Chapter Twenty-three: Hell Hath No Fury
~Ninja's POV~
Three days. Three days. Three days…
The words kept revolving around in Itachi's head no matter how hard he tried to lock them up. He was getting soft if he couldn't even keep up his ANBU training anymore.
But it had been three days since they had lost Amaya. Itachi could still feel the string to Amaya but it felt dulled somehow. Like it was getting slack. From his research he didn't think it was possible unless Amaya was somehow blocking him. That made him concerned for her welfare. She wasn't being hurt or anything, she couldn't be. Her ex probably would've taken care of her.
His fists tightened in anger when he remembered Analia's response to when he, Nagato and Kakashi had asked about the slacking bond. Well that and other revelations.
The red/ black haired witch frowned delicately as her eyes darted to Ariel's blank face. Itachi hadn't liked that look nor had he liked the hesitant start.
"Well, it could be that you're too far from her." Analia suggested sounding unsure. Ariel shook her head coming back to reality.
"No that wouldn't cause what they're saying. If Amaya is too far away it would be like shouting through a tunnel or the bond would stretch not slacken. It sounds like Amaya's probably under a spell?" She looked at Analia who only shrugged.
"Can you put a spell on another witch?" Hidan asked. Kakuzu smacked his head.
"You can use jutsu on other ninja can't you? It's the same principle." Sakura sighed.
"All the same, I've never had a Familiar so I can't really say. We do have a Sorores vinculum, a sister's bond." Analia clarified. "But we only use it for when we do a group mission. It's only activated when blood is smeared on the mark." She pulled up her sleeve to show the black tattoo on her right shoulder of three boxes overlapping each other to form a diamond in the center that was colored in with red ink. "The only time we've ever experienced any slackening in our bond is when… uh…" Analia stopped and fidgeted uncomfortably.
"When?" Nagato asked. Analia bit her lip looking at Ariel pleadingly.
"Analia please help us here." Kakashi's calm voice didn't seem to help.
"A slackening of the bond means that either Amaya is under a spell or she's intentionally blocking you out." Everyone turned to look at Connie, Amaya's mother, as she continued to flip through a book written in another language. She snorted. "The only spells that are able to affect a bond is the potions for love, lust, or compulsion."
Itachi felt white hot anger fill his chest at the thought of Damon lowering himself to doing that to Amaya. Sasuke seemed to feel his shift as he moved closer to him. Itachi barely gave it any thought as his own thoughts continued to run rampant for a split second more. The thought of Amaya and her ex actually made his heart ache but he made use of his logical brain to see pass that and to the problems underneath. Kakashi and Nagato seemed to be doing the same as their faces darkened.
"Damon wouldn't mess with a potion." Analia argued.
"Potions are witchcraft. We all know Damon doesn't like the craft. He tried to burn it out of Maya when they were dating." Connie snapped the book closed and rolled her eyes. If it wasn't for the eyes, height, and dark aura she could've been Amaya herself.
"People change with time. And I didn't say that potions were the only reason Amaya would block them out." She glared at the ninja. "She should've just thrown you out when she had the chance. No doubt whoever Lily is she probably only brought you here to make Amaya weak and to forget her responsibilities."
"Connie." Gabriel's harsh tone broke the tense atmosphere. Connie glared at her husband. "Enough. The blame is no ones."
"I'm being realistic here Gabe. I know what could be happening to Amaya right now. And I blame those ninja." A dark mist seemed to be excreting from her form. "My daughter is in trouble and I will not let some b*tch toy with her while I could be doing something about it."
"We already agreed to stay here mother." Dom sighed.
"You agreed." Connie argued.
"I believe we should do what's right and just give up the Black Curse." Yahiko said. "It can't be that important can it?"
"That's where you're wrong." Melody cut in before her mother could say anything. "The Black Curse is not something that should ever be in the hands of a demon."
"The only demon who can use it is in Purgatory." Analia argued.
"That b*tch isn't in Purgatory anymore." Connie snorted. "I wouldn't doubt it if she was running around right now doing who knows what."
"Who are you talking about?" Naruto moaned. Dom answered looking like he was holding himself in check during his explanation.
"The Black Matriarchs put a very powerful curse on a very powerful demon, Lillith, more than a hundred years ago. We took her mirror and used it to trap her on the condition that no Black witch would ever turn Dark. If that should happen then the Gates would open and she would be released from Purgatory. My mother turned Dark a few years ago to help Amaya. No doubt that lack of judgement is what caused the series of storms and earthquakes around that time. Although everyone thought it was just because of the Titan who escaped thanks to the Greek Gods."
"You investigated those?" Ariel asked smiling ruefully. Dom nodded letting a smirk play on his lips before he was blank faced again.
"Regardless of why I did what I did it had to happen." Connie snapped. "I don't appreciate your tone mister."
"Enough." Nagato ordered as the power and tension in the room flared once again. "We are wasting time while Amaya is in a Demoness' hands. If giving up the Mirror is not an option than what else can we do?"
"Well we could look for Amaya ourselves." Analia snorted.
"We'd need a powerful tracking spell for that to work since nothing we're doing is working." Melody tapped her chin. "I'd suggest keeping giving up the Mirror in mind though."
"What's so great about a Mirror?" Naruto asked bluntly. "You keep talking about it like it's something special."
"That's because it is." Gabriel stated.
"How so?" Kisame asked as everyone but the witches looked to the elder witch. He sighed and unfolded his arms to stand straight like a true warrior.
"The Mirror of Lilith is not a literal mirror. It can be but it's also a portal and a great evil. When it's a portal it's allowed to bring anything from any dimension. Lilith could use it to bring an army from Hell or hide in a dimension until her plans are solid. When it's a mirror it's virtually harmless. But only Lilith knows how to use it to it's full potential. We only have a small record of what it could do."
"They said she trapped a vengeful ghost in the Mirror World." Melody said. "Bloody Ma-"
"Don't say her name!" Analia hissed smacking her head.
"Oww!" Melody cried glaring at her.
"Melody dear don't go messing around with that B*tch's name. She can hear us even when we aren't using mirrors." Connie said.
"Who is Bloody Ma?" Naruto asked Sasori in a whisper.
"She's a ghost who appears in a mirror when summoned and drags you into her mirror world so she can kill you and take your youth." Sasori looked at Naruto's pale face. "She especially likes blonds because she was a blond once."
Naruto gulped hard before Sakura pulled him away from the puppet user.
"So we keep the mirror away from her." Konan said. "If we find out where Amaya is then we can rescue her."
"That might work in your world honey but this isn't your world." Connie snorted. Konan looked at her blankly.
"It is now and I have no desire to leave Amaya there."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Dom asked studying the Origami Mistress.
"Those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." Nagato said. Kakashi beamed in pride as Nagato only shook his head. Yahiko and Naruto grinned.
"Then let's work on it." Ariel said.
"One problem." Kakuzu said. "We don't know where Amaya or the demons are." The spirit and hope in the room dampened.
"Thanks for that update Kakuzu." Yahiko grumbled.
"If anyone cares to listen to me I may have a solution to this dilemma." Connie said.
"Yes mother?" Melody asked politely. Connie grinned ferally.
"How would you like to visit the Hellhound?"
Since visiting that… bar they had gathered lots of information. And some companions. They still hadn't found the hideout but they had a plan that could go with anything. Although the meet was tonight and Itachi was worried.
'Amaya, help me find you.'
"You alright Itachi?" Kisame's voice asked as he came outside.
"Hn." Itachi grunted. Kisame being able to fluently decipher Uchiha speak nodded.
"Yeah I miss that troublesome woman too. You remember what she did to me and Memphis for making a mess of the kitchen?" Itachi didn't smile or change his facial expression but Kisame knew he remembered. "We'll find her before the switch."
"I hope so." Itachi murmured feeling his chest go cold as his thoughts pressed on him. He hadn't felt this miserable since he had had to plan out his clan's murder.
"These witches are made of sturdy stuff. And with her attitude she'll be okay."
"Hn?"
"... I will kill you if you ever repeat this but... she's good for you. I haven't heard you talk with grunts in a while. Nor have I really felt you this at ease in a while. If ever."
"Hn."
"Now you're just being a prick." Itachi's lips twitched. A cold flake hit his cheek making him look up to see cloudy skies. "What is that?" Kisame asked as he too looked up. Snow was beginning to fall all around as the air turned icy. It was only due to being around the person for the past few days that Itachi didn't put out a kunai when a white haired teen literally fell from the sky and landed beside him on the back porch with a thud.
"Jack." Kisame greeted. Jack's face displayed earnest happiness and relief as he jumped up.
"I found her." Jack replied breathily.
"Where?" Analia asked again.
"Nevada. They're using the old catacombs in the desert where humans aren't likely to be." Jack exclaimed excitedly.
"And you say they have high protection spells?" Kakashi asked. Jack nodded.
"I had to use some of Santa's snow globes just to get in through all those barriers. You're going to need some serious magic if you want to get even half of you in there."
"Did you see any wards or generators?" Ariel asked.
"How do you know Amaya's even there?" Connie asked impetuously. Jack grinned and reached into his blue hoodie before pulling out a bundle of rolled up layouts and architectural plans.
"All this I got from the main office when I had a diversion going all over that compound." Jack explained opening a few before he found the right one. "Amaya and the others are in this wing." He pointed on the map.
"Wait, others?" Hidan asked. Jack nodded.
"Yeah the other Guardians."
"What other Guardians?" Analia asked standing up in alarm. Jack frowned looking at everyone.
"The demons have been going crazy going Guardian Hunting. They've been putting them all in this place," he pointed to the area on the map again, "for something big. I don't know what but I know that whatever they're planning, it's going to happen tonight after you give them the Mirror." Analia and Ariel shared a brief glance before looking at Jack.
"Thank you Jack."
"No problem, anything to help a friend. But you want a tip from a trickster?" He grinned and pulled up another map and pointed to what looked like an entrance. "I would go this route. It's the second least used entrance."
"Why would we go in from there?" Sasori asked.
"Because they wouldn't be expecting it." Naruto said grinning. Jack and he shared a look that made everyone's back tingle. "All we'd have to do is put up a few traps that'll disable the guards for a second and we can storm the place. The demons wouldn't be expecting it."
"We're going to need another way in just in case that fails." Sakura said. "We can't just rush in." Jack nodded.
"I know, that's why I recommend this one." He pointed to a part of another map labeled 'Sewer'. "It's unconventional and everything but it'll work. It comes up the closest to the cells and you can get the Guardians out from there while the first group clears the second entrance for the escape route."
"With that many Guardians we'd be at an advantage." Yahiko murmured.
"But why have that many Guardians in the same place in the first place?" Kakashi asked. "It doesn't make sense."
"Jack." Gabriel snapped. Jack looked up to meet his eyes. "I want you to get Hiccup and his 'friends' and have them be ready to serve as back-up. With that many Guardians they're going to need some weapons. Make sure you bring the high quality weapons. We can't bother with armor, it'll take too long to put them on and I doubt the demons have been feeding them daily."
"On it." Jack nodded before looking at everyone. "Good luck guys." He was gone in a blink of an eye.
"As for us, it's time to start getting ready. Analia can you transport everyone?" Nagato asked. She nodded.
"Good, we leave in ten minutes." Connie ordered. No one bothered to protest against her as the smoke around her thickened dangerously. Instead they all dispersed to get their weapons.
"Kakuzu, Kisame!" Ariel called. They stopped before leaving the room. "Can you two stay with Memphis and Keira? I have a feeling something just isn't right about this."
"But-" Kisame tried. Kakuzu beat him to it.
"Yes." Kisame looked at him in shock but he didn't meet his gaze. Ariel nodded.
"Make sure you get them to the basement if anything goes wrong. It serves as a bunker and panic room." Kakuzu nodded as Ariel smiled and ran out of the room.
"What was that about?" Kisame asked.
"I have the same feeling something is going to happen." Kisame's mouth opened but he didn't know how to reply so he slumped his shoulders and sighed.
"Fine, but if we're missing the action just because of a stupid hunch I will kill you."
"Many men have tried and failed, what makes you think you can succeed?" Kakuzu snorted, choosing to not bring up the one person who had managed to kill him as he was an idiot.
"Because I have Samehada and Bijuu sized chakra." Kakuzu only snorted as they left to go upstairs to watch their charges.
"You know," Naruto commented as he watched them leave. "Sometimes I still can't believe we're living with the Akatsuki. It all seems like a dream."
"I doubt your imagination could come up with something like this." Sasuke commented absently.
"You never know Sasuke," Sakura chided sticking up for her best blond male friend. "Naruto has been known to be unorthodox and unpredictable."
"That is true, but honestly I'm surprised about that too." Kakashi eye smiled. "Hopefully this serves as a lesson to you all about friendships and not judging people too harshly." His three students only deadpanned at him.
"Yeah, like I'm going to take advice from a pervert." Kakashi sweatdropped.
GM NASAI: I have done it! I finally finished this darn chapter. Oh it gave me so much trouble. But on the plus side I hope it was all worth it since things are moving along. I'm kind of in a rush right now so please read and review and tell me what you think. I would also like to receive more than three reviews for this chapter. (Yes it has come to random and blackmails). But reviews help feed the mind and mine feels like it is spiralling out of control. Anyway, let me know what you thought/think. Arigato!