[Inari Standoff]: Belle's Wager

A half mile radius around the airport was evacuated and occupied by the exorcists since the start of the standoff. Referred to as 'The Red Circle', no civilians were permitted to enter or return until the battle with Inari was over. Barred from entry, people could only imagine the determination and bravery it took for those exorcists to square off against Inari.

They conjured fantasies of heroic men and fearless women all working in tandem to bring down the greatest threat to the nation, to the world at large. If only they saw what it was like inside of the Red Circle.

Exorcists and shrine maidens, old and young, large and small, all sat outside with the same, dead look in their glassy eyes. They had all heard the stories of the demon fox goddess, the flesh-eating vixen that tore apart the people they knew and loved, their friends, and even their friends of friends. There they were, washed in the ghostly light of the rising sun, staring at the airport in the distance, knowing that two murderous maniacs waited for them.

White Saint and Heavy Metal both failed to return, and everyone there in the Red Circle knew what that meant. One exorcist in particular had received the terrible news that she would be next to enter the fray in the event of Heavy Metal's death. She was the last exorcist to be sent in alone. If she met the same fate as her comrades, they'd have no choice but to launch a full scale assault. That exorcist was Belle Âme.

Belle sauntered across the Red Circle, a cesspool of dread and quietude. She walked past her dead-eyed comrades in her white, lace dress, her legs thinly veiled by her white leggings. She stopped as she heard the pained sobs of a young woman, turning towards at the group of shrine maidens sitting on the steps of an abandoned flower shop.

"...Hiroki and I were going to marry..." the shrine maiden cried, her chestnut hair covering her face as the other women consoled her.

Belle approached her, kneeling before the shrine maidens. "I'm sorry to intrude."

"Belle?!" the shrine maiden recoiled, straightening her posture.

"Please, don't get up for me." Belle said, signaling her to stay seated. "What happened?"

"Hiroki...he didn't come back from the airport..."

"You mean Heavy Metal?" Belle asked, getting a nod from the weeping maiden. "I'm so sorry."

"We got engaged just before the standoff started. I knew we should've asked to stay out of this, but he was so insistent on helping everyone out. He said he couldn't sit back and watch as his friends were being killed."

"It's not your fault." Belle said. "I knew Heavy Metal well enough to know that he wouldn't have had any regrets. I'm sure he died a hero, and he died thinking of you. He was very lucky to have you in his life."

"Thank you, Belle..." the shrine maiden cried.

"...I've been selected. I'm going down there today. I'll do my best for Hiroki and all the others those two monsters have slain." Belle promised.

"Oh god, not you too!" the shrine maiden wept.

"Don't worry about me. I'm the ace in the hole. I'm sure I'll be okay." Belle said, taking off her white, lace glove and reaching her hand out towards the maiden.

The shrine maiden gently held Belle's hand in her own, her face wet with tears. "Be safe, Belle. And make them pay."

Belle nodded. "I will."

Panicked yells and screams suddenly blared from the distance. Dozens of exorcists scrambled towards the commotion, prompting Belle herself to follow. She followed everyone towards the hospital, the building quickly surrounded on all sides by the shrine maidens. Some even stood on adjacent rooftops, aiming their bows and arrows at the Taeko, Shinju, and Tsukiakari as they slowly walked out of the entrance with Amaterasu and Uzume as their hostages.

"Unhand her now!" screamed one of the shrine maidens, her bow fixed on Taeko and Amaterasu.

"Fuck off!" Taeko shouted. "Good luck shooting me without killing the queen!"

"You're the ones who need to back off!" Shinju warned, her finger gun pointed at Uzume's back.

"Put down your weapons! At least try to think more than one step ahead!" Tsukiakari interjected, stepping in between Taeko and the shrine maidens.

As soon as everyone saw Tsukiakari, they all lowered their bows and stepped back. Confused whispers slithered all throughout the crowd of panicked exorcists.

"Princess Tsukiakari?" an exorcist asked, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Everyone, put down your weapons. That's an order." Tsukiakari said.

"But, my lady, they have Amaterasu and Uzume!" one of the shrine maidens protested.

"I said that's an order!" Tsukiakari screamed.

"If you won't take it from her, take it from me!" Amaterasu said. "Put down your weapons!"

Ordered by both queen and princess, they had no choice but to put down the bows and release their kuji-in hand signs. At least for that moment, both sides cooled down and were willing to talk. Belle stepped forward, following the sound of her queen's screams. Standing between the crowd of exorcists and the women kidnapping her queen, Belle hoped to mediate the chaos without any bloodshed. She couldn't actually see the faces of anyone, because just like White Saint, her eyes were covered with black bandages that matched her raven hair that stretched down to her upper chest.

"Taeko? Is that you?" Belle asked. "That is your name, isn't it? We know now that you're not Lucrezia. May I ask why you've taken Amaterasu and Uzume hostage?"

"We're going inside that airport." Taeko answered. "We want passage through the Red Circle."

"...You want to go in there? You're aware of the current standoff, aren't you?" Belle asked.

"That's exactly why we need entry." Taeko said.

"Listen, just let them through." Amaterasu said. "You have my blessing."

"...We can't do that." Belle said. "You're forcing our queen to give an order affecting the standoff while you have her hostage. We can't accept such an order as valid. Besides, I've already been selected to enter the airport next."

"Then stay your ass behind." Tsukiakari growled. "We need to go in there, and if it means killing all of you to get to them, then so be it."

"You wouldn't kill the queen. To do so would leave us no choice but to kill you here and now." Belle said. "Listen, neither you nor I want a bloodbath on our hands. We've already got one waiting for us in that airport. Why don't we strike a deal? Surely we can work something out so that none of us have to die here."

"I don't strike deals with assassins." Taeko hissed.

"We didn't have anything to do with that attempt on your life." Belle responded.

"Bullshit! Maybe you didn't, but some of you here right now did! Just how many of you are working with Manami, huh?!" Taeko screamed.

"Okay! Okay!" Belle shouted. "Maybe you can't trust any of them, but you can trust me. Let's work something out between us, okay? You want entry into the airport, but I need to fulfill my duty. Two of our men were killed at the airport. I need to be able to bring their bodies back to their loved ones. I would ask that you allow me to go in first. If I don't come back, you'll be selected to enter next."

"That's fucking insane!" Shinju said. "What if she ends up killing Osamu?"

"That's not a deal we can accept. We want entry now." Tsukiakari said.

"In case you've forgotten, that's a Cat-One barrier around the airport, and the formula needed to unlock it is unique. Only those who are selected to enter are given the formula." Belle explained. "The first person selected learned the formula from Amaterasu, and that person chooses the next exorcist who will enter in the event he dies. When that person dies while inside the barrier, the formula then appears on the hand of whoever's next in line."

"So all we have to do is chop off your hand?" Tsukiakari asked.

"I said, 'inside the barrier'." Belle corrected. "This was put in place to protect the integrity of Cat-One barriers in extremely dangerous situations. The exorcist selected can be killed, but the formula stays encrypted. Killing me here and now won't do anything for you, and you'll all die without knowing how to even get past the front gate of the airport. I implore you. Let me go in first. In return, I will make you next in line. If I die, the formula will be transferred over to you, and everyone here will have no choice but to let you in."

"Taeko, I know a trap when I smell one." Tsukiakari warned. "Amaterasu just told us about the assault, remember? Even if they've encrypted the formula for the barrier, the one they give to us would be the last one. That means someone else will already have the formula so they could undo the barrier in time for the assault. If we go along with this, we'll have almost no time at all before they're all on top of us."

"Yes, that would be correct." Amaterasu said. "The second to last formula will automatically give the assault leader a copy on their hand as soon as that exorcist enters the barrier, not when they die. That allows us to be prepared with as much time to spare as possible."

"Damn it, it's not looking like we have a choice." Shinju whispered. "So much for your plan, Taeko."

"If I may, why exactly is it an issue for you if I enter first? We both plan to kill Inari, don't we?" Belle questioned. "Well, Taeko? Our goals are aligned, right?"

"Just give me one reason to cut that fucking whore's neck open..." Taeko whispered.

Tsukiakari sighed. "Fine, we accept. However, we will continue to hold these two hostage until Inari is either dead, or you are."

"Gekko!" Shinju hissed.

"It'll be fine." Tsukiakari whispered with a sly wink. "We'll just have to put our faith in Kagutsuchi, as well as Osamu."

Belle nodded her head. Of course, she had hoped they'd release Amaterasu and Uzume, but no deal could be sealed without equal parts giving and taking. That deal was the best they were going to get.

"Very well." Belle said. "You've got yourself a deal, Tsukiakari. I trust that you have no intention of hurting Uzume or your mother. I'll have both the exorcists and the shrine maidens stand down, and I'll make Taeko the next in line to receive the formula. In return, you will not harm those two, nor anyone else here. Should I fall, you'll be able to enter the airport."

"Try anything, and you'll all end up dead." Tsukiakari warned.

Bell laughed. "Princess, with your track record, there isn't a single one of us here that's a match for you. It would be foolish to even attempt it. You have my word that as long as you don't hurt them, we won't infiltrate the hospital. Deal?"

Tsukiakari glanced over at Shinju, then at Taeko. They both gave her nods of approval. She unwrapped her fingers from the hilt of her sheathed blade and released a relieved sigh.

"You have a deal."