Winter's Child: Chapter 7

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Mitsuo is a promising martial artist and dating the most popular girl in school. Life seems perfect until his sixteenth birthday when he comes into his mother's heritage and his father's curse.

 
 

Winter's Child
Chapter 7
Take-out Dinner

By
Amethyst
Seeing nothing that concerned me I bent over to retrieve Yuki no Hana and clean the blade off on my ruined shirt. “Damn, I got blood all over my clothes and my sword,” I sighed sadly, “The white and pale blue is so pretty but that blood is never going to come out.”

 


 
Author's Note: I'm back in the swing of things. Thanks as usual to my readers and of course the Big Closet team who work tirelessly to give us all a great place to post and read TG fiction. ~Amethyst.
 


 
Chapter 7: Take-out Dinner

Once we had found Zoe’s red Prius in the parking lot the Mermaid opened up the trunk so that Kei and I could place our school clothes and supplies inside. Then Kei and I climbed into the back seat and when we were all seated and buckled up Zoe pulled out of the parking lot and started driving us toward Old Montreal and PDA headquarters. On the way Kei and I told the girls about ourselves and how we had come to be living with them in Montreal. ~I gotta say,~ Zoe pointed out, ~For a former guy you’re adjusting pretty well to being a girl Miyuki.~

“It’s not like I have much choice,” I replied with a shrug. “My nature and instincts are all telling me that I should be a girl and that I’m comfortable with it. I’m still kind of trying to wrap my head around it but I figure it’s probably easier to just go with the flow than reject what feels right. My instincts even seem to be guiding my movements and mannerisms so I’m as sexy as possible. It’s kind of creepy but at the same time I think it’s making it easier to adjust. It kind of makes it easy for my mom and others to manipulate me though.”

“How so?” Jenny asked.

“Well I was unsure about taking gymnastics but my mom sort of used my compulsions to manipulate me into it. I had used a stereotype and I think she’s trying to teach me a lesson. Anyway since I was uncertain she played to my exhibitionist streak and my need to feel sexy by saying how the leotard leaves little to the imagination and how boys will be picturing me naked and doing sexual things. I even knew she was manipulating me but once she put the thought in my head I just couldn’t get it out. I needed to do it.”

“So you think she’s using that to teach you not to stereotype people?” the Nymph asked, turning in her seat to look at me.

“I think that’s part of it, but I also think there’s more to it than that,” I admitted. “I think she was trying to make me aware that I can be manipulated if I’m not careful.”

“It’s probably better that you learn that lesson from your mom than somewhere else,” Kei said with a reassuring smile as he took my hand in his.

“And probably better that she manipulated me into doing something fairly harmless that I was considering anyway,” I agreed as I smiled and squeezed his hand.

~So what’s being a guy like Kei?~ Zoe asked. ~You don’t seem to be adjusting as well as Miyuki. You still walk like a girl and your mannerisms are pretty feminine too. You’ll need to work on that if you don’t want people thinking you’re gay or something. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’m bisexual myself.~

The Kitsune nodded as he thought that over. “You’re right, I’ll need to work on that because I’m pretty sure I’m just attracted to girls now. Do any of you have any suggestions?”

I thought about the question but I didn’t really have much to suggest. When I was a guy it was natural to me and now being a girl was natural to me so it made it hard to categorize any differences between the two. Finally I said, “I’d offer to show you how a guy walks, but I don’t think I could if I tried. It’s like I intend to do something normally and it still comes off feminine and super sexy. I tried being non-sexy in a mirror and I just can’t seem to do it. I do have a few suggestions though: Don’t move your hands around when you speak, guys don’t do that, and remember that your center of gravity is now slightly higher so try to move more with your shoulders and chest than your hips when you walk.”

“Remember that guys aren’t really as talkative or social as women are either,” Jenny put in. “When we get back to school on Monday I suggest you make some male friends. You can subtly watch them for body language, speech patterns, and such. People watching really helped me adjust to living in the city. Also, it might help if you and Miyuki make it obvious that you’re a couple from the start. If you don’t and people see you hanging around three girls all the time they may categorize you as the gay friend. So I would suggest lots of kissing and as much heavy petting as you think you can get away with.”

~Will that work? Girls should be able to tell you’re really a couple but wouldn’t guys see it as trying too hard?~ Zoe asked in concern.

I got a good laugh out of that. “Trust me Zoe, I know this from experience, if guys see another guy making out with a really hot girl they usually won’t question it. They’re far more likely to wish that they were in that guys place.”

We arrived at Werehouse Imports and Exports and made our way to the sublevel and Captain Klein’s desk. The Air Mage smiled as we approached, “Hello again Miyuki and Kei, it’s good to see you both again. I take it you’re here to pick up your documents? And these must be the other two girls I was told about. Hello ladies, I’m Captain Mike Klein, since you’re here I guess you’re interested in becoming CHIs with Miyuki, Kei and Yuki?”

~Yessir,~ Zoe replied, ~I’m Zoe Taylor and this is Jenny Lowe We were told that we would need to sign some forms and get our pictures taken.~

“A Mermaid and a Mixed huh?” he said with a smile. “Quite an interesting group the four of you make. I’m guessing that Jenny is half Satyr or Nymph?”

“My mother was a Nymph sir, and my father was a Cursed,” Jenny admitted.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” he said as he began searching through the papers on his desk and handed them both the small stacks that required their reading and signatures. “Miyuki and Kei, your CHI badges and IDs should be waiting upstairs with your PDA IDs and other documents. Let me call up and check if I can put a rush on Zoe’s and Jenny’s so they don’t have to come back on Monday.”

So as Zoe and Jenny read and signed the required documents Captain Klein picked up his phone and was soon talking to someone. “Hi Tara, how long would take to rush some CHI IDs and badges? No they’re both already in the system, their names are Zoe Taylor and Jenny Lowe and they’ll be working with Yuki Thomson, I sent her particulars up earlier today. They’re just signing the forms now; their guardian was in earlier and signed her parts. Okay, great I’ll send them up with Yuki’s daughter when she comes up to pick up her documents.”

Captain Klein hung up the phone and gave us all a smile. “Tara says she can have them ready in about ten minutes since you’re both already in the system and have photos on file. Now since you’re all minors I’m going to remind you that while you’re working you report to Yuki. If you are first responders to a situation and Yuki is not there, you call her or me immediately so we can advise you.” He handed each of us a business card with his name and number on it and went over the points that he had discussed with us earlier in the day so that Zoe and Jenny understood our legal standing with the PDA. Then when he was finished and Jenny and Zoe had signed everything he sent us up to the second floor where Tara would have our documentation.

>^..^<

Tara turned out to be woman with light green skin and bright orange hair that Zoe explained was an aquatic Paranormal distantly related to Mermaids. She seemed a cheerful sort and smiled as soon as we were ushered into her office. Once introductions were made she handed Kei and me an envelope explaining, “These contain your citizenship documentation, new medical cards, social insurance cards, PDA identification cards and your CHI badges and ID. I will give you the folders for both of your parents as well Miyuki.” Then she handed a pair of black wallet-like objects to Jenny and Zoe as she added, “And these are the CHI badges and ID for the two of you.”

I opened the envelope she handed me and looked through all the documentation it contained. Everything looked legal and when I opened up the wallet I found that the top half contained an official looking identification card with PDA written in big blue letters and underneath it said Contract Hunter/Investigator and had all my personal details, badge number, and a photo. The bottom half of the wallet contained a silver and bronze PDA badge. We were told that only CHI badges had the bronze as regular PDA badges were all silver.

Lastly I looked for my regular PDA identification but all I found was a laminated business card with a small photo of me that said, Werehouse Imports and Exports: Customer Loyalty Card. It also had my name and a customer number.

I looked at Tara slightly confused, “I can’t seem to find my PDA ID, all I found was this.”

Tara giggled at that. “The new ones always wonder about that. That customer card is your PDA identification and the customer number is your registration number that is used to identify you. We try to keep things pretty low profile around here.”

“Customer loyalty card huh? Does this mean we get a discount?” Kei joked.

Tara nodded as she answered, “Yes it does actually. Registered Paranormals get to buy anything in the warehouse at just a little bit above cost.”

“Really? That’s awesome.” I replied as I placed all my new IDs and documents in the outer pocket of my purse of holding so I could get them easily when needed.

“I was wondering why we have to register as Paranormals, does the government use these cards to know where we are or something?” Kei asked nervously. “You know in case we go bad or do something illegal?”

“Don’t be silly,” She replied with a shake of her head. “The registration cards just help us keep track of the Paranormals who want to blend in to human society and live normal lives. It helps us the PDA to better serve us by knowing what services local Paranormals may need. We hardly ever have to go after a registered Paranormal for anything more than a slap on the wrist offense. The ones we really need to watch out for are those that don’t register because a lot of them don’t care about blending in, or they are hiding something.”

>^..^<

After we finished talking Tara gave me the envelopes that contained the documents for my parents and we left the Werehouse in search of something to eat. Zoe decided that we needed to try a poutine and took us to a Paranormal café downtown that she claimed had the best poutine in Montreal. A poutine is essentially French fries covered in cheese curds and gravy, though you can get a variety of other things mixed in as well if you want. I decided to try just a regular poutine to see if I liked it before I started trying them with other things mixed in. I thought that it was actually pretty good if a little greasy and Kei enjoyed his as well.

The café was quiet and the few Paranormal customers that came in and left as we sat there talking all seemed to be on a first name basis with Luc, the Centaur who was the owner, cook, and counter person. I thought that I was never going to get used to seeing all these different types of Paranormals all the time. Luc was a friendly and jovial guy though, and I could see why people liked coming to his café so much, it was a great place to relax and get to know other Paranormals. When he heard that Kei and I were new to Montreal from Japan and had never had a poutine before he even gave us our meal for free. I definitely planned on returning to Luc’s Café whenever I had a chance.

It was after the dinner rush that it happened and it was fortunate that there were not more people there. Most of the customers from dinner had finished their meals and left and Luc and an elderly Dwarf named Landon were suggesting the best Paranormal places in town for Jenny and Zoe to show us. It was lucky for us that we were at the back of the café, the people in the front weren’t as lucky. They gave us no warning except for the ringing of the bell over the front door. We all turned to see who had entered to discover a pair of men at the entrance wearing black combat gear and some kind of goggles over their eyes. There were more men entering behind them and I had barely noticed the guns before they started shooting.

Jenny seemed to notice the guns at the same time as I did and suddenly a wall of earth and stone five feet in height and ten feet wide rose up in front of us to stop the hail of bullets. “I’m sorry Luc,” she quickly apologized to the centaur, “I saw guns and I panicked.”

“I think the floor is the last of my worries right now,” Luc replied as we all tried to stay behind the cover Jenny had provided. “We should probably worry about the people shooting at us first.”

I reached into my purse and retrieved my cellphone and the card with Captain Klein’s number on it. “I’ll call the PDA, nobody move.”

I punched in the number on the touchscreen and it seemed like an eternity before the Captain picked up on the third ring. “Policing Division, this is Captain Klein speaking.”

“Umm.. hi Captain Klein, this is Miyuki Thompson,” I said nervously. “We’re at Luc’s Café downtown and a bunch of guys in body armor just showed up and started shooting.”

“Are you all safe? Can you describe any of them?” he asked.

“I think Jenny put up an earth wall as soon as she saw the guns, we’re hiding behind it with the owner and one of the other customers,” I replied as I leaned over to peek around the wall at our attackers. “The men are all wearing black Kevlar body armor with a silver cross on the right shoulder and some type of goggles. It looks like there are about seven of them.”

“Dogs,” the PDA agent on the other end spat out. “Keep quiet and try to keep yourselves and any civilians safe and I will get a team there ASAP. Then I’ll call Natsumi so she and your mother know to get down there. If you absolutely must fight them remember that they are considered terrorists and lethal force is authorized, they won’t show mercy so take them down by any means necessary.”

“Hai,” I replied quietly before disconnecting the call and putting both the card and the cellphone back in my purse.

The gunfire had stopped and the café was eerily quiet for a moment before a voice said, “Come on out freaks. Kneel before the Hounds of God and be cleansed. It will be worse for you if we have to come after you.”

“Kei, do you have any weapons?” I asked in a hushed tone.

My boyfriend shook his head. “No, I left my backpack in the car.”

“Shit. I guess I’ll have to go get one for you then. Jenny and Zoe, if you have any other useful magic now is a good time to pull it out, I’m going to need some cover. We’re authorized to kill them, and they’ve already killed the four customers that were by the window, so don’t go easy on them. The signal will be when they start either shooting or screaming.” I slipped my hand back into my purse of holding and pulled out Yuki no Hana while calling out to the men on the other side of the wall. “You guys chose the wrong place to attack, if you surrender quietly and let us take you into PDA custody I won’t have to kill you all. So, since you probably don’t want to die painfully and I don’t want to get blood all over my nice new clothes, maybe we can talk this out in a civilized manner.”

“We don’t negotiate with abominations and we have you outnumbered and outgunned. I’m going to count to three and if you’re not out then we’re coming in after you. One…” I stood up and took a glance to carefully measure each man’s distance and position in my mind. “Two…” With all the grace and speed of an attacking snow leopard I leapt from behind my cover and flew toward the speaker, who was the closest of our adversaries, and plunged Yuki no Hana through his throat. “Thr…huuurrrk.”

“I warned you,” I said as he made a gurgling sound and dropped his assault rifle. Then using my katana as a lever I pulled his body to use as a meat shield to get back to my cover when the others started firing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the water from a burst pipe launch itself toward one of the men in a high pressure blast that sent him flying back toward the entrance even as another’s feet began sinking into the floor. Once I was behind the wall again I pulled my katana from his throat and let the body drop to the floor and said, “Here sweetie, I think this man won’t mind if you borrow his weapons, he won’t be needing them anymore.”

Kei took the handgun that was holstered on the corpse’s belt and checked the clip. “Silver-titanium armor piercing rounds, not bad, they’re obviously meant for Paranormals but they should pierce that Kevlar nicely.” He popped up fired a couple shots as I left cover and went back into the fray.

“Boys and their toys,” I muttered as I moved in to snap the neck of the one Jenny was holding in place with her magic. Another thought that this would be a good time to attack me but I kicked him hard in the solar plexus at the same time that a stone fist rose from the floor and hit him somewhat lower. Damn that had to hurt. It didn’t for long though as Kei fired a couple of shots into him from behind and he fell to the floor in a heap. Another high pressure water blast whizzed past me at the man Zoe had attacked earlier who was sitting against the wall and trying to get up. This time the blast hit him in the head making it strike the wall with a painful sounding smack.

There were still three more and Kei managed to shoot one in the leg so I took advantage of that and took him down with a roundhouse to the side of the head. I was just spinning around to look for my next opponent when I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, causing me to drop Yuki no Hana and knocking me forward. Damn that felt even worse than when I had gotten shot with my Kevlar body armor on. I staggered to keep my balance, gritted my teeth, and lunged for the closest man to me. I was barely aware of Kei shooting at the man who had shot me from behind as I leaped upon the man in front of me and gave him the cold kiss.

As soon as my lips touched the skin of his cheek I began to drink in his heat, the warmth of his very life. It tasted so good and I could feel the energy it provided rush through me as the pain in my shoulder faded and then was gone completely. I drank until there was no more and the man was nothing but a lifeless frozen husk. When I stood up Kei and the others were stepping out from the cover of the earth wall and the man that had shot me was lying on the ground with several bullet holes in his chest. “Is everyone okay?” I asked as I checked to make sure no other bad guys were going to jump through the door. Seeing nothing that concerned me I bent over to retrieve Yuki no Hana and clean the blade off on my ruined shirt. “Damn, I got blood all over my clothes and my sword,” I sighed sadly, “The white and pale blue is so pretty but that blood is never going to come out.”

Luc just stared at me in awe for a moment before replying. “Holy shit… I… uhhh… mean we’re fine now… thanks to you kids.” His eyes fell on the frozen body then my bloodied clothes and face and he shook his head as if to clear it before continuing. “I would have helped but I’m afraid that battle magic just isn’t my forte. I might be able to help with all that blood though. Clothes get all sorts of stains in a kitchen so I’ve mastered a few purification spells that should help.” A look of concentration passed over the Centaur’s face and his hands glowed white as he ran them over Yuki no Hana, my ruined clothes, and even my face and hands. Within moments all signs of blood were gone and you would have never known that I and my belongings were dripping in gore a few minutes earlier. Luc gave me a weak smile once he was done, “There that should do the trick and you shouldn’t have to worry about that happening again, at least not with your sword, I made all of the material on the sword permanently stain repellent. Wait, is that a bullet hole?” He asked in shock pointing at my shoulder.

“Domo arigato Luc,” I replied with a smile. “You didn’t have to do that, I appreciate it.” Then I examined the hole in question and shrugged, “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”

“It was the least I could do,” he said, “But are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m in better shape than any of them,” I said with a giggle as I gestured to the bodies of the Dogs. I was really feeling heady after that energy boost from the cold kiss.

Landon nodded in agreement. “I would like to do something to thank you as well if I may.” The dwarf handed me a business card as he said, “I’m a weapon smith and my kind are bound to the Metal element. If you ever need any work done feel free to give me a call, also that’s a fine blade you have there and if you let me have a look I might be able to improve it with some Metal magic.”

I looked at the card and then back at the Dwarf, “Arigato Landon I might take you up on that.” I looked at Yuki no Hana and asked, “Improve it how?”

“When I’m done with it, your pretty sword will be unbreakable by mortal means and always be as sharp as any blade possibly can be,” the elderly dwarf said with a grin.

I could feel my eyebrows rise at that, “I would be honored, but only if it is not too much trouble.”

“I owe you kids my life, my services are your whenever you need them,” he replied seriously. “If I may have your sword for a moment I’ll place the enchantments on it now if you wish.”

I handed both Yuki no Hana and her saya to the smith with a bow. “I will leave her in your hands while I see how Kei and the girls are doing.” Once Landon had both items in hand I walked over to Kei who was looking over the bodies. “Are you okay Kei?”

“I’m okay Miyuki, I was a bit worried when you got shot but you seem fine since you fed on that guy’s body heat. At least I hope you’re alight.” The Kitsune said as he looked me over and forced a smile, “You certainly look cleaner now anyway.”

“Yeah Luc helped clean me up a bit, which was nice because being covered in blood is kind of gross. What exactly are you doing?” I asked as he thoroughly checked another body.

“I’m taking all the ammunition these guys haven’t used, two of the handguns, one of the assault rifles, and any other useful hunting gear they have on them. The bullets alone are really valuable to Hunters. I’d love to know where these guys are getting their equipment,” he replied as he picked up two more clips and added them to the pile of things he was gathering in a fallen tablecloth. He pointed to the soaking wet guy slumped against the wall, “I tied that guy up, his head hit the wall pretty hard but he’s still alive. I figure that Captain Klein will want to question him.” Then he took the bundle and stood to kiss me softly, “You were pretty amazing there.”

“We were all amazing,” I said as I returned the kiss, conscious not to steal too much heat from him. “I’ll go check the others for survivors. It looks like Jenny and Zoe are checking the customers that were in the front. You finish your scavenging.” I checked the other Hounds for signs of life but there were no others. Then I went to the front to join the girls. “Any survivors?” I asked, though I had very little hope of it.

Zoe shook her head, her eyes downcast, ~No, they were all dead when we got to them. The boy and girl at the corner table look like they were younger than we are.~

I hugged the Mermaid tightly, “We would have joined them if it wasn’t for Jenny’s quick thinking.”

The Nymph looked close to tears so I pulled her into the hug as well as she shook her head. “It wasn’t quick thinking, I saw the guns and I panicked. It reminded me of how my parents died.”

“You didn’t panic, you reacted and doing that saved us all. You both did great there and there’s no two other people I’d rather have on the same team as me and Kei. Let’s go sit down and wait for the PDA and phone my haha… I mean mom,” I quickly corrected myself. I really needed to start using English words for everything.

When I returned to the somehow intact table that Landon was sitting at he had Yuki no Hana back in her saya and handed her to me. “She was a fine blade before and now she’s even better.”

“Domo arigato… I mean thank you Landon,” I said as I pulled the blade free of the saya. It still looked the same and had the same weight and balance but it felt like there was a power that wasn’t there before.

I was about to test the edge with a fingertip when Landon said, “I wouldn’t do that if were you, she’s sharp enough to split an Angel’s hair.” I pulled my finger away, placed the blade back in her saya, and thanked the kindly Dwarf again before placing Yuki no Hana back in my purse and pulling out my phone. Then I browsed through the numbers for my mother’s number and touched it to send the call. “Miyuki, are you alright?” my mother’s voice sounded very worried. “Captain Klein just called us and said that you were all under attack.”

“We’re fine Okasan, it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. None of us are injured, though I am a little pissed that one of my new shirts has a bullet hole in it.”

“Bullet hole?! You kids stay right there, Natsumi and I are on our way there now.”

It was then that the PDA response team that Captain Klein had called decided to show up. A man with dark blue hair burst through the door with a red headed Pixie, a silver haired woman who resembled Coach Sylhael, and a brown haired man armed with an assault rifle right on his heels. The four of the stopped inside and took in the carnage for a moment and I shouldered my purse to approach the group. The blue-haired man watched me carefully and I heard a voice like an electric guitar in my head. ~What in hell happened in here? We were told that a team of dogs had four new CHIs and some civilians pinned down.~

I shrugged as I got within casual speaking range. “I’m Miyuki Thompson, the one who called Captain Klein. The Dogs didn’t feel like waiting for you so we had to act on our own. Kei tied up the one who is still alive but I doubt he’ll be answering questions anytime soon. I’m afraid we couldn’t do anything for the civilians who were by the front windows.”

~Nice to meet you Miyuki, I’m glad you kids pulled through alright. I’m Davis Miller,~ he replied as he took another look around. ~We have medical, clean-up and cover-up teams right behind us. I would love to know how the four brand new CHIs I was told to expect managed to do all this. The dogs don’t play around.~

“Neither do I Mr. Miller,” I replied. “I may be new to all of this Paranormal stuff but I‘ve trained for close combat my whole life and I had Kei, Jenny and Zoe covering me from behind cover. We would have preferred to go easier on them but Captain Klein warned me that they would not show us the same courtesy.”

~You must be Yuki Thompson’s daughter; I was told that she was a specialist in Japan and will be working with us now. So I take it that you’re the one in charge then,~ he prompted as he gave me a good looking over with his amber eyes. ~Are any of you hurt?~

I shook my head to both questions. “Technically my mom is in charge and we’re only sub-contractors but she wasn’t here and something had to be done so I did it. But I called before taking action. I got shot in the shoulder but I’m fine now, I heal right up when I feed on heat. The others didn’t get a scratch.”

A look of relief passed over his features. ~I’m glad to hear none of you were seriously injured and since you were the one who stepped up that makes you the one in charge. Usually the one in charge needs to write up a report but since this is your first day with us I’ll get you to tell me what happened in as much detail as possible and I‘ll write up the report for you. I’ll also need your badge number so I can include it in my report.~

It took a while to give my report and between that and the footage captured by the security camera over the counter Davis thought it was a pretty open and shut case. My mother had arrived halfway through me giving my report and as soon I was finished she wrapped me up in a hug. Then we all looked over the security footage in case there was anything I missed. As we watched there was this look of pride on my mother’s face while Davis and the rest of his team kept looking from the video to me and back again. The brown haired man even took a step away from me after the footage of my cold kiss. When we were finally done and able to go home for the night, I remembered it and gave my mother the envelopes with hers and my dad’s new identification and other documents before she and Natsumi climbed into the limo and the rest of us piled into Zoe’s Prius to follow them home.

>^..^<

It was later that evening and the four of us were sitting quietly in front of a roaring fire in the living room with a cup of hot cocoa each and a plate of Jenny’s chocolate chip cookies. I was pretty sure that the others were thinking along the same lines that I was, about the events at Luc’s Café. I had been training my whole life in martial arts and with a sword and while I figured that at some point in my life I may need to defend myself it had never occurred to me before that I would have to kill someone. But not only had I killed a person, my friends and I had killed six and seriously injured another with what one of Davis’ teammates had called ruthless efficiency.

In my mind I knew that we had had little choice in the matter, that the situation called for kill or be killed, but I couldn’t help wondering if we really were the monsters they were making us out to be. “What have we done?” I whispered, not even realizing that I was speaking out loud.

~What we had to,~ Zoe replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. ~You knew that at the time, don’t second guess yourself now.~

“But we killed people, human people. I don’t think that even with all my training I ever mentally prepared myself for that,” I answered while staring into the fire.

Kei nodded across from me. “My parents were always preparing me to Hunt and kill Paranormals when I was growing up. I… I guess I never thought that I would be one of the Hunted before. It was easier to train like that when I thought that we were doing good, that we were hunting monsters, but now everything is completely turned around.”

Jenny let out a sad sigh before her soft voice added, “I think deep down I wanted revenge on the hunter who killed my parents and anyone who would hunt our kind. I may not have killed any of those men directly but I was a part of it, and now it feels pretty terrible.”


~You’re all new to this Paranormal stuff, even Jenny. She may have been Manifested at birth but she was living out in the woods and only got dragged into all this three months ago.~
Zoe sang in a stern tone. ~A lot of those normal humans see us as monsters but we’re not. Most of us just want to live normal lives without all this extra baggage. Sometimes we have to face the grim reality that it’s either us or whoever our enemy happens to be at the time. Sometimes those enemies are other Paranormals and sometimes they’re humans. We all regret having to resort to killing tonight, and that regret, that wishing that there had been another way, that’s what makes me certain that we are not monsters.~

I tried to shake off some of my sadness as I thought about what she was saying. “You’re right Zoe. We made a choice to join the CHI program knowing that we would have to hunt down rogue Paranormals and deal with other threats. This was one of those threats. Those men were murderers and they had to be stopped. We did that and probably saved a lot of lives by doing it. It might not feel very good, but it was right.”

~It was,~ the Mermaid replied. We all sat there together and fell asleep listening to Zoe singing. Mermaids use their mental voice because their physical voice is one of power. A Mermaid’s song contains the power to heal wounds of the mind and soul and at the moment we all needed a little of that.

 © 2013 Amethyst Gibbs
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Comments

This gives whole new

Meaning to, "If it wasn't for those kids!" Kinda turns the Monster Hunter as the good guys on its ear. Here the 'monsters' are the heroes and the humans are the evil ones. Kinda sorta that is. :)

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Grover

Yeah things are a bit

Amethyst's picture

Yeah things are a bit backwards here aren't they. :)

*hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Scooby-do

And I would have succeeded off it wasn't for thse meddling kids and their dog too

Wait where's the dog


I'm a bibliophile, a nerd, a gamer, a MMA, and a girl

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Oo... the hunters are out

Oo... the hunters are out publicily killing people. Somehow I don't think they'll simply get away with it.

On the other hand I'm not sure if you haven't overdone the girlyness thing. Seriously, "boys and their toys". Wasn't she a boy a week ago or so? I mean behavior is one thing, but it seems overdone when the mental voice is also changing like that.

Anyway, thank you for writing this captivating story, I can't wait for the next chapter,
Beyogi

No getting away with murder

Amethyst's picture

The PDA does not tolerate wholesale murder of Paranormals.

The 'boys and their toys' comment was a joke on their current situation actually. Even a week before when still in their original genders they would have preferred the same attack styles and weapons of choice, so to her it wasn't really a gender thing like she was making it out to be. Even though they were both trained well this was the first time they were in a kill or be killed situation and Miyuki was trying to make it look like she wasn't scared to death so nobody else got scared. How does she do that? By acting as if it was the type of thing that happens everyday and making a joke until she and the others can have a nervous breakdown later.

Glad you're enjoying it and I hope to have more soon.

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

PDA Hmmmm

Public Displays of Affection, Personal Digital Assistant, probably would not make me so crazy if the Quads were not kicking so much. How am I going to make it through the season and most of January like this.

Goddess Bless you

Love Desiree

I was wondering

Amethyst's picture

If someone was going to get that. When I came up with that acronym it sounded like something the government would use and the PDA has been around for a long time keeping track of Paranormals. Those other two uses for PDA are relatively recent chronologically so I would imagine that the modern Paranormals have more than their share of jokes about it.

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Gallows humor

The example you give in this story is the type that we Servicemen utilize to help try to remain on an even keel when the shit hits the fan. Too many civilians tend to give us shit for our ability to utilize this to keep from going over the edge.

That's precisely what I was

Amethyst's picture

That's precisely what I was getting at Payter. It's probably not typical for gallows humor but then Miyuki's situation isn't typical either.

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

It was a joke!

Stoney1's picture

I took the "Boys and their toys" comment as an inside joke between Miyuki and Kei. Nothing more. The kids reflecting with reservations is a very nice touch, reminding us of their human side. Nice chapter

Stoney1

FANTASY IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD, BUT THEN SO IS REALITY. SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Great t have another

chapter. Poor Kei, to bad he did not get a little help with being a guy. So cool that Miyuki used her kiss. Sorry had to use the bad pun

Goddess Bless you

Love Desiree

Guy help

Amethyst's picture

Yeah Kei just doesn't get it as easy as Miyuki, though Miyuki does have to worry more about how much her new nature might be messing with her mind and inhibitions. Hopefully before the gay rumors can start at school the girls will help set him straight though. See I can use puns too :)

*hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Wow girl!

I see you certainly haven't lost it! Great chapter hon! I had forgotten about that black hole of a purse that can hold a truck! (I'll bet there's even a kitchen sink in there! LOL!). I guess this was baptism by fire, and the kids performed wonderfully! Amethyst sweetie, still lovin' this one! Loving Hugs Talia

Thanks Talia

Amethyst's picture

I think I've managed to scrape most of the rust off of me now. Writing combat scenes is always intimidating to me but I think this one turned out well.

*hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Intresting world!

Hypatia Littlewings's picture

Just read these all in one shot. Interesting world an characters, I like the way its is going.

I had a thought about Kei, he lost his family too, but in a totally different sense. While he was already head away from them philosophically they were family, and now they would be his enemy, it has to hurt.

Oh, Darn another serial to follow!
Awaits more!
~Hypatia >i< ..:::

I'm glad you like it

Amethyst's picture

Kei has lost a lot and mourns that in his time alone but still has Miyuki. What's really going to hurt him is the feeling of betrayal if he ever has to face them again. He might not want to pull the trigger if that happens and you can be sure that they will.

*hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Reis parents

I wonder if Reis parents had anything to do with this. They need to label most hunters as terrorists and just be done with it.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna

Googles

I bet the googles give mage sight or something and that’s how they have been finding these places.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna