Game on

Chapter 19: Inheritance Arc 3

By mid-September, even though the Simon, with the exception of the ever absent Katou Julie, were in a friendly relationship with the Vongola X according to Chaos' Game – and most of their mental tempering was gone, the goal of completely freeing them from said tempering still hadn't been met.
The Vongola X, most of them having grown fond of the Simon, were starting to worry – after all the dead-line of the Inheritance Ceremony was fast approaching...

On the bright side, the Japanese Department of Magic had came through, and they finally had a permanent portkey set between Nono's mansion and the Yukimura's house.
As such, on a Saturday morning, Kazami found herself trailing along a beautiful white sand beach. The place was private, and at one end, a large cliff was shadowing it, with a heavy looking metallic door set in the stone at the bottom.
Three shadows were waiting for her in front of that door – two tall ones, and a third, small as an Arcobaleno and wearing an empty pacifier, perched on the shoulder of one of the taller two.

Now that her powers had grown, the unnaturalness of the Vindice was even more evident for her – now, she could even feel where that unnaturalness came from. They were empty – souls clinging on life despite having lived long pass their time, but worse, souls that had been torn apart against their will, and were now flameless.
She shuddered.

"Death's Mistress." the voice was deep, and shouldn't come from such a small frame "Vongola's new Shadow. Why do you come to us?"
"To talk."
The laugh that answered felt hollow, and mocking "Talk you say? Last time we saw each other, you had nothing but threats against us." he contradicted
"True." she nodded "And I'd do it again if I had to."

"At least you're honest." praised the non-child "So we'll admit that while rash and against any logic at the time, your act of saving the demonic illusionist did work in the end from what we've learned."
"But still against the laws." added one of the other two Vindice "Something that is dangerous for the underworld balance."
Kazami snorted "Balance?"she repeated "Right now that balance you're speaking of is but a dream without any foundation."

"Did you come only to mock us?"
"I came to propose a trade." she contradicted, before smiling "I don't like you, and you don't like me either." she controlled her aura, the clear feel of immortality and godly powers hidden once more, the three Vindice immediately relaxing with the disappearance of the feeling so threatening to them "But we can learn to live with it."
"We have something you want." it was an affirmation, once more from the small not Arcobaleno
A nod. Then, unexpectedly "And I have something you want."

It was a gamble really, at first, they had no idea about what the Vindice could want that wouldn't be too costly for the Vongola X – and their only real plan had been to try and negotiate, and fall back on Kazami's ability to destroy the Vindice if necessary. Not really a great plan, but they had nothing better...
But now that she had seen them again – and more importantly felt their soul, Kazami knew how she could barter with them.

The spokesman of the Vindice, after a moment of thinking, finally agreed "You have proved you were willing to make an effort by toning down your powers." he admitted "And we Vindice have to be fair as guardians of the mafia law. We can listen to you." an order must have been heard in those words, because the heavy door behind him finally opened "Come."

¤.¤.¤

Kazami had to control her natural curiosity as she entered within the most secure prison of the underworld, the famous Vendicare Prison – she wasn't afraid, as she knew the Vindice weren't stupid and understood that doing anything against her would be as good as signing their death warrant.
And of course, if worse came, she still could Recall to headquarter.

She could feel the complex spanning on several levels underground, with the worst criminals at the deepest, but didn't expect the over-ground levels – that seemed to be those reserved to the Vindice, explaining why they weren't well-known.
They finally arrived in a large room carved in the cliff itself, with a large picture bay offering an magnificent view on the sea and part of the beach. She was both impressed, and surprised – after all, from what she could feel from them, she didn't think the Vindice were able to enjoy such a setting...