Each step along the stairs was filled with dread, I half expected every step to send me tumbling into the abyss below. We had now trudged about halfway to our destination although each step took all of the bravery I could muster. Smartly I had told the Blonde-haired kid from earlier that he must take the front of our single-file line. He was the last person I'd trust behind me on this already precarious journey.
"Alright, I'll say it." He turned around, holding a weak smile and nervously scratching his head. "Ok I'll admit, it was kinda mean of me to randomly attack you like that, now I can see that you really aren't affiliated with this club after all so, I have no reason to fight, just like you said." He said letting out an obviously fake and uncomfortable laugh.
"Oh, you think? Whatever illusion thing you were doing earlier hurt man, normal people don't just do that. What was it for anyway?" I said bitterly.
"Well, you can't be uh, too careful right? And besides, we aren't normal people." He said " Anyway, why don't we be friends now since we're both new here eh? The name's Kraven, nice to meet you!" He said, forming a pure smile, and reaching out his hand. If I hadn't been almost killed by him earlier, you could convince me he was an innocent teenager, however, I knew the owner of that hand, and I was torn as to his true intentions. After a split second of decision-making, I decided to save any unnecessary violence from Kraven and accept his offer.
"Uhh, alright, I guess that's ok," I said nervously. I slowly reached out to his hand, which he accepted and shook quickly and enthusiastically. Even though I was surprised by his sudden turn of friendliness, I managed to stutter out my name. " I'm Hokari, Since we're uh, exchanging names and the such," I said awkwardly
"Hooray! I'm already making friends." Kraven said, twirling around excitedly and almost falling off the side, letting out a goofy scream of panic and flailing his arms before righting himself back over the edge. Such carelessness could be deadly here, so this was yet another worrying aspect of Kraven's character.
"It's Marvelous that the two of you seem to be in high spirits with one another. It saves me the hassle of enlightening you two about the workings of my abode in a perplexing manner. You'll find yourselves physically incapable of causing any harm to each other here in my castle regardless of you're fury, not just due to my presence but you'll also find it as if the laws of physics itself find your attempts inadequate." Said D., his voice Echoing through the void. He was already 20 feet in front of us and nearing the castle entrance. Clearly, he was much more used to navigating his precarious front lawn than us.
"What does he mean by that Jack?" I asked my club phone. "Is it some sort of insanity power like the one Kraven used?"
"Spot on chief. This castle is actually D.'s insanity creep that he always h-" Jack got caught off by Kraven who leaned back with a whisper.
"Hokari do you not know about insanity creeps yet?" Kraven asked legitimately concerned while lifting up his hat.
"No? What do you mean?" I blinked. To be fair I had only become a weilder of insanity energy two hours ago. I'd consider myself pretty adept, however, I was not educated about the terminology used to describe insanity powers.
"Yo D., big man!" Kraven yelled, putting his hands to his mouth to increase the range of his voice, and completely ignoring my silent pleas against his sudden request. D. seemed like a fine enough man but I didn't want to make a poor impression on someone possessing this much power.
"Whatever is it you require my guests?" He responded thoughtfully, turning around and playing with his goatee.
"My pal here Hokari doesn't even know anything about insanity energy at all, you gotta teach him, or he'll die before ever making it out of here!" Kraven piped up without my permission. I stupidly smacked him in the head, which thankfully he replied to with a smack as well, instead of his claws. We bickered and pushed each other, ignorant of the perilous edge we were mere centimeters from as D. came up with a witty response.
"It is undoubtedly discourteous of you to be demanding favors from me after you show up bringing such savagery to my front door. Pardon my inquisitiveness, but before I hear out your appeal, I must ask what your business is with attacking my humble club, young Kraven? D. asked, shaking his head at our childish fighting without concern for the nasty drop right below us. Maybe Kraven was right, and we could become close friends. We certainly bickered like blood brothers.
"Well, that's obvious sir! I wanted to join the slaughter club!" Kraven said very matter-of-factly like it was completely the obvious answer, finally lowering his hands from trying to swat at me.
"And you would do so by assaulting another one of my potential members? I do believe it is explicit what the purpose of the slaughter club is, which is to provide a safe haven to all wielders of insanity energy in their various goals, whether that is killing or another endeavor, but the one rule, although it cannot be broken, is that one must not harm another member while in the club. You're going against this very policy" D. explained, now finally reaching the door of the castle, which looked even more massive up close. The door was made of dark oak, and it appeared as though hours of craftmanship went into it, as it had various patterns engraved on it.
"Eheh, my bad sir," Kraven said apologetically with a cheesy smile. "But you really don't have a choice but to accept us and teach us right?" Kraven said. "I don't know much, but I know that you don't reject any new members unless they work for our friends up in mental enforcement right?"
"Alas, that is true, regretfully I must stick to my word. Well, then I suppose I am left with no choice but to assume you two as official members of this club. Unfortunately, we don't offer any extravagant initiation services, so my sincerest apologies if that disenchants your first day. Anyhow, Regardless of previous disputes, welcome, to the slaughter club." D. said, pushing through the heavy oak doors, and revealing the castle interior. "And yes Kraven, I will honour your request to teach Hokari. I have a personal interest in his potential."
The interior of the castle was lavish. Thankfully the layout of the castle remained unhindered by the outside's flipped style. While I didn't expect to see chairs and tables hanging from the ceiling, it certainly wasn't an impossibility, but I was relieved that it wasn't the case. The hall was lit by the honey-like glow of candles and cobwebs hung in every ceiling corner, although the place did not have the slightest feeling of dust to it. It gave the feeling of an exquisite Halloween decoration. The carpet was a bright mahogany red and flowed the length of the long hallway.
"Hokariiii!" Kraven half whispered half screamed in my ear. "I see the big man's taken an interest in you huh? Personally, I think I'm miles ahead of you in terms of skill, so He can't really teach me, but I'm wondering, why's he so interested in you?
" I haven't the slightest clue. I do know I'm super skilled with insanity energy, or at least, I think so." I responded.
"What? You, skilled? You've got it all wrong, your insanity energy is very volatile that's it. He's probably worried you're gonna hurt yourself, anybody can tell just by sensing you man." Kraven instantly brought down my confidence level while elevating himself.
"You seem like you know a lot about this stuff, but you're just joining the club too, what's up with that," I asked.
"I'm only new to the club, not new to this whole fighting thing. I've been killing members of mental enforcement for a few weeks now, but they've started learning about me and it got too hot, and they started coming after me. Remembering this place, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to stay somewhere safe and get stronger. He replied, with a fierce determination in his eyes.
" Wait, why would you wanna kill the mental enforcers, arent they helpful?" I asked confused.
"Ah, so you don't know yet. Everyone here hates them, They take us away and lock us up to do terrible things to us, claiming they help us. Disgusting, that's why I need to kill them. All of them. It hurts to get into, but just know, they have wronged me in a way that I can never forget. That's my purpose now in life." Kraven clenched his fists. I felt like this talk had led me to a deeper understanding of Kraven, although only slightly. I thought It was pretty foolish and childish to chase revenge that much but at least I knew he wasn't just crazy. Well too crazy.
"My utmost honored guests, we are now arriving at the opulent lounge of my club." D. presented while he basked in the glory of the main centerpiece of his castle. The hallway opened up into a vast hall with a massive golden statue. It depicted a bloody scene. Starting from the bottom, the statue formed a small mound. A golden stag kneeled in agony, as its body was lodged with spears sticking out from everywhere on its body. The attackers were represented by a dozen vultures hanging from the ceiling that encircled their prey, with spears in their talons, and sparks of anger in their eyes. Blood, or in this case water, gushed from the stag's wounds, and down the statue forming a pleasing fountain centerpeice. On the backs of the vultures were engravings of the Egyptian ankh symbol, which from what I recall represented immortality. Studying the Stag it appeared that a serpent was also hiding inside its wailing mouth, peeking out at the volley of spears heading its way. One could question its thinking of such a ridiculous hiding place, but it probably was meant to hold some sort of metaphorical meaning and was not a memorial to some bloody, bizarre animal fight. The room had multiple levels, having balconies that circled around the centerpiece. We were on the 2nd of 6 levels. I couldn't see any stairs so i assumed they must be down some of the many hallways. Before I could interpret the symbolism D. filled me in, sounding intensely proud of his lavish centerpiece.
"Marvelous sculpture eh? You wouldn't comprehend the amount of funds it took to erect this work of art." Said D., holding out his finger to begin his explanation. "Although we didn't actually spend a cent, as its a figment of my insanity, but just assume that I spent hours of work and be impressed ok? It holds a powerful message to club members, basically the message we live by. We are the vultures, and the snake is our prey. What the prey is, is up to you, but to all of us our prey is just as vile as whatever the snake represents, and the stag is the armor it uses to paint itself as a protector when in reality, it is the purest evil in this world." Looking behind me I saw Kraven form a confident smile gazing at the statue. What D. said certainly resonated with him. Studying the room further, past the obvious display, I noticed a low hum of an organ filling the room. Its low hum was quite stereotypical of the setting but its grandeur could not be denied. Noticing some signs fastened to the wall, I could see various areas such as guestrooms, an armory, and a canteen. This was practically a hotel, fitted with all the amenities one would need for a life of killing. This room was also bustling compared to the previous hallway. Many frightening faces could be seen resting on several benches or walking around the room. I recognized someone who appeared to be dressed as a clown and another person whose skin appeared to be made of the same material as a doll. When they noticed my gaze they met it with a threatening stare, and I stepped back, quite intimidated. I had to remember that these members were all well-seasoned killers. Any slight move might send them into a rage, and although I was protected in this castle, who's to say I wouldn't fall prey to them outside?
"Now then, sorry to interrupt your acute oggling of my castle, but, I do have many duties to attend to so If you wish to receive some of my training, I'd say we promptly head on up to the infirmary and get that gnarly hand of yours fixed, What do you say?" Said D. growing wary of his time. I hadn't thought about it yet, but I'm sure with such a high position he must have plenty of important business to complete. I wondered what kind of jobs he would attend to. Maybe he even had a grand throne room where he barked orders to everyone. It certainly matched his character, although I doubted the people here would bow to him as they seemed very unsociable, for the most part.
"I'll go on and drop my stuff off in a room alright big guy." Said Kraven revealing a large pack from his back that I swear I had not noticed until now.
"Very well, we are short on time, but, I presume I can squeeze in the time. First I must find you the most exquisite room that matches all your-" D. attempted to plan his stay until being interrupted by Kraven.
"Nah I'll just choose whatever one is the biggest. Anyway, see ya Hokari. I'm looking forward to seeing how you fight after some training!" He gave a cheerful wave and leaped off the balcony jumping off all the statues and heading towards the upper levels with intense athletic grace as he made his way up to where, I assumed the bedrooms were.
"Good Greif, that friend of your's sure is a great deal of work I'm afraid. Anyway, Let us make haste." D. Motioned to a staircase on the other side of the room, and lead me to our errands.
The treatment of my hand was almost immediate. As we waited for Kraven I turned my hand over and over, and indeed, the pain and the entire hole had disappeared, and my hand was as good as new. I expected some sort of nurse to treat it but when we got there the room simply consisted of a deep pool of water, not resembling a pool, but a small lake with deep black water that I couldn't see the bottom of. The brick walls were painted a deep blue to appear like an evening sky.D. had told me to simply jump in, but I approached the shore with caution and dipped only my toe in at first. The water seemed fine, although quite chilly, but D. was unwilling to watch me poke around like a little kid so he swiftly pushed me in. The pool or pond got deep incredibly quickly and the sandy floor disappeared under my feet. The water felt nice and cool, almost relaxing. It seemed to be just like a normal pond, while I was submerged but frightened I quickly surfaced and ran up the shore shaking the water from my soggy clothes. Laughing D pointed to my hand which had miraculously healed during the process. I assumed the water was magic, but when I asked D. he responded that it was simply Fresh cloves of garlic. This castle continued to surprise me. A few minutes late, after I had changed, but not too long to upset D., Kraven arrived looking like he had a fresh coat of paint. He must've decided to wash up, regardless of the rush, as he was likely dirty from living on the streets for weeks.
"Yo," He said nonchalantly waving.
"Geez it took ya long enough," Jack said annoyed. It had been a while since I heard his annoying little self. D. had informed me how the club phones work while Kraven was away. Apparently, Whenever you filter your insanity energy into one, it gets claimed as your own. All the club phones were created by D. as part of his large castle insanity creep, and they can all leave and work anywhere in the world. They can be used to contact any club member just by saying their name, as all the Jacks are connected since they are all part of D.'s insanity. They do have slight personality changes depending on who they belong to, so apparently this wannabe mobster had gotten that trait from me, which I refuse to believe. He also told me that they typically prefer not to speak too much as they have very little energy and prefer to sleep, and will only pipe up when they could prove helpful. Thank god.
"Oh Jack, he wasn't all that tardy. Anyhow, It's time to begin our training gentlemen. Follow me." D. Instructed as he led us toward one of the hallways branching off from the main room. After a few minutes, we rounded a bend and came to a room filled with various weapons hanging on racks on the wall and a lonely little table sitting in the center. On the table, a petit lantern glowed, illuminating the room with a faint shine.
"Do pay attention to this lecture, as I won't want to repeat myself too much. For your sake, I'll tone down my erm, speech a little bit so that you can better understand. I'll use some more, we'll say, common word choice." D. said, standing at the head of the table. It occurred to me that there were no chairs. Sadly I guess we'd have to stand.
"Hey wait, so you don't even always talk like a weirdo?" Kraven asked
"No, not quite. You see being immortal as I am, I've developed a taste for excellence and the extraordinary in the long 900 years I've been on this earth." D. explained completely ignorant of the shock on our faces. Kraven raised his voice to question but I asked first.
"Wait D. you've been alive for that long?" I asked, in even more awe of him now.
"Yes, I am indeed immortal, and so are my two other coworkers you may meet while attending here, but it is a long story so I shall not bother you with it as of now," D. said. Me and Kraven were both bummed, but he was in a very rushed manner so we decided not to press him further. It was likely because of insanity energy or something of the like. He truly did fit the role of an ancient vampire king, although I'm pretty sure he didn't suck blood.
"Anyway, to begin the lesson, allow me to explain insanity energy," D. said while picking up the lantern on the table. "Every member of the slaughter club is efficient in insanity energy as you are well aware. The source of this malevolent power comes directly from the brain. When someone has strong desires that directly contradict the moral boundaries preset in the brain, it generates this powerful energy, known as insanity energy. To use an example, think of your brain as this lantern, and insanity energy as heat. You, Hokari, have a particularly powerful lantern that flares its heat, making you and all that you touch burn with insanity energy. However, if you know about the uses of heat in industrial energy, you can use that knowledge with Insanity energy. With very specific processes, heat can be used to create power to fuel devices that can accomplish various incredible things. Insanity energy is the same. Through a unique process, it can be melded into various abilities used by many members here. The peak of this though, is a universal technique known as the insanity creep. It takes the idea of the lighter and expands it from your body to an entire area, having your insanity affect anyone in it to make whatever you want a reality. Each insanity creep has various rules, Kravens, for example, was able to make each one of your senses truly believe any illusion he crafted, although none of it actually affected you outside of his affected area." D. explained
"So what do you do if you're caught in one of those? I gotta learn one myself, they sound insanely powerful!" I said, intrigued to learn more. If I wanted to succeed here I had to be strong.
"Yes, they are very powerful indeed, but there is a counter. It's the technique that I used to dismantle Kraven's barrier." D. said before being interrupted.
"So that's why it disappeared! That's not fair, you're a cheater!" Kraven complained.
"It is fair, as the technique required is quite difficult to master. It's called an insanity collision, and I myself am quite an expert on them. It is easy to learn but, depending on the power of the opponent's insanity creep, it might not work. If you fail the technique, the kickback which I'll explain shortly can be deadly. Anyway, the main idea of the counter, calling back to the lighter, is that you match the lighter with your own heat at a different enough temperature to create an updraft or in this case, such a different type of insanity energy that it causes the affected area to implode on itself. You'll usually use your hand as a vessel for this procedure, however, if you match it with the wrong type of energy, your opponent's energy will be sent into your system, which can hamper your ability to use it yourself for a short time." D. Explained, setting down the lantern now. It appeared he had taught us all the basics we needed to know.
"I better try to use that on you next time huh Kraven," I said, slightly bragging, and wanting to settle the score from earlier now that my confidence was heightened. I was a bit frightened before, but the first step to rising up would be proving dominance over Kraven if I really did want to form an alliance.
"Don't get too enthralled Hokari. As I mentioned earlier, your insanity energy is naturally flared. The reason, I don't know yet, but I think it'll be very hard for you to form yours into anything precise. That's why I'm so interested in this, I've never seen something like this before. When you use your knife, it gives it more destructive power as it just surges into it, but, as of now, I don't see any applications for your power, including this counter. If you were to use it, it would surely backfire. Anyone can achieve a similar effect to what you have by just flowing your energy like Kraven." D. Explained
"See I told you Hokari!" Kraven said patting me on the back. "It's ok, I won't try to kill you because we're friends now." He took out his fake pity on me while I had a terrible feeling in my gut. Of course, I wouldn't have any potential. The one thing I find enjoyment in I'm pathetic at. His fake care pissed me off. Even if we were friends I needed to teach him some respect. This feeling was similar to what I felt against Shirou. I'd always been one to find a way out of tough situations, Id survived up until this point. D. only said he hadn't figured out a way for me to use my powers yet, but I could find out my own way faster.
"D.! I know you said that we can't harm each other, but is there any way for us to duel? I have an idea, and I've got a score to settle." I said taking Kraven's hand off my shoulder. He stared at me with a look that showed he was intrigued.
"Well, you can't harm each other, but, you can do the motions for your attack, and I'll serve as a referee to decide who wins. I even have an excellent place that is just the spot to duel." D. Said, stepping over to the blank wall opposite of the door's entrance. He pressed his hand against it, and the wall creaked sending dust into the wall. Slowly the bricks swayed inwards revealing a hole to the outside of the castle. A swift breeze from outside blustered in and puffed out the lantern. Outside we could see a nice stone gazebo built on the roof of the backside of the castle, where the roof was low. It was surrounded by small towers whose rims were just large enough to stand on, which D. did after leaping through the door. Let me remind you this entire castle is inverted on the outside so where we were standing should be the roofs. The Erie void outside still beckoned forward. I was not looking forward to risking falling again but I guess I better get used to it.
"Through here gentlemen!" He yelled putting his hands to his mouth.
"Wait didn't you say you had somewhere to be D.? " Kraven asked.
"No actually, sorry for deceiving you, I simply wanted you guys to hurry it up as I was getting quite bored," D. said with a slight smile, throwing up his hands in a shruglike gesture.
"Erg, you're really starting to piss me off, I'll fight you after Hokari!" Kraven growled. He backed up and took a running leap out the window in pursuit. These two sure were characters. D. seemed to put on the act of a fancy man but on the inside, he was pretty goofy. Left alone, I gazed up at the shelf of weapons and then at my knife. These weapons on the shelf were made from D.'s insanity creep, right? The weapon I got from Shirou must be too. That's why they reacted to my insanity energy like that. In theory, I might just have the slightest chance of pulling off something pretty special. I'd have to find out if my plan would work on the little battlefield. I was the last one to jump through the hole in the brick wall.