Preparations (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

Himitsu had spent most of the morning rearranging the shop. She wanted to make sure anything that resonated with demonic energy was safely out of this dimension's reach. Makeshift weapons were out too, and by the time the sun was up the shop looked bare. More like a poorly stocked pawn shop than what Himitsu's place usually looked like.

She had gotten Eriol and Pallete's help with the work. Both her wards had been there long enough that she trusted them with opening the various holes to the pocket dimension she had connected to her shop. There were guards placed in that they couldn't fall or go in, and once they'd put something away she'd have to be the one to take it out. She had started the day in the old woman form, but had gone to her young woman one. The group that was arriving would know that best.

Once all that was handled, she turned towards Eriol and Pallete, "I want you two to go into your rooms. Please do not argue. This is a case that could go further south than the incident with Belphegor did. You might think you know the group that is arriving, I assure you that you do not. If something happens to me, and it may, the shop will handle your safey but only if you are in your rooms."

Himitsu suddenly lifted a large suitcase. It was leatherbound and had a gold rose placed on the top. It was more like a relief sculpture, as it rose up. She handed it to Eriol, "Keep this on you. You are not to open it for anything."

She then pulled out a standard black suitcase and handed it to Pallette, "If you end up being drawn away from here, you have permission to open this. It contains some paper and a paint set, but the most important item is the letter. Follow the instructions."

"I hope that these measures are unnecessary. You will both return those cases back to me if they turn out to be. I can't predict the temper of those coming to see me, but I will not give ground. Is this understood?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

By now, Palette had learned not to balk Himitsu's orders. Because they typically were right. Honestly, she would have left this place by now if she wasn't a hundred percent sure that this was the safest place for her. This was why being a seer, oracle, whatever you wanted to call it, sucked. She took the suitcase, and without a single rude word, ran into her room and closed the door behind her.

Eriol blinked down at the case he'd been handed. There had been a fair bit of confusion when this case had shown up. But it was obviously important, and so he didn't ignore Himitsu's orders to not open it. He headed inside the room that had been chosen to be his around the time Himitsu had started moving her shop a lot. Typically he stayed out in the main area of the shop, but not when the shop was being moved.

Himitsu would be able to feel one of the group approaching from a mile away. As had been said before, the leader of this group practically radiated demonic energy, that more powerful than that Belphegor had once had.

The man once known as Keiichi Kimura stepped in front of the door to the shop. He didn't like this place. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to burn it to the ground. But first he needed to see that woman known as Himitsu first. He gingerly placed a hand on the door, and after not getting an electric shock, he pushed it open.

"Good morning," Abel stated. He smirked. "...Himitsu."

[mugenginga]

Seconds. If she had just been seconds longer Eriol and Palette would have been in the line of fire. Despite what some seemed to attribute her abilities to be, she couldn't pinpoint times for arrivals. Some she could get more accurate than others, but there had been a reason she had scrambled so much this morning. Her back had been turned when the voice addressed her. She turned and saw the three siblings. She didn't bow.

"I can't imagine why you'd wish to visit here, Maou."

It wasn't the total truth. She could imagine pretty well. To taunt her, neither Abel nor Cain had much liked this place before. She allowed her gaze to soften by half a point when she turned to Seth. It was back to the flat but cautious look when she looked at Cain. It was the same look she wore when she returned her focus to Abel.

Cain glanced around the shop and shared his King's smirk, "You think we'd need the stuff in your shop to fight?"

Seth remained quiet.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Abel returned Himitsu's flat and cautious look with the same smirk. Oh, she did not like him. Well, the feeling was very mutual. He didn't like her. In fact, if it hadn't been for how she had taunted him all those months ago, he wouldn't have even been here. But she had, and then she'd had something to do with Seth's kidnapping, and she'd actually taken care of himself and Cain while they were out from the Apathy Syndrome. That was something to be grateful for, he supposed, but it wasn't a good memory to Abel still.

He took a couple steps toward Himitsu. "I guess I should have supposed you wouldn't be surprised. You always knew too much."

Abel wasn't just mad at her because of how she had practically taunted him and his brothers before. He was mad because what she'd done had, directly or indirectly, lead to Keiji awakening to all of his memories of his first life and his subsequent crucifixion. Himitsu was about equal with Belphegor in Abel's memories because of that.

[mugenginga]

"Is there a purpose to your visit?"

Now that Himitsu thought about it, she probably should have had spells prepared. She could cast now, but they would require incantations. Her eyes glanced between Abel and Cain. Seth would only be a problem if Abel ordered him into the fight. And if she was reading the positions right, Cain would be taking the up close physical fight, Abel would be handling offense, and Seth would likely take up support. She wished she at least carried a weapon, or had chosen to worn something other than a kimono.

Cain said nothing, but Himitsu saw him reaching behind his back. He had a weapon there, she was sure. She narrowed her eyes and glanced back at Abel, "If its to destroy my shop, may I at least get an explanation for the action?"

The most annoying part to Abel was likely this. She wasn't giving any ground. Not in the slightest, the woman was for some reason standing strong and staring the King of Bel in the face. There was no fear there. Her peripheal vision allowed her to see Seth wince. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, but it didn't change a thing.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Abel had started glaring at Himitsu at this point. She wasn't even reacting. She had to know that she was staring down the King of Bel, hell, the title she had used for him told Abel that, but she wasn't even surprised.

With a quick motion, Abel moved up very close to Himitsu and grabbed her by the neck.

"It's quite simple, really. I hate this shop, and I hate you. And we're rather bored," Abel said. He released Himitsu for a moment, but only a moment, before she would find herself being kicked into a wall. "What better way to start our 'vacation' than to get rid of the one last thing here causing us so many problems?"

[mugenginga]

Himitsu's eyes widened at his speed. For all her knowledge, processing a human form moving like that threw her. She'd accepted long ago it always would not matter how many millenia she lived. She barely had time to tense as if she were going to dodge before the teenaged bodied demon had his hand around her throat. She made an urk noise as he applied enough pressure to cause extreme discomfort but do no real damage. He lessed, and she knew it was so she could focus on his words rather than the pain.

Seth opened his mouth and took a step forward. He found Cain's arm in front of his chest. The surprise kept the words from coming out. He looked at Cain, but his oldest brother was watching the scene with narrowed eyes and an amused smirk. It would do no good talkiing to him. He'd never talked about Himitsu much with his siblings, it was a sore subject for Abel. He didn't hate the woman, and the memories he mulled over in the past three months had formed something like bitter respect for her. His eyes darted to Cain again before refocusing on the situation as Himitsu crashed into a shelf.

"Himitsu-san, just show ground!" Seth said, hoping for nothing in the way of retaliation.

The woman winced, grabbing one of the shelves on the case to avoid collapsing. The case behind her had splintered at several points. She hoped her wards would keep their promise, stay in the back rooms. She straightened up and looked at Abel. There was still no fear. He was too quick for her to attempt to cast a spell. Her eyes flicked to Seth, but they weren't aggressive.

"My apologies, Seth, but I doubt that would spare me," she turned back to Abel, "Are you expecting a rise out of me?"

"Your majesty," Cain's voice was dangerous, "Isn't death too easy for one such as her?"

Himitsu narrowed her eyes at Cain. She had been right about him before, she supposed. Seth looked nervous at Cain's words. Without the General there to hold him back, he took a tentative step forward. If they had to "handle" her, if they had to destroy her shop, he wanted them to just kill her. Bring the shop down on her head or something. Not torture, she didn't deserve that.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Abel narrowed his eyes at Himitsu as she asked if he expected a rise out of her. To be honest, he had been looking forward to one, though he knew it wasn't likely. But even so, it would have been an entertaining reaction.

He smirked toward Cain as he said that death would be too easy for her. "Are you saying you would like to have fun torturing her? Normally I would say go right ahead, but there's something I want from her first.

Abel slowly walked over to Himitsu, ready to rush her again if she did anything that even suggested she was going to attack him. He placed a hand on the shelf he had knocked her into and stared into her eyes.

"Bring us the club. You know which one I'm talking about. I want it wrapped up and protected so it can't shock us," Abel said. He smirked. "Don't even think about trying anything funny, or I'll burn this shop to the ground." Which was what he'd been planning on doing in the first place. But it was a fun threat, even if he was sure it wouldn't faze Himitsu too much.

[mugenginga]

Himitsu narrowed her eyes as Abel's hand hit the shelf behind her. The aim had been deliberate, she was sure. The speed and position meant a loose strand of hair had moved. It was by luck or design that those few strands hadn't been caught under his hand. Probably design. She opened her mouth, but stopped. Her eyes flicked to Seth.

Abel's twin had a pleading look in his eyes. They were so flat, so distant, but she could read the emotion. Even if Abel didn't see the shift of her focus, he'd realize she let her shoulders fall. She'd dropped some of her defiance. She was sure that she'd be out of the picture, for at least a while. She had no qualms about balking Abel or Cain, but Seth didn't need to be tortured more than the scars made it clear he had been. That had likely come as a result of being kidnapped before. She held up her hands to show she was unarmed.

"Alright," she said, allowing her voice and eyes to continue to be defiant, "I have to go to the backroom to get it."

She didn't move. Odds were there would be conditions applied to her. She had no intentions of running, not when it would put her wards in danger, but Abel had no way of knowing that. What Abel could know, and what Cain was beginning to suspect, was there was a reason she was cooperating. Cain couldn't put his finger on it if it was true, though. The woman was incredibly well guarded in that sense.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Abel moved back to glaring at Himitsu as she raised her hands into the air. There seemed to be a reason she was cooperating with them a bit more, but Abel couldn't tell what it was. He never could read her that well. He backed away from Himitsu.

"Hurry back," he stated, and crossed his arms. The demon king had more than one reason he wanted that club. One was because he wanted to dispose of it as soon as possible. Maybe even toss it over the side of the island into the void. But the other was because he wanted to have the satisfaction of killing Himitsu with the same weapon that had killed him in the past.

[mugenginga]

(OOC: Psst, FF has my permission to kill Himitsu. Just so it can be said before a staff member freaks. XD)

Himitsu nodded and turned to go to the back room. She paused. He'd smirked on her, and a suspicion rose in her mind. Well, she'd been prepared for that. Her eyes glanced towards Seth again and she turned back towards Abel, her eyes not focusing on him at first as she regarded the raised eyebrow and smirk from Cain. Her suspicion was confirmed by that. She focused on Abel, once again staring him in the eyes and showing nothing in the way of submission.

"If you feel the demonic need to do this, do your brother a kindness and get him out of here before I get back. I'm not saying this as an order, think of it as a last request."

She didn't specify which brother. It would be pretty clear by her words. What else she had done, and for once without intending, was let Abel know she knew he was going to kill her. And yet she remained unafraid. She had methods in place for a case such as this, but even if she didn't, she wouldn't be showing ground. If he had to kill her she was going to make it as unsatisfying for the demon as she could.

The arrogance she was showing put her request at risk. She knew the only chance she had for it would be if enough of Abel's humanity was left he thought it a good idea to spare his brother. Then again, it could backfire. For all she knew the man that stood before her would want Seth to see. She couldn't be sure how much time had passed in his world, she had turned away what little attention she paid to it even before Abel had taken the throne. But it was possible the King of Bel was one who wanted to anesthitise his younger brother to the actions of the demon throne as much as possible.

Cain glanced towards Abel at the request. He wasn't inside Himitsu's head, and she had always been impossible for him to read. So he couldn't know that she had come on both options for how Abel would react to the request. Himself, he would tell Seth to stay. His youngest brother wasn't as fragile as his appearance indicated. If it became too bad, all he had to do was close his eyes and cover his ears. Still, if Abel ordered it he'd back him up.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Abel's eyes widened at the last request, and he quickly fell back into a glare. Well, they'd always known she was too smart for her own good. And while he disliked her, he knew that Seth had a sort of respect for her. She likely wanted to spare him the image of her being beaten to death.

Whatever humanity active in Abel at this point in time convinced him to listen to Himitsu's request. He turned toward his twin.

"Seth, please wait outside. Cain and I will be done in a few minutes," Abel said. One of his hands were in his pocket, on his COMP. He had it grasped rather tightly, even though he had no intentions of using it.

[mugenginga]

Seth had seemed surprised at Himitsu's request. The woman was about to be beaten to death, and she was more concerned about him being scarred than her own life. He'd seen worse. Both in action and in aftermath. He jumped a bit as Abel turned to him, but there was emotion in Abel's eyes, however fleeting. He opened his mouth to object, he could stand it, but he felt Cain's gaze on him. He turned towards his oldest brother, who was mouthing something. Seth let his shoulders sink. At least it wasn't torture... it wasn't any comfort.

"Alright," he said, quietly.

Seth turned around, Despise being less impressive than the King's, his cloak was known for doing things for the Prince. It showed how quickly he had turned, as it fluttered up a bit. He walked quicker than a person who wasn't upset would. He was several different kind of upsets. Angry because he felt this action was pointless. Depressed because he held respect for the woman Abel was about to kill.

He had to come with Abel, he couldn't risk leaving his brother alone, but he wished there was something else. He was also upset with Himitsu. If she would have just begged for her life, there would have been a chance. Even if Abel wouldn't spare her, if she showed ground he might have been able to talk his brothers into doing so. It was all what if, and his eyes were squeezed shut from the negative emotions by the time he was two buildings away from Himitsu's shop.

----------

Himitsu had watched Seth leave. The sympathy in her eyes was an emotion Abel probably didn't appreciate. She headed into the back room. She had harassed Abel a bit when he first showed up as the teenager Keiichi Kimura. As for him finding that club, the items in her shop sometimes had minds of their own. It had likely been trying to warn Abel, but it had obviously carried weight in the opposite direction. Cain she had purposely given warning to, she hadn't been surprised by his interest in torturing her.

She reached into a cupboard and muttered to herself. Finally her hand hit the box she was aiming for in the seeming void of the area. She pulled it out. The odds of the exact club reaching the right Abel...? She shook her head. She didn't believe in coincidence, which meant Fate was just feeling like a jackass recently. She opened the case and glanced around the room.

She found a white cloth and wrapped up the "handle' piece several times. She found a wry smile on her face. White, the blood would show up well. It hadn't been intentional but it was amusing in its own fashion. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to bring her rapid pusle down. She was scared. This would hurt, and she had no doubt Abel would be as painful about it as he could. She tried to regulated her breathing. Even if she got it under control the emotion would still be there, like an awful film. She'd taken some time, he'd be annoyed if she didn't come out soon. Let him wait, a few minutes wasn't going to save her.

"She's not going to scream. You know that, right?" Cain said to Abel.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Abel turned his head as Cain addressed him and nodded. Again, he hadn't expected her to. Himitsu wouldn't give him the pleasure of letting him hear her scream as she died. It was her own fault that she was dying now. Maybe if she hadn't taunted him like that before, he wouldn't have come here now.

His thoughts moved to Seth. It was best that Seth didn't watch this. Again, Seth still had a bitter respect for Himitsu. Well, she had helped him, trained him, even if it was only so he could fight his own brother eventually. All Cain and Abel had were bad memories of the woman. Abel was sure that Cain had met her once before they woke up in her shop. Probably had gone there the moment K1 had left that morning to go help rescue Atem from the TV World.

He shook himself out of his memories as he continued looking at the door to the back room. He knew she hadn't run off. He could feel her fear from here. She wouldn't scream, but she was still scared of what was coming. He smirked once more. Well, her fear, her magatsuhi (where the hell had that word come from?), would be subsistence enough.

[mugenginga]

For a brief second, Abel's expression had changed. Cain didn't move his head, but his eyes moved to the side. It was only in his peripheal vision he had caught it. He suspected that the only members of their group that could have caught it were himself and Seth. There had been that demonic smirk that put the grins of Naoya to all people almost to shame. Then a flicker of something, then back to the smirk. Cain refocused on the room Himitsu was in.

Thinking back, they hadn't had much interaction with humans in the past three or so months. The few trips taken to the human realm had been handled by himself, Atsuro, Kaido, or some combination of the three. Seth had gone once before Abel had gone berserk about a month and a half ago, but he'd handled the state the human realm was falling into pretty badly. Cain had told him to stay at the Palace with Abel after that. It had to be a condition of one who hadn't been in the Lockdown, although Cain would have thought the torture would have covered it. The reaction to other people compared to one's own suffering, he supposed.

The point of the thoughts, however, was that Abel was a demon. He had the memories of a human, but he was a demon and probably didn't even view those memories in the same light. Cain knew quite a bit about demons, even more than he'd revealed to his King. Considering this was the first time Abel was truly targetting a human, especially in cold blood, Cain could take a few educated flying leaps. Especially when you considered just how he'd gotten the summoning server to work. The internet had been a prime source of what he expected his brother was reacting to.

He'd pulled out the dagger by this point, but he considered just letting Abel have at it. While they had a reason to dislike her, when you got rid of the frills this was a murder in cold blood. If his theory was right, it would only lend to the King of Bel's excitement. It also meant the woman was far more afraid than she was letting on. His own smirk increased a bit.

----------

Himitsu sighed. She grasped the club firmly in her hands so that the wrapped handle piece was sticking outward and turned around. Abel was a demon, he'd know about her current state of mind. No matter how one could prepare for a situation like this, it was still frightening. She almost laughed at herself, a dry bitter laugh. Here she was, more than a few millenia old due to various methods, and she was scared of a temporary stopover in her journey. She straighted her back and took a step forward. She stopped, and almost facepalmed. She'd almost forgotten.

She pulled out the two keys hanging from around her neck on a chain. She glanced around and found a wooden box. Velvet lining too. She placed the keys inside and firmly shut the container. It looked somewhat antique. She grabbed a permanent marker scattered among various things and quickly wrote something in what looked to be cuneform of all things on it. She held two fingers upright in her face. Abel would sense a surge of something similar but not identical to the abilities of demons the humans callled spells. She grabbed the container and chucked it into the spot she'd drawn the club's container from. There, she was pretty sure she'd handled the loose ends.

----------

Cain had narrowed his gaze quite a bit towards the back room. He knew she was still there. Abel would have reacted by now if she wasn't. And if he was reading the situation right, Abel would be more than aware she wasn't. Five minutes had passed now. He was about to say something when Himitsu came back out. Her pulse was really racing by now, but she had a composed expression on. Call it a force of habit, she knew damn well it wouldn't fool the demon.

She took a few steps forward and held out her hand. Even Cain couldn't hold back a slightly raised lip. He'd known what Abel had ordered her to get, but still. The same damn one. It was enough even Cain was calling it "freaky" in his head. The woman had given decent care to wrapping it, she'd even tied it so the cloth wouldn't come off. The white cloth, hardy har har. She had it held out in a manner that would allow Abel to take the covered part. She was still staring the demon in the eyes, though. She'd do so for as long as she could. If he truly wanted her to stop he'd have to gouge them out.

She grimaced a bit at that thought. It was entirely possible he'd do that. She didn't bother fixing the expression. Even having it was enough for the two brothers to catch it. And she was likely radiating the panic. No sane person, however twisted, remained calm in the face of their killer. They could hide it well enough, but the internal and emotional side could not be suppressed. The latter of which the demon would sense. She'd never realized how annoying that was until just now.

"I hope you accomplish whatever you're after with my death, Maou," the obstinance in her stance, eyes, and voice was even heavier now. She'd make this as unsatisfying as she and the "magatsuhi" she was putting off could manage.

(OOC: The bit with the box will be handled via Eriol, which I'll further explain next time we IM.

If its not painfully clear, the usage of Maou is now meant as an insult. Its not really emphasized, but its meant as an implied insult despite the word itself being fairly polite for Abel's position.)