Uh…Emma-sempai, ya might wanna sleep sometime…its very good for you, I promise…but thanks for the kudos. For the whole ritual and other things, this is in the manga, I'm not making this up. Okay, the characters obviously are, and I'm taking some artistic license for the coloring, but on the whole this is all canon.
January 20, 2014
What are you talking about? I'm a Witch –blasphemy is our job.
-Medusa, Soul Eater Volume 17
Hazel's POV:
"ALRIGHT YA LITTLE RHINO-HEADED FREAK, COUGH IT UP! WHERE'S THE BLACK MASS!" DK roared, shaking Excalibur rapidly by his grip on the strange weapon's collar. His voice made the very cave rumble, a stalagmite crashing down as I squeaked and scampered away, hiding behind Akuma as he watched DK with a slight smirk on his face. Excalibur bonked his cane a few against DK's head warningly. "Stress is one of the leading forms of dandruff you know." DK's eye twitched as a vein popped out on his forehead. "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT STRESS AND DANDRUFF, NOW SPIT IT OUT! WHERE IS IT?!" he bellowed, shaking him up and down now as the white creature blurred. The moving blur that was our only hope to find Kage commented absently "My legend dates back to the Twelfth Century you know." DK threw him off to another point in the cave with a roar of anger. "I ALREADY BLOODY KNOW THAT YOU USELESS FREAK! YATTE YATTE YATTE KUTABARE!" he swore, slamming his fists against the pillars of stone as a dust cloud rose up, chips of rock flying past us.
"Uh…is he okay?" I asked timidly, peeking around the Nightstalker, and Akuma folded his arms, watching the dust cloud neutrally. "You forget; he's the physical embodiment of Rage. He keeps it under control most of the time, but when you do make him lose his temper, he does it spectacularly." he said with a dry smile, and I grinned hesitantly, seeing DK continue punching his way through the cones and pillars of stone. "Uh huh. I can see that." Kid sighed wearily next to me, pinching the bridge of his nose. "How many attempts does this make?" Akuma snickered as I slumped. "Thirteen." We said in unison, Akuma with a grin and me with a moan. Kid growled impatiently, running his hand up his face and through his bangs. "Thirteen times he's started asking politely and thirteen times he's lost his temper and gone berserk. We better get results soon or this is going to give me a headache."
I yelped as a large chunk of rock flew through the air, narrowly missing Kid's head as he ducked, looking surprised. DK stomped towards us, sticking his finger in the reaper's face. "OH YOU'RE GOING TO GET A HEADACHE ARE YOU?! WELL EXCUSE ME REAPER, I'M TRYING AS BEST I CAN, WHICH IS THE ONLY REASON THIS CAVE HASN'T CAVED IN ON YOUR UNGRATEFUL HEADS!" he screeched, making violent gestures with his hands as his eyes blazed, making me hide behind Akuma again. "AND ANOTHER THING! IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER, THERE ARE MORE THINGS AT STAKE THAN YOUR PRECIOUS SKULL! KAGE COULD BE BEING TORTURED OR DEAD RIGHT NOW, AND THAT FREAK-" He pointed violently to wherever he had thrown Excalibur as I saw the tall top hand weaving proudly through the stalagmites. "-IS THE ONLY CHANCE WE HAVE TO FIND HER!"
Kid looked down at his feet, and I saw him trembling as an angry glint came into his eyes. I quickly looked over to Akuma, seeing his eyes spark with annoyance, irritably starting to move and calm both of the males down. DK's wavelength is affecting both of them without any of them knowing it…Akuma usually stays out of the verbal spats with Kid, and Kid seems way too laid back to get angry, even about this. I realized, quickly stepping between them all as I tried to somehow spread my clearheaded thinking to the pissed guys. "How about we just all calm down? DK, why does it have to be you to ask him? Can I?" I asked cajolingly, and the demon halted, his eyebrows knitting together irritably as Kid stopped trembling and Akuma stepped back. Thanks kid. That could've turned nasty; I hadn't realized I was letting it leak out to you guys. I jumped slightly as he spoke mind-to-mind, giving me a quick grin as he cracked his knuckles. "Well, women are famed for their negotiation skills. Let's go bash some skulls." he said wickedly, slinging an arm over my shoulders and practically dragging me over to the now-recovered Excalibur, his cane planted firmly in the floor as his wacky eyes stared blankly up at me. "FOOLS."
"Erm…hi." I said back, feeling uncomfortable as DK dropped his arm from my shoulders, already tapping a foot against the floor grumpily. "So, do you know where the Black Mass is?" I asked pleadingly, and he whirled away, stabbing his cane into empty air. "FOOL! Of course I do. He's in the Book of Eibon, in one of the deepest chapters." DK growled as a tick mark appeared on his head. "AND YOU COULDN'T HAVE JUST TOLD ME THAT?!" he roared, and I sharply tugged on his shoulder as he sucked in a deep breath, mumbling demonic swear words under his breath as I led him back to the others. "Excalibur said he was in the Book of Eibon. Who has it?" I asked bluntly, and Kid looked at Akuma askance as DK cradled his forehead. "While I'm flattered by the idea, Nightstalker don't own EVERY legendary item in the magical world. The Book of Eibon was lost a long time ago, but the DWMA has a manuscript, don't you?" Akuma said irritably, looking at Kid, who blinked. "I don't know…if we do, it's probably in the restricted section for Death Scythes and high ranking meisters." he said in surprise, and Akuma cracked his knuckles, stretching as he did so. "Well, let's go report in and ask what's what."
DK's POV:
"So let me get this straight. One of my most powerful allies has been captured by a fragment of another Great Old One, and you want the manuscript of the Book of Eibon we have to get into the original book."
"Uh huh."
"Which is basically like hacking the program of one of the most clever computer engineers out there."
"You got it."
"And the book is inhabited by all sorts of monstrous creatures, as well as in the possession of someone unknown to even you?"
"Yup."
"And you're going to have to come out of the real book, in whomsoever owns it's lair when you're done?"
"If we survive, yeah."
"And you want to bring my son with you."
"Mm-hmm."
"I have one and only one thing to say to you."
"I'm a genius?"
"REAPER CHOP!"
"YATTE! That hurt…" I whined, rubbing my head as Lord Death pulled his hand back, fuming. Hazel stood beside me, I-told-you-so energy radiating off her as Akuma flanked me on my other side, looking warily up at the Reaper in case the furious god decided he needed disciplining as well. Kid had my back, sitting calmly in his gold chair as his weapons flanked him. "Look buddy, the idea doesn't exactly make me leap with joy either, but if you want your son to live without a broken heart and us to get your only link to the Nightstalker back, you'll do what we say. I for one am definitely not going to be sticking around if you say no, and neither is Akuma. You know we'll just steal the book anyway, so why not pretend you actually went along with the notion?" I snapped, folding my arms pettishly, and he poked me with his giant white finger.
"How am I to know you can perform such a complicated spell?! DEMONS AREN'T KNOWN FOR THEIR SPELLCRAFT!" he roared angrily, and I flinched away as both Akuma and Hazel put their hands on my shoulders, keeping me from fleeing as I was sorely tempted to do. Just because I happened to like the people here and was on their side didn't mean I wasn't still a demon, and the demonic and the divine do not exactly make the best allies. "YOU GOT A BETTER IDEA!? 'CAUSE IF YOU DO, I'D SURE AS HELL LOVE TO HEAR IT! AKUMA CAN CAST A SPELL NO PROB, AND IF HE NEEDS HELP HE CAN CALL IN LOCK AND THE OTHERS!" I bellowed back, the thin strands of my temper snapping like twigs as a red haze covered my vision, my body shaking as power thrummed through it, heady and strong. The Reaper glowered down at me, a tense contest of wills taking place as Kid sighed. "Father, please. It is the best plan we have, and I don't think there are many things that can beat a Reaper, a Great Old One, and a Nightstalker." he coaxed, and Lord Death irritably backed down as I grinned viciously.
"Don't make any wise cracks, or I'll split your head open with my Reaper Chop!" he barked irritably, bonking me on the top of the head with his white hand as I grinned and bore it. "What ever would give you such an idea, oh Lord of Death?" I asked innocently, and he gave me a withering look as Hazel punched my shoulder. "So, what's the plan?" he finally asked wearily, folding his arms as I relaxed just the tiniest bit, taking a similar stance. "Me, Akuma, and Kid all come into the Book with our weapon partners, no other support. We're only taking him because he has the hots for Kage." I said, jabbing a thumb over my shoulder as Lord Death got a tick mark and I heard Kid growl. "There's some trials and tribulations, but on the whole all we have to do is wander through the book until we get to the deepest chapters, where Excalibur says the Black Mass is. We ask it to cough up how to get Kage away from Arro and/or kill the creep, then launch ourselves out and either talk or fight our way out of the lair of whomsoever is in possession of the book. Easy peasy lemon squeezy." I said dismissively, closing my eyes as I explained, and I heard a weary sigh. "Fine. Get to work, and you better come back with answers."
***Time Skip***
"Hey guys. What're the newbies doing here?" I asked, sitting cross-legged on my designated part of the circle as Lock cracked open an eye, our newest maybe-members sitting on the outside of the magic symbols, looking nervous. "Can it DK, I need to concentrate. They're here to see how we work." she barked, and I smirked, leaning back with my hands on my knees. "I dunno, maybe it's just your time of the month again." I said slyly, and she glared at me with one eye twitching as behind her, Shock made a frantic "shut up before she blows" motion with his hands, his eyes panicked. I sighed and closed my eyes, shutting up as I rocked back and forth, Hazel sitting next to me nervously as Kid sat across from us, Akuma on my left as Lock continued to mutter spells –and curses– under her breath, her brothers also on the outside of the circle. "Now pinpointing coordinates. DK, start using your demonic ass for something useful and give us power." she barked, and I rolled my eyes, relaxing my soul and allowing my power to leak out over the circle as Akuma twitched slightly, sweat sliding down the side of his face.
"Saa ne so, ne so sa, saa ne so, ne so sa. Be thou bound by the incantations of the sorcerer Rerené Descartes…Magic Calculation!" Lock muttered, and I shifted uneasily as glowing power lines raced along the sigils and lines, feeling antsy. "Keep it together DK…" Akuma murmured from my other side, and I sucked in a deep breath, trying to ease out my tense muscles. Hazel opened her mouth and without looking at her I hissed "Demons are inherently wary of magic circles; magicians and witches haven't exactly used them to be our best friends in the past." She closed her mouth sheepishly, and a red glow sprang up around us as the spell continued to build in power. "1…2…4…10…Demon Book Analysis, clear." Lock whispered, and Akuma panted on my other side "Transversing Radiation…"
"Transversing Inverse Radiation…"
"Preliminary calculations complete."
"Maintain magic power at 70 magic joules."
I watched in silence as the book flipped open, a bright orange light bursting from it as Hazel squinted, the magickers on either side of me continuing to mutter. "Ready for this kid?" I asked her in a whisper, and she nodded weakly. "Commence dive!" Lock suddenly shouted, scrambling back, and I grabbed Hazel's hand, pulling her forward as Akuma and Kid lunged forward as well. My hand wrapped around Kid's as Akuma grabbed Hazel's other hand, and I waited tensely as the book hummed and pulsed, then jolted as my body turned to smoke, black smoke. Akuma was lighter but still dark grey, and both Kid and Kage were a pure white. So I suppose we are tainted visibly, compared to the others. I thought with a morbid chuckle, feeling the book begin to draw us in.
11.22 AM, USA Central Time
Uh…that's really all from me for right now. I may be slower to update for at least a chapter after this, because I have up to Book 17 and they only jump into the Book of Eibon in the last…oh, maybe ten or twenty pages? And the next one's coming out in English in about a week, so I can at least buy that off the bat, since I have enough money now. But you may be delayed, so take that into consideration. Online translations would be nice if I could find them though, so please suggest any if you have them. Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!