The Bounty Hunter

September 21st, 2089

Terra’s POV

“Welcome to Juan’s Stop ‘n’ Shop.  Where the prices are loco~.”  The middle-aged greeter at the grocery store did his job with an impressive lack of enthusiasm as I entered.  As one would suspect from a store named “Juan’s”, I am not in Japan.  I am in a barrio in Miami, where my search for the Fountain of Youth has led me to this dump.  I’ve been doing this search casually on the weekends, teleporting back and forth from wherever I left off. 

Juan Ponce de Leon’s journey was well-documented, making it easy for me to follow.  When I was traveling along his supposedly “false” route into Florida, I noticed lingering traces of ancient magic.  It was so faint that in a few more years it would have completely faded.  I followed the traces to an old waystone, which I realized was a marker for an underwater aquifer that ran along a ley line.  I followed said aquifer to this store.  Had this place not been located on a massive intersection of ley lines while simultaneously being directly under a constellation that was channeling mana, I would have assumed I made a mistake.  As it stands, I need to pinpoint the exact location of the Fountain and see if it has run dry or not.

I started browsing some snacks, while keeping my sense open.  The store was dank, ill-lit, and a major health hazard.  I saw a rat mugging a cockroach, for goodness’ sake.  I repressed a shudder and moved on.  “Hey chica, what’s a beauty like you doin’ in a place like this?”  And there it is.  I was shapeshifted as Rin for this little expedition.  It was to keep my true identity a secret, and to hopefully mislead Dante as to where I am.  If he’s tearing up Tokyo with demons trying to find me, it’ll be inevitable for me to clash with them as Minato.  Thus, he if thinks Rin has gone elsewhere, I won’t have to worry about my hometown.

Fortunately, a year of experience masquerading as a girl has taught me the light touch needed to extricate myself from this situation (which has happened far too frequently for my liking).  *Click*  Wristbreaker was cocked and pointed in the face of the pendejo who was hitting on me.  “Not interested.”  The wannabe homeboy paled at the sight of the hand cannon, and quickly scurried away.

The only witness to my actions was a frail old lady with a walker and oxygen tank, who didn’t show any surprise at a gun being drawn in the store.  She had grey, wispy hair, a wrinkled face and a hunched back from age.  I immediately drew my other gun and fired on the old lady.  With inhuman dexterity the lady used her walker to vault over the aisle, dodging my initial barrage.

I continued firing, knowing that my bullets could pierce through that thin cover.  I was rewarded with the sound of bullet striking bone and the smell of fresh blood.  The oxygen tank was thrown towards me, followed by a fireball.  I teleported away into the aisle the old lady had escaped into, staring her down as an explosion echoed in the building.  Her right arm was nothing but pulverized meat, yet there was no show of pain or discomfort.  A bored voice then sounded out over the PA system.  “Shoppers, please exit the store.  Another explosion has occurred.  Thank you for shopping at Juan’s.”  Another?  Does this sort of thing happen here often?

I charged forward, making sure to restrain myself.  I want to capture, not kill.  The possessed old lady parried my jab with her walker, forcing me to adjust and do a leg sweep.  She backflipped over the move and stabbed back with her walker.  Magic was running down the metal, sharpening the points into daggers.  I sidestepped, watching as the walker pierced the ground with ease.

I kicked towards the demon’s head, forcing it to decide between dodging and losing its impromptu weapon or to trying to tank my hit.  The demon chose neither option, he channeled more magic into the ground, causing another explosion.  My illusory clone (which I had created when sidestepping the initial attack) dissipated in the explosion, while I phased out of the ground behind the demon and slapped a seal on him.  The possessed body turned rigid, falling over while the demon was pulled out due to the seal I had placed on it.  An exceedingly fat and ugly imp with mauve skin and grey eyes was left helpless in my grip.

“So, care to share why a Pandemonium member is here?”  the demon was unresponsive.  Here I was searching for leads on Pandemonium, and this gift walks right into my arms.  My happiness caused me to reveal an evil smile as I called upon my mana.  The demon flinched at the sight and spoke “…Way too similar.”  “Hmm?”  “That smile reminds me way too much of the boss, no wonder he’s declared you his future waifu.”  And… my good mood has gone.

I put quite a bit of strength into my grip around the imp’s throat, causing his eyes to bulge out like a squeeze toy’s.  My killing intent was let loose at full force, and had any regular humans still been around they would have likely been killed by the potency of it.  “Answer my question.”  “Ack!  I was sent here to find the Fountain of Youth!!!  Don’t kill me!”  the imp hastily responded.

“Why?”  “Because the boss wants to locate all potentially useful relics before the humans rediscover magic!  The fountain’s water might be useless for us, but it would be a perfect way to tempt humans into joining.  We’d also not have to worry about them kicking the bucket after only 100 years.”  *Sigh* Things just have to get more complicated.  Even if only 1 in 50 of the relics on Earth have been reawakened by the mana calamity, that’d be enough have repercussions.  Dante seems to be planning on making up the difference in personal strength between us with equipment.

More importantly though, Pandemonium has just become predictable.  Now that I know what they’re after, arranging an ambush should be simple enough.  I doubt the imp will spill anything more.  Demons are selfish, but when under contract there’s only so far they can go against the contractor’s interests.  I was about to tighten my grip and finish off the demon, but then those thrice-blasted headaches struck once more.  My vision remained, but auditory hallucinations appeared instead.  “My lady, what does thou intendth?”  “To utilize the ancient artifact and ritual to call uponth the Devil.  In exchange for a pure maiden’s soul, he will answer a wish.”  “NO!  My lady, you are the last of the House of Meadow!  If you die, so does the line!”  “The duty of a noble is to protect their people.  I will do so and meet the Gods with pride.”  “…Very well.  May the Redeemers bless you.”

The imp noticed my distracted state, and activated a magical bomb that had been in the old woman’s corpse.  The resulting explosion tore my grip from him, and I could sense him teleport away with a muttered “The boss is going to tear me a new one for sure.”  I was sent flying into the gardening section, where my impact was padded by an enormous number of lush, verdant plants.  I got up, grumbling at the lost chance to kill one of Dante’s high-level henchmen.  Based on the imp’s aura, he was on a similar level to the oni.  Why the hell am I getting hallucinations like these?  Even that dream was related!  I never heard that your hallucinations form a continuous story line!

I stopped my internal rant and decided to finish my mission before the police arrived.  They’ll be slow, since this is a notorious barrio here in Miami and cops generally avoid the crime-ridden area unless they are in force.  I noticed my surroundings, and was completely agape to see the flourishing plant life here.  The roses were a vibrant red and were overgrowing from their pots, out of season plants were growing beautifully, and this was all despite being located in the darkest, dankest part of the entire store.  A sneaking suspicion grew on me as I located the watering hose.

I tested the water, and traced its source to an underground well which was fed into by the aquafer that I had been following.  Yep, there’s still a trace of primal magic here.  The owner of this store seems to have dug illegally into this underground well (based on what I saw through psychometry) to avoid paying additional water bills, inadvertently finding and using the last drops of the Fountain of Youth in watering his plants.

It seems like the mana calamity did just enough to get the Fountain to reactivate for a short period of time, unfortunately it has been wasted on plants.  Let’s salvage what we can.  I drained every plant in the room of all its moisture, leaving dried husks in my wake.  I then made a kind of magic filter, eliminating all the normal water and leaving only water from the Fountain of Youth.  As simple as it sounded, it was extremely difficult. 

The end result was 7 drops.  This is not enough to grant eternal youth.  The legends said you need at least a mouthful or to bathe in it.  At best, this will provide youth throughout the natural lifespan, which is something I can already manage by enchanting one’s telomeres.  Veronica was right, this was a bust.  At least I got a lead on Pandemonium.  I vanished from the store after making sure that no signs of my presence or magic was leaked.