to Kunieda-senpai?"
"Eh? I was just fucking around with your little friend. It wouldn't have worked for a legitimate contract if I had just taken that girl's blood. It would have given me a minor, temporary power boost at best."
"Any contract worth talking about is consensual," Naga interjected finally. He came to a stop as they approached a staircase. "And this is as far as I'm going." Without further acknowledgement, the blue-haired demon broke off from the group and disappeared up the stone steps.
"Ah, this is where I leave you as well. The quarters of the pillar Barons are all on the third floor of the 34th Headquarters, if you ever need to find someone. The fourth floor has Behemoth and Jabberwock's suites, as well as the war room and library. The pillar General quarters are on the second floor. Grunt pillars have barracks on the first basement level, east wing, and the guest rooms are in the north wing. I'll leave the tour of the first floor to Hecadoth when he picks you up tomorrow morning promptly at seven for breakfast." Laymia's smile was gentle and sweet and gave absolutely room for disobedience, the threat of casual disembowelment lurking behind narrowed grass-green eyes.
She waved goodbye and started to follow Naga up the stairs, but paused halfway and turned back. "Oh, and Hecadoth, find some appropriate clothes for our contractor, hmm?"
Hecadoth and Furuichi watched her blankly as she continued on her way, united in a vague sensation of fear-induced paralysis. Hecadoth was the first to recover.
"Shit. Looks like I'm sharing you with some scary bastards," he sighed, eyeing the teen askance.
"Please don't phrase it like that," Furuichi said weakly. He stumbled and squawked when the demon pressed a large hand against his shoulder blades to direct him towards the downward staircase.
AN: Welp, here's Furuichi's Trip to Hell, pt 1. And it's early, too! Don't expect the next chapter to come quickly, though, sorry. A note about the rankings: I've seen the pillar squad ranked in several different ways based on the various translations, but for consistency's sake I'm going to go with the system used by the Beelzebub Wiki, where the Barons report to the Commander (Jabberwock) and the Generals report to the Barons.
Anywho~ Hope you enjoyed it, until next time!