1. Hallo

Nate kicked a bit of broken glass out of his way, more because he was bored than that it actually inconvenienced him. The sun was setting, already gone behind most of the abandoned apartment buildings that lined his way home. His backpack was light, easy to carry due to the fact that it only carried his work clothes wrapped in a plastic bag to contain the smell of grease. He had changed back into his school uniform after work, and now was on his way home. Even though it was only six, the sun was virtually gone.

Something skittered across his path. A rat, he thought, dismissing it already. They were the only ones, it seemed, that were brave enough to live in Hell's Alley, or even use it as a short-cut home like he did.

Even the gangs stayed away from this sort of place, and the fact that he used it was reason enough for him to get immunity through almost any other gang territory in the area. Chicago gangs gave credit where it was due.

The notebook he carried in his hand had his name stenciled in curly handwriting: “Nathan Hitagashi”, because Hannah, the only girl in school who talked to him, had decided that his books were boring. If anyone else had suggested it, he would have punched their face in. He didn't care about what anyone thought.

But Hannah was different. She had transferred to their school half-way through February, at the turn of the semester, and had made him her special project, trying to get him more social in class. If any one picked on her, he'd knock them out, no questions asked. He could do it too. He would have tried out for the football team, or even just plain wrestling, if it wasn't for the fact that he had to pay his own way, keeping up rent and all that fun stuff that came with living on your own in a city like Chicago.

He used to play ball, a couple years ago, in another town. But that was before his dad had up and disappeared.

Nathan glanced up, hearing yet another window pane shatter somewhere up ahead. His eyes narrowed as he studied the only light post on the whole block that still worked- someone was standing underneath it, leaning against the pole. Dressed in a trenchcoat, it would have seemed cliché if Nate's instincts weren't screaming at him to run away as fast as he could.

“Are you just going to stand there gawking, or are we going to kill this thing and go home?” a young voice asked from behind him.

Nate whirled around and came face to face with a kid, probably no older than twelve. He glared up at him, and Nate noticed the gun he has in his hand. A revolver, from the sixties.

“You're not making things very interesting you know,” he said, “Aren't you at least going to try to fight back? Where are your buddies? You guys normally travel in packs right? Hey!” He yelled suddenly, “Big scary monsters, come and get me! I'm just a kid, easy pickings.”

“Sora, you talk too much,” Trench Coat scolded. Nate's body twitched at the sudden proximity, even as the guy leaped over his head to land beside the boy in a crouch. “If it has friends, they'll come out when he's dead to avenge him.”

“Their sense of honour is disgusting,” Sora replied.

“Who the hell are you people?”

The two looked up at him, surprised, as if they didn't think he could talk. “It doesn't know...” the boy observed, “Chad, what does that mean?” He turned to the trench coat, obviously Chad.

“Who cares? Honestly, if I have to come down there to kill it myself, hell's going to break loose.” Nate froze at the voice coming from above. He knew that voice. That was the one voice he couldn't forget even if he wanted to.

The girl landed lightly beside the other two, her head down as she focused on keeping her balance. “Seriously,” she complained as she straightened up, pulling out a sword from behind her back, “It's not that hard. You just take your weapon and...” she looked at him, and her voice caught in her throat. “Nate?” she managed at last.

“Hannah!” He was as surprised as her.

“You two know each other?” Chad asked. In response, Hannah simply stared at Nate.

“Are you guys idiots?” He asked, instinct taking over. If anything ever happened to Hannah... “You guys shouldn't be here. This place is crawling with stuff that's just waiting to kill you. Can't you feel it?”

“Strange,” Sora noted in a monotone voice, “It can sense that it's in danger, but doesn't recognize where the threat is. Just what kind of a demon are you?”

“Huh?” Nate had been called a lot of names, it came with being the anti-social guy who had anger management issues. But demon was never for a second on the list. "You little brat." He took a step towards him.

Hannah's sword was suddenly directly in front of him, the tip touching his chest. The blade glowed a vibrant blue. She stared at him, scared, "I don't understand... the Yukicharo said that there was a demon here... but there's only you. What are you?"

"Hannah, it's me Nate from school. Stop messing around."

"Fascinating," Chad said, "I can see the demon energy radiating from you. It's definitely yours, but for some reason, there's none of the usual curling aura that surrounds it. Is is possible? Are you..."

"That's ridiculous, Chad. Those are just legends. There's no such thing as a reformed demon anymore, right Hannah?"

Hannah just kept on staring at him. Slowly, she lowered her sword, turned around and started to walk away. Sora and Chad watched her. Hannah crouched suddenly and launched herself up into the air.

"Does that mean..." Sora started in the ensuing stillness.

"Yes," Chad finished for him. He gave Nate a hard look for a moment, and then crouched and jumped after Hannah. Sora followed. Hell's Alley returned to normal, the sense of imminent danger fading away- as if they had never been there.

 

2. Home Alone 5000 Days

Over a meal of several TV dinners, Nate tried to understand what had just happened.

The kid had kept on referring to him as an “It”. As in “It doesn't know... what does that mean?” Nate's sentiments exactly. What kind of game were those people up to? Was Hannah part of a group of thrill seekers, looking for something that would take them nearer the edge of death than the last trip? Maybe role players? Dressing up and running around the worst part of town as part of some game that they took to the next level? Why the hell drag hi into it?

Hannah had never looked at him with pure revulsion before. Nate knew that nothing in there could hurt him but, for some reason, tonight everything inside of him had screamed for him to run, to get out of there as fast as he could. And when he had tried to warn the others off, they had basically laughed in his face, saying that they had nothing to fear. How could they not have felt that enormous energy seeping through the cracks of the pavement they walked on? Tonight was different from any other night. But the only difference was that they were there. It didn't make any sense.

“Don't think about it too hard,” he muttered to himself as he dumped the trays in the garbage before stumbling across the landing to his bed. “Focus on the stuff that matters. Tomorrow's Friday. Remember to bring the trash down in the morning so that Perkinson doesn't get upset and you don't get stuck with the stench for another week. If anybody asks, Dad came home, and had to leave for a seminar in Atlanta that starts Saturday.”

It was the same sort speech Nate had given himself every night: mental notes, what he needed to remember to do, creative excuses for why it looked like he lived alone. If somebody reported him, he'd get shipped off to another foster family. But so far, the fake ID's his dad had left him had been holding up.

Nate lived alone. Never knew his mom, and his dad disappeared off the face of the earth a couple years ago when they still lived in Connecticut. Life had seemed so much simpler back then.

He lay awake for hours, thinking about the past. When he closed his eyes, he could hear her voice, the voice he imagined was his mother's, what she would sound like. Whenever he had asked his dad about her, he'd get this look in his eye. He'd turn away from Nate and, before stalking out of the room, would tell him to beat the punching bag in the corner to a pulp. Once it was nothing but stuffing he'd tell him everything he wanted to know, he promised.

The night he didn't come home, the night Nate sensed that his dad was never going to come home, you couldn't have told the bag from a mattress found in a junkyard.

3. Growth Spurt

In retrospect, Friday could have been a lot worse.

Hannah didn't come to school. Normally, that wouldn't have bothered Nate at all, but after last night it felt like she had skipped out on purpose.

Some jock ticked him off, so Nate shoved him into a locker. It wasn't too big of a shove, in his opinion, but the idiot broke his arm. When the principal and teachers tried to delve into the mystery of who was behind it, no witnesses stepped forward. They all knew who it was, but without any real proof or people willing to risk their necks to get him in trouble, Nate got off clean.

The locker was in worse shape than the jock, and the owner had to take an empty one in the basement.

Nate started having headaches too. He couldn't focus on a single thing that the teachers were saying. And Hannah wasn't there, so it wasn't like he could copy her notes later.

By lunchtime it was so bad that he just sat in an empty classroom with the lights off and the shades pulled down. The warning bell was like a percussion symphony warming up in his head. In the end, he just walked home, calling in sick at work. Jarvis, his employer and personal pain-in-the-ass, was not impressed. Nate just held the phone away from his ear and let him rant. One did not hang up the phone on Jarvis if they valued their jobs.

When Nate got home, he managed to still get his garbage out on time. Apparently, the truck always came at two. He curled up in the corner of his room, a blanket wrapped around him, and tried to block out the noise of an empty street.

He slept the rest of the day off.

The rest of the weekend was spent just like that, hearing the neighbors arguing over who does the dishes, then their loud breathing hours later when they finally went to bed. They were two apartments down from Nate, and the one in between had been empty since the last resident got arrested for dealing.

Sunday night. Nate decided to go over his notes from class. There was supposed to be some sort of quiz tomorrow. As if religion didn't play a role in the fact that Sunday was a part of the weekend. And since most religions used Sundays to do stuff, they considered it taboo to do trivial things such as homework on Sunday, unless it was religiously relevant. His head swam as he tried to focus, but wans't getting very far.

Oh well. At least Hannah would be at school tomorrow. He seriously needed some answers.

Gradually, Nate realized that he could no longer hear the neighbors. He sighed with relief, pulled out his ear-buds and turned off his iPod. No need to blast the heavy metal anymore. Now their voices were muffled again- something he could cope with.

With a sigh,  he went to bed. Ordinary life. He smirked. School would end eventually, and then he'd have to find a better job. What kind of work environment would take in an eighteen year-old mechanic who couldn't work with his boss, and tended to call in sick a lot due to migraines?

He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

4. Target Aquired

Nate sighed as he walked into class, his eyes darting quickly to Hannah's seat to confirm his suspicions. She still wasn't back yet. Was she ever going to come back, or did she take off with her buddies? Nate had never seen them before, but the three of them had seemed pretty chummy together. Skipping school must not be a problem for her- she basically had everyone in the class as a minion anyways, so it's not like she would have a hard time catching up.

Nate took his seat in the back corner of the room as the bell rang. If there was one thing he hated about Harper, it was how she demanded people be in their seats by the time the bell finished ringing, and not a moment later. He dug out his second period notebook- English. Like they needed to learn how to speak. Who cared about that stupid analyzing crap, anyways? Did Shakespeare write his plays to be studied as literary wonders? No, he wrote them to make some cash to feed his family because the guy was as weak as a wet spiderweb.

He didn't really pay attention, opting instead to look out the window over the grounds. They were on the second floor, and their classroom was right by the soccer fields. He watched as the girls' phys. Ed class headed out onto the baseball diamond. Might as well try to get the outdoors whenever it wasn't too cold, he guessed.

His eyes narrowed as the colours outside seemed to change, become darker tints of themselves. A dark form dropped from the sky to land on the pitch like a big pile of dark snow. He watched as it rose, molding itself into a huge white monster, with two extra arms poking out of it's back. Its yellow eyes filled with black, and it reared back its massive head to unleash a blood curdling roar, its arms rising into the air as if it were celebrating.

The phys. Ed class was oblivious to the monster, and kept on walking straight towards it. Nate glanced around the classroom to see if anyone else had noticed, just in time to see a short figure dart past the door in the hallway. He turned his attention back outside. The monster didn't seem to be interested in the gym class at all. It stomped slowly towards the school, each step seeming to take enormous effort. Even though Nate was on the second floor, it felt like the two of them were eye-level, and the monster was getting taller and taller with every stride he took towards him.

Something inside him told him to move, to get down. The monster was looking at him. Its mouth began to open, and Nate could see some sort of ball of energy forming in its mouth.

Someone tackled him to the floor, just as a piercing shriek echoed throughout the classroom, causing the glass to shatter. Nate yelled in surprise, covering his ears to try to drown out the howl. The rest of the class dropped to the floor too, surprised and afraid of what they assumed was a drive-by, even though they were on the second floor. Nate glanced around him, but no one else seemed to notice the monster.

Slowly, he sat back up to watch the monster rear its head again, preparing for another attack. “Stay here,” Hannah told him. She jumped out of the window, and instead of falling to the ground, ran towards the monster on the air. Her blonde hair glittered in the sun, and Nate watched in utter amazement as she charged the beast, her sword gripped tightly in her hand.

Two other figures joined her in her attack, and the monster turned its head to deal with the new threat. A blast of some sort of blue energy shot out from the taller one's palms, blasting through the creature's head at the same time that Hannah drove her sword right into its skull.

Nate watched as the monster howled in pain even as its body disintegrated before his very eyes. Hands from behind him started to pull him away from the ledge, and Nate didn't resist, his eyes not leaving the scene outside the window. It was the same three from the alley: Hannah, Sora, and Chad. And they had just killed a huge monster that no one else but him had seen.

Ten minutes later, when everything had finally settled down and the shattered glass was cleared away, Hannah waltzed into class. She took her seat, glancing quietly at the shattered window before leaning towards Amanda. Nate could hear her from across the room, even though he doubted anyone else could. "What page are we on?"

Nate blinked, surprised. Nothing like "What happened?", eh? He'd have to talk to her later.

Hannah glanced over at him, smiled, and waggled her fingers. Nathan blinked as she turned her attention back to her book.

They seriously needed to talk.

 

5. Scope's Out. Gun In.

Nate saw Hannah standing by a tree, as if waiting for someone He chose to sneak up on her, still convinced that she was trying to avoid him- he hadn't been able to get her alone all day, soething that was normally easy. He cut around a group of freshmen, using them as cover so that Hannah wouldn't see him coming.

“What was that thing?” he asked quietly when he was standing right behind her.

Hannah jumped as she turned, her hand instinctively reaching for her pocket; a movement not wasted on Nathan. “Looking for your sword?”

Just then, Chad and Sora arrived, both with raised eyebrows to see Nathan with Hannah. Hannah glanced meekly at them before saying, “I need to go.”

Nate grabbed her shoulder, stopping her mid-turn, “Not before I get some answers.”

“Look, forget about the alleyway, alright? It never happened.”

“Actually, I'd completely forgotten about that one. I'm talking about today.”

Something flitted across her face, but it was gone before Nate could guess at what it was. “What about today? I was late because my Dad was sick, so I spent the morning calling the clients he had booked, rescheduling for him.”

“Yeah? I still don't care. I'm talking about that huge monster thing. The thing you three,” he glanced briefly at Chad and Sora, “Took down.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Really? There was no monster?” Nate made his face carry a dubious expression, as if he wasn't really sure any more. “I have been having some pretty weird hallucinations lately, so that could have been another one...”

Hannah jumped at the chance, “Probably.”

“You're sure?”

Hannah nodded.

Nate pounced, “So no monster shattered the glass, and you're not the one who shoved me out of the way and saved my ass. Is that what you're saying?”

Hannah nodded, “You got it.”

“Okay... then how come you didn't ask what happened when you came in?”

“Huh?”

“When you came to school late, your eyes flitted to the window real quickly, like you were assessing the damage. But you didn't ask anybody what had happened. Something like that, you ask questions. But you didn't.”

“Yes I did, you just didn't hear me. You were on the far side of the room after all.”

“Hannah, I can hear the cricket chirping in the classroom across the hall. I can tell you its exact location. From here. I'm not going to miss something like you whispering a question to Amanda.”

“Your hearing's really that good?” Sora spoke up, surprised.

Nate shrugged, running his fingers through his white hair, “Yeah. It's a pain in the ass though. Stopped riding public transit when I was eight.” His eyebrows twitched, “And what's the deal with you wandering around like a freshman? You're like, twelve.”

Sora shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant. Nate could tell that he had been practising in front of a mirror somewhere. “I skipped a couple grades.”

“Really.” He turned back to Hannah. “So what was that thing?”

Hannah, instead of looking at him, glanced over at the others. Chad gave her a nod. Hannah sighed. “Alright. We'll tell you. But not here,” she added quickly when she saw Nathan open his mouth, “It's not the sort of conversation that you want Buraindo to overhear.”

'' 'Buraindo'?”

Sora yawned, “Ordinary humans. People who can't see the monsters, or have lost the Sight. It happens as they grow older. Some synapse in their brain thickens, blocking out the thin optical nerve that enables them to See.”

Nathan just gave him a confused look. Sora shrugged. “Whatever. If you guys are gonna introduce him to the real world, I'm going to shoot for some food.” He twisted a ring on his finger, and disappeared.

Nathan stared at the spot where Sora had just been. “Show-off,” Chad muttered darkly.

Hannah's features quickly brightened, “That sounds like a good idea. I could use a milkshake. How about you?”

“From McDonalds? No thanks.”

“No, I meant we should go to this little malt shop I know. It's kinda retro, so it's totally cool. My treat.”

Nathan blinked. “How long is this gonna take?”

“Why? You have better places to be?” Hannah asked, all-too-innocently. She knew he did.

Nathan shot her an annoyed glance as he dug his phone out of his pocket and speed-dialed a number. As it rang, he started to chant quietly, “Please be voice-mail, please be voice-mail.”

An ascending ring-tone answered him. Nate relaxed. “Hey boss.” He coughed once for  effect. “I can't come in to work-” he made a gagging sound, “-today.” Hannah rolled her eyes at his dramatics, but Chad seemed slightly amused. “I'm really sorry, and I promise that I'll work over time on the weekend, no pay.” He hung up and looked at Hannah, “Nope. Completely free.”

He thought he saw Chad smirk, but he soon lost the look, replaced by a stone mask that seemed to fit him perfectly.

Hannah sighed, “Alright. Hold on.” She grabbed him by the shoulder, and suddenly it felt as if the world spun sideways as wind whistled past his ears.

6. Who Knew O'hara?

Colours flashed before Nathan's eyes. Blinking rapidly, the colours morphed into recognizable objects. They were in some sort of restaurant, with high stools, red booths, the works. A jukebox was playing some music somewhere. His ears twitched and he found the source- it was in a corner, and he could read from here the title of the song, “The Devil King Is Bored.”

Sora was already sitting at one of the stools, not even bothering to turn around when they appeared. Hannah casually walked over to join him, hopping up onto a stool. Nate followed her lead, sitting beside her as Chad took the seat on the other side of Sora.

Without even asking, the waitress behind the counter handed them each a milkshake, all of them vanilla. Hannah took a slurp before turning to him, “Okay. So what do you want to know?”

“Everything. You guys killed some sort of huge monster that just appeared out of nowhere, but no one else seemed to have noticed.”

Hannah nodded, “That's because most people don't See demons.”

“What was all that about the Sight-thing?” Nate asked, leaning forward to try to make eye contact with Sora.

Sora didn't look up, but he shrugged, “Exactly that. There's an optical nerve that allows people to see demons, but for most people, another synapse grows big enough to shut it down by the time they're old enough to talk. For some, it stays a little longer- that's actually how kids started to be scared of what might be hiding under their beds or in their closets. But even then, the synapse eventually grew.”

“So that didn't happen for you guys?”

Hannah laughed while Sora smirked, “No. We see because we are demon-slayers, born and bred. Demons, humans, and 'Slayers, all live in different planes of existence. Think of it as a three-tiered pillar. Ko-ha, the top plane, is where we 'Slayers live. Misd is where you humans live, and the demons exist in the realm called Ampoulles. Misd is the middle ground, so most demons, when they leave their realm, end up here. But once in a while, you'll encounter one in Ko-ha. Although, any demon stupid enough to show up there is normally taken care of almost instantaneously.”

“Only 'Slayers are supposed to be able to see demons. That's why it's our job to destroy the demons before they destroy Misd. With Misd out of the way, it would be way to easy for them to launch an attack on Ko-ha,” Chad added.

“I'm not a 'Slayer, though. So how can I see them?”

Hannah shrugged, “Sometimes, when a fetus comes into contact with a demon, some of the demonic energy is absorbed by the unborn baby. That energy grows, and keeps the synapse from expanding too much.”

“So I can see because my mom ran into one of those demons?”

Hannah nodded, “Yeah, probably.”

“So do I get super powers too?”

Sora gave a superior laugh, “No. It just means that you can see them. You would have had to have absorbed an enormous amount of demonic energy in order to get any powers from it.”

Hannah turned to him, “You know what? This makes sense now. Remember how on Thursday the Yukicharo gave us a faulty sensor reading and we came across him? That must mean that the Yukicharo is more sensitive than we initially thought. It wasn't acting flukey or anything.”

“The what?”

Hannah turned back to Nate, “It's the demonic energy-sensing device that every team has- we can't rely on a quick read from HQ, so it's what we use in the field.”

“So what are the demons after?”

“Life energy. Every living thing has it, even plants, so the really weak demons can feed on those. But humans carry a lot of it, so the majority of demons that come here are after people. Some people have more energy than most, 'Slayers most of all. But the strongest demons, like B-class and above, eat other demons, because they carry even more than us Slayers. It's actually how the Yukicharo finds demons, by tracking the life energy concentration of an area.”

“So you guys kill them?”

Chad nodded sagely before reengaging his milkshake. “Yep. We're born to be 'Slayers.”

“So everyone in... Ko-ha, they're all demon-slayers?”

“For the most part, no. But 'Slayers are the only ones who are able to travel between the realms.”

“It doesn't really matter,” Sora interrupted, “Especially not with you. It's not like you'll ever go there. It's impossible for anyone but a 'Slayer to travel to Ko-ha.”

“But you said that demons sometimes appear there.”

“They do, but that's because they have enough power to do so. Humans have diddly squat compared to the demons that show up in Ko-ha.”

The three jumped as a shrill beeping began to reverberate from Hannah's pocket. She dug it out, producing a small hand-held device that looked like a heavy-duty cell-phone.

“Aw crap,” she muttered, squinting at the screen. She turned away from Nathan, hopping off her stool, at the same time as Chad and Sora. “It looks like a G-negative class.” She turned back to Nathan, still studying the screen, “Don't worry about paying, we keep an open tab. We've got to go, bye!”

Chad and Sora grabbed her shoulders and in an instant, they were gone, leaving Nathan alone in the malt shop.

7. Watch And Learn

“You do realize that we're going to have to do something.”

“About what?” Hannah asked innocently while studying the screen, pretending not to know what he was talking about.

“Not what,” Sora corrected automatically, “Who.”

“We can't just pretend that it didn't happen.” Chad continued.

“Why not? What HQ doesn't won't hurt them.”

“Seriously? As a member of one of the main houses, you of all people should know-”

“Don't bring that shit into this,” she snarled. “Don't even start with me. I know all the rules.”

“And yet you want to disobey the rules, bring dishonor to our name?” Sora asked, siding with Chad.

“You shut up. You know I barely belong to our House as it is. Why do we even need to bother with him, huh? He's not going to stop us. He saw one of the uglier ones, and hasn't actually made contact with one, so why would he even try?”

That stopped the other two in their pursuit of questions. Hannah watched the Yukicharo. “So what kind of beast is it this time?” Sora asked.

“Looks like the G-negative snow type.”

“Great, so much for an easy one.”

“Just be happy it wasn't a B-class. I heard that the Genjutsu team ran into one of those.”

“Shit. Who replaced them?”

“That's the problem. There's no other replacements ready yet.”

“Glad it's not near our territory,” Sora muttered.

“Yeah, but our borders just got stretched. We might not even go back for classes this year.”

“Back?” Sora snorted, “We never went to start. This would be our first year.”

“You got accepted?” Chad asked.

Sora glanced up at him and grinned. “Yep.”

Hannah smirked. “Yeah, only a couple hundred applicants to fill the fifty Illusionary seats for this year.”

“Hey!” Sora protested.

Chad smiled. “He probably would have gotten in if there were the usual thousand that apply for any of the other three.”

“At least we all got in the same year.”

“It makes sense. We all have at least some part of an ability born with us.”

“Speak for yourself,” Chad snorted, “They pick Pyros on a completely different level. You should have seen the test we had to take. There were-” he broke off and shot them a suspicious glare, “Never mind.”

Hannah groaned. “We were just about to find out what sort of test potential Pyros have to take.”

“You're sly. How did we get on this subject anyways?”

“Better question,” a voice boomed from above them, “Why are three killer's spawn out late at night?”

“It's only dusk, you moron,” Sora replied without thinking.

The demon drops down to face them. Hannah glanced around quickly. They were in an abandoned part of the suburbs, the apartment buildings condemned for destruction. It wasn't ideal, like their Alley, but it would have to do. She dug the cross out of her pocket, “Shine in the darkest hour,” she uttered, her free hand guiding the shape of the blade that grew at her release.

It gave a throaty chuckle, “Aww, a little one who thinks it's a Caster.” Its eyes peered down at them, out of it's massive head, all six eyes blinked, one after the other, so that it didn't miss a thing. “Where's your boss?”

Hannah made a face that she hoped looked like scorn, “Cresta figured we could take you on on our own.”

Sora grabbed the crest under his shirt, the Piece he used to focus his energy. Chad's hands lit up,  ready for action as the balls of blue energy floated over the palms of his hands. The snow demon chuckled again as snow started to swirl around them all. “So no Summoners, eh? This'll be fun.”

Hannah cursed under her breath as she realized their mistake- they had let him see who could do what. Everyone knew that demons hated fighting the teams specifically because of the Summoners, who could bind the demons to their will and manipulate them against their own kind. Cresta was their team's Summoner, out of action due to a Class D's Invisibility Detachment, making her think she had had it under her control before slashing her from the inside out.

The demon straightened from his crouch, lifting his head to the skies like all other demons, summoning his power with a mighty yell.

And in spite of herself, Hannah felt fear. Not for them, but for Nathan. “Don't let him come,” she whispered, “Don't let him hear it.” It was a prayer sent to the heavens, where no one was. But it was a prayer nonetheless. A prayer for Nathan's safety. Because, despite the rules, Hannah worried about him, about the trouble his abilities would cause him. Him, not them.

Humans who could see demons were killed for the simple fact that  they would only get in the way of demon-slayers doing their jobs. And deep down, she knew that that was true for Nathan just as any other human. He was strong, and it seemed like he could hear as well as a low F-class sensory demon.

But he would only get in the way.

The demon swung a massive fist at them, it's mouth split in a gruesome grin. Hannah swallowed.

Don't let Nathan come.

 

8. The Demon In The Snow

 

Nathan shivered at the sound. The roar had rumbled through the city shortly after the others had left. Nathan had left his shake where it was and walked out, alert, trying to hear the yell again, see where it was coming from.

“Who am I kidding?” he muttered as he walked in the direction of the roar. “They're trained for this stuff. I'd probably just get in the way.”

he shuddered as the voice whispered again. It wasn't a whisper, more like a yell, but it was so faint, that it might as well have been. For the past half hour, he had felt like he was hearing Hannah scream for help. It was probably just his imagination, though. Hannah said that those G-whatevers were easy to take down.

He turned the corner of the street. Halfway home.

 

vvvvvvvvvv

 

Hannah swung her sword back as she tried to stop her back-sliding. Dry heaves convulsed within her. Her eyes couldn't move as she watched the demon move towards her, taking its time. It was slow, but it was strong.

She could see Chad's body draped over a low wall, not moving except for his fingers. Sora was fifteen feet away, blood flowing from a head wound, lying unnaturally still. She knew that it wasn't an illusion. The snow swirled around her again, making it difficult to see.

“Master of the binding sky, all flesh dwellers create,” she intoned, building up power in her sword, “The piercing eye of the hawk, the turning of a leaf. When all wars cease, the righteous remain.

“Flee from the wrath of a spinning blade.

“Indefinite Art 32: Red Gale Wind!”

Power shot out from her sword, taking the form of a cyclone. Hannah watched hopefully as the snow began to clear away, the cyclone moving towards it's target.

The demon's thick arms swung up to protect it's face- and the cyclone disappeared. Hannah watched, stunned, as the energy of the spell was sucked into one of the three holes along the demon's arm that she had noticed before. No G negative was supposed to be able to absorb Casted energy.

The Yukicharo at her side beeped. Hannah watched apprehensively as the new results scrolled in.

“Reclassification. Snow-type demon. Special ability: masks energy, absorb energy. Proceed with caution. Class C positive.”

Hannah's eyes trailed slowly to the demon, methodically coming closer to her, it's mouth opened slightly. She knew what was going to happen next. A black ball of energy began to form in its mouth, growing bigger as it gave it more energy.

The demon aimed for her. Hannah watched as the ball shrank, gaining density and greater range. Why wouldn't her feet move?

Hannah swallowed, feeling the fear that was paralyzing her body. Except for her mouth.

“Help!”

 

vvvvvvvvvv

 

Nathan's head jerked up at the sound of Hannah's voice. Before he knew what he was doing, he was running, faster than he had ever run before, in the direction of her voice. It was just up ahead, he could feel it. Snow flakes started to fall around him. Snow in May? He shivered from the cold, his t-shirt thinner than the thread-bare rug in his apartment.

He turned the corner, coming onto a scene that was in utter chaos. Nathan took it all in in a sweeping glance: Chad was lying on a low-wall, limp like a rag-doll. Sora was unconscious, but alive, his chest was still moving. Hannah was standing paralyzed as a black ball of energy whirled towards her through the snow.

He lunged for her, snatching her up in his arms before he jumped away. In the same instant, the energy hit them, but instead of being ripped to pieces by it, Nathan sent it spinning back towards the demon. Nate landed on the top of a building in a crouch, Hannah held close. He blinked, surprised at what had just happened, glancing down the fifteen stories to see the demon slowly getting up from where it had been thrown by the blast.

“You shouldn't have come,” Hannah whispered feebly, her shaking hand still gripping the dead-weight of her sword. He could tell that several nerves in the arm had been damaged, and that she couldn't fight.

He set her down, leaning her up against a vent, before taking another look at the monster. It was huge, standing a story and a half high, with six eyes spinning wildly as it tried to locate them. Its bulbous head was solidly attached to its thick chest, arms that bulged with muscle swung about in the snow. In each arm were three black holes, and another three were in each powerful leg.

It spun around, turning it's back to him, and Nathan couldn't help but gasp as he recognized the mark on the demon's skull: a circle with four diamonds protruding from it, one at each of the main points of a compass.

It was the exact same mark that was tattooed on his back, something he had had since he was a kid. It had always been with him, as far as he knew. But why did the demon have the same mark?

“You have to kill it,” Hannah whispered behind him.

He turned to face her. Her head lolled to one side, but she made it go upright again. With all of her strength, she thrust her sword out to him, “You have to become a demon-slayer.”

He looked into her eyes, knowing that she wasn't making him do this lightly. Once a demon-slayer, always a demon-slayer. That's what she had just explained to him mere hours ago. There would be no opting out after this.

Nate shook his head. The moment he had entered the fight, there was no turning back. Only demon-slayers could see demons, and only demon-slayers could fight demons.

So only demon-slayers could kill demons.

He took the sword from her, the blade glowing blue. He felt the magic flow through him, and something in Nate, deep down, told him that this was wrong. There was something wrong with the sword.

He sensed the demon below spot them, felt it building up another ball of that energy, recovering from it's uncontrolled flight. Slowly, sword gripped tightly with both hands, he turned to face it, his face hardening into a strong face, the kind he used to take on to intimidate opponents in sports. He jumped down to land square in front of it

The demon was unfazed, and charged with an angry roar at its tormentor who had spoiled its fun, the energy dissipating into the snow. Nate charged with a yell of his own, launching himself up into the air to meet the demon head on. He used the demon's mouth as a stepping stone, launching himself to be over the creature, the sword slicing down in a wicked cut. The blade tore right into the thing's skull, piercing all the way up to the handle in an instant, the blade glowing white hot at the contact. Nathan blinked as he realized that he had just struck it in its mark.

Almost in slow motion, although Nate knew that it couldn't be more than a few milliseconds, the sword exploded in a ball of light, splitting the demon's skull in two with a mighty explosion. The same force violently pushed Nate back, the air knocked form his chest as he sailed over the edge of the building and slammed onto the roof. Nate's fingers were frozen to the sword, and  he watched in amazement as the sword swirled with power, power that shot down the length of the blade and into him.

9. Akuna, Akita, Sai, Yaysu

“Welcome,” a voice purred.

Nathan glanced around him, trying to figure out where he was. The sky was black, but still he could see perfectly fine. Grey fog swirled around him, and he could tell that he was lying on a flat surface. Slowly, he sat up.

“I haven't been able to get to you before. What did you do? Hold a Caster's sword?”

Nathan glanced around him, but the voice remained anonymous in the fog.

“You must have done something. You actually used some of your powers for once, weakling.”

“Who are you?”

A chuckle emanated from somewhere, echoing through out the space, “We are many. And we have been waiting so long for  you to come to your senses at last. We are hungry...

“Let us out!”

Nathan flinched at the sudden bite in the being's voice.

It seemed to get itself under control. “We have waited a long time for you to finally free us.”

“Free you? From what?”

“Don't you understand, you Drek-lak? We have waited all this time to be released from you.”

“Me?” Nate looked around him, surprised, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Ain't no such thing as hell,” the being growled, “But this place is as close as it gets. Do you know what it's like, to be ripped off of the hunt and imprisoned in the body of a Drek-lak, knowing that you may never be released, even against your own kind?”

It didn't even wait for him to respond. “Of course you don't!” It thundered. “How could you if you're the Drek-lak that traps us?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I told you it was clueless.” The voice seemed to be addressing something else in the fog.

“Can't be helped,” a new voice spoke. It was soft, gentle, but there was a thin undercurrent in its words, and Nate had a feeling that it could rip his head from his shoulders as easily as breathe. Still it held a noble sort of air in it's words, like a king cobra.

The being went on, “We are what you beings call demons. And we are in your Cache, having been absorbed by you.”

“What are you talking about? The only demons I've seen were the ones that Hannah and the others took out.”

Hissing filled the void at his words. “Speak not of those three to us. It was they who have sent you to us in such bad condition. Even now, they try to unravel the harm they have caused, but to what end? One of them is a traitor, and the others are fools. You will heal, but not through their efforts.

“You have only recently begun to see us, yet we have been around your entire life. Your energy was too enticing to stay away. But as soon as we came close to devouring you, you absorbed us. Be grateful that along the way, you absorbed a Regenerator.”

“Why?” This was turning surreal, more than the whole 'ginormous-demons-that-no-one-else-can-see' deal. Nate couldn't wrap his mind around it all.

“It really is dense,” the being sneered.

“Patience,” the regal voice said again, “He has much to learn. And how can he learn without a teacher?”

The being reluctantly answered Nate's question. “You are like a Summoner,” the last word was stated in contempt, “Except that you do not require physical contact. You absorb us into your Cache, and are then supposed to be able to summon us upon command and bend us to your will.

“Except, that is not what has happened. Instead of releasing us, you draw upon our powers and use them as if they were your own.”

“I do?”

“Moron, where did you think you got your acute senses from, eh? You're one of them, at least a little.”

“One of who?”

It snorted with derision, “If you couldn't figure it out by this point on your own, then you never will.

“You're Akuna. Demon-slayer.”

10. Headaches

“Is he awake yet?”  A door slowly slid shut, but to Nate it still sounded like the person had slammed it full-force.

“No, but he's stable, so that's something.” Nate didn't recognize the voice, but it came from whoever was sitting beside him. “Anyways, I need to head back. The Nephron isn't going to run itself.”

Nate counted the number of people he could hear breathing. Four. The door slammed shut. Three.

“I don't think she was too happy that we called her out to the field.” Sora. Had to be.

“Yeah, well, what were we supposed to do? Rush him to the hospital? What would we say?” Hannah. She sounded worried.

If it were the two of them, then the third had to be Chad. One thing about him, he didn't seem to like to talk too often.

“Wonder what was the bigger risk, though,” Chad mumbled. He was in the far corner of the room, Nate could hear, sitting in a chair. A page of a magazine turned, “Considering that Mark on his back.”

“Maybe it's just a coincidence. I mean, it has to be some sort of tattoo, right?” Hannah suggested. It took Nate a moment to realize that they were talking about his Mark, planted right between his shoulder blades.

“Yeah,” Sora snorted derisively, “In other words, he saw the Mark somewhere and decided to get a tat of it? Let's be real here, Hannah.”

“And the other option? That he's a demon?”

“Let's not forget that it's probably reformed.”

“Oh, so just drop Nathan down to an 'it' now, is that what's going on here? Is that what you think?”

There was silence in the room for a moment.

“I think that your emotions are clouding your judgment,” Chad started slowly, “I think we should wait until he wakes up before we make decisions. There is a chance that he's reformed, if he's even a demon. Maybe he's part demon-slayer, and his dad had that mark tattooed on him when he was little. It wouldn't be the first time. Any answer we think of is just as impossible as any other. We wait until he comes to. That's what's going on.”

“Too late,” Nate said at last, fed up with being left out. His eyes snapped open, immediately adjusting to the brightness of the room. Groggily, he sat up, using his hands to steady himself. Pain lanced through his skull, but in a flash was gone. So he did have one of those regenerating demons in him. That was convenient. He wondered when he had picked that one up.

His eyes locked with Hannah's right away. “Spill.”

“Spill what?” Sora asked.

Nate shot him a glare, annoyed, “How about everything? What happened on that roof, what's a reformed demon, and how the hell is some sort of demonic mark on my back?”

Hannah swallowed. “A reformed demon is a demon that has turned on it's own kind.”

“Seriously? And you guys think that I'm one of … those. Come on.” Nate tried to laugh it off.

Hannah took a step away from him, a movement Nate wasn't slow to interpret, “Come on, Hannah, you know me. I can't be some sort of demon. You said that no demon could touch your sword and live.

“Well, here I am.”

That was when he saw her eyes, the way that they stared at him with horror. Silence filled the room. Nate's heart pounded in his chest. “Alright, let's play this out. What happens if I'm a demon?”

“We'd kill you.” Chad stated it so matter-of-factly that Nate had to blink twice before he understood what Chad had said.

“You're kidding, right?”

Sora shook his head, “No, we're not.”

“What if I was a... reformed demon?”

Hannah looked down as she answered, “The law would still require that we kill you. Reformed demons have a tendency to be ruthless, traitors the moments they make a solid alliance with any sort of being.”

“Good thing I'm not a demon then.”

“Do you live with your family?” Sora spoke up suddenly.

Nate blinked. “Uh... no. My dad disappeared a few years back. Why?”

His question seemed to be ignored though. “What are you thinking?” Hannah asked Sora.

He shrugged, “It's just that, I was just thinking of that trial, the one against the scientist that the Stealth Force had found. You know, the one who was found guilty of messing with demonic DNA.

“The Test-tube Demon trial?” Chad suggested.

Hannah stole a glance at Nate, “Shit, you don't think that...”

“It makes the most sense. Why we got the energy readings we did, why he blacked out after using your sword, even why he has the Mark on his back. It explains it all.”

“Pray, do tell,” Nathan interjected icily.

Sora and Hannah jumped. Chad just sat in his chair. “What explains it all?” Nate demanded.

Sora swallowed, but it was Hannah who answered.

“You're a demon hybrid.”

11. Goodnight, My Sweet World

Nate's head slammed into the hard wood of the floor. Quickly, he rolled to one side, narrowly missing the gleaming blue blade that shattered the boards where his head had just been. His instincts were screaming at him, a million different ways to escape the battle alive.

Energy from six o'clock.

Nate stuck his hand out, palm facing outwards, as the pulsing ball of power from Chad's hands rocketed towards him. The energy struck his hand- and was absorbed into it. Nate could feel the power racing through him, giving him new strength in a rush like brain-freeze.

“Shit,” he heard Chad curse.

The world suddenly swam before Nate's eyes. He turned to see a dozen Soras charging at him, each carrying two sharp knives that were dipped in a special poison that caused a quick death with the slightest nick. Nate knew that because Sora had managed to scratch him, making him incredibly vulnerable for an instant while he regenerated

Nate closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and summoned power from within him. His eyes opened, blazing with new purpose. The corners of his vision faded into red. He ducked as Hannah attacked him from behind, launching himself up into the air, where her attacks couldn't reach. His eyes blazed, searching through the Soras for the original. The fakes withered out of existence as his gaze swept over them.

Spying one in the corner that didn't fit the pattern, Nate swooped down, dodging several blasts of energy and absorbing another that Chad shot at him, trying to distract him. It was becoming apparent that none of them really knew how to fight. They had been lucky up until now. Nate prayed that their luck had just run out.

Hannah was muttering something. Probably trying to get the others to regroup, think up a new strategy on the fly. He smirked. This was too easy.

“Incantation of the Moon: Seven Pillar Prison!”

A rumble above Nate's head drew his attention, enabling him to see for a split-second the blue columns bearing down on him before they caught him and dragged him to the floor. Boards shattered and splinters of wood exploded outwards as Nate and the pillars smashed into them.

Nate tried to struggle, but couldn't move at all, the effect of the spell instantaneous. 

Hannah walked over calmly as the red faded from the corners of his vision. Nate could actually feel the energy being peeled away from him, absorbed into the spell that Hannah had cast.

The glowing tip of Hannah's sword leveled with his head, touching his hair. “Game over.”

Chad peeled himself up from the floor. Nate blinked in surprise, trying to remember when exactly Chad had been knocked to the floor, and flinched at remembering how forcefully he had shoved that last energy blast back. “You alright?”

Chad grinned, “Nothing a little Pyros won't fix.”

Pyros were the medics of the team, Hannah had explained, but they were only trained for basic first aid. So when Cresta, their team's Summoner had gotten on the wrong side of some powerful demon, she had had to go back to Ko-ha for treatment. And that was the same reason for why they had called in someone else to stitch Nate up after his brush with death.

That had been a couple months ago, Nathan realized, amazed at how fast time had gone by. Shortly after the demon had shown up and the others had concluded that he was part demon (who was he to correct them?), Nate had dropped school and work completely, moving in with the gang at their special “compound”. Hannah had been going to school for kicks, trying to understand why something essential was subject to such controversy.

The compound was something else. From the street, it looked like any one of the many sprawling mansions along the row, if not a little larger than the rest. Thick iron gates stretching over ten feet high deterred any interlopers from trespassing. Of course, what most Ippans couldn't see was the shield of Zenonar energy that covered the property like a dome. The others had challenged Nate to see if he could get through it, testing their theory that he was part demon, part human. Apparently, considering the ease with which he had jumped over the wall and through the shield, he had failed to meet their expectations.

Nate stretched a hand out and a dry towel flew into it, promptly becoming damp with his sweat as he used it to wipe away the moisture from his face. They were in an outdoor courtyard- at least that was what it looked like. In reality, they were in a massive underground chamber, a natural cave that the mansion had been built on top of. The cave had been remodeled, painted and adjusted so that it looked like the middle of the desert in Ko-ha. Apparently, it had taken them only a night to build it- they couldn't during the day because of nosy house-keepers from nearby houses.

Outside the dome and above ground, it was August, a fact that seemed to work it's ways through unseen cracks to mess with the normally cool temperature of the room. They had it climate controlled so that they could build various scenarios, from battling faux snow and ice demons to fire-bending elemental class 4 T demons, and anything in between.

Sora tossed Hannah a water bottle, “We are going to look so bad-ass when we get back.”

Nate's ears perked up. Over the last few days, the other three had been talking about 'going back'. He figured that they meant back to school, but his gut told him that he was wrong. Hannah was in it for kicks, and technically, she and Chad had graduated, technically, even though none of them had bothered going back to school.

“Who's going to take over for us?”

“Ten-ten.”

“Those idiots who got drunk the same night they were supposed to take off?” Chad asked.

Sora shrugged, “Pretty much.”

The three seemed to realize that Nate was there and listening. Hannah bit her lip, “Hey, Nate, we need to talk to you about something.”

“Believe me, it'll be a a lot better to deal with this over a meal,” Sora cut in quickly, “I don't know about the rest of you, but the past five hours have worked up quite the appetite.” He burped.

Hannah laughed, crossing over to a small raised platform with the rest of them. The platform glowed blue under their feet, acknowledging the weight. “Kitchen,” Hannah ordered.

Nate saw, rather than felt, the world around him disappear in a whirl. The next thing he knew, he was on a platform in a corner of the kitchen. His stomach flip-flopped, but quickly settled down. He glanced up to see Chad studying him. “What?”

Chad shrugged, “Just watching. At first, you seemed unusually good at this, but you don't seem to have improved much.”

“Shove it.” Nate watched as Hannah strode over to a wall in which dozens of what looked like mini ovens had been embedded in the plaster. She tapped a button and a keyboard slid out.

“What should we have?”

Sora shrugged, “It's eight, so we might as well make it a full-blown meal.”

Nate cringed inwardly at the rate at which Hannah was typing. The mini-ovens were like food replicating machines. You insert a specific order, ten seconds later the atoms are all assembled to form a meal. That, mixed with the transportation pad they had to carry them through the house had called for several discreet Star Trek jokes, none of which the others had caught, rendering the point of the jibes dull.

The food always looked and smelled great, but the taste seemed off. The chicken always tasted like fish to him. The others couldn't taste the difference, but they were the ones that mentioned how strong real food tasted. Turns out that Hannah had always brought a bagged lunch of replicated food to school- the flavours of the real stuff seemed to mess with their concentration.

Within seconds, a laszanga was pulled from a replicator and placed on the table. Hannah used her bare hands- the pot itself wasn't hot, but the food was steaming. Sora rubbed his hands together gleefully as he sat down. Nate grabbed some plates and glasses from one of the cupboards as Chad liberated some juice and ketchup from the spacious fridge.

Nate watched in silent amusement as Sora packed piece after piece away. When he had first come here, he had tried to match Sora bite for bite, only to end up with a massive stomach ache. He dumped a liberal amount of ketchup on his own six pieces- it was the only real flavour he could actually taste.

Hannah cleared her throat, “So, Nate. Any plans for the fall?”

Nate's mind raced to see what her motives were. “Not really. You guys are leaving soon to go back to Ko-ha, right?”

The three nodded softly. Nate shrugged, “Probably get a job. I doubt the team replacing you guys will want to work with me.” It wasn't much of a guess. If it weren't for Hannah, the other two might have killed him by now. To the extent of their knowledge, he was a part demon after all.

“So no real major plans?”

Nate shook his head, “Nope. I'll probably take down demons when I see 'em, but other than that, I'll probably just lie low.”

“We should tell him about Section 39,” Sora said to Hannah quietly.

She nodded. “Well, we've been meaning to tell you. We haven't actually been fully trained yet.”

Nate hid his smirk. He knew that much already. A fully trained team was able to deal with a B-class demon easily. But he wasn't about to let them know about his little midnight forays into the compound's vast library, researching powerful demons and whatever else he could find out. “Never noticed. You guys seem to get the job done. What kind of training could you still need?”

Hannah dipped her head, embarrassed at his praise, “Well, we've been working together since we were kids. But the fact is that we haven't trained enough. Sora's good with illusions, but you can always tell when he springs them up, and I only know a few of the spells. So, we have to go back.”

“Sounds great,” Nate interrupted, having a bad feeling where this was coming. There were exceptions to the rules about killing half-humans, but he had to draw the line somewhere. “Hope you guys have fun.”

Hannah and the others shared a look. She shifted uncomfortably, “Well, we've been talking, and...-”

“-and were wondering if you'd like to come with us.” Sora finished for her quickly, stringing all his words together.

Nate blinked once. He hadn't been seeing that one coming at all. The exception he had read about was if the hybrid was half-human, half-demon-slayer, and had proved themselves to be an actual advantage to have in the field. Come to think of it, it had been a section listed in the thirties.

“I... what?”

Hannah sighed, “We were thinking that maybe you could enroll in school too.”

Nate cut her off quickly, “I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out for a Slayer school.”

Hannah placed a sheaf of papers on the table between them all, and shoved them in his direction, “The Council disagrees.”

Nate studied the documents. One of the demons inside of him was good with languages- an ability he found retarded for a human-eating beast to have. What was the demon supposed to do: read a map that lead to the humans?

It was an acceptance letter. He had seen enough of them in the possession of others at school to know what it looked like. He began to read aloud:

“We approve the applicant Nathan Hitagashi to be enrolled in the Majutsu Academy of Demonic Arts as a Summoning Major, under Section Thirty-Nine, Paragraph C, Anecdote Seven. Nathan Hitagashi is hereby protected under the laws and regulations dictating the treatment of Demon-slayer hybrids.”

Nate glanced up, “I thought you guys said that I was a demon hybrid?”

Hannah shrugged, a little sheepishly, “One little mistake...”

“So,” Sora interrupted, his eyes shining, “You in? The place is massive, and maybe you can figure out what kind of demon you are. The library's practically devoted to classifying them.”

Nate sighed as he took in the hopeful faces. The library would be handy... “Guess who's going to Slayer school this fall?”

12. Funerals Happen Twice

The rest of the week was a flurry of activity as the others reprogrammed the house, grinning devilishly whenever Nate asked what they were doing. It didn't take long after getting toothpaste shooting out the faucet instead of water to realize that they were booby-trapping the place, setting every operating system to malfunction.

“It's a tradition,” Hannah had explained, “It messes with their heads, and they have to try to put their skills to the test. It happens to every rookie team.”

“Aren't you guys a rookie team already?”

Sora pulled a face, “Yeah,  we got shafted on that count. They get to prank us twice in the end- when we first got here the place was an absolute mess.”

“Seems kinda counter-productive to me. You guys spend more time cleaning up than actually doing any demon-slaying.”

Hannah laughed, “Yeah, but it's fun. Besides, most of it are just illusion and Caster spells mixed. The actual mess is from the Pyro, and that normally is kept to the lower levels in the training ground.”

“So that's where Chad has been all this week?”

“Uh-huh. He's got to do us proud, so he's reshaping the place, fixing up what we broke and then messing with it, building trap doors and stuff. No two training grounds are ever the same that way, and you can create so many more scenarios.”

“Like I said, you guys seem to spend more time training than any actual slaying.”

“That's because this is an easier sector. Not much to attract the level of demons that the Yukicharo registers.”

An insistent beeping made them all turn their heads to  face the video screen by the door to the kitchen. Chad's face twisted into focus. “It's time.” His voice echoed from room-to-room as each gave the broadcast. It was one of the two systems that they didn't mess with, even with an illusion.

The three of them trooped over to the Pad. Nate's stomach twisted in knots, “You guys should invest in a staircase. All this being beamed from one place to another sucks.”

The kitchen disappeared, only to be replaced by absolute chaos. Sulphur's acrid stench stung his nostrils. Piles of rock gave off gray smoke, all of it gathering at the top of the cavern. Beside him, Hannah coughed, “I think you went overboard Chad.”

Chad grinned, one of the few times Nate had seen any sort of expression on his face. “I only made it look the way it did when we got here.”

Sora covered his hand with his mouth while the world shimmered and a Sora clone appeared. “What kind of setting did you get this thing on?” The clone asked, unperturbed by the world around it.

“Burning Asherah.” Apparently, that was supposed to mean something, because both the Soras and Hannah nodded sagely.

Nate began to step off the Pad, but a wall of flame shot up directly in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at Chad. Chad grinned again, “You have to jump twenty feet or die in the infernos of Jasper.”

Nate grinned right back as a gust of wind cleared a straight path through the flames. A single flame caught his shirt, but the section froze and the flame was instantly snuffed out. He walked calmly through the tunnel of fire, the wind playing with his hair.

Once through, Nate glanced back and released the wind. Hannah landed beside him in a crouch, one hand out to steady herself as the other gripped the sheath of her sword against her back. Slowly, she straightened. “Show off,” she smirked, “Why don't you just extinguish the flames?”

“Could you point me in the direction of  a fire demon?” Nate shot back.

Sora landed beside them for a brief instant before launching himself back into the air, green energy pulsing on his feet. Hannah launched herself into the air after him. Nate rolled his eyes, “Now who's showing off?”

He used the wind again, pushing him along, but it was nowhere near as fast as the technique that Hannah and Sora had used. He landed beside them. All three had a hand in the middle of the circle. Hannah grabbed his arm and yanked him down into a kneeling position, dragging his one hand into the circle with theirs. “We'd rather not leave you behind,” she said by way of explanation.

Nate watched as green smoke began to curl from the soil, growing larger and covering more area as it rose higher. Soon their hands were lost from sight. And then Nate felt it. Something was tugging at his hand.

The smoke began to swirl, gaining even more volume as it spread to surround them. The center of the circle began to expand, and the smoke began twisting towards it like a giant whirlpool. Hannah's free hand gripped the top of his arm.

“Hold on,” she warned, “It get's bumpy.”

Even as she said it, the four of them were suddenly ripped downwards, sucked headfirst into the hole. Nate grabbed onto Hannah's arm, and they clung to each other as they tumbled down.

Even as the wind whistled through the air, Nate found it easy to look around him. There was nothing to see but dirt and more dirt, like the hole had been dug. But over time, other things began to show themselves. A teddy-bear was propped up on a ledge, an alarm clock was going off, it's ringing  echoing through the shaft. They fell past a smashed up blue tricycle that Nate recognized as his, along with the red second place ribbon he had won from his friend in an arm wrestling contest when they were five. The black rock he had found when his class had gone for a hike in the woods in the park floated in the air, as if suspended by a string, twisting idly.

And still they kept on falling, past more and more reminders of Nate's life. A jacket from freshman year on the senior soccer team, the twisted set of bashed-in keys his friends had given him as a prank for his birthday. Everything they passed had something to do with Nate, with his past.

Nate could see a light below them, a light that was swiftly growing brighter. They were getting close to the bottom. Fear began to twist his stomach into knots, how were they supposed to land?

There wasn't enough time to formulate any theories. In an instant, they were surrounded by the light, still falling, but their descent slowing down. Nate stared, stunned at the scene below him. A huge city was sprawled out as far as the eye could see. Small dots could be seen to scurry between the buildings, and he realized that they were rats.

They were coming in too fast,  he realized. Beside him, Hannah was laughing, unaware of their peril. “Woo!” she yelled., spreading her arms wide.

Something from behind snatched them up, dragging them back into the sky. Nate craned his neck to see that a hovercraft was flying above them, drawing them in. The hatch at the bottom slid open to let them in, snapping shut behind them. The field shut off, and the two of them tumbled a short distance to the ground.

Hannah sat up, laughing as she fixed her hair. Sora and Chad were laughing too, Nate realized. Hannah looked at him, her eyes sparkling, “Welcome to Ko-ha, home of the demon-slayers.”

13. Revelation

Nate glanced back over his shoulder for what must have been the hundredth time before entering the massive brick building. The lack of noise, not even so much as a lonely cricket chirp, was starting to get on his nerves. The entire day he hadn't seen a single animal. It was like there were no animals anywhere in Gossen, the town closest to the Academy dorms- where he was supposed to be tucked in right now.

The door creaked in protest as he pushed it open, probably unused since the installation of one of those stupid Pads right inside, to the left of the doors.

He strode purposefully through the passageways created by the towering bookcases. His eyes roved the shelves, taking in all the books stacked and packed into tight spaces. The further in he got, the thicker the layer of dust covering the books became. Hannah had warned hi that it wasn't uncommon for even seasoned 'Slayers to get lost in the massive rooms. He had thought she was kidding.

As he began to feel disoriented, Nate stopped and closed his eyes and focused instead on the overwhelming sense of purpose that drew him there. All day, he had been shuffled around to tour the area around the Academy, mainly avoiding any people they came across. Hannah had been terrified that something bad would happen if they ran into anyone. That hadn't stopped a certain group of assholes from trying to take it to him when he had finally managed to ditch his self-appointed tour-guide in an attempt to get to the library. Several broken noses and unconscious bodies later, he decided that it might be better if he just paid the books a visit in the middle of the night. Hence, his current predicament.

There was something he needed to know. He remembered that fragment of conversation from all those months ago, when the others had concluded that he was a demon hybrid after he saved their asses from that snow demon. They had talked about a scientist that have been arrested, tried, and found guilty of messing with demon DNA. He tried to remember what Chad had called it.

The Test-tube Demon trial.

On his mental picture of the library, a section glowed. Nate chose to walk without opening his eyes, letting that knowledge of where the book was guide him. He turned left even as he was sure that he was about to turn right. Every twist sent him deeper into the labyrinth and closer to the section. He stopped walking and his legs gave out beneath him, causing him to tumble to the ground. His hand reached of its own accord towards the shelves, guided by a sense of purpose.

Nate's eyes snapped open, his fingers inches away from a thick tome on the bottom shelf. Carefully, he pried the book out. Te layer of dust in this section was so thick that his fingers didn't even leave a smudge.

A blue orb placed on a pedestal close by was glowing palely, giving him sufficient light to see by. Nate carried the book to a nearby table- books stacked haphazardly on it. Carefully, he cleared a spot away, trying hard not to sneeze as more dust floated up into the air.

The text was ancient, like nothing he had ever seen. Nate could only hope that the textbooks in the Academy weren't in the same language even as his linguistics demon came into play. His healing would have to wait. This was more important than a few cracked ribs as some assholes tried to kill him.

He began to read as the ink ran on the page, reshaping into a language he could understand. The section he needed was what he saw first.

Date: The Seventh of the third month of Junsing, the year of the Shadow Wraith...

His eyes roved the page, finally finding what they sought.

...the criminal Salarius Bishop is hereby found guilty of tampering with souls, of a human-nature or otherwise, and is sentenced to death by Okina Tori. Bishop had been hiding in Misd, using the name Jonathan Hitagashi....

Nate re-read the words, stunned.

Dad. Dad was one of them. Dad was a demon-slayer.

There was a note added at the bottom, written in a different sort of ink, almost as if it had been added as an afterthought:

Sentence carried out fourteen (14) days later by Okina Tori. Body destroyed.

Nate stayed in the library all night, cheeks dry except for the stream of tears that slowly trickled down his dusty skin.

14. The Morning After

“So. You're the human.”

Nate looked up at the voice, his white hair falling into his eyes. It had grown suddenly when they had arrived here, and no matter how often he cut it, it was always this length when he woke up. “I must be,” he replied, looking the speaker over. Mostly, he saw the purple eyes. He searched for the name- Lionel. Lionel Himanachi.

“What's it feel like to be the only human in the class?” Lionel's purple eyes hardened as he spoke, but it took a lot more than that to intimidate Nate. Especially considering that Lionel's had been one of the butts that Nate had kicked yesterday.

“What's a Caster doing in a Summoner's class?”

“This isn't a specialized one, you moron. It's a general practical. Although why a loser like you is here at all is beyond me.”

“It's because Mr. Hitagashi's aptitude levels were off the charts,” the teacher said, walking in with  a stack of books. “He counters rather nicely for several of his peers, including your untalented Casting self, Lionel.” Snickers echoed throughout the classroom at this remark.

Lionel cast Nate one last scathing glare before rejoining his posse of Casters, most of whom were sporting bandages like a fashion statement. Hannah shot Nate an apologetic smile. He smirked in return.

“Alright. Welcome to Battle Tactics. We got a “transfer” student, as most of you have already noticed. As it's our first day of class, today's going to be  a tournament. First, each group will compete within themselves to form the ranking system. Then, according to your rank, you will be matched up with someone from another group, and that person will be your sparring partner until the end of term.”

Nate slumped in his chair. Bottom of the class. There'd be no way he could near the top, so he'd be stuck with some sort of loser. Chad had tried to show him a few pyro-techniques, but Nate just couldn't do it, couldn't find his Spark.

The rest of the class stood and started making their way to the front of the room, passing through a door one at a time. Nate slouched slightly in his chair, unwilling to get up- he was in no mood for games, not after what he had just found out. Hannah came up beside him, “Hey.”

“Sup?”

“I wanted to apologize about Li-”

“Nothing to apologize for,” he cut her off, “The guy's no different than all the guys on Misd.”

She tucked a loose hair behind her ear, “Alright.”

He glanced at the room where the other students were going, each grabbing some sort of visor headset on their way out. “So, how exactly does this work?”

“It's a virtual reality program. That way, no one gets seriously injured and people can go all out.” She paused, watching as Lionel and the other Casters passed through. “Hey, Nate,” she started, still watching them.

“Yeah?”

“Don't hate Lionel. He can't help the way he is. He comes from a family that believes only the pure-bloods should be 'Slayers.”

Nate cracked his knuckles, “Well, he's entitled to his opinion. I'll still knock his face in if he ticks me off, same as any other guy.”

Hannah laughed, “That could be fun to watch.” Her face turned serious. “Nate, I need to warn you. Your integration of the demons is good, but I've never seen you release any of them in battle. You use their powers, but not them.”

“So?”

“So that'll make the others suspicious if you don't release anything and still win. You know Misd history, the witch trials in colonial America?”

“There was a quiz the day you guys let me in on what you all do.”

“Well, that same sort of nuttiness can be associated with how people here feel about hybrids. Some time ago, scientists got it into their heads to use humans as bait or weapons. It got shut down for ethical reasons, and all the experiments were exterminated, considered monsters. If they even suspect that you might-”

“Don't worry about it,” Nate interrupted, lying through his teeth, “I've been practicing releasing the demons, and I've gotten pretty good at it.”

“Really?” Hannah looked relieved, “Good- I mean, good luck.”

Nate grinned as he got up. The room was practically deserted, the last few students filing through the door. “Alright. Let's do this.”

Hannah followed him down the  stairs, “You'll be up against other Summoners. I don't know what kind of terrain they'll program it with, but there might be some demons available to absorb and manipulate. Plus, the VR analyzes your hoard.” She failed to notice Nate twitch, his shoulders tensing for an instant before he relaxed. His eyes flashed gold in the same instant before returning to their icy blue.

“So you'll have an edge over the others. Some of these guys have never been to Misd, and the ones that have go there on controlled explorations, never coming into contact with more than six demons that they could absorb.”

“Sounds cool,” Nate replied, slightly distracted as he grabbed a headset and walked through the door. The room was an almost perfect circle, with chairs lining the outside of the chamber. Behind each chair was a display board. Some of the 'Slayers were already hooked in, and the display showed their fight.

“We'll eat lunch together, okay?”

Nate nodded, “Sure.”

He watched as one of the screens close by filled with white noise, a bar of text reading 'Disconnected'. The owner of the chair stirred, flipping his visor to look at the newcomers. His shock of red hair stuck out in several directions, with some in the back pulled to form a small ponytail that reached almost to the nape of his neck. He grinned at them, “Hitagasi! Saved you a seat.”

Nate glanced behind him  to look at Hannah, but she was already making her way over to a dark-haired girl who was smiling at her. Nate turned back with a shrug and made his way over to the empty chair.

“I'm Cain. I'm a Pyro.”

“People call me Nate. Summoner.” He shook Cain's hand.

“I know. You know what would be sweet? If you and me ended up getting paired. But it's practically impossible to rig the system, so do your best, and I will too. Too bad we couldn't meet before this, then we could have analyzed the skill level we would need in order for that to happen.” He noticed Nate studying how he had set up his headset. “First time, eh? Here, let me help.”

He took the headset from Nate's hand and placed it on his head, cinching it tight around his scalp. Nate tried to shove his hair out of his eyes, but it barely moved.

“There,” Cain said, stepping back, “Now all you've got to do is sit in the chair and lean back. The visor hooks up automatically with the chair and hey-presto: you're in a VR program. You've lived on Misd you whole life, right?”

Nate nodded. Cain grinned, “That's awesome. You must have a huge hoard of demons by now.”

Nate shrugged, “Actually, I never really tried to absorb them until I met Hannah and the others. So I might have a dozen or so.”

Cain's grin grew wider, “That's still a lot more than any of the rest of these noobs. If they're lucky, they might have six, most of which have been over-used in practice. The program takes that sort of thing into account.”

“You can over-use a demon?”

Cain nodded solemnly, “Apparently. But I wouldn't know much about that. I'm a Pyro, I'm just the destructive force on the team, the guy that gets to do all the fun stuff.

“Anyways, good luck.” Nate sat down as Cain went back to his chair. He flipped the visor part down, along with the headphones. Nate copied his movements, immediately cutting off his sight and hearing. He leaned back in his chair, feeling the electricity purr through him as the chair connected with his headset.

 

 

15. Duels For Tools

He was standing in the darkness. For a moment, Nate thought that he had returned to the crazy Cache place, where his demons hung out. But as he looked, there was no chuckle, no welcome, no sudden attack as one of them tried to catch him off guard. He watched as a world was built around him. Grass grew beneath his feet, spreading out in all directions. A lake formed off to his right, and a forest even further away grew up ahead.

A girl with dark eyes and long black hair twisted into a braid appeared. They took a moment to study each other. “I'm Nate.” He said at last.

“I know. I'm Angel.”

They lapsed into silence. “You ever been to Misd?”

Angel nodded, but didn't say anything.

“So, what are the rules?”

“What are the rules indeed, Mr. Hitagasi,” a voice echoed across the park-like setting.

Nate rolled his eyes. Maybe this was just a twisted form of his Cache. There were human-looking demons, but he couldn't remember when he might have run into one of them.

“The rules are simple. Since this is virtual, you two will fight until one of you can no longer continue.”

“That's it?”

Angel simply nodded in acknowledgment, moving one foot behind her to better secure her position.

“I should warn you both. Even though this is virtual, you're mind and physical bodies will most certainly be damaged in extreme situations. There will be no lacerations, but you will awaken to bruises and cracked ribs, along with ghost pain.”

The voice faded, its last few words echoing across the park. Nate swallowed. Ghost pain, pain that the mind imagined the body had, and made it seem very much real to the body. He doubted regenerative demons would be able to do anything about that.

Angel held her hand out in front of her, her eyes taking on a golden glow. “Gatara, I summon thee!”

A pulse of energy shot out of her hand, but rather than make its way towards Nate, it hovered in the air, twisting and growing, taking on the form of a huge beast with three giant horns sticking out of its skull. It towered over their heads, standing between the two of them. It roared triumphantly at its release.

Nate felt fear flash through him before another feeling settled in -contempt. A F-negative class, the weakest of them at that. He smirked. That was something he could take out with his bare hands. He balled his hand into a fist, preparing to attack.

Hannah's warning flashed through his mind, 'If the others think that you're one of them...' he sighed, rethinking his strategy. He hadn't lied when he had said that he was getting pretty good at the Summoning, but once he let the demons out, it seemed like even the small ones wanted to make his life hell.

He held a hand out in front of him, just as Angel had done. Time to build a distraction. In his mind, he flipped through the options he had allowed himself to keep, having buried the presences of the rest of them deep enough that even he could barely sense them to keep them from being detected by any sort of program. Hannah probably didn't even know how many he had, but it was way more than the dozen or so he had mentioned to Cain.

He chose Tzuchizimati, a G-class mist demon. It wasn't the strongest one he had kept, but it was the best as a smoke screen.

Fog swirled around the pair and Angel's demon as Nathan's materialized, growing into something that looked like a giant white frog with a shark's head. Its eyes blinked as its gills flapped in the moist environment it created. Nate waited until he could no longer see anything before moving, using the powers of a XL F-class sensory demon to see the world through a sea of red. The mist swirled around them all like fog, the mist demon and the other glowing pale pink while Angel herself was a bright red target. He was using a demon's power after all.

Nate ran towards the demon, keeping his footsteps to as quiet as possible. “Water shield attack!” he yelled. The demon complied, sucking in the mist closest to it, causing it to turn to a liquid ball rotating above it's mouth. It seemed like the only attack lower-class demons knew. Nate leaped feet-first into the ball, using his momentum to burst the bubble as he used the water to jump and land on his demon's head.

The other demon took the bait. Or it was Angel, whichever one decided that it was time for the demon to move. Nate grinned. Bursting the bubble made it seem like he was inexperienced, and the kid had fallen for it. And she was just a kid. This was too easy.

The building of the bubble had created a visible spot for Angel to send her demon through, but now that the bubble was burst, it reverted back to mist almost immediately.

Nate stood on top of his demon, watching as the other demon came closer, trying to figure out what kind of type it was. Judging by its steady lope, it wasn't a speedster- no way this girl would want to drag out a fight with him- he already had a reputation. It was running, so flight was a possibility, but that was normally accompanied by wings, and this guy didn't have any.

Nate idly scratched his arm as he watched the demon's mouth snap open, but no ball of energy formed. The itching persisted, and Nate glanced down to see with horror that his skin was turning purple, with blue lumps rising all over the place.

He looked back at the demon, saw how its symbol was missing the bottom half of the top diamond on it's Mark. Sonuvabitch. A poison-type.

 

vvvvvvvvvv

 

The demon under his feet shifted it's weight suddenly. Unprepared, Nate lost his balance and started to fall off. Tzuchizimati tossed it's head, sending Nate flying up into the air. His body tilted so that he was facing the ground when he started to fall. He watched helplessly as his own demon's mouth snapped open wide directly below him. There was no time to react.

Nate plunged into the demon's mouth, the jaw snapping shut above his head before he even hit the demon's black tongue. Inside, it was dark and moist, and stank like the cooked broccoli he had discovered in the back of his fridge when he hadn't eaten broccoli in over a month. He gagged in the darkness, trying to think through the stench. He had to get out.

Some of the saliva dripped onto his skin, stinging the already itching layers. He stifled the cry of pain when he realized that the pain was quick to disappear, the itching gone with it. It took him a moment to realize what was going on, even as the jaw cracked open slightly so that he could see.

His demon was helping him. The program was designed to reflect the natures of the demons, their individual tendencies towards their masters. His demons all hated him. So why the change of heart?

The demon shifted under his feet again, and Nate had to grab a slippery tooth as the demon dropped its head to open its mouth. It rumbled, like it was trying to tell him something, but the vibrations shook right through Nate. He let go of the tooth only when the mouth was open enough that he could make it out before it changed its mind to help him and snapped him in two instead.

Landing on the ground, Nate's eyes immediately saw why the demon had let him go. Angel's demon had secreted a poison into the air, which had then bonded to the water molecules that Nate's demon had created as a mist. The result was a poisonous mist that began eating away at anything carrying an energy signature, including Tzuchizimati's thick hide.

Nate watched as the demon began to disintegrate, stunned. What was he going to do? He watched as a puff of the poisoned air reached his own skin- and bounced right off.

Nate grinned. His demon had given him immunity, time to finish the job. Angel couldn't see a thing, all she could see was a poisonous mist.

Unless she could see through the eyes of her demon.

In that case, he thought, the monster just can't see it coming.

He jumped up, and started running, faster than humanly possible, but not full out. He gave the demon a wide berth, opting instead to swing around and hit it from behind. The demon was still focused on its prey, the other demon that was disintegrating at a rapid rate.

Nate summoned all the power in his legs for one single leap, launching himself high up in the air, balling up a fist and raising it over his head as he began his descent.

It was over in a ball of an explosion. The demon cracked into two, dissolving into the mist that quickly returned to normal. The explosion carried Nate far enough away that he could say that he summoned another demon to do the work. The mist dissipated.

And then the world faded, and Nate could tell that he was back in the control room. He slipped his visor off, keeping the headphones on for kicks. He saw Angel on the far side of the room, shifting slightly in her seat, her visor still in place.

In spite of himself, Nate grinned. He had won. He hadn't laid a punch on her, and he had won.

16. Luck Grows On Leaves

For all of the fights after that, Nate carefully used only the demons that he knew could provide cover. Sometimes, it worked, sometimes it didn't. All that mattered, and what happened every time, was that it was too difficult to see if it was Nate or his demon who had defeated the other person in the end.

Not all were easy knock-downs like Angel- who only had the one demon, and he had to actually knock out his opponent a couple of times, but it was unique every time, and before long, Nate found himself enjoying the fights. Except for a few hard heads, everyone seemed to be alright with the fact that he had beaten them. See what Hannah had to say about all of that. Every time, he made it look completely legit, and it was working.

His last opponent had been a rather fat guy named Chad, having no relation to Chad the Pyro (Nate had never bothered to ask Chad's last name. He would have to remember to do that). He had had absolutely no skill whatsoever it seemed. Nate had taken him out almost immediately after the guy had summoned a Class E Flight-demon. Nate made a mental note as he sat up to never use such a useless demon, ever.

Cain was waiting for him. Cain grinned as Nate removed his headphones, “Lunch time.”

He unstrapped Nate's visor for him and dumped it on the chair, “Don't want to lose your spot,” Cain explained as they exited the control room and left the classroom far behind. Other Pyros joined them, including a blonde version of Cain, his hair just as messy.

Cain slung an arm around the new-comer's shoulders, “This is my brother Seth. And that,” he said, pointing at a mow-hawk sticking up amongst the relatively simple hairstyles, “Is our other brother Abel.”

Nate couldn't help it- he burst out laughing.

“What's so funny?” Hannah asked, joining them.

Nate jerked a thumb at Cain, “Cain's got a brother named Abel.”

“Yeah? So?” Hannah raised an eyebrow at him as if he were nuts.

Nate's eyes widened as he stared at her, “You're kidding right? Cain and Abel, the Bible, ring any bells?”

Hannah shook her head, but Cain grinned, “I was hoping that at least you would get it, seeing as how you're from Misd.”

“Don't you feel insulted that they named you Cain? He's the very first murderer, killed his own brother.”

“We all have our roles to play.”

Nate shrugged, “I guess, but still, that's pretty weird.”

“Hannah!” Sora called from up ahead. He dodged his way through the torrent of oncoming students. He looked out of breath, like he had been running around for a while, “Dad said that you've got to go talk to him.”

Hannah pulled a quick face of annoyance. She turned sheepishly to Nate, “Sorry. I know I said that we'd eat lunch together...-”

“Don't worry, he can eat lunch with me,” Cain cut in, “He caught onto the Bible joke my family has, so he's earned it.”

Hannah flashed them both a quick smile before taking off after Sora. Cain grabbed Nate's arm and steered him into a large room, with a ceiling far above, and the room big enough to need pillars to support the roof. They joined a line-up in front of one of the counters that lined the one side of the room.

Surprisingly, there was no real jostling. They were given their trays already filled with bowls of a lumpy brown mass and greens. A solitary yellow cube was placed on a small plate in one corner of a plate, and a drink was quickly added. Nate's nose wrinkled as he tried to smell the food, but there was nothing that even his advanced olfactory senses could pick up on.

“You guys eat this stuff?” Nate asked. He had a feeling that it was just as replicated as the other food. Meaning that it had absolutely no flavor to speak of.

Cain shrugged, “We survive. But I really want to try some of that crazy cuisine they have in Misd. People say it's way too spicy, but they're all wusses.” They made their way over to one of the long tables, where people shoved over to make room for them. Cain hopped over the table so that he sat across from Nate.

“Somebody activate the bubble!” Cain called, “Astrid, you're closest, would you be a dear?”

Astrid, her dyed-pink hair curled into thick ringlets, turned and pressed something on the pillar by her. Immediately, the conversations from other tables were cut off.

“Everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to a very important new friend of mine. He got the Bible joke.” Laughter erupted at this moment, but Nate could tell that some of them didn't know what a Bible was. “I want you all to be absolute pains to him so that he gets used to the asses of the other groups.” More people laughed, and Nate could tell that Cain was joking.

“Here's my question,” Cain said, sliding closer, leaning over his tray, “How'd you do it? Every single person you went up against, no matter what strength of a demon they used, you took it down- Bam!- like it was nothing.”

“You guys were watching?”

Almost everybody listening nodded their heads. “Thos fights were epic,” a scrawny kid on the end said in awe.

The others all turned their attention to Nate, eager to hear. He grimaced, “Well, my control over the demons that I've got isn't the greatest.”

“You're telling me,” Astrid chuckled from a little further down. The others laughed at that.

“But that's because I've never really depended on my demons in a fight.”

“Look at him go,” another Pyro piped up, “'My demons'. He's good if he thinks that he can keep the as long as he wants.”

“Shut up, Jake,” Astrid snorted, “As if you're one to talk. You still can't tell the difference between an F-class sensory type and a Triple A white demon.”

“Triple A?” Nate asked. He had never come across the term in his escapades.

Astrid nodded, “They're extremely powerful demons. They eat anything and everything that they deem worth the effort, so mainly they stay within in their own realm, or come here, which is why you would never have seen one before. White demons are the kings of them, rule over all the other demons. Nobody's seen one in over a hundred years, but they're extremely powerful and the last one encountered required fiveveteran teams, and even then there were casualties.”

“Sounds crazy.”

Cain nodded, “It is, but you were on the topic of how you managed to defeat everyone else in the Summoning rounds.”

“Well, back home, I didn't know squat about all this,” Nate gestured all of Ko-ha with a sweep of his hand. “I kind of just assumed that I was the only one who could see the demons. And even after I met Hannah and the others, I still had no idea what I was.”

“So they committed a felony after realizing that you could See?” Astrid interrupted.

“Well, seeing as how I shortly after saved their butts, yeah, I guess they did.”

The Pyros all grinned. “That's awesome,” Abel spoke up, “The Nobles are flexible after all.”

“So how'd you do it?”

“Beat all the others? I used my demons as a smokescreen while I went and killed the others' demons.”

“Pretty good distraction. It seemed like even your demons wanted to hand your ass to you on a silver platter.” Everyone laughed at Cain's remark.

Nate glanced up when he noticed a figure approaching their table. “Chad,” he said, “Save me.”

Chad shrugged, “Not my problem. You're the Pyro-Summoner here, you deal with it.”

Cain had a sudden wicked grin on his face, like he had just figured out the perfect way to get a lifetime's supply of chocolate absolutely free. “Yep. It's decided.”

“What is?”

“You're one of us. Congratulations, Nathan Hitagasi, you are the first Summoner to become an honorary Pyro.”

“Hitagashi.”

“What?” Confusion settled on Cain's face.

“My last name. It's Hitgashi, shi not si.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Cain dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Later on, I want to introduce you to some guys I know.”

17. Hannah Saitou

In spite of herself, Hannah was nervous. Father had never wanted to speak to her before, except when the rest of the Council had been present as he had given her and the rest of the team a briefing on where they were going and what was expected of them. Cresta had been named team leader, being the only one of them with any formal training to speak of.

Her footsteps echoed through the virtually empty hallway, the steady scratch as her sandals scraped against the marble floor. Now that she was back in Ko-ha, Hannah was forced to wear the traditional robes as a member of the Fourth House: a short, blue silk kimono embroidered with silver moons and dragons and tight black pants underneath. Her sword hung readily over her shoulder within easy reach.

When Sora had been born, she had been defaulted to the branch family, given to an aunt to raise in service of the family. That was why the embroidery was silver, not the family gold. She now lived to serve. It was unusual for an Illusionist to be the Head of any House but the First, but not unheard of.

“Well, if it isn't Hannah Saitou,” a voice from up ahead boomed, startling her.

Hannah looked up to see the Head of the Second House, Lord Himanachi, standing by a pillar, his orange and yellow robes a blatant contrast to her more reserved colours. His eyes glowed pale purple, as did the eyes of his attendant who stood behind him. She bowed respectfully to them both.

“And where might you be going this fine day? I would have thought that one with your skill was enrolled in the Academy by this point.”

“I am, Lord Himanachi. But I have been summoned by my father.”

“And what would Saitou want on a school day?”

“I will learn that when I meet him.”

Himanachi nodded sagely. Hannah didn't dare take her leave without his permission. “You were in Misd for a time, were you not?”

Hannah nodded, “Yes, with team Senshi.”

“That means that you were the team to encounter that half-ling, correct?”

Hannah nodded again, grateful to her training that she was able to hid the majority of her emotions. She resisted the urge to lick her lips or swallow or grab her hands- any would  be a sure sign that she was nervous. No need to give this Lord anything to use against her.

Something about his posture, his eyes, something made her feel uneasy around him, all the time. His House was tasked with the training and raising of what was now called the Pyros. Pyros weren't people who had limited control over their powers, even if that was what it always looked like. Pyros were born with enormous amounts of energy, raw power that only the best of them could hope to maintain perfect control of in the heat of battle.

“And how is the half-ling faring?”

“Well, sir, but I really must take my leave of you and report to my father.” That was as blunt as she dared.

He smiled serenely, a sight that chilled Hannah to the bone. “Of course, how inconsiderate on my part. Take care of yourself, Lady Saitou, I would hate that anything tragic were to befall our most gifted Caster in several generations.” Him and his attendant stepped away from the pillar and began to glide down the hall, their chiffon sleeves billowing slightly out behind them.

Hannah suppressed a shudder as she watched their retreating forms. Lord Himanachi knew that she was part of the branch family now, but he had called her by the title of the Main House. “Lady Saitou”. She shuddered anyways before taking the last few steps to the door where she knew her father would be waiting. Why had Lord Himanachi been lingering outside her father's anteroom?

She took a breath to calm herself, setting her expression to one of indifference. She waited, knowing that it wouldn't take long for Oochi, her father's guard, to sense her presence.

Even as she had the thought, the door slid into the paneling. Oochi towered over her in all his seven foot seven, 400 pound, Casting glory. Dressed in the blue and silver of the Branch House, Oochi was related. But as a child, he had been demonically enhanced after a close encounter with a high-ranking B-class demon that had tried to eat him.

He never spoke, and Hannah was never completely sure if it was because of his alterations, or some sort of vow of silence he had taken. He nodded silently to her and stepped aside to admit her entry before closing the door behind her.

Hannah took in the scene at a glance. Her father, tall and serious looking with black hair that was tied back with a band, sat in his chair, dressed in the traditional gold and blue of the House. Around his neck was wrapped a silk scarf of light blue, marking him as the Head. Seated in chairs to either side were several of the elders of the clan.

In an instant, she recognized the meeting for what it was. Her family wished to learn more about Nathan. Cold swept through her body, settling in her toes as she bowed respectfully to them all. They had access to records that she did not. It was entirely possible that they had figured out what Nathan was. What should she do?

“How was Misd?” Elder Sheiji Saitou spoke first. One of the older of the elders, he was her great uncle, a high-standing member of the branch who had bounced her on his knee when she was little. Despite his age, his eyes were still sharp, and he was unparalleled amongst the family for his Peculiar Casting skills.

“We encountered several targets that were swiftly dealt with.” The word 'demon' was practically taboo within her family, especially in briefings like this.

“That's  not all you encountered, I hear,” Her uncle Zaiki added. His dark hair and even darker eyes denoted him to be a born Summoner, conceived after his mother had already filled her Cache. The existence of people like him was rare these days, since most pregnant Summoners were given the months off until their children were born.

Hannah said nothing, as there had been no question in the statement.

“This Nathan Hitagashi that you encountered,” her father began. The instant he spoke, any sort of agitation in the room disappeared as everyone remained perfectly still to hear what he was saying. “What do you know of him?”

“Not much, Father. We didn't realize that he had the Sight until he assisted in the defeat of a Snow-type target. He has shown an affinity for controlling them, and can to some extent integrate and use their abilities as if they were his own.”

“Have you seen him absorb any?”

“No, Father, I have not.”

She could see his next question coming, and her mind began scrambling to respond.

“Does he bear the Mark?”

She didn't dare hesitate, “No. I have not seen anything to indicate that he may be one of the Akama.”

“Are you satisfied, Saitou?” Zaiki asked, “You have heard from your own daughter's lips that the half-ling has proved itself worthy of our tolerance.”

“For the moment,” Father corrected him, “It has yet to truly prove itself.” He glanced up at her, not even really seeing her. She could tell, his eyes were practically glazed over as his mind whirred about other things. Things that didn't require her to be present. “You may leave.”

Hannah bowed again, silently. Only speak when spoken to, she reminded herself.

She backed up a few steps before turning to face the door. Oochi already had it open for her. It was all she could do to keep herself from running out of the room.

Once out, she bolted, racing past the blurred orange and yellow figures of Lord Himanachi and his aide. She ran, faster and faster, on the verge of using Hayakku to go even faster. She ran out of the compound, along the broad cobblestone road leading to the noble's business sector, entering the haphazardness of the town with out really realizing it. She ducked under rugs being carried on people's shoulders, dodging stalls selling produce, bolts of cloth and thread, and several carrying various trinkets from other towns.

This was Gossen, the capital city of the largest province in Ko-ha. The deeper she ran in, the more narrow the streets became, the more congested the passersby on either side of her. Here were the taverns that a few students of the Academy visited. On several occasions, she had even caught Sora here, in one tavern in particular, dressed like a traveling entertainer, enjoying a harmless cup of Wassassa tea with the locals.

She paused to catch her breath. She was in a not-so-crowded area, especially considering the time of day. Loud noises emanated from the one tavern, she could hear it. Unlike its neighbors, this one didn't have any sort of sign around it, except for a crude painting in blue above the door of what was supposed to be a dragon, but ended up looking like a fat snake with wings.

The Hydra. Home to nothing of particular importance, yet still seemed to be popular. Hannah glanced up at the sky- it couldn't hardly be called afternoon yet. Classes were held in the morning so that students could resume specialized duties, training and the such. But for some, it was considered a chance to relax, especially among the senior students.

She could sense Sora's presence in there. It would make sense- they hadn't been home in several months, and he enjoyed playing “Commoner” from time to time. 

A collective burst of laughter suddenly filled the air as the tavern's door opened and a miserable drunk wandered out, probably headed to find a less rowdy location to fall into a drunken stupor. Hannah caught a flash of the sea of red from her glimpse of the inside of the tavern, the sight causing her eyes to widen with surprise. Only one particular group wore blood red leather jackets. But what the hell were they doing here in a public place? What was Sora doing with them?

Anger beginning to boil to the surface, Hannah marched over and swung the door open. As the light from the sun brightened the room, some of the red jackets turned to see who had joined the party. Hannah's eyes were transfixed on three individuals in particular, grouped together in the middle of it all. The head of white would have stood out anywhere, being even more highlighted when contrasted with his brand new jacket. She watched as he turned to see who had arrived, a black cup filled with Wassassa partially raised to his lips.

Nate's eyes, already ablaze with enjoyment, brightened even further when they sighted her. “Hannah, come on in,” he called, “This place is great!”

His last few words seemed extremely loud, despite his not raising his voice. All the other leather jackets openly gaped at her, including Cain right beside him. The open silence was like the aftermath of a gunshot, the world seeming frozen as the Pyros all made it absolutely clear that a Caster wasn't welcome. She felt Sora's presence fade, and realized that he had been watching through a portal.

“Guys?” Nate began uncertainly, looking around him, “What's wrong?”

Cain chose to speak. “Their kind,” he said in a sneering tone, “Isn't allowed here.”

Hannah felt more than one presence suddenly grow in strength. The sheer weight in number should have tipped her off. This wasn't just the advanced first year class, there were at least three different levels. She had just walked in on an initiation ceremony.

“Sorry,” she began, words stumbling out of her mouth of their own will, “I didn't realize that you guys were hosting it here. I was just looking for Nathan, to see if he needed a permanent place to crash for the term.”

“Yeah?” Another first year spoke up, and it took Hannah a moment to realize who it was. Abel, Cain's twin brother. “Don't think about it too hard. He's already got a place to stay, and not just for term, but for however long he chooses to stay. In fact,” he extrapolated, gesturing the room, “He has his pick of where to stay, and is free to move around. A lot more than he'd get from you and yours.” Murmurs of ascent greeted this statement, and the red jackets all moved a little closer together.

“O... okay.” Hannah swallowed, “It's just that if he wanted-”

“-Nate don't want nothing. And you just interrupted our rite of passage,” a burly third year growled.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“-Get out!” the group hollered. Hannah backed away quickly. Nate just watched her, stunned, unsure of what was going on. Before she knew what was happening, the door slammed shut in her face. Hannah swallowed once, and stared at the door. No sounds came from behind.

Hannah.

Not now.

The Family is holding a meeting. Where are you?

Right where you left me She bit out.

I'd hurry if I were you.

As if she needed her brother to tell her what to do. Screw the fact that someday he would be boss of the entire House, he was still her kid brother.

I'm not kidding.

Hannah took one last look at the door, unsure whether to barge back in there and rescue Nathan or leave.

Her feet decided for her. Hannah raced back up the hill, traveling along the rooftops to avoid the crowded streets as she passed through the busier sections.

Nathan was on his own now.

18. You Jinxed It!

Nate twirled the pencil in his hand, bored, as the class walked towards their destination, leaving the hovercraft behind. Cain, beside him, was the opposite, bouncing off of metaphorical walls in his excitement, taking in everything as he spun around.

“We're here, we're really here,” he kept on saying, over and over again to himself and anyone that would listen.

Finally enough was enough. “Would you shut up?” Nate hissed at him. “You're making me start to think that you guys never go on field trips ever. Let me spell it out for you. Class trips are only good to get you out of class, but the teachers expect even more from you in terms of other things, like behaviour, and taking notes. It's not all it's cracked up to be.”

“It's not all it's cracked up to be,” Cain mimicked, “Come on, Nate, live a little. We're out of school with a bunch of other Crimson Dragons- and a few nobles,” he added darkly upon sighting Hannah and several other Casters. “And we're headed to the most awesome battlefield ever.”

“Is that what it is?” Nate asked, not really caring.

His comment drew shocked looks from several 'Slayers close by, including Cain. “You mean you signed up and you didn't know?”

“You asshole, you're the one who signed me up in the first place.”

“Because I thought you would have come across passages that talked about the Moonless Rock, seeing as how you spend all your spare time at the library.”

So he had noticed after-all. Nate decided to steer them away from his night trips. He glanced around, making sure that his assumption was correct. “Why aren't the Dragons wearing their jackets?”

Cain glanced around suspiciously before leaning close to confide, “Because first years aren't technically allowed to be members.”

“Then why are we?”

“Because they know talent when they see it. Plus, it's easier to train Crimson Dragons to their full capacity when they're Dragoned right from the start. Most Crimson are chosen the moment they're born. You're the exception to the rule.”

“What do the Crimson Dragons even do? They sound like a motorcycle gang.”

“Motorcycle?” Cain looked confused, but the expression quickly disappeared, “Right, those two-wheel things. No, we're not like that. The Crimson Dragons are tasked with everything from  carrying out dangerous missions to tracking and apprehending criminals. We're the police of Ko-ha, I guess you could think of us like a merge between CIA, FBI, and Homeland Security. We protect the residents of Ko-ha from threats appearing both inside and out.”

“Sweet.”

They started falling behind the others, but neither really cared. “Did you know,” Cain started, “That there's a top secret organization within the Crimson Dragons? They take care of the really delicate issues, even though they technically don't exist. Some believe that the Crimson Dragons itself is just a front for the entire operation.”

“Really?”

Cain nodded, warming up to his theme, delighted to have a slightly interested audience for a change, “Yeah, it's so secret that the members only recognize each other by a closely guarded code word. It could be anything as simple as 'banana', something they could work into a conversation.”

“Sounds very cloak-and-dagger-like.”

“I know, right? I've seen the signs, but I still have no clue what the code word is. With it, you gain access to all sorts of information. You get to be in on it all. They don't work for any one House, or even for the Council. They make up their own rules, and follow one leader, and-”

“Sounds great,” Nate interrupted, bored again, “What's the organization called?”

“No clue. But it's probably something bad-ass like 'Order Shade'.”

“'Order Shade', eh?” Nate scoffed, “Have you ever run into one of the members?”

“Any Crimson is a potential member.”

“So no. Just how much of this is speculation?”

Cain's shoulders drooped. “Mostly all of it.”

They walked a little faster after realizing that they had fallen too far behind. Ms. Sparks was already talking. “The Moonless Rock is an anomaly that was discovered accidentally when a fight against a particularly strong Double B-class demon moved from its original appearing point here. The demon had isolated Katarina Aken of the third House-”

Nate felt Cain beside him flinch, distracting him for a moment as he gave him a sharp look. Cain seemed to hate anything that had to deal with noble-borns.

“-and realized that the demon couldn't see her. They successfully defeated the demon, and science teams were sent out to investigate, collecting samples that are now placed around each major city and our Academy to mask them from the demons. Each centimeter cubed gives off a protective field with a radius of several kilometers, blocking the area from the demons' 976 different senses.”

982. The thought rose unbidden, and Nate quickly silenced the flight demon who had managed to find a hole in his Cache.

“However, this same sphere also carries some sort of attractant, causing demons to flock to the Rock more than anywhere else. Which is why the location of each sample is carefully mapped out and guarded by a team. This location has several deeply embedded large Moonless Rocks, and as such, is the biggest hotspot for demons of high energy to appear. We still don't know what aspect of the Rock attracts them here, but this field is placed under heavy guard.

“We were able to take this trip here because of several factors. One is that we have a hundred 'Slayers positioned along the perimeter. Also, all of you working in concert, have the capability of defeating any sort of demon that may appear within. And, it appears that recently the number of demonic apparitions has declined rapidly. We aren't sure about the cause, but we believe that some sort of blight has hit Ampoulles, and the amount of energy being expounded is enough to keep the bigger demons home.”

Nate took a moment to look around. None of the demons inside of him were even the least bit interested in their location, making him start to believe that maybe the 'Slayers were imagining things. They had stirred slightly at the mention of home, but the rest of her lecture had been met with indifference. A few trees were sporadically placed amongst the tall grass, and clumps of flowers of varying colours dotted the landscape. It seemed unscathed, despite being a “hotspot” for the demons to attack.

“Today, you will battle your partners, full out. To give the Summoners a handicap, we came to this spot so that their opponents have a chance of disappearing in the middle of the fight.”

Cain shot Nate a grin. “This is it. Now we finally find out who we're partnered with.”

Sparks began reading off a list.

“Arnold Weeks, Justin Fletcher.

“Hannah Saitou, Dale Barnes.

“Sora Saitou, Lionel Himanachi.” Cain chuckled at that pairing.

“Potts, Mayer.

“Matthew Clay, Clayton Dumphries.

“Abel, Richard Hilton.

“Seth, Saul.”

“Second cousins,” Cain quickly added for Nate's benefit.

“Erin Rivas, Erin Rivers.

“Nathan Hitagashi, Cain-”

“Yes!” Cain exclaimed, pumping fist into the air.

Sparks shot him a look, “I'm glad to see you approve. Let's see you actually behave for a change, shall we?”

Cain snapped to attention and saluted her, “Thank you for this prestigious honor, sir.”

Sparks just shook her head as she went back to the roster. Cain gave Nate a high-five. “This is actually so sweet.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because to make the four-man teams, they take two of the two-man teams, which are made in the very first year of school. This means that you and me get to go on missions together, live together, all that stuff.”

“You do realize that I might go back to Misd, right?'

“What for? Besides, we can totally stretch out some of the juicier missions so that we stay in Misd for weeks at a time. You could visit really distant, non-existent relatives that the Information Corps won't bother to try to track down.”

Nate shook his head, “You're messed in the head, you know that, right?”

Cain nodded proudly, “Yeah, it's one of my best character traits.”

Nate rolled his eyes and looked over the class. There were thirty-six of them in all, with twenty-nine of them being Crimson Dragons, separated into eighteen pairs. Hannah was standing beside a medium-build guy who looked like he could be taken out with a mild flight demon. He was an Illusionist, Nate could tell from here. Sora was standing at the far end of the crowd, his back turned to everyone else as his head was tilted upwards. Nate followed his gaze and froze.

The clear, light blue sky was dotted with a few thin clouds. The absence of birds should have been his first clue. Even as he watched, the fist-sized black hole stretched, ripping through the sky as if it were tissue paper, growing larger with each tear.  The ripping sound soon grew loud enough for the 'Slayers to hear, and all looked around, searching for the sound. One 'Slayer pointed at the sky, and all lifted their heads to watch as one of the ugliest faces appeared, elongated fingers gripping the sides of the hole, ripping them even further apart.

The huge demon ripped a large enough hole to start wriggling its way through. Nate watched as the Double C-class demon entered Misd, it's massive blazing eyes rolling around in its head as it focused them on the group of baby 'Slayers far below it. Nate could almost hear its thoughts.

Food. Hungry. Must EAT!

Even as it roared its desire to the sky, the students panicked.

The scene descended into chaos as the first years began to flee.

19. Fire Doesn't Burn

Nate stood still as people raced past him, Dragons and nobles alike in their pursuit of remaining alive. Cain took off with them, but turned to grab Nate's arm. “Dude!” he yelled, his eyes wide, “This  is really happening. We've got to get out of here. That thing just tore a hole THROUGH the freaking shield. We've got to run!”

Nate hadn't even bothered to look at him, and now tore his arm free of Cain's grasp and took a step forward. He watched as the demon hovered, slowly lowering itself, taking its time. Fire-type, and a strong one at that. Nate sorted through his Cache, trying to come up with something, any ability, something that would make this problem go away.

People kept on running. He knew they had never dealt with anything higher than a trained E-class. Contempt for their cowardice crept into his mind even as he realized that he had no real ability to go up against the fire-type with. And if he didn't, that meant that none of these kids stood a chance. He felt Cain leave his side, chasing after the others.

Ms. Spark's lip trembled. He knew that even she had never had to have dealt with a demon this strong before. There was an old saying he had picked up somewhere, a phrase that made mundane life tolerable.

“Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach.” He muttered it without thinking, even as he reached for a snow-type with a strength level he knew was illegal to possess. Even it might not be enough.

A body landed beside him, and he felt the remnants of Hayakku dissipate into the air. “Hi there,” Hannah said, even as Sora landed on the other side of Nate.

“Hey, stranger. Long time, no see.” Chad landed behind them. “You guys ever take on something like this before?”

Hannah shook her head. Nate shrugged, “A'ight, so what do we do?”

“You four get out of here!” Ms. Sparks hollered, her voice shrill with fear.

“As if,” Nate muttered, studying the demon. He couldn't see its Mark, and that was bothering him. Maybe the Mark was on its back. But that would mean he would have to get on top of it somehow. He needed a distraction.

Sora's hands flew to the sides of his head, his gaze focused on the demon. Nate watched as Ms. Sparks launched herself into the air to meet the demon head-on, drawing a sword from her waist that had not been there just moments ago. Nate watched, stunned at her brave stupidity.

She was almost eye-to-eye with it when the demon reacted. It launched a massive fireball from its hand. An instant before it hit her full-on, Nate was galvanized into action and tossed a shield of ice up to deflect the fireball.

It burned right through, but the shield had decelerated it enough that it merely knocked Sparks down mid-flight instead of incinerating her.

The demon turned its attention to them, irritated that there was an ice-manipulator among the four baby 'Slayers. It roared, a massive fireball forming between its two horns.

Nate blinked, surprised for a moment that the ball wasn't forming in its mouth, but quickly gained control of himself again. He jumped as the ball was released, clearing it by ten feet- still feeling the incredible amount of heat it gave off.  The fireball exploded into the ground below, and Nate could feel the seismic roll of earth as the field rippled with the shock wave. So much for the place being unscathed.

As he flew towards it, Nate dodged several, less-powerful fireballs. The demon roared and charged towards him, running on the air like a stampeding bull. Nate could have sworn he saw a giant gold ring in its nose, but had to dodge a spout of flame before he could take a second look.

The demon twisted its head to watch as Nate's path took him above it. He shot a few large icicles from the palm of his hand, missing the demon's eyes by a fraction. The demon roared in pain as two of the icicles lodged themselves in its skin, blood beginning to spurt from the wounds in black streams.

It charged him. “That's right,” he muttered, “Focus on me. I'm the one you want.”

A flash of blue energy shot out of nowhere. Nate cursed as the demon turned to face its new tormenter. Hannah glared at it defiantly, her arms still upraised from the spell. “Shit!” Nate yelled as the demon charged her.

His gaze fell on the Mark. It was right underneath the demon's right horn, in its blind spot. Without hesitation, Nate made a beeline for it, hoping that Hannah had the good sense to turn and run.

He realized that he wasn't going to make it in time to absorb the demon, or even kill it, before it collided with Hannah. With a yell at the effort, Nate raised both of his hands and shot out a patch of soft-ice, the strongest he had ever created.

The demon collided with it head-on, the force of impact causing it to bounce back a good fifteen feet. It roared as it regained its balance and tried again, slamming into the solid wall. Nate grinned tiredly as he approached it slowly, gauging its speed and recovery rate. A colour far below drew his attention. The students were gathered together, a single blur of colour from this altitude. Even though they were far away, there was no way they wouldn't realize what it meant if the demon disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Much as the demon's powers would be advantageous, Nate knew he wouldn't be able to b.s. his way out of anything, especially with that many witnesses. He had to destroy it, fast, before it broke through. He just hoped Hannah wouldn't try to shoot a spell at it from her present angle.

Almost as if she had read his mind and was feeling contrary, Hannah's arms came back up,and he actually saw her lips moving. Green energy sizzled in front of her palms.

“Shit,” Nate said again as he pushed himself to go faster, knowing that he wouldn't make it in time.

The energy shot towards the demon, shattering the ice with the sharp intensity that only White Magic could produce. Nate cried out in symbiotic pain as the demon encountered the White Magic. Using soft-ice made him connected to the demon, the bond strengthening the more the demon ran into the ice itself.

He fought to stay conscious as he hurtled towards the demon, grabbing it by the horn and using a burst of super-strength to whip it over his head and twist it towards the ground, still holding on. The trip was short, the demon landing with a thump that rivaled that of the huge fireball. Nate was thrown clear on impact, and rolled away from the carnage.

Wiping black blood from his eyes, Nate looked up to see a black figure perched on the demon's back, right by the Mark. As he watched, the 'Slayer drove something into the Mark, and the demon disintegrated.

Nate dropped to the ground, giving up on trying to get up. He heaved ragged gasps of air, not enough being pulled in. He released the ice power and allowed regeneration to take over, healing most of his injuries by the time Cain reached him. Cain didn't say anything, ripping Nate's shirt open, tearing off his own to stuff into a hole that refused to heal.

Nate's world swam before his eyes, but he could sense it when Hannah landed beside him.

“Get the hell out of here!” he heard Cain yell at her, “Because of you, he's dying! Stay the hell away from him! You've done enough damage already!”

Hannah crouched down beside him, ignoring Cain. She leaned into his view. Nate could barely keep his eyes long enough to see her crying, “Nate! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I panicked...” Her voice broke off as Nate inched his head off the ground to get a better fix on her face. He had only one thing to say to her, one thing that would solve a lot of his problems.

He said it with all the strength and vehemence he could muster.

“Leave.”

20. A Death In the Family

Nate was drifting in the dark. He couldn't see a thing even as his body floated on what he knew was the surface of the water. At least he hoped it was water.

Voices started echoing across the cavern. It took him a moment to decipher what they were saying as words.

“You should have seen him. He threw up some sort of shield that it couldn't....”

“...His injuries are healing faster than expected, but...”

“...coma. And he might never come out.”

Nate wanted to yell at them, tell them to shut up, but his body was too heavy. He gave up.

“See that? His body just twitched.”

“Reflexively, Cain. Don't get your hopes up.”

“I can't lose him too.”

Nate tried to force himself to sit up, but it seemed like something was holding him down. The world rushed into focus around him. The smell of anesthetic stung his nostrils as Nate took a big gulp of air. He felt Cain, sitting beside him, relax a little, but not much. Cain leaned forward- Nate realized that he was lying in a bed, probably in a hospital. His tongue clung to the roof of his mouth.

Slowly, Nate opened his eyes, his pupils adjusting to the brightness of the room. He opened his mouth when he saw Cain leaning over his face. It took some doing to force the words out.

“Move.”

His voice  was a lot raspier than he expected. Cain backed off, and Nate had a moment's hesitation at Cain's lack of expression. The guy's face was normally an open book, but now there was nothing. Nate tried to remember what bits and pieces he had heard, tried to make it fit, but there was nothing that made sense.

“Water,” he managed, sighting the glass with a straw beside it on a table he knew he didn't have the strength to reach.

Cain leaned backwards and grabbed it, holding it for Nate as he sucked the water. It pooled in the back of his throat, and Nate sputtered as he tried to swallow the water. Finally, some of it made it down, soothing the ragged tissue of his throat.

“Sorry,” he apologized as Cain wiped spittle off his arm.

Cain shrugged, his face still blank, “It happens.”

“Hello,” a new voice spoke. If Nate had any energy left, he would have jumped at hearing the voice right in his ear, but he could barely summon enough strength to turn his head to watch as some sort of doctor stepped into view. At least, he looked like a doctor, complete with a white lab coat over green scrubs. “Can you tell me your name?”

“What? Did Cain forget?” Cain didn't even smile at this, unlike the doctor.

“No, we just want to make sure you aren't concussed.”

“Nathan Markham Hitagashi.”

The guy didn't seem to catch Nate's sarcastic tone. “Alright, can you tell me what you remember, Nathan?”

Nate tried to shake his head, but it barely moved, “No. There was a huge demon, everyone was running, we attacked, and that's it. That's all I've got.”

Cain and the doctor shared a look. “I'll leave you to fill in the details,” the doctor said quickly before turning around and exiting the room.

“I'll leave you to fill in the details,” Cain repeats in a tone Nate had never heard him use before: defeat.

“What happened?” Nate asked, “I remember trying to stop the demon before Hannah got killed. I made a shield, but something shattered it.”

“Hannah cast a spell,” he started, “It shattered the shield you made. And that's not the only thing it shattered.”

“Did we kill the demon?”

“A 'Slayer came and finished it off.”

“So what's wrong?”

Cain looked down, “It's Abel. They're not sure what happened, but he somehow got caught in the crossfire. They just finished operating an hour ago.”

“He going to be okay?”

“Yeah, complete recovery. I mean, that's what happens to your soul, right? Do you think 'Slayers have souls?”

“I... I don't know.”

“They're calling him a hero in the official report. Can you believe that?” he smirked slightly, the mirth not reaching his eyes, “Abe was never a fighter, hated it. He was just going through the motions to keep our guardian happy. Already had a science position to report to once he graduated.

“But he died a hero, protecting the other students from the deadly fire-type. They set it up so that they only have to say 'Killed in action' for cause of death. No mention about how it was White magic that did it. Pieces of shit.”

Nate didn't know what to say. They just sat in the room, the two of them, mourning the loss of a great mind. It was his fault, Nate realized. If he hadn't hesitated, if he had attacked just an instant earlier, if he had approached the demon faster...

“Don't beat yourself up,” Cain said, as if reading his mind, “It wasn't YOUR fault.”

He was blaming Hannah. Nate remembered how he had reacted on the field, yelling at Hannah to stay away. White magic meant that another 'Slayer had killed him. Hannah used White magic. That last bolt, the one that had shattered his shield.

Hannah had killed Abel. With no consequences.

Deep down, Nate began resenting everything that the Killers stood for.

21. 2 Years Later

Nate gripped the armrests on his seat as he and the rest of the class watched from their position as the demon hurtled down from the sky and into their view. It stood up, and didn't look too impressive to the inexperienced eye, but Nate studied the Class C energy demon with interest. He had finally figured out just yesterday how to tell the difference between different classes and types, something the class wasn't supposed to learn until their fifth year. As third years, they were divided into their respective classes, but 'Slayers of the Accelerated stage were grouped together to form the Corps, within which the Crimson Dragons were located.

A familiar blonde figure soared into view, her sword held high as she charged the demon. After completing the required two years, Hannah, Chad, and Sora had been reunited with another woman, who apparently was their team's Summoner and leader, and had returned to Misd to be stationed in Tokyo.

They hadn't talked since the fire demon fiasco. Since then, Nate had been taken to the hospital wing of the school. When they finally released him, he learned that they had been placed in different classes. Sora, the one who had used to hate Nate, now looked up to him, bragging to anyone who would listen that he had been on the same team as Nate for months before school. The way he told it made it sound like they had sought him out and rescued his sorry-but-talented ass, and not the other way around. Nate didn't mind.

Just as Hannah's sword came crashing down towards the demon's Mark, the frame froze, causing the class to let out a collective groan as the lights came back on in the room. They were in study hall, one of the few places where they actually tried to behave in order to watch the documentaries of all the different demons that had been challenged and defeated over the years.

Jasper Adams, their room teacher, started speaking immediately. “This footage was taken two months ago. After going up against a Class C without backup, team Senshi returned to treat injuries, along with to bury one of their own. Cresta Giles, a commoner who nevertheless rose through the ranks to earn herself the nickname of “the Wind of Death” due to her method of releasing demons in her Cache.

“The team is currently training and awaiting their new comrades, which will be two of you lucky people.”

Cain elbowed Nate in the ribs, leaning close to whisper, “Normally, they merge two teams of two, and get them training together for over a year. So, whichever team they choose, Senshi's gonna be a fiver, and after a week or so, are gonna get redeployed. Limited resources.”

“Mr. Pope, perhaps you would like to speculate as to who the replacements will be?”

“Your last name's Pope?” Nate muttered to him, “No wonder you mess with Bible names.”

“Shut up, man,” he muttered back. Then, louder: “Well, sir, seeing as how it was a Summoner who died, then it would have to be a team that has a Summoner as one of the two. And, considering how two of the other members are people destined to take over the Saitou household, they might benefit from a little extra protection in the form of a Pyro.”

Giggles started in several corners of the room. Adams suppressed a smile. “You know what? Your uncanny wit and desire for attention have actually helped you formulate the correct answer. Starting today, a Summoner-Pyro team is ordered to report to the Senshi Barracks.”

“Why bother?” Seth hollered, “With two out of three belonging to the same House, won't they be holed up in their compound?”

Chuckles sounded at this remark. Adams rolled his eyes, “Because the balance will be tipped out of those odds with the addition of the two others.”

Nate glanced around the classroom, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach. There were only five S'n'P teams, his being one of them. Please not Gold, he thought remembering the last time he had seen Hannah. They hadn't ended on the best of terms.

“After dismissal today, Gold team will merge with Senshi.”

People around Nate patted him on the back as Cain flashed him a thumbs-up, “Now that's what I'm talking about. Action time for the action team.” Cain hadn't seemed the least bit bothered by the way he had acted towards Hannah two years ago, in the aftermath of the clash with the fire-type demon. Nate had chalked it up to an overreaction due to the guilt that Cain had been feeling about not sticking by his partner. Since that day, they hadn't been more than ten feet apart at any given time of day or night.

Nate cast a glance around the room, surprised to find that he actually cared about what the others thought of this turn of events. Lionel caught his eye, his face unreadable as his eyes bored into Nate's head. Instinctively, Nate caused a mental apparatus to form in his mind, protecting it from any mental attacks that Lionel might try. Himanachis were infamous for that.

“This is gonna be awesome!” Cain crowed, oblivious as usual.

22. Special Treatment. Traitor!

Team Senshi's barracks were located on the outskirts of Gossen, in the compound with all the other 'Slayer barracks, with two separate gates to enter the compound from either the city or to a path that meandered towards the Academy and the noble's compound on top of the hill. Nate tugged at his jacket, amazed that Cain could move so easily in their new uniforms. To make it obvious that one's birth held no value as a 'Slayer, everyone wore the solid black clothing, without a hint of colour. The exception to the rule was if the 'Slayer was Head of his House or if he or she belonged to the Crimson Dragons, which Nate and Cain had since first year.

Cain strutted down the street, passing each wooden barrack, checking the signs posted outside each one. He stopped at the third one on the left, the sign outside showing a cat's paw, claws extended. He grinned at Nate, “This is it.”

The two of them entered the premises, the little wicket gate turning on rusted hinges as they passed. What grass there was was withered at the root, bent and brown. It rustled strangely underfoot. Nate couldn't wait any longer, “How do you manage to keep on wearing this jacket in the middle of the summer?”

Cain grinned at him as they reached the door, “We survive. Besides, being a member of the Crimson Dragons entitles us to certain privileges.”

“Like what?”

“Like private quarters in the barracks so that we can meditate.”

Nate had to admit to himself that that alone was worth the price of wearing the leather jacket in the hot months, even if his meditation was different than expected by the Council. Even the other Dragons would kill him if they really knew what he did. He had been reading up on the laws that dictated the use of demons, and knew that he was already on the verge of committing a felony. If they caught him using the time to train with his demons, entering his Cache to do so, there was no way he could escape the punishment.

Before either of them could reach for the handle, the door swung outward, catching Cain by surprise. Nate slipped to one side with a  mild, unnoticeable teleport as Cain stumbled back a few steps, holding his nose. Nate glanced down to see that is was Sora, who seemed to be taller than the last time he had seen him. He grinned up at Nate, “Hey! I just heard the news. How awesome is this? It's like old times, a thousand percent better.”

Cain managed by that point to catch himself, and stormed over to Sora, pushing up the sleeve of his jacket. “You little brat! I don't care who you are-”

“Take it easy, man,” Nate said, stepping in. When Cain got angry, he was a mess to deal with. It was one of the reasons why they had been partnered- only Nate seemed to be capable of calming Cain back to a least a hint of sanity.

“What's the commotion?” Hannah asked, hitching her sword over her head so that the strap rested on her shoulder as she leaned into the door-frame.

“Nate's friend was picking on me,” Sora complained in a petulant tone.

“You little-”

“Cain!” Nate barked.

The glow faded from Cain's eyes. He blinked rapidly, his head shaking slightly from side to side. “Sorry about that,” he apologized.

“Hi, Nate.”

Nate glanced back at Hannah, “Hey. How've you been?”

“She's been pretty good,” Chad interrupted, pushing past them to emerge into the hot sun, “But we have bigger problems to deal with. There's a disturbance over in Sector Three. We've been called in for back-up.”

“Three?” Cain asked, surprised, “That's near the old grounds, isn't it?”

“Yeah, you two hurry up and dump your stuff off. There's some rooms towards the back you can use.”

“Thanks.” Nate dragged Cain into the cool interior.

Cain freed himself and walked briskly through the darkness. “Thanks back there.”

“No problem.”

“No,” Cain corrected turning to look at him, “It is a problem. If something happened to you, I'd be a basket-case. Kicked off the team, and left in some alley to drown out the rest of my days in uselessness. Temperamental 'Slayers are dangerous to have around, so I'd lose my job. I'd be the next Foster Davis.” Foster Davis was a former 'Slayer who hopped off the bandwagon after his partner and wife was killed and now spent his days frequenting any of the dozen run-down taverns that the Crimson Dragons often had meetings at.

Cain wandered through the wooden room, leaving Nate behind. The floor, ceiling, and walls were all made of oak, with beams crossing the ceiling to add support, along with the two wooden columns standing at even enough spaces so that the large room was divided into thirds. Against one wall was a kitchenette, with the island doubling as the meal table as stools were positioned all around it. There were eight, in case the group invited another team over for a visit. Along the wall to his right were bunks, meant for the members of the team who weren't Crimson Dragons.

Nate still didn't understand. Why did the Crimson Dragons get such special treatment as compared to the others? What made them so special that they needed to be separate from the rest of the team? Crimson Dragons were known for their abilities in battle, and were among the top most powerful of each division of the four categories of 'Slayers. And it was true that some needed to meditate, especially Pyros and Summoners, to become more mentally attuned to the aspects of battle that they invariably got tangled into: executions, tactical interceptions, and taking on higher-classed demons than any other 'Slayer.

Cain came back, jacket gone, and in it's place there was a crimson badge attached to his arm with a strip of even darker cloth. On the badge was a black Chinese dragon, its arms raised to attack. “I've got the room on the left. You can have the one across, or further down if you want.”

He raised an eyebrow, seeing Nate standing in the middle of the room still wearing his jacket. “You should probably change, eh? The jacket's for the home front, not the field. Your badge should be in your bag.”

Nate nodded and pushed past him, choosing the room furthest away from both the bunks and Cain's room. Inside, there was a simple mat on the floor, with a blanket and pillow neatly piled at the foot of it. No further adornment added any sort of flavour to the room, but he had come to expect that of Crimson barracks. Nothing frilly meant nothing to distract the meditator from his meditation. He rolled his eyes, dropped his pack to the floor, and struggled out of his jacket. The leather clung to his damp skin, but at last he freed himself from its confines, dropping the inside-out jacket to the floor. He sighed with relief at the immediate change- his bare arms free to move in the cool air.

He dug around and came up with the badge, tying it quickly to his left bicep before grabbing his jacket and hanging it on the solitary hook on the door. He grabbed a knife he had bought in the market years back, and carved a number into the door, marking the room as his. The blocky eight would mean nothing to anyone but him, unless they were a demon.

He trudged back out to meet Cain, immediately noticing the difference even between their uniforms. While his was like a muscle shirt, the top of Cain's uniform had long sleeves, with the cloth around his forearms pulled tight to avoid any useless inhibition that the clothing might bring him. Cain grinned and punched him in the arm, “You do realize that the only chick on our team is Saitou, right?”

Nate shrugged, “So?”

“So your uniform's not gonna be that much of a chick magnet.”

Nate punched him back, not as hard as he would have liked, but enough to make Cain back off. “What's the old grounds?” he asked, steering them away from Hannah.

Cain shrugged casually, as if the answer didn't mean anything. “It's where punishments were enforced- you mess up, your punishement would be to face a certain class of demon. Bigger the crime, the tougher the demon. Demons were captured and shipped here, back in the day. They'd be released in special arenas, and teams of 'Slayers would have to work in concert to defeat them, especially if they had been enhanced.”

They emerged into the hot sun, but it didn't seem near as bad as before to Nate. Cain glanced around, “Huh, looks like Senshi went on ahead of us.”

“We're part of Senshi too now, you know,” Nate pointed out.

Cain shrugged, “You might, but I'll never play square with a couple of Saitous.”

“What do you have against them?”

In response, Cain crouched and launched himself up into the air. Nate snatched up an ability from a class-F in his Cache and raced to catch up. Seeing Nate beside him, Cain decided to divulge. “You know the grounds and the punishments? That was only for Commoners and members of the Branch families. Nineteen years ago, the members of the last team to be forced to participate had committed a serious felony. The Family in charge of the grounds was exempted, meaning that the other two members of the team had the option of not participating, sentencing the two felons to a painful death as they tried to battle an enhanced C-class demon. They put up a good fight, but in the end they were killed. An Illusionist and a Pyro were no match for the demon on their own.

“They died, leaving behind a daughter and three sons. I was one of them. The two felons were my parents. Their crime? They failed to report the birth of their Pyro daughter to the proper House.

“The other two team members were none other than Lord Saitou, current Head of the Fourth Great House, and his lackey Oochi. Together, they all could have survived, they would have defeated that demon no problem.

“Because the Saitou House didn't want to risk the life of their Head, my parents died in the arena like dogs.”

Cain pushed his Hayakku to go even faster, and Nate let him pull ahead, unsure of what else he could do. The  fire-type demon in his Cache seized his moment of uncertainty to try to free itself, but several of the other demons held him down, so that Nate could only hear its voice.

They are ruled by their emotions. Being allies with them serves no purpose!

“Shut up!” Nate growled at him, accelerating to zoom past Cain, sensing out Hannah's presence to guide him to the right place. “We aren't allies.”

23. Alliance Shattered

Nate caught up to the rest of the team and slowed down. He had no clue where the grounds were, so better to let them lead. He didn't even look at Hannah, instead turning his attention to Sora.

“So, do we know what class or type this thing is?”

Sora shook his head, “No. We just received the order to go in for back-up, which makes me think that it might  be a C.” Nate could see the fear Sora was feeling, and realized that the rest of the team was like that. They had just lost a senior member of their team to a C-class. There was no way they were prepared to fight another one, even if they were the back-up.

“Why us?”

“Because we're the only team on site. Our Mobile Corps are tied up with affairs in Misd. They've been getting holes ripped in their sky, which shouldn't be possible, but it's happening anyways.”

“We're almost there,” Chad said, “Get ready.”

“Is Chad in charge now?” Nate muttered to Sora.

Mutely, Sora nodded, his eyes fixed straight ahead but unseeing.

Nate chanced a glance behind them, but saw no sign of Cain along the horizon. He turned back to see them bearing down on a huge structure, with the same design as a Roman coliseum. Even as they approached, a giant dust-cloud mushroomed above the massive pillars. Hannah tugged her sword free, it began to glow almost instantaneously.

Then they were over the wall and dropping fast. Nate landed in a crouch, dust swirling around his feet. It seemed like Ko-ha was one giant desert at times, he mused even as his eyes roved the place, seeking out the members of the other team and, more importantly, the demon.

There it stood in all its six foot glory, hovering over several bodies. Nate felt Cain land beside him, sensed him sight the bodies, saw him start to run towards them- oblivious of the demon. The demon roared, its voice disproportionate to its stature, the sound ricocheting throughout the amphitheater. Nate charged the demon, snagging super-strength to protect Cain's back.

Cain was a good medic. Ever since Abel's death, Cain had started learning anything and everything that he could about medicine, both first-aid and advanced techniques. He was almost more obsessed about becoming a field medic than Nate was about figuring out what sort of demon he was. Cain had started pushing for it to be mandatory that every 'Slayer team carry a medic for the field, but so far the idea was being shunted around, no one taking him seriously.

Cain had explained it all to Nate one night. If there was a medic on the team, there would be less casualties for the hospital to treat, meaning that more teams could remain active in the field. It would also decrease the amount of deaths, the need for new recruits. They could actually save lives, branch out, instead of having a single team protect a huge area.

Cain had also said that since Nate was obviously the brawn of their team, he should be the brains.

Nate lunged for the demon, but it saw him coming and disappeared right before his eyes in a black blur. Nate realized what it was doing, but was too late to turn to face the demon as it charged him from behind. The force of the punch knocked him off balance and sent him flying, head over heels.

Time seemed to slow as Nate's eyes locked straight ahead of him, his back to the ground. High-up, where it seemed like there was a roof in the sky, there was a hole. A black hole, just like the hole by Moonless Rock, loomed like a black moon, staring him down. It was just the right size, if he guess-timated the distance correctly, for the demon to get through.

Then he was pulled back into reality as he flipped and righted himself, accelerating towards the ground that rushed up to swallow him. He held onto his super-strength, probably the best way to land right now. Even soft-ice wouldn't cut it.

He landed in a swirl of dust that bowled its way out of the amphitheater, making it almost impossible to see for a moment. The dust cleared and he jumped to where Hannah was standing, rooted to the place where she had initially landed.

“Teleportation,” he told her, “That's how it moves so fast. No way that's super-speed.”

“It's... it's the same one.”

“What?”

She turned to look at him, and Nate saw just how scared she was. Her lower lip trembled as her eyes stared into his. “It's the one that killed Cresta.”

Nate looked over to where the demon was, hovering for the moment, engaged in a spout of rounds with Chad and Sora. Even they looked scared, he could see it from here. So they had realized it too.

“It's going to be okay, Hannah,” he said, “We can get him this time.”

“What if we fail? What if Sora dies and it's all my fault? He shouldn't be out here. He needs to live, to lead the House. He can't die, not here.”

“Hannah, look at me.” He grabbed her shoulders. “Look at me!” Her eyes refocused and stared at him, but he could tell she was still in a daze, “I'm not about to let anything happen to Sora, okay? Just trust me. We can do this, and when it's over, you'll feel all embarrassed for the way you acted and beat yourself up. But not here, okay? I need you here, nowhere else. You can't give up now.”

Hannah's body relaxed, the tension going out. She nodded, her eyes beginning to fill with new purpose. “We have to protect Sora. Where is he?”

“He's...” Nate started, turning back to the fight, ready to go. His voice trailed off at the mess.

Chad's body, or what was left of it, was lying in a dust heap, the dust just beginning to settle. The demon, three times bigger in size than it was previously, was walking away from him and back towards the wounded other team. His brow creased- it swelled in size, obviously filling up on the energy. This wasn't a regular C-class. This was a servant of one of the Eight. Cain's hands were blazing as he tried to keep the 'Slayers alive. He couldn't see the demon.

Sora was nowhere to be found.

Nate switched automatically from super-strength to the enhanced vision of that XL F-class sensory demon he had kept around. The 'Slayers by Cain and Chad all glowed red, the demon itself was pink. He blinked, sure that he was imagining it, hoping he had imagined it. His shoulders sagged as he confirmed that their worst fears were realized.

The demon had eaten Sora.

Not so much eaten as swallowed, he realized as he looked closer- Sora was in one piece. The demon must have grown before it devoured him. Nate's stomach twisted at the thought. There were demons who ate 'Slayers, taking advantage of their energy, but Nate would have never guessed that he would actually see one. It was a painful way to die.

“Hannah, stay calm, okay?”

“Why?” Hannah was frantic, on the verge of running towards the demon in search of her brother.

“Sora's safe for the moment. He has about twenty minutes.” judging by Sora's normal energy levels.

The news took longer than he expected to sink in. her eyes widened in horror. “Sora. No, no, you're wrong.” She started screaming, “You're lying! Sora! No, no, n-”

She collapsed to the ground, Cain standing behind her, his hand still open palm up from his quick hit to her neck, knocking her unconscious. Her body sagged to the ground.

Cain flashed him a tired grin, “We need to finish this, man. Now.”

“We can't kill it. Sora's in there.”

“Yeah, I know. He dies, and we get some other loser to take over the damn Saitou House. Believe me, I don't want that to happen. Sora's a good kid. So, here's how it is. I'm the distraction. You save Sora and kill the thing when he's safe.”

“How?”

Cain flashed him his best devil-may-care grin, but Nate could tell he was on the verge of collapsing. “You'll figure it out.” He jumped, using Hayakku to move faster.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Nate muttered, taking a moment to study the situation. Cutting the demon anywhere with any one of his abilities would cause it to disintegrate, taking Sora with it into Final death. 'Slayers as a group didn't believe in the whole 'afterlife' idea.

A memory suddenly surfaced, one he had tried to block. It was from his first day at the Academy, when they had held the tournament to determine teams, against his very first opponent and her only demon. The poison demon versus his mist. When the poison had started to kick in, his demon had swallowed him to protect him. It wasn't a pleasant memory, but it definitely told him what he needed to do. He only felt slightly annoyed with the fact that it was one of his demons who had pushed the memory onto him.

“Shit,” he cursed even as he charged, exchanging the F-class for  a speedster. It was at least three times faster than the fastest Hayakku user he had seen to date.

The demon had just teleported to appear behind Cain when Nate screeched to a halt between them, changing powers for a direct attack. Oddly enough, the demon let him come, and Nate was almost certain that there was something wrong, deeply wrong, with how this was playing out when he was struck from behind, right on his Mark.

Nate choked on air, arching his back in shock as pain lanced through his body. His Mark began to burn, he could feel it burning away at the back of his 'Slayer uniform. Then the demon was back below him, its mouth wide open. Nate fell in, rolling down its tongue to land on a soft, squishy form.

Sora coughed beneath him, and Nate struggled to scramble off of him “Sorry,” he rasped, his Mark making it almost impossible for him to breathe, much more speak or think.

“She got you too.”

“She?”

“Females tend to eat their kills, especially if it's a 'Slayer.” They fell on top of each other as the demon suddenly pitched forward. “I think we made her angry.”

Her. Nate could feel the demons inside of him stirring with interest. Females are always the better choice for scouting out.

What the hell are you talking about?  Nate demanded, Scout what out?

He felt the demons push towards the edge of his Cache, trying to release themselves. In his current state, they could almost reach it, flooding his senses with their emotions. He could feel their eagerness to join the epic fight, the thirst for blood, to kill, welling up within them all.

Isn't it obvious? His trainer asked, They're searching for you.

Nate swore even as he switched powers to one he had been so sure that he would never use. He wrapped himself around Sora. “Hold still. We're gonna get out of here.”

Then he released it. The little barrier within his mind snapped, and the effect was catastrophic. His body exploded in size, Sora shrinking until he fit into Nathan's palm. They burst from the demon, which was by this point nothing more than bits and pieces that were falling to the ground far below. Nate was splattered from head-to-toe in the demon's black blood. He shrank as soon as they were completely free, dropping Sora once they were closer to the ground.

His Mark still stung, sending pain signals to his brain that were quickly intercepted and were being dealt with by his regenerative demon, the one he always fell back on. Nate dropped to his hands and knees, mid air, Sora beside him. Dry heaves racked his body. He could tell that the demon was working as hard as it could, but with virtually no effect.

He glanced up to see if the hole was gone now. It was supposed to disappear either when the demon chose for it to, or when the demon was destroyed, like they had just done.

His eyes widened in surprise as he saw it now. It stood right in front of him, but now was no longer as black as it once was. Before, it had barely been big enough to allow the six-foot tall demon through. Now it stretched to beyond his line of sight in either direction, and it wasn't empty any longer.

Even as he watched, demons began appearing, stepping through the hole to enter Ko-ha. Demons of all ranks and types. Dimly, Nate heard Cain say something over a Yukicharo, but it sounded awfully short to be anything but a cry for help.

The demons roared, their voices a cacophony of sound that tore through the air like a knife through fabric. The hole narrowed as the last few stragglers stumbled through. They stood three rows thick, and over fifty wide. There were at least two hundred demons assembled in solid ranks, as if standing by for further instructions.

Heiwa, his mentor, safely stashed away in his Cache, chuckled with evil glee, The cavalry has FINALLY arrived.

24. Outnumbered. The Leader Is...

Nate stared at the demons in front of him. They had no apparent organization, other than standing in a file that would make Roman legionaries proud. All of their eyes, if they had them, or if Nate could even see them, were focused on him. He swallowed, becoming suddenly aware of the dryness in his throat. Was he scared?

Hell yes. He was terrified.

A single demon launched itself into the air so that it stood directly in front of him, only a couple feet separating them. A triple- A Black demon. Ability: nullify any attack that used spells, incantations, or other demons' powers. Nate didn't move, couldn't move, even as the demon crouched so that they were almost eye level.

Master. It's thoughts were deep and gravely in voice. Nate watched as the other demons followed their obvious leader's example. What the hell?

Lead us.

Nate just stared at it, his mind searching for an answer to what to do. He could tell that Hannah and Chad were still unconscious, and Sora was in no condition to fight, even if the black demon wasn't right in front of them.

Leave, he ordered the demons as forcefully as he could.

In unison, the demons all tilted their heads the same way, as if they were dogs who didn't understand what their master had just told them.

Leave. He tried again.

If you really want them to leave, his own mentor hissed, then use the damn Voice.

Shut up.

What was that? She asked coyly, Speak up, I didn't catch that.

“I said shut up!” he hollered.

Sora looked up at him, "I didn't say anything.”

“Get out of here, now,” Nate hissed, “Get back-up.”

“Why? What's wrong?”

Nate gaped at him, scarcely believing his ears, “Look around, you moron!”

Sora obeyed, but Nate realized that he couldn't see the demons. It made sense, he thought, remembering what he had read about the Moonless Rock coupled with what he could learn from the demons. The Rock, one of which was planted at the entrance to the grounds, attracted demons because it amplified their powers.

He glanced over the assembled demons. There it was, back row, dead-centre. An invisibilty-type demon.

“Hannah!” Sora exclaimed as his eyes fell on her still form.

Nate didn't need to say anything. Sora flew down, using Hayakku to control his fall.

With him out of the way, Nate turned his attention back to the assembled demons. All the 'Slayers were out of earshot. Nate delved deep down, deeper into his Cache than he had ever pushed before.

He felt nothing, and then all at once everything. He felt the power flow through him, shooting through his veins and into his muscles. That's where he needed it to go.

The power nearly choked him, rushing through his body like a torrent, begging to be released. He opened his mouth, and his power welled up in his vocal chords.

“Return.”

The demons blinked once in unison. A few minutes passed, them staring at each other. Nate was beginning to lose hope when, as one, the demons slowly turned around and began to walk back into the crevice.

Before long, the only one left was the Triple A Black demon. It lingered, slowly reaching one tentacle at  a time through the hole.

Nate was about to tell it to leave again when a voice shattered the stillness of the evening.

“Nathan Hitagashi!” It boomed, “You are under arrest!”

25. Betrayal

Soon the sky was filled with 'Slayers, all dressed in the standard black, but he could see  that a lot of them had Crimson Dragon badges. They were all battle-ready, swords drawn, palms glowing, the air thick with the telepathic presence of dozens of illusionists.

In the same instant, the black hole widened, forcing 'Slayers aside as the demons shot back out, the Black headed right for Nate. A few dozen managed to slip out before 'Slayers cast webs of White magic around the hole, barricading escape as well as entrance.

Right before the demon reached Nate, it dissipated into a stream of particles which slammed into his body with no force, absorbing into his Cache instantaneously. He could feel its thoughts in his head immediately even as a web of White magic was spun around him, loose enough so that he wouldn't singe himself on the sides as long as he didn't move.

The black demon inside of him sent out a mute order to the other present demons, who obeyed in an instant, surrounding Nate and facing outwards so that the 'Slayers couldn't reach him.

Nate panicked as he felt the weaker demons inside of him blacking out, lending him their power so that he could remain concisious. The Black was the last to fall.

He felt the strain as the web began draining him of his own energy. His eyes fell on Cain, standing between Lord Saitou and Lord Himanachi, the three of them with their palms upraised, the energy shooting out from them to form the energy-draining web. Cain was the main beneficiary.

The pieces began to fall into place. Cain hadn't called out for help. That wouldn't be enough to get every single 'Slayer to gather here. “You sonuvabitch!” he yelled with his remaining strength.

At his voice, the demons went on the attack, their powers amplified by the Rock along with the presence of their fellow demons. 'Slayers were falling down, but the demons were clearly outnumbered. The earlier force would have been enough, but not this piddly fraction.

Nate thrust a hand up and aimed it towards Cain, feeling his anger churn with power. A small dense ball, the size of a marble and pure black, shot from his palm, flying through the web in the direction of the three.

The shot cost Nate his last reserves of strength and he blacked out even as his body began to fall, not knowing if the bomb had reached its mark before exploding.

26. Mask Cracking

Upon later recollection, Nate came to the conclusion that the Killers had drugged him. And they were killers. They murdered his kin and expected him to play nice.

What memories he had of what happened after the grounds and until he got to the cell were fragmented. There was a chamber- people were arguing; Nate couldn't move his arms. His 982 senses were buzzing, but he clearly remembered staring at Cain, standing beside someone from the Himanachi House, yelling at him.  He couldn't remember the words he had used, but they obviously had had little effect on Cain. And Hannah. He had yelled at Hannah too.

Nate gripped the bars and heaved backwards. The steel wouldn't budge. He let go before the shock would get to him as it ran its circuit. He dropped to the dirt floor and stared around him again. This place was obviously meant for lower-class demons, probably a D at the most. The only entrance that he could see was at the top, and who knew where that lead. Against one wall there was a row of steel bars barricading his way from a tunnel. There was also a window, high-up, through which he could only see a patch of sky. No matter how long he watched, he hadn't seen a single bird fly by.

The window was also the only light source. Apparently, demons didn't need light, didn't need to see anything. It had made Nate laugh, even as he tried and failed miserably to access even one of his powers.

Told you that you should have practiced.

“Shut up,” he said aloud. It wasn't like he was trying to hide what he was any more. It had been fun, this whole charade, but now it was time to go.

Go? Where? What sort of place would take you in?

Nate smirked. All this time, he had just assumed that Heiwa knew everything. Obviously, even though she knew that those other demons had been looking for him, she hadn't figured out why. He had always been careful to block them out when he even thought about the books in the library, much more when he was in it. Which meant that she didn't know.

There was no point in keeping it from her or any of the others any longer, though.

Home. He didn't dare say it out-loud.

He could feel all of his demons stir. They had understood that he wasn't talking about Ko-ha, not even Misd.

Ampoulles.

Nate savoured the feelings that the word brought his companions. The ones who had been trapped within him longer had a sort of wistfulness about them while his most recent addition, the Black demon, was more purposeful.

Nate sat back down on the floor, exhausted from his climb to the window, to think over his situation. They hadn't killed him. That had to mean something. Someone, somewhere, was stone-walling them from killing him. He just didn't know why.

Somewhere close by, steel scraped on steel, splitting the silence with an annoying screech. Feet padded along the dirt passage way, carrying a single light towards him. The steps had an irregular rhythm, the second step always a little slower than he expected. There was only one person who walked like that.

“Sora?”

The figure stopped short of the bars, the light making it impossible to see who it was. But it was too tall to be Sora. “No.”

“You sonuvabitch!” Nate shouted even as he leaped to his feet and charged the gate. He slammed into it full force, the shock of the White magic barrier actually lifting him off the ground to slam him into the far wall.

The light clicked off. Cain chuckled as Nate groaned. “That's how you greet a brother?”

Nate pulled himself to a sitting position, despite the pain that it caused his Mark. “You're no brother of mine.”

Cain snapped his fingers, “Right, I forgot, demons don't have any fraternal ties.”

“Shut up!”

“Why? What you gonna do, huh? Attack me?” He smirked, spreading his hands wide, “Go ahead. Let's see you do some damage.”

“I said shut up!”

“Make me!”

In a flash, Cain was thrust off his feet and thrown several yards before he slammed into the wall, causing the roof to cave-in slightly. Nate lost sight of him even as the ghostly form returned to him. He stared at it with something close to disappointment. That's how weak he had become, he couldn't even keep them in anymore.

“You should be more careful of the company you keep,” his mentor said in her usual half-sarcastic but deadly voice, her black eyes staring down at him.

“Now you tell me.”

They both turned as Cain emerged from the wreckage, his eyes blazing with power. Nate's power.

“You little shit. So that's what you were hiding. I knew there was something wrong with you.”

“Oh really? What was your first clue?” Nate pretended to be enthralled in what Cain would say next.

“You shit!”

“What happened to you, Cain? Brothers don't betray each other. That's what we were, not that long ago. Brothers. What the hell happened?”

“Don't you dare talk about brothers that way, as if you would know anything, you demon!”

“Yeah? I'm not the one who didn't go to his funeral. I'm not the one who killed him in a heartbeat because he was going to interfere with that fight with the fire demon three years ago. And neither did Hannah.”

“Shut up!” he screamed. His hands blazed, filling with pure white energy. Nate knew that if it hit him, he wouldn't even feel it. He'd be dead that fast.

Nate didn't flinch, though, when the energy was released, shooting towards him faster than any human eye could follow. The energy blasted at the bars- and bounced right back, sending Cain all the way back down the hall.

Nate smirked when he heard the solid, meaty smack as flesh hit steel. The door scraped open, voices echoed down the passageway, and he could tell that they had dragged Cain's body through before the door was shut.

The moron. How could he not have known that the stupid Killers knew what they were doing when they designed these holding cells? Nothing could get out, per se, but nothing could get in either.

So he was still touchy about Abel? It had been a while, and Cain had never been one to brood over accidents. He was acting more like the time the two of them had been ordered to destroy a village that was said to be infested with demonic energy, an order that had come straight from the top of the Crimson Dragons- Lord Himanachi had passed the order to them himself.

That had been a little over a year ago now. Cain had brooded for months after it.

“Do you want to live?”

Nate's head jerked up as he looked at her, Heiwa still looking down the tunnel. “Of course.”

“Then why are you just sitting there?”

“What else can I do?”

“Do you know what they do to half-breeds like you? They set them up against impossible odds, Summoners sending out all their Caches at once. They used the grounds for that too.”

“But they don't do that anymore.”

She chuckled. “You're right there. Now they do something called Sterilization. They tear you apart, do invasive surgeries, and all sorts of other things, to find out what exactly makes you... tick.”

Nate was suddenly bombarded with images of lying on a cold table, metal rods sticking out at awkward angles, unable to do anything except scream in agony as they took samples and drugged him with with various substances. Being placed underwater for long periods of time. Placed in a fire shortly afterward.

“Now that he's gone...” She didn't need to say more.

“Yes. Now.”

“You're very close.”

“Close isn't good enough if we want to make it home.”

She came closer, turning so that they were facing each other. Without another word, she started to dematerialize, fading into a white mist as Nate closed his eyes and resumed training.

27. Hannah Cries

Nate seemed a lot calmer as he was marched back into the court room, Hannah noted as she watched his movements. Every step he took, every breath, every flick of his eyelashes, all of it seemed to emit a calm feeling, as if he knew that everything was going to be alright.

She wished that were true.

She had been hearing rumors all day about the court's coming decision. Sora had found her after their post-briefing, his eyes wild as he pulled her off to an excluded alcove. Chad had soon joined them, saying Cain was being treated for injuries sustained somewhere. Sora had even gone to the point of casting a 10-point illusion about him, one that only he could sense. No one came close to her little brother when it came to prodigious illusionry.

Sora had rapidly explained to them all what he had seen. He had gone down to the holding cell to see Nathan using his illusionary portals, in spite of Father's order to not be involved any more than they already were. He hadn't even gotten close enough to talk to Nathan. What he had seen had caused him to turn tail and run.

Sora had seen Nathan talking with a Triple A-class demon.

And not just any Triple A-class demon.

A White Demon.

Hannah suppressed a shiver as she watched him walk calmly to the prisoner's block, a red circle tiled into the plain floor mosaic where he would face the judges. His white hair and pale blue eyes. She had thought he was some sort of half-snow demon. His profile began swimming before her eyes, and Hannah forced herself to focus her concentration elsewhere.

She couldn't believe that she hadn't realized before. White demons were the opposite of Blacks, they absorbed other demon's attacks and amplified them. Any demon near them became ten times stronger.

Her eyes roved the stands, taking in how many demon-slayers had shown up. The place was packed, the common area filled to the point where no one could sit without being stepped on. The parts blocked off for nobles weren't as crowded, but for the first time in history every seat of every booth was filled. Except for the seat beside her.

Sora hadn't wanted to come. He had shut himself into his room, right after the rest of the team had decided to take this new evidence to the Council. The kid still had faith in Nathan, despite what he himself had seen. He of all people knew that it couldn't be an illusion. Not only was he one of the Dispeller families and a blood relative of the Dispelling Popes, but everyone on their team knew that Nathan couldn't master demonic or white magic for the life of him.

28. The Missing Link

Nate glanced around the room. There were even more Killers here than when he had been arrested, and that was saying something. Cain was sitting next to Lord Himanachi himself, dressed in the orange and yellow of that House. Cain was just full of secrets. Judging by the energy now radiating from his being, Cain was actually a Caster, and probably the next Head of the Himanachi House, seeing the way he was allowed to be so close to Himanachi when even that creepy attendant guy had more distance placed between.

Seems like his parents weren't dead after-all.

Seeing him there, wearing Nate's power like a cape that only Nate could see, made his blood boil. He had to steel himself, taking a few deep breaths, to keep up the calm charade.

Killing that village of innocents was nothing in comparison with what Cain had done.

29. The Trial 1- Demon

The metallic strum of the Straarts caused what little chatter there was in the room to cease as the nine elders entered the room and took their respective seats at the Arch. Seven males and  two females, not that gender mattered much. These people were chosen for their prowess, their ability to see the larger picture. They had been chosen by the elders preceding them. They alone held the power to determine Nathan's fate.

No matter the outcome, Hannah had steeled herself to not regret her actions. Nathan had crossed a line. She had warned him. He now had to face the consequences of what he had done, subjugating the demons to his will without even touching them, as dozens of 'Slayers had seen when they arrived. The way he had done it had made it seem so easy, so simple, like he was born to control demons.

Like a White Demon. 

Hannah shivered, unable to help herself this time, as the Head Elder spoke.

“We have deliberated the case before us. Chancellor, remove the web from the demon.”

Demon. That wasn't good. The Elders were distancing themselves and everyone else as far away from Nathan as possible, just by using that reference. The word automatically would stir up feelings of hatred in every 'Slayer present. Hannah swallowed.

Her father, standing beside Nathan, removed the web he had cast, and stepped off to one side, leaving Nathan alone, not only within the red circle, but also on the ground floor. It was hard, but Hannah managed to control her emotions by the time her father looked her way. She clenched her fist, knowing that he wouldn't see the action. Why was this so hard? He was what the Elders had called him, a demon. Then why was she still torn about her decision, even now?

“With consideration of the evidence, and new testimony recently come to light as to your actions in the human world-” Hannah cringed, her attention focused on Nathan's stoic expression. They hadn't told the council about his talking with a white demon, but they had told them about his Mark.    “-we have reached our decision in the case of the part-demon, Nathan Hitagasi.”

Hannah, watching Nathan's face, gave a slight gasp, not at the elder's words, but at the thin smile that spread across Nathan's lips as the Elder said his name.

30. The Trial 2- Crimson

Nathan couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his features. “You said it wrong.”

Quiet though his words were, in the silent room he might as well have shouted. There was a unanimous gasp from all the killers in the room. He dared disrupt their honorable proceedings, correcting their highest elder?

His smirk spread. Hell yeah, he did.

Slowly, he lifted his head to see the elders all staring at him. His head tipped to one side as he stared directly at the head guy himself, standing directly in front of and a little above him. Nathan eyed him with disdain. With the web off, it would be so easy to just finish the old man off. A B-class demon would do the trick.

But it wouldn't get him out of here. For now, he had to play along with their stupid games, wait for their weakest moment. It would come, he knew, it just needed a little bit more time.

“It's pronounced 'Hitagashi',” he enunciated, “Shi, not Si.” He froze as he realized what he had just done. And even as he drew the connection, he knew it was right. That code word that Cain had talked about that one time, the way the secret organization within the Crimson Dragons recognized its members. They purposefully mispronounced his name.

He shook his head ruefully as his smile spread, a little angrier. “I'd hate for your records to be holding a silly little typo like that forever.”

He forced the grin from his face, replacing it with what he hoped was a serious enough expression, “Please continue. Even though you've called me nothing but demon, it appears that you wish to treat me as one of your own.”

“I beg your pardon?” The man demanded indignantly, his face frozen so that Nate couldn't read the emotion anywhere on his smooth, pallid face but his eyes. So the bastard knew that he had been made.

“Denied. But I'll explain,” Nate began, his voice rising to carry over the murmur of voices that had cropped up. His irritation grew for the killers behind him. The least disturbance in their precious procedures seemed to cause the biggest amount of confusion. He'd have to remember that.

“Your laws clearly state that no demon-slayer,” he sneered the word, “Is permitted to manipulate or contract with a demon of a higher class than a D But there is no distinction in your petty rules that state that a non-demon-slayer can't mess around with demons of his choice, lower than a D or not.”

“You were a demon-slayer,” the elder began, but Nathan cut him off.

“Don't flatter yourselves. I worked with you guys as long as it benefited me. And believe me, I learned a lot, more in the field than at your precious Academy.” He smirked again. “But even there I wasn't interested in your pathetic goals. I was interested in mine, namely access to whatever literature you had regarding Ampoulles.

“Someone had to give me directions on how to get there.

“And I finally found it a few days ago.”

31. The Trial 3- There Shall be Blood

Nathan, unconcerned of the reactions he was causing, continued, “Face it, old guy. Y'all are a lot stupider than you think. Do you really think you could control a hybrid class A demon?”

The murmurs in the room died at this information, only to swell to an even louder volume an instant later as the news really sunk in. Nathan felt Hannah's dad swing the web back around him. It stung a little, but not near as much as he had lead them to believe. The web grew tighter, tighter than when  they had first captured him. But still, he wasn't going to black out because of some petty white magic. He felt relieved that he had taken Heiwa's advice and pretended that the white magic hurt him like a normal demon.

The Elder slammed something against a block of wood beside him, a gong-like sound echoing as he hollered for order in the chaos. Nathan couldn't help but feel a little admiration for the way everyone settled down again so quickly. He'd have to remember that too.

The old guy was talking again, “We hereby find you guilty and sentence you to sterilization. Take him away.”

Now was the moment, Nathan grinned as Hannah's old man came closer to secure the web even tighter. Rather than obey the tugging that beckoned him to follow, Nathan stood where he was, facing the elder, grinning from ear to ear.

He bowed to the elder, as if in respect- and the web fell apart. He straightened, stretching his arms leisurely so that everyone could see. “Like my trick?” He grinned at the elder's dumbfounded expression. “Picked it up from a former colleague of mine.” His 678th sense told him that Cain flinched at the mention of him. Nate knew that the move was practically trademarked to the Himanachi family. People would put two-and-two together. “Pretty handy, these Dispelling techniques you guys have floating around. Although you should be a little more careful when teaching them, mainly in choosing who to teach the technique to. You never know when one of them might defect.”

He grinned, turning his back on the elders to face the crowd, his eyes locking first on Hannah. One is a traitor and the others are fools, he remembered. His gaze settled on Cain. He narrowed his eyes and tested out his powers, a dry run.

What kind of sick bastard kills his own brother because of orders?

Cain flinched, knocking his chair over backwards, as Nate's accusation rang through his head.

Nate broadened his gaze, taking in all the stunned Killers. Let them know what they were up against.

“And now,” he announced, white smoke beginning to curl around his entire body, masking all but his face, “It's time for the curtain to fall.”

And with that, he vanished, disappearing into a mist that quickly dispersed throughout the cavernous room.

32. Epilogue

Nate sucked in a huge gulp of air, savouring the sweet smells mingled with energy that flowed around him like a summer wind. His toes wriggled in the cool sand, feeling the grains slither between his toes. Just standing here was helping him gain his strength back.

He sighed as he arched his neck back to stare at the sky. It was black, pitch black, but he could still see everything as if it were as clear as a bright day on Misd.

For the first time since he had first become aware of it, his Cache was silent, every demon within content- even Heiwa.

The empty desert stretched, it seemed, in every direction forever, never ending, sparsely populated with a few dead trees, all twisted into funny shapes. He was home.

He sensed it approaching even before his human senses could pick it up. The beat of wings as a demon bore down on him. In one of the other realms, he would have turned, releasing one of his Cache to battle the class-A flight. Now he merely turned to watch its arrival.

The demon looked like a dragon, complete with two massive leathery wings that beat the air occasionally to keep it aloft. It soared briefly before tucking in its wings and diving straight down towards him. When there were roughly ten yards between them, the demon's wings snapped right back out, causing a huge gust of wind that caused the sand to swirl around Nate's head.

The demon landed with a thump in the cool sand. Its head dipped down as its wings folded against its massive body.

Master. We have waited long. Everyone is waiting at the place we have prepared for you.

Nate smiled, Take me there.

He hopped up onto the demon's head and it took off, its wings snapping against the cool air. Nate sighed, watching as a small puff of white breath withered away in front of him. This was the end. He was home, away from Ko-ha or Misd, or any of the problems involved with dealing with either world.

Thinking of Misd made his mind turn towards what was happening there.  Why were holes being torn in the Barrier surrounding Misd?

Scouts were searching for you. The holes were mended as quickly as possible, in case you were near.

Why?

Your being exposed to such a rift without entering it, or being even aware of it, would have harmed you immensely. Your vessel would be unable to handle the strain, and you would surely perish, eliminating any chance we had of recovering you.

What sort of place have you created for me?

It is parallel to several of the mighty constructs of Misd, in a manner to ease you into your new world. The Brethren are eager to welcome you.

The Brethren would be the Eight I have heard of, correct?

Our leaders, yes. The Brethren have been in charge in the absence of a true Leader.

And now that I am here?

They are yours to command, yet still rank higher than the others. Comparable to the staff of a ruler of Misd.

Are you one of the Brethren?

Its head nodded slightly, I am Wahared of the Wailing Stone. I am of those who control the elements. I am the Head of the Brethren.

Well, Wahared, when we arrive, after the initial greetings, I wish to meet with the Brethren. We have matters to discuss, namely growing accustomed to the new order of things.

And then what? Heiwa asked from within.

Nate smiled grimly, his eyes intent on where he had come from.

Then we prepare for war.

Epilogue

 

Cain and Abel

Sitting at the table,

Both were Crismson but one was bad.

Cain chose to fight for the Order Shade,

But Abel made them mad.

Their Lord said "Abel what's the matter with you?

"If you do what's ordered I'll be happy with you."

But Abel didn't listen, Shade then frowned-

Cain spilled his brother's blood on the ground.

Abel's now buried and so will you;

If you don't obey the Order, it's true

So be like Cain who obeyed the Shade,

And not like Abel the Slain.

                                                     - Crimson Dragon Nursery Rhyme

Imprint

Publication Date: 10-27-2012

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
I want to say thank you to Wolf Girl Untamed for persistently keeping me on track, holding me accountable to finish this book as opposed to abandoning it like any other written piece I had ever made. Thank you so much