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If Belphegor was to be a truthful man he would admit that, with the cool edge of her knife pressing against his pulse, he thought she was going to kill him. He knew Fran would not intervene, his death would come as a relief to the teal eyed teen. If the whole Varia were standing as witnesses to his dire situation not a single member would intervene. If you were weak enough to be held at knifepoint by your younger sibling then you certainly had no place in the Vongola's prized squad of assassins.

So as a drop of sweat slid down the side of his face Belphegor waited for his demise...but it never came. She kept the blade resting lightly over his jugular, feeling his pulse beat steadily against the cold metal as she stared the illusionist down, "You. Why are you just sitting there?"

Fran blinked slowly, his eyebrows raising to disappear under the fringe of his hair, "Hm? Sorry, is there something I should be doing?"

"Isn't he-" she jabbed the thumb of her free hand in the direction of her brother as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "-your comrade?"

Fran hummed lowly in contemplation, resting his chin on his closed fist, "Mm...I suppose so. Yes."

Her shoulders slumped slightly as her confusion grew, "So shouldn't you be trying to, oh I don't know, help him?"

Fran almost laughed at that, "Are you kidding me? He's constantly trying to kill me and making me wear stupid hats. His death would be a relief." With a dismissive wave of his hand he added, "Please continue."

"You fucking toad," Belphegor sneered venomously.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Fran raised his hand and bowed his head slightly, "Please, carry on."

She pursed her lips, glancing back at her brother and pressing her knife harder against his skin, watching his smooth skin dip and give under the pressure. She could almost imagine the way his blood would spray out from the fatal wound, the way he would choke and gasp for air futilely, the way his eyes would madly search out hers, the way she would be able to watch his life drain away as she licked a clean line of red away from the metal of her weapon. The images sent adrenaline pumping through her veins, her heart pounding with an obscene excitement in her chest. But as the first drop of blood seeped over the silver of her knife, as she watched Belphegor's perpetual smile falter she froze. She froze and a rush of memories flooded her skull, clamoring against the sore bone to leave her head pounding. Her hand shook as she pulled it back suddenly, an uneasiness washing over her body as she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat to speak in a voice which carried a faux indifference, "I don't want to anymore."

"Eh?"

She turned toward the teen with a sharp glare, "I refuse to take orders from some kid in a frog hat."

Fran's lips curved downward into a slight frown, "Your idiot brother is the one who makes me wear it."

Said male straightened up with a shrill laugh, his fingers brushing over the small cut marring the otherwise flawless skin of his neck. When he brought his fingers back and saw the crimson substance staining his fingertips his laugh seemed to heighten in both volume and pitch, "I'll have you wearing a full suit for what you said before, you little fuck."

While Fran's frown deepened, Ebony's expression transitioned into one of suspicious distaste, "What kind of fetish is that, Bel?"

The fallen prince turned to her with a mad grin, "Shut up before I kill you, princess."

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips at that comment, "Oh? But who had who at knifepoint just a minute ago?"

"Ah, senpai. She's got you there."

Air whooshed past her ears as she slammed against the hard bark of a tree, her brother's face mere inches from hers as several knifes hung precariously in the air surrounding her head, "A prince never leaves a debt unpaid so in return for not killing me think of this as the only time I won't kill you." The knives dropped suddenly, slipping back into Belphegor's sleeves as they had been propelled on his trademark wires. He stepped back from her, still grinning, "Now..get lost."

A wave of silence washed over the group until Belphegor turned to catch Fran tossing a knife that had been embedded in his shoulder to the ground, "Don't throw those away you snot nosed brat!"

"But senpai, they're stupid looking anyway."

Ebony had failed to move an inch, her eyes drawn away from the red flames continuing to rage on in the forest in front of them to the sight of her brother once more impaling Fran with several well aimed knives. She slumped against the tree, reaching up to rub absently at her throat as she continued to watch on. Knowing full well that she had not heeded his comment, Belphegor turned quickly on his heel and snapped suddenly, "What are you doing? Why are you still here?"

"I can't get inside the Varia hideout alone," was her simple reply.

"Why the hell-"

"To join."

Belphegor went silent while Fran's apathy was replaced by an expression of mild surprise, "You want to join the Varia?"

The blonde's silence continued through Ebony's firm nod. Behind the thick curtain of his hair, his eyes narrowed. He could not understand her motives and he was unsure he wanted to. But if anyone was good at weeding out the useless it would be his boss so with a shrug, he spoke, "Fine. Try and keep up. Fran, you too."

And with that the three moved forward, hightailing it to the hideout with the flicker of Belphegor's storm flames dissipating as the forest thickened. Too much time had already been wasted, they had to hurry back.

"Ne, senpai. Have you ever thought about how your attack hurts the environment?"

The knife in Fran's arm was accompanied by an aggravated, "Shut the hell up!" As the words left his mouth Belphegor slowed down, allowing Fran to lead as they jumped through the trees. This allowed him to fall into step with Ebony...and get a better aim at Fran's back.

Shifting his gaze over to her for a moment Belphegor spoke in an uncharacteristically serious voice, "This isn't a game, Ebony." His smile faded, "This is serious. You can and will die if you aren't careful."

The girl paused momentarily, her gaze set on the maze of branches ahead of her, "I know, Bel."

"Then why are you here? If you know that then why the fuck are you trying to throw yourself into a pack of wolves that live only to rip the others apart?"

"I need something to fight for."

"We're a team by definition, but you can bet every drop of your royal blood that no one will save you when your life is on the line. If a famiglia is what you want then you run back to Vongola Decimo and ask him for a place to stay."

A melancholic grin tilted her lips and for the shortest of moments it made the blonde man feel sick, "I don't believe in things like a famiglia anymore, Bel. I just want something to do and a good way to shed blood." She spared him a glance, her eye twinkling with a madness he recognized too easily, "And I don't think Decimo is all too fond of some old fashion bloodshed, do you?"

At this question Belphegor burst into a howling fit of laughter. Oh, she was mad. She had lost it. She had lost her mind when he ripped her eye from its socket. He had implanted within her the feral taste for blood and look at how addicted she had become. She wanted to join a team of sick assassins all teetering on the edge of a different kind of insanity to sate an obsession with murder, "Oh you stupid girl, you stupid girl."

Ebony merely grinned at that, returning her gaze to the trees, "Stupidity must run in the family," she quipped.

"I think so too," Fran interjected lazily from his place several feet ahead of them. He grunted in the next moment as he felt the impact of two knives sinking into the muscle of his back as the fallen royals behind him sounded an angry chorus of, "Shut up!"

When Fran complained of back pain, Ebony made the easy remark of, "Good," before adding another silver dagger to the collection.

Perhaps she'll do all right, Belphegor thought to himself as he dropped down from the branches without warning. He landed smoothly, giggling to himself as Fran emerged in front of him, hunched over slightly from the number of knives lodged in his upper back. When Ebony (ungracefully) landed beside him, he started trudging toward the doors to the base. He reached out with one hand to grab onto Ebony's upper arm, lugging her alongside him as his other hand dipped comfortably into the pocket of his jacket, "You stay quiet until you're spoken to."

Before she knew it she found herself standing beside her brother and Fran in an unusually lavish room. As her eye roamed over the expansive space she came to notice the grand plush chair behind an impressive mahogany desk was occupied. Occupied by a tall, dark haired man with piercing red eyes, eyes that reminded the princess of drying blood. She had heard of him from Celeste. There was no mistaking the power which seemed to radiate off his muscled body, no mistaking the way his eyes seemed to pierce into her very flesh, no mistaking the stare which seemed alone to be capable of tricking a man into killing himself.

This was the man, the one who was once the candidate to become Vongola Decimo.

Enter: Xanxus.

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