A Knight in Rusty Armor (and in love)

[9] Demon Hunter

Lance and Gareth still haven't returned by the time I finish with my tent. Samuel and Victor and their group arrived at the camp, too, and they're not happy about being beaten here. Thaddeus retreated to sulk in his tent, while Alphonse stood around for a while to accuse us of cheating somehow. Dante sat down by himself and still won't make conversation with anyone. It's turned the whole scene grim, and I'm eager to get away from it, so I tell the rest of my group that I'll be off to retrieve Lance and Gareth.

Elias points the way they went out to me. I eventually wander over to a small meadow full of trees. They're the impossibly tall kind that make me feel like an ant, with branches so high that I have no hope of reaching them.

I start to think, after a while, that I went the wrong way, or that we missed one another. Then I hear a loud laugh, more like a cackle. I don't recognize the voice. Which means that it must be Gareth, right? I pick up my pace and run towards it.

I'm greeted by not two, but seven familiar faces. I grin as soon as I spot them.

"Zeke! Lucius! Danny! Serin!" I excitedly call out to each one. Ezekiel and Daniel both told me that they usually prefer to be addressed with their nicknames, like Nathaniel and Bartholomew and Lancelot. "You guys made it!"

"We got a bit sidetracked," Daniel admits. He gestures vaguely at Zachariah, who stands in the back of the crowd with a slightly apprehensive look on his face. Everyone seems to be looking at him— at Gareth. Including Lance, who's standing off to the side of him. They've all made sure to give the guy some room.

I calmly wander over, even though I don't know what's going on.

"You're... Gareth of Gehenna, right?" I ask cautiously. "I'm Tidus of Crestfall. We haven't been properly introduced yet."

"A pleasure," he says. His voice sounds kind of mocking, and I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not. "You have arrived just in time, little Tidus, to witness my awe-inspiring power!"

He cackles again. Lance gestures at me and I run over to his side.

"He's offered to show us his weapon, since I asked about it," he hisses, "but he needs some space to retrieve it."

"Space?" I study Gareth, and notice that he doesn't have a sword. Not on his person, anyway. He's got bottles and little scrolls strapped where most people would have their sword.

Gareth closes his eyes. I feel a pulsating energy coming from him. I freeze, unable to move or look away or even blink, as a red magic circle appears around his feet. It widens until it spreads about two feet out in either direction and glows, until it crackles with bursts of energy. Gareth grins, and he extends one hand, and then he slowly, very slowly, lifts what looks like a staff from the earth, appearing from thin air. Daniel can't contain his excitement at the display.

"Wow!" We all clap, and Danny whistles and cheers. "How did you do that?!"

"Well, little Tidus, it is a Gehenna family tradition. My accursed weapon is bound to my blood and answers only to me." He looks awfully proud of himself. I'm annoyed that he's already decided to address me as Little Tidus. Everyone's just throwing around the pipsqueak nicknames. I wonder how bad Nathaniel's gotten it, seeing as he's even shorter than I am.

Gareth's safely holding the weapon now. It's not a sword. It's more like a long iron rod.

"You said it was a sword," Daniel points out. Gareth shakes his head.

"I said that it was a blade."

"But that's still just a glorified stick," Serin remarks bluntly, his tone as flat and emotionless as it usually is. "I see no fearsome demon-hunting weapon."