Disclaimer: Um, no, I don’t own Witch Hunter Robin.
Amon: Will you please get her to shut up?
Kitsune: I don’t think I can really do anything.
Amon: …try.
Puff: *sobbing* I want my knife!!!
Kitsune: It’s mine! *gets hit by Amon* Okay, okay, play with it! *hands it over*
Puff: Yay! *hugs knife*
Chapter Thirty-Nine: The New Ally
“Would someone mind telling me who our guest is?” Amon growled as he walked in, spotting a thin teen boy with mousy brown hair standing in the middle of the office. The hunter carefully set Robin down on a couch before he strode over to the nervous boy.
“Amon, this is Bryton,” Michael said hurriedly, pushing Bryton behind him, “You remember me telling you about him. He just showed up, a few minutes before you got back, and said he could help me fix the computers.” Cold black eyes flitted over the guest, making him even more uncomfortable.
“How did you happen to know that our computer system wasn’t functioning as well as it should have been?” Amon asked icily, not letting his gaze falter in the slightest. He stepped forward, his long coat dripping water into a puddle right next to a small electronic device.
“You’ll ruin it!” Bryton yelped, running towards Amon. He pushed the dark man out of the way, closed his eyes, and made the water disappear. He carefully picked up the device; completely oblivious to the incredulous stares pinned on him.
“Michael, can you explain this?” Amon inquired coldly, his calmness radiating danger.
“Not really,” Michael said slowly, looking at Bryton for a clue. The boy blinked a couple of times before he realized he was the center of attention.
“I suppose you’re all curious about that little thing with the water,” Bryton began, toying with a few buttons on the gadget he held, “I’m a witch. I control water. I don’t like the other witches, though. So, when they made my sister and I hack into your computers, I decided to leave and help here instead. Emberli wanted to come too, but it was hard enough for me to escape.”
“Get out,” Amon said simply, pointing towards the door. His eyes were narrowed into slits, an angry light radiating from the cold charcoal.
“Sir, I don’t think you’d want me to leave,” Bryton said quietly, working up the courage to look Amon in the eyes.
“And just why not?” Amon asked, darkly amused at the boy’s audacity.
“Because I know where quite a few strongholds are, how to prevent any further intrusions into your computers, how to step up the security around this building and many other things that you’d find valuable,” Bryton explained calmly, smirking slightly when Amon looked intrigued, “If you threw me out now, I wouldn’t be able to defend myself and I’d be killed for absconding. All of the knowledge offered to you would then be lost.”
“Fine, you can stay and help Michael,” Amon relented, grabbing Bryton’s shirt front and pulling it tight so the boy was almost choking, “But if I even suspect you’re giving information to the witches, I’ll be the one to kill you.” He let go, grabbed Javan from Karasuma’s arms, and walked off.
“Was that his kid?” Bryton asked amusedly, continuing when Doujima nodded at him, “He can’t be that mean if he has a child that little. He must be all talk.”
“No, he’s not,” The rest of the people in the office chimed in unison.
“Amon isn’t that loving even towards Javan. He’s much nicer with her than the rest of us, though,” Doujima explained, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulders, “Most of the time, Robin manages to escape his wrath as well. But, overall, Amon is a pretty cold guy. You seriously don’t want to do anything to make him mad.” Everyone nodded in agreement; shuddering as they recalled times they had gotten the dark man angry.
After Amon had gotten Javan changed into a dry outfit, set her out in the main part of the office to be babysat, and changed out of his own sopping clothes, he went to go make sure Robin was still doing as well as possible. The craft user was still unconscious, though she seemed to be slowly pulling out of the drug-induced sleep.
She was trying to escape from the stifling blanket cocoon she was wrapped tightly in, wiggling to loosen it. Amon looked half-tempted to help her but, instead, sat down in a chair nearby to make sure she didn’t fall on to the floor.
“Where am I?” Robin asked weakly, trying to get her green eyes to obey her and open up.
“You’re back at the office,” Amon explained softly, leaning forward to make sure she heard him properly, “Karasuma and I just got you from the hospital about ten minutes ago. You were there overnight because of your injuries.” Robin blinked confusedly as she tried to recall how she had gotten injured. She sat up and the blankets slipped down, revealing that she hadn’t been changed out of the short dress at the hospital. Her green eyes widened as she noticed her legs weren’t covered by her normal heavy skirt.
“What am I wearing?” Robin questioned urgently, pulling the layers back around her, “Well, I know what I’m wearing. Why am I wearing it?” Amon paused before he spoke, figuring out the best way to tell his hunting partner what had happened while she had been out cold.
“To make a long story short, you were possessed, while you were at the hospital, by this witch named Morganna. She was the one that put you in that dress,” Amon explained quickly, conveniently skipping over how he had been stunned by the ensemble. Robin nodded, taking the news in perfect stride, and pulled one blanket from the pile around her.
“I’m going to go change into my own dress,” Robin said, tightly securing her blanket so she wouldn’t have to worry about it slipping while she walked. She hurried off to another room, where each of the hunters had a few spare sets of clothes stored, and changed into her regular outfit. Just as she was about to throw the black velvet dress away, she noticed how nicely it was made and folded it up. Robin decided that it could have some future use, if only as scrap material.
When Robin walked out of the room, she was waved over to where everyone, except Amon, was now sitting. Michael gestured towards his friend, who was smiling broadly at the craft user.
“Nice to meet you,” Bryton said cheerfully, offering Robin his hand, “My name is Bryton.”
“I’m Robin,” Robin said cautiously, eyeing him warily before hastily shaking his hand, “Did you just get sent here?” Bryton looked confused, glancing at Michael to get the hacker to explain why he was there.
“Bryton is a witch, who escaped from them to come and help me with the computers. He’s a friend of mine,” Michael elucidated, smiling gently to show that everything was fine, “He doesn’t like the witches either.” Robin nodded suspiciously, quickly slipping over to where Amon was waiting.
“I don’t like him,” Robin said softly, leaning down to speak into Amon’s ear, “When he shook my hand, it felt like he was subconsciously canceling out my energy.” She rubbed at her fingers and crossed her arms, trying to look casual.
“His element is water,” Amon said in response, “Since water puts out fire, it makes sense that you would feel like your energy was diminishing.” The hunter glared at the boy, who didn’t even notice.
“I suppose. I don’t think he was ever really trained with his powers. Anybody who has had a bit of training would have been able to restrict their energy from draining into the surrounding area,” Robin said calmingly, noting how Amon seemed upset, “The only risk he really poses is if the witches want him back badly enough. I’m not sure if he’d be able to use his powers effectively, even if he wanted or needed to.”
“The witches have his sister, though. They don’t really need him,” Amon stated, pointing to a chair for Robin to sit in, “And about his powers, he did say that he wouldn’t have been able to defend himself if we made him leave.” Robin didn’t sit down, but instead stared at her hands for a moment before she spoke.
“Amon?” Robin said questioningly, glancing around the office.
“Yes,” Amon said immediately, wanting to know why Robin just didn’t come out and say what she had to say.
“I have the feeling that Bryton won’t be with us for very much longer,” Robin stated softly, toying with a loose strand of her hair. Amon raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say something more. She shook her head and tried to wave off her foreboding comment, walking back over to the group of people to mingle.