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My Past:.

I remember as a little girl, a large home with walls beautiful crystal mirrors that always reflect. They always showed us the plain truth from the perspective and angles different from our own. It was like watching myself as I ran down those halls. Bumping into those thick glass walls that were always cold and silent. Silence and their truth of how the world was. How people were at every angle.

I hated it. I would always pound my tiny hands against them. I wanted to hide and not look at myself like the way I was but the mirrors were always there. Whenever I looked at myself in those glass walls, I always see that unhappy child looking back at me. Something was always wrong with her. Pouty lips, round pale face, skinny body, flat yellow hair, a big floppy white bow on her head and those large aqua green eyes that stared off. I hated that image. I hated me.

I always screamed at the image in front of me. I always tried to break those mirrors, trying to convince myself that those images weren't real. They weren't me. I wasn't there when I was supposed to be here. I could never look at myself in the mirror. I always look down. I was always angry that there were so many of me. . . Staring at this pitiful girl that screamed at herself. Trying to break these silent walls with my small weak hands. I hated my image.

My parents had enough of my fits. I saw it as they looked at the other me and not me. They took me away from that home which was often a temporary relief. However, they were as bold enough as to put my away in an asylum. They claimed I was a troubled child and they couldn't deal with me. They told them that I was always angry at nothing. I was always crying about nothing. I was upset about NOTHING. They took the truth of me from those mirrored walls. They saw the little brat of a girl in them. Not their daughter. Oh no, never as their only daughter that hated those mirrors that spoke from different angles. They never tried to reason with me did they? No. They just simply took it as the images they saw on those walls.

How long was I there in that asylum? Two years? Three? I can't say for sure but I do know that my parents never tried to contact me during those times. The doctors said I was just a normal little girl that didn't like mirrors. They tried different things with me. They put translucent colored sheets over the glass mirrors. I didn't react to it much. My small simple mind back then thought it was someone else. Not some flat yellow haired, pale little girl with those round green eyes. Oh no, I saw a blue girl. Someone who was on the other side of the glass, she wasn’t me. She had blue hair, moonlit skin and blue eyes. Not me.

They told me I was treated. I was fine with colored sheets over the glass mirrors. I believed them and I wanted to go home. My parents never answered so I was stuck in the asylum for a number of weeks before Brimstone agents came to take me away. Of course, I accepted with bitter thoughts of my parents. I went with them and they started me on training. Basic combat training to kill demons and vampires alike enough to enough to be dangerous and fend for myself. They knew about my mirrors but they never tried to used the plain mirrors until much later on when I was well enough in my late teenage years. I was a proud fighter. I feared nothing as a fighter.

Mirrors didn't stop me. They actually helped me in those sticky fights but outside of that, I went mad. It was simple as that. They told me to steel myself for all situations. Expect the unexpected since that's when most people were caught off-guard. Truthfully, I was still afraid of that reflective glass.

I remember years passed and the time for my first real kills as a Brimstone member. I got to pick anyone as my target. Anyone. The first step to become a real killer, to allow a choice for who the victim or victims will be and to enjoy killing. That's why they let me choose who I kill this time. . .

My Kill:.

I know it seems disturbed but then I was disturbed and warped. Actually, I still am demented. My first kill, the one I was freely able to choose were my parents. When a child looks up to their parents, they expect protection and love. In turn the child starts to trust their parents and thus here is a bond between child and parent. Now you know I hardly had contact with my parents since my time in the asylum. I was still bitter but now I was set with the tools of the trade and poison in my veins.

I went back home, the first time in thirteen years. I was home. The white washed walls with ivy crawling on them. The flowers and grass were well kept and the little powdery white butterflies flickered in the air. Nothing had seemed to change while I was away but that was for now.

I pushed open the black iron gates and made my way to the door. Here I was, a stranger to my own home. Ha ha. . . Here is where my madness started and here is where I made my first kill. I rang the doorbell and of course they answered. They let me in, not knowing who I was. How foolish.

The glass-mirrored walls were still there! Gah! I hated it! I wanted to shatter all of them. Kill them with the shards that made me the monster that I have become. I followed them as they showed me around the house. They told me this room was here, that room was there. Even all of the guest bedrooms, one of them used to be mine. Ha ha, they really have forgotten about me.

That meant I could kill them without regret. Now here I ask them, "It feels so happy here," in a false sugarcoated smile, "Have you had children here before?" Here they tell me that they had a troublesome daughter. A little brat that screamed and cried without a reason. That angel-faced banshee was gone and dealt with at the asylum. I grit my teeth but my face was solid and my lips closed. They were so keen on describing me this way. All of my flaws, like mirrors but more biased. Here before me are humans, humans that never did their duty as parents. They have already lost my trust but they'll receive death from me.

I can guarantee that much from me. They will die at my hand. As my plans to kill them formulated into my mind, they began to speak of another child. Ren was his name. A bright boy they claimed, the best in his class. . . Their little shining star. Never told him about his big sister. The sister that was the angel-faced screaming brat that went mad from the mirrors. His sister who would turn into a Brimstone killer! But I wanted to see him. His face, was it like mine? Was he my mirror? The image I could never be?

The front door unlocked and footsteps came in. My mother calls him over to greet me. Ha, they still don't even know who I am. A fake smile, a fake image, a fake identity to hide my tracks. The teenager came into the room to greet me. Yellow hair, tired green eyes, fair skin and a wide smile, not like me but is like me. So he was Ren? The son who replaced the daughter? We shook hands and he asked me for my name. I simply replied with my fake name, the one Brimstone gave me for this kill.

"Rin Kagamine."

He smiled, "Nice to meet you, Miss Kagamine." I felt. . . Sad. Actual sadness was hard to come by for me at that point of time. He seemed so innocent in the crossfire. Did he really deserve to suffer? To suffer what I was about to do to our parents? We've just met to be enemies, I suppose. Could he be hiding like I am? To make a good impression for our parents? To be the good little boy in front of them?

Ha ha but I'll never know, will I? I've just met him. For a good chunk of time, we've talked, trying to get to know him. To read him I found nothing but he did suspect me of doing something. I mean, who wouldn't when a guest in the house asks too many questions? I spent the rest of the week there as his tutor, his sparring partner. I showed him basics but never any kill moves. I told him about honor but I also told him that my honor was distorted because of my past.

I told him about me, for a brief moment of time up until the part where my real combat training with Brimstone began. He didn't have to know about that. He understood that I basically grew up with killers. People who were only human in appearance just to look good enough for their employers and the media. I stopped there or else there would be to much information that had been given out.

The night of the kill came. It was after dinner when everyone was winding down for the night. The first step, to pry open the dark secret from the parents. Should I even call them my parents anymore? They've already abandoned me for whatever absurd reasoning they have. I looked to Ren,

"Are you ready to defend what you love?"

He looked at me confused. He didn't even pick up on what I meant.

"What do you mean?"

"Tonight is the night when we become enemies."

They all looked at me strangely but that was for a brief moment before I charged at my mother and knocked her into one of the glass mirrored walls. The wall cracked and shattered. Pieces rained onto her body, cutting her. My father tried running but I cut him off and smashed his face into another mirror.

"You never told him about me." I said calmly, my rage masked behind it. "Why?"

"Wh-what. . . . What are you talking about?" He coughed before I threw back into another mirrored wall.

"Me. . . . The angel-faced banshee that you left behind at the asylum thirteen years ago. You wanted me gone. You picked this home over your own daughter. Shame on you." I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up.

Ren was trying to revive mother. He looked at me in rage, "What the hell do you mean, Rin!?"

"Ask our loving parents. Ask them who Lin was. Ask them why she's come to kill them." That was my reply.

"Lin?"

Father choked on my words. "L-L-Lin? No. . . . You were supposed to be at the asylum . . . . "

"Asylum?" Ren paled. I've already told him my story. I told him that I used to live in this house, how the mirrors turned me mad and how dear mother and father left me at the asylum to rot. "No, that's not true! What the hell is going on?!"

"That's what I want to know . . . " I narrowed my eyes, "Why did you leave me there to rot? The staff had called you plenty of times . . . I even sat by the phone all week with them. You never returned the calls . . . Some parents you both are."

"L-Lin. . . You don't want to . . . . Do this."

"Oh I very much do. I'm not yours anymore . . . . Care to tell me why? Care to tell us why you never mentioned this angel-faced monster to little Ren? Speak up or I'll crush your skull . . . ." I hissed under my breath, though I don't think they had noticed. I stared right into father's blue eyes he was scared to die. I knew it, he knew it. I was his reaper and the very spawn to finish off his life.

He gasped for air before he tried speaking again. "You were a-a-always troubled . . . . Gah. . . . We didn't know . . . . What to do . . . . . . If you . . . . . returned . . . . . An-and. . . Ren. . . ." He started.

I furrowed my thin brows, Ren? What the hell did he have to do with any of this? I shook his collar again, "What about Ren?"

"The younger . . . . Would always try . . . . To copy the . . . Elder . . . . If you were around . . . Then we would have . . . . . Two troublesome children . . . . . It was for Ren. . . ." He gasped for air.

"All for Ren. . . " I repeated and then turned to look at my younger brother, "I was left behind for you? Am I better off dead? Or rotting at the asylum where the hopes of being with my own disgraceful family has been crushed to nothing? Is that it?"

Ren shook his head, still pale at my darkened face. Oh, I knew I had changed from nice Rin to calm to just hateful Lin. I read it all over his face; it was right there, clear as day. "All of this over mirrors . . . . . I should've killed myself a long time ago and haunted this unnatural family in the first place. I would have a great time making your lives a living hell for what you did to me those many years ago!"

Ren kept shaking his head, trying to come up with something to reason with me and save his parents. "Then you would be worst than them!" He choked on the fear and anger in this throat. "What you are doing now is worst to them than what they have ever done to you! You'll end their lives!"

I laughed. Yes, laughed. "Worst? I'm doing them a favor. They don't have to live for very long. Oh no, I'm a bit more merciful, Ren." I shot back at him, "If I were as cruel, I'd make them suffer both in life and in death. I would have tortured all of you to an inch of your lives and come back when you have all recovered. Wash, rinse and repeat until you all die . . . . And that is, if I was just as cruel."

He was shaking at the venom in my words. He didn't want to think I could be worst than what I am now. He just . . . I don't know if I remembered what else I read on his face, actually.

"Time's up, you die for taking the easy way out." I started to crush father's throat as he strained to call for help. I don't know why but I don't care if you called me cruel for it. I was enjoying his suffering. His pained and struggling cries. He kicked and swung until he was done with.

Poor Ren, to be witness to this crime within the family. To hate his own sister for the hate she bears against the ones who bore her but never bred her into the monstrosity that she is before him. Poor thing. Did I care? Not at that moment to be honest. Now I worry but at the same time, I feel like I should allow myself to be killed by his hand. After all, I did rob him of his parents during his later teen years. Before graduation, wasn't it?

He was frozen, paralyzed with the fear and hate growing and screaming to be released. His fear was stronger, however so I have some time. I watched the father die as the life from his eyes left him. The dulled gray-green eyes, open mouth and limp body. He was gone now. I tossed him aside like a doll. I threw him hard enough into the mirrored wall to shatter it. Pieces of glass rained down on him like a sparkling dance of knives. They left minor cuts, nothing deep. Pity.

A horrified cry came from her, my supposed mother. Ah, nothing but a shaking leaf. Blood at the corner of her lips and wide blue eyes, her blonde hair was a mess now from her hands that were frantically moving over her head and through her hair. "Whatever you want . . . T-t-take it! Please d-don't hurt us!" She begged.

Oh, she just saw me do the kill? Not what was it about? Fie, fie. . . I'll have to squeeze her too, don't I? I walked towards her and stanched the woman by her swan-like neck. She gave a terrified scream as I slammed her against the mirrored wall. Again, bits of broken glass fell on her just the same as her husband. Well, late husband now.

Ren now took action. Though he was still scared, he still tackled me to the side. Not as strong but it was enough to knock me to the ground. I remember that we wrestled along the wooden floor. Mother got away and hurried off into the halls. Her heels clicking on the wood and broken glass. I could hear them, clicking like the second hand on the clock, quick, rhythmic and always moving.

I bashed my head against Ren and kicked him off me. I got up and started to run down the halls, following the clicking of her heels. I knew Ren was following me, his footsteps were loud as he slammed his feet into the floor after me.

"Lin!" He bellowed. "LIN!!"

I knew mother's heart raced. I can feel her presence in the halls. She was terrified, angry and most importantly, worried. Ah, worried of what? Her life or her son? I wouldn't hurt him that badly, oh no. The sound of a drawer opened and more clicks were heard. Metallic clicks and papers flying in whatever room she was in. Wait, metallic?

"A gun?" I thought out loud. "Well, this makes it more interesting. Alright b***h, let's see who can kill who first!" I knew my maddened smile on my face. Adrenaline was surging through my veins as I continued to run down the halls. Ah, there she was with both hands on the handgun. She was shaking, an amateur, never killed anyone with it. My smile grew wider, twisted, all the same.

Must have terrified her badly enough to freeze in place. Her knees were bent inward, feet one behind the other. She shut her eyes and pulled the trigger. I remember the loud crack it made as the bullet pierced my shoulder and narrowly missed Ren. He fell forward behind me with a thud from the near-death experience he just had. I gripped my shoulder, damned straight it hurt but the adrenaline made it bearable to some degree.

I gritted my teeth and charged right for her. I was a member of Brimstone! I was the killer and I intend on keeping that position. By the time she opened her eyes, I had already made it close to her, close enough to kick the gun out of her hands. The gun fell and clattered on the ground, I kicked it away into the other hall. I was bleeding, the red blood was stained on my shoulder as a large wet patch. Mother was already on her side and tried to scramble away from me.

I kicked her legs to have her fall again and placed my foot on her chest, "Well now. . . . Is this anyway to welcome back, Lin? Ha ha. . . . Then again, I don't expect you to be so kind-hearted after what kind of hell you put me through." My eyes narrowed and I started to apply my weight on her, "So what's your excuse for letting me rot at the asylum, dear mother?" Mother, that word sounded like poison from me. I never really had much of a mother, did I? Not much of parents, either way they would be dead. Father was taken cared of and now here she lies on the wood with my heel digging into her ribs and my weight on top of that.

She spilled the truth from her view. "Your father. . . " She gasped and winced, "He told me that. . . . For your little brother. . . . We had to leave you. You were disturbed and it was more than likely that. . . . . Ren would be the same." I quirked my brow, "And the calls from the asylum? What of those? You ignored them, didn't you? Messages and notices of me being treated?"

"He told me that you had died. He said it was better off that you never existed than. . . . . To have the world view us. . . . To have a child in the asylum. . . . . ." She started and wheezed. My face darkened, "So it wasn't about Ren. . . . It was about appearances. So he's the shallow man. . . . And you believed him like a fool. Never called back, to find out for sure, did you? To leave me behind. . . . I think I'll kill you too." I stomped on her once and grabbed her by the head with both hands. I turned her neck sharply and snapped it. It was quicker that way, more out of pity. Poor stupid mother.

Ren cried out and tackled me down once again. Now he was furious and red with rage. He thrashed his punches at me while he pinned me down. I think I threw him off me when he was done with his outburst. I remember a thump and him off me. I walked off from the house that late night, not even bothering to look back. It was done, the weight of rage and hate was off me. It felt good.

Fire and Brimstone:.

I worked at Brimstone for a good while. Five years, I think was how long the whole thing ran for. I did errands, I did kill, I did all the missions they gave me. They were gradually harder but eventually I got the rhythm of the fatalities. I learned how to kill, how to destroy and how to teach. Well, I've taught that Chinese boy, a half kappa by the name of Sha Keiryu. A sweet boy he was, but there was a certain oddity about him. I sensed it most when I was behind him but I shrugged it off.

I was sent off by the head doctor of the Paris Brimstone to find a baby dragon of all things. They told me that the little one was even more powerful than the Fire Dragon Lord Gantz. I laughed at this, really, I did. Something so small overpowering someone like Gantz? They must be on something but I looked for the little creature anyways with a group of senior agents. My job was to deliver the dragon, not to kidnap it. Though I think others will see that I was part of the whole "kidnapping" in the first place.

It was in the glaciers where we finally found the said dragon. It wasn't even a dragon yet, still a developing creature inside the egg. The Jeweled Blue Glacier Dragons were not so keen on letting one of their own be taken away, much less an unborn fledgling. Brimstone agents threw the fumes at the horde while a smaller group was tasked to search through the clutches of eggs and younglings for the one we were looking for. They found the egg from the aura it emitted. We took that egg and made our way down back to the Brimstone encampment that would later take the lone egg back to headquarters. I was the one who was tasked with the egg, the safety of delivery and to make sure it got to the headquarters in Paris.

A dragon brigade attacked us, no doubt. Several of the agents died but eventually, the egg was delivered to Paris. Though, by the time I got to the city of lights, the dragons behind me used human form to blend in and attack. They wanted their egg back, dragons were very protective for their young, I'll give them that much credit. Only I'd wish my late biological parents were the same. Alas, no time to reminisce of the past when being hunted by dragons.

For what this little one was used for, I didn't know at the time. Before I even got my hands on the information, I was relocated to the Brimstone in India where I met Dr. Angel Seraphi and her daughter, Sonia. We were friends, Sonia and I. Though we were years apart, we were friends. Dr. Angel on the other hand was constantly working to rid herself of the demon she had gained while on a rampage for her late husband, David.

You could say I lived my childhood with Sonia. A childhood I never really had in the first place. I was often with Sonia as her caretaker so Dr. Angel could work on whatever experiment she was working with. I remember that day when She partially succeeded. Whatever demon personality she had was split away from her, though both needed limiters anyways. Two halves of the same Angel though one was the original and the other was. . . . . How do I put it? Dark?

I didn't think the other was any good, though the good doctor did try her best either way. I suggested that she should stop this pursuit before something dire happened but alas, she was wrapped up in her own thoughts of separation.

Sonia was worried, I could see it in the poor girl's eyes. To see her mother suffer like so. . . . That reminded me of Ren. I wonder how he is now, alone and filled with despair and vengeance. I think that's how he is. . . I've ruined him and here I see poor Sonia falling apart too. I've tried to keep her mind off her mother for the time.

It was here where Sonia introduced me into a world of her own design. Music, rhythm, stages and lights all around. It was a beautiful world here. How I got there? She told me about the scanner that was in development and I got into her mind through that. My data, as you can call it was scanned and send into her mental world. I was in a world of her design. It was rather well constructed actually. A full blown city with. . . What were they called again? Vocaloids and UTAUs, I think. Yes, that was it. Singing programs that had voices of their own.

Sonia got me on stage to sing. I was in the spotlight just for that one time. They, the singing programs, told me to sing my heart out, even though I had no background in music or singing myself. I was paired with Xeito, a male Vocaloid with a copper and bronze color theme. He had some blue here and there. A long coat with patterns at the edges of his coat and collar. He had a pastel color to his skin but he looked so alive, so real. . . .

He was very helpful in helping me start it off. The song I mean. Meltdown was the song I sang, he was my counterpart for it. Oh, ha ha. . . I was in love with an AI program from Sonia's mind? Was that it when I saw him? Either way, I didn't see him again after that even though I did want to.

Where was I? Oh, right. . . Why I wasn't able go back. You see, later that week, the other Angel had plans to warp Sonia's little world. To turn it into a factory of war AIs. Urban warfare, the Hunters to replace the new Slayers in the hunt for the demons and vampires in populated areas. The Slayers were partially human with mixed blood. Hunters were created and produced from the ground up. It was more "humane" as one outsider would call it. I didn't think so, since those things never had any morals in the first place. Blind killers were what they were, are and ever will be.

To do such a thing to a child! Before I could even get to her, the original Angel was shot dead. Sonia had arrived before me to witness that scene; she broke down crying at my leg when I entered the room, the poor child. I stepped back when the murderess approached us.

"Come to mother, dear." She smiled.

Sonia hid behind me, frightened no doubt. That other Angel was an irony of the name. I got into stance, "Sonia, get out of here." I didn't look at her as she ran. My eyes were trained on the murderess before me. The other one. My job as a Brimstone member was to take down demons and vampires that went wary. She was one of them, she killed for her own purposes and gains. I could tell from her eyes. Her piercing gray eyes seemed to have an chilling aura from them, evil intent behind them. Something that wasn't right in the first place.

I charged straight for her, I swung my fist at her but only to have my hand caught by demon hands. No, I think it was even worst than a demon. She felt too dark, too. . . . strong. I say she was a monster, the face behind the disguise of a human body. I think, for the rare moment, I was actually afraid of her. Truly afraid. It felt like she could tear me limb from limb, both mentally and physically.

To destroy. Yes, I think that's what kind of aura I felt from her. Her shark-like teeth moved as if too speak but her black lips curved into a disturbing smile. She knew my fear, it seemed. Like she can taste it. That was what I read from my eyes. I kid you not this monster had no eyes. She looked like a chess piece but much larger and more ruthless. Sharp edges, four arms, wrist sleeves, purple leathery skin and long black nails that dug into my hand deep enough to make it bleed. I knew she was enjoying my suffering as I struggled against her grip.

"Do you even know who you are dealing with?" She asked in a distorted voice. It was bad enough to send my heart racing and frozen chills down my spine. It was too much; I think I almost blacked out from her voice alone. She plunged her claws into my belly and torn my flesh from inside. Here I blacked out, the pain was unbearable.

When I awoke in the medical room, I felt like something had been burned inside of me. I don't know how to explain it other than having someone brand you with white hot iron from the inside of your body. At least the medication kept it bearable for a few moments before the pain seared again. The doctors entered and explained to me what seemed like a cover-up. I was told that a rampaging Slayer that had gotten out of control attacked me. They told me that my internal organs were far from salvageable. I was turned from flesh and blood into flesh and machine like a Slayer, but smaller and still mostly organic. I was still me, I just had machine instead of organs in me.

They started to tell me side effects and what had been damaged or lost from that "Slayer" attack. I was heavier, I couldn't eat, I would be light-headed from the adjustments and there was a chance I would be unable to bear any children. Ha, children, do I seem like a motherly figure to you? I'm a killer, not a child-bearer. They thought I would want a child so they flapped their mouths about it. Gah, I should've killed them where they stood. My eyes rolled back, my ears were tuning them out.

By the time they were finished, I was bored and with a twitchy kill hand. I needed to vent, I needed to find Sonia to check and see if she was alright. If I couldn't stop that demon, then what were the chances? Fairly high but I wanted to believe otherwise. I got to wandering around the headquarters, looking for Sonia. I went into every room, even surgery and holding cells. As grim as Brimstone was, I don't blame her. The building was no place for someone like her.

Enter the Gates of Death:.

I assumed the worst after three weeks of searching. I bit my lip and decided to leave Brimstone in revenge. Well, I don't need the whole Brimstone Society breathing down my back or at my heels when I do finally get my chance to take down the other Angel. It was revenge but I couldn't do it within Brimstone. I'd be shot dead before I got the chance to set my kill in motion. That really wouldn't do much good, would it? I had to go, so I quit Brimstone and became a freelance assassin.

I competed with bounty hunters, Death Dealers, Brimstone and mercenaries. All of them, all of you before I was finally offered a position in the Death Dealers. It was in December, at Christmas Eve under the casino. I was without a mission for a month and I sought after the prize money that would be awarded to the last combatant standing. Well, it was me against seventy others. Each were strong and brutal in their own right.

There were some Death Dealers who were competing to check their skill and progress in combat development. I met my team that night, who were both in it for the skill checks. Ayane, the holy demon, was the captain. Ironic, but she was living proof of a demon that was blessed by a Sanzo back in the day. Then there was the British half water demon and half human, Ruby. She was with Brimstone before switching to the Mage Association and finally settling as a Death Dealer.

Ayane was a rather balanced close-ranged combatant. Powerful throws and precise aiming for her hits. Her fighting style was meant to attack the "life lines" that were on a person. First to disable then the kill, that was all there was to her attack. The problem for the opponent was that everyone's lines were different from each other. She never told me where mine were in case I was able to figure out where hers were. She said there was a pattern but that I have yet to figure out. Surprising that I remember that last bit of the match.

Ruby's kicks were sharp and her heels didn't make things easier for the opponent. I've heard that was her main offense and her defense. Her arms were reserved for the magic-based melee. I've learned this the hard way in the match with her.

My matches were relatively short until the semi-finals. I went up against both Ayane and Ruby in there. A draw with Ruby and a loss against Ayane. But there were more, like Amelia the Black Guardian. Of all the vampires I've encountered, she was a nightmare compared to the rest. She liked to get up close and attack while her opponent had no time or room to defend. Vicious, brutal and down right bloodthirsty. . . . More like a vampire than the others. She was more focused while the rest I've went up against who were scattered or not right in the mind. I think I won a draw with her but I wasn't sure since I blacked out from the blood loss and woke up in time for the match up against Ayane.

That night was difficult, at least the matches were timed to four minutes so there was some rest in between matches. Also, to avoid the loss of the Death Dealers in the Blood Ring. Not a very good thing to lose employees in a single night now is it?

I lost my position in the semi-finals. I remember that I lost against Ayane again. This time she had almost killed me with the neck breaking axe kick of hers. I woke up in the hospital bed with bandages and casts covering me. You were standing over me with your hands clasped behind your back. You looked impressed or rather pleased with something. I wondered what was spinning through your mind as you smiled at me. I felt relaxed however, at the sort of aura you were giving out.

"I have an offer for you, my dear." You told me with that warm smile. "You have displayed extraordinary skills and tactics in the blood ring. I'll give you two choices as a consultation prize for your participation: five hundred grand in check or work for me as a Death Dealer. Don't mind the hospital bills, I have already taken care of them."

Ah, it felt like hours just thinking about it. I placed the options I had in my mental scale. Death Dealers were often employed by Brimstone when they needed reinforcements and they could pick whatever mission they wanted to take part in. On one hand I could kill that twisted half of Dr. Angel with minimal penalty. On the other hand, I would be stuck as a Death Dealer for the rest of my able days. The high risks was comfortable enough for me, this was like Brimestone. . . But the Death Dealers were not Brimestone. . . . You know that, don't you, Roulette?

I accepted the offer you put up. You smiled like the cut throat of a dragon you were. "I hope that you will not be a waste of an investment, dear." You told me, "I do not hire those who or not capable of the job." That was the deal maker. You thought I was able to handle the responsibilities and tasks given just from one night of the Blood Ring. Just one night and you were ready to give me an offer. You were still there as these thoughts spun through my head, it seemed like you knew what went on in my mind. You spoke again, "You can kill without batting an eyelash. Kill without discrimination of age, health or status. . . . And you can kill with honor. You do not carry yourself further than you need to. You don't kill for joy or vengeance. . . You kill because it was time to kill. You are given a mission and you complete the task. Death Dealers are like such. . . . . We kill because it is time for them to die."

I narrowed my eyes, "So you play as gods?"

You smiled again, "No, as those who ally themselves to Death. . . Or rather, who has the title of Death." I think I heard a faint mischievous giggle from you before you continued. "I'm sure that your time at Brimstone has informed you a bit about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?"

"A fairy tale for the Templars and demons alike. . . What of them?" I asked.

"They are no fairy tale, child. . . . Death is very much real. Each of the horsemen have their own era. The ones who are the current horsemen. . . . Their era has started almost five hundred years ago. . . . Conquest, Famine, War and Death. . . Each one has been recruited throughout the years to those who have nothing more to lose. Those who are willing to give up their lives, their souls, their families and their humanity to trade off for something else. Every era has a theme that is visible in the trade off. Lady Fortune sends off her messenger to collect the deals from the chosen four. . . . . One of the four. . . The one who held the title of the Horseman of Death. . . . . . Started this business of Death Dealers. He knew. . . Back then, that he himself will not be enough to cut down so many lives within his era or the Deaths after himself will be able to do the same."

You paused before continuing and tilted your head at me, "Are you bored with this small bit of history?"

I rolled my eyes a bit, "I think you're making this up at off the top of your head. The Horsemen don't exist at all. No one of such power can exist aside from the ancient demons and vampires."

"Yet," You started, "You have doubt? Have you not come across a four armed figure whose black claws cut through steel like a hot knife through butter?"

My eyes widened at the memory of that fiend from Brimstone. Yes, the four arms, the deadly claws of which I barely escaped from with my life. I was about to ask about it before you cut me off with the answer to my unspoken question. "Her mark is on you, Lin. Hari-Hara's claws went through you and you live to tell the tale. Have you not?" You paused again, "Before you ask who she is, let me tell you here and now: She is not truly Hari-Hara. . . The one you have encountered is only half of the goddess herself. The darker half. You see, Hari-Hara is the demon goddess of creation and destruction. A mediator between the two opposing forces in the known universe. She has been killed in the heavenly war between the gods and the demon gods thousands of years ago. She reincarnated into someone in Brimstone I suppose. Awakened but at the same time it is rather odd to see that half mark of Hari-Hara on someone unless Hari-Hara has actually been divided."

You paused again and got up from the seat. Your tall black heels clicked as you paced around my bed in thought. Your thin lips parted into a grin, "But of course. . . That's how you survived. She was only at half power and had just reawakened." You looked back at me, "Gods are very much real as well as the Horsemen. . . They don't like admitting it but they have hired the Horsemen from time to time. . . . Most often it is Death and War who are employed as bounty hunters. Death, you see enlisted others. . . Trained them as what we mortals call the Grim Reapers. Soldiers of Death, those who watch and wait until the time comes. Eventually he couldn't train them all fast enough for the task. . . Thus he founded a school for the new recruits: Graveskull University. A school for the dead or soon to be dead students to train as reapers or other supernatural hunters alike. . . But that wasn't enough. It takes four to five years to successfully train a new reaper. Another thousand years to be a veteran reaper to come back and teach. The process was too long so alas, he employs the living assassins and mercenaries. He rounds them all together under one name: the Death Dealers. Now this is how far we have come along. . . That old Death resides at Graveskull now as its official headmaster."

I was speechless. To work with the personification of Death was very unlikely but here I am, a new Death Dealer with that very chance. Would I die as I wished or would I know when and how I will die? Thoughts spun around in my head from the possibilities that have opened to me.

You smiled again at me, "I'll come back when you have completely recovered. I need all of the Dealers I hire to be at peak condition before I send them off." I watched you leave the room with that pleased smile upon your face. I sighed when you left the room and thought about what sort of life I would be living from now on. I closed them and fell into sleep with wild dreams of blood and people. People that were close stayed in light while everyone else was soaked in blood.

Like Family:.

You came back, like you said you would. Almost as if you knew when I would be ready. You came just as the nurse left my room after I was cleared to leave. You had the smile on your face again. "Ready to meet your team, Lin?" You asked as you motioned for me to follow. I obeyed, puzzled with the fact that I had to work with a team this early. Perhaps it was a way to examine me, with other new Death Dealers. To work as a team. . . It was rather new to me.

You took me to your casino and led me to the elevator. We rode the elevator to the top, the thirty-eighth floor. I watched the lights as it blinked across the numbers. The low growl of the machinery was faint compared to what sounded like a report of the status of other Death Dealers out on their respective missions. You didn't seem bothered, you were home here. You knew what was going on every time you stepped into the elevator. You kept tabs on everyone so you weren't left out of the loop. You knew their psychology like it was the back of your hand. I didn't know how until much later. . . When I actually asked and you gave me a straight answer.

The was a chime and the doors opened to a maze of corridors leading to offices and monitor rooms. You led me down a series of of halls before you opened the door to your office. Now, I have to admit, you have a great way of room arrangement. The room was larger than it seems because you have the large windows that let in a large amount of light. Your large horseshoe-shaped desk is in front of these giant windows. It gives you a rather mysterious look when your front is shadowed and your back is highlighted. An effective method of presenting your position of power. Your floor was decorated with a Babylonian design with shades of green, red, yellow, tan and gold. Your ceiling was curved upwards because of the dome shaped roof of this building. It seemed like a cathedral in a way. The lights were positioned in such a way that you had the maximum amount of light with the least amount of the physical bulbs. Economical and beautiful.

You motioned me to one of the chairs at the your grand stained mahogany desk. You took your seat behind the desk and I took the seat in front. You smiled at me, "They'll be here in a moment." I looked at you with a confused look, "Who are they? What are they like?" Your smile grew wider, "You'll see."

The doors opened and there stood two of the opponents I had fought against in the Blood Ring, Ayane and Ruby. I was caught off guard but regained my composure soon after. I was to be teamed with veteran members? Huh, no surprise really. I'll tell you what I remember of what ran through my head. Though I know that you knew then as well. I thought of the possible reasoning behind the arrangement. To watch over me? To teach me? To test me?

You kept your smile and nodded. "This is Ayane and Ruby. Ladies, this is Lin Reah, your new team mate." Ruby grinned, "Well, nice meeting you." She had a thick British accent to her voice. It was noticeable, that was for sure. Ayane blinked and nodded at me, "Welcome to the team." She was probably a traveler, her accents were mixed like she had been traveling from place to place and living in various parts of the world. You had them seated next to me, Ayane on my right and Ruby on my left.

I averted my eyes and noticed the small pendant on Ruby's black satin choker. It was a red gem with the black Brimstone emblem in it. But the gem was chipped, as if it had suffered from a bullet getting shot at it. She must have been lucky. . . Very lucky to have survive a bullet to the neck. Or to even have that pendant deflect that shot, though she must have suffered from the impact it made to her choker. I averted my eyes back to you and found that you had pulled out papers for the new mission. My first one as a Death Dealer.

You explained the mission. It was rather simple. Take out the head of the Black Brigade and return the mayor's nephew. The pay was around twenty grand which would be split between my new team, myself and you. Most of it was our pay, the rest was your profit. I understand that this was a business, even though it was a rather old one. So we set off on this mission after leaving your casino and the girls and I were talking ourselves while traveling in Ruby's dragon, Pachi. It was one of those dragons that were able to turn into a automobile at will. Safe to say I haven't rode in one until that day. An introduction as you can say.

"So, I heard you worked for Brimstone some time ago, Lin." Ruby looked back at me from the passenger seat. "Where you stationed at?"

"It was Lyon, then Rome. . . ." I looked up at the sky, "Mostly Rome though, for the number of covens that kept bombarding the headquarters. . . . Yourself, Ruby?" I asked as the wind blew through my hair if tearing through it with gale force claws.

"Germany, Ireland, China and the last was here in the UK. I've been around, my baby cousin sometimes tags along if he's staying with me." Ruby grinned. "He's like a sponge when I'm trying to teach him a new trick I've learned. Sometimes he brings along his theraquad too."

I sat up straight, "A THERAQUAD?!" I almost screamed, "What the hell is he thinking? More importantly, where did he get that thing?! Theraquads are vicious, man-eating dragons aren't they?"

"Yeah. . . But according to Keiryu, his mum is a dragon tamer. Though, she had help from her ex-boyfriend with Demeter and Kamikaze. . . Man, I'd still say that ex of hers should've been her husband. A lot better than my womanizing, child-abandoning uncle. . . . Poor kids." Ruby gritted her teeth, I could almost sense the anger radiating from her. It made me nervous, it was as if she could kill me with a single glare. Just freeze me in place and let her fatal attacks do the rest.



"So you have more than one cousin?" I asked, "Who are they?"

"Oh~ Interested?" She giggled and pulled out her wallet with a picture of her little cousins. Most of them were baby photos except for the last one who was almost thirteen. I assumed he was Keiryu since his photo was more recent compared to the others. That and he had a white-headed blue dragon beside him with a happy toothy grin. "The first one here is Gojyo, then it's Megumi, Sanji, Yui, and Keiryu. . . Aren't they adorable?!" She squealed. "Auntie sent me the pictures because I wasn't there on break all the time. Back when I was stationed in China, it was the first time I saw any of my little cousins. I would watch them while auntie was gone and kick uncle out of the house whenever chance presented itself."

I blinked and made a small smile, we had something in common, "So you hated him? What else did he do?" I knew that she took this question to heart, an opening of a good conversation. She started, "Other than sleeping around, being married to more than one woman and kidnapping and abandoning four of my baby cousins to who knows where?" She sighed, "Last I've heard about them, at least three of them are dead. I don't know if I have more baby cousins or if anyone else died because of him. I swear I'm gonna murder that son of a b***h for what he did."

She paused for a bit, and then looked back to Ayane, "Oi, Aya, got any stories on you for Lin here?"

The blonde tilted her head a little, "Depends on what she wants to know." Her gray-bronze eyes continued to scan the road ahead. Her hands firmly held the steering wheel as she made the necessary turns down the winding dirt path.

Ruby tilted her head up and rolled her eyes, "Anything. . . Just say anything! Break the ice, Aya! What about your family?"

Ayane blinked as if she was awakened from the driving trance. I watched her facial expression in the rear view mirror. She went from calm to sad, almost in an instant the topic of family was brought to her attention.

"My family?"

"Yeah, Aya. . . Your home town and everything." Ruby turned to Ayane, "It can't be that bad, Aya. . . Is it?"

"No. . . ." She started, "It's just that. . . Everyone I know in my family is dead. They have been dead for the last five hundred years."

I almost flinched, "So you're a demon?"

"I was originally human. You know about the war on hell five hundred years ago right?"

"Yeah, it was a stalemate between the heavens and hells until the birth of Seiten Tensei. Hell had their wild card and used it but in the end they fell back after the fall of Beliar. . . Right?" I asked. The war itself was sketchy in detail, as least in the way I was told back in Brimstone.

Ayane only nodded. She then tilted her head to the side, "I was born during that time. . . . Roulette found me after I was separated from my baby brother during a demon raid."

"I see." I furrowed my brow in thought. A baby brother huh? Sounds like my story except there was a different time line to it. We kept driving in silence until we reached our destination. Work was to be done but we were beaten to the punchline. Someone else had taken care of the Black Brigade and the nephew was missing.

Ruby made a whistle, "Well, sure looks like one hell of a mess. The boy must be pretty damned valuable to cause this much trouble." Her tall black heeled boots clicked on the blood-stained stone path. That clicking sounded like there was metal at the bottom of the heel and sole of the boot. I never really noticed when she was walking on the concrete. Maybe it was just the material of the path that made her boots sound like they did.

Ayane got out of the car next and approached the bloody sight, "I would say demon but from the looks of it, but this is far too clean."

"Clean?" I asked as I got out. The car turned back into the small black dragon and perched itself on Ruby's shoulder. "Blood is blood isn't it?"

Ruby shook her head, "This attack style is different from any demon raid I've seen. I don't think a human can pull this off either, even in a team." She took notice of the darker blood on the ground, "That's not natural. . ."

Ayane raised a brow, "I think I've seen that before. Almost five hundred years ago. . . "

I looked at them both, heh, so this is how Death Dealers can track things down? Impressive. "So what is it? Dragon?"

Ruby shook her head and stroked Pachi's head, "Dragons don't have blood that looks like that. Dragons have a richer coloration. This is almost pitch black. . . That and the aura from it reeks of death. I wouldn't touch it, who knows what it is." The little dragon whimpered and took shelter between Ruby's neck and hair. Poor thing seemed to be afraid of whatever's blood that was.

"Would Roulette know?" I asked, "She seems to know a large share of information." Well, I was in the team now. I figured that I should pitch in whatever opinion I had. Hell, the more information, the better, isn't it? I assumed that you had the information since you seemed to know just about everything we didn't. I shifted my weight to my right, "Then again, I could be wrong."

Ruby chuckled and nodded, "Well, if there's one thing you nailed on the head, it's Roulette knowing what needs to be known. For a young green dragon herself, she knows a lot more than Fire Lord Gantz. Key words being a lot." She then sighed, "Might as well bring back a sample to her, so we actually have hard evidence for her to look at."

"You're saying that she won't believe us even if we describe it to her? Three accounts are hard to turn down." I was rather confused on this part. Yes, you might suspect something but honestly? Three accounts of the same thing of what happened. Very similar but then again, if you thought we made up something, I think you'd fire us. . . Wouldn't you?

Ayane let out a short sigh, "It's not she won't believe us. It's that sometimes we can't describe something accurately enough to her. If she doesn't know what we're trying to describe then it's a cold case."

"Cold case?" I asked. I have honestly never heard of that term being used in bounty hunting or in mercenary work I figured they would explain it to me.

Ruby scooped up the dark blood with a small empty vial and capped it. "A cold case is basically a way of saying that you can't figure it out no matter which angle you look at it at that point in time. This will be a cold case if we don't figure out who or what blood this is. I'm driving this time, alright?" She turned to Ayane who just simply nodded.

"Very well. . . Just don't try to kill us with your road rage. Like last time." She added.

"The b*****d deserved it." Ruby scoffed, "I would've-"

"Shut up and let's go. We're wasting time here arguing about your driving while doing nothing." Ayane scolded her.

Pachi squeaked and flew off Ruby's shoulder. The little dragon turned back into the car and opened the door for us. He squeaked again for us to get in.

"A gentleman dragon. I thought those were extinct." I chuckled and headed towards the car with my team. We got to know more about each other on the drive back. It was a bonding moment, you can say.