Ai No Saori, The direct sequel to Matei Mizuki, taking place 18 months later Rating Options

[MorriganAensland]

The false

Do you remember the old cartoons they always air in the morning? They’re all great, aren’t they?

“Not another step further, scum of evil!”

“Ack! It’s you, Hecate Starburst!”

“That’s right! And your ways of wickedness and evil have reached their end, Demon Emperor Naga!”

Okay, sometimes their dialogue was a little awkward, but I really didn’t mind. The flair, the romance, the beautiful heroines and charming knights, it was all the stuff we love with all our hearts. Doesn’t matter how convoluted, how unrealistic, or anything else. It just is wonderful in every sense of the word.

The episode of Arcane Hecate ran its standard fair, the titular heroine saving the day in the end and whatever village she had been visiting that day, cursing Naga’s luck at escaping justice once again. She was off trying to find her old friend Sapphire, patch things up, and some new threat had appeared for the sake of the episode’s plot. Things obeyed the status-quo like usual, but the cheery theme song at the end let us all know things were still just fine.

I checked my watch again, seeing that I still had plenty of time to watch that new “Magi School” show or whatever it was called. I had read up a bit about the show and its original manga, and I had to admit I was pretty interested in it. Classes wouldn’t start for another couple of hours anyways.

So there I was, Saori Ichimonji, age 28, grad student at Montreal, Quebec’s famous L++ Academy, and still watching morning cartoons in my fluffy-pink pajamas while eating cereal and behaving like a little girl. I had my reasons. Besides, this new show was pretty good, and the heroine was certainly interesting.

After that, the news was on again, reporting about a growing problem with the Hachi Satsu Assassination Guild, a group known to kill politicians, diplomats, and other influential people. This time someone had killed a pair of UN interpreters, the reasons being unknown at the moment.

“Whatever,” I said in mid-yawn. There was no reason I needed to hear this kind of information from the news anchors. Instead, I headed off into the shower and washed up. Afterwards, I slipped out and wiped the steam off of my bathroom mirror, pausing for a moment to look at myself.

My grey eyes shined like those of a child as I styled my blonde hair back and then stepped out into my apartment. Grabbing my clothes for the day, I made sure to bring my glasses too, slipping them into their container. I hoped I wouldn’t need them, but there was always the chance.
_
A short drive later, I was ready for my first class, walking through the doors of the building along with a classmate of mine, Eri Desrin. “Hey there, Saori! Ready for the test today?”

“T-test?!?” My voice betrayed my thoughts, quite literally. I knew we were having a test in Psychology today, I’d studied a solid couple of hours every day this week! Nevertheless, my panicked expression caused her to giggle a bit, forcing me to humorously scowl at her.

“Saori, you’re so jumpy! Is there ever really a point in time you calm down?” Eri asked as we walked down the hallway together. Eri was a nice girl, with light-brown hair, a slightly fairer complexion than me, and a good head on her shoulders. She helped me out all the time whenever I was really stumped by something.

I laughed at the question, at least in my mind. If only she really knew. Didn’t really matter though as we got to class in plenty of time. The teacher ambled in not long afterwards, giving a quick lesson about new material before handing out the test packets and briefing us on how much time we had and how points were allotted.

It was really standard fare, after all I had studied. After that, I could drop by the library, shoot the breeze with Kerrigan, buy a few odds and ends… seemingly mundane things, but actually quite-

Explain the qualities that are required to be a good parent, and how they shape they shape their child.

I stared blankly down at the essay choice and my mind completely crashed. There were other options for the extended response, and yet I couldn’t take my eyes off of that one. A few minutes slipped by as I simply sat there, completely immobile.

Get it together, Saori. Get it to together!

I hissed before drawing a line across the words before then pouring everything I had into the option below it. I ignored the people looking at me in confusion before moving on and getting on with the test, the events in the past where they belonged. I just had to focus on the rest of the test, and then…
_
Whew! Another crazy day down the drain, but lots to show for it. I had a few more books to add to my collection, along with some materials for tonight’s special occasion too, ranging some specific requests from the local butcher to flowers, and some candles to contribute to the atmosphere.

Of course, I had to wait until midnight, and the time was going to crawl by. I’d waited for who-knows-how-long to get the chance to do this between work and school, though. I could be patient for at least a few more hours.

All my favorite cartoons weren’t going to be on in the middle of the afternoon, so I opted for a 24-hour news station. It turned out that a news team was reporting again on the Hachi Satsu murders. A woman with long, fiery red hair was talking to a reporter about that newest kill, explaining how the victims seemed to have shady backgrounds and blah blah blah… Like I really cared about that.

I switched channels again, discovering a nice little game show involving wordplay and bluffs, and decided to cut my losses. I really didn’t want to watch it, but it was probably the best thing on. After it came more of the same, but at least the banter between the contestants kept things amusing. In the meantime, I started fantasizing about tonight, and how all of my dreams would come true at long last.

And I could also finally put that horrible event behind me.

Of course, I had to wonder if I should wear my glasses or not. First impressions were very important, especially when they would probably set the foundation for a long-lasting and very close relationship. I didn’t want to scare him away, after all. But then again, I didn’t want to seem to immature and childish either…

Urgh… this is the price you pay, Saori. Just flip a coin and decide that way.
_
And so it was decided by the hands of fate that I’d go into this without wearing my glasses. No problem, my eyesight was perfect, didn’t really even need them anyway.

The moment of truth was nearing, and I quickly got things set up. I set a fire extinguisher near the front door in case things took a turn for the worse, and then walked out to the dinner table. I had arranged the bought candles on table in the design of a five-pointed star, and I doubled checked my reference books before placing the flowers and meat on a plate in the center.

“Okay… just need a single drop of a virgin’s blood…” I pricked my finger with a needle to get the last requirement for the spell and let the red liquid fall into the mix. Things felt the same as they had mere moments ago… but I knew change was coming. And for a moment, I wondered how I was going to explain all this to my boss.

I was summoning. Summoning a demon. And all I had to do now was to explicitly state what I wanted.

“I want… I want a man,” I announced. “I want him to be caring and strong-willed, someone I can love with all my heart… and someone that will give me a child.”

Usagi… I’m sorry I couldn’t do it before. I’m sorry I failed you. Just don’t hate me for this, please. The accident took a lot from me as well, and I… I just don’t see myself truly being happy if I don’t do this!

“Please,” I spoke again as I closed my eyes. “I want an incubus!”

The candles immediately were snuffed out, and I heard something crash into the table and break it. The darkness prevented me from seeing, but I’d spent enough time in this apartment to know where the lights were.

My life… my new life was about to begin! I was so excited… I could barely contain myself! Illumination flooded the apartment again and I turned around to see that which I had summoned…

… And I froze.

Standing there was a little kid, with short and curly dark-violet hair, looking up at me weakly.
_
The child

I had absolutely no idea where I was, who that strange woman looking at me with a mixture of disappointment and surprise in her eyes was, or why I had been summoned.

All I knew is that my back hurt, and I was gone from that place.

“… Uh… hello…?” I asked in confusion at the blonde woman, who just kept looking at me as if I wasn’t what she had expected. I mean, summoning an demon is really complicated and you don’t pull it off by sheer accident during your daily routine.

Slowly the woman cleared her throat before kneeling down in front of me. “Well, I just wanna apologize in advance, in case this is a really big misunderstanding. I just wanna check… you are an incubus, right?”

I nodded, scared of where this would go. I hoped she wasn’t that kind of person. “Yeah. My name’s Anser.” In the meantime, I looked around. Where was he? Could he have-

My train of thought shattered as the blonde-haired woman stood up and smiled happily. And then shouted at the top of her lungs.

“WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT REALLY WHAT I WAS GUNNING FOR, BUT JUST AS GOOD IN THE LONG RUN!” Something told me this woman had probably been dropped on the head as a baby or possibly worse as she suddenly paused and leaned forward to look at me again. “Sorry, just checking. This isn’t like how you look really young but are really millions of years old, right?”

I was scared to say anything. Incubi are born with the assistance of humans, hence our lifespans are the same, at least on average. This woman might not be the right kind of person to tell that.

After a moment, she sighed and then outstretched her hand.

“Oh well… my name’s Saori! Saori Ichimonji, and it’s nice to meet you, Anser!”

Very, very hesitantly, I grasped her hand with my own. She pulled me up before looking back down at her table and whistled. “You sure snapped that in two…”

“Well maybe you should’ve picked someplace else for me to land,” I responded, but Saori turned back to me and flashed her infectiously optimistic smile. I tried to feel happy about it, but I was still in shock from the events that happened mere moments before my summoning.

Of course, this Stupid Blonde Lady didn’t seem to care. “Not really…” she answered, “But I really don’t think it matters! You’re here, and that’s what matters!” She pulled out a book large enough it could find use as a doorstopper before opening to what appeared to be a random page. She then smiled again, jabbing her finger down into a section and showing it to me. “Right there! Read it to me!”

Oh… crap…

“Come on, Anser… Read it to me!”

Saori Ichimonji, you are the second most horrible thing in existence.

My head glumly slumped forward. I knew the rule. Summoning a demon constituted making a pact, to bring them into the human world involved a request. Until the summoner’s request had been fulfilled, or until the demon was unable to fulfill that duty, they were stuck there.

I just hoped that-

CRASH!

Great. I jinxed it.

Saori and I turned, and my blood ran cold. It had followed me here… somehow it had tracked me down, and in such a short amount of time! I could hear Saori scream in fear as the menace approached us.

Its purple, almost glassy-body shimmered in the artificial lighting, an humanoid entity crafted entirely out of violet crystals. Its almost perfect replication of a human’s body structure, which included hands with five fingers each and a face that shifted to display its frustration at the situation, made it seem all the more alien.

“OH MY GOD!!!!” Saori screamed and almost comically began looking around for a weapon to defend herself with. This was crazy, that thing was going to kill us, and there was absolutely nothing she could do. A very dark part of me even mused that with her death, I could return to the world of the demons.

The crystal monster lunged at Saori first, viewing her as the only threat to its goal of killing me. The woman managed to grab the largest kitchen knife possible before the entity slammed into her. Saori was knocked into a wall before falling to the ground, and the creature of jewels turned to me.

I didn’t know why this was happening. Me and my big brother had been just living our lives back home, and suddenly this thing attacked! My last sight was my brother fighting that thing… and for a moment, I wondered if he was dead.

Keston… Keston actually dead!?! No! We had to find Mom and Dad! We had to-

The stone-cold hand of the monster grabbed me by the neck and pulled me up. There would be no need for any elaborate torture weapons. The thing had been trying to kill me back home, and it was not going to run the risk of another out-of-the-blue escape. It was simply going to crush my neck and that would be the end of my life.

Things certainly had been in a downward spiral for me over the course of the last hour… and it seemed this was the final straw as I just started screaming and crying. I saw no reason not to. After all, nobody was going to save me at-

There was the sound of stone breaking and I fell back to the ground, still trapped in the monster’s unmoving hand. And I could hear a psychotic laughter echo through the apartment. I weakly turned, as did the monster, to see Stupid Blonde Lady standing there. Except… except everything was different about her. The way she carried herself, the emotions emanating from her body, and most importantly, those glasses.

On Saori’s face were a pair of glasses, slightly square-shaped and very, very thick. The light reflected from them blocked any view of her eyes and helped give her that extraordinarily eerie feeling as Ichimonji pointed that kitchen knife at the monster.

“I… normally wouldn’t be doing this, you know?” Her smile was that of a murderer. “I mean, this isn’t really an assignment, so I have no reason to. I don’t even know what you are.

“But that doesn’t matter. You come into my house and raise a hand against my demon, and I will kill you.”

The monster looked down at its severed hand for a moment before looking back at this Scary Shiny Glasses Lady version of Saori.

It instantly charged, and the same person who had been nothing more than an immature woman scant moments ago returned the favor. It was over before I knew it, the amethyst-purple monster going to pieces as Saori simply laughed.

“Idiot… you can’t beat a Hachi Satsu member that easily.” Saori then looked over to me for a second before walking back into the kitchen and putting the knife away. Upon returning, she pushed the monster’s pieces into a small pile and smirked. “Bet that could fetch a nice price. Wouldn’t you say… Anser?”

I didn’t know what to say, really. This woman… how had she changed so much in just a few moments? And how had she been so cool and calculated during that struggle, using a kitchen knife to destroy something so terrifying? Saori Ichimonji… wasn’t a normal person. And hadn’t she said she was an assassin too?

“You seem… to be taking this really well…” I mumbled as Saori just looked at me for a moment. And then she took off her glasses again, and she changed.

“WHEW! Wasn’t expecting that… were you, Anser?” The air of the killer was gone from her, and her inner child appeared to override her other personality. For a moment, I even wondered if she was a bigger abomination than that monster. She then knelt down in front of me and gave a joyful smile again. “Oh, and to answer your question Anser-” She giggled. She had noticed the pun in my name. “You just gotta roll with the punches sometimes.”

She took my hand, dragging me along to inspect the damage to the house. The guest bedroom had bore the brunt of the monster’s arrival, and it would probably take quite some time for it to be repaired. Saori seemed completely over the fact she and I had been in a life-or-death situation moments ago, not even bothering to ask me about it.

To be fair though, I wasn’t asking her about what had happened with her either.

“And that’s the bathroom, and that’s the study… and that’s my bedroom!” She flicked on the lights and then pulled me inside. “I guess you can sleep here for the moment, I’ll just use the couch. That sound good?”

“Uh-”

“Great! I don’t have class until after four tomorrow, so we can get to know each other! See you in the morning, Anser!”

She shut the door behind me, leaving me alone in her room.
_
The False

That… had been hectic. If I hadn’t been able to wear my glasses… I shivered in fear as I walked back to the couch. The damage to my apartment was… a bit of a problem. In the near future, difficulties with the landlord could spring up as a result… but hopefully that wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

The purple crystal monster was good and dead, or at least that’s how it appeared. I put its remains in the trash, no reason not to. After that, I turned off the lights and went to bed… but not to sleep.

I’d been hoping for an incubus who would take me, let me have my own, genuine child… one with no strings attached and no arguing about who the father would be. Instead I got an incubus that was a child. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how disgusting my actions that day had been… and I mentally scolded myself for not trying to get mental treatment before going through with this.

But… but the damage was done. Anser was in my care now… and I had to try to help him out. And tomorrow would be the day, the day I truly got to know little Anser.

A/N: There is no reason to write a sequel to a story if you decide to just go through the same motions again. Ai no Saori is NOT a Magic Girl story, nor will many characters from Matei Mizuki show up. In fact, there's only one Mizuki character that will appear who will be a recurring protagonist, and it's not even someone any of you are expecting. That being said, I'm writing this to tell a different story that further expands on Mizuki's themes while further delving into the Dichotomy Universe, its characters, and its dangers.

This post has been edited by MorriganAensland: Oct 31 2008, 2:09 PM

[Jahnavi]

Yay, you put it up!

I don't have much more to add other than what I've already told you in the PM, so I'll just say... Can't wait to read the next chapter. ^_^

[Nightstorm]

I found it rather funny how you answered all of my questions after finishing the story before I even had a chance to ask them. Also, interesting choice for the story's initial location - I don't know why, but I guess I automatically assumed you were going to stick back to Japan and not switch over to Canada. Of course, that's me and my assumptions - NEVER trust them!

All in all, yet another interesting hook, and I anticipate the newest chapter to follow.

Oh, one quick question. You don't have to answer this if it'll ruin things but I just wanted to ask. I'm not very good when it comes to imagining age by description of "adult", "child", "boy", "girl", etc. Thus I would like to ask - how old is Anser?

[MorriganAensland]

A change of pace is nice. And considering how geography will play a big role in this, I figured a nice, big country with plenty of secluded areas would work better.

And Anser is a mere 8 years old.

[MorriganAensland]

The false

The couch was not something I had slept on in quite a while. I rarely had guests over, or at least so many that I was forced to sleep out here, and the small piece of furniture seemed so much worse than my bed. Unfortunately, Anser’s arrival here had forced me out here.

Ah, little Anser. I hadn’t expected an incubus to be so young, but I hadn’t specified an age requirement so I had nobody to blame but myself.

And it was getting so hard to fall asleep. That monster certainly had done a lot to my nerves, even if I had cut it to pieces in the end. Since I usually opted for firearms whenever I’d have to kill someone simply because of the range advantage, using a knife had been quite the change of pace. I was surprised I hadn’t gotten as rusty as I thought…

I had two classes tomorrow, one of them being taught, the other being a teacher’s aide and overseeing a lab. After that, the weekend.

I eventually pulled myself up and looked around for that summoning book. I had expected my incubus to only hang around for a short while, not be the child I wished for, and hence the only part I seriously looked at was how to summon it. Everything else didn’t seem that important.

With the large tome I had managed to get from L++’s library, I had caused all of this. My already complicated and confusing life had become even more convoluted. For better or for worse, I had dragged Anser into my life, possibly saving him in the processes, and he deserved a modestly competent guardian. That was something I could be when I was lucky, but most of the time…

A knock at the door caused me to look up. The search for the book was abandoned as I walked towards the door, wondering who it was. Someone this late coming… it was either the landlord, or-

“It’s Kerrigan.”

Ah, her. I opened the door up and displayed a proud smile. “Hey there, Kerri!”

The green-clad woman standing before me was slightly shorter with short, jet-black hair. A thin group of them, however, hung down and over the entire left side of her face. Through expert styling Kerrigan managed to position it just right, covering the view of her eye’s pupil and iris.

Kerrigan Tiam was thirty-two, and the chief librarian at L++’s library. Even if I had never set foot in that building though, I would be quite familiar with her.

Letting herself in, Kerrigan looked around for a moment before smirking. “I see there was a scuffle here. Boyfriend troubles?”

“Now Kerri,” I answered, “You know that’s not the case.”

“Then what is the case, Saori?”

“Oh,” I said in my usual, unnecessarily childish tone, “I summoned an incubus, that’s all.”

If it had been anyone else I knew, they would’ve laughed at me for taking the ditz act too far. Kerrigan, however, just looked at me and then sat down on the couch. “Huh… and you’re already done? I figured it would’ve taken-”

“He was a little too young, Kerri, so I decided just to keep him!”

The woman’s brown eyes widened incredulously as she just stared at me. “You… you’re kidding.”

“Nope! Sorry to break it to you, Kerrigan! I went into this hoping to get a child out of it, and that’s what happened. Didn’t even have to wait an extra nine months, so isn’t that great!”

The woman simply slumped forward, shaking her head sadly. I couldn’t blame her, hearing how brashly I said those words…

“… So… uh…” I said, trying to change the subject as I looked around for my glasses. I quickly found them, throwing them on and then relaxing. “So what’s the occasion for this visit? Another job?”

Kerrigan looked back up at me, noticing what was on my face before standing up. “Maybe… maybe not… Our other associate’s getting a lot of heat from political groups, we might have to close down our program.”

“We can’t give up on the Hachi Satsu,” I responded with a hiss. “We’ve accomplished too much in such a short period of time to just give it up. Can’t she just continue making sure the authorities just chase their tails?”

“Possible, but not probable,” Kerrigan answered. “After all-”

The dark haired woman paused for a moment before turning down the hallway, seeing that little eight-year-old boy standing there.

“He the incubus?”

Anser panicked, probably from seeing me with my eyewear on more than anything else, but I calmly shook my head and he seemed to calm down.

“How long have you been there?” I asked. Anser gulped before answering.

“Long enough to hear you two talking about stuff… and didn’t you say you were a member of the some assassination group earlier?”

Kerrigan shot me a dirty look. Loose lips were something that would do more than sink us. Against my better judgement, I answered him. “Yes, Anser. We are assassins… technically.”

“‘Technically’?” he repeated. The boy was keeping his distance with good reason. At least Kerrigan was letting me try to answer this. “What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t really kill people or-”

“Oh, we kill people alright. Our motives, though… they differ by a lot.”

“But you still kill people.”

Of course, the advantage of having a child so soon meant the sudden realization his guardian was an assassin was more of a problem than I had hoped it would be. And we three just stood there, Kerrigan and I in the light, Anser in the relatively dark hallway with none of us speaking.

Then the boy just walked back into my room, slamming the door shut. I closed my eyes, barely relieved. “He’s only putting with me… because I saved his life.” Kerrigan looked at me with an expression demanding an explanation. Tiam listened to it all without raising an objection until I finally ended my story about the monster. Her first remark was darkly comedic.

“Heh. You’re still decent with a knife. I’m surprised.”

“Now isn’t the time, Kerrigan. I really hate to say thing, but we can discuss things later. With Anser…” I sighed glumly. “I have a lot of things to sort out. Feel free to chew me out in a couple of days… but for now, just let me try to take care of damage control. I’ll need to find a school-” I groaned. I couldn’t believe I had let something so crucial slip my mind. “That’s going to be a legal nightmare…”

“And giving him up’s not an option?”

Looking at Saori through my glasses, I swiftly shook my head. “Hindsight is a wonderful, horrible thing, Kerrigan. But right now, that boy’s in my care, and he would’ve died without me. Anser has to stay, no matter what. And I’ll stick it out, for his sake.”

“Alright then,” the dark haired woman said. “I’ll hold out on chewing you out, at least for the moment. Pay me a visit tomorrow and I’ll fill you in on the details. I’ll leave you worry about Anser then… okay?”

I nodded in appreciation. This meant a lot to me, so thank you… Kerrigan Tiam.
_
The child

The door opened, Scary Shiny Glasses Lady coming through. Seeing I wasn’t on the bed, she turned on the lights and found me curled up in the most distant corner of the room.

“Hey there, kiddo. How’s it going?”

“Don’t come near me. You kill people.”

“And you’re from a race that sucks people’s souls, right? So who’s the worse plague on the world?” The woman’s lips curled up into a smile as I felt anger build up inside of me.

“It… it’s not like that!” I shouted. “Demons are meant to help people; if we just leech off of them then our sustinance dies!” It was true… people’s perceptions of demons were tainted due to the fact they were looking at them from the old Middle Ages perspective. Yes, incubi and succubi slept with humans, but they had nothing but benevolent intentions at heart.

To put it simply, incubi and succibi are normally sterile. The first incidents involving them on Earth were during the Middle Ages, apparently preying on clergymen and women most of the time. That was technically true… but in reality they were just helping those men and women of the cloth to be able to bear children, to help them be happy and exploit loopholes.

And it seemed Saori knew of this fact as she leaned down at me. “Of course I know how it is. You think I just read how to summon you? Anser, I looked into your whole species, referencing and cross-referencing nearly half a dozen books on the occult. I have a good grasp of what’s fact and what’s fiction about you. But the same applies to me as well… I’m not your usual type of assassin…”
_
“It started many months ago… the tremendous increase in assassinations of various men and women in world governments. Traditional tactics with just increasing security and training bodyguards better didn’t see to work… or at least not well enough that they made a noticable difference.

“About this time, a certain woman you just met named Kerrigan Tiam proposed something revolutionary. If there is a fire on an oil well, the best way of getting rid of it is to blow it out with nitro. In military, a sufficiently-armored submarine can dive low enough that depth charges can’t hit it, requiring another submarine to destroy it. And in WWI and WWII, the most effective way to shoot down an enemy plane is with another plane.

“In reality, I’m an Interpol agent. I have been for quite a number of years. Assassins have found masquerading as low-ranking individuals with access to ambassadors, parliament members, and others of that nature is easy enough. Hence, the Hachi Satsu does the same. There’s quite a number of agents out there… I’m one of the ones for the Quebec branch.

“So yes, Anser… I have killed people. But I amount to being a sniper that shoots other snipers, someone who switches the poisoned glass with the unpoisoned one. At the same time, Interpol creates the image the Hachi Satsu as merciless killers… and if anyone ever comes forward with the information they’re killing assassins rather than real political officers, we’ll know who’s behind this all.”
_
“So do you understand that, Anser?” she asked before walking over to a drawer and pulling something out. In one smooth motion, she tossed the object to me, which I managed to grab without too much difficulty. “Consider that proof. Impersonating an Interpol agent brings about a harsh punishment in international law.”

Looking down, I saw it was an Interpol badge. I nodded and then returned it to her. The woman smiled as she removed her glasses and patted me on the head.

“Oh, and you know about Interpol right? I’m not really sure but-”

“Oh, I know about that,” I answered. “Come on… didn’t you read the book?”

“Erk!” Saori reeled back in shock almost comically. This woman… I wondered why she didn’t just get professional therapy. “Oh yeah… I know how that works!” She let out a sing-song laugh before waving to me. “I’ll see you in the morning, Anser. And please understand… I’ a Soldier of Justice, defending this world from those that have ill will towards it!”

Soldier of Justice… right. Saori Ichimonji, you are a bizarre woman… what with between being Stupid Blonde Lady and her polar opposite, Scary Shiny Glasses Lady. But that discussion certainly did a lot to relieve me of my fears. After all, she had taken life…

But how did it make her any different that the woman who freed the world from the curse of destiny, Mizuki Rajoshin?

I crawled into bed. It was still an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar ceiling. And the woman who had summoned me was not normal by a long shot. And my brother was probably worried sick about me. And my life was in danger too.

Maybe it was a good thing my guardian was capable of killing people.
_
The false

Great thing about teaching a psychology lab at L++, well… any lab, is that you give the students their assignment, and they go off and do it. All I had to really worry about grading a few quizzes at the end of the class to discuss what they people had experienced.

It was very routine. The students all put their books and papers away to avoid cheating before I answered any few questions. Due to the need to be respected and not be ignored, I kept my glasses on. As I passed out the papers, I noticed a few of the girls were wearing new accessories… nearly all various types of jewelry. For a moment, I wondered where they might’ve gotten it.

Afterwards, I simply kicked back and relaxed at the desk. I’d give them a few minutes before recalling the papers and grading them. Afterwards, I’d have the weekend to get to learn more about Anser.

I hope the library would be an appropriate place for a child to be. Kerrigan said she’d keep an eye on him…
_
The preceding

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!! KERRIGAN, WHY ARE WE HERE?!?” Anser screamed as he ran around in a circle. I had to admit, for a demon, he could be scared by quite a bit.

L++’s first library for the arts was famous for one thing… ghosts. Lots and lots of ghosts. They mostly just stayed quiet most of the day, and it was very rare for someone to actually see them. So here I was, Kerrigan Tiam, taking care of a fellow assassin’s child for the moment.

This was why I had believed her before. Saori was a smart woman, just a little not right in the head. She knew I’d take her claim seriously, since I had already encountered the supernatural ever since my little sister died eighteen months. “You know…” I said in between Anser’s panicked screams, “It’s kinda odd you are so scared by them.”

“Well why not?!?” Anser responded. “I don’t see these all the time!”

He did have a point, though. The various ghosts certainly looked unnatural, being slightly transparent, very pale, and having disheveled hair. But they were harmless, many of them remaining in this world due to unfinished business. Due to the flexible hours the Hachi Satsu allowed, along with only working at the library for a few hours each week, I usually found time to look into the backgrounds of some of them and help them find peace with the world. For someone unaccustomed to their appearances, it could be very unnerving.

“You’ll get used to it,” I told him. The poor boy was curled up in a little ball on one of the chairs, muttering that he wasn’t afraid over and over again. “Come on, you should’ve seen me the first time I saw a ghost.”

“What?” He peeked up, looking at me. I shrugged.

“It was very traumatizing. It was my baby sister Iris, the person I cared for more than anyone else in this whole world. Those were a hard couple of months following the discovery that she died. I never even got to say goodbye to her.”

“How old was she?”

“Nineteen.”

That was… quite an age difference between them. For a moment, I thought of Keston. He was probably worried sick about me. Tonight, I’d see if Saori could do something to help him out too.
_
The false

“Alright everyone… hand in your papers please.” I stood up, closing the book I had read a little further into during the quiz and walking down the aisle and picking them up.

I had done the action dozens of times before. I didn’t know why things were different that time. But when I reached one of the rows, the papers… they were wrong.

I don’t mean the answers were wrong. It was the papers themselves. Black streams of graphite were flowing over them… and it took me a moment to realize what was happening. It was the answers. The answers were morphing from what the girls had written to what was the correct.

Was this some kind of magic? That book hadn’t mentioned anything like this. So what was the cause of this? I… I didn’t…

“Uh, Miss Ichimonji?”

I looked up, seeing a girl standing there with pink hair. The name “Leona” came to mind as I stared at her. “Uh… yes?”

“Everyone’s gone. Is there something wrong with my paper?”

The girl was in her early twenties, and I noticed she was wearing some of that jewelry. She seemed to be very, very anxious. For a moment, I flashed back to the gem monster that had attacked me and Anser last night. Could it have been…

“Well, if it’s really not anything, then I’ll just-” She bolted past me, but I reached out to stop her.

“Now hold on just a second!” I announced, reaching out to try to grab her. By chance, my had brushed against one of those gems... And before I knew it, I had been slammed backwards into one of the walls, Leona just looking at me in terror for a moment before running as if her life depended on it.

I just stood there for a second, trying to comprehend what had just happened. I was pulling up nothing.

But this could be dangerous… and I was going to get to the bottom of it. I sprinted after Leona, determined to discover what was going on.

[Nightstorm]

YAY! Reference to Mizuki!!! Personally, I don't know which is worse when it boils down to the basics - keeping a small child who, for all Saori knows, is living in a semi-literal kidnapping situation, or that he's living with a professional assassin who is likely to bring in all kinds of oddballs to her doors.

Saori, needless to say and as Kerrigan and Anser mentioned, is definitively one screw short of the complete assembly - personally, I don't know if I'd stand simply knowing the woman...

Anyways, a good extension. Also, if anyone knows where that grade-correcting jewelry comes from (if that is actually what happened), let me know (it must be destroyed!!! Sorry, had to say that. I am a major lover of school and any and all bent or broken rules tend to irk me deeply...)

I shall now silence myself and await part three.

[MorriganAensland]

^_^ Saori is a very difficult character to find a balance with, simply because she's not "conventionally" insane. And there is a justification for her bizarre habit of switching between her two personalities in a few chapters. I really wanted to deconstruct the whole "Playing dumb" convention in Shonen stories, finding a genuine reason why she would feel it necessary to act this way. The reason is not a pretty one, to say the least.

And the protagonists are only going to get weirder from here as well. I have four more people to introduce, which'll take a few more chapters. I should get Anser's big brother Keston and the other Hachi Satsu member out of the way by next chapter.

And there will be a few more references to Matei Mizuki.

[MorriganAensland]

The false

Pulling myself back up, I thought about what had just happened. What was going on here, and why had the papers miraculously changed to become the right answers? I’d never encountered this before, so what could possibly have changed from yesterday and today? There was me summoning Anser, sure, but the book hadn’t talked about anything like this!

Nevertheless, I threw my papers in my bag and then ran out the door. I’d find Leona; there was no way she could outrun an Interpol agent. Sure, she might panic and have a bit of a lead, but it was only a matter of time until-

“GET AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The maddened screams caused me to put on an additional burst of speed, just in time to see a man with slam into the wall in front of me. His hair was dyed… it just had to be. It was profoundly wooly like a lion’s mane, with an almost unnatural bright blue.

“Grgh… I didn’t think… such a basic desire would be so potent…” he grunted as he stood up. “The Hallowed Prism-” He paused when he noticed I was there. “You. Who are you?”

A panicked scream distracted me, and- oh my god.

Leona stood there, but what had once been rings on her hands were now colossal crystal growths of every color under the rainbow. A pendant around her neck become a tight jewel collar, nearly choking the life out of her, and a few earrings had encrusted over part of her face. Her eyes held nothing but panic, begging for someone to save her.

In spite of what I had just witnessed with the mystery man, I charged. I had no weapon on me; I kept my collection of firearms at home, but something just told me to save her. I was rewarded with my determination and drive, however, with being blasted into the wall where the man had crashed into a moment before.

“That won’t work,” he growled in frustration. “The Hallowed Prism’s hardwired functions are preventing us from getting anywhere near her. There’s no way either of us could conventionally stop it.”

Leona screamed again as I looked at him. A moment passed, and I suddenly realized where I had seen him before.

“You… you’re that prosecuto-”

“Now’s not the time!” he snapped. “That girl’s safety on her Prisms activated, and they’re quickly subsuming her to ensure she stays silent! If it were just one or two jewels, we might’ve had a chance but against this, without assistance from a force meant to oppose the Hallowed Prism, we can’t do anything! Unless-” He laughed from some internal thought.

“What?”

“The odds of it… they’re utterly astronomical. But that girl is going to die as it stands.” Gritting his teeth, he shouted out at the top of his lungs.

“Only that which is a Tower can ever hope to defend a Devil!”

Tower? Devil? Was this supposed to be a reference towards the Tarot or something? Delusional idiot… like saying something like that could turn the tides in our favor. Another look at Leona, and I knew even if her body could last longer, her mind was at the brink.

In some circles, insanity is described as “doing the same thing and expecting different results.” Well, some would argue I too was insane, so what’d be the harm? I ran at Leona, trying to reach and save her. This attempt was doomed to fail because nothing could’ve possibly changed since my last attempt.

Oh, how I was wrong.

As I stretched out my right arm, I nearly gasped at the sight of a platinum metal coating over it. When… when had that gotten there?!? I couldn’t understand, but I wouldn’t hesitate and continued full speed. This time, I met no resistance and my hand struck into Leona’s body. For a few seconds, the world stood still.

And then the jewels cracked. They grew brittle and fractured before crumbling away into mere nothingness. I could sense Leona’s fear and pain recede as we simply looked at each other before she finally just burst out into tears and ran. She ran back to her life, to chalk this up to being the most realistic nightmare in the history of humanity.

As for me, I could only look down at my right forearm with its metallic sheath before turning around. That man… that man I knew… one of Japan’s most celebrated missing persons owed me an explanation.

The only problem was that he was gone. Ikki Higashi was gone and all he had left me was that phrase “Only that which is a Tower can ever hope to defend a Devil.”
_
The preceding

“… And it was that guy, Ikki Higashi…” Saori finished as she, Anser, and I all sat together. Anser probably wasn’t familiar with the name, but Saori and I were. When the Hachi Satsu were just starting out, he was one of the most outspoken critics of the international criminal court for not pouring more resources into its investigation.

“You’re crazy,” I said. “Ikki Higashi? That guy’s been missing for the past nine months! There’s no way he could show up like that and nobody notice! To say nothing about vanishing so swiftly.”

“Well, I admit it’s really confusing,” Saori sighed before pulling off her glasses and looking over at Anser. “So how about it, Anser? Know anything about this whole thing with Towers and Devils?”

“What? Um… not really,” he said, avoiding Saori’s gaze. “I mean, there’s old stories mom would always tell me and stuff, but-”

“Well then let’s here them! We’ve gotta work together to figure things out, after all!”

The incubus still had trouble getting used to Saori’s unprofessional enthusiasm, judging by the way he lurched away from her. That childish smile, that sing-song tone, it took a while to get used to.

After Saori finally gave him some breathing room, the boy finally cleared his throat and began. “Well, it has to deal with the idea of a fair trade in a pact. Humans summon demons to aid them in some way, and the demon is to stay there until their duty has been fulfilled or the death of one of the parties. In return, it’s the duty of the summoner to defend their demon. Hence, every demon receives protection, a… ‘Tower’, so to speak.”

“Protection from wha- oh… yeah…” Saori laughed uneasily. “Oh, wait a second boss! Do you think that’s the reason I could see her answers change and stuff like that?”

“Probably,” I answered. “And by the looks of it, these stories about being a Tower are true. This makes things more complicated than before.” Of course, this also meant that until this was all sorted out, Anser would have to stay under Saori’s care. He’d mentioned his brother a couple of times… hopefully he’d be understanding. “You know what this means, don’t you Saori?”

“No idea.”

I wasn’t surprised. “Anser’s here to stay for the long haul.” I could see him going pale with fear from the thought. “And that means he’ll have to go to school.”

As terrified as Anser was at that statement, Saori’s mannerisms exactly afterwards made it so much worse.

“Alright alright ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!! ANOTHER FACET OF THE MOTHERHOOD TO EXPERIENCE! THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME!” Grabbing the boy’s hand, she was practically pulling him out the door into the night while ignoring his kicking and screaming.

Although I didn’t approve of her methods, I knew Saori was doing as best she could. There was only so much someone like her could handle without serious therapy… therapy Interpol had no interest to fund. As for me? It was late, and I bade farewell to the more active of the ghosts before following them. Iris was probably worried sick for me back home and I hated to keep her waiting more than necessary.
_
The child

Why was the world so cruel to me? I had lived the past year and a half with only my brother for company. With the death of Loretta Brauner along with all demons and gods shedding the chains of destiny, many were found missing… scattered across the world and in secluded spheres of the demon realm Yomi.

And of all the incubi in existence, I was the only one I knew of that had been attacked by crystal monsters, or summoned by a bipolar assassin. In spite of that, Saori was just dragging me down the sidewalk… the full moon above us and the pavement below on that spring night. We were alone, which Saori translated as being able to rant and ramble on about how fun things were going to be with me in the future.

Somewhere in between her ramblings about the nature of Quebec’s education system and running through the list of schools close by her apartment, I finally just told her off.

“Just… JUST SHUT UP!” I shouted. I couldn’t tolerate this woman any longer; either Stupid Blonde Lady or Scary Shiny Glasses Lady. They both were flawed more than any ordinary person had reason to be. The woman was twenty years my senior, but half the time she acted half my age! Who wouldn’t get tired of her annoying tendencies!

“Now look, Stupid Blonde Lady,” I said with clenched fists. “What’s your problem?!? Maybe you’re so used to killing people you think the rules don’t apply to you or maybe you think you can just rationalize everything, but I’m drawing the line here! Your boss is obviously not going to have a problem with anything you do provided it doesn’t get in the way of your job, but I’m drawing the line here! I want you to end this pact now!”

“What?” Saori said, stumbling back a step. “But what about those monsters?”

“Doesn’t matter!” I exclaimed. “You think there aren’t demons and gods out there capable of fighting better than you could possibly dream? The matron of all demons holds the most powerful defensive force in existence, I’ll be fine!”

There were many things Saori could’ve done. For once, she actually did what I wanted her to.

The blonde woman turned to me very solemnly, her eyes closed and knelt down.

“If you really want that, I won’t stop you.”

“W-what? I-I…” There is a difference between someone doing what you wanted them to do and what you expected them to do. I had counted on Saori resorting to an infantile and overly cartoony crying sequence, giving me time to escape and keep running down the street. Yet she wasn’t doing that.

And call me crazy, but the Saori standing before me seemed so much different than the others. So much more… mature.

“Anser,” she said calmly as she squatted down. I was surprised she was keeping her eyes shut, almost as if she was afraid if she opened them I would be gone already. “I thought it was appropriate to do this because you’re wanted, and we don’t know why.”

“Did you ever consider asking me? I know I’m only eight, but it’s not like I don’t have a family of my own. If you wanted to be an adoptive mother, how about you actually ask me about those things? How about you actually consider me an actual person than just wish fulfillment? And speaking of which… why are you doing this in the first place?”

She smiled weakly. “I’m trying to honor a friend.”

“That must be one screwy friend then.”

Saori laughed bitterly. “You could say that. My offer still stands, you know. Say the word, and I’ll declare our contract null and void, take you wherever you want to go, and just get all of this behind us. I do make a lot of mistakes -and enemies-, so I’ll honor your wishes, no matter what they are.”

I couldn’t believe it. She would just let me go into the world. With any luck, I could try to contact someone who could inform the Demon Empress about me, and then Jun could take care of everything else. This whole chapter would be finally behind me and-

A mother’s arms nearly smothered me as I was pulled sideways. I could hear the sound of ground breaking beneath me, and suddenly I was back on my feet with Saori standing in front of me.

“You will give me the boy,” rang out a harsh female voice. I peeked around Saori to see the speaker, and then my world crashed as I saw the woman standing there.

With the woman was the darkness. There was the darkness of the jet-black hair which began flowing as an ill wind kicked up around us, there was the darkness of the woman’s clothes, and then there was the darkness flowing around her… an infinite, endless darkness through which she exerted her will.

I had bore witness to that darkness before, and I recognized it instantly. Only one force in existence held that kind of darkness and currently only two women could use its power. One was a miko halfway across the globe and an unlikely heroine who eschewed succumbing to the paths others dictated for her, the great Senshutei Mizuki. The other was the origin of all demons in existence, the far greater Matei Jun.

It was dark and I could not make our their faces or any distinguishing characteristics. If I were closer I possibly determine which one it was, but every single part of me told me just one thing: this was not a woman to be trusted.

I would not trust this woman. I would not confide in her. And I most certainly would not approach her.

Saori just stood there, a barrier between me and this wielder of the Great Sea of Evil. What could a Tower do against her? Saori was capable of defending me, true, but how could her newfound and untested powers compare to that of a seasoned warrior?

“Anser.” I looked up, seeing that Saori had somehow managed to place her glasses back on her face. “Remember our agreement from before?”

“From two minutes ago? Y-yeah.”

“Do you want to go with this woman?”

I shook my head furiously. In turn, the dark-haired stranger clenched her fist in fury. We were probably going to die here, and I couldn’t think of a worse way to go. No matter how hard Saori would try to resist, the Great Sea’s furious storms would claim our lives regardless of any tactics used. All of Saori’s experience, all her knowledge in taking lives in the past would be-

“The moon is full tonight…” the woman suddenly announced out of nowhere, looking up in the sky. “And to think you could evade the Makai Wrecking…” she closed her eyes and shook her head in amazement. “I do not know why you have the incubus, woman, but I must admit even without him you are more than the ordinary. Each second I would battle you without victory would increase the chances of attracting him. I cannot run that risk. Not yet.”

“Then turn and walk away,” Saori coldly commanded. After a moment, the stranger complied. Scary Shiny Glasses Lady looked down at me for a split-second, to make sure I was still there, and then looked back up as the wielder of the Great Sea of Evil slowly continued down the empty streets, her darkness still in sight.

Minutes ticked by, long after the woman was out of our sight. Saori just stood there standing guard, and by my own choice I stayed.

This was impossible. Nobody else in the whole world could possibly have the Dai Makai. I couldn’t imagine either of them succumbing to this course of action. Saori was willing to let me go, there was no reason for forceful actions!

“Wow… what an awful lady!” Stupid Blonde Lady was back. “Know her?”

“No,” I answered. “And… and I don’t want to know her, no matter what!” Devils needed their Towers, that’s why they had them in the first place. Saori had her faults. Oh, she had so many faults. But she had twice now stood up for me when she had no real reason to.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her eyes lit up gleefully as she looked down at me again. “Will you stay then?”

“Do you promise to try to keep yourself under control?” She nodded. “And when this is all over and that woman is dealt with I can still leave?” Saori nodded again. “Okay then, I think we’ve got a new deal then, Saori Ichimonji!”

“YAY!”
_
The flawless

“So… you’re telling me that… Ichimonji… summoned a demon.”

Kerrigan and I sat together at a coffee shop together, musing over the sudden twists and turns in the life of our fellow Hachi Satsu member. I wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t come from Kerrigan; and if Saori herself would’ve told me I probably would have laughed at that bipolar woman simply because she deserved it.

“Yes… and something foul is going on at L++,” Kerrigan told me. “We need to all be on the same page here, Shot… otherwise someone will be left behind.”

And no, my name is not what you think it is. Let me get this across right now for you. My name is Shot Ichiban and most importantly, the “t” is silent. This is something very important to grasp.

I am twenty eight years old, and I am a member of the Hachi Satsu. Ironically my duty is to be in charge of the task force charged to track down and apprehend the group, which really just means I have to lead those that do not know of the Satsu’s true purpose along a wild goose chase.

I used to be out in the field and saving lives by taking them, but the story of how I was transferred is not for this time. Due to the importance of my position often have access to the leader of the whole operation, Miss Tiam. And she was dropping a bombshell on me.

Saori, a woman with serious mental imbalances, was probably going to be the death of us in the end. At least I knew what was going to be occur in her sad, twisted life over the course of the next few weeks.

I brushed a few red strands of hair out of my face as I looked down at the table and my hands. My left hand was bare but my right had a black, fingerless glove on it. I had my reasons.

“She’s also had two weird encounters with crystals… and I think she saw her.”

No way. Saori ran into her? And she’s still alive? And more importantly, Kerrigan was not obsessing over it? Strange times were upon us, no doubt. It was like everything was falling into place now. That prosecutor showing up after nine months and revealing himself to Ichimonji was the icing on the case.

“We’re nearing something, Shot,” Kerrigan told me. “We need to face it together. To make matters worse, our ambassador to the UN is going to deliver a speech at L++ in a couple of days.”

“So? He’s done that before. We beef up the security, have a Hachi Satsu stationed as a page or something, and do the usual song and dance. It’s actually one of our less problematic scenarios.”

“Usually, yes.” Kerrigan sighed. “Except we happened to get a calling card today. This is going to be a very ugly struggle, Shot. We need everyone for this.” She pulled out a small business card and handed it to me.

On it was nothing more than the sketch of a sniper rifle, and the declaration: I will kill the ambassador, as I have killed others before. And nobody will stop me, for I am Brian Lernan.

Brian Lernan. I knew the name, and I knew Kerrigan’s fears were justified.

Lernan worked alone, always had. He used an outdated M1903 Springfield sniper rifle at three times its maximum range. He had killed his target for every job he ever taken. He had never used an alias and had shown his face to the world after his first assassination, and yet he always was three steps ahead of the authorities.

He had been around for a long while, but it wasn’t until the Hachi Satsu had started scaring off most assassins his business picked up. The fact he worked alone made it that much harder to get him. He’d been lucky so far. Working alone made it nearly impossible to get close to him and assassinate the assassin, but things would be different this time.

Because this time he would be up against me. Not Saori, not Kerrigan, not anyone else in the Hachi Satsu. He was up against Shot Ichiban… and I would have an ace in the hole.

I would have to summon him, sure. But if Saori could do it, so could I. My incubus would have a purpose, a genuine purpose rather than just to give me some giddy matriarchal feeling.

Because Kerrigan said Anser mentioned a brother.

This post has been edited by MorriganAensland: Nov 15 2008, 4:09 PM

[Nightstorm]

Wow - a lot of new characters to remember...

Mind... crashing... Too many names to... remember... ARGH!!!

It always makes me wonder if you keep a character archive from this series or something - because I doubt I would ever be able to remember this many characters. It's an ability I envy!

[MorriganAensland]

No, but if you think I really need one, I guess maybe I should throw one up there.

The cast, or at least the regulars, will not get much bigger after this. Ikki will also be ducking out of the story in a chapter or two.

That being said...

Characters introduced:
The Woman of Darkness: resembles and possibly is either Mizuki or Jun. Possesses the Dai Makai, and wants Anser for undisclosed reasons.
Shot Ichiban: The third and last of the Hachi Satsu members in the story. One of the narrators, and planning on summoning Anser's older brother Keston.
Ikki Higashi: Making a grand return to the story, apparently is now spouting on about the "Hallowed Prism". Will play a minor role in the next few chapters until heading off into obscurity again.
Brian Lernan: A very infamous sniper that works alone. Plans to kill the country's UN ambassador.

Terminology introduced:
Tower of the Devil: Someone who summons a demon is given the powers to protect said demon until they fulfill the pact.
Hallowed Prism: Strange jewels with undefined powers, at least so far. Can go into "panic mode", wherein they will try to grow by absorbing the host, which is quite painful and repel anyone that gets too close.

[W.I.N.X]

Well, I've read the first few chapters of matei and I really enjoyed them. They're terrifically(if that's a word) written and I'm planning on reading more, then starting on this. Better late than never, I guess!

[LinneaKou]

When the Evil Dark Lady said "Makai Wrecking" I nearly spasmed. I only know one woman who would name her attacks, but then again I'm not psychic.

YES! I have finished the story so far and am subscribing to this thread to not miss a thing! w00t!

*Lee: *points excitedly to the first chapter* OHMIGOSHOMIGOSH THERE WE ARE!! LOOK!

... Well, when Alice finally pops up in the world, this multiverse is going to either implode or spin on its axis. Muahahahahaha. =^-^=

And Anser is so cute!! I pity anyone who is unused to Saori's bipolar-ness, but he'd be worse off with Alice.

*Lee: Who?

LK: Count your blessings, Anser! At least you weren't summoned by Alice!

*Alice: Eheheheheh...

Still unable to scan, and am being forced to play pre-ball Cinderella. Look for a PM, that's all I can say! Well, I can say that it's killing me slowly and painfully, but anyone can assume that...

[MorriganAensland]

Anser: *nods* Yeah... we are totally going to wreck the fabric of reality with shout-outs to each other...

With Anser... I guess I wanted to do the twist on the "female monsters/demons are cute, male monsters/demons are ugly" idea. One of the running gags is Saori being suspected of suffering from Shotacon (like Lolicon, except with little boys), while she also suspects some of the other female characters too suffer from this as well.

As for the Woman of Darkness, I can't really say anything because she is such an important part of the first chunk of the chapters. She is one of the main antagonists, but she is not THE antagonist, simply because her motives are focused solely on Anser for the moment and I need villains with delusioins of major granduer.

Saori: *hugs Anser* No way is she getting him!

Anser: AH! GET OFF ME, STUPID BLONDE LADY!

Shot: *snaps picture* I'll be sendinng this to child services, Ichimonji, if you don't straighten up and do your job.

Saori: *sticks her tongue out* Like I care, Ichiban? We're of equal rank... I could just show that video footage of when someone touched that photo of yours.

@W.I.N.X. And I'm glad you like my works too. As you read Matei, things about this will start faling inno place.

[Zhanneel]

Well, I may not be an avid reader of creative writing but I know a good story when I read one. You carry the story very well, it seems to roll off the tongue, so-to-speak ^^. I can perfectly imagine a tear drop on the side of Anser's head every time Saori opens her mouth =P. I think so far my favorite character is Kerrigan because of her cool-headedness. After that Anser is hard not to love. I might have to slap Saori if I knew her in real life though ^^. Anyway, I will continue to read on after you get the next chapter off of your laptop. =)

[MorriganAensland]

The student

We sat together on a sunny hill not far from the student center, Leona and I just looking like two ordinary girls enjoying the sunshine while sipping our drinks. Of course, with her having obviously-dyed pink hair and me being a few years too young to be on the campus normally we couldn’t be too normal.

“That was quite the shock yesterday,” she told me after a long silence. “I thought those rings would just help me out on my grades…”

“They do that,” I told Leona. “They give you the power to achieve your heart’s desire, no matter what. They’re the inverse of the trickster genie; the Hallowed Prisms give you what you want in a way you can’t complain so you grow to trust and love them.” My fists tightened as I said those words. Love… love for the crystals and their creator… that woman.

I hated her. I hated her for what she had done to my family ever since eighteen months ago. What she did to my father, what she drove my mother to… I recalled all the days I found myself in shambles, just hoping one day to be able to enact justice.

And then Ikki Higashi stepped into my life. A man that had been hurt and tortured by that woman as well, Ikki did not need to ask for my help. I joined his crusade gladly

“I’m not really sure what I’m going to do,” Leona said again. “Miss Ichimonji saved my life and I’m grateful. But-”

Looking over to her, I smiled to try to reassure her. “Just try to move on, Leona. Stay away from the Prisms and do what you can to keep others from using them. I’ll handle the rest.”

She looked at me in shock; I was younger than her and she probably thought it was crazy that I was willing to carry on the fight. She didn’t know I had experience. Not much, but some. So I had to reassure her.

“Giselle-”

“Leona,” I emphasized. “You have gotten out of the hold of the Prisms. Don’t go back there under any circumstances. Mere luck saved you before… even Ikki wasn’t able to deal with all the Hallowed Prisms that were trying to subsume you. If it weren’t for this Ichimonji woman of yours, you…”

Our discussion ended and another one did not follow. I bade her goodbye, promising to stay in touch and that she should tell me if any of her friends starting using the Prisms. We went our separate ways after that, Leona to salvage her life, and me to continue on my crusade.
_
The false

“Are you really sure-”

“Nope! I’ve got it!” I said happily as I carried half a dozen large brown paper bags filled with foodstuffs was we continued walking down the hallway and neared my apartment. It had been Anser’s first trip to a grocery store, but he certainly knew how to behave himself. Then again, he probably just thought he had to be mature since the person he was with seemed to have the mentality of a little girl.

Ramen and other dirt-cheap foods are the staple of the starving college student, the starving grad student, and especially the starving Interpol agent. Little boys, even if they were demons, deserved something better and so I splurged a bit. Anser said food back home had been provided for, so this was his first time trying people food and I decided to get a mix of things to see what he liked.

The days were starting to become a little more bearable for him, I guess. He was helping me out too, which I was thankful for. After Usagi’s death, I-

“Uh… Saori?”

“Hmm? What’s the matter, Anser?”

I peeked around the bags to see a young girl standing there. Judging by her tanned skin tone, probably South American. She had light brown hair and eyes, and she was looking at us as though we were evil incarnate.

No… it was Anser. She was looking at Anser in that way, barely able to contain herself. I’d seen that look before, or at least one so close to it.

“What’s the matter, Saori? This is all your fault… you tried and failed. Isn’t it only fair you receive punishments for all of it?”

Just seeing someone have that look in their eyes brought back those painful memories. But this was different, and Anser needed me. A deftly threw the bags at Anser, ignoring his cries of shock as I bolted down the hallway and put on my glasses just before slamming into the girl and knocking her into the wall.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” I growled. “And pick your words carefully.”

The girl just looked at me, trying to choke out her name before I gradually relented and gave her breathing room. Looking over at Anser, I threw him the room key. “Kiddo, go in there and don’t let anyone in unless I’m with them, okay? Don’t worry about the groceries, I’ll pick them up later.”

The incubus with dark-violet hair nodded silently before complying. After dealing with that woman of Darkness a few days ago, I had hoped he’d get a bit of a reprieve. Guess it was just shorter than I had hoped. I waited until he was inside the apartment before turning back to the young woman.

“First of all, your name.”

“Uh… yes…” she said before trying to regain her composure. “Giselle. Giselle Vega-Stroheim.” When she realized I was still looking at her very crossly, she decided to continue. “I… I work with Ikki Higashi. I found that Leona girl you saved before, tried to explain things to her as best I could. When she told me who saved her, I thought I should meet you.”

“And Anser?”

“That’s the boy’s name?”

I nodded. “What’s he got to do with this then?” I really couldn’t grasp it myself, and I was hoping for some kind of explanation. I didn’t get one.

“I don’t know,” Giselle answered. “He just… he looked a lot like a woman I knew once. One who ruined my life.”

“Oh, well don’t worry about him,” I told her. “I can personally vouch that Anser’s not related to whoever you’re thinking of.”

“I’ll take your word on it then,” Giselle sighed. “In all honesty though, that makes me a little relieved. Less to worry about with someone else out there able to make those Prisms.”

“Make what?” I’d heard Ikki mention them before, and I was beginning to hope I could get some actual answers this time.

“Hallowed Prisms,” Giselle answered. “They’re… they’re what caused Leona to freak out like that before. They give someone the power to achieve their heart’s desire provided they refuse to believe what they’re doing is wrong. Ikki had a problem with them… before he went missing.”

Huh. Guess that explained that. As Giselle started to speak again, I walked over to the grocery bags and picked them up. I’d been lucky; I hadn’t lost anything. Turning back to Vega-Stroheim, I smiled and pulled off my glasses. “If it’s okay with you, I’m a little hungry. We can continue this inside, if you’d like.”

My jump in personality probably threw her off like it did to most people. She did manage to shake it off quickly though, helping me with the food before we headed in together.
_
“And that’s about the point in time Saori and I ran into you,” Anser said as the three of us sat at the table. “Sorry about… Stupid Blonde Lady-” I ignored the insult for the umpteenth time on the grounds I deserved it, “Can ping-pong back and forth from being Scary Shiny Glasses Lady a lot.”

“Yeah… I witnessed it myself,” Giselle said before looking at me. “And he’s the Devil to your Tower?”

“Yep!” I took a bite out of my sandwich . “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to save Leona, like he already said. All around, a good kid!” A very good kid, in fact. He couldn’t very easily let slip about the Hachi Satsu, but he had not. That would’ve caused a great number of problems if Ikki Higashi discovered that the group he had loathed so greatly for getting away with murder was now the one he had to work with. “So where’s the ex-prosecutor anyways?”

The girl shrugged. “Dunno. He usually goes on ahead and trusts for me to pick up the pieces. He’ll usually update me to where he is, wire me the money I need to get there, and wait until I arrive before heading off again.”

“But how does he really do it?” I asked. “If it weren’t for the powers I got from Anser Leona would’ve…” I shivered.

“The Prisms’ power hinges entirely on faith and love,” Giselle said. “At least that’s what Ikki told me. If they deny the power of the Prisms, the jewels are destroyed. Sufficient damage to them can also break the Prisms. You have to be very direct and forceful if you do that method, though. Otherwise the safety gets triggered and the jewels start subsuming the person.”

I heard Anser gulp. “You mean… like those crystal monsters?”

“I don’t know,” Giselle answered. “Ikki’s been able to deal with them on his own in most cases and I’ve been picking up my own fighting style along the way. I really don’t want to know, though.”

“Sounds scary, anyways. And you don’t know anything about that woman of darkness?” I noticed Anser tense up for a moment… he had refused to tell me what he knew about the woman, partly claiming “It couldn’t possibly be her.” I was hoping for some actual answers from someone.

“No. Ikki never mentioned her before, and I never met her before either.”

Great. Just great.

We finished up our lunch not long after that, and then the phone rang. I sprinted to it with unnecessary speed, disguising my genuine concern with infantile mannerisms, like usual before snatching it up. If it was Shot or Kerrigan, I didn’t want Giselle to suddenly find out about the Satsu. My choice was wise.

“Ichimonji; we need you down at headquarters.”

Shot’s message was followed by the dial tone. She was always one for keeping things brief.

Giselle and Anser were just looking at me before I smiled again and laughed.

“It’s… uh… work!”

“Work?” Giselle asked. I just nodded.

“If you want, I’ve got a friend that’s involved with this too,” I pointed out. “Her name’s Kerrigan. I’ve gotta drop Anser off again with her and it’s important we share all information we have.” Yeah, except I wasn’t telling her about me being an Interpol agent. “If you want, I can drop you off at the library with him.”

I noticed Anser seemed a little worried. He’d get used to the ghosts eventually.

“Uh… is something the matter with him?” Giselle asked, seeing Anser’s anxiety.

“Nah…” I blatantly lied. “Come on… how scary could a library filled with ghosts possibly be?”

“What?”

“ROADTRIP!

Grabbing my car keys, I grabbed the two of them, dragging them out the door.
_
It was a brief ride, and Giselle hadn’t pulled any funny business on the ride to the library. I hadn’t expected her to… but it was bothering me. Where did Anser fit into all of this? He was an incubus, sure… but why was the mastermind behind the Hallowed Prisms after him? And what about this woman of Darkness who he stayed relatively mum about?

It bothered me a lot. I wanted to protect him but it felt like there was so little I could do. I was a Tower of the Devil but the powers I had were ones I had a very weak grasp of. I just had to make due and hope Shot wasn’t going to be dropping any serious bombshells on me.

“Okay then,” I said as the car pulled up. “Enjoy your time in the library you two!”

Giselle got out pretty quickly but Anser hesitated in fear. I gave him a warm and cheerful smile to try to let him know he’d be safe, but I didn’t notice any change in his demeanor as he finally got out of the vehicle.

You can’t win them all.
_
Another short drive, and I pulled into the parking lot of a rather nondescript office building. I casually slid on my glasses before walking towards the front door. What followed was the usual song and dance as I took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor.

The ride was as mundane as usual, complete with cheap, synthesized music before the ride finally concluded.

I knew of Brian Lernan’s claims that he would kill the UN ambassador in two weeks. I’d be on sniper detail, along with a dozen other Hachi Satsu assassins… so why call me here?

The door slid open, and I found the base of operations for the Hachi Satsu almost deserted and most of the lights were turned off. The entire floor was the base for the region’s branch of the assassin group, but usually it just looked like a normal work place.

Today wasn’t one of those days.

Standing there was a woman with fiery-red tresses in a black business suit, wearing her traditional sleeveless glove on her right hand. She was looking at me very cross.

“Ichiban.”

“Ichimonji.”

The two of us had never gotten along… I guess we just rubbed each other the wrong way. Nevertheless, I had come because I respected Shot.

“You rang?”

Shot chuckled as she turned and began walking. “I heard you summoned an incubus, Saori. Bet you really enjoyed yours-”

“Anser’s barely either years old!” I snapped. “Now get down to business before I decide to leave.”

“As you wish,” Shot said as she turned and began leading me down an aisle. “Needless to say, I’m a bit upset about the fact you technically have a child now and he knows about us.”

“Circumstances require I keep him around, regardless any doubts I have. He’s my responsibility, Shot.”

“And I understand that!” Shot responded. “I mean, Anser’s all out there, alone and with no family to speak of. So naturally he’s forced to stay with you. As long as you keep under control, which seems to be the case, I don’t really have a problem with that. Of course…” She turned and faced me. “Tell me this: what would happen if there was a better option?”

“I… don’t follow.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Here.”

She snapped her fingers, and a figure stepped into view. He was a young man with blonde hair. He couldn’t be more than twenty at the very oldest.

“Who… who is this? I mean…”

But then a nagging feeling began to grow inside of me. Don’t tell me… don’t tell me…

“Uh…” I looked up, the boy speaking. “I’m-”
_
The preceding

“So…” Giselle said as we sat together at a table, “Does he always get scared by ghosts that much?” Little Anser was curled up in a chair again, trying to ignore the various spirits drifting around us. I wasn’t surprised Vega-Stroheim could see them… she had probably already bore witness to the supernatural due to her experience with the Hallowed Prisms.

Now I knew what we were up against. Well, at least had a better grasp than before. I believe The Art of War put emphasis on knowing one’s enemy, and every bit of information helped.

And it was about that time that they came in; a man and a woman with dark brown hair and dressed very prim and proper.

“Great. They’re back. Please excuse me for a minute.”

“What… what’re you going to do?”

“Nothing I can get convicted for.”

Walking up to them, I quickly deduced they were not the usual. Not like that would change anything. The two looked at me with a big of surprise when stepped in front of them.

“No. I don’t care what you want, just take your fliers and leave.”

“But-”

I took another step towards them. “This is the library of L++, cult propaganda has no place here. Ever.” I could see that put them off a bit… but the due eventually realized it wasn’t worth it and just turned and left. Turning back to Giselle, I gave her a thumb’s up before returning to my seat.

“What… what was that all about?”

“The members of the newest crackpot religious movement. Haven’t you heard?”

“Uh, no… been too busy working with Ikki.” Ah… poor Higashi. I wondered if the ex-attorney would freak out if he discovered the dirty truth about Interpol’s newest anti-assassination group. Until then… Saori and I were merely concerned citizens with a healthy share of quirks.
_
“It all started January 1st, 2013. The old Aztec calendars all predicted 2012 would be the end of the world and a lot of things seemed to indicate that. Remember that world-wide blackout in August of that year? Ah… a lot of religious groups were screaming ‘End of the World!’ left and right.

“Except nothing happened. The year came and went. Cult leaders lost their followings because life went on. And then someone by the name of Megami Sato came forward… and it seemed like she had all the answers. People who had given up their beliefs suddenly found she held all the truths. Every question or doubt in her seemed to fade away. Let’s face it, news shows don’t give special reports for perfectly normal and respectable groups… they want the whack jobs.

“Her religious movement, the Order of the Goddess, is surprisingly mainstream in spite of its core followers. It complies with all international regulations and is founded on principles of mercy and tolerance. For its fourteen month tenure, there has yet to be a real controversy involving them. Megami pools information from Eastern beliefs such as Shinto and Buddhism and incorporates them into a Western, monotheism belief system… with a mother goddess as its pillar of worship.”
_
“And you don’t like these people?”

“It’s… complicated as to why…” I told her. “Explaining would be-”

“Explaining can wait.”

I turned along with Giselle and Anser to see Saori and Shot standing in the doorway, another person with them. It was a young man with short blonde hair, and wearing a red jacket along with a white shirt and khaki pants. I didn’t know who he was, but I knew something was wrong. Even with her glasses blocking the view of her eyes, I could tell the look on Saori’s face was one of sadness and defeat. The look on Shot’s face was one equally solemn, the look of someone doing her duty and taking the path of least resistance.

Quiet sniffles caused me and Giselle to look over to Anser, seeing him just look at the newcomer in surprise before suddenly springing at the other man.

“K-KEEEEEEEEESTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!”

[LinneaKou]

First off, the crackpot cult thing just thickened the plot. ZOMG what a tangled web you've woven!!

Second, yay! Anser's not the only Incubus in Quebec! Although considering that Shot's summoned his brother is probably not conducive to... things... (okay, I just lost my words).

I have to say, this chapter was an unusually fast read for me. Still, you keep on with your cliffhangers, and I'll keep coming back.

[MorriganAensland]

Well, Shot's doing it because she feel's it necessary.

Shot: It was obvious Saori never thought of just summoning Keston so Anser could be reunited. I was just doing what makes sense.

Saori: *sticks out tongue* MEANIE!!!

And don't worry, the threads start falling into place. I've introduced nearly all the key players, so that problem's dealt with. And it makes sense this chapter was quicker to read through, it was a bit shorter, and it was mainly just exposition and more character-driven interactions. The action'll start picking up in a bit. And then we'll starting finding out about that single moment that shook Saori's very foundations.

[Zhanneel]

*imagines the library suddenly turning into a sunny, grassy meadow*

Anser: "Keston!!!"

*slow motion running*

Keston: "Anser!!!"

*slow motion running*

*repeat sequence until they finally--kapow!*

*HUG*

*sniff*

Well, I hope it will be that happy anyway. =)

[MorriganAensland]

Saori: BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!! SOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Keston and Anser have a very close bond, ever since they got separated from their parents.

And working on Shot's personality was tricky. She's Saori's rival/Lancer, but I didn't want her to be another Genius Brusier like Kerrigan. I've opted to mainly have her be someone that, in spite of her own problems, tries to stay by-the-books.

[Zhanneel]

Give me a "K"..."K!"...give me an "E"..."E!"

*skip to the end of my lame cheer*

What does that spell?

"Kerrigan is awesome and she kicks butt with calculated deliverance!"

=P

I'm looking forward to their different fighting styles. =)