GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Witch Hunt ❯ Chapter two ( Chapter 2 )

Witch Hunt

Chapter two

Ban stood with his back to the room, listening attentively to know when it was time for him to make his move. He could hear Ginji's silent footsteps getting further away, then a thump that must be Ginji knocking down the guard at the stairway. There were some sweeping noises like someone was being dragged over the floor, and the soft click of a door being closed. Ban smiled; he could see as clear as if he had been there every move Ginji made. Everything was silent now, but Ban knew Ginji was on his way upstairs. How long would it take for him to find the right room?

Ban was fully focused on his partner's actions when rasp breathing behind him made him aware of someone standing there. He quickly turned around to face the eldest woman he had ever seen.

Apparently she had arrived through a now open secret door at the other end of the room. Ban swore. Shit. He hadn't noticed that door. The wallpaper was patterned in vertical stripes and the door matched the stripes perfectly. Through it he could see a windowless room lit only by candles, with stairs leading down.

He looked at the old woman before him. How the hell had that old hag managed to sneak up on him like that? As he watched her he realized that she was the source of the evil he had sensed when they entered the house. He recognized the aura now; it was a witch's aura. That he hadn't recognized it before infuriated him. Why hadn't he taken his senses seriously, only put it away as a product of his imagination? Well, even if the little old woman had some evil powers he needn't worry. He was pretty powerful himself and couldn't possible have any problems with her, even if she had some witch blood.

The woman was very small with so many wrinkles in her face you could hardly see the face at all. But among all those wrinkles was a pair of very disturbing eyes. They were completely on Ban for the moment and Ban felt like he was being pierced by invisible needles, not painful, only highly uncomfortable. He started focusing to use his Jagan, but couldn't concentrate enough to do it, and when he tried to turn his eyes away from hers, he found he couldn't do that either. He might have some problems after all.

The old woman chuckled. "My, my, if you're not one of them. What are you doing here, I wonder? Are you the thief they've been talking about the last hour? No, you couldn't be. We all know that the same thief can't get those two relics at the same time." In spite of the questions it was more like she was talking to herself.

One of 'them'? Ban guessed she thought he was one of the Demura clan. Well, he didn't care what she thought, more important was to get away from her. Her voice made Ban shiver. It was hissing, but clear and powerful in spite of the fact that she didn't address him. He struggled to get a grip of himself but had to wet his lips before he could speak. "Why do you care who I am, old hag? Sit down quietly on that chair and you won't get hurt," he said as arrogantly as he could master.

The woman didn't answer. Instead she pierced her eyes even deeper into Ban's. "Since we have got you, we have won," she hissed. "They will become ordinary mortals, but we will continue to live on. It was not wise of you to come here. I wonder if you are alone? Or is the other one with you? Well, well, in that case it seems like they have used you as thieves after all. That was a very bad move, very bad. For them, that is. Why do you wait for him? Demura must have warned you not to come close to each other after you got the artifacts? You'll soon tell me."

She suddenly turned her face into something that would probably count as a smile, and said almost admiringly. "My, you are strong. Without the precautions I've made for cases like this I would not have been able to handle you. And my descendants who didn't even believe in my spells." She chuckled once more. "If you had been prepared for me, you probably could have gotten away, but as it is..."

She reached her right hand and took a hold of Ban's left arm. He felt a jolt when she touched him. It was not like Ginji's electrical ones; if he would have to describe the feeling it would be something like cold fire, if there ever was such a thing. The jolt spread through his body and paralyzed him.

The old one started to walk towards the secret door, still with Ban's arm in her grip. Against his will Ban's legs made him walk beside the woman. He could hear her chanting something as they walked through the room passing the secret door. The chanting made him feel dizzy and he struggled to keep his mind clear, but he could feel his will fade away and soon he couldn't understand why he had tried to get away. In fact, there was nothing more he wanted than to go with this woman and serve her.

He followed the old woman into the secret room and she closed the door behind them. "You are mine now," she said. "Ours, more precisely, but I will be the one to handle you. Understand, my young friend?"

"Yes, obaasama." Of course he understood. He knew he was hers, and that was good, it wasn't anything she had to point out. What ever she told him to do, he would do it. He hoped she would ask him to die for her, he would love to die for her.

"You can call me Toriyoshi," the old woman said.

"Yes, Toriyoshi-sama," Ban bowed.

Toriyoshi led him down the stairway he had seen before. It led to a short, dark passageway, ending in a door. They passed the door and entered a comfortable room. When the door was shut behind them, Ban could see that this door was a secret one too, hardly noticeable from this side. Not that he cared, why would he? He didn't even know how to open it, but that was alright. If he was supposed to know, she would tell him. There was another, normal door at another wall, maybe that was the door he should use?

At Toriyoshi's gesture Ban sat down in one of the two armchairs in the room. The old woman took a seat in the other.

"Tell me your name," she demanded.

"I'm Midou Ban," Ban answered eagerly. He wanted to tell this woman everything he knew about everything, but he would never do such an impertinent thing as talk without being asked. And he noticed, strangely enough, that he didn't know very much. He felt rather empty; that was okay though, because Toriyoshi-sama was there.

"Midou Ban," she murmured to herself. "And you are the dark twin."

Twin? Ban didn't comprehend, but wasn't curious. Did she say he was a twin, then he must be a twin.

"Why did you come to this house?"

"We came to get the Seikon and give it back to Demura Shigeru, our client," Ban said slowly. He wasn't really sure of who the other one in the word 'we' was. Nether did he know what the Seikon could be, or who Demura Shigeru was.

"I see," Toriyoshi nodded contemplatively. "So you are not alone. Tell me who your partner is, and where."

Ban opened his mouth and without knowing where this knowledge was coming from he answered. "His name is Amano Ginji and he went to find the safe where you keep the Seikon." This was truly amazing; who was this Amano guy?

"Well, Ban-kun." Once again her eyes pierced his. "I want you to forget everything about Amano Ginji, the Seikon and anyone named Demura. You are working for us, the Motohashis. You have always been working for us, do you remember that?"

"Yes, Toriyoshi-sama." He had always been working for her and her family; the thought filled him with joy.

"I left the leadership of this family to my grandson Motohashi Takakatsu, five years ago. But it is still I who handle many things. I have quite a lot of of witch blood and I know how to use it. You, on the other hand, I can tell you possess untainted witch blood. But as long as you're under my spell you cannot use it for anything unless I tell you to. Understand?"

Ban nodded. Everything was crystal clear; she had witch blood, he had witch blood, if she told him to use it he would. It couldn't be any other way.

The old woman continued. "Sadly enough, most of my descendants haven't inherited the witch blood. You will be used to breed a new generation of witches. There are two girls in the family who have more witch blood than the others, and they are about your age. Your seed will bring new power to my family. You don't mind, do you?" The last was said very mockingly, but Ban didn't get that.

"Of course not, Toriyoshi-sama." It made perfectly sense. She needed his witch blood in her family, of course he was willing to provide it. He never gave any thought to the girls.

"Good. We will take care of that later. First you are going to help us against our enemies. Do you remember having heard of a family named Demura?"

Demura? No, he had never heard of them. "No, I don't recall having heard that name. They are our enemies?" After what his mistress had said, he said it as a statement of fact rather than a question.

"Correct. They want you, to make their clan live on, but instead you are going to let our family be the surviving tribe. Both we and the Demuras are more or less immortals, at least we have an extended lifespan - that is, if we can go through with a ritual every one hundred years. For every one hundred years we only age five years. Our ritual will be held in ten years, but the Demuras have to do it in the near future if they are going to keep up their immortality. You will help us destroy the Demuras."

Ban listened attentively. He was glad he was going to help with such a worthy cause.

"You will help us protect an item called the Seikon. Have you heard of that?" The old woman made some probing to see if Ban still had any remembrance of his mission given him from the Demuras. But Ban shook his head. "No, what is it?"

"It's a sacred wooden ball, currently it is in my grandson's safe in his office, and I will put you on guard there. If it's no too late, of course," she added. "If it is, you'll be the one to get it back. That or another item, a knife called the Sacrificer. You don't happen to have the Sacrificer here, do you?"

"No, but I'll get them both if it's necessary." Ban was very eager to show how well he could serve her and her family.

"Just as I thought. Demura did hire someone else to take back the Sacrificer," Toriyoshi murmured to herself.

"No, Ban-kun, you can't take them both." Again she addressed Ban. "At least not at the same time. The two items contain an ancient demonic power, that brought together will let loose an evil entity on the earth. Something not even you with your powers can handle." She looked thoughtfully at Ban. "At least not yet."

She continued. "Those two items were created and filled with powers by my grandparents, more than one thousand years ago. Unfortunately, my grandparents are also old Demura's grandparents. As the first born, Demura's father inherited the Seikon and the Sacrificer. My mother was left with nothing." Even though a very long time that had passed since then, her voice was bitter.

"My mother, who was almost as powerful a witch as my grandmother, let create copies of both the sacred ball and the knife. They fulfill their purposes but are not as powerful as the originals. That means we have to make bigger sacrifices at our rituals. Unfortunately we cannot use the originals either. They are attuned to Demura's blood line."

She rose from the chair. "I think that is all you need to know for now. You shall sit here and wait for me to come back and give you your orders. Understand, Ban-kun?"

"Yes, Toriyoshi-sama." Ban rose, bowed and sat down again as Toriyoshi left the room.

---

Ginji stood still, held by two men. One was actually pretty strong and quite a good fighter, but Ginji didn't think he would have had any problems with these men if he had fought for real. The man that probably was Motohashi stood talking to one of the others. The guard seemed utterly pleased that they had caught the thief and Motohashi was equally pleased but still not relaxed. He looked like he wasn't sure it was over.

Ginji waited for Ban to come and put his Jagan on all of them, but Ban didn't show up. How long could it take for him to get here? It shouldn't take this long, should it? As Motohashi gave the orders, Ginji, trusting Ban as always, waited patiently and let the men tie his arms behind his back. He waited a little longer and let them tie his feet together and push him down to the floor. Still no Ban-chan.

Motohashi bent down to talk to him.

"Who are you?"

The simple question gave Ginji a start. He hadn't thought about what he would answer if someone started to ask questions. Of course he never would have thought that would be necessary. Ban was supposed to be here by now. Ginji decided not to answer anything at all, so he stayed quiet.

"Answer, boy!" Motohashi's tone was arrogant but with a hint of anger. Ginji still said nothing. The older man moved.

"Ng!" Ginji let out a muffled sound when his temple hit a chair near his head as he was slapped.

"You'd better answer me, boy. It's not such a difficult question. Let's try again. Who are you?"

Ginji was thinking fervently. Would it be a mistake to tell the man his name? No, he couldn't give in to him. It would be like admitting the man's right to hit him. On the other hand, Ginji was the trespasser here, so maybe Motohashi did have some right to ask questions? But no. He was on a mission, he wasn't going to tell this man who hit tied up people anything.

As a respons to his stubborn silence, Ginji was hit again. This time it was a hard punch in his stomach. That only made Ginji even more stubborn. His anger was rising but he couldn't come free, maybe Raitei could burn his ropes away; but he wasn't angry enough that he would lose control to him yet. Besides, Ban-chan would be angry with him if he did.

His thoughts were interrupted as he was hit a third time. This time it was a fist on his jaw and for a while everything went black.

He came to about ten minutes later and at first he didn't understand where he was. But Motohashi's face near his own, the man's arms shaking him, made it all come back to him quite quickly. The shaking stopped and Motohashi let Ginji's body fall down on the floor again, as a little noise was heard. Someone was at the door. Ban-chan. Finally. Ginji turned his head a little to he see his friend, but it wasn't him. It was a little old lady, and all the men in the room bowed respectfully to her when she entered.

"Tell your men to leave us alone, Takakatsu," she ordered her grandson.

Motohashi gave the order and the men left the room, leaving Ginji lying on the floor.

"What's the matter, Toriyoshi-sama?" Motohashi asked.

The old woman looked down at Ginji. "He is not alone," she told her grandson. "I caught the other one and put him in the cellar."

Ginji gasped in surprise. Ban-chan was caught? And by a little old, fragile woman like that? Now what was he supposed to do?

Motohashi frowned. "There're two of them? My son never mentioned that."

"Oh, yes there are. And they are no ordinary thieves. They are their twins!"

That statement made Motohashi give a start. "What! How do you know?"

"You should know better than questioning my powers, Takakatsu-kun," his grandmother said. "They are the twins, and now the question is what you are going to do with them. I put the other one under my spell. It might be more difficult with this one, though." She looked thoughtfully at Ginji.

Motohashi bent down and began searching Ginji. "Did the other one have the Sacrificer on him? This one doesn't seem to have it."

"Of course he doesn't. You know he wouldn't have been able to get this close to the Seikon if he had. The other didn't have it either. It looks like Demura sent one thief to take back the Sacrificer and these two to get the Seikon. You did it in a similar way when you stole the relics from them."

"You're right. How could I forget?" Motohashi looked embarassed. He must have been very upset by this whole matter to let that slip from his mind.

Ginji had no idea what they were talking about. The only thing he understood was that Shido had been hired to take back the knife, and the GetBackers the ball. And that there was a reason why neither could get them both. But what that reason could be he couldn't understand. And the other stuff she had said... Twins? He and Ban were most certainly not twins. But now he knew what he had to do. If that woman had put Ban under a spell, and now was thinking about what she would do to himself, he had to act quickly before it was too late.

The pair of them stood quite close to each other. That was good, Ginji thought. He slowly began gathering energy from the surroundings, trying not to let any sparks be seen outside his body. When he'd gathered enough he threw himself at the woman and her grandson. As he reached them, he flashed them with a jolt big enough to make them unconscious, but not big enough to kill them.

The attack was successful. Both the man and his grandmother fell down on the floor almost on top of Ginji who quickly rolled away. Step one had went well, now to step two - getting free from this ropes. At the wall was a stand with katanas and Ginji crawled over to it. He turned his back to it and managed to get a grip on one of the swords. It fell rattling to the floor. Ginji hold his breath, hopefully no one had heard the noise.

As there was no big turmoil because of the sound, not immediately anyway, he grabbed the sword behind his back and unsheathed it. He could feel it had a sharp edge. Good, this was not a fake one. Ginji sawed the ropes around his wrists against the edge of the sword, and it was only a matter of seconds before his arms were free. Quickly he untied his legs and rose to go find Ban.

No, wait. First the Seikon. Ban-chan would be angry with him if he didn't took the opportunity to get the Seikon now when he was alone in this room.

He took a look at the safe. It had an ordinary lock, not a combination. Ginji went back to the unconscious Motohashi and searched him. In one of his pockets Ginji found a large set of keys, among them one looking very much like it would be the key to the safe. He wriggled that one free from the others and tried it. Yes, it was the right one; the safe's door swung open. Ginji examined the contents of the different shelves. On the highest shelf he found a wooden box, closed only by a hatch. He opened it and looked down on a wooden ball with carvings lying on red velvet. That was the Seikon for sure.

He closed the box again and managed to stick it inside one of his big pockets. It hardly fitted but it would do. He wanted his hands to be free. Now it was time to find Ban-chan.

TBC