Ch 2: Fresh Foot Forwards
"Eight points Larynx, Spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Which one will I choose today, hehehe."
The squad of High Class-Devils felt a shiver run up their spines at the disembodied baritone voice they heard scattered through the mist.
The leader, one Rosaline Seere, growled in frustration at the thick mist. She pointed to the member in the back, Wulling Cimerius a son of one of the lesser pillar families, and yelled out a command to him. "Blow this mist away! Serafall is still here, and I will not allow her to escape."
He nodded quickly. Practiced in all forms of magic, as was the trait of the Cimerius family, a light green magic circle appeared on both sides of him, and out pulsed twin blasts of wing. The mist was pushed back, but it quickly rolled back into the spaces it was displaced.
Confusion was written on Wulling's face. That couldn't be right. He might not be the most advanced in wind magic, but was proficient. The spell should have blew the mist away.
At the expectant look of the team leader, he tried again, but only found similar results.
"What, can't even do a simple wind spell correctly?" she snapped at him.
Wulling swallowed down his embarrassment, but couldn't look her in the eye. "I-its the mist, ma'am. It is too thick. The magic that created it is too powerful for a simple wind spell to overcome," he explained meekly.
A pattering of feet interrupted whatever response Rosaline was about to give. That silenced any conversation, as the Devils readied themselves for a fight…
But none came to them.
Silence ensued once more.
It was an eerie silence. One that put you on edge, made you jumpy and paranoid. He strained his enhanced hearing to its limits to try to get a lock on whoever was causing this thick mist. He saw rather than heard the mist sway right next to his comrade and he called it out.
"To your right!" He yelled and blasted out a magic missile. The bolt of magic whiffed and darted through the mist hitting nothing. The other three turned to him, and glared.
"Don't be throwing magic around right next to me, you dumbass," he growled lowly at him and threateningly held up his chain covered fists.
Wulling shrinked back from the intimidating Devil.
"I'm sorry. I thought I…"
He tapered off from his apology as a sound hit his ears. What was that noise? It sounded like…
"Get down!" Their final member yelled. The swordsman grabbed Rosalie and pulled her to the ground, Wulling dove as fast as he could, and prepared his magic.
A giant weapon came whirring through the air at a blurring speed. It was flying through the mist one second and in the next it was out of their sight.
He rose slowly as the other two did, and assessed his condition. He was still in one piece.
In the next moment he was splattered with blood, and a head hit the ground soon after. It landed with a dull thwack, and the body teetered for a moment before collapsing bonelessly onto the ground.
"What the fuck was that?!" He heard yelled, but he was too caught up staring at the dead eyes of the severed head on the ground. He...they…
He looked up, saw his other comrades moving back to back, and snapped out of his daze. He needed to-
"Boo."
He couldn't even release a noise his throat was seized, and he was yanked away from his comrades. He struggled frantically. No! Please no!
He felt a hand the hands pull, and he knew no more.
A silent crack was let off, and Zauza lowered the body to the ground silently, neck snapped.
Well that's two down, Zabuza thought to himself. Two more to go. He dashed back into the mist, more silent than a whisper.
She didn't know what was going on. Everything was going according to plan. They had the bitch dead to rights before this fucking mist showed up. She stood back to back with her partner. She knew his sword was at the ready, and she had her magic at her fingertips. They heard movement and turned just in time to see the mist swallow another one of them whole.
"What the fuck is happening right now?" She hissed out under her breath. She had just lost two elite Devils in the matter of seconds. That was unacceptable. They were highly trained High Class-Devils.
"We aren't afraid of you, trash!" She laughed a little, suddenly emboldened by her own thoughts. "You can't hide from us forever, Serafall!" She called out.
"You should be afraid, little girl," She heard whispered in her ear. She turned frantically, but there was no one there. Her partner, her brother, was looking around, sword out and ready.
"Did you hear that?" she asked him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and shook his head slightly in negative.
"He can't hear you, girl. It's just you and me," now she heard it in her other ear. She turned to it, but again there was no one. Her eyes frantically darted all around her. This mist was too damn thick! She couldn't see a fucking thing! It felt as if it was closing in, moving to suffocate her. A misty hand slowly sliding up to her throat, fingers wrapping around her windpipe, and the slow pressure taking away her ability to breathe.
She couldn't breathe! She choked, as her hands scrambled to her throat, trying to pry the hands she felt away, but to no avail. Her lungs refused to bring air in, the passageway clenched shut. It was too much! The pressure in her brain screaming at her to take in fresh air, but the hand constricting her throat was unrelenting.
"...osaline...Rosal…"
Her vision was darkening. She felt her knees give out and hit the ground, unable to support her weight anymore. She wheezing tried to take a breathe and
SMACK
"Rosaline snap out of it! You're okay, just breathe!" her brother yelled in her face.
Cheek stinging from the slap Rosaline felt the world rushing back to her. She took deep gasping breaths as the familiar presence of her sibling brought her back.
"I need you to get up Ros. I need you up to watch my back, okay? Just like old times, eh?" He wasn't looking at her. His eyes were watching around the both of them, sword at the ready still, but Rosaline caught the glance and smirk he sent her from the side.
She swallowed thickly, eyes burning from unshed tears, her legs feeling like jelly, but was able to nod to herself. She could do this. She, she could…
Her mind flashing back to the suffocation she swore was real. The hands around her throat, the gasping for breathe, the creeping darkness. It couldn't have been just get imagination, right?
"You are nothing but a weakling!" The voice taunted
"I-I am not weak. I am a High Class-Devil. I am Rosaline Seere." she whispered to the voice weakly. She wasn't sure if that was more to convince herself or it.
"Hehehe, you're nothing. You're a weakling. You're useless," the voice continued to taunt at her. She put hands to cover her ears. She wouldn't listen! It didn't know her! It was speaking nothing but lies.
A weapon clattering to the ground broke her out of her consuming thoughts, and she looked to see her brother's sword lying on the ground a few feet away from her. No...not her brother. Not him. They, they- they were supposed to be always watch each other's back…
And she couldn't even did that. She really was useless.
"Was that your partner? I'm sorry, he's a little...choked up right now. Hehehe."
W-what was going on? This wasn't supposed to be happening! This was supposed to be easy!
She frantically looked everywhere, but saw nothing but thick mist. It felt suffocating! As if it was pressing in on her, moment after moment. She swallowed dryly, her breathing became heavier, and her eyes frantically bounced around looking desperately for whoever was causing this.
She heard movement come from behind her as she unleashed a powerful blast of lightning from her hands, screaming as she did. She unleashed deadly volts from her hands until she couldn't anymore. She panted, hands smokey, as she finally ended the stream of power. Had she done it? There no way anything could have survived that.
She was right.
A body tipped forward and she screamed in horror. It was the body of her brother. His body smoking, skin blackened and twitching from the blast she gave it. She cupped a hand over her mouth in shock, as tears ran down her face in waves.
She had just killed her own brother.
No, no, no, no. This can't be happening, she thought to herself. This couldn't be happening!
She had to get out of this mist, so she started running. She ran and ran and ran until she ran face first into what felt like a brick wall. She bounced off with a thud and landed on her butt. She groaned and rubbed at her head as she got up. She opened her eyes and her heart stopped dead in chest.
It was a monster. A cold blooded monster. Cold dark eyes, a fanged smile that looked ready to tear her to pieces, and oh that sword. It looked like an oversize butcher's knife, and it was aimed right at her throat. He was the butcher and she was the meat.
She gulped, paralyzed with fear. She felt a pressure unleash itself onto her and she she saw herself die 10 times over. Her head separated from her shoulders, her body but in half at the waist, her being skewered on the blade before being left to bleed it. Power wafted off of him in shades of violet and from behind him rose an utterly terrifying visage. It grew to overshadow her. It felt malevolent, evil. It swallowed her whole until she forgot where she started and it began.
"I-impossible. Y-you're not the Sitri. You're just some no name Devil trash," she muttered out and pointed with a shaky finger.
"Hehe, you got it all wrong, girl. I'm more than you'll ever realize," the monster said. It leered at her and the beast behind him came closer. "After all…"
The giant blade swung and a she felt was suddenly looking at her own feet.
"What's a Devil to a Demon?"
The body dropped to its knees besides the unblinking head, and blood spurted out from the neck hole.
"Well," Zabuza mused to himself as his sword consumed the blood left over on its surface, "that was fun."
Serafall wasn't sure how long she sat there recovering, but soon enough she was finally able to get up with only minor twitches in her legs. She hobbled out of the building to a rapidly fading mist, and gaped at what it revealed. Four dead bodies and one man with a giant sword standing tall. She almost couldn't believe it, but it was before her eyes.
Hmm, she thought to herself as she surveyed the bodies on the ground. Two headless, one blackened, and the other she could tell had his neck snapped.
He, though, didn't have a scratch on him.
He turned to her and Serafall met his gaze unflinching.
She straightened as much as her body allowed, but with a wince she felt her knees give from under her. She closed her eyes in preparation to meet the ground with her face, but a pair of strong arms stopped her from eating dirt.
She opened her eyes and almost flinched back at how close his face was to hers. She blushed acutely at the close proximity, and took in his admittedly handsome face.
He wasn't half bad looking. Minus the whole not having eyebrows thing. Serafall wondered to herself if the teeth were hereditary or did he file them down? He wasn't too bad looking if she was being honest.
"Tch, can't even walk by yourself?"
She took that back with a swiftness. She scowled and wiggled out of his grip. "I can walk by myself, thank you very much," she said matter of factly.
She pushed him away, a pitiful push by her standards. Oh, how she lamented her natural weakness to electricity. It was a Sitri weakness due to their affinity to water magic, but luckily enough her ice affinity dulled it a bit.
She stood and straightened herself and tried to look regal. "I thank you for your assistance. The Sitri family owes you a debt."
She expected a "You're welcome" or perhaps a humble "No problem" or maybe even a greedy "You're right".
What she got was a, "The who?"
Serafall almost face faulted at the question. She recovered quickly and answered. "The Sitri family. One of the remaining families of the 72 Pillars of Devil society. "
She received an unimpressed look. "So, what does that mean? You're like royalty or something?" He asked.
Serafall looked at him in confusion. Every Devil knew of the 72 Pillars. Literally. It was the in the foundation of their society, and this man seemed to not have a clue. Serafall thought about explaining it, but honestly? It was a bit of fresh air for someone to not be either trying to kill her, revere her, or stare at her breasts.
She glanced at his eyes and saw they were locked onto her own. A breath of fresh air indeed.
"No, technically I am not," she replied with a tired sigh, thinking of all the times people treated her as such. Like her parents.
"Oh good, cause I wouldn't have given a shit anyways," he said frankly.
Honestly, Zabuza couldn't care less about what your family was or your last name. It was just an excuse for the rich and powerful to lord it over the weak and impoverished, and when the weak decided to become strong? Well, look at him for your example.
He thought the Sitri girl would be offended. Most were to be honest, but instead she seemed to almost sag in relief.
That was different.
"I wouldn't put it… exactly like that, but I couldn't care less as well," she said. "It won't matter a lick if we lose this war after all. Now, would you care to introduce yourself, so we could get out of here? I need to report in and you need to return to your contingent of soldiers."
Zabuza raised a non existent brow. "I ain't a part of no group of soldier boys, girl. I'm a solo act," he grunted and hefted Kubikiribōchō into his shoulder. "Only me and my sword."
Serafall blinked looked from him to the giant sword. "Overcompensating for something there?" she asked indicating to the sword and then himself.
Zabuza growled at her and brandished Kubikiribōchō at her chest. "Don't mistake my kindness for weakness, girl. I could cut you down right here and now without batting an eye!"
Serfall pushed the sword aside easily and leaned up into his face. She winked at him and said, "But you wouldn't hurt little ol me, would you?" she snapped her fingers as a thought hit her. "You're just a big ol softie at heart, aren't you? I bet you are!"
Zabuza growled in frustration. He was not soft! He was a cold blooded killer, damnit. His kill count was in the thousands, he was an A-ranked threat in the Bingo Book, his mastery of the Silent Killing Technique made him feared across the lands, he had come back from the dead for crying out loud!
His brow twitched heavily as he heard get continued speech about how kind he was. He was Zabuza Momochi. He ate lightning and shit out thunder!
"So who sent you after me?"
Wait what?
"Wait, what?" He asked. What was she talking about this time?
Serafall tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean what? Who sent you after me? Was it Sirzechs? I bet it was." she snapped her fingers. "One of the boys must've sent you to make sure I was alright, and you tracked me here," she nodded, confident in her deduction. "I'm glad you came when you did then. I loathe to think what may have happened if you weren't here."
Zabuza looked at her perplexed. What was she going on about? "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't even know who you are," he confessed.
That made Serafall pause and consider what she was just told. It raised many questions. She crossed her arms under her chest. "That is strange. You're telling me you weren't sent by Sirzechs to track me down?"
Zabuza sheathed his blade and crossed his own arms across his chest. He thought about being difficult just for the hell of it, but he needed answers. "No, I just happened to be in the area when I heard sounds of fighting," he replied.
It was a half truth. True that he heard fight and was in the area. Lie in the fact that he didn't tell her how he came to be in said area. That's a fact he was going to keep close to his chest. He wasn't some dumbass to go spouting to people he just met about how he came from being dead. That was so ridiculous even he could hardly believe it, and he actually had it happen to him.
She was giving away names of things that seemed important. Zabuza took note of them, and thought it'd be best from this point forward to act like he knew what she was talking about.
"That seems to good to be true," she murmured. "What were you doing out here then?" She eyed him skeptically and Zabuza quickly began to think of a cover story.
"I'm a nomad. I have no home," he told her. "I've been traveling from place to place only staying the night and then leaving. This place was to be my next stop." He saw he had her attention and elaborated. "I was coming into town, saw you were getting your ass handed to you, and decided to intervene."
A good lie, if he said so himself. Scattered with some truth to cover up the lie.
"Hmm," the skeptical look was unrelenting. Serafall disregarded the jab and asked another question. "How have you survived this long alone with the war going on?"
Zabuza took a breath as she asked that. He decided to give her a version of the truth. He didn't know how good these Devils were in detecting lies. "I had a…partner who I traveled with. We watched each other's backs."
"Where is your partner now?"
"Dead."
Serafall was expecting that to be the answer, but it didn't lessen the impact. She took notice of the way his eyes flashed with an all too familiar pain,how his hands tightened into fists, and how stiff he had become.
His partner has died and recently too. Probably meant a lot to him by the way he struggled to bury the pain behind his aggression and anger. With the war going on he probably hadn't had the time to grieve properly and had just moved on. It tugged at her heartstrings to see yet another soul affected, but it was the harsh reality they lived in. She wouldn't offer any condolences, for they would just ring hollow. She held no sympathy for Devils were not sympathetic beings. Instead she took the pain, the unfairness, and let it fuel her. She let it be her motivation to end this war.
"This war has taken a lot from a lot of people," she settled on saying. It was the best she had come up with.
So there was a war going on. A civil war if the signs were anything to go by. Hmm, good to know for the future.
He looked at the girl, and saw she was still staring off into nothing. He knew that look. It was the look of someone who'd seen too much and was remembering it. He did the only thing he knew how.
He smacked her upside the head. Lightly.
She recoiled more from shock than pain. "What was that for?"
Zabuza rolled his eyes. "You were stuck reminiscing. I thought you wanted to get out of here?" He asked her.
Serafall gave him one last glare before nodding. She wasn't going to thank him for getting her out of her memories. That slap had hurt. "You're right. I would guess you wanted to get out of here as well? This place isn't really fit for living at the moment," she said indicating to the dead bodies.
Zabuza nodded swiftly. The smell of blood was beginning to get tiring.
Serafall nodded back. "Alright, let's gooOoo," her knees gave out once more. Damned electricity. This time she really did hit the ground with a thud.
She groaned in pain and glared up at the chuckling man. "Why didn't you catch me?!"
Zabuza shrugged and laughed. "I thought you had it."
Serafall growled at him. "Oh shut up! Just help me up. That damned electricity is still in my system, so you're going to have to carry me back. It's a good distance from here though, so I'm not sure w-Whoa!"
"It's fine," he said and hoisted her up bridal style.
Why was her face all red suddenly? Was she sick or something? Was she losing blood somewhere? He hadn't seen any serious wounds on her body.
"Just give me directions, and I'll get us there," he told her.
"I'm Serafall. Serafall Sitri."
"Those aren't directions."
"Oh hush you. That was my name. The polite thing to do would be to give yours in return."
"...Zabuza Momochi."
"Was that so hard?"
"Yes."
"Tch, whatever. Just feel glad that you're able to hold me in your arms like this. Most Devils would kill to be in your position."
"Well most of them probably wouldn't last long after they heard you speak."
A brow twitch.
"Oh yea? Well, at least I have eyebrows!"
A brow twitch and scowl.
"They're just really small, and I don't know why I'm justifying myself to you. Just tell me where to go."
"Just go North and I'll tell you from there."
"You might want to hold on. I can get pretty fast."
"What does that even meEA-!"
Zabuza took off in a blur.
Sirzechs was almost besides himself in worry. Were it not for his friends holding him back in his home, he would be out there right now, searching for Serafall.
He glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up. "She's been gone too long. I'm going to go look for her," he moved to leave but a voice stopped him.
"She can take care of herself, Sirzechs," Ajuka Astaroth rolled eyes at his friends frantic expression. "If not you know I gave her the communication crystals synched with our own should she run into something she can't handle."
A lazy voice drawled out, adding his own input to the conversation that was interrupting his nap. "And we all know that there is hardly anything she can't handle."
"And if Falbium can find it within himself to wake up from his nap and remind you of that Sirzechs, then you need not worry as you are doing."
In the face of such logic Sirzechs had no choice but to fold to it. He dropped into his chair with a sigh.
He rubbed at his brow in equal parts frustration and exhaustion.
"I just don't understand why she would do something so risky," he lamented a loud.
Ajuka shrugged easily and leaned back in his own comfy leather chair. One of his best inventions yet. Well, at least Falbium thought so.
"She's as free as spirit as you are, Sirzechs. You know how she feels about the treatment of Low Class-Devils. We got the report of them terrorizing towns near the border of the territory we captured, and she spared no time to round up volunteers and do something about it," he explained.
Sirzechs acquiesced the point made once more and leaned back in his own chair and stared at the ceiling in thought. This war was taking a toll on all of them. He just wished it to be over, but rarely did miracles happen in the Underworld. His mother was pregnant. He'd be having a sibling soon, and he'd make sure that the child would NOT have to grow up like he did.
It made him into a monster. He wouldn't have his sibling grow up the same.
The door to the room they were in opened slowly, and in his Grayfia Lucifuge. His self proclaimed assistant, and wife. It was the last one put a smile on his face every time he thought about it.
Like right now.
Smiling, he turned his attention to her, and waved cheekily. "Hi, honey," he greeted cheerfully.
She, of course, didn't wave back for it was "not proper conduct" for a woman of her position, but he noticed the flash of happiness cut across her gorgeous features. Most wouldn't notice, but he had learned to be able to read her.
"Greetings, Lord Sirzechs" she spoke in a regal tone, ignoring his waving. She nodded to him and then to Ajuka and the lightly snoring Falbium. "Greetings to you two as well Lord Ajuka and Lord Falbium. Lady Serafall has returned and they are currently in the medical wing being looked over," she announced to the room.
That got their attention. Ajuka's eyes narrowed, Sirzechs almost sagged in relief, and Falbium...nope he was still asleep.
"That's great!" Sirzechs whooped. He got up from his chair excitedly. "Let's go see her right now."
He moved to leave, but Ajuka's voice stopped him.
"There is something more, isn't there?" Ajuka questioned. "You said they, and that would indicate Serfall brought someone back with her."
Grayfia nodded her head. "You are slightly correct, Lord Astaroth. They are currently two people in the medical wing, but it wasn't Lady Sitri that brought him in. It was he that brought in her. In his arms to be specific," she added at the end.
"Wait, so someone was carrying Serafall and she didn't turn him into a Devil-sicle?" Sirzechs asked.
"Who is he?" Ajuka asked frankly, cutting to the chase.
"His name is Zabuza Momochi," Grayfria answered readily to Ajuka. Sirzechs's complains of being ignored went curiously unheard. "Any further questions are more fit to me asked of him directly as he was rather not forthcoming with answers when I questioned him as be brought in," she frowned as she recalled the interaction with the man.
"Bring him in then, so we may speak to him," Sirzechs said smiling. He and Ajuka shared a look with each other as Grayfia nodded and stepped aside to allow the man inside the room.
Sirzechs sent one last wave to Grayfia, which went ignored again, as she silently backed out of the room and shut the door.
The door closed with a resounding thud, and the room went quiet as both sides sized the other up.
A slight tension filled the room, as the two Super Devils surveyed the unknown man. He was tall. Probably taller than Ajuka, Sirzechs observed. And that sword is probably for everything besides show. There was one thing that stood out to him though. One gravely important detail.
Sirzechs cleared his throat and spoke up first, breaking the silence.
"You have no eyebrows."
Cue Ajuka facepalm and Zabuza brow twitch.
Author's Note Boi
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So, boom chapter 2. This was fast, I know, but I had it written, so I said hey why not upload it. I mean, I have a lot written, know where I am going with this story, so the chapters are coming easily. Plus it is really fun to write Zabuza's interaction with everybody especially Sirzechs. He's just so fun to write for some reason. Both the comical parts, and when he is serious. This chapter is a bit shorter, I know, but that is because the next one is going to be way longer. I tried my best to write out the Silent Killing scene, and tried to really drive home the psychological part of it more than anything. The reason it was so fast was because it terrified them, and made them susceptible to Zabuza's takedowns. Just look at all the predator missions and maps from the Batman Arkham games. You had tough hardened guys, sometimes crazy strong, and when they were terrified they fell to pieces, and Batman was able to pick them off one by one. That won't always be the case of course, but for this scene it was. The Demon of The Hidden Mist is back, and he's stronger than ever.
The situation with Serafall being beaten as she was not to make her a damsel, though she did serve that purpose, but it was the give her motivation to become even stronger and to humble her. Anyone of any strength level can be taken down with a well planned ambush while being outnumbered. That is simple fact. It doesn't matter how strong you think you are. If you get caught out, then you can and will lose. That is what happened with Serafall. Don't expect it to happen again though, as it is a lesson she only needed to learn once. We don't know really anything concrete about the civil war besides Sirzechs side winning in the end and driving the Old Satan Faction into hiding. With that being said, the whole Civil War arc is totally made up by me, so don't go pointing out how thing A or thing B didn't happen because, well, YOU don't know what happened either. I do hope you enjoy it though.
Gosh this was long. I bet no one even reads these. Well, whatever. Till next time. I'm outta here!