
THE WAY TO DAWN

CHARLES LEE

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events are fictitious, and any similarities to real people, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

THE WAY TO DAWN

2011© by Charles Lee

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Table of Contents

Chapter One - Their Blissful Misery

Chapter Two - The Annual Tournament

Chapter Three - The Night of Kismet

Chapter Four - The World Beyond My Own

Chapter Five - The Crossroads

Chapter Six - The Other Lost One

Chapter Seven - Somewhere I Belong

Chapter Eight - The Everblooming Darkness

Chapter Nine - The Eye of Deception

Chapter Ten - A Meeting in the Dark

Chapter Eleven - The Mask Behind the Masquerade

Chapter Twelve - Water into Wine
Chapter One: Their Blissful Misery

I awake in a dark place with vision as far as my nose. Upon standing, I hold no form over this bumpy ground. I look around trying to find a wall with my hands stretched deeper into the black. The ground starts to rumble and collapses from underneath me.

As I fall deep within the darkness, everything around me feels amplified. The sound becomes the darkness. The darkness becomes absolute. I feel hands of various sizes trying to take me whole. As soon as they shield my eyes, I awake once more.

"Where am I?" I ask, as I lie there feeling unusually heavy. "Was it a dream, or am I still dreaming?"

Lying on a cold, rough surface, I sit up, still unable to see anything. Wanting to panic, I fight the rising lump in my chest and remain calm. Suddenly, I hear two loud crashes not far from me. Mildly bright lights illuminate two stone altars holding floating swords. I stand up and walk in between them, gazing at the mystical aura they're producing. One is shrouded in light, the other in darkness.

"What are these?" I ask before nearly touching the light.

"The Empyrean Blades," a low, masculine voice replies.

I pull back. "Who's there?"

"It's time to choose, and choose wisely."

I look to my right and see a dark, cloudy aura shadowing the blade. I feel as if the black blade is calling to me. I almost can't resist. I glance to the left, squinting at the light surrounding the other sword. It is painful and hard to look at. And while it's rejecting, it's also strangely inviting.

However, the darkness suits me more. Whenever my life became unbearable, at least the darkness was there.

Unloving, everlasting, dark.

"If this is a dream, then taking this blade shouldn't mean nothing more than a means to wake up." Expecting a response, the voice remained silent. I grip the blade and remove it from its altar. Its weight is more than I anticipated.

Slowly, the surrounding area begins to turn white. "You made the right choice... Derexen."

Intrusively loud, the young man awakes abruptly from the loud shrieks of his mother calling his name. "Derexen! Derexen, get up!"

Derexen sits up and lets out a heavy sigh. He falls back and stares at his peeled ceiling. "What I wouldn't give to never wake up to this godforsaken place...," he mutters aloud.

"Derexen!"

"I'm coming!"

He gets up and stands in front of his bed. He puts his hand over his face, then over his mouth as he looks around his room. Derexen's room is small and filled with random junk. Bookshelves, toolboxes, plastic bins filled with his mother's clothes, cinder blocks, and many other items that should be in a basement.

Only his white-sheeted bed and the mirror-mounted dresser with deep scratches in the wood hold his personal belongings. He grabs some clothes off his bedpost and leaves his room to get ready for school.

Derexen lives on a small island called Twilight View. Although it isn't connected to the neighboring island, it's still considered the ugly sister of the two. The less financially successful live there while the wealthier ones live on the larger island, Berlin Waltz. Twilight View is basically the boondocks of the two locations with a beautiful appearance from the outside.

The major decisions that are made on the main island are supposed to also take affect at Twilight View. However, that happens less than half the time due to politics, money, and lack of priority.

Derexen brushes his teeth before combing through his mid-length bleached hair. He styles half his hair to hang low past his left eye. His olive skin and bleached hair give his cyan eyes a natural glow.

He wears an average school-boy uniform; consisting of black slacks and a white button shirt with long-sleeves and a navy blue tie. His black dress shoes have the island emblem of a setting sun on the outer heel of each shoe. Derexen's body frame is slender and well-sculpted for a young man. His muscles are fairly noticeable through his uniform shirt.

Derexen walks lifelessly downstairs and spots his mother on the couch watching television. "Bye, Mom," he says with masked ill.

She waves him off, as if he's nothing more than a gust of wind passing through. Seeming irritated by her gesture, he slams the door behind him and walks the two miles to his school with the same leave-me-alone look on his face he always wore for the world.

As a nineteen-year-old college freshman, Derexen never found a need to further his education. Though it was what's expected of someone of his exceptional grades throughout his academic career, it was not a true representation of him.

Derexen sits in the back row of his first three-hour class, not paying the slightest bit of attention. He stares out the window as he watches students enter the building.

This place, he thinks. Why the hell do I even bother to show up? No one gives a fuck whether I do or don't. He turns his head toward two girls who are smiling and talking about a previous party. This world. It sickens me. I can't stand how these imbeciles go on with their meaningless lives just to walk blindly to their ends. Life is meaningless. Why bother trying to give it meaning when it never began with any? Blissful ignorance...

"Derexen," the professor calls. "Derexen, up here."

"Oh, sorry, Professor Flores. I wasn't paying attention. What was it you were asking?"

"I didn't ask you anything. I'm just sick of you sitting in my class not paying attention to anything I have to offer you. Honestly, why do you even bother to show up to class if you're never going to put any effort into it?"

"You know what? I was just asking myself the same thing." Derexen gathers his things and begins to leave.

"Let this be a lesson to you, class. Watch closely as our country's millionth janitor is born," Professor Flores crudely says.

He stops at the door and turns to the professor. "Is that what you think? Just because I don't want to reduce my intellect to fit into the lump of crap you all call society, doesn't mean I will be the clean-up man for you blissful idiots."

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"And don't let the weight of reality crush you on the way to your next funeral." He shuts the door behind him and walks toward the student library.

Derexen isolates himself in the far back of the room. With him is a stacked variety of reading books on psychology, crime, infamous criminals and war heroes. Hours after reading and deciding not to continue his school schedule, he goes deep into thought about humanity again.

Till this day, it still doesn't surprise me when I observe the insensitive and idiotic actions of human nature. It does however make me wonder... Why must the end result have a sinful action behind their motives? It's always a plot to either further their own needs, their own goals, or to even bring down the competition. Friends or foes, people treat one another the same, regardless of how the other may feel.

Off in the distance, he hears a couple of college students talking loudly about an upcoming event. He stands up and slowly sneaks over to the bookshelves to listen in on the students.

"Hey," the male student says, "check this out. It's that time again."

"Yeah," the other young man says, "Twilight View Vs. Berlin Waltz. I remember the days when I wanted to be in that, but it's really not worth it anymore. The prizes were much better when it started. Now it's a measly two grand."

"If they want to make a prize worth fighting for, then they should give someone the right to make one political change for their home."

"Keep dreaming."

The two boys walk off as Derexen emerges from behind the shelves and reads the flyer to himself. _Do you have what it takes to be the best? Then come to the village, Berlin Waltz and strut your stuff. You must be ages sixteen and older._

Hmm, Derexen thinks, an annual tournament held at Berlin Waltz. A week from today, huh? Usually I wouldn't attend something like this, but I've been meaning to leave this island for quite some time. Derexen rips down the flyer and stuffs it in his pocket. "I look forward to seeing the island next to ours."

Miles away from Twilight View, the students of Berlin Waltz are also intrigued by this year's festivities.

Berlin Waltz is a small town built on a giant sloping incline of dirt roads and basic technology. The schools and businesses are at the highest points while small shops and food stores are built near the beach shore. Most homes are set toward the center of this massive hill, but others who can afford it live at higher points, making class wealth hard not to notice.

Since Berlin Waltz is a lonely island, most of Terra rarely thought of its existence as something to count as a place that mattered. This made its livelihood a miracle it wasn't a chaotic nightmare. Instead, it was what many residents would call home.

At Flanten High School, the school's bell has rung and the students have gathered in the cafeteria to eat. Sitting alone at a small table, a young man eats his lunch as he waits for his friends to arrive.

He waves his hand at a buzzing fly over his head before swiping at his lengthy black hair.

His blue eyes and black hair nicely complement his lighter-than-olive-white skin. He wears a casual school-boy uniform and a white short-sleeve shirt with his school's name stitched on the left side of his chest in blue. His school pants are a faded gray color, and his shoes are black leather.

Someone nearby starts to call out to him. "Hey, Greyshio! Greyshio!"

A young man holding a lunch tray while waving a flyer rushes toward the table. He has short, dirty-blond hair, brown eyes, and a light tan complexion. His body build is a bit more muscular than Greyshio, including his broad shoulders. He has on the same clothes as Greyshio, except his shirt is a white button-up, and his school tie is fixed loosely around his neck.

He plops down next to him, spilling some of his milk onto Greyshio's tray. "Come on, Demeseus!" Greyshio says. "I'm trying to eat my lunch. Not my lunch with a side of your milk."

"Man, calm down. Listen, guess what—?"

"Greyshio!" shouts a young schoolgirl with a slim, tight, body frame and shoulder-length black hair.

She wears a short, navy-blue mini skirt, along with a white, short-sleeve button shirt, and a small, navy-blue bow tie. She has fair peach skin and bright green eyes. Her cheeks have little dimples that appear whenever she smiles.

After dropping her tray on the table, she squeezes herself next to Greyshio. "Hello, baby," Greyshio greets. "Oh, just a salad?"

"Not just any salad," she replies. "It's a chicken salad topped with walnuts and raisins," she says cheerfully.

Demeseus scornfully stares at the happy couple, "You and your damn diets, Sophia. Look, I admit you got some big tits, but you're lacking in ass. Maybe you should eat more, like a burger, or some fries dipped in cheese."

"Oh my God, how rude!" She gives her boyfriend the puppy face. "Greyshio?"

Greyshio smiles nervously, "He's just playing."

"No, I'm serious," Demeseus says. "She has a pretty face and huge tits, but a tight and small ass."

"Okay, now you're going a little too far. You really shouldn't be looking at her like that. She's my girlfriend, you jackass."

Sophia hugs Greyshio tight and sticks her tongue out at Demeseus, "That's my man. Always looking out for his baby."

"You two make me sick," Demeseus says. "But now that I've got you guys' attention, guess what—"

"Hey, Grey!" shouts another young man from the distance.

"For the love of God, God, God!" Demeseus whines while slamming his head on the table.

The young man approaches the table in a hurry. He has dark brown hair, light white skin, and dark brown eyes. He has a large solid build and is a bit taller than the other two boys. His uniform is no different from Demeseus's, besides his navy-blue school jacket. His school shirt is not buttoned, revealing a plain white T-shirt.

He approaches the table and sits next to Demeseus, "Sup, Demeseus?"

"Hi, Brad," Demeseus says in a disappointed tone.

"Looks like the gang's all here. Oh, does anyone want half my turkey sandwich?"

"No, Brad! No one wants half of your damn turkey sandwich!"

"What's your problem?"

"He has big news and no one will let him speak," Greyshio says with a light chuckle.

Demeseus sighs, "If you don't mind, I would like to finish what I've been trying to say since the dawn of time. Guess what time of the year it is?" Sophia's about to speak until he puts his hand in her face. "It's time for the annual tournament." She makes a 'whatever' expression and continues eating. "We only have four days left till winter break. Guys, we've been waiting for this all year. No one here has excuses. We're all of age, and we have been training for this. The best part is that the winner gets not just a trophy, but prize money."

Brad smirks, "I guess it would be nice for one of us to win that cup and have people around us take notice. I mean, we are the future of Berlin Waltz."

"Exactly, and with that money, we could put that toward the college of our choice."

"How much are we talking?"

"I forgot. I think it's two thousand."

"That's good money!"

Greyshio puts his hand in the middle of the table, "For the Wings of Waltz."

Demeseus and Brad do the same. The three of them simultaneously break into shouting, "For the Wings of Waltz!"

"Ahem," Sophia says abruptly.

"I'm sorry, is there something in your throat, your highness?" Demeseus asks with blunt sarcasm.

She stands up and glares at Demeseus before looking to her boyfriend, "Umm, Greyshio? Can I speak to you for a moment?" The two of them walk from the table and Sophia leans up against the lunchroom wall. "Greyshio, are you really going to go through with this despite how I feel?" she asks with worry.

"Well... Sophia, I'm not doing this to make you worry. I'm doing this because this is a long-time dream of ours. It's what gives us drive. Even if it has nothing to do with our long-term goal, it's still something we want to do. It's childish, but it may be the last few things we do as boys before we are men. And if we can do this, then we can do anything."

"I think you're trying to over glorify mindless brutes beating each other to death." She looks down, toying with her hands. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Greyshio grabs her hands gently and puts them to his mouth, giving them a soft kiss. "Then I won't get hurt. For you, I will be flawless. As long as you cheer me on from the crowd, I will not lose. Give me your love, and I'll be invincible."

She blushes before he lays a long, romantic kiss on her.

Sophia looks up into his eyes, still blushful. "Okay, I will cheer you on at the top of my lungs. Because I believe in you."

They hold hands as they walk back to the table. "So, what will it be, Grey, you in?" Brad asks.

Greyshio smiles, "Just tell me where to sign."

"I'm shocked your queen allowed it," Demeseus says crudely.

"You know, sometimes you can be a real jerk-off," Sophia says. "Why don't you take your backward way of life elsewhere?"

"It just so happens that I do have other things I need to tend to. But first." He snatches both halves of Brad's sandwich. "I will be taking Brad's turkey sandwich to go." Demeseus hops out of his seat and runs off.

"This guy!" Brad says before chasing after him.

Greyshio looks over to Sophia and kisses her on the cheek. "I'm gonna head to my next class," he says while grabbing his book bag.

"But the bell didn't ring yet," Sophia says as she sits.

"I know, but I need to get some one-on-one time with the teacher or I'm never going to get this work down."

"Okay, I'll see you after school then?"

"You bet. Wait for me out front and I'll walk you home."

"Okay, see you at four."

Greyshio walks away while Sophia watches him. She smiles and shakes her head before digging into her salad.

The giant clock above the school hits four as Sophia waits out front. She sits patiently on the steps with her books on her lap. Greyshio comes out the school ten minutes later with his bag over one shoulder.

"You ready?" Sophia asks with a cheery smile.

"Yeah. Here, let me take those." He grabs her books and they begin their walk home. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Not really, just the same thirty minutes on top of the extra ten."

"Sorry, I got held up. My teacher wanted to make sure I really gripped the subject."

As they stroll down the streets with the sun setting on them, Sophia looks to Greyshio. "Greyshio, do you see kids in our future?"

Greyshio becomes nervous and gives her a sideways look as he swallows spit. "Uh, you want kids?"

"Yeah. Well, I want kids with you. I don't want a lot, just one."

"Gee, Sophia, we're kids ourselves. Isn't this kind of mature thinking of you?"

She stops suddenly. He turns around, concerned he may have upset her. "You're right, it is. But I can't imagine my life with anyone but you, Greyshio. Sometimes I think I love you more than you love me. But it's okay, I'm a girl. I tend to take things to higher emotional levels compared to boys," downplaying her own statement. "Forget I said anything. I've just been sitting on these thoughts for too long, that's all."

He walks up to Sophia and hugs her. "Your thoughts are not foolish. I value every single thing you can possibly think up. The fact that you can think so far ahead and plan before I can even see a glimmer of it makes you even more amazing every day."

She looks up to him and begins to smile before hugging him tighter. "I love you, Greyshio! Can we have a son someday?"

"Of course we can. And he'll have your beautiful green eyes," he says with an earnest smile.

Not long after leaving the school, the couple arrives at Sophia's house, hand in hand.

"Okay, this is me," Sophia says. "Will you be picking me up tomorrow?"

"Yup, I'll be here around eight in the morning. Come here so you can get your goodnight kiss," Greyshio says with a charming smirk.

She giggles as she walks slowly to him. They stare into each other's eyes and slowly lean in before kissing. They pause, and just before their lips touch, he makes the final move.

Sophia slowly pulls away with rosy cheeks. "Mmmm. Goodnight, my sweet prince."

"Night, my angel."

She walks up the four steps to her house and goes inside. Greyshio takes his leave and soon makes it to his street. At the front of his house, he sees Brad and Demeseus sitting on the front stairs.

"Hey, guys," Greyshio says. "Why are you sitting at the front of my house?"

"We're heading to the beach for some tournament training and wanted to see if you wanted to come along," Brad says.

"Oh, um, I don't know. Maybe another time."

"Stop being such a wuss and get your ass to the beach, boy," Demeseus says roughly.

"Look, we have time. Can't we begin training this weekend?"

"No, I want to be prepared so that the only time any of us lose is against each other."

"I guess that's understandable."

"It is, and besides, this is a good opportunity for the future mayor to gain some popularity as a youth."

"That's true, but is this the kind of light I would want?"

"No such thing as bad publicity."

Greyshio chuckles. "Okay, you guys, I'm in."

"Great," Brad says, "then it's settled. Let's get going."

A frail boy comes up to them with an uneasy smile on his face. He has on a dingy white shirt and torn brown jeans. His old gray shoes emit a mildly foul odor people can smell when near. The boy's dark brown eyes are sunken, adding to his ill appearance. His dirty white skin has a sickly shade, and his nasty white and gray hair is poorly combed.

"Hey, guys," the boy greets. "Hi, Demeseus. Your wooden swords are almost done, but I need more time. Maybe by next week I'll have them finished," he nervously says.

Demeseus walks up to him, "You little shit. I said have them done by today, not whenever you fucking feel like it." He punches the boy in the chest, making him whimper a little. "I'll meet you guys at the beach," he says to his friends. "I need to see how much this kid has done so far. You're being a very bad dog right now," he says, intimidating the child, "and I won't stand for it. Come on!" Demeseus says as he pulls on the collar of the little boy's shirt.

"Nice seeing you again!" the boy says to Greyshio and Brad as he's tugged away.

Brad and Greyshio begin to walk to the beach with looks of disappointment until Brad's face becomes angry. "I'm really getting sick of how he's always bullying that kid around," he says.

"It is disturbing. We've tried everything to make him leave Lex alone, but it would seem our words don't reach him."

"We haven't tried everything. I'm thinking about kicking his ass so he can really see what it's like to have a bully on you every day."

"No, Brad, you're just going to make things worse for Lex. And I can bet it will become an unwanted chain of events for others."

Brad sighs. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Meanwhile, Demeseus continues to impose on Lex at his house by using his unjust cruelty. "Well, this is my house," Lex says as they enter the front door. "I think it's so cool that you're in my house," he says gleefully.

Lex's house is rundown and dirty. There is one couch and a small television on a wobbly table in front of it. The kitchen has a small stove and an even smaller sink. The floorboards are creaky, the walls are peeling, and the air is stale. The house has virtually no sense of style, due to the lack of furniture and worn-out decor.

Demeseus looks around. "Really? Because I think your house is a dump. Ever heard of a broom, or a mop?"

"He-he, sorry. I didn't expect company."

"For how long, the rest of your life? Whatever, where are my swords?"

"Oh, he-he, they're upstairs. Would you like something to eat? I don't have much, but I'm willing to offer you anything." Lex rushes to the fridge while Demeseus stands behind him. "My mom said she's going shopping later. All I have is some bread and beans."

"The bread is moldy," he says while looking over Lex's shoulder.

Lex pulls out the last two rolls of bread and a can of beans. "Oh, I can take that off for you. You won't mind the taste much with the bean juice. Oh, and I also have—"

Demeseus smacks the bread and beans to the floor. "That's fucking disgusting. Are you trying to kill me?"

Lex makes a sad face, "But it's all I have."

"I never said I wanted to eat your rat shit! Soon, I'm just going to ignore you all together."

"Please don't do that! I'll find something better for you."

"Tch, forget it. Just show me my swords."

The front door begins to jiggle. Lex quickly begins scooping the beans and bread into a cracked bowl. The door opens and a woman wearing an apron, a green shirt, and black dirty pants, walks inside the room. Her face looks exhausted as she stares at Lex.

"Oh, hey, Mom," Lex greets. "How was work?"

"It was fine," she says, sounding completely worn-out. "I'm still trying to get that promotion from bagger to cashier." She glances at his bean-stained hands and floor. "Lex, don't eat off the floor, we have bowls."

"I know, Mom, but I dropped the food on the floor."

"Well, you know we can't afford to be wasting food, so if you want to eat tonight, I suggest you clean it off the best you can."

"I know, Mom."

"If your father wasn't such a scumbag and didn't run out on us, maybe we wouldn't have to live like this."

"It's okay, people make mistakes. I'm sure one day he'll come back."

She looks at him like he's a hopeful fool, but then smiles. "Yes, maybe you're right."

Demeseus turns his head. "Sure, like he wants to come back to this dump," he says under his breath.

She looks at Demeseus for a moment and faintly smiles. "Hello. Lex, who's your new friend?"

Lex puts the bowl into the sink and washes his hands. "He's my best friend, Demeseus. He's great. There's nothing he can't do."

"Hahaha," Demeseus falsely laughs as he moves beside Lex, patting his shoulders, "yes, yes, yes. Uh, sorry, ma'am, I'm kind of in a rush and your son has something that belongs to me, so we're heading upstairs for a moment," he says while pushing Lex toward the stairs.

Once the boys go upstairs, Lex's mother walks over to the sofa and lies down. She briefly looks up at her dusty ceiling and starts coughing, covering her mouth before wiping away traces of spit.

"It's nice to know my son made a friend. At least he won't be alone when I'm gone."

The two boys reach Lex's room. Inside, there is nothing but a chair, a spread of dirty bed sheets with a pillow, and a torn bear in the corner. His room has a window that's boarded at the top and bottom, leaving the middle as his only means for sunlight.

Demeseus closes the door and glares at Lex. "So, where are they?"

"Over here in the closet," Lex says, rushing to his closet doors and flinging them open. "Come, come, I have all three. I just need to add some finishing touches. This time they're more sword-like than last time when I upset you."

Demeseus walks over to his closet and analyzes the three wooden swords. The three items have a simple design with a circular pommel and smooth handle. The length of the wooden blade is not too extravagant, but good enough to constitute as a full-length blade.

Demeseus smirks. "My friends are gonna love these. Make sure you carve our names on the handles, okay?"

"Sure thing, boss. Oh, I was wondering, could I spar with you guys?"

"Why? It's not like you can get in the tournament."

"I know, but I just want to... you know."

Demeseus becomes annoyed and begins walking out the room. "No, I don't know. Listen, let me tell you something that even a dog like you can't forget. You are, and always will be, lower than dirt. That fact will never change. And if your plan is to try and beat me, showing me up in front of my friends, then you're wasting your time. A weakling like you has no chance of ever beating me in a tournament or in life. Finish my swords and stop dreaming of shit you can't do." He opens the door and looks back at Lex once more. "It's just sad."

He slams the door and stomps down the stairs. Lex begins to sob a little and moves a loose section of the wall behind his closet, pulling out a fourth wooden sword.

"Someday, Demeseus, I will prove to you that I'm not useless. I will show you that I'm more than a dog. Then maybe you'll see me as an equal, even if you don't want me as a friend."

After leaving Lex's house, Demeseus arrives at the beach to meet up with his two friends. "Hey! Sorry, guys, I don't have our wooden swords yet because the piss ant seems to be slacking off a bit," Demeseus says before laughing.

Brad gives him a highly irritated stare, "Hmph, that's fine. We can use these sticks I found washed up on the shore. Why don't you and I spar off first?"

Brad begins to stand until Greyshio pulls him down. "Brad, no."

Brad peels his fingers off. "Relax. It's just going to be a friendly sparring match between friends."

"What's wrong, Brad, getting cold feet, or is your wife holding you back?" Demeseus says arrogantly before laughing. Brad stands up to toss him a stick. They stand a few feet from each other and bump sticks to initiate the fight. "Now, Brad, don't aim for the face or the family jewels."

Brad nods. Demeseus swings first, colliding into his stick, then aiming for his arms. Brad maintains a serious visage, then ducks under one of his attacks before making a wild one-handed swing to his face. Demeseus blocks most of the impact, but it still hits him under his eye.

Demeseus drops the stick and covers his face. Immediately, he takes a swing at Brad and misses. "What the fuck is your problem!? I just said no faces!"

"I didn't hear that," Brad says smugly. "If I didn't reply to your request, you should've checked twice."

"You son of a—!"

Greyshio comes in between them and grabs Demeseus before the fight gets out of hand, "That's enough, you two. Just let it go, now."

"What's your problem, man!?" Demeseus shouts while trying to break free of Greyshio. "You really want me to kick your ass, is that it!?"

"Fat chance that you would ever be able to beat my ass," Brad says. "You're just mad that I'm one of the only few people who would dare stand up to you. If you want to bully someone, come at me! Stop picking on children!"

Demeseus stops struggling and steps back, looking at Brad as if no one else in the world exists but them. "The next time you do some slick shit like that, I'm gonna break your jaw." Demeseus walks off toward the village like a brat.

Greyshio watches his angry storm off and doesn't know what to do, "Wait, Demeseus!"

"Let the coward go. If he wants to cry out his immoral actions, then let him. No one will stop him."

"Damn it, Brad, I said let it go!"

"Look, he got what was coming to him"

"Bullshit! Now guess who's going to suffer for it if Demeseus sees him!?"

"If he messes with Lex again, I'll intervene."

"You're both so damn stubborn, it's sickening."

"Anyway, the damage is done. Are we gonna let a good day go to waste, or are we gonna train?" Greyshio sighs and picks up the stick Demeseus was using to spar.

Once the sun begins to set, the two boys silently walk home together, reaching Brad's house first. Brad opens his front door, "Go on and say what's on your mind."

"You know you'll have to see him again tomorrow. Don't think this will all magically blow over."

"I'm not worried, and I'm not going to apologize for my actions. Besides, I honestly don't see why you're defending an eighteen year old who bullies a thirteen year old for kicks and giggles. If anything, he should be a role model to the boy, not his daily terror."

"Despite his constant rude remarks and his unnecessary bullying, Demeseus has come a long way from who he once was. In my eyes, I see someone who's trying to change through others, even if he hasn't gotten there yet. And for someone who claims he wouldn't change his friends for the world, maybe you should. Especially if all you can do is criticize rather than help someone who can't help themselves."

Greyshio turns away and begins heading home, leaving Brad with much to ponder.

The next morning, Greyshio's awakened by the sound of his mother calling him down for breakfast. He brushes his teeth, puts on his school uniform, and heads downstairs to eat. He kisses his mom on the cheek and sits at the counter to a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes.

Greyshio's mother is a chubby woman with a youthful appearance that can easily pass for twenty-six. She's wearing blue jeans and a pink shirt covered by a red apron with a white pocket in front. She has dark brown hair in a ponytail that's pulled over her shoulder, and blue irises with thin eyebrows.

Greyshio cuts his food and pours syrup around his pancakes. Moments after taking his first bite, someone rings the front door. The two glance at each other before his mother answers the door.

"Good morning, Brad," she greets warmly.

"Hello, Mrs. Basque," Brad says. "How're you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling lovely, thank you for asking. Would you like to come in for some breakfast?"

"Sure, and thank you." He enters and sits next to Greyshio, yet to say a word to him.

"What would you like?" Mrs. Basque asks Brad.

"Uh, just pancakes." Brad turns to Greyshio with a confused look. "So about yesterday. Were you trying to make me choose my friends, or were you giving me an ultimatum, as in you choosing Demeseus over me?"

Greyshio drops his fork to his plate and sighs. "Are we still on this? Come on, Brad, it's a new day and yet you want to continue this."

"Well, I don't know, Greyshio, do I? I mean, we've been friends since we were eight and you're going to take sides with a guy who you've only been friends with since freshman year?"

"I'm not taking sides! I just... I just think you sometimes don't look at both ends of the story. You never know what it took to make him what he is today."

Brad gets up once his pancakes are ready and picks them up barehanded. He applies small trickles of syrup on them and folds them. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Basque, but I'm going to have to take this meal to go. Thank you for a wonderful breakfast."

He turns to Greyshio. "Oh, and, Grey? If you want me to take pity on a bully, then you better get ready for a cold winter because I'm not caving. It's true, he is my friend, and that's why I give him tough love. But if you're going to mask it with crap like, maybe I should look at it from his prospective, then you are no better than he is."

"Now hold on, Brad," Greyshio says.

"No, let me finish," he says with aggravation. "Honestly, that's the problem with people like you. They lack certainty on what really matters. It's a shame you don't understand wrongs like most people. So my pity goes out to you, Greyshio. I hope you never suffer a heavy burden because it will destroy you. I'll see you at school. Thanks again, Mrs. Basque."

Brad walks out the house, leaving behind a silence that makes Greyshio and his mother slightly uncomfortable.

"So I take it you boys are having some trouble?" Mrs. Basque says as she gathers the dishes.

"Yeah, somewhat. I don't know why I try to keep them from fighting. It just seems inevitable. To make matters worse, somehow I got him mad at me. I was just trying to help their half-broken friendship."

"Greyshio, have you ever considered the possibility their half-broken relationship is probably as good as it gets with them?" Greyshio looks confused to her reasoning. "It is better that it's half broken than being completely broken. Maybe you should let it go instead of telling him to let it go. There's an old saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Get it? It means your efforts are pointless, and if you keep pushing, it will eventually be broken."

Greyshio puts his plate in the sink by his mother and frowns. "Sorry, mom, I just think it can't be healthy to have a relationship like theirs. What time is it?"

"It's 7:42."

"Oh no, I'm gonna be late to pick up Sophia!" he says, hastily grabbing his belongings. "She's going to be mad. Bye, mom, I'll see you later. I'm going to be out late training!" He puts on his shoes and rushes out the door.

"Be home before nine! And tell Sophia I said hi!"

He slams the door and runs up the street. Greyshio arrives at Sophia's house with literally seconds to spare. He props himself up against the wall of her house, looking as if he's been there the whole time.

Sophia comes out with her hair up and books in hand. "Morning, Greyshio. Have you been waiting long?"

"Nah, just a few minutes," he says, acting suave. "Hey, you look good with your hair up."

"Oh, this? I was in a rush and I didn't want to be late for my first class. I got finals in there and I can't afford to miss it. Come on."

"Okay. Here, let me grab your books."

"Thanks."

They walk closely together as they head to school. Halfway, they run into Demeseus casually walking up the hill.

"Hey, Demeseus!" Sophia shouts. He stops and turns around with a light black and blue underlining his eye. With a concerned expression, she walks up to him and almost touches his face before glancing at Greyshio. "Are you alright? Was it your dad again?"

Again? Greyshio thinks.

"No, this was the doing of Greyshio's best friend," Demeseus says. "Turns out he had a problem with me and instead of telling me, he decided to hit me in the eye."

"Greyshio, is this true?" Sophia asks.

"Well, it didn't go like that exactly," Greyshio replies nervously.

"Oh really?" Demeseus says sarcastically. "Then please tell her how it went because maybe I was too dazed from the hit to absorb the situation properly."

"Okay, it was kind of like that, but maybe you should look at it from his point of view."

Sophia shakes her head. "Greyshio, there is never a time that it's okay to hit another person, no matter what. I don't care what Demeseus did, two wrongs don't make a right. Look, I got to get to class. I'll see you guys later. Demeseus, we can talk about this at chemistry, okay?"

Sophia runs off to school.

Greyshio looks slowly at Demeseus. "Demeseus, I—"

"Look, I'm not going to discuss this. Let's just go to school."

They begin to slowly walk together without saying anything.

"Umm, Sophia said something about your dad?" Greyshio says with lack of ease. "What was she talking about?"

"Nothing big. Just that my dad drinks a lot and would occasionally beat me to relieve stress. It's not a big deal. I don't care."

"Demeseus, maybe you should—"

"Hey, I don't need your damn advice! Let's just go to school and forget this day."

"Yeah, but why did you tell her and not me? I thought you and her weren't even that close."

"In some ways we are, and in others we're not. She does annoy me at times, but we began to connect here and there. Since most of our senior classes are together, we've had more time to talk. Besides, this is a touchy subject and it took a lot for me to tell her."

"Well, whenever you want to talk about it, you know where I am."

"Right."

A few hours have passed since morning and it is now lunch time. Sophia and Demeseus are the first at the lunchroom table with Greyshio and Brad arriving shortly after. An awkward silence takes the table with sporadic glances.

Brad and Demeseus are staring each other down before he smirks, "So, I must say, your eye looks marvelous, Demeseus," Brad says.

Demeseus stands up abruptly until Sophia puts her hand on his shoulder, easing him back down. "Brad, I think you should apologize for hitting him in the eye without reason," Sophia says.

"Ha! I will do no such thing."

"That's okay," Demeseus says. "I don't need the words of a coward that wouldn't have the decency to even confront me about his issue."

"Okay, you want to know what my problem is? I don't like how you pick on people weaker than yourself. The worst part is that you do it for no reason."

"Brad, even if that's true, you shouldn't have hit him," Sophia says.

"You're just as bad as Grey. You two swear there's good in everything in this world, but you're wrong. This guy has no reasons for his actions. In fact, I think I should become his bully."

Demeseus stands up and Sophia gets up with him, trying to sit him back down, but it's useless. "You want to hit me!?" Demeseus shouts. "You want to let go of your anger!? Then come on! Come on and take your best shot!"

Brad rises up to hit him. Greyshio becomes extremely angry and double slams his fist on the table, "Stop it!" The lunchroom briefly becomes quiet before resuming subtle chatter. "You're both wrong. Demeseus does it because that's what he's used to at home. I bet he doesn't even realize it himself. And, Brad, you are so blind to the chance he may have problems that drive him as who he is that you are completely ignoring his pain. You two are tearing the group apart. If this is how it's going to be, then I don't want to be involved anymore!"

The four of them remain silent and look at each other uneasily.

Brad scratches his head. "I'm sorry, Demeseus." Greyshio's eyes widen in shock that Brad actually apologized. "But don't get the wrong idea. I'm just sorry about hitting you without talking to you, and I'm sorry about your home life, but I will not apologize for your bullying." Demeseus just stares at him with some remaining anger on his face. "Here's what I should have said the first time. If it hurts you this much for someone to do this kind of abuse to you, then what makes you think that your abuse isn't scarring Lex? On that note..."

Brad takes out his hand, offering him a handshake. Demeseus takes his hand, and they smile at each other while squeezing each other's hands in a semi-playful manner. They sit back down and Brad pats Greyshio on his head, "Relax, man, everything's good now. There's no reason for you to leave the group."

Greyshio keeps his eyes on his lunch tray and smiles. "Don't fix what's not broken," he mutters.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just glad things worked out the best they could."

"Now that we're on better terms, let's talk about that tournament."

"Oh yeah, my baby's going to win it all," Sophia says with confidence. "No one will even make him sweat."

"Oh, please," Demeseus says. "He can't even beat me. How the hell is he going to win it all?"

"Come on, guys," Greyshio says. "Don't be mad she speaks the truth. I'm a tough guy who has no bounds. Honestly," he stands up and begins to flex his biceps. "Have you seen what I can do?"

Brad and Demeseus look up at him with faces of disgust. "Man, sit your ass down!" Demeseus says.

The four of them begin to laugh and continue the rest of their school day like they don't have a care in the world. The final school bell rings and the four members of the Wings of Waltz begin to walk toward the beach for some practice.

"Hey," Greyshio says, "by any chance, do you think this can help all of us get noticed enough in the tournament that it could bring our dreams closer?"

"Don't be so naïve," Brad says. "This will only look good for you and me, Grey. You wanting to be this town's future mayor; Sophia, a doctor, Demeseus, a lawyer, and me, an army general. But no worries, we will surely find our own ways."

"Oh, guys," Demeseus says. "I'll meet you three at the beach. I'm going to pick up the swords. Relax, Brad, I'm trying."

"What, I didn't say anything."

"Yet. You didn't say anything, yet. Be right back, you guys."

The three of them sit in the sand, waiting for Demeseus's return. Demeseus comes running from the top of the beach, tossing wooden swords to Greyshio and Brad.

"Okay, let's get this started," Demeseus says while wielding and grinning wildly.

"Whoa, these are amazing," Greyshio says, while analyzing the sword closely. "Such amazing craftsmanship. It even has my name on it."

"Mine's too," Brad says while swinging his around.

"My gifts to you guys," Demeseus says. "So I was thinking we should have a three-way. If we have a three-way battle, it'll increase our ability to sense when an attack is coming our way. Our ability to predict upcoming moves will be heightened."

Brad begins walking to the shore. "Sounds good to me. Let's go."

Greyshio walks over to Sophia and gives her a kiss, then runs his finger down her lips. "Wish me luck, my angel."

"I thought you don't need luck," Sophia says.

"You're right, but I'm always going to need your love," he says while walking toward the shore with his sword on his shoulder.

Sophia blushes, burning his words deep in her heart. She watches the three boys make a ring around each other. "Come on, Greyshio!" she shouts. "Show them that you can't be beat no matter what!"

Greyshio grins and begins bouncing his sword on his shoulder while bouncing himself. Brad raises his sword overhead while Demeseus has his squared in the middle of his body. The three of them glance at each other a few times, waiting for the first move.

Suddenly, they simultaneously shout, "GO!"

They charge at each other with the sounds of slamming wood and Sophia's shouts cheering them on.
Chapter Two: The Annual Tournament

It is now winter break, and school is out with the day of the tournament at hand. The event is only a few hours away.

Wearing dark blue jeans and a black long-sleeve shirt with sneakers, Brad sits in Mrs. Basque's kitchen, chatting with her as he waits for Greyshio. Footsteps from the stairs is heard as Greyshio comes down.

Brad jumps out his chair, letting out a sigh of relief. "Finally," he says.

Greyshio's wearing black jeans with a black and white patterned shirt that brings out the shine from the silver chain he has around his neck. He also has on black boots and a black belt with a metal flame emblem on the buckle and eyelets. His dark hair is gelled and spiked so some of the hairs stand up.

"My word, son," Mrs. Basque says with her hand to her chest. "With that much black on, you would think you're going to a funeral."

"Nah, Mrs. Basque," Brad says. "It's more about flash with this guy. He's going to a tournament that he will be fighting in and yet, he looks like he's going on a date."

"Shut up, Brad," Greyshio says. "Once I win this thing, people will be taking pictures. I want everyone to see how handsome their young mayor is."

"Right," he says with a sarcastic eye roll. "Anyway, we should get going. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Mrs. Basque."

"You too, Brad," Mrs. Basque replies. "Now you boys be careful out there. I don't want to see any of you on the news in a negative way."

Brad makes an optimistic gesture. "You got it."

Greyshio kisses his mom on the cheek and rushes out the door with Brad. As the two boys head toward the beach, they can see the shore becoming quickly crowded.

"Oh wait," Brad says while slowing down. "We have to get Sophia."

"Nah, she said she'll meet us there. She promised that she won't miss my fight." He points toward an upcoming house. "We're almost at Demeseus's house. I think I'll go in."

"No point. I went by his house before yours and he wasn't home. You think he chickened out?"

"Hahaha, I doubt it. Fighting isn't something he fears. If anything, he's probably already there."

The boys reach the beach and make their way through the crowd. Brad suddenly stops Greyshio. "Hey, Grey? How about a quick sparring match?"

"But we need to sign in."

"Don't worry about it. We got plenty of time before we miss our shot to participate."

"Okay, but where will we spar?"

"Follow me. There are sections of the beach that are completely empty because of all the attraction the tournament's bringing in." The two of them travel to the far end of the beach with no one around, just low crashing waves and clustered beach rocks. "You ready to take on the champ?" Brad says playfully.

"Ha, this should be fun," Greyshio says, getting into his stance. "Come on, Brad! Let's see how many times I can split your wig."

Brad chuckles before doing a leaping attack from the air with his sword raised overhead. Greyshio does a quick dodge roll to the left toward some rocks. He quickly jumps onto the rocks and pushes off them like a springboard. Doing a full spin-around, Greyshio smashes his wooden sword into Brad's ribs, causing him to keel over. Greyshio sees another opening and falls on his back to quickly kick Brad's legs from underneath him.

Greyshio gets up, breathing heavily with his hand out to help Brad up. "Had enough, champ?"

Brad smiles and lets Greyshio pull him up. "Hmph, you've been training solo. Oh well, it was a sparring match. Neither of us were serious. But when I see you in the ring, you're gonna get it. And I do hope that's not your best move, Mr. Mayor."

"Oh boy, you really hate losing."

"If that's what you consider a loss, then you can bite me!"

The two boys begin laughing until they hear Sophia from behind them. "Greyshio!" she shouts, running up the beach.

Sophia's wearing a white, short-sleeve, school uniform. Around her neck is a black tie that is barely fastened around her neck. Sophia's baggy, dark blue jeans have many pockets on the left pants leg. Around her waist is a silver chain hanging from belt loop to belt loop. On her feet are dark brown boots with black laces.

"Hey, Sophia," Greyshio says. "What's wrong?"

"Forget that," Brad says, dismissing her urgency. "Do you realize school is over? Why wear half the clothes?"

"No time!" Sophia says, still breathing a bit heavy. "You guys better come to the shore!"

The three of them run around to the other side of the beach and find a small boat that has been dragged to shore and tied to the pier.

Brad looks at it carefully, touching the oars and the boat. "You're right. This isn't from our village."

Sophia briefly fans her neck. "What do you think this means?"

"It means more competition this year," Greyshio says with a big smile.

"Wait, you never know," Brad says. "It could just be a random person passing by for a visit from the other island."

"I wouldn't stress, whether it's more competition or just a wandering tourist. It's all the same to me."

"I guess so," Sophia says before turning to Brad. "And, Brad, don't insult my unique sense of style. The only reason I'm wearing the school shirt is because I'm somewhat used to it, you know? It kind of grows on you after wearing it for so long."

"Yeah, like a bad fungus."

"You!"

She begins hitting Brad while he laughs and braces himself for each hit.

Greyshio smiles before quickly gasping. "You guys, we need to sign up or else we'll become nothing more than spectators this year!"

"You're right," Brad says.

The three of them begin to quickly cross the beach. "By the way, where is Demeseus?" Sophia asks.

"We don't know. We checked his house and he wasn't home. He's probably already there."

She makes a momentary face of concern before relaxing her worries. The three of them make it back to the crowd and slowly push their way through.

At the edge of town, where the crowd's at its peak, lies the admissions stand. Lex signs the sheet at admissions while looking around suspiciously.

"Are you sure you're sixteen?" the admissions man asks.

"Uh-huh, just turned sixteen this week," Lex replies. "Just in time, he-he."

He gives him a look of disbelief. "Right. Sign here, please. Leave your weapon of choice next to your name."

Lex finishes writing his information and hears the voices of Demeseus's gang. He quickly ducks down and begins crawling his way out of the crowd without being seen. Once Greyshio and his friends make it up front, they are cutoff by a young man wearing a black hooded sweater and dark gray jeans with black sneakers.

On the front of the sweater are white angel wings overlapping his shoulders and arms, ending with the wingtips at his sides. On his chest and stomach is a woman knelt down with white wings coming out her back. The angel's hair is long and snow white with the edges dipped in blood.

On the back of the sweater is the angel on her knees with her hands open and arms spread apart to her sides. She's looking up at a bright light above her while crying lucid shiny tears and kneeling in a pool of blood and human corpses.

"Excuse me!?" Greyshio says with aggravation. "Thank you for skipping us, jerk."

"You're welcome," the young man replies.

"Hey, Grey," Brad says. "I think we just found our outsider. He doesn't look like he's from around these parts."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Sophia says with disgust. "Like, why is he wearing a hoodie? It's seventy-nine degrees. I bet he's ugly."

The young hooded man finishes and walks by them with no care. Greyshio glares as he watches him walk away.

Brad shakes Greyshio's shoulder. "Come on, man. Forget him and let's sign up." After Greyshio signs in, and Brad finishes doing the same, he takes notice of the sheet. "Hey, guys, look at this. 'Demeseus Ocadu.' Looks like he was the first to sign in, but where the hell is he?"

"Let's face it, he chickened out because he fears me," Greyshio boasts before laughing.

"Come on, Greyshio, get real," the sound of Demeseus's voice shocks the three of them.

They look up to see him standing on top of the admissions stand, wearing black pants and a black, loose-fitting, long-sleeve shirt. He has on a plaid, yellow and black scarf wrapped loosely around his neck.

"You've been topped in the black department," Brad whispers in Greyshio's ear.

"Shut up!" Greyshio says after pushing him away. He looks up to Demeseus. "You think your entrance makes you look cool?"

Demeseus wipes his black sneakers. "No, but you got to admit it. It makes me look stunning in the eyes of the envious."

"What?"

He chuckles. "Idiot."

"Hey!" shouts the admissions man. "Get the hell off my stand or I will have you booted from the tournament!"

"Whoops."

Demeseus jumps down and lands in between his friends before giving off a cheesy smile.

"You look nice, Demeseus," Sophia says.

"Thanks."

The four of them move to the arena to patiently wait for the match lineup. "May I have your attention please," says the announcer.

"Shhh, it's the loudspeaker," Sophia stresses to her chatty friends. "Oh goodie, it's time for the first match," she says with excitement in her voice.

"I thought you weren't interested in this," Demeseus says.

She turns to him. "Shhhhh!"

"Round one is about to take place," the announcer says. "Brad vs. Derexen. Please be in the arena in the next five minutes or you shall be disqualified."

"Hey, Brad, you're up first," Greyshio says while turning to him. "Brad. Brad?"

Derexen glances over at Brad before heading to the ring. Damn, why do I have to be the one to fight the outsider? Brad thinks. Just my luck, I guess. Brad walks from his friends without a word.

"Geez, why is he so tense?" Demeseus asks. "Could he actually be worried?"

The two fighters enter the large white powdered ring. Shortly after, the rules are announced by the referee.

"Here are the rules for this year's tournament," the announcer says. "There are no time limits unless announced. The only ways to win is by knockout, ring out, or your opponent forfeits the match. Dirty fighting is not permitted. Which means no biting, no hitting opponent's privates, no eye poking, and absolutely no killing. With that being said and done, let the battle begin!"

Brad takes out his wooden sword from under his shirt and stares down his opponent.

Derexen cocks his head and chuckles. "It's rude to stare."

"What?"

A wooden sword slides out from Derexen's sleeve before he charges at him. "What are you waiting for!?"

Brad does a sidestep before doing a wild swing toward his opponent. Derexen quickly ducks and kicks his leg out to knock his opponent to the ground. Derexen hops up and smashes his sword to the ground, attempting to stab his opponent in the face.

Brad turns his head to the left before it can hit him. He soon turns to the right, dodging the attacks in this fashion several times. When the blade comes down and misses once more, Brad grabs his opponent's hand and pushes it deeper into the sand. He grabs his hooded sweater and kicks him into the air, knocking off his hood.

"Look how that bastard aims for Brad's face," Greyshio says with anger in his voice.

Brad does a kip-up and gives Derexen a left hook, a right hook, then knocks him to the ground with an uppercut to his jaw. Derexen sits up and spits blood into the sand.

Derexen grins and wipes his mouth. "I like that. Pain makes me so happy sometimes, you don't even know."

"You're right, I don't know, and I'm not interested in knowing."

Derexen rises up and rushes in to do a knee strike. Brad jumps back to dodge his knee, but not in time to dodge being grazed by his sword swing.

"I'm through playing with you," Derexen says. Derexen unzips his hooded sweater and throws it to the side, revealing two swords and a plain white T-shirt. "Time to fall."

Derexen jumps up and wraps his legs around Brad's neck. He begins pounding the handles of his swords into his face. Blood shoots everywhere, leaving the crowd in awe. As Brad falls backward, Derexen doesn't let up in the slightest. When Brad hits the ground, Derexen stands up and smashes his foot into Brad's stomach, raising his sword in victory.

"I win," Derexen calmly says.

The crowd remains silent until the referee shouts, "And the winner is, Derexen! A Twilight View contender!"

"Get the hell out of here!" Greyshio says in outrage. "What that bastard did was uncalled for! He could have killed him!"

"That man should be disqualified!" Demeseus shouts.

The referee turns toward the stands. "Sorry, but Derexen didn't break any rules." Derexen picks up his sweater and leaves the ring. "He didn't fight dirty. I have no grounds to disqualify him on. Derexen stays. Quiet down and wait for the calls for the next match."

"But he's hurt."

"Don't worry about your friend. He'll receive medical attention. We always have a medical staff on hand. The next match shall begin in fifteen minutes!" he says to the crowd.

The on-duty medical men come to Brad's side and put him on a stretcher before taking him away. Greyshio and his friends leave the arena and talk about the event that took place in the ring. The three of them stand in a tight corridor that leads from the town to the arena.

"There is no way that someone can do that and be allowed to continue in this tournament," Sophia says.

"Well, he is," Demeseus replies. "And there is nothing we can do about it."

Greyshio paces back and forth, looking as if he's going to blow. "Yeah, except kick his ass."

Suddenly, Derexen slowly comes their way with his hood up. He passes Demeseus, as if going for a casual walk.

"You know what you did back there was completely uncalled for," Demeseus says, stopping Derexen.

"You took your fight to a level that wasn't even needed," Greyshio adds. Derexen grins and continues to walk through until Greyshio jumps in front of him with enraged eyes. "Hey, dick! I'm talking to you! The fact you tried to kill my friend will not blow over so quickly. I will make you pay for your lack of sportsmanship."

Derexen chuckles. "If I'm lucky, maybe I'll get to kill you."

Greyshio balls his fist. "Why wait, you son of a bitch! Let's go!"

Demeseus lowers Greyshio's hand. "Get out of here. We have nothing more to say to you."

Derexen doesn't even look him in the eye before walking away with a smirk.

Greyshio pulls from him. "Are you mad, Demeseus!? Are you really going to let that guy walk by us after what he did!?"

"We have to play it smart. If we fight him now, we risk jail time. That can ruin us. But if we take it in the ring, then we have no limits, besides the loose rules the committee made up."

Sophia puts her hand on Greyshio. "He's right. I feel bad for Brad, but you have to calm down. Don't be irrational and make a choice you'll regret later."

Greyshio begins to settle down. He looks up and lets out a sigh. "You're right. I need to stop and think. I just wish I knew if Brad was okay."

"I'll go check on him, okay? I will see what the nurse's station has to say."

"Thanks, Sophia." She runs off to the nurse's station. "I hope it's nothing too serious."

Not long after, Sophia returns with news on Brad's condition. "Well, how is he?" Demeseus asks.

"He's no longer in danger," she replies. "He's just suffering from a concussion. Now you two can stop stressing and try to have a little fun."

"No way. I'm dropping out."

"Yeah, me too," Greyshio adds.

"No, you two. Look, I know a lot has happened, but this isn't what Brad would have wanted. When he wakes up, do you know how pissed he would be, knowing that you guys didn't stay like we planned? Plus, who will take down the outsider if you guys back out now?"

Demeseus looks at Greyshio and exhales. "She's right, we need to stay."

"And have fun," she says with a smile. They give Sophia a look as if she's out of her mind. "Just try to pretend this didn't happen. Focus on the tournament. When that's over, we will put all efforts on Brad, okay?"

They nod with mild smiles on their faces.

A few minutes later, the loudspeaker goes off, "The second match has been decided. Demeseus vs. Lex. Please report to the arena in the next five minutes or you shall be disqualified."

Demeseus looks at his friends and tilts his head with a face of confusion. "Lex?"

"Not the Lex we know, right?" Sophia questions.

"I don't know, and I don't care. There's no way he can join at the age of thirteen. And even if it was him, this would be the easiest match of my entire life."

Lex comes rushing by with excited eyes. He stops in front of them and smiles. "Oh boy, now's my chance!" He turns to them and stares at Demeseus. "Hi, Demeseus. I've been waiting for this day for so long. You are my eternal rival, for better or worse."

Demeseus yawns. "What? Oh, I was sleeping and dreaming that you were talking about shit that I can care less about. Get your ass in the ring." Lex runs off to the ring and Demeseus follows.

"Now didn't we just talk about you being nicer to people weaker than yourself?" Greyshio says with a smile.

"I am. I didn't hit him, now did I? It's a process, so shove off."

"Right. Just try to use a little more kindness in the ring."

"I hear ya'," Demeseus says while walking away and waving 'farewell' with his index and middle finger.

Sophia and Greyshio take their spots in the audience and prepare to watch the fight.

"Are you two boys ready?" the referee asks. "Fight!"

Demeseus smiles and begins childishly messing with his sword. "Hey, Lex? I bet I can beat you without even using this plank of wood you call a sword." Lex grunts and does a quick stab toward Demeseus, making him jump back. "Hmph, you're so pathetic."

Lex gets madder and begins attacking blindly with his sword. "Stop mocking me!"

Demeseus keeps dodging all his attacks effortlessly, until they both near the white ring. Lex pulls back his sword and rushes in for the attack. Demeseus steps aside and sticks out his foot, causing Lex to trip out of the ring.

"And the winner is Demeseus by ring out!" the referee shouts.

The crowd cheers while Lex stays down.

Demeseus kneels down by Lex's face. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're too forceful, and that became your downfall. See, it's like I've always told you. You're a waste of human life and you would be better off as a grain of sand. If you were a grain of sand, you would serve a purpose in this life."

Lex looks up slowly with teary eyes. "And what would that be?"

"The dirt that holds me up from touching something lower than you. Now you know where you stand in this world. Right below me." Demeseus jumps up and begins laughing loudly. "Relax, Lex! I was just messing around. How did you like my bad guy act? Come on, man, cheer up. It's just a game. See you later, kid."

"Right, a game. He-he-he." Lex's face begins to sadden as Demeseus walks away. If it's just a game, then why do I feel that's how you really see me? Lex thinks.

Demeseus walks to the corridor where his friends are waiting with upset faces. "Hey, guys, what's going on?"

"What did you tell him?" Sophia asks.

"What? All I did was tell him to get better and he didn't do as bad as he feels."

"Yeah, I love the bullshit you're feeding us," Greyshio says while rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I just found out I'm not up next. I guess we can watch the other competitors."

Hours have passed since Demeseus's last match. Greyshio has already done his preliminary matches and advances to the finals with his friend.

The loudspeaker goes off. "The semifinal match will be held shortly. The competitors are Greyshio vs. Drake. Please be in the arena in the next five minutes."

"Oh, he finally stopped with the disqualification threat?" Greyshio says jokingly. "I guess that's my queue," he says, rising from the ground at the corridor, "Scream for my victory, Sophia."

She plants a kiss on his cheek. "You know I will."

Suddenly, the loudspeaker gives unexpected news. "Fighters, I am sorry to say, but the semifinal's match has been cancelled. One of the fighters has dropped out of the running."

"What!?" Greyshio says. "But that makes it uneven! Someone is gonna have to fight twice."

"They better have a plan to make this work," Demeseus says. "We didn't come this far just so they can take a break and call it a day."

The announcement continues with more clarifications. "Drake has dropped out of the running, leaving the three remaining finalists, Greyshio, Demeseus, and Derexen. The tournament committee has decided to hold a three-way duel for the first time in the history of the Berlin Waltz tournament."

Demeseus bumps Greyshio with a grin on his face. "We both want to put that bastard down for what he did, right? And thanks to this technicality, we have the perfect opportunity."

"Good idea, two on one," Greyshio says with a smirk. "I like how you think. Now we can save the best fight for last."

"May the three finalists enter the arena immediately," the loudspeaker says.

"I'll watch from the audience," Sophia says. "Make that ruthless scumbag pay."

They give her a thumbs up and run toward the ring. The two boys walk into the arena side by side, but Derexen is not there.

"Where is he?" Greyshio asks. "Maybe he was aware of our plan."

"I was," Derexen says as he walks slowly from the opposite side of the beach with his hands in pocket. "You dogs have no honor, nor do you deserve to breathe in my presence, so," he crouches down, revealing both his wooden swords, "I will leave you breathless." A cruel grin crosses his face.

"You hear this guy?" Greyshio says while pointing at him. "He talks like he's above it all. What a showoff," he says lightly.

Demeseus carefully watches Derexen without saying a word.

The referee stands outside the ring and waves his hand, "This is the final round. Are you ready? Fight!"

Derexen briefly closes his eyes, then suddenly bolts toward Demeseus, clashing his sword into his. He then quickly swings his other sword to block Greyshio's incoming attack. Derexen backflips from in between them.

Demeseus sees Greyshio running to the left. "No!" he shouts, before grunting and running to the right.

Derexen is still in the middle while they stand on opposite sides of him. Demeseus shakes his head at Greyshio, signaling it's a bad idea. Greyshio doesn't listen and dashes toward Derexen anyway. Demeseus soon does the same.

All three of them jump up with Greyshio and Demeseus's attacks connecting—but not on their opponent. Their attacks are blocked by his dual swords. At that moment, Derexen retaliates with a powerful spin, sending them flying through the air. The force knocks both of them out the ring. Derexen lands softly in the sand with an on guard stance, leaving nothing to chance. The crowd is in utter silence. Then they all let out a loud roar of praise.

The referee rushes over and grabs Derexen's hand. "This year's winner is Derexen! Bringing pride and bragging rights to his home island! Looks like the tournament will have to be held at Twilight View next year. We will see you again folks!"

The referee walks away while Greyshio and Demeseus remain on the ground, looking confused by their defeat.

"How—in the hell did we lose?" Greyshio says.

Derexen briefly walks toward the fallen fighters. "Know this, you honor-less cowards. If we ever fought again, it would end the same. With you, at my feet."

Greyshio gets mad and grabs his sword. "Shut up!" He hurls his wooden sword at Derexen's face. As soon as it nears Derexen, he effortlessly knocks it to the ground. Derexen throws on his hood and walks away.

"Damn him! That lucky punk!" Greyshio stands up and looks into the audience. "Demeseus, where's Sophia?"

Demeseus stands and watches Derexen walk away. He didn't even hear what Greyshio asked.

Derexen heads to the shore, purposely missing the award ceremony. He prepares to leave by untying his boat, when Sophia suddenly comes from under the pier.

"May I help you?" he asks without looking her way.

She stands behind him, huffing and puffing, seeming anxious. "Why? Why did you do that to them?" He continues to ignore her while readying his boat. "Excessive violence. Spiteful victories with no care to what it means to be that cruel. Why did you come here? What has a monster like you gained from all this?"

He pauses. "Nothing. As expected, nothing. This whole day was as meaningless as every other day I have lived." He finishes untying his boat.

"If you have gained nothing, go back and apologize to my friends. Make things right!"

He briefly chuckles before standing. "You think me saying sorry will make things better? Maybe I should be the one asking what you've come here for. What do you have to gain meeting the person who has barely turned your life upside down?"

Sophia silently stares at him. She looks down at the sand, as if the answer lies there. "Answer me!" Derexen shouts. "What do you have to gain!? You must have come to me for something. Maybe my attitude toward the life we live intrigued you. Maybe my existence is so different from others you have met that you would like to see what makes me tick."

"I do not care about you or what you are. You make me sick, and I wish you would disappear."

"Fine, but that feeling you got inside you right now. Imagine that was how you felt about everything in this entire world. There's your small insight on who I am." He drags his boat to the water and climbs in. "Makes you wonder, huh?"

Derexen rows away while Sophia watches him leave. His cavalier gaze remains upon her until she's out of sight.

The sun sets as a half-moon rises. Greyshio, Sophia, and Demeseus are standing outside the hospital building where Brad is being treated.

"Is this the place?" Greyshio asks.

"Yeah, the nurses earlier today told me that they would send him here," Sophia replies.

When they walk in, Sophia goes to the front desk to get information on Brad's room. Demeseus takes Greyshio to the side. "Did you ever ask her where she was after we lost?" he whispers.

"No, I'm afraid what she might say. Do you think she was ashamed of me because I failed to beat Derexen? Because I do, and I wouldn't blame her for feeling that way. Ever since then, she's been somewhat sad. What surprises me is that she hasn't said anything about it. She even looks at me different."

Sophia runs over to them. "Okay, the man at the desk said Brad's room is 227." She gives Greyshio a look of concern and sorrow, then quickly looks away. "So, um, let's get going." She rushes to the elevator to push the button.

Greyshio turns to Demeseus. "You see, right there. Did you see how she looked at me? It's as if I let her down."

"You're making assumptions without any facts," Demeseus says. "After we see Brad, you make it a priority to talk to her somewhere she can't allow herself to stray from your discussion."

The elevator arrives, and the three of them enter. No one takes it upon themselves to break the silence on the way up. The double doors open and they walk down to Brad's room.

Sophia slowly opens the door. Unfortunately, Brad is still unconscious and does not respond to the sounds they make upon entering the room. He lies in bed with the white sheets tucked around him and his head wrapped in bandages.

"Why did this have to happen?" Greyshio says, looking down at his friend. "You've always been such a tough guy."

Demeseus walks over and pats Greyshio on his back. "I know it's hard for you to see him like this. Especially since you're used to seeing him be so strong, but be brave. Be brave for him."

Sophia walks to the opposite side of the bed and begins fluffing his pillows. "Since we came so late, our visiting hours are short. Be sure you let Brad know you care."

"God, you sound like an afterschool special," Demeseus mutters.

"What!?"

"I said that sounds so special." She glares at him as he playfully smiles.

Greyshio continues to look over Brad. "It's times like this when you really need your friends to rally around you." They look at Greyshio, knowing they failed to lighten the mood. "Sophia, can you come over here with us?"

She looks around nervously and begins to talk indirectly. "Umm, uh, sure, honey, but I should um... Oh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Ericson."

Brad's mother and father come in to see how their son is doing. "Hello, kids," Mrs. Ericson says in a somber tone. "How is he doing? Has he woken up yet?"

"No, he's been out all day." Sophia begins straightening his sheets. "The doctors say he's been barely responsive to their treatments, but at least he's in stable condition now."

His parents walk to his bedside as his friends step back. Mrs. Ericson looks upon Brad's face and brushes his sideburns. Her husband puts his hand on her shoulder. "He'll be alright," he says. "I'm sure he'll wake up soon."

Mrs. Ericson begins whimpering. "I told him not to enter that stupid tournament! Yet, he claimed he had to because his friends were. Why?" She hysterically turns to them. "Why didn't you stop him, or at least make sure he would be safe!? You all should have protected him when he needed you most! You're horrible people!"

"Judy, that's enough! It's not their fault Brad got hurt. The situation was out of their hands."

Sophia begins to tremble before suddenly running out the room. "Sophia!" Greyshio shouts.

"Go to her," Demeseus says. "I'll wrap things up here and head home." Greyshio just stares at him. "Ugh, stop looking at me and go!"

Greyshio runs to the elevator to catch up with Sophia, but the doors have already closed. He runs down the hall and takes the stairs. As he runs through the main lobby, doctors shout at him to stop running, but he doesn't listen. He busts through the front doors, looking up and down the street. He catches a glimpse of Sophia running toward the beach shore and bolts after her. Greyshio calls out her name as she nears the shoreline.

Sophia wipes tears from her eyes. "What, Greyshio? Can't I have a moment to myself?"

"As selfish as this may sound, no, you can't. Not until you tell me what's going on. Ever since the tournament, you have been acting strangely. You disappeared after me and Demeseus lost. Since then, you haven't been the same. Just say it. Say what you want to say."

"I have nothing to say."

"Just say it, Sophia! You're ashamed of me because I let you down at the tournament. I wasn't strong enough to protect Brad. I'm nothing more than a failure." He drops to the sand and his voice cracks a little. "I've let all of you down."

She turns to him with a look of pity and quickly wraps her arms around him.

She pushes the hair from his eyes. "Baby, no, no, I'm not ashamed of you. I can never be ashamed of you. There's no reason you should feel you've let us all down. The truth is I'm ashamed of myself." He looks up at her, not completely sure what she's talking about. "You're right, something has been troubling me, but it's not you. It's just that, even though I didn't enter the tournament, for some reason I too feel as if I should have been there for Brad. I didn't know how, but somehow I felt I should have been able to help him. And after his mom said what she said, I felt worse."

"There's no reason you should feel like you didn't do your part. It's not like you told him to harm Brad like that."

She pauses. "There's more." Greyshio leans off her. "I didn't skip out of the tournament after you two lost because I was ashamed. I left because I saw him take off and knew he wouldn't be staying. That creep was looking for a quick getaway. So I ran as fast as I could to beat him back to his boat and speak to him."

"You spoke to him?"

"I know, I know, but listen. As I waited, all I wanted to do was get back at him, but I didn't know what to do. Then I couldn't help but wonder what it took to be as cruel as him. So I—"

Greyshio gets up, looking a bit angry. "So what? You just sat him down and had a cup of tea with him like the gentleman he is?"

"No I—"

"Wait, let me guess. You wanted to hear his whole life story and then decided he was such a great guy!"

"I didn't say that. Please don't be mad at me. I was just trying—"

"To what!? Understand the mind of a lunatic!? Sophia, not everyone has a reason for the things they do! Not everyone has a nice side to them! He's the perfect example!"

"If he is so evil, why didn't he beat me down when he had the chance? Everyone has a story, you taught me that. And I was going to club him at his boat, but you taught me to give everyone a chance."

"That rule doesn't apply to villains like him."

"So it only matters when it's convenient to you?"

"You know what? Twist my words all you want, but you know you're in the wrong. If you didn't think so, you wouldn't have kept it from me."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be mad at me. Don't you think I feel bad enough for this, especially since I let him go afterwards?"

"Whoa, you let him go!?"

"What did you think happened? Besides, there wasn't much I could do to him anyway."

"Why is that? Is it because he was such a nice guy? You know what, don't talk to me, traitor!" Greyshio begins to walk off from her.

"Greyshio, wait!"

He stops. "I suppose you're right. You really didn't do your part. And here I am blaming myself. Pfft, I'm out of here."

"Please wait!" she says before running over and grabbing his shoulder.

He pulls from her. "Get off me!"

Sophia nearly falls over and stomps her foot. "Greyshio, come back! Greyshio, I'm sorry! I'm sorry..." She turns back toward the sea and starts crying.

Greyshio looks back at her and sighs at his actions. He walks back down to the shore and hugs her from behind. "I'm sorry. I was just upset at the situation and how Brad got the raw end of all this. I was not mad at you."

"But now I've let you down," she says in a whimpering voice.

"You didn't let me down. You did what you believed was right."

"So you agree that I did the right thing by giving him a chance to explain?"

"I rather not go back down that road."

"Then, will you stay with me?"

"Yes, I will stay here as long as you like."

They kneel in the sand and begin rocking each other softly while watching the waves.
Chapter Three: The Night of Kismet

On the island of Twilight View, Derexen prepares to leave his house in the middle of the night. He puts on the same clothes he wore during the tournament and moves loudly down the stairs. As he passes the TV light coming from the living room, his mother hears him walk by.

"Where are you going?" she asks, not even looking over the sofa.

"Out. Is that a problem?"

"Be back before four and bring me three bottles of vodka."

"I'm nineteen, I can't buy alcohol."

"Then steal it. I don't care how you get it, just come back with something."

"Got it," he says before slamming the door behind him.

He walks down the windy streets at a slow pace, keeping his eyes to the ground. There are few people on the streets, looters and troublemakers mainly. A group of men start eyeing Derexen, but they're just trying to gauge who he is. He glances at each of them with a dead face and keeps moving. None of the men are frightened, but they didn't want to bother either.

Derexen grunts at the sound of Sophia's words echoing in his head. "She got so emotional over a couple of prideful fools. Feelings are irrational. It's frustrating just knowing I have them." The further he goes into town, the more people he sees. Humans, humans, humans everywhere. It's pissing me off. I need to be alone before I lose it.

He continues to walk until he reaches the island's public library. He looks around a few times before deciding to break in. He pries open the back window and drops through. Derexen roams around in the dark for a while and finds a lamp in the reading area. He turns it on and walks toward the light switches to do the same. Only a few of the dimly lit lights turn on. He goes down the science aisle and begins grabbing books.

Holding several books, he finds one that interests him and piques his curiosity. "What's this?" He blows the dust off the book to reveal the white outlined title. " _A Time of Darkness_. Sounds exciting." He drops all the other books and moves to a small corner of the library to read under the lamp.

Derexen puts it down on the desk and rushes to turn off the ceiling lights. He returns to the corner and sees that the book is gone.

"What the hell?" He looks around frantically before tripping over something. "How did you get on the floor?" he says as he bends down. "And behind me, nonetheless."

Derexen picks it up and sits down to read. The pages are orchid with bold black letters that lightly glitter. Interesting indeed, Derexen thinks. He skips the first few pages and skims through. If a strong-hearted person dives into the darkness, he would be able to wield phenomenal power. "This book was in the wrong section. It's not like the librarians to make such a mistake at the end of the day."

Nearly an hour passes with Derexen still immersed in the black book. Every world has a guardian that keeps the ever-looming darkness at bay... "In other words, they are somewhat like a lock to the doors of darkness. Hmm, who wrote this?"

He flips it around from front to back, and from cover to cover. "There's no author. This book is not from the island. Not only have I never seen this kind of print, but the island seal that brands all our books is also not present." He runs his hand on the cover. "Such compelling black material. Almost like... skin." He shrugs and opens back to the page he was on.

He resumes reading, until he puts his hand to his face and shakes his head. "How pitiful. I'm allowing myself to enjoy this fantasy novel, knowing it's just a pathetic way for me to escape my life."

He sighs and continues. "I'll play along for now." He goes back a few pages to read some of what he skipped. If the guardian to his/her world is uprooted or killed, the protection will be lifted, causing the lives of many to be lost. "Hmph, who cares. Humans are nothing more than foul creatures that lack morals the longer they live on."

It is long past midnight, and Derexen still reads. Suddenly, he finds a subject that makes his eyes widen in disbelief. "Demis? Creatures born from the depths of darkness, some even being born after a living being loses their heart. The existence of these creatures seems to be a mystery. The only solid fact is that they are what remain of a fallen life form. Much like humans, a grander purpose remains unclear."

He scratches his cheek. "Interesting, and what does the author mean by heart? A heart is just an organ that pumps blood. Maybe it's a term for the soul? Looks like this old book needs deciphering as well as understanding."

He closes the book upon standing and tucks it under his arm. "I'm going to need a few days before I can get a decent grasp on what this author was trying to portray to its readers." He looks down at the book. "Thick book. But it's best if I just start from the beginning and read this with a less judgmental mindset."

It has been a week since the island tournament. Brad is now awake after his long-awaited recovery from his fight and Greyshio has decided to visit him at the hospital.

He comes into the room wearing dark blue jeans with white sneakers. His shirt is red with the word "Sweats!" on it and the picture of a fat cartoon boy with a huge mouth eating multiple candies in wrappers while he sits on mountain of more candy.

"Hey, big guy, how you feeling?" Greyshio asks.

"Grey, it's been a while!" Brad says with excitement. "Well, besides this massive headache, I think I'll be doing okay. Where's Sophia?"

"She said she will be here after work. Oh yeah, she has a part-time job now, and Demeseus said he's trying to work in the same store she's at. Did he visit you like he promised?"

"Yeah, he got me up to speed. His annoying rants were killing me, but after such long sleep, I missed it. He also told me that something is troubling you."

Greyshio sighs. "Yeah. It's about that guy who came in and ruined everything we worked for."

"Forget him. I'm over it, and so should you. I doubt we will ever see him again. Besides, he didn't ruin everything. The tournament was more of a matter of fun than it being necessary for us to succeed in our dreams."

"No, Brad, I vowed revenge for you and I couldn't get the job done. Instead, we lost the fight and the only chance we had to make him pay for the senseless violence he committed. I want him—"

"To live with his guilt."

"What? No, I want him—"

"To understand that his way of life is to be pitied, not praised. Yeah, I can understand that."

Greyshio looks at him with a confused expression, then laughs a bit. "So when are they letting you out of here?"

"Well, to make sure I'm truly okay, they want to keep me here for another week. But if I'm lucky, they'll release me in a few days. Only if my tests remain completely positive."

"Awesome, I can't wait to see you out of this place. It gives that impending feeling of death."

"Oh, thanks."

They laugh and joke around by spending the rest of Brad's visiting hours playing cards and reminiscing about the good days. A nurse walks by the room and tells Greyshio visiting hours are over.

Greyshio stands up to push the chair back to the wall. "I guess I better get going. I feel crazy tired anyway. I can't come by tomorrow, but I will definitely come by sometime this week."

"Okay. Oh, and tell Sophia that she missed her chance and she owes me food. She knows the deal, pork chops and yellow rice with a side of coconut."

"You are an odd guy. So long, my friend."

He chuckles. "Take care."

Greyshio takes his leave of the hospital and heads home for some dinner with his mother and a good night's sleep.

That night, while Greyshio is sleeping, he dreams of a shroud of darkness he can feel on his skin. In his dream, he tosses and turns as his brows express growing discomfort. He hazily opens his eyes.

It's so dark in here, he thinks as he stands to move slowly in the black. Several times he abruptly scratches random areas of his body with slight twitches. I can barely see my own hands. He begins rubbing his arms roughly and quickly in a panic. It feels like hundreds of bugs on my skin! "Ugh, get it off! What's happening!?" Greyshio asks as he runs in the darkness and falls to the ground, rolling and scratching.

The place begins to light up, ending the itchy touch to his skin and unshadowing a black tower. Even though the place becomes bright enough to see, the outer edges of the tower are still in darkness.

Greyshio stands and begins to walk toward the edge until he hears an echoing voice. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"What?" Suddenly, Greyshio hears footsteps from behind him and quickly turns around. "Who's there? Demeseus?" he says in surprise.

"Huh, what are you doing in my dream?" Demeseus asks.

"Your dream? This is a dream?"

The echoing voice returns. "Greyshio, Demeseus, this is more than just a dream. A great danger is upon the worlds, and it needs a savior, or two."

"Two?" Demeseus says while looking at Greyshio. "You mean us?"

"Well, of course, why not? But you could destroy it if you want too with your common foe. Now then," Several loud crashes echo through the darkness. Sixteen altars appear on the tower, eight to the left and eight to the right. "Will you save the worlds, or destroy them? The choice is yours."

"Enough talk! Show yourself!"

The echoing voice laughs until his laughter simmers into a chuckle. "All in due time, my friends. Now choose before your so-called 'dream' ends."

They split up and begin looking through the swords. Greyshio soon finds one and picks it out of the light surrounding its altar. The blade is a bit broader than the average sword and is fairly long. At the pommel is a small white heart with a gold tip.

The blade is whitish-silver with little specks of gold embedded all the way through it. The blade's fuller is a transparent metal. Its grip is black with a golden guard with white outlining. The altar has the name, "Braveheart" engraved at the base.

"I like it," Greyshio says. "I choose this one," he says confidently.

"Good choice. So long."

Suddenly, Greyshio begins to slowly fade. "Demeseus, I'm disappearing in the light! What the hell is thi—?"

He suddenly vanishes.

"Greyshio!" Demeseus shouts.

The echoing voice chuckles. "Relax, you may see him again. Now choose."

"No."

"Demeseus, pick a blade if you ever want to get out of here and see your friends again!"

"The mysterious one has a temper," he says with a snarky attitude. "Tch, fine."

Demeseus looks through the remaining swords and walks up to one with a very broad-shaped blade. The blade has a thick, whitish lining with an inner layer in complete black. The sword also has several chains wrapped around the blade from the tip to the base. The hilt has a bronze luster and a red cross-lined grip. On the altar's base is the engraved word, "Eternity".

He picks it up, only to drop the tip to the ground. "Geez, this is heavy. Hey, voice!? I choose this one!"

"What a troublesome and difficult weapon you chose. Even in this space, it is hard to mask its true weight. But that is what you desired." Demeseus glares into the dark. "But before I let you go, I would like to test your might."

"No, let me out!"

"I could, but where is the fun in that? Now, little human, remember this. If you die here, you die in reality as well. So if you really value your friends, I suggest you fight as if this is your last day on Terra—because it just might be."

The voice begins to laugh loudly. Within that laughter, a demonic five-foot dog hops from the outer edges of the tower, growling and barking with the intent to kill.

It has bright yellow eyes and two curled horns on the sides of its head like a bun. The dog's claws are sharp, and so are the pointy bones sticking out of its furry brown body. Its long tail has the face of a smaller dog at the end.

The altars sink into the ground, initiating the battle. Demeseus stands in the middle, waiting for the dog. He musters all the strength he can and raises the sword to fight. The beast begins speeding toward him in an odd zigzag style.

"Okay, let's see if I can do this," Demeseus says.

Fire begins to slowly light the dog's mouth as it nears. "Muhaha, taste the flames of hell!"

The beast shoots a fireball at him, surprising Demeseus. He quickly turns his blade flatways and uses it as a shield against the attack. Although he stops himself from being burned, the force of the attack launches him off his feet, knocking him backward through the air.

He hits the ground, sliding across the tower. Demeseus slowly begins to sit up feeling unbalanced. To his surprise, the dog is already near his face in mid-jump. Demeseus rolls underneath the dog, but before the roll is finished, the dog's tail bites him on his shoulder.

"You son of a bitch!" Demeseus shouts painfully.

The dog lands, and without warning, it rolls up in the shape of a wheel, doing a reversal attack. It hits Demeseus with enough force to knock him off the tower completely.

"No!" Demeseus shouts as he falls to his death.

He closes his eyes as he falls into the endless abyss, thinking about his friends. Suddenly, the sword radiates an enchanting glow before he opens his eyes. He turns himself upright and smashes his blade into the side of the tower to reduce his fall to a complete halt. He sticks his hands and feet into the gash he made and starts to scale his way back up. He continues to climb until he is at the top of the gash. He then begins to make new gashes until he makes it to the top.

Demeseus crawls to the top of the tower, standing tall and breathing heavily. "Hey, shit for brains. How about a second round? Winner takes all. What do ya' say?" The dog rushes toward him once more, leaping up to slash him. "Yeah, I thought you would say that."

Demeseus quickly jumps over him. He throws his blade at the dog, but misses as it ducks under. When he squints at the blade, it responds with a glow and boomerangs back toward him. When the blade nears Demeseus, he ducks below it instead of catching the sword.

The dog grins and begins dashing toward Demeseus at full speed, "Looks like you're not ready to wield the Empyrean Blade if you can't even catch it."

Demeseus maintains his focused look. "I don't know what the hell you just said, but this is over."

The dog makes a confused face while still running toward him. Demeseus does a backflip with the sword coming from behind him with greater speed than before. The weapon cleanly cuts the beast in half. Before landing, he throws his hand forward and forces the blade to return to him while upside down. He lands on the ground, barely sticking his landing. He softly sighs with relief.

Demeseus makes a surprised face while looking at the sword. "Well done? So it wasn't my imagination back there. You can speak." He shakes his head. "Hey!" he shouts into the open space. "I know you're still watching. I won. Now let me go." For a moment, there's no response. "Hey—!"

"Begone."

The surrounding area begins to turn white as he hears Greyshio's voice. "Demeseus. Demeseus, wake up! Demeseus!"

Demeseus tosses and turns before abruptly waking in his own bed. "Wha. What happened?"

He sits up with half his blue sheet draped over his muscular torso. His bed is next to his window. The room is too dark to see anything but his bed from the lights outside.

"Dude, I had this crazy dream," Greyshio says. "We were both in it, standing on some high tower and—"

"That was no dream. I was there." Greyshio looks surprised. "Halfway through the dream, you disappeared, and I was left behind to fight a demon." Demeseus makes a weird, suspicious face. "Greyshio, how the hell did you get in my house?"

"Your front door's open. It looked messed up, like someone came in. I rushed in to see if your family was okay. Apparently, all was well. I made sure not to wake your parents in the process, though."

"Right." He looks toward the floor. I forgot, my dad broke the door in last night, he says to himself.

"Demeseus, your sheet," he says while staring at the growing dark spot on his sheet.

Demeseus looks to Greyshio, then flings his bed sheet off before cringing to the pain from his shoulder. He looks down to the right and sees it's bloody.

He grips his wound and grunts. "Damn it. What the hell is going on here?"

"Maybe you should wrap that up."

"Yeah. Listen, after I wrap this, can we go out to the beach and talk for a bit?"

"Not like I'm gonna get much sleep now anyway."

As soon as Demeseus wraps and cleans his wound, he puts on a light blue shirt on top of a long-sleeve brown shirt. He throws on a pair of blue jeans with his sneakers and walks with Greyshio out of his room. The two boys step outside of Demeseus's house and slowly walk downhill.

"It's pretty dark out tonight," Demeseus says.

Greyshio rubs his arms. "And a bit chilly. I think it might rain or something. The air has changed a lot since this morning."

"This is very drastic weather change, don't you think?"

"Weather can't always be what it should be."

They walk toward the beach and see a monstrous storm brewing over Twilight View. They're quickly stricken with fear at the sight of the heavy lightning and black cyclones.

"That's no storm I've ever seen before," Greyshio says.

"It does seem a bit odd how the gray clouds swirl into a vortex formation. The lightening is a bit strong too. It looks unnatural. But what do we know? At our age, there may still be a chance we haven't seen the worst of tropical storms yet," he says, trying to convince himself.

"But still, the feeling I'm getting is just too big to ignore. Those cold winds gusting over here make me think the island may need a weather advisory."

They stop where the shore separates from the town pavement. "I wonder if it could kill us," Demeseus says while staring over the darkened ocean.

"Come on, Demeseus! Don't say things like that. It's nerve wracking."

"I'm just saying, it looks pretty bad."

Suddenly, they hear an unwelcome voice, "Yeah, it looks pretty bad."

They look down toward the crashing tides and see Derexen standing near the water. "Derexen!" they say angrily.

Greyshio runs off toward Derexen. "Greyshio, wait!" Demeseus shouts before chasing after him.

Greyshio stops not far from Derexen. "What the hell is an evil bastard like you doing back here again!?"

Demeseus comes from behind Greyshio. "And how did you get here through this storm?"

"The details are irrelevant," Derexen replies. "All that matters is that I am here to do what I was born to do. Wait, let me state that again. That sounded a bit too righteous of me. Let's say I'm here destroying what should no longer exist."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"It's simple. Mankind is a sorry excuse for living creatures. They are cruel, cold, merciless, selfish, heartless, wasteful, greedy, and destructive. But the list goes on. I can spend all night telling you what's wrong with them, but why bother? I would like you to enjoy the show. If you take a look behind you, I have brought a guest."

The two boys look back and see a giant black and purple monster eating houses and crushing buildings with its hands and feet.

Its physique is similar to a human's. The monster has large rounded teeth and giant eyes that never blink. Its skin has a light, pulsating glow of red whenever it smashed objects. On its head are thick, lifeless tentacles resting on its shoulders and over its ears. The monster's hands and feet are doubled, two of each; palms facing each other, and feet are beside each other.

"Allow me to introduce you to my colleague, Zymosis," Derexen says. "I summoned him from the darkness, but I'm not sure if I could make him go away. Not that I want to. Oh, and I have a few other colleagues here too."

Derexen waves his hand and little black, naked, creatures rise from the sand dancing. The little monsters are short and hairless. Their skin is a dark purple with small curved bones coming from their ribs. Their ears are pointy, much like the shape of their eyes. The creatures have irregular sharp teeth with big grins crossing their faces.

"What are those?" Demeseus asks.

"They are called Demis. I know. I found them to be a bit strange when I saw them at first too. But after they started killing people on my island, I realized they are helpful tools."

Greyshio grunts. "That storm we saw. That couldn't have anything to do with this, could it?"

"Yes, that was me. I plan to destroy everything, leaving nothing but destruction in my wake. But there is a catch. I can't just do this without following a process first. Once you plunge a world into darkness, it is not fully yours yet. There still exists that one glimmer of light."

"And what's that?" Demeseus says with frustrated eyes.

"It's not what, it's who. They are called World Guardians. Once you stomp them out, you win. Being that I was the guardian of Twilight View, that was an automatic win for me. Now here's the new game. My Demis tell me that the guardians of this place are," he raises his hand and points to them, "you two."

"Us!" they say simultaneously.

"Now there are two ways to conquer a selected place. You could remove the guardians from their selected post, sending them thousands of miles away, or kill them. Can you guess which option I'm using?" he says with a dark smile.

Demeseus gets into a fighting stance. "Not good, the Demis have stopped dancing."

"Demis, destroy them!"

The Demis dash toward them. One Demi jumps up and bear hugs Demeseus while another bites his legs. He falls over and struggles to break free.

Greyshio watches the creatures try to eat his friend. "No!"

"I would be more worried about myself if I were you," Derexen says before waving over more Demis. As the creatures prepare to grab him, Demeseus breaks free and grabs Greyshio before running down the beach. "You cannot escape the darkness!"

They run as fast as they can, but it is no use. Three more Demis appear ahead of them, bursting out of the sand like missiles. One of them dashes in to attack until it is hit by a rock. The two boys look over to see Brad standing further up the beach with his head still wrapped in bandages.

"You guys okay!?" Brad shouts.

In an instant, Derexen warps a few feet from Demeseus and Greyshio in a brief purple flash. "I didn't think I would see your face again, but I'll make sure that this will be the last time I see it."

Derexen kneels down and pulls a throwing knife from his boot and hurls it at Brad. The blade lodges cleanly in the center of Brad's chest.

Greyshio's eyes widen as he begins to shake. Seeing his best friend falling to the ground, drawing his last breath. A trauma he would never forget.

"NOOOO!" Greyshio screams and falls to his knees, crying.

Derexen lets out a loud and wicked laugh before wiping joyful tears from his eyes. "I couldn't ask for more! Oh well, there's a bit too much garbage around here. I think it's time for me to clean up."

He raises his hand and fires a dark energy ball into the sky. Once it pierces the clouds, it explodes and creates a giant vortex with flashing colors. Its supreme suction force lifts rocks, boulders, sand, and even houses into it. Zymosis comes from the island top, stomping like thunder.

"Zymosis, nice of you to drop by," Derexen says. "Do me a favor and help me take out the trash."

The giant picks up Brad's body in a large portion of the ground, and throws him into the vortex. As Greyshio watches his best friend's body treated so cruelly, it drives him into a rage as he lets out a mighty howl that shakes the ground.

Greyshio's tears stop as a bright light shines from his chest and rolls down to his arm. The light enters his fist and in a flash, Braveheart appears in his hand. Braveheart's fuller has a glowing red substance that fills less than one-fourth of it.

Derexen grins. "Oh, so you've finally called out your weapon. It looks nice. I have one too."

Derexen summons his sword from the darkness by sticking his arm through a small black hole that appears near him. He then slowly pulls out his completely black blade. Not even the squared hilt sheds light. Its grip has a glowing purple diamond pattern going down the middle on both sides. The sword resembles a slender samurai blade, just a little thicker. The whole blade has a slight curve to its design. Glowing purplish-black symbols are deeply engraved up and down the blade as it emits a dark aura.

Derexen begins to wave it around happily. "These Empyrean Blades are amazing, don't you think? This one's called Catastrophe. What's yours called?"

"Fuck you, Derexen! We are not friends, so don't try to act like we are! I swear one day I will kill you!"

"One day? Where are you going that we have to wait till one day?"

"Demeseus, I found a way out, through the vortex."

Demeseus looks up at him like he's mad. "The vortex? How do you know that it won't just kill us?"

"I just have a feeling, now work with me!"

Derexen releases his blade as it falls straight down through another black hole, vanishing as it closed. "Zymosis, crush them now!"

Greyshio closes his eyes and sinks into his own mind. Braveheart, please help me and my friend escape this place. Please, I need your power. He twirls his blade around, smashes it into the sand, and slowly opens his eyes. "Riftazition!"

Suddenly, an explosion of lights burst from the sand, killing the Demis. Greyshio grabs Demeseus and lets the energy send them soaring through the sky. He then hurls him into the vortex once he is close enough.

"Go, Demeseus!"

Demeseus is swallowed by the force. Greyshio turns himself around, just as Zymosis swings its massive arm to smack him down.

Greyshio spins his blade once more and points it at the mighty monster. "Riftazition!"

Thin beams of light shoot from the blade and go right through it, leaving little holes throughout its body. The mighty giant begins to fall as the darkness pours out of its body like a burning building spewing smoke. The remaining streams of light speed for Derexen.

Derexen quickly sidesteps, ducks, hops, doubles back, and cartwheels to evade the attack. He then backflips once more and crouches down to be grazed on the cheek by one stream of light. His eyes look toward the cut as he begins to bleed.

Greyshio is about to fire another shot, but he has already exhausted himself. Braveheart disappears once he passes out. He falls up into the vortex, leaving Derexen and his crumbling island behind.
Chapter Four: The World Beyond My Own

Greyshio arrives in a city with tall buildings and dark cloudy skies. Bright lights shine in the open damp streets. Other sections of the city are not as well lit as the central areas. There are no buildings shorter than seven stories. Everything under that height is shadowed by their large sizes.

There are more businesses than places to live at the center of the city. Apartments, abandoned builds, and areas under construction lead toward the city limit. For a large city, it isn't overly noisy, just the sound of cars and passing pedestrians.

Yock City is one of the earliest areas on Terra to become urbanized. It's one of the few places that led the way toward a new way of living. The advantages of living in a city quickly became popular in the north and east regions of Terra.

This created a form of segregation and superiority between opposing areas of the world. Naturally, this occasionally created conflict while also forming partnerships between towns and cities that only wished for easier living.

Greyshio begins to wake from his slumber. He finds himself in a dark alleyway with bitter chills of wind blanketing over him. His clothes are torn, and his chain is broken and scattered across the wet floor.

"Uh, owe... My head. Where am I? Why do I have so many chains?" Another breeze comes through, making him shiver. "My head's spinning. I can't focus."

He gets up and leans against a dumpster. He suddenly keels over and vomits before falling to his knees. After wiping his mouth, he reads the side of the blurry dumpster. Property of Yock City Waste Department? What the hell's going on here?

He shakes his head and beings to recall what happened. "Yock City... No, my home. Demeseus. My friends... Brad. Why you? Why you out of anybody else that could have been killed. Why?"

When Greyshio stands up, his body sways after a few steps before collapsing to the ground. He begins to crawl as tears roll down his eyes. "Brad, I hope you can forgive me for being too weak to protect you, but I'm alone in this big place, and I could really use a friend right now."

Fighting the sickening headache he's experiencing, Greyshio's eyes bounce a few times before passing out with the side of his face in a puddle. Hours later, rain begins to fall and Greyshio remains unconscious until something brings him from his world of slumber.

Greyshio screams out with his back arched before scrambling in a panic. He flips over and sees a Demi chewing his torn flesh. Its skin is pitch black and looks very much like a newborn infant. It has shiny black eyes and a large head with holes for ears.

The black baby pauses briefly with Greyshio's flesh in its hands. It looks up at him with a momentary visual of its purple irises. It kindly smiles with bloody teeth, as if it wasn't doing anything out of the norm.

Greyshio gets up and kicks it in the face before quickly running down the alley to escape. He stumbles, but doesn't stop. But gradually, he begins to slow against his will.. With his body shutting down, he blacks out and crashes to the ground.

When he awakens from his encounter, Greyshio's vision is blurry and is hooked to an IV in a hospital bed. He looks to the side of his bed and blinks at the fuzzy figure of a doctor standing over him. The doctor has short white hair and a mid-length beard. His wrinkly white skin and his droopy eyes are his most distinctive features.

"Where am I?" Greyshio asks.

"A young man found you bleeding in the alleyway nearby and brought you here," the doctor replies.

"Doc, am I going to—"

"Die!? No, you've received several blood transfusions, stitches, and a big cotton pad taped to your back. The strange thing is, it looked like something was eating you. There were a lot of teeth marks in the flesh."

"Hmm, is the guy who brought me here still around? I would like to thank him properly."

"Sure, I'll send him in right away."

"Thanks, Doc."

A few minutes later, the doctor sends in Greyshio's savior. The young man's hair is a nice mocha blend. His hair is cut low and only an inch in length. The sides of his head are shaven close to give a Mohawk appearance.

His eyes are hazel, and his face is a bit broad. The man has a soul patch and a thin mustache connecting around his mouth to the hair on his chin. His skin's a light brown, like a fresh grown hazelnut. He has on black shoes and is dressed in a thick, blue denim jacket and jean set.

"Yo," he says.

"Hi," Greyshio greets. "Are you the one who found me?"

"Found you? I did more than just that. I saved you from that big-headed creature with the sharp fangs and claws."

"You mean the Demi?" Greyshio says before covering his mouth. I can't let on that I'm from another place and fought demons, Greyshio thinks. No one's going to believe me, and I don't need to be checked into a psych ward.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, thanks for saving me from that strange creature."

"No problem, but you should be careful around here. There has been word going around the city that late last night, two men arrived with black creatures that blend with the night. Cops have not been able to find those guys whereabouts."

So it is the Demis, Greyshio thinks. But what did he mean, two men? Derexen might be a man, but there's another? This may not have anything to do with him. Maybe my home isn't the only land out there being infected by this madness.

The young man waves his hand in front of Greyshio's face. "Hello!? You have been staring at my crotch for a longtime."

"What? Whoa! No, no, no, I was just thinking about something!"

"Yeah, my crotch."

"No, no, it's not like that! Oh, man, this is ridiculous."

The young man laughs and pats Greyshio on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it, I'm playing with you."

"Oh, good. By the way, what's your name?"

"Wow. He stares at my crotch and doesn't even know my name. Just like a man. Forget the names and dinner and let's just get straight down to it," he says jokingly.

"You know, you're not that funny. If anything, this moment has been creepy."

"If you say so. But yeah, my name is Dean. And you are?"

"Greyshio." The two boys shake hands and Greyshio smiles. "You know in time, I bet we could become great friends."

Dean pulls his hand back and puts it to his head. "He keeps flirting with me," he mutters. "Are you sure you don't want me?"

"Shut up, idiot!"

Deep within the heart of the city, the two men who the police have been searching for begin to brew trouble for the citizens of Yock City. One man wearing a black cloak sits on a chair while the other man, who's also in a black cloak, stands before him. The two are in a dark room with nearly no light coming from the dimed ceiling bulbs.

"Master, the Demis have been dispersed throughout the city," says the standing man. "The building's also being guarded by the ones ordered to stay behind."

"Good. Have you found the lost two?"

"No, the Demis are still searching for them as well."

"Hmm, call off the search for those two and order them to find the guardian of this world."

"As you wish."

He bows down and slowly disappears in a rolling black fog.

In the hospital, Greyshio lies in bed for hours. He patiently waits to hear any news on his release. With a bored exhale and head turn to the ceiling, Greyshio's doctor enters.

"Well, Greyshio," the doctor says. "Looks like I will have to let you go since we have no records on you. Besides, you have healed a heck of a lot faster than I thought you would. But be safe. Your wound is not fully closed yet."

Greyshio jumps out of bed. "Okay, Doc, then I better be on my way since I've got a lot to do at my job."

"Your job, huh?" seeming skeptical. "Alright. Take care, young man," he says before leaving.

Greyshio waves him goodbye and puts on his raggedy clothes before leaving the building.

Outside, a couple ambulances leave the hospital while many injured people are being taken to the ER. The bright red lights flash in the area before it is cleared out and settles down. After Greyshio takes a few steps out the main entrance, Dean comes running out the hospital calling him.

"Yo, Greyshio, hold up!"

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Greyshio says.

"I heard you're going to finish up a job somewhere in the city."

"Wow, I guess doctors here don't believe in confidentiality, but, yes, you heard right." Greyshio begins to step around him. "Excuse me, I have to get going."

Dean jumps in front of him. "Hold on. I don't know if the doctor is dumb, but you can't fool me. You say you're about to do a job in the city, but the doctors have no records on you. You obviously don't live here, so how can you have a job?"

"I'm from out of town and I was called in for the job I have to do."

"Oh, yeah? What is this job you're going to?"

"Umm, a construction job. Look, stop asking me so many questions," Greyshio says as he starts to walk away.

"Where's your jacket?"

"My jacket?"

"Come on, you can't tell me that you're not cold right now. It's below sixty degrees out here."

"Well, I didn't come with a jacket. And no, I'm not cold. In fact, I like this kind of weather."

"Sure. So you're just shaking because you like to dance, right?"

"I think I will manage."

"Your call. Just so you know, it gets colder the later it gets. Sometimes it drops below fifty degrees out here."

"That's good to know. Thanks for the weather update, but I need to get going."

"Well, why don't you let me go with you? It's a big city, and you'll need a guide to your destination. So, where are you heading?"

"Oh my God! Okay, Dean, you win. I'm a liar. I don't have a job in this city, and I am not from this city. I come from an island. I happen to be looking for some people who might be in your city. So basically, I think my troubles from home may have followed me."

Dean jumps up. "Ah-ha! I knew there was more to you." Greyshio isn't amused by his unnecessary excitement. "Listen, I've been known to be a very helpful guy, so why don't you tell me what's going on? I promise I won't judge, and I will believe whatever you say if you start telling the truth from this moment on."

The two boys sit on the hospital's bench while Greyshio tells him the events from his island. "Now I need to find Demeseus and kill the bastard that took away my home, and the life of my best friend," he says sadly.

"That's a bit overwhelming, but it sounds like the power you need to even stand a chance is unstable since you can't call on it."

"I know. I've been trying all day. I tried whenever I was alone in the hospital."

"Well, Greyshio, whether you like it or not, I'm going to help you. Maybe we should formulate a plan before we move on."

"No time. If we sit back thinking what to do next, I can bet whatever is going on in this city will only get worse."

"Trust me, it'll be worse if we aren't ready for the worse." He stands up. "Come with me. I'll take you to an abandoned building nearby."

"Why can't we just go to your house?"

"Because I don't want to endanger my family. It's best if we just go somewhere no one will get involved. I would hate for a chance encounter to involve innocent lives."

"You're right. We should get moving then."

They quickly begin making their way through the city.

The farther they go, the fewer open businesses in the area. Dean has taken Greyshio to the sections of the city lacking public attention. Walking down the blocks that appear to be less populated, the boys move quietly through the streets. "Hey," Dean says, looking to Greyshio. "You mentioned you would kill this man you're after. Are you really capable of taking another's life?"

"His I can."

"You say it like it's so easy. Have you ever killed someone before?"

"No, but I know killing him will be easy."

"Pretty words, except you really shouldn't taint your soul so willingly. You don't know what killing him can do to you. You don't know if it will fill your soul with guilt or turn you into a monster."

"I can't worry about that. My friends meant the world to me."

"But, Greyshio—"

Greyshio stops suddenly, "He even killed my mom!" Dean is speechless at the potential hate in Greyshio's heart. "When he destroyed my home, he took everything from me! If killing him means I lose myself, then so be it! I've already lost it all. What more can I lose?"

"Your humanity." Greyshio looks over at him and grunts before walking ahead. "Have you ever considered they all may still be alive?"

"The only one who has a chance of living on is Demeseus, where ever he may be."

They walk several blocks and enter a dark building. It isn't very tall compared to the other buildings, but it's quite rundown in comparison. Most of the windows are either shattered, or boarded up. The two boys take the stairwell and walk upstairs to reach the top floor.

Dean opens a rusty door at the top of the stairs and walks in the middle of the room. "We have to take into account that this problem is becoming global," he says. "We have no proof, but you said Derexen is no man. Rumors stated that it was two men that entered the city."

"I don't really know if he is a man or not. I never actually asked him how old he was. And I guess it would be easy for others to assume he's a man."

"But that doesn't explain who the other guy is."

"Do you think by any chance your info could be wrong?"

"Perhaps. It's only secondhand information I'm working with here."

"Is there any way you can find out more about what happened last night?"

"You could ask me," says an unknown echoing voice.

Suddenly, a dozen dark spots appear in a circle around them. Twelve Demis rise out the dark spots, circling them with crescent swords. The Demis' heads are wrapped in white rags, and their bright yellow eyes are bulging. Their black bodies look frail and boney from possible starvation.

A black fog enters the room and slowly rolls out. Standing before them is a six foot muscular man in a black hooded cloak.

He stands outside the ring of Demis with his hands folded behind his back. "Oh, how lucky I am," he says. "Not only did these assassin-type Demis find the World Guardian, but they also found one of the lost two. I guess Demeseus isn't in the city. But Greyshio is, and that's still a win for us. Dean and Greyshio, I am here for both your lives."

"How do you know our names?" Dean asks.

"I had a Demi scout for you. In no time, it found you two at the city's hospital. I arrived on the roof of a nearby building after being alerted of your whereabouts."

Greyshio stares at the robed man intensely. "Are you actually Derexen?"

"No, but you do know me. And yet, you do not. Forgive me for cutting this short, but my master is waiting for your severed heads to be dropped by his feet."

Dean steps in front of Greyshio and grins at the robed man. "Sorry, but I would be dammed if I let you kill me and Greyshio without a fight."

"You're right, that would be boring. Demis, do what you do best and slay them." At first, they seem unresponsive to his demands. "I said destroy them!"

The assassins prepare to strike as the robed man steps far back. "This is bad," Dean says. "Looks like you need to call that Empyrean Blade." He holds out his arm and begins to focus for a brief second and shouts, "Daia!"

He balls his fist and shakes his hand twice with a synchronized popping sound. With a quick flash of blue light, and a final loud pop, his sword appears.

The sword's blade is silver with a blue luster design of triangles at the edge. Daia has a blue and white hilt with small spheres floating around it. Daia's width design increases from tip to base, making the blade slender on top and heavy at the bottom.

Greyshio looks surprised. "How did you do that? Who are—?"

"We don't have time for a Q&A. Now use your brain and remember how you called it the first time."

"I—everything's happening too fast. I can't think."

"I can't coach you forever! Just remember what's most important to you and what you are trying to protect. Till you can do that, you will never be able to save anyone."

Greyshio closes his eyes and searches deep within himself, trying to recall that power. He raises his hand and puts it to his chest. A radiating light encircles his arm. The light fills the room until it condenses over only his hand.

"Braveheart!" Greyshio shouts.

The light begins to shape into his weapon as the Demis become mesmerized by the light. Suddenly, it vanishes in a flash with Braveheart not appearing, leaving Greyshio breathing heavily from his attempt.

Dean looks at him for a moment and sighs. "As expected. You are still too new at this. I'll protect you, just don't move."

Dean rushes forward and stabs one Demi and swings it toward three other assassins. One of the creatures jumps up high to attack from above. At that moment, he slashes the airborne attacker in half, then cuts off its head and catches it.

The ten assassins begin to swarm and slowly try to close in on him. Dean dashes forward and removes the head of another Demi. He then shoves his Empyrean Blade into the head he's holding and begins to fill it with light. As the skull's eyes turn into flashing colors, he prepares to toss it at his enemies.

"Greyshio, get back!"

Greyshio runs toward the nearest wall as the dusty head flies through the air. It explodes with a holy light that fills the entire room. Everyone covers their eyes as the light shines brightly.

When the light fades, Dean looks forward with a grin. "Ten down, two to go."

The remaining Demis are deformed. One has a charred face with its teeth showing on one side. The other one has a missing arm and most of its skull blown off. In the blink of an eye, Dean had already passed them and is next to Greyshio in a strike pose. He moves his sword in a sheathing manner before making it vanish in a flash. The assassins glance at each other, then burst into fire and ash.

Dean turns to Greyshio and smiles. "Amazing, right? I told you it was no big deal."

The cloaked man descends from the ceiling. "It seems that I may have misjudged your strength. I may have even over judged the situation as a whole."

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you fight me, big guy?"

"No, thank you. I was here to destroy you two, but it seems that it would be best if I report the power we are up against. But before I go, I have one final gift for you. I do doubt you guys will live through this, but if you do, that's all the more reason I should take my leave."

He digs into his pocket and pulls out a large black seed. He throws the seed to the floor and it begins to grow rapidly.

"Be forewarned," the man says. "This is not the average hack-and-chop your way to victory battle. It will take more than just that. If you two manage to get through this alive, come to the tallest building at the center of the city. That's where we will be."

"That's the new tech building," Dean says. "It's not even finished yet. The perfect place where the public won't look."

The man chuckles before the black rolling fog comes in and fades him out of the room.

The plant begins to sprout thick, thorny vines that wiggle around the room. A giant, mutated, Venus flytrap shoots up out the middle of the bundled vines and screeches. It grows a swollen stomach as a slimy hole forms at the center. As it inflates, the hole births a goblin-type Demi with another on the way.

Their lower jaws are bowl shaped and moist from the drool pools built by their long bottom canine teeth. The color of their skin is a sandy charcoal mix with blemishes. They have broad runny noses and large lazy eyes with mucus around the lids. They stand at four and a half feet with small legs and poorly developed dragging arms.

"Dean, that thing is still growing," Greyshio says.

"I know, and I don't think it will stop until we kill it. Ha, what am I saying? I mean until I kill it."

"No, Dean, I can help."

"No you can't! Until you can get a hold of your power, you are nothing more than a handicap for me. You better get going before you don't have the chance." Greyshio grits his teeth and hesitates. "Greyshio, go! It's starting to block the door!"

Greyshio runs and sees the door about to be blocked. He does a running slide on his stomach. Greyshio slides right out the door and under the thorny vine that manages to rip his shirt and nearly hits the stitches.

Dean turns to the plant. "Okay, tough guy. Let's see how you like fire. Megiddo fla—"

Four thornless vines wrap around each of Dean's limbs, stopping his spell. The plant raises him to the half-open ceiling and dangles him over the newborn Demis. It lowers him a bit and the Demis below leap up to slash at his back and legs.

Damn, this hurts like hell, Dean thinks. Worst part is there's no way out. Unless... Dean flicks his wrist upward, releasing his blade up into the air. "Light wheel!"

A light ring circles the spinning blade and cuts the vines on the right side of his body, freeing half his limbs. The Empyrean Blade bounces off the floor and back into his hand. Just as he's about to cut himself loose, the plant lets go of his arm, leaving him hanging upside down from his leg.

The plant roars and begins to dangle him over its mouth before releasing him. "Megiddooooooo—" The plant swallows him whole and makes a 'gulp' noise. A long pause fills the room. "Flame."

The plant explodes with fire exiting its body from any path it can find. Downstairs, Greyshio waits for Dean until he feels the ground shake from the giant explosion at the top floor. Without second thought, he rushes back inside.

The building's on fire with chunks of the plant and the bodies of the Demis all over the place. Dean is unconscious. His body is cut up from head to toe, with clothes slightly burnt by the fire and the plant's stomach acid. Suddenly, his blade receives a long crack and vanishes in a flash of light. Greyshio enters the flaming room and calls Dean's name before noticing him lying flat out on the ground.

He runs over to try and wake him, but can't. Greyshio lifts Dean and throws him over his shoulder before jogging out the door. Before he heads out, he hears a sizzling noise. He looks back and sees several large oil barrels with the words, "Highly Flammable" on them. He begins to move as fast as possible down the flights of stairs.

Greyshio starts to sweat and panic as he feels the floor shaking. "Oh man, we're not gonna make it."

An explosion goes off on the upper floor. He stops at the bottom of the stairs and sees an avalanche of debris crashing toward him. Dean slightly wakes up and calls his Empyrean Blade.

Dean points it at the debris. "Ice Storm," he says in an exhausted voice.

Daia begins to release a wave of cold air, water, and ice. After cowardly closing his eyes, Greyshio opens them and stares at a frozen table, inches from hitting him in the face. "Whoa," he calmly says.

"Don't say 'whoa', you ass. That is not an eternal hold. Get yourself downstairs and go."

Dean passes out shortly before his Empyrean Blade vanishes. Greyshio notices the melting ice and sprints down the stairs. He finally makes his way outside and lays Dean on the cold ground.

Greyshio sits on the ground next to him, panting. Suddenly, the top floor explodes, shooting out fire, smoke, and debris. The explosion becomes a chain reaction, causing the same to happen to each floor, one after another. Realizing they're not safe, Greyshio lifts Dean and runs behind another building before placing him on the ground.

Greyshio plops onto his bottom, breathing harder than before. "Great, I'm wiped out again. I feel so useless. Why can't I—"

He's interrupted by a warm liquid running down his back. He begins to feel lightheaded as everything becomes blurry. He touches his back and gets blood on his fingertips. Greyshio has torn his stitches. He passes out next to Dean, moments before the first snowflake hits the concrete.
Chapter Five: The Crossroads

At the center of the city, the cloaked schemers continue to proceed with their plans. The hooded man sits in his chair, tapping his finger on the armrest.

"Report," he demands.

"It would seem that the World Guardian here has a decent amount of fighting experience," says the cloaked man standing before him.

"As expected. Go on."

"He wasn't alone. Greyshio is here, but there is no sign of Demeseus."

"Hmm, I guess he ended up somewhere else. That's no surprise, since that vortex was sending everything and anything to random worlds."

"Thanks to your quick thinking, you froze the portal's last destination to track Greyshio. Impressive."

"Looks like the whole Demeseus situation will have to be held off for now. One out of two is still better than none. Tell me more on what you've found out. Did Greyshio draw his blade on you?"

"He tried, but it seems he has no idea how to use that power again."

"Hmph, now that's pathetic."

"Yes, but the other one, Dean. He was actually able to kill all twelve assassins by himself."

"Alexus, you speak as if you're scared of him. No matter, I can slew him easily."

"Forgive me, master, but I am still getting used to this new power you have bestowed on me. I don't think many people can be as gifted as you when it comes to the darkness. I'm sure it takes time for the majority of inexperienced users."

"You're right. I forget you are new to that form. Don't worry about Dean. I will kill him when the time is right. You can have Greyshio. By the way, did you use that seed on him?"

"Yes, I did. I think it might have been able to do the job."

"Then he is decently strong."

"Huh?"

"If he died against that plant, this world would have been dipped into the darkness by now. It's time for phase two. We came to them, now it's time they come to us. Make sure the building is ready for our future intruders."

"As you command." Alexus bows as a rolling black fog fades him out of sight.

At the city hospital, Greyshio slowly begins to wake while rubbing his forehead, "Ugh... Where the hell am I now?"

A man's head hovers over his face, blocking the light from the ceiling. "You're in the hospital again."

"It's you, Doc," he says with surprise.

"Wow, kid, you are something else. What are you doing out there? I thought I told you to take it easy."

"Sorry. How did I get here?"

"A lady saw you two outside her bedroom window and called the ambulance."

"Oh no, Dean!"

"He's fine. Right now he's in stable condition. I can tell you boys got into some real mischief. Your friend had some serious burns and open wounds."

"We were attacked. That's all I can say."

"You better tell me a hell lot more than that because your friend is in worse condition than you."

Greyshio looks up at the doctor with worry. He then lowers his head down to the sheets and twiddles his thumbs. "They are... creatures of the night. I'm—"

"You've told me enough." Greyshio makes a confused face. "You must have a good reason for not telling me what's going on. I'll write it off as it not being business related."

"Thanks, Doc," he says with a relieved smile.

"Don't mention it. When you're ready to see your friend, go to room 313. This is room 306." He checks Greyshio's condition through the heart monitor. "Go straight down the hall and you'll see him. And once again, I ask you be more careful." The doctor turns and leaves the room.

Greyshio looks at the bandages on his hand and gently clutches his fist. "In worse condition than I am." He gets out of bed and heads to Dean's room.

When he reaches his room, he looks through Dean's window to see that he's awake, but the sight of him so beat up makes Greyshio feel guilty. He slowly opens the door, rearing in his head. "Hey, Dean. Are you alright?"

"Hey, Greyshio. Yeah, I'll manage. Are you okay? It seems we were out for days."

Greyshio raises his eyebrow in confusion before entering the room and slowly takes a seat. "How many days has it been?"

"Three."

Greyshio begins to feel his back. "Wow! My wound is almost healed!"

"There are perks to being a chosen guardian. Not only are you strong, but you heal fast too."

"Cool, just in time. Now I can go stop Derexen."

"You're an idiot. How the hell will you take this guy on if you can't even call your blade? And thanks for nothing. I'm glad to know that you plan to run off and fight Derexen while leaving me to clean up your mess."

"What are you talking about? I never said I was leaving."

"You just said you want to take on Derexen."

"Well, I still think he's in this city. Trust me, I wouldn't leave you to clean up my mess."

"Good, it's half your obligation as well. But you're no use to the cause at the moment."

"Oh—yeah." For a moment, he looks elsewhere. "Hey, back at the building, you were doing some really amazing stuff. You swing your sword with very few halts in your attacks. And the way you can use the elements, how were you doing that?"

Dean chuckles. "Some things just come with the job, but practice is what makes it accurate and potent."

"Teach me. If I plan to save anyone, I need to become stronger."

"You have to be strong before you can become stronger. Besides, last I checked, you said you didn't have much time for anything. That includes training."

"Please, Dean, help me become strong."

"Hmmm. Well, alright. But you're right, there isn't much time left. I can only teach you so much. We can start with basic sword fighting and how to manipulate the wind. When it comes to the elements they can sometimes be found right in front of you. All you have to do is gauge your opponent and use what's around you. The easiest one to learn is the wind. Since it's a constant, you can use that to make strong wind gusts, small tornados, and so forth."

"Oooo, the power of wind," Greyshio says sarcastically. "I guess I can walk up to Derexen and blow in his face to kill him."

"Yeah, if your breath smells that bad. But all joking aside, you should never underestimate the power of wind."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal."

"Wind is an element of life. It can be gentle and a true force to be reckoned with. For example, when a hurricane enters a town, a city, or even an island, it leaves nothing but great destruction in its wake. So, yeah, it may be the easiest thing to learn, but it is far from weak."

"So when do we start?"

"Now, after we break out of here."

"Break out?"

"Yeah, I can't afford the bill they plan to charge me."

"You plan to skip out on a bill that doesn't exist?" the two boys look over to the door and see the doctor holding a chart.

"Really, so I don't have to pay?" Dean asks.

"Don't worry, I took care of your bill. Yours too, Greyshio. I see you two are about to leave and do more reckless work. I haven't known you two long, but I can tell you guys are good, caring people carrying a burden that you should let adults handle."

"As soon as I see adults with capabilities like ours, then I'll gladly handover my crown," Dean says with a smirk.

"I said my part. Do what you must do, but don't die. You two keep coming back here in worse condition. I'm sadly expecting corpses next time."

"We'll be fine," Greyshio says. "Take care, Doc."

The doctor shakes his head and leaves the room.

"Well, Greyshio, we better get going. We have five hours before sundown, so let's move."

The two boys get dressed and step outside in the ankle-deep snow that fell a few nights ago.

Greyshio's teeth begin to chatter. "Remember that I said I was fine the way I was in this climate? That was a lie too. I'm freezing! And now there's snow on the ground. I really need some clothes."

"I have about two hundred dollars on me. I can get you some clothes, but unlike you, I'm always prepared."

Dean begins to dig behind the hospital bench and pulls out a box covered in snow. He opens it and pulls out a blue coat and a blue snow cap.

"Why would you have a box of clothes behind a hospital bench?" Greyshio asks.

"I'm in and out of this place more than you know," Dean replies while dressing. "Come on, there's a clothing store about two blocks from here."

The two boys jog to the store and quickly hop inside to enjoy the warmth. It's a small clothing store with only a ground floor. The variety of what they can choose to buy is vast in comparison to its size.

Greyshio exhales with relief, "Ahhh, so warm. Now buy me clothes."

Dean lets out a chuckle. "Since when did I become your slave?"

"Since you flaunted your coat in my face."

"Fair enough. Oh, hey, what do you think of this?" Dean says while picking up a coat.

"Uh, that's green, I hate green, and I don't need you to pick out my clothes."

"Oh, stop being so difficult and let's get on with it. If we both look, the sooner we can get out of here."

"Fine, you go this way, and I'll go that way."

They split up and search the store up and down to find an outfit that's warm and stylish. A few minutes later, they meet up at the dressing rooms with the outfits.

"Okay, what do you think about this?" Greyshio holds up a set of clothes very similar to Dean's.

"Uh, Greyshio, we are not twins. I don't ever want to look like you. I think it would be better if we go with what I picked out." Dean holds up a pair of black, baggy, jeans and a thin white and black coat. "A pair of white boots comes with it if you buy the set, but it has to be this size. Go try it on."

Greyshio takes it into the dressing room. Soon after, he comes out wearing all the new gear Dean found. "Looks good. Grab the boots that go with it, and let's go."

They ring up the clothes and step outside with Greyshio already wearing all his new stuff. "This is great. I look awesome. It's really cool, but I wish I had my chain back," Greyshio says while looking himself up and down.

"One hundred ninety-eight dollars and ninety-eight cents," Dean says with his eyes fixed to the ground.

"Man, these clothes rock! Thanks, man."

"One hundred ninety-eight dollars and ninety-eight cents."

"So when are we going to start my training?"

"One hundred ninety-eight dollars and ninety-eight cents."

"Dean, relax. It's just money." Dean turns his head slowly toward him with a pale expression.

The two boys take an extended walk to the far edges of the city, leading to a local cemetery. The city's graveyard has tombstones as far as the eye can see. Only stray animals and birds roam the dark, foggy yards.

When they reach the center of the graveyard, Dean faces Greyshio, "This should be far enough. First thing first. We've got to get you in shape to summon your blade with ease, or at least with mild difficulty. Daia!" Dean summons his sword and swings it twice. "Now you."

"Braveheart!"

A moment of silence drags over the graveyard until Dean lets out a sigh. "Another failed attempt. Honestly, Greyshio, it shouldn't be this hard. Calling your blade should be literally the easiest thing you could do. What is it that you're afraid of?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. Look, it was just a momentary setback, watch. Braveheart!"

Dead silence still blankets the cemetery without a slight sign of Greyshio's sword being summoned.

"Greyshio, something happened to you back at your home that is having a negative effect on your abilities."

"It's just that... What if I fail again?"

"What?"

Greyshio sighs and sits on a tombstone. "During my final moments on that island, I had to watch my closest friend get killed before my very eyes. I was powerless to stop it from happening. It wasn't till after he was dead that I was able to call it. Now I can't help but wonder, will I truly ever be able to save anyone?"

"Okay, Greyshio, I can't help you."

"What?"

"Your fear is paralyzing you. It gives you the wrong mind frame for a chosen warrior. You told me you want to find your lost friend and save him if needed, but how can you save him if you can't save yourself?"

Dean begins to walk down the path toward the gates. "Dean, where are you going?" Greyshio asks.

Dean stops and turns his head halfway. "Greyshio, until you can overcome your fears, neither I, nor anyone else can ever help you. No one in this life can ever help someone who is afraid of the chance of losing someone."

"You're wrong. I will save them. I will save everyone I care about. No one will die in front of me ever again!"

Dean turns around quickly. "Greyshio, do it now! Call your sword!"

"Braveheart!" A mass of light fills the area for a moment. Greyshio is finally able to call his sword without fail.

"Save the world, vanquish evil. It's that simple," Dean says while slowly walking back toward Greyshio.

"Now that I can summon it, can we begin the real training?"

"If you can dismiss your blade at will and summon it three times, we can begin."

Greyshio does as he is told. "Wow, it's like a breeze to do now."

"It's because you finally let go of that fear. Now it's time you learn how to wield with little to no pauses in your sword swings. Raise your sword." Greyshio lifts his sword and shakes a little. "Please tell me you're shaking out of fear?"

"No, this thing is heavy. A lot heavier than I remember," he says under his breath. "When I was angry, I guess I didn't notice the weight of it."

"Adrenaline. Looks like we need to get you used to that weight."

"Maybe if I had a lighter blade like yours." Greyshio snatches Dean's sword. "It wouldn't be such a big deal." Without warning, Daia vanishes and returns to Dean's hand. "What the?"

"It's the way of the sword. If someone is not meant to touch or wield a chosen blade, it will automatically return to its owner. Now, come at me with all you've got."

"What! Are you nuts? I can kill you, dude."

"You are very cocky, Greyshio. It's a bit disgusting."

"How am I cocky? All I said was I could kill you."

"No! You said you can kill me. And even if you said could, I think it's very presumptuous to think you could kill me when just a few minutes ago, you couldn't even call your blade."

"I used to sword fight using a training sword back at home. Don't underestimate me."

"You will soon learn that there is a major difference when it comes to using the real thing. But since you are so confident that I will lose to a beginner, then by all means, show me a thing or two. But here's the deal. If you win, I will do whatever you say and teach you whatever you wish. But if I win, I don't want to hear a word from you on how I plan to train you."

"Fine, whatever. Let's do this."

Greyshio walks toward Dean slowly, still shaking slightly. Dean rushes in with a wide range slash that Greyshio barely blocks. He follows through with two roundhouse kicks, then an additional slash that's less wild and more refined. Greyshio falls and rolls across the ground. He jumps up swinging at Dean with a mild, yet far too slow attack. His strikes miss repeatedly.

He aims for Dean's face four times and misses. Greyshio jumps back and tries to take a breather. Dean seizes the moment and attacks him relentlessly, each attack becoming swifter than the last. Greyshio tries to counter by doing yet another slow swing toward his face. Dean quickly ducks and does an upper slash, knocking Greyshio's blade into the air to unarm him.

"Done," Dean says sternly. "Pick up your sword so we can begin," he says with a hard look in his eyes.

Greyshio watches him walk away, trying to absorb what just took place. Incredible, Greyshio thinks. When we started, there were many openings in his attacks. But in thirty seconds, his blade seemed as if it had no downtime. That was—

"Get up and grab your sword!"

"Oh, yes, sorry." Greyshio rushes to his fallen sword and holds it low to the ground.

"First problem, your sword stance is poor. Since you can't handle its weight, it declines your swing speed. We need to find a way to give you a stance that won't ruin your battle form," Dean says while observing Greyshio. "Hmm, from what I gathered so far, most of your strength comes from your upper body. Your attacks were aimed high, and those attacks had the fastest swing speed. Take your blade and do this."

Dean takes his sword and places it horizontally on his shoulder. He lines his sword with his shoulder blades while standing sideways. Greyshio mimics the stance and begins to smile. "Hey, I feel so much lighter," he says while adding a light, cocky bounce.

"Now try to attack me."

Greyshio runs in and attacks, but this time, his attacks are aimed for Dean's midsection and higher. Each swing is still blocked with ease.

Without issue, Dean knocks his sword to the ground. "Greyshio, you have too many flaws. You pause far too much and you're not holding your blade for dear life. If you lose your sword in battle, you're as good as dead. Don't let me unarm you again." They resume clashing, but Greyshio still does not land any hits on Dean. "Your speed has increased, but your attacks are still too sloppy," Dean says while parrying his attacks. "They're sloppier than when we began."

"I'm getting tired," Greyshio says in a huff.

"Stop complaining and breathe through your nose." The attacks are slowing with Greyshio's waning focus. "What are you doing? Don't just breathe, fight me. Learn to do both! Raise that sword. Your speed is dropping! Raise it!"

"Stop!" Greyshio drops to the ground coughing and breathing heavily. "I can't... I can't keep up with you. Your demands and what my body can do are on two different levels. I can barely breathe, so you tell me to breathe through my nose. Then you tell me to stop focusing on my breathing and fight you."

"You need to learn to be able to do all I am telling you till it becomes second nature. Your lack of stamina and your inability to wield is awful. I can't believe you have made it this far... Again."

"Dean, wait. I need a break."

"Don't make me—"

"Make you what? Just hold on and let me catch my breath."

Dean turns his back to Greyshio and stares at his own reflection in his sword. "Why should you catch your breath when Brad didn't get to?"

Greyshio freezes. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. You sit on your ass just like you did back home. You stand before me crying that you want to save your friend, but now you want to take a break. Did Brad get a nice break when he was killed?" Dean tilts his blade to catch Greyshio's reflection, "What's wrong, you mad?"

"Stop it, you don't know him like that, so stop," Greyshio says as a dim flash of light briefly encircles him. Braveheart's fuller gains a glowing red substance rising at less than one-eighth of its size.

"I know this much. Your friend—was a fool to choose death over life, just to protect you." In an instant, Greyshio vanishes into thin air. "What?"

He looks up and quickly raises his sword overhead. Greyshio crashes down from above with a mighty swing. He flips back, then bolts toward Dean, slashing at him with far greater speed than he started with. Dean is barely able to dodge, but still does well when it comes to blocking Greyshio's attacks.

Greyshio grabs his blade by both ends and rams it into Dean, causing him to stumble. "Don't ever degrade him! EVER!" Greyshio says as streams of light begin to form at the end of his sword.

Dean looks at the energy with surprise in his eyes. What the hell is that? Is that really for me? "That's enough, Greyshio."

"No! I say when it's enough! Riftazition!"

Damn it, Dean thinks. He's berserk and far from reasoning. Greyshio fires the streams of light at him. Dean begins running while spinning his Empyrean Blade around his feet a few times. He begins to levitate and uses the wind to help him out run the attack.

The streams are hitting everything in sight. Tombstones, flowerpots, even the soil if it failed to reach him. Greyshio's attack ends with devastation in its path. Looks like I will have to fight him for real if I don't want to die, Dean thinks. Well, here goes nothing.

He's just about to attack Greyshio once he came back around from riding the wind, but to his surprise, Greyshio's already unconscious. Dean ends his spell and picks Greyshio up over his shoulder. Suspiciously, he stares at Braveheart until it disappears before walking from the cemetery.

The next morning, Greyshio is asleep on the hard floor of another abandoned building. The building is dusty, and the air has a musty smell to it.

A gentle breeze envelops Greyshio and slowly wakes him. "You're finally awake," Dean says, sitting on a table. Greyshio looks at him, but doesn't say a word. "What, you're not going to talk to me now?" Dean sighs. "I know you don't like what I said, but I had to do it to prove a point to you. You seem to go all out when your emotions come into play. But you need to learn how to do that without letting your feelings get the best of you."

Dean huffs and glances out the window. "You have potential, maybe more than others. But you have to bring it to the table when times call for it. You didn't need all those stupid breaks you asked for. All you needed is the right push. But it turned out I pushed you too far. Greyshio, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean a word of it. I know without even meeting him that Brad was a great guy. Anyone would be lucky to have him as a friend."

Greyshio turns his head toward the broken window. "I know you didn't. I just lost it. But you're right, Brad was the best. No matter how big or small the problem was, he would swear that all the weight should fall on him." He smiles a little. "A bad habit I adopted from him."

"Guys like him are what you call a diamond in the dirt." Dean slides his finger down the dusty end of the table. "On the bright side, your fighting skills went from a D to a B." He hops off the table. "I know, off topic, but you need to cheer up."

Greyshio chuckles a little. "Thanks, I guess. I have one question though."

"Shoot."

"Why the hell are we in another abandoned building?"

"I told you, my family. This city has been kind of going downhill due to poor use of the city's tax dollars. Come to think about it, we could finish up your sword training here and do your wind training at the graveyard after dark."

"Why at night?"

"Because today, we enter Yock City's tallest building and end this battle with the hooded intruders. When I went out to get our breakfast, people said more and more citizens have been killed by unknown creatures of the night. This time it was near my home. Any day now, my family might be next."

"I see your point. Let's eat and finish my training. What did you get?"

"Thanks to you, all I could afford are these sandwiches," he says as he pulls out two hero sandwiches from the plastic bag on the table. They sit near the broken window and begin to eat.

Dean takes a bite and stares into his sandwich. "Greyshio, that move you did. The one that knocked you out. What was that?"

"I don't know. It only happens when I get really mad. The move takes so much out of me that I end up passing out."

"So you can't control it. How unfortunate. A move like that would be pretty useful in the pinch of battle. If only we had more time, I could probably help you master that as well."

"We will, man. Once we wipe out the threat in your city, we can pick up where we left off."

"He-he, I guess you're right. Eat your food so we can finish."

The sun sets on the city, birthing a new night. The two boys enter the cemetery with swords in hand, ready to continue.

"Your overall swordsmanship as of now is a C+ wielder," Dean says. "But now it's time to teach you the element I promised. You ready?"

"Of course."

Dean spins his sword and points it at a nearby tombstone. All they hear is the sound of a strong air burst slamming into the stone. "Although it didn't move, it would be a different story when used on an opponent."

"Sounds to me like a waste of time."

"Even after all we've been through, you still think you know best."

Dean points his sword at Greyshio and fires a wind gust at him. Greyshio is sent flying high and far through the air. Dean speeds over toward him and jumps up to his face.

He stares at Greyshio upside down, inches from bumping heads with him. "If this was a real fight, you would be dead right now," he says before kicking Greyshio to the ground. Before Greyshio lands, Dean uses the wind to reduce his fall. They both land gently using the wind as an aid.

"Alright, I'm convinced the power of wind is serious," Greyshio says while standing. "I'm going to stop second guessing you and take in what you say."

"I'm glad to hear it. Now, when trying to harness the wind, it's extremely easy to lose control of it. It's also easy to think you are controlling it, when it's actually controlling you."

"How could it control me?"

"Air is all around you. To control only a portion of it can sometimes be a hard task, especially if there's a storm going on. So the first step for you is to be able to condense a large amount of air into a ball."

"Dean, I know you said this was the easiest element to learn, but I disagree. How can I use what I can't see?"

"You have to feel it out. It's like your Empyrean Blade. You couldn't see it for the longest time, but you knew it was there. Apply that logic to this technique and it shouldn't be too hard. And, Greyshio, we are very limited on time. There's a chance you may not learn this skill at all."

"No, I will because," Greyshio gives him a thumbs up, "I have potential."

Dean smirks. "Hmph, show me. Do as I did."

Greyshio closes his eyes and spreads his legs while aiming his blade at the closest tombstone. Wind gathers at the end of his blade when the stone is suddenly lifted out the ground. It spins around until he releases it far-off into the distance. Greyshio breathes strongly through his nose.

"The perfect example of how wind can sometimes take a form of its own," Dean says. "You wanted to blast the stone, but you lifted it and swirled it around."

"Actually, that's what I wanted to do. I found blasting won't come in handy as much as I think, so I went another way."

Dean stares at him for a moment. "Could you blast it if you wanted to?"

"Yeah. I mean, once you said all I needed to do was feel it out like the Empyrean Blade, it seemed so easy."

"Not bad, Greyshio. I'm proud of you. But don't forget, even though you have come this far, you are still below novice level and have much to learn. Be sure to perfect the things I've taught you today, even when I'm not the one teaching you."

"I will, Dean, and thanks for everything."

"No problem. But it's time to get serious. We need to head to the center of the city and cross the bridge to the tech building."

"That shouldn't be too rough."

"Grey, be on guard. Don't let anything get by you." Greyshio does a noticeable eye slant. "What?"

"You called me Grey."

"Yeah, so?"

"My friend Brad used to call me that. Can you do me a favor and not call me that?"

"Alright, I won't call you that anymore." Dean looks toward the grave gates. "Let's get going. We have much to do."

They leave the cemetery and make the long trip to the heart of Yock City where the mysterious tech building lied.

The city's tallest building stands on a round secluded peninsula connecting to the rest of the city by bridge. The water around the tower made travel to the area difficult without the bridge. There are few trees lining the edges of the peninsula, leaving nowhere for enemies to hide.

When they arrive at the tech building, the boys cross the bridge and wait behind the nearest tree to observe their surroundings. With a quiet sprint, they move beside the glass doors leading into the building. They give each other an agreement nod before opening the doors to enter.

Once inside, they meet the man in the black cloak, who has been waiting for them in the lobby. "Greetings, he says. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you, and warn you. This building has traps and Demis all throughout. My master looks forward to meeting you two. We will be waiting for you on the 15th floor. This is the lobby, the level below the first floor."

"Why don't you stop wasting our time and let's settle this now," Dean says.

"It does not work that way. Besides," he turns to Greyshio. "It would be in Greyshio's best interest to reach the top if he ever wants to know what happened to Demeseus."

The cloaked man disappears in a rolling black fog. "Hey, hold it!" Greyshio shouts. "Where is Demeseus!?"

Dean puts his hand on Greyshio's shoulder. "Come on, let's take the stairs. If we take the elevator, it would probably collapse while we try to ride it."

The two boys take the stairs and reach the first floor. They stare down a dark hallway with lights on at the end. After carefully treading, they reach an office leading to the second floor. Unfortunately, all the passageways to the second floor are blocked off. Even the elevator's blocked off.

"Geez, this place is like a big puzzle," Greyshio says. "Do we need to backtrack and take the elevator on the first floor?"

Dean walks toward the window and taps it twice. "No, let's just make our own path. Daia!"

"Braveheart!"

"Hey, you're getting good at that."

Dean grabs a chair and throws it out the window. To their surprise, the glass falling outside the window begins to fly back in, cutting up Greyshio and Dean.

"Damn! Reflect!" Dean says, creating a barrier of light to bounce the glass back. He bounces all the glass back until the window is completely reformed. "What the hell?" he says as his barrier fades. "Must be a spell they set up."

"My turn."

"No way, I got this."

"I got a plan. It's risky, but it must be done. Dean, smash the window again and I'll handle the rest."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

Dean smashes the window with Daia and rolls out of the way before the glass' withdrawal. Greyshio twirls his Empyrean Blade. "This is where that move I did back at the cemetery comes in handy."

Suddenly, the glass begins to swirl up into a small tornado formation. He then releases all the shards into a large bulletin board.

Greyshio walks to the board and stares at the shaking shards, "Something tells me this will only last for a short period of time. We should go out the window and scale the building as far as possible."

Dean sticks his head out the window and looks up the building, "We can't go any higher than the third floor."

"Why?"

"Because there are electrical wires in rows of four that extend at least five feet from the building. To make matters worse, this floor has no ledge."

"Then how are we going to do this?"

"Watch and be amazed."

Dean steps back and jumps out of the window backward. He smashes his blade into the wall outside before he flies out too far. He builds momentum and swings his body around so he can stand on his sword.

Dean looks down and notices the window repairing itself. "Greyshio, hurry! The window!"

Greyshio sees the glass magically reforming inward from the edges. He jumps out of the window with the sealing glass cutting his shoelace before it is fully outside with him. He tries to smash his blade into the wall like Dean, but misses. As he falls, Greyshio throws his sword and lodges it next to Dean's.

He raises his arm with an open palm. Suddenly, a thin string of light shoots out of his hand and latches onto his sword. It begins to retract and pull him toward his blade.

"When did you learn that?" Dean asks with an amazed look.

"I learned it when you were busy getting breakfast. It was kind of an accident," he chuckles.

Dean continues to watch him with a puzzled look. How is he doing these things? Once he got his blade back, it has been one thing after another. I figured him learning the wind skill came easy since all spells become less strenuous when holding your sword. But this... Could he actually be—?

Greyshio pulls himself high enough to climb onto his blade and sit down. "Man, I'm beat."

Dean sits on his blade as well. "Need a break?"

"Yes, that would be nice."

Dean stands back up. "Too bad, we have company. Maybe next time you'll think twice about showing off."

Large flying Demis with red eyes and birdlike bodies come from the left and right sides of the building. "They look like overgrown crows."

"Let's move."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Can you do that light thing again?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Connect that string to your sword and then jump over here to hang from mine." Greyshio jumps over and dangles. "Now yank yours out and lodge it in the wall by the third floor ledge." Greyshio pulls it out and hurls it up the wall at an angle, lodging it successfully. He then swings himself onto the third floor ledge.

He pulls out his sword and dangles it by Dean before running to the other side of the ledge. Dean grabs the string and then grabs the handle of his blade. He then pushes himself off the wall to dislodge his sword. Greyshio quickly carries him over while he spins in the air.

"Flameberge," Dean says as his sword begins shooting dozens of fist-sized fireballs at the crows.

Greyshio swings Dean onto the third floor ledge without fail. He retracts his Empyrean Blade back to him and begins running toward the center window. Dean does the same while crows chase behind both of them.

Dean jumps off the ledge and grabs Greyshio's hand. He swings around toward the Demis on Greyshio's side while Greyshio kills the ones after Dean. As Dean soars through the air, he bicycle-kicks the Demis out the sky.

"Give me your sword," Greyshio says.

"What? But you can't use it," Dean says upon landing.

"I won't touch it."

"Okay, kid. It's your show."

Dean throws it to him like a bowling ball that nearly touches the ground. Greyshio front flips while creating a bundle of light strings that cover his hand and grabs the blade without losing momentum.

Greyshio jumps up to step on the Demis like stairs. Then he jumps up higher off the last two and throws the swords in two different directions. He creates a light string for each blade and begins spinning. His attack kills off the other Demis while shattering the two windows in the middle of the third floor ledge.

Dean sees the opportunity and runs toward the windows. Greyshio lands on the ledge and backflips into the building's window toward the left.

He retracts his sword and swings Daia toward Dean. Dean catches it and jumps inside the slowly reforming window. He notices the creatures about to come inside and throws his Empyrean Blade out the left window, just before it fully reforms. The blade swiftly slices all the incoming Demis and boomerangs back through the right window to kill the remaining Demis as the last window reforms.

Out of breath, Dean catches his returning sword. "We've just done the best teamwork I have ever seen," Dean says in an optimistic tone. "And I bet we will never pull something like that off again." They sit on the floor for a few minutes and rest. As his breathing regulates, he glances at Greyshio. "Hey. Have you ever heard the story about the destined heroes?"

"Destined heroes? Uh, no, never. Why you ask?"

"It's an old tale that has been told time and time again. Kind of like a nameless story with no origin. I don't know how long it has been around, but it's about two heroes destined to bring change to the world. I heard it a few times as a child. It was a comforting thing, knowing that good always prevails. Something my schoolteacher used to tell the class as a reward for good deeds. But she never told us the story from a book, though. I kind of figured she was just winging it for our amusement, but when I grew up, I heard it once again. Turns out, it was just a children's book. Ridiculous," he says with slight resentment.

"Sounds cool. What kind of people were they?"

"Who cares. It's not real."

"Then why did you bring it up? Something must have made you think about that story."

Dean stands up and exhales. "A nostalgic memory that comes up when things feel out of place. You ready to move on?"

Greyshio picks up his sword and begins to dust off his pants. "Yeah, I do wonder what dangers await us on this floor." Greyshio walks up to the elevator and pushes the button. "The elevator works."

"Wait, Greyshio, be careful!" Dean says while rushing toward him.

The door opens, and without looking, Greyshio proceeds. "Come on, it's hereee!"

Just when he's about to fall in, Dean grabs him by his shirt and pulls him back. "That was close."

"Yeah, thanks."

"So, I guess we take the stairs like before?"

They walk to the stairwell down the hall. Greyshio opens the door and looks back at Dean, "Sure, we can take the stairs, if you want holes in your feet. It's layered with spikes."

"Damn, then how the hell are we getting to the next floor?"

"Wait a second. I think we may have given up on the elevator too quickly." Greyshio rushes back to the elevator. "There may be no elevator car, but there's a cable leading to the next floor."

Dean follows Greyshio back to the elevator and jumps onto the cable after him. "I hope this will lead us to—" Dean bumps into Greyshio's feet. "Hey! Why are you stopping!?"

"This is tiring, man. I had no idea climbing like this would be so challenging."

"My God. I have never heard someone whine so much. Just move, damn it!"

"Okay okay!" he says as he rushes up the cable.

Once they reach the fourth floor, Greyshio stops suddenly. "Ugh! Why did you stop this time, lazy ass!?"" Dean asks.

"We can't go past this floor. The cable's torn up too badly."

"Hmm. Then we'll have to swing. I'll synchronize my momentum with yours." Greyshio makes a comical face of exhaustion. Dean punches him in the leg, shocking him to life, "Get it together, dumbass!"

They begin to swing from side to side, building momentum to reach the fourth floor door. Once they're close enough, Greyshio stabs his Empyrean Blade in the door to hold them in place while Dean wedges his between the doors to pry it open. Together, they manage to open the doors and climb onto the floor.

They stand up and are hit in the face by dangling wires. They look up to see hundreds of slashed wires sparking. The doors close before they feel a light rumbling. The wall to the left side of the room breaks down with a large body of water crashing through the room.

"Oh, crap," Dean says.

The water quickly begins rising past their ankles. "What are we going to do?" Greyshio asks, trying not to panic.

"I don't know. What would be the best way out of here, or the best way to remove this water?"

"I'll break the window."

Dean lowers Greyshio's blade. "And we would still be killed. The electric fences outside, remember? Before the room's fully drained, the voltage would travel upstream and hit us."

"Great, then we're screwed!"

"Don't give up. We just need to find another way."

They begin running around frantically to find a way out. In minutes, the water level has risen past their waist, slowing their movements.

Greyshio becomes frustrated and splashes the water. "Argh! That's it, Dean. We lost. We can't go any further than this. Those cloaked bastards did us in!" Greyshio says, trying to stay afloat with the water up to his chest.

"You really give up too easy." Dean lifts his blade out the water and begins to mold a portion of the water into a flat shape. "Ice Storm!" He freezes it into a thick ice block and slams it through the ceiling. "Greyshio, use your wind skill and lift us into the ceiling."

Greyshio uses the technique and sloppily places them in the ceiling. As they softly crawl toward the stairwell, Greyshio's hand and knee breaks through a couple ceiling tiles. "Don't fall, we're almost there!" Dean shouts.

Once they reach the top of the stairwell, Dean bangs his hands repeatedly on the ceiling vent until they fall through. Dean stands up and points his sword at the hole.

"What are you doing?" Greyshio asks.

Wait for it, Dean thinks while squinting his eyes.

"Dean, come on!" Greyshio panics, ready to run.

Wait for it, Dean thinks, focusing his aim further. The moment a visible splash of water is seen, Dean fires. "Ice Storm!" Dean uses the rushing water to create an ice block and seals the hole. "I'm really getting sick of this shit!" he says with annoyance. "This is all childish crap! Can't we just fight already? Come on, Greyshio."

They walk up the stairs to the next floor. Once they reach the top, Greyshio finds a note pinned to a bulletin board. He pulls it down and reads aloud to himself while Dean walks up ahead. "Congrats for reaching the fifth floor. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to activate the traps on the remaining floors. Take the stairs to your far left and head to the sixth floor. After that, just ride the elevator the rest of the up to us."

"What you got there?" Dean asks from down the dimly lit hall.

"It's a note from those guys. They want us to head straight to the 15th floor by taking the stairs to the sixth. Then we can ride the elevator the rest of the way up. It sounds like a trap."

"I doubt it. They have no reason to trick us now. I assume they must be getting tired of this game as much as we are. This gives me the needed time to talk with you." They head to the stairs and slowly walk up. "Greyshio, there's something you must know. Our meeting was not by accident."

"It wasn't?"

"I was called to you by my sword. Like a low pitched hum that grew the closer I got. But even if I wasn't drawn to you, I think someone knew you were coming. I was visited by someone two days before you came here. He explained to me what the Empyrean Blades are and the responsibilities of being a World Guardian. Then he gave me something I have no use for, but you might."

"What did he give you?"

"It's called a Uniship. You can use it to go to the far reaches of the globe. I think he may have predicted your arrival and left it with me to give to you. Here." Dean hands Greyshio a remote.

"Is this for the ship?"

"Yeah. This will call it anytime you need it. I checked it out a few times and the navigation controls should be easy to learn just by looking at it."

"Who gave this to you? Who predicted my arrival?"

"I don't know. It was some guy in a white and gold robe. He stood out as clear as day, but oddly enough, I was the only one able to see him."

"What was his name?"

"I don't know. He was brief and in a hurry."

The two boys push open the doors to the sixth floor and step into the room. They see that the elevator's already open. They glance at each other and walk into the car. Dean hits the button and exhales as the doors close.

"When we get there, use everything I taught you," Dean says. "Be sure not to fight emotionally. Think before you act, got it?"

"Right."

The elevator reaches the top floor and dings before opening. They both grip their Empyrean Blades, trying to maintain a calm demeanor. When the doors open, they see two men in the far distance, both in black robes.

The whole room is white like porcelain with six pillars lining each side of the room. A long white rug stretches from the elevator to the two hooded men. One sits in a chair, the other stands next to him with his arms folded behind his back.

The man in the chair pushes off his hood, revealing his cyan eyes and mid-length messy black hair. "Greetings," he says with a grin.

His hair is slightly tamed on the sides and the back of his head, complimenting his light white skin. On the top and front parts of his head is where his hair is the most disorderly with three bangs hanging closely above his left and right eyebrow.

Along his strong jawline is stubbly facial hair. There's stubbly facial hair above his lip and around his chin as well. From his posture, the man has a strong, solid physique a little smaller than the other man's body frame.

Greyshio grits his teeth looking at him with anger in his eyes. "Who the hell are you?" he demands.

"So, it wasn't Derexen like you thought," Dean says.

"I am Derexen," the man in the chair says. Greyshio and Dean are puzzled at his statement. "You see, I know when you saw me before, I was only nineteen, and I still am. I just don't look it. That's what the darkness does to you. It puts your body in the form you would be in your physical prime. My prime is somewhere in my mid to late twenties, going by looks alone." He stands up and walks slowly toward them. "But I'm glad to see that the heroes have finally arrived at my very doorstep."

"Why are you in my city?" Dean says roughly. "Get the hell out."

"And to think I thought we could be friends. I don't feel up to all the meaningless chit-chat we could make, so let's get right down to it." Derexen calls upon his black sword, Catastrophe.

Greyshio gets ready to engage him until Dean steps in front of him. "Why fight a rookie when you can fight a pro? You're obviously being a bully picking on Greyshio like this."

The man standing next to the chair flinches for a moment. Derexen glances at his partner. "I'm no bully. If you think otherwise, I will fight you first. This setup is what I intended anyway." Derexen waves his hand and opens a portal above Dean's head, when suddenly it pulls him up into it. Derexen rushes over and jumps into it as well. "Alexus, take care of Greyshio," he says before vanishing with the hole.

The cloaked man unfolds his arms from behind his back and steps slowly to Greyshio, "It's just you and me. Let's see if your existence means anything."

"Before we begin, tell me who you are."

"Knock off my hood and you just might find out."

Dean finds himself in a dark, well-lit realm. The area appears to have no end and no beginning. Some areas have spotlights while others are in complete shadow. He begins to walk and accidentally steps into a shimmering pool of light.

"Where am I?" he asks while watching the ripples.

"The realm between," Derexen says before stepping out the shadows. "To be exact, it's more like the core of this world."

"The core?"

"Yes. Every world has a core. All of them are part dark and part light. So I figured, why not have the deciding battle for your little city at the very heart of it all?"

"That's very poetic of you. I didn't know someone as cold as you could spout such beauty."

"Well, I do what I can."

"I won't let you get away with what you've done. You have killed many, and I bet this is only the beginning. I know Greyshio wanted to be the one to slay you, but I think it's best the boy never has to experience murder."

"Oh, you're serious."

"Damn straight I am!" Dean shouts, darting toward Derexen.

The fight between Alexus and Greyshio has begun with the mystery man making the first move. He rushes toward Greyshio unarmed and ready to attack. Greyshio raises his sword to defend, but is only able to fend off two punches.

Greyshio is hit with a backhand to the face that knocks him off his guard. Alexus quickly hits him left and right several times. Suddenly, Greyshio catches one of his punches and tries to flip him. The attempted flip fails, leaving Greyshio open to more assault. Alexus lifts him into the air and throws him to the side like a ragdoll.

Greyshio stands up and shakes off the pain, "Okay, I get how you work now."

He runs toward him with his blade raised only to have it smacked high into the air. Greyshio begins throwing wild hook shots to Alexus's face, missing each time. The cloaked fighter grabs Greyshio's wrist and begins squeezing. Greyshio screams and tries to punch him with the other hand. His attack is caught once again, causing him to kneel as the man squeezes both his hand and wrist.

Alexus looks closely at Greyshio, but not close enough to make out his face. "You are weak. Why are you weak? There was a time you were stronger than me."

Greyshio chuckles. "Guess what? I still am."

Without warning, a whistling noise fills the man's ears. He looks back and is grazed across his head by Braveheart. Greyshio catches his sword as Alexus drops to the floor, hoodless.

"Good thing I learn by watching." Thank you, Dean, he thinks while smirking.

The man turns over, wiping the blood from his forehead. Greyshio stares at his long, white fuzzy hair, but still doesn't recognize him. He looks back at Greyshio with his orange irises, burly mug, and clean-shaven face.

"Sorry, guy, I still don't know who you are," Greyshio says.

"I'm hurt, but it's no surprise. You Wings of Waltz guys never did pay much attention to me, even though it was I who made your wooden swords."

Greyshio's eyes begin to widen in disbelief. "No... It can't be."

In the realm between, the two warriors cross swords, trying to push each other down. Dean jumps back and casts a spell. "Ice Storm!" Derexen waves his hand and shoots a large amount of high-speed fireballs, canceling out his spell. "That was some smooth thinking."

"Thank you," Derexen replies.

Derexen leaps into the air and spins toward him. Dean fires a pressurized air blast that Derexen cuts right through. He raises his sword, moments before Derexen crashes into him. With his constant spinning, each hit causes Dean to slide back. Derexen tries to bypass his sword by going around him, but Dean moves accordingly with his movements.

His attack speed is about one slash per second, Dean thinks. Which gives me half a second to counter him. That's more than enough time. Right after Derexen completes another slash, he stops guarding and swings his sword.

Derexen jumps back in time to only receive a horizontal slash across his torso. He looks down at his wound and instantly becomes angry. "Fuck! I got cut first! Fucking bitch! I got slashed first! Damn it!"

"Your moves are strong, but a skillful warrior, such as myself, can see through your moves in no time. You chose the wrong city to invade. Maybe you should've waited until you were more experienced, kiddo."

"Don't talk to me like that, you, you—"

"Enough, kid. It's time to silence you."

While charging at his opponent, Dean steadily begins using the wind around him to enhance his running speed. Suddenly, Derexen vanishes in the blink of an eye. He reappears behind Dean in mid-kick.

Dean turns around and points his finger at him. "Zephyr's Bullet." He fires a tiny, but highly condensed ball of air through Derexen's forehead. Dean smiles as Derexen falls to the ground. "It's the end. Farewell, my unworthy foe." He begins to turn around, "I wonder how I get out—"

Just before Dean can fully turn around, Derexen kicks him in the hand, causing him to drop his sword. He then rams his fist into Dean's stomach, twisting it on impact.

Dean hits the ground and Derexen starts choking him. Dean's eyes are tearing as his face turns red. He tilts his head back, struggling to get free. To his surprise, Dean sees that the thing he thought was Derexen was actually his sword disguised as him.

"I will not lose to you," Derexen says in a heavy grunt. "I am stronger and wiser." Dean lifts his finger to fire another bullet at Derexen. He takes one of his hands off his neck and breaks his finger. Dean can't scream, but he makes a painful expression. Derexen watches the light fade from his eyes. "This is the end," he says callously.

Greyshio stands before Alexus, looking as if he has seen a ghost. "Lex? Is it really you?"

"In the flesh. But please, call me Alexus."

"But that night... How did you make it?"

"After you passed out and got sucked into the vortex, the town fell into darkness. That's when he found me, wandering in that darkness. He gave me the strength to escape my end. He gave me life." He looks off to the side for a moment. "Derexen saved me from the darkness, and I owe him for that."

"Don't delude yourself, Lex. You're still in the darkness. But now you're so blind to the truth that not even the strongest light can set you free."

"IT'S ALEXUS!" he screams with fist clenched.

Darkness begins to twist around Alexus like a storm. He raises his hand and summons a black scythe from within electric dark clouds. The scythe's black shaft is long and mildly curvy. It has three black oval gems embedded in the base with silver rimming. Its blade is highly curved with length equal to three-fourths of the weapon.

"I will not be looked down on ever again," Alexus says.

Alexus charges in and slashes Greyshio's chest. He continues to slash him a number of times until he slams against the elevator doors. Greyshio sits on the floor, aching from his numerous wounds. Alexus approaches him while swinging his scythe upside down like a pendulum. Greyshio looks up and begins to shake out of fear.

Alexus takes a few more steps and stops in front of him. "How does it feel, Greyshio? Knowing that you are going against someone so strong and can't beat them? It's an awful feeling, isn't it? Welcome to my past," he says, raising his scythe overhead.

Dean lies on the floor trying to get Derexen off of him. He kicks his legs up as far as possible and wraps them around his neck, pulling Derexen off of him and slamming him upside down. He begins repeatedly punching him in the ribs until Derexen tightens his fist and calls his black blade to his hand. At that moment, he stabs Dean in the ankle, causing him to scream out.

Dean flops back and tries to crawl away, but the sword's still in him, until Derexen cuts his ankle clean off. Dean tries to crawl back to his Empyrean Blade, but the closer he gets, the more limbs Derexen removes. First, he cuts off his already-butchered leg, then he chops off his arm. He finishes by hacking at his last leg. Dean pulls himself so slowly, trying to get to his sword.

Derexen steps on Dean's hand before lifting him by his hair. "You look hideous. But it's fitting for a lowly human being like you. You mocked me by saying I was nothing more than a child, right? Well, I hope you like the feeling of being beaten by a child." Dean begins to laugh. "What's so funny?"

He chuckles a few more times and looks him in the eye. "You are. You and your childish traps. This isn't a game, but you sure tried to make it one. Then you get mad because I call you a child? But if you know you're not one, then why should what I say taunt you? Like a child. Not only that, you've been incredibly dramatic and over-the-top about everything."

"Your way of life is unnecessary," Dean continues before chuckling once more. "How can I not call you a child?" Derexen becomes angered by Dean's words. "If only you could see your face. You look just like an angry child who didn't get his way."

Dean begins laughing at him. Even though his life is fading, he still recklessly laughs at Derexen.

Derexen becomes madder at the manner he is being mocked. He starts to grit his teeth at his constant laughter while gripping his sword strongly. Without thinking twice, Derexen stabs Dean in the back and nearly the whole sword goes through him. He pulls it out and slams his face to the ground. A portal appears beneath them and sinks them into the ground.

As Alexus is about to remove Greyshio's head, they feel a sharp tremor. Suddenly, the portal returns, dropping Dean to the ground with Daia before gently releasing Derexen. Derexen stands quietly and returns his black sword to the darkness.

"Derexen?" Alexus says.

Greyshio stares at Dean's cracking Empyrean Blade then slowly looks at Dean. "Dean? Dean!" He dismisses his sword and runs over to him. He trembles at the sight of him as he lifts his head with tears in his eyes. "Dean. Dean, come on."

Dean opens his eyes and looks at Greyshio's sorrowful face. "Hey, kid. Your face. It's so sad and scared. I'm sorry. I can tell I must be uprooting many bad memories for you. I was hoping it wouldn't end like this, but in all my efforts, I wasn't able to... Damn my foolishness. I wish I had one more chance." He begins to cough with blood running down his mouth.

Dean pulls Greyshio closer to him, "You remember that story I told you? That ridiculous story was my backbone since I was a kid. My reasoning for knowing that doing right was the way. Still was up to this moment. It was silly," he says with a slight gurgle. "But I thought if I could make it a reality—how great would that be? Oh well, no tale worth telling here. Maybe you can—"

Dean coughs a few times, "Listen to me. You have to get out of here. This city's about to fall into darkness, wiping out all that's living. As long as you live, I'll know for sure that I still did the right thing."

"Damn it, Dean, what are you talking about?" Greyshio says.

Dean's blade cracks more as Derexen stands over it, "He's about to die. It's about time too. It's amazing how you people cling to life till you can finish your meaningless yammering. It's sickening, but what can you do?"

"Shut up! Derexen, I swear on everything inside of me, I will fucking kill you! What you have done is unforgivable! Why did you have to kill him like this!? I will make you suffer!" Greyshio stresses.

Dean weakly tugs on Greyshio's shirt, getting him to calm down a bit. "Greyshio, stop," he says in a faded voice. "Don't let your hate consume you. Once that happens, you'll lose sight of everything that matters to you. Before you know it, you'll be one step from becoming just like him."

Greyshio sniffles. "Dean..."

Dean points his hand at the wall with his arm shaking greatly to keep it up. "It's time for you to go. Please be safe on your travels. Celestial Flare."

He fires a massive surge of energy, blowing the wall away. Dean's Empyrean Blade becomes transparent and shatters with the shards falling upward and fading upon escalation.

Derexen grins, "This is a fitting end to these damned homo sapiens."

Suddenly, the entire building begins to shake nonstop. Greyshio digs in his pocket and pulls out his remote. He quickly hits the button in desperation to call the ship.

A white, yellow, and purple ship flies up by the open hole in the wall. Its cockpit is only large enough for a single passenger. It has two large exhaust funnels with eight smaller ones above the larger ones. The ship is heavily armored, and does not look like technology used on Terra.

The side door pops open for Greyshio to get in. "Stop!" Alexus shouts.

"Let him go," Derexen says. "In the end, his running will eventually lead him back to me."

Greyshio jumps into the Uniship and takes off. As he looks down on the city through the windshield, he sees countless small and large Demis creeping out the shadows. The darkness begins to quickly engulf the city. Greyshio slams his head back on his chair, holding in his tears and clutching his fist.

"I will get stronger. And I'll avenge them both." Greyshio sadly stares at the dashboard before clenching his jaw with great anger on his face. "You...," he gripes. "Derexen, I swear. I swear. I swear... I swear I will kill you at all cost. No matter what it takes."
Chapter Six: The Other Lost One

"Demeseus, go!"

As Greyshio's voice echoes through the darkness, Demeseus slowly wakes in a cold cabin bed. He turns his head and sees a mug of hot chocolate next to a saucer of buttered toast.

"Where am I?" he asks.

"A small town called Greenwood," says a feminine voice.

A beautiful young woman with bright blue eyes, dark black hair, and full lips, enters the room from the kitchen. Her hair is full of body and length, reaching her shoulder blades. Some of her hair rests gently over her right shoulder.

Although she's wearing a baggy, gray sweater and dark green sweatpants, it is still obvious she has a curvy full figure. Her skin is a beautiful, light and creamy blend of peach-white. Her face is smooth and lean, with no unhealthy indents of starvation.

She walks in with a bowl of hot chicken soup and places it next to the mug. She sits on the chair next to the bed and smiles at Demeseus.

"Please eat," she says. "You've been out cold for three days. You need to get your strength back."

Demeseus turns his head, looking out the cabin window to watch the snowfall. "How did I get here? Where did you find me?"

She looks up and puts her finger between her chin and bottom lip. "I don't know how you got here, but I found you on the mountain top. You were unconscious with pretty bad injuries. Scratches and bite marks all over your torso, not to mention you were way underdressed for this weather. It was as if you came from another world or something."

"Another world? Sounds kind of strange."

She giggles. "I suppose you're right. By the way," she grabs a piece of toast. "Who's Greyshio?"

There's a brief silence in the air before Demeseus responds. "I don't know. The name sounds familiar, but I don't know who you're talking about."

"Maybe he never existed. Maybe it was all a dream. It can sometimes be tough to decipher dream from reality."

"Might I ask what your name is?"

"Oh, excuse me, where are my manners. My name is Michelle, and you?"

"Demeseus."

"Demeseus. That's a lovely name. Well, Demeseus, I think you should eat the food I made for you while I go down to the store and get you clothes." Michelle shoves the piece of toast in his mouth. "Well, I'm off. You better be done by the time I get back."

She puts on a black winter coat and opens the cabin door. Tremendous amounts of cold air and snow fill the room before she closes it. Demeseus shivers as he sits up and grabs another piece of toast.

He takes a sip of his hot cocoa and stares off into space. "Greyshio... Greyshio. He seems so real. Was it really all a dream?" He lets go of his thoughts and finishes his meal before going back to sleep.

Halfway back from town, Michelle is stopped by a smiling, balding old man. His wrinkly white skin is cracked and dry. On his chin is a small patch of thinning beard hair, and his eyes are in a constant state of squinting. He's a bit underdressed, wearing an open lightweight coat that almost matches his complexion. On his feet are brown shoes a few shades darker than his slacks.

"How's the young man doing, Michelle?" he asks, leaning on his cane.

"He's fine. He seems to be suffering from a mild case of amnesia."

"Oh? Well, take good care of him. I'll be on my way now."

"Okay, goodnight, Mr. Lupin."

Michelle proceeds up the snowy hill. Once the old man passes her, he stops to watch her walk back. He no longer squints as he watches her for that moment with his beady little eyes. He spins his cane before turning around and heading toward town.

Michelle walks into her cabin and finds Demeseus muttering in his sleep. She sets his new winter gear in the chair and goes back outside.

He begins to speak even louder. "Derexen. Greyshio. Don't fight him alone. Nooo!"

He wakes in a cold sweat. Michelle rushes back inside, covered in snow. "I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just keep having a nightmare. No, it can't be a nightmare. It seems too real."

"It's not real, Demeseus. In fact, I'll humor you. Where are you in this dream?"

"I'm on an island, and—"

"Right there, I already know it's a dream because we're not on an island."

"But it still seems so real."

"Okay then, let's pretend that this dream of yours isn't a dream. Do you really want to live in a nightmare?"

Demeseus becomes quiet and stares off into space again. "That's true. Why would I want to live my days in pain? That's insanity."

"I'm glad you see it my way. Now get some rest so I can do the same. I have a lot of stuff to do tomorrow."

"Okay, and thanks again for talking me through this madness."

"No problem. Goodnight, Demeseus."

"Goodnight."

The next morning, Demeseus gets up before Michelle and puts on the clothes she bought for him. He puts on his red and blue snow coat with his thick, furry snow boots. He snugly puts on his red snow cap and exhales. He tugs on his black sweatpants and slowly moves toward the door.

He steps outside and spreads his arms to embrace the feel of the cold air on his face. He realizes the cabin he's staying in is secluded and surrounded by trees.

Demeseus walks to a tree stump and sits on it. Slowly, he looks around to take in the scenery while breathing in the smell of fresh pinewood.

He makes a gentle smile as he feels an odd sense of relief. "This place is so beautiful. I honestly could stay here forever. But I still feel like something's missing. Why do I feel like this?" He spots a bird flying through the sky and is compelled by the sight of it. That bird has a marvelous wingspan, he thinks. Wings—what does that word mean to me? "Ber—Ber. Wings of—"

"I never thought you would get up before me," Michelle says as she comes from behind him.

She is wearing a long, thick, white eggshell coat. On the edges of the hood is a fuzzy fur lining with black specks. The fur is also on the wrist and the waist of the coat. She has on a different pair of sweatpants and boots that match the coat in color and design.

"Oh, good morning, Michelle."

"Morning. What are you doing out here?"

"I just wanted to take a look around town, but when I got out here, I discovered you are miles from town. Do you really travel back and forth with bags and stuff?"

"Yeah, but I'm pretty fit, so it's no big deal."

"Can I come to town with you today? I want to learn all the places there are in Greenwood."

"Sure, this should be fun. But I do hope you're strong. I've got a lot of things to get."

"I think I'll manage," he says with a confident grin.

The two of them begin their walk on the wide snow path with hundreds of pine trees around them. Because of the downhill slope, the walk to the store is complicated for most that travel from higher ground.

"How do you walk across this snow so calmly?" he asks, walking with poor balance.

She chuckles. "Much practice. I have walked this path enough times that I've learned tricks to my footing."

"Mind sharing?"

"Well, for starters, you have to tread lightly and walk upright. If you put too much weight on one side of your body, then the snow will shift to that weight as well. When you feel yourself sliding, you should just go with the flow and allow the natural friction of your boots to slow your slide."

He looks at her oddly. "You got all that from walking?"

"Try it. It takes time, but you'll see the small changes as you walk this road day after day."

He begins to apply her teachings and notices the ease that comes with it. It is still difficult, but not as bad as when he started. "It's working. You're pretty smart, you know?"

She smiles at him and points to the town up ahead. They arrive in a small town with few people roaming the area. Most of the stores resemble cabins with the store's name at top. Since the area is so small, most of the stores are in rows spaced evenly apart.

"I'm going to the drugstore to pick up some hygiene products," Michelle says. "I advise you do the same."

Demeseus rubs his hand through his hair and smells it. "Oh god, you're right, but I don't have any money."

"Who brought you that coat? Don't worry, I got you covered."

"Michelle, not that I'm hating it, but why are you being so nice to me? You barely know me."

"To put it simple, it's my job," she says firmly.

"Huh?"

"To care! It's my job to care about people! I am just trying to get you back on your feet because you have no family around to help you do that. So trust me when I say that I can easily relate. When I started here, I was all on my own. That was rough for me, but I still managed to make it by. I guess my fatal flaw is caring too much."

"No, it's actually kind of attractive."

"Awe, how sweet. Lame, but sweet."

"Ouch. Last compliment I'm giving your stuck-up ass."

She begins to giggle. "Good, do us both the favor and never do it again."

"Fine."

They enter the drugstore and split up to gather things they need. The male and female aisles happen to be right next to each other. While Demeseus slowly strolls down the aisle to grab what he needs, he sees Michelle in front of him doing the same. She doesn't notice him at that moment.

I have only known her for a few days, but I feel so thankful to her. She has a very kind heart. I wish I could do something to show her I appreciate what she has done for me. I know! I'll cook her dinner. I just have to somehow find out what she likes. Suddenly, Michelle sneezes lightly. "Bless you."

She looks up and smiles. "Thank you."

She's too cute, he thinks with a big smile on his face.

They stand in line at the cash register, and Demeseus takes the basket of supplies Michelle is carrying. "Oh, thank you," she says, "but you didn't have to do that. I can carry it."

"No, no, it's fine. I want to be a little useful. So, uh, Michelle? Are we going to pick up food for the cabin after this?"

"Yeah, after that, we head back. I feel sleepy, so I'll do the rest of my list later today or tomorrow."

"Well, if you leave it for tomorrow, I can take care of it for you since I know where the town is now."

"I don't know. It can get real dangerous around here when it's late. It's better if we go together or I go alone... I'll think about it, how's that?"

"It beats the hell outta no."

She giggles before moving up next in line to make their purchase. Once they finish in the drugstore, they walk to the food store next door.

Demeseus watches her pick up items while he pushes the shopping cart. For his own reasons, he pays close attention to whatever she chooses.

"I see you like broccoli," he says.

"It's one of my favorite vegetables."

"What's for dinner tonight, anyway?"

"I'm planning to make my favorite dish, chicken alfredo. It's a delicious foreign dish." She looks to him with big eyes. "I love chicken alfredo."

"That sounds good," he says with a smile.

She notices he is still staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing, just when you talk, you sound like a free spirit with not a care in the world."

She pauses for a moment, looking at him weirdly. "Do you really think that?" she says in a low voice.

"Umm, yeah. Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's just funny how you understood that part of me so well, that's all." She makes an obvious fake laugh before rushing down the aisle. A few minutes after Demeseus tries to trail her, she comes back with breakfast items in her arms. "It's still morning and we haven't eaten yet. Demeseus, I shouldn't ask you this, but can you do me a favor and finish up the shopping list while I run to the meat store and get some boneless chicken breast?"

"Sure, I would be glad to help out."

She drops everything in the cart and gives him some money before going. Not long after, Demeseus finishes the list and meets Michelle out front.

"Did you find everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, piece of cake."

"Good, then let's head back."

As they reach the edge of town, Mr. Lupin comes out of a store, smiling at them. "Hello, Michelle. So good to see you."

"Hi, Mr. Lupin," Michelle says. "It is always a pleasure to see you up and about."

He turns to Demeseus. "Oh, and who's this strapping young man?"

"This is Demeseus, the young man I found near death on the mountain."

"Demeseus. Nice to meet you."

Demeseus nods, "Same here, sir."

"Where are you from, young man?"

"Huh?"

"Where are you from? To be found on the mountain, you must have been either traveling here or coming from here. Where are you from, huh?" he says while getting too close with his bizarre, curious expressions.

Michelle cuts between them. "Mr. Lupin, I think my friend here is rather tired and hungry from a long morning. Besides, don't you have other things to do? I know a man like you always has better things to take care of rather than being a detective," she says with a mildly aggravated look.

Mr. Lupin looks at her briefly and begins to smile again. "Actually, you're right. I do have to tend to my knitting. With me being old and off my meds, things can become hard for me. Have a good day, you two. Take good care of each other."

"We will, Mr. Lupin. Have a great day," she says as Mr. Lupin walks off deeper into town.

Demeseus notices Michelle still watching the old man, "He's an odd one."

"More of a moron is more like it. He probably doesn't even know where he's going right now." Demeseus gives her a look of surprise. "What?"

"Nothing. I've just never seen you say mean things like that before."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I kind of liked it. I guess it's nice to know you're no angel."

She walks around him and gently glides her finger under his chin. "That's true, I am no angel," she says while giving him a seductive look. Michelle walks far up ahead with Demeseus feeling momentarily seduced by her touch. She turns around. "Come on, Demeseus! Put your erection away!"

"Huh? Oh, shut up! You're not even that hot!" he says while chasing her up the hill and back to the cabin.

Not long after returning, Michelle is in the kitchen cooking them breakfast. "Demeseus, your pancakes and sausages will be ready soon."

"Okay, thanks." He sits down and pulls off his boots. "Is there something warmer I could wear besides this white tank-top?"

"I brought you a heavy cotton shirt. You must have knocked it off the chair. It's a blue shirt, long-sleeves."

He looks on the floor and finds it half under his bed. "Found it!"

She comes out the kitchen with a stack of pancakes and thick link sausages. "Here you go. I'll bring you some maple syrup," she says kindly. Michelle looks up at the clock on the cabin wall and gasps. "Oh my god, it's three o'clock! I'm late!"

"Late?"

"I have to go to work! I was supposed to be there at three!" She begins rushing while throwing on her snow gear, "Sorry, I have to go. The syrup is on the table, and the orange juice is in the fridge. Turn off the stove and don't go out unless you really have to. Bye."

She slams the door and runs toward town.

He stands up to get the syrup off the table. "This is perfect. Now I can make her dinner and have it ready by the time she comes home."

It's past ten at night, and Demeseus has just finished up dinner. He has put a table up in the main room and set both their plates with glasses of water on the side. He places forks next to their chicken alfredo dishes and lights the dinner candles. When the front door opens, Michelle looks tired, and for a brief moment, angry.

She looks over to the table and quickly changes her expression. "Demeseus? You scared me for a second. What are you doing up so late?" She hangs up her coat and slowly looks around, amazed at all he has done. "What is all this?"

"I just wanted to do something special for you," Demeseus says kindly. "Just my way of saying thank you for everything."

She stares at the dishes on the table. "You made chicken alfredo? That's my... But how did you know—?"

He opens the draw next to his bed and takes out a cookbook. "I picked it up with the money you gave me to finish the shopping list."

She smiles nervously. "Demeseus, this is not—"

"No, I wanted to." He pulls out her chair. "Please, take a seat." She sits down, flashing an uneasy smile before he sits across from her. "I hope you like it. I even steamed you some broccoli."

"It smells good, really," Michelle says with a troubled look. She glances out the window over his head. "But Demeseus, you really shouldn't have. It's my job to look after you. No need to thank me by making such a wonderful meal."

"I know that, but I realized something today. You are too kind of a person to not have anyone give back to you. You started alone and had it hard. Even now, no one has really done anything for you. Well, now it's my turn to give back. Because you are worth giving back to."

She looks at him and becomes frozen, not able to move a muscle. Her eyes remain fixated on him, unable to look away.

Suddenly, she turns a little red in the cheeks and looks down at her plate. "Demeseus," she says in a low voice. "You are a—sweet man. Thank you."

He puts his hand on hers, gliding his thumb across her knuckles, shocking her. "Anytime, Michelle. Anytime."

She puts her hand on his and slowly takes his off. She hesitates to remove her hand from his while staring at their fingers for the moment.

Demeseus notices she's uncomfortable, "Well, let's eat." She slowly twirls the fettuccine noodles onto her fork. She puts a piece of chicken at the end and takes a bite. "Do you like it?"

She puts her hand to her mouth and her eyes light up. "Demeseus. This is delicious."

"And I will make this for you whenever you want it. This is my first of many gifts to you. Thank you for giving meaning to my life. Without you, I would truly be alone."

She blushes once more and continues eating her dinner in silent bliss.
Chapter Seven: Somewhere I Belong

It has been a couple weeks since their affectionate dinner. They are still living in the same cabin, even though Demeseus has found a job.

Demeseus is finishing his shift at the local clothing store and is preparing to go home. "Alright, Mr. Carter, I finished putting away today's shipment and processed over half of it," Demeseus says.

"Did you finish doing yesterday's shipment?" Mr. Carter asks.

"Yes, sir, all done," Demeseus replies as he punches out for the day.

"You may honestly be the best material handler I've ever hired in a while. I don't forget people like you."

"Thanks, boss. It's good to hear I'm not letting you down. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, Demeseus, you have a good day."

Demeseus takes his leave and heads back to his cabin, hoping to catch a break for the day. On his way back, he can't help notice when he's near, or in town, he sees animals fairly often. But the closer he gets to the cabin, the fewer animals he sees. The only animal he's ever seen near the cabin is a single raven. It would circle the house several times a day before flying away.

He reaches the cabin and sees Michelle running around like crazy through the window. What is she up to now? Demeseus thinks. He enters the cabin and removes his coat. "What's wrong? Is it work again?"

"Yeah. How was your day?" Michelle asks while still running around to get ready.

"It was fine, but long." He takes off his boots and watches her. "What do you do for a living that makes it so urgent for you to be on time?"

"I told you, I'm a hunter. Without me and the rest of my people, you guys would have nothing to eat."

"Yeah, but why is it so bad if you are late?"

"No time to explain. Do me a favor, I have a list on the counter. Could you run into town and pick up the items on that list for me?" she says while hopping on one foot and putting on her boot. "Crap!" Her boot's on the wrong foot. "I'm sorry, that's not your job. You just got in." She pulls it off and puts it on the right foot. "I'll do it after work or sometime in the morning."

"It's alright. I'll do it."

"Okay, I'll be home early so I'll make us dinner." She grabs her coat and opens the door. "Bye, Demeseus."

"Michelle, wait." She pauses to hear what he has to say. "I just wanted to tell you these past few weeks have been very special, and I think I have you to thank for that. It's scary to think how different things would be if you never found me. Thank you for keeping this lost soul happy."

She looks outside the cabin for a moment, making him feel confused. She looks back in at Demeseus and smiles warmly. "I'm glad I can make you feel so good, Demeseus. I really am."

She softly closes the door.

Demeseus sits back in the rocking chair near his bed. I hope she doesn't feel like I'm pressuring her to like me back. No, she's showing genuine feelings, but why does she force herself to be distant at times? I shouldn't force it. I don't want to ruin what we already have.

Before he knew it, Demeseus falls asleep. A few hours later, he wakes up and looks up at the clock over the door. He grabs his coat and heads back to town. Demeseus enters the meat store, greeting the few people he has come to know.

The butcher sees Demeseus walking to the counter, "Look who it is. Whatcha need, man?"

Demeseus waves. "Hey, Jack. Let me have a pound of ham, four pounds of chicken wings, two pounds of chicken gizzards, and a pound of thin sliced turkey."

"That sounds like Michelle's order. Is she too busy to shop today?"

"Yeah, work has been kicking her ass lately."

"Don't I know it," he says while chopping up wings. "Speaking of which, since when did you guys start dating?"

"Huh?" Demeseus says nonchalantly.

"I mean, I never knew she had a boyfriend. This is going to upset a lot of guys who've come to like her," Jack says while bagging the wings.

"She is not my girl. I'm just a guy she found and wanted to help. Just a friend as far as I know."

"I wouldn't sound so carefree about it if I were you. She has been very kind to the townspeople since the day she started coming around this place." Jack ties the bags of gizzards and places them near the wings. "But she has never spent more time with anyone here than she needed to. And now she has you living in her home. She may like you more than you think."

Demeseus laughs. "Don't jump the gun. I only live there because I have no home."

Jack begins slicing meats. "Doesn't change the idea of her liking you, right? You don't like her more than a friend?" Demeseus looks at him with a grin. "Then I guess if you do, she may be feeling the same."

"That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I think she'd rather keep her distance for her own reasons." He shrugs. "Whatever." Jack smirks. "How's my meat coming?"

"Rushing to see your woman?"

"Hey, I—!"

Suddenly, a guy jumps into the store doing a roll. He sits up posing with his index fingers up like guns. "Hey, hey, let me get fourteen sweet sausage links," he says.

Jack laughs, "Carl! I haven't seen you in weeks. What are you doing busting in here like you're twelve. Do you think your entrance makes you look cool?"

Demeseus's eyes widen as he begins to space out. Where have I heard that before? Who said it?

Jack calls out to him. "Hey! Hey! Turkey boy! Your order's up!"

Demeseus snaps out of it, "Huh? Oh, how much?"

"Fifty bucks. Do yourself a favor man and get some rest. You look beat."

He chuckles. "Will do, Jack. I'm definitely taking a long relaxing shower." He hands the butcher the money before taking his order. "Take care."

As Demeseus makes his way through town, his mind begins to drift. Such a nostalgic feeling that was. How can all that be my imagination? Now it's happening while I'm awake, so wouldn't that make all that I've dreamt about real? He stops to look at the cloudless sky. "Do I really belong here?"

"I doubt it," says a mysterious voice.

Demeseus begins looking around, frantically trying to find who said that. He looks at the top of the food market and witnesses the unnatural.

Swirling water begins to form up into the shape of a diamond before freezing. It shatters to reveal a skinny man with long, wavy, light blue hair and whitish-blue eyes. The hair on his head stands up on its own while a large portion of his hair hangs in front of his forehead. Another large piece of his hair stands up above his dangling curved bang at half the length.

His skin is a smooth, white tone with a very light blend of russet. He is wearing a white, hooded robe with small sky blue diamond shapes lining the edges of his robe. Even his boots are white with caramel-brown rubber soles. Across his face is a distinctive grin that isn't even menacing, just harmlessly apparent.

"Who are you?" Demeseus asks.

"No one you should worry about yet," the mysterious man replies.

"What did you mean by, you doubt it?"

"Come on, buddy, weigh the facts." He creates two ice blocks in his hands and starts weighing them like a scale. "What feels more real? This peaceful snowy land, or these dreams your mind is making up?"

"Dreams? How do you know about my dreams?"

"Does that matter? I thought this subject of your head's issues are what mattered."

Demeseus looks down at the bag he's carrying. "This feels more like the dream than what my mind is making up. But I like it here. I'm happy."

The man evaporates the ice blocks by pointing his fingers upward and chuckles. "You're laughable. So you'd rather live a lie than be enlightened to the truth? You're a tough bird to crack. If only you would stop indulging yourself in this false bliss I could help. I'll take my leave for now, but we shall meet again."

The man leaves the same way he appeared to Demeseus.

Demeseus leaves the town and continues his walk to the cabin. Could he be right? Demeseus wonders. Even if he is, is what I've left behind really that important to me? Why am I even thinking about this? For all I know, that guy was a hallucination. No one else saw him. Maybe my head is just messing with me again because I haven't been sleeping well.

He reaches the cabin and checks to see if Michelle is home. "Michelle!? Michelle, are you home!?"

He puts the grocery bag down in the kitchen and begins cracking his neck. He sits down and exhales upon leaning back in the chair. With the silence settling in, he hears the low sound of a running shower. He heads to the back of the cabin and slowly opens the bathroom door.

He enters the small bathroom and sees steam coming from behind the frosted glass door. The towel rack between the shower and sink doesn't have guest towels hanging on it.

He notices the toilet on the left side of the room has shampoos and conditioners on the lid. Demeseus walks up to the shower and lightly knocks on it. After no response, he slowly opens it and sees no one inside. Looks like Michelle left it on before she ran off to work, Demeseus thinks. He looks up at the steam forming on the tile wall. There's no reason to put off my shower if it's already in use.

Demeseus removes his clothes and gets in the shower. After wiping his face, he stands there to let the water hit him in the face. Suddenly, the shower door flings open and he jumps up to cover his genitals.

"Michelle!" he says with complete surprise. "What the hell!"

She stands before him with her hair and body wrapped in white towels. "Excuse me, but you're in my shower. Which by the way, wasn't on for you. Why would you get in a running shower anyway?"

"I thought you may have left it on before you went to work."

"Idiot! If you went to town and saw a running shower, what are going to do? Throw off your clothes and jump in?"

"Okay, fine, I'm an idiot. Now get out, I'm naked!"

"No, you get out. I have to go back to work in a few hours and I need to unwind."

"Well, I had a long day too, so come back later."

"Demeseus, we are both adults. We shouldn't be fighting over a damn shower. I will ask you one more time. Will you get out?"

He looks her in the eye and stands up straight while placing his hands on his hips. "No."

She looks down for a moment and nods. "Okay, that's impressive. But if we're playing chicken, you should know," she drops her towel, showing him how toned and curvy she really is, "I won't lose to you."

She unwraps her hair and steps into the shower, closing the glass door behind her. She pushes him back and lets the water run down her body.

He gazes at her with lustful eyes and begins to notice how firm and tight her legs are. Demeseus cannot stop staring at her tight, round fanny, and curvy backside. With her wide shoulders aligned with her ample hips, Michelle has the true definition of the hourglass figure. She turns her back toward the water to wet her hair while he remains bedazzled.

He takes early notice of her impeccably rounded breast and luscious nipples. He moves his eyes low enough to admire her hard, smooth cut, six pack abdominals, and hairless pubic mound. She's thick in all the right places and sculpted to all the right degrees. Her body's at the peak of perfection.

"Enjoying the show, pig?" she says while ruffling her hair in the water.

Demeseus doesn't utter a word. She smirks at his silence, until she sees he has gotten an erection from the sight of her.

She stares at his hard chest and rock-hard abs, as if they're hills to ecstasy. His ripped arms and hard biceps made her have a mental quiver through lewd imagery. The thought of his tight embrace makes her mind run wild. His muscular legs look as if they are built to destroy.

The thought causes another chill to envelop her body. She quickly shakes it away and turns around while rubbing her arms. "Okay, I think this game is backfiring. Let's call it a draw and I'll get out."

Michelle raises her hand to open the door, until Demeseus grabs her. He pulls her in and looks deep into her eyes. "No... You win," he says in a soft tone.

She looks up at his enchanting stare with complete surrender. Has his voice always been this smooth? she wonders.

Without her consent, he prepares to kiss her. When he lightly touches her lips, she lowers her eyes to his.

Dancing with his tongue, Michelle feels no need to resist his cradling brush. It's passionate, and a little desperate, but it is that kind of heat that arouses her more than anything.

She begins to make a face of wrongfulness before gently pushing him off. "Wait." She shakes her head. "We shouldn't," she says while looking into his eyes.

"Do you really want to get out?" She looks at the glass door and bites the corner of her bottom lip. "I didn't think so."

He pulls her back into him. When he begins to kiss her again, she quickly grabs his bottom with much aggression. He flinches from her grab and slides his hands down her curves.

They embrace each other wildly, grabbing on to each other with Michelle sliding against the shower glass. Demeseus glides his hand down between her warmth, giving her a light rubbing. He puts her breast in his mouth, sucking them while looking up at her. She tilts her head back, biting down on her lip.

Michelle runs her fingers through his hair as her breathing begins to increase. Demeseus starts lightly pushing and faintly parting her warmth with his fingers.

She lets out a light moan as she grips his hair. "Ooh, don't tease me," she says in a cute, playful way.

Demeseus lifts her leg and inserts himself into her. He pushes slowly and backs out repeatedly. She puts her hand on the back of his neck and tries to devour him with her kiss. As Demeseus begins to forcefully fill her canal, Michelle quickly takes her other hand and starts squeezing and scratching his arm.

She grips his bicep harder and pushes herself down onto his girth while laying her head over his broad shoulder. Demeseus shifts himself inside of her and begins thrusting faster in a rhythmical motion. She moans loudly in his ear, looking as if she's going to bite him.

Michelle's irregular breathing gives the impression of possible fainting.

Demeseus lifts her against the wall and starts pounding her with the strength of his piston-like hips. Wrapping her arm tightly around him, she loses herself in his power.

Like a machine, Demeseus keeps thrusting into Michelle while bounding her against the wall. Her moans grow louder with each beat. Her body tenses with each breath. When her blood runs hot, and her mind goes blank, she lets out a wild scream.

At the moment of orgasm, she tosses her head back as her irises turn yellow and her pupils become sharp. Her body shakes as he continues to grind deep into her pelvis.

She squeezes him and is completely overtaken with pleasure. Her abdominals keep contracting against her will. Her shoulders jolting forward before slowly slouching. Michelle leans herself into him with her head resting gently on his shoulder. Her final moans sound like weak whimpers carrying the light shocks traveling through her body.

Shortly after, he quickly pulls out of her as he climaxes all over her leg. They slowly slide down the wall, holding each other so close. She leans all of herself into him and slowly opens her nearly closed eyes to see her own reflection. She's instantly surprised by the unexpected eye change. She closes them tightly before reopening them back to their original blue state.

Demeseus pulls his head back, looking at her with a loving smile. "You okay?"

She smiles back at him while stroking his hair. "I'm fine. I'm just fine."

They lay their heads on each other, holding on tight to never lose the moment.

A little over a week passes since their rendezvous. Today is both of their days off and they want to do something special together. Demeseus is in the kitchen cooking breakfast for Michelle while she sleeps. When he finishes, he goes to her room and places the food on her dresser.

He leans over the bed and kisses Michelle's nose several times to wake her. "Hey."

Michelle wakes with a smile and kisses him back. "Hey."

He turns to the dresser and grabs her plate. "I made you breakfast in bed. I used pecan syrup on your pancakes and made sure I cooked your bacon extra crispy with a side of scrambled eggs."

"Scrambled?" she says with a weak smile.

"Kidding, they're sunny-side up"

She sits up and takes the plate. "Thank you." She cuts her pancakes. "I have a surprise for you today. I found something while I was working and wanted to show it to you. It is very special to me and I hope it becomes special to you too."

"I'm sure it will be. I'm gonna shower and get dressed. When you're done eating and ready to go out, you can show me."

He leaves the room as she watches him walk out. She takes a piece of bacon and bites down on it before happily smiling. Her face becomes displeased. "This is maple," Michelle says before smiling. "But he's thoughtful."

Late that evening, the two of them get dressed and leave the house hand in hand. They cut through the forest near the cabin and walk toward the mountain. On the mountain trail, they seem inseparable. Michelle leaning her head on his shoulder. Demeseus walking proudly with her arm wrapped tightly around his.

"Demeseus, this may sound like a dumb question, but do you ever think about me when you're at work?"

"Of course I do, all the time. I actually can't get you out of my head."

"I know, right!? It's actually starting to affect my work performance. I should care, but I don't. All I do now is look forward to the end of the day."

"Just so you know, Michelle, my true job is to make you happy."

"Awe, Demeseus. You're so cute. Still cheesy, but cute."

"And you're still a smartass," he says with an irritated smile.

She giggles. "Oh look, we made it!"

She runs up ahead of him and stops at a bed of white and red flowers. The flowerbed's beauty gives the feeling of springtime. Surrounded by snow and gently heated by the sun's rays. It's a small paradise in a cold existence.

"What's this?" Demeseus asks.

"Come, get closer," Michelle says with much excitement in her voice. He kneels down with her as she smiles at the flowers nonstop. "When I was a little girl, I fell in love with these flowers. They are known as snapdragons, but I prefer the scientific name, Antirrhinum. My favorite color is the red ones."

Michelle begins to lose her smile as she puts the flower's neck between her ring and middle fingers. "People say they symbolize strength and courage," she says with a hint of sadness. "I agree with that, but for me, they mean much more. To me, they also symbolize dangerous beauty. Something that beautiful can't be good. With the known fact of there being two sides to everything, it's also known that something horrible lurks beneath."

For a moment, neither of them speak.

Demeseus gives her a concerned look. "Michelle?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just getting carried away. I tend to do that when I see these. Don't you just love these red ones?" she says with an excited smile. "They truly are my favorite."

He accepts that she was changing the subject and just goes along with it. "So you love the crimson Antirrhinum, huh? I will have to remember that."

"Yes. And, Demeseus, I showed this to you because no one in the whole world knows I love these flowers, but you are the first because... Because I... I—"

"I love you too, Michelle."

She becomes stunned for a moment. "Love-you love me? That was so sudden, I—"

"It's alright. I may have misread what you were trying to say, but I don't regret saying it to you." He stands up. "I don't need you to love me back because I do. I want you to love me like you already do, because some things don't need to be said, right?" She looks up at him, blushing strongly to his words. "You match your favorite flower," he says with a smile.

"Oh my god, I'm that red?" she says, looking away from him with her hand to her face. "This is embarrassing."

"No it's not, it's cute. You don't ever have to feel ashamed with me."

She smiles. "Come, let's take a picture together." Demeseus kneels down next to her as she pulls out a camera. They move close with Michelle kissing his cheek and him smiling. She takes the picture and stands up to stare down the mountain cliff. She watches the wind blowing the snow off the trees. "I'm going to get this developed tomorrow. I want to make this a present for you."

"I look forward to it." Demeseus looks toward the setting sun. "Babe, we need to head back. It's getting dark, and you know those wolves come out at night."

"Oh, you're right. Let's go home." She walks up to him. "I hope you had fun with me today."

"When do we not have fun?"

The couple takes their leave and manages to make it back to the cabin before dark.

Once settled, they snuggle up by the fireplace, drinking hot cocoa while watching the fire roar. They sit on the floor in the main room with a green blanket underneath them and a royal blue quilt wrapped around their bodies. Their heads are softly resting on each other while silently smiling.

Demeseus leans his head off her, "You know what? We're running short on firewood. While you're in town tomorrow, I'll go to the woods and chop up some more."

"Thanks, that would be a big help," Michelle says. "Hey, there's something I want to say to you. Umm..."

Demeseus smiles, "Go on."

She takes a breath. "Even though we met under strange circumstances, I don't regret it. Not a single bit of it"

"Is there any reason to?"

She slightly narrows her eyes at the flames. "No."

They kiss and hold each other for the rest of the night. They soon fall asleep by the fireplace with smiles still on their faces.

The next morning while Michelle is off in town, Demeseus is out back chopping up some firewood for the cabin. Despite the cold weather, he still has removed his winter vest and decides to chop wood without it.

Suddenly, the man Demeseus met in town more than a week ago comes walking out of the woods. "So, how are your memories?" he asks with a smile.

"They're fine, now go away," Demeseus says, not even looking at him twice.

"Oh?" the man says with false astonishment. "You don't seem all that surprised to see me."

"After catching you spying on me from behind trees for the last hour, yeah, I think I wouldn't be. Now leave."

"Sure, but may I ask you something? Have you deciphered fake from reality yet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I think you've already figured it out, but you refuse to accept what your heart already knows."

"My new and better life is here. Whatever memories I lost must not have mattered all that much if I can't recall them. Besides, even if I wanted to, I can't go any further. Whoever knew me in my past life is not around here." Demeseus chops another piece and pauses to look the man in the eyes, "So I'll live the remainder of my days with her."

"So you do know which is which."

Demeseus throws a block of wood at the man who nimbly dodges it. "Begone! I don't ever want to see you here again!"

The man smirks as Demeseus resumes chopping. "What if I told you there may be a way for you to move forward?" Demeseus stops chopping wood and looks up at the man. "If you wish to know, meet me at the mountain summit in the next few hours. There is a cave mouth in that area. Don't go inside until I arrive. You would have to leave now if you want to make it in time. But if you are not interested, don't show up, and I'll never bother you again. But I think we both know what you will do."

The man leaves, displaying the same watery powers he did last time they met. Demeseus slams the axe into the tree stump, grabs his vest, and walks deeper into the woods.

A few hours later, Michelle walks by the chopping area in search of Demeseus. "Demeseus?" Michelle calls with a smile on her face as she moves through the trees. She continues to call as she reaches the clearing to find the axe and blocks of wood left unattended. She looks around and quickly realizes something's wrong. "Demeseus... Where did you go?"

Suddenly, Mr. Lupin comes by the chopping area smiling. "Good day, Michelle. How's the young man you're looking after?"

"Missing. I haven't seen him since this morning. He said he would be chopping wood, but he's not here. The cabin axe is here, so I know he was at some point too. I checked the cabin first and he wasn't there either. I find it strange he would go somewhere without letting me know."

Mr. Lupin stares off into the forest, rubbing his little gray beard. "So do I. So do I. Well, I have to go. I have important errands to run. I wish I could help, but I can't. So long, Michelle."

She smiles at him as he leaves. "Goodbye, sir." As he leaves the forest, she makes a serious expression. "You old jackass."

Elsewhere, Demeseus has made his way to the mountain summit. He reaches a dark cave and decides to wait there. He sits down on a nearby rock for several minutes as he flicks smaller rocks down the mountain.

"He's not coming. I knew he was pulling my leg."

"I don't have time to pull legs." Water swirls up next to the cave. It forms into a diamond shape, freezes, then shatters to reveal the smiling mysterious man.

"You're late, you frosty-haired monkey."

"Hey, watch your mouth, buddy. Without me, you'll be here forever. Anyway, I was held up."

"Why are you helping me? I've seen the unusual things you do, and I don't see a helpful guy. In fact, I was a little surprised the first time I saw you appear. You spell trouble."

"Judging a book by its cover is wrong," he says nonchalantly. "And as for helping you, let's just say I am conducting a play for kicks. The only question is, can the puppeteer avoid the puppet master long enough to finish his play?"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Let us proceed. The curtain shall soon rise for the final act." The man walks toward the cave mouth, slowly looking around. "The answer you've been searching for lies within this cave. Follow me."

"I am not searching for anything. My life is right here."

"Oh? Then why did you come all this way?" Demeseus looks away from him when the man makes a cheerful smile. "Don't answer. We already know. Let's go."

As the two of them begin to walk deep within the dark cave, the man stops in front of Demeseus. "Tell me, what do you feel within this darkness?"

Demeseus waits a moment and makes a surprised expression. "An uneasy presence and a strange feeling I can't explain. But how do I know this?"

The man faces Demeseus with his frosty eyes glowing in the dark. "You must search your thoughts and connect them to the heart of your troubles."

The man begins to walk out the cave. "Hey, where are you going?"

"This part you must do on your own. Once you figure out the task, the final step will become clear," he says before leaving the cave.

Connect my mind with my troubles? he says to himself. How the hell am I going to do that? Suddenly, a faint shiny aura appears around a shadowy figure. As it comes into light, Demeseus's eyes widen. "You're—me."

"Good job, genius," says Demeseus's shadow. His look alike is wearing the clothes he had on when he was still in Berlin Waltz. "It hurts me to see how pathetic I have become. Putting happiness before honor and duty. Can we really be one of the same?"

"What are you talking about? I thought about going back hundreds of times."

"Thinking and trying are two different things. Besides, there is nothing to go back to, remember?"

Demeseus begins to vaguely remember the last moments of his home. "Greyshio... Derexen," he says with slight disgust.

"Excellent, you're remembering something now. We're making progress. Can you remember the Empyrean Blade?"

"The what?"

"Now I see the problem. Since the Empyrean Blade is your main duty, not remembering that can make you forget a lot more in the human psyche."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Maybe this will spark your memory." The shadow of Demeseus points his fingers at him. Everything goes black before bringing them to the roof of a dark tower. Demeseus panics a little as he sees himself and his shadow floating in the darkness. "Relax, guy we won't fall. This is nothing more than a flashback from within."

"Where are we?"

"Watch, and you will see. I am trying to remind you of your duty as a World Guardian."

Suddenly, Demeseus hears his own voice from below. _"No, let me out!"_

To Demeseus's surprise, it's him from his mystic dream. "There's three of me?"

"Not quite. He's just you from a past event you've already experienced," Demeseus's shadow says while sitting on nothing and looking at his fingernails.

The two Demeseuses watch their past selves fight the demonic dog up to the point he blocked the beast's fireball.

Demeseus shakes his head. "This is getting us nowhere. This is familiar, and the Empyrean Blade is very familiar, but—"

"But you are remembering."

"What?"

"A minute ago, you didn't even know what the Empyrean Blade was." His shadow stands. "Now pay attention, because this is the part that I really want you to see." Demeseus watches his past self closely. "This alone should remind you of your duty, your honor, and what's most important to you."

Demeseus watches his past self falling off the tower. Shortly after, he begins to see all of his past self's thoughts. The Empyrean Blade he's holding shoots off a bright light that makes Demeseus shield his eyes. When the light fades, and he uncovers his eyes, he looks down to see the Empyrean Blade, Eternity in his hands.

"I believe you remember now," Shadow Demeseus says.

"Yes, I remember everything. Greyshio, Sophia, Brad, my mother... I shouldn't be here."

"Now that you know, are you ready for what's next? We have a long journey ahead of us. No more fantasies, warrior. It's time to go."

"So it was you who has been trying to reach me all this time, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but you were so distracted in this life, I began to fear my voice would no longer reach you."

"I may understand now, but the thing most important to me has not changed. The only difference now is I have to say goodbye to it. I want to keep her safe. The best way to do that is to stop the darkness Derexen commands."

"Hmph, you are softer than I remember, Demeseus. I'm going to miss the brute in you."

"He's still here, just wiser and calmer to what really matters."

"Is that so? Are you ready, Demeseus?"

He faces him and nods. Shadow Demeseus walks into Demeseus, making his body and the Empyrean Blade glow.

"Thank you... Eternity," Demeseus says, before the area wavers and fades to white. Demeseus calmly stands in the dark. "I now understand what I felt when that guy asked me. There's an unstable energy in this cave."

"Right amundo," the mysterious man says as he walks toward Demeseus with a torch in his hand. "Hey, do me a solid, Demeseus. I hate fire. Can you hold this for me?"

Demeseus takes the torch. "What's the final step needed to get me out of here?"

"You need to find a way to make the energy here even more unstable. This will force a dimensional gateway to open. It should send you somewhere you are most needed. It's some kind of weird world order, I guess."

"Hmm, sounds reasonable. Now for the biggest question I have. Who are you, and how do you know all this?"

"Oh, me?" The man swishes left and right. "My name is—"

He puts two fingers to his forehead, saluting incorrectly as he is enveloped in water. The water shapes to a diamond freezing around him and shatters. The shards evaporate with him nowhere to be seen.

Whatever. Demeseus stares toward the cave entrance. "I have something important to do before I go."

Night falls on Greenwood. Michelle sits in the cabin rocking chair wearing a white bathrobe while drinking hot green tea. The front door opens, and Demeseus comes in looking somber.

"Sorry I'm late, Michelle. I was out—"

Michelle stands up enraged. "Where the hell were you!? I haven't seen you all day and I was worried sick!"

"Michelle—"

She tosses her half-empty mug near his head. Demeseus doesn't even flinch. "Don't Michelle me! I thought you were dead, you know that!? I was this close to calling the mountain rangers!"

"Michelle—"

"And another thing, I think it was very rude of you to take off and tell me nothing! What has gotten into you!?"

"Michelle, my memories have returned!"

She looks at him with a stunned face. "What does that mean?"

"It means I have to leave. First thing in the morning. I have to leave so I can find my friend and finish what I was meant to."

"So that's it? And this is how—" Michelle looks away from him.

He walks up to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but this isn't forever. I'm not the type to make a connection and abandon it. That's why you should understand that I can't forget having a friend that may need me."

"I do." She looks up at him and parts the hair on the side of his face. She slightly tilts her head and smirks. "It's what makes you you."

Demeseus smiles back. "Throwing mugs, Michelle, really?"

"Of course you want to focus on a moment of heated passion. I didn't mean to. I missed on purpose."

"Heh, right."

"I did! I can hit you for real if you want!"

"I don't think you are capable of hurting me purposely."

Her smile weakens. "I hope so," she says in a low voice. Michelle leans in and begins to kiss him. He holds her shoulders before running his hands slowly down her sides. When his right hand reaches below her ribcage, she nearly falls over. "Ow! Urgh, oh God!"

Michelle limps down to her seat. "Are you okay?" Demeseus asks with alarm. "What's wrong with your side?"

"It's no big deal, forget it."

"What happened to your side?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me. At least show me what's going on with you."

She gets up and limps toward the bed Demeseus sleeps in. She sits down and opens half her robe. On her side is a huge black and blue bruise with open cuts across it.

"What happened while I was gone?" he asks with severity.

"Nothing. I was attacked by—"

"By who!?"

"Calm down! I was attacked by a wolf, that's all. When I was trying to get away, I fell on a rock. This was the added result."

"I'm sorry. It looks painful."

"It's okay, I'm a fast healer," she says while tying her robe. "Demeseus?" She stares at the floor. "Is there any way I can change your mind about this?"

She turns to him. "Michelle, I—"

"I'm kidding. I know he's your closest friend."

Demeseus makes a peculiar face as he looks at her. "How do you know that? All this time we thought he was fake. I never told you that."

"But I heard you say that in your sleep."

"Oh?"

She smiles briefly at him before staring into the fireplace. "How should we spend our final night together?"

Demeseus suddenly picks Michelle up off her feet to take her to her room. She's startled, but quickly comforted by his calming gaze.

He lays her in bed, pushing the hair out of her eyes, "I'll be back."

She sits up a little as he leaves the room. He soon returns with ointment and bandages. Demeseus slowly takes off her robe and gently raises her arms. He puts some of the ointment in his hands and tenderly rubs it over her wounds.

She slightly flinches and squirms as he puts it on. "I'm sorry," Demeseus says. "This will only hurt a little while longer."

Demeseus stops and wipes his hands on his pants. He leans her upward and unwraps the bandages. He rolls them around her body several times before cutting it. He puts the robe around her shoulders before kissing her between the eyes.

"Feels better?" he asks.

She looks into his eyes with rosy cheeks. "You're always so affectionate to me, Demeseus." He smiles. As he's about to get off the bed, she grabs his shirt. "Will you—hold me for the last time?"

He kicks off his shoes and pulls back the covers. They climb under and snuggle close and tight. Demeseus kisses her neck and whispers in her ear, "It won't be the last time." Her eyes slant to the floor. He reaches over her and touches the lamp to turn it off.

The next morning, Michelle and Demeseus take the path to the mountain summit. They slowly walk with sullen expressions.

"You do know there's nowhere to go but up from here," Michelle says.

"I know," Demeseus replies. "But this is the only way out."

"Out?"

"Yeah. Let me explain. I am not walking to where I need to be. I am letting the world decide for me."

"I still don't get it."

"I'm a World Guardian meant to maintain world order from dangerous threats. By doing so—" Almost continuing, he looks over at Michelle and sees the strange look on her face as she listens to his odd explanation. "I know it sounds crazy, but once we get to the cave, you'll see what I mean."

"It sounds crazy, but I have no reason not to believe you. The news has been filled with supernatural occurrences lately. You should hear the rumors going on in town."

"But none here, right?"

"No, and I hope that doesn't change."

Demeseus frowns. "I hope so too." He grabs her hand as they proceed to the top.

By mid-afternoon, they reach the cave mouth. When Demeseus begins to walk in, Michelle grabs his shoulder. "Before you go, I want to give you something."

Michelle reaches in her pocket and hands Demeseus a white silver locket. Across the door is a gold ribbon design. He opens it and sees a picture of himself and her holding each other in front of a flowerbed. "How much did this thing cost?" he says while staring at it. "It's pretty."

Michelle hits him in the arm. "That's all you care about, the cost?"

"I'm kidding." He stares at the picture for a good moment. "I love it. Thank you." She runs her hands down his face and gives him a long, passion-filled kiss. She pulls back a little and hugs him tight. "Michelle..." She hugs him tighter, and for a moment, he thinks he heard her say something. "Michelle—"

"I'll miss you." She lets him go and walks toward the cave. "We need to get you going before I'm fired."

Demeseus picks up the torch he had yesterday and relights it with two small rocks. They walk into the cave until Demeseus stops and passes her the torch. He moves ahead of her. "This is it. Stand back. Come to me, Eternity!"

Suddenly, a cylinder made of chains envelops his arm from his elbow. The chains are rotating in a countless number of directions before quickly unraveling from the tip to his elbow. All of the chains retract into the blade's hilt and disappear.

Demeseus holds his blade in front of him with his eyes closed. The sword gains a faint glow as its energy begins to rise. Suddenly, the space in front of him becomes wavy and collapses into itself to reveal a rift.

He turns to her. "I will return, Michelle. I mean it. I will."

Demeseus smiles and walks into the rift. It closes a second after he passes through. Michelle walks out the cave and stands at the edge of the cliff. She stands there for a while, looking over the small town of Greenwood.

Suddenly, Mr. Lupin comes from around the bend of the path leading to the cave. "Is the young man gone?"

Michelle drops the torch down the cliff. "Yeah, he's gone."

Mr. Lupin becomes an ice figure of himself and starts to crack. A man in a white hooded robe with long, wavy blue hair, breaks out the ice sculpture. He stretches and yawns before tilting his head at her.

"You look sad," he says with a slight, but carefree smile. "Can Minerva the 'Roughshod Nymph' be sad?"

"Aquarius, don't piss me off today!"

Suddenly, a misty darkness envelops her body before dispersing. She is wearing a black hooded robe with a medium-sized cracked gray skull design on the right side of her chest. The robe has a silver double zipper from the collarbone to the bottom of the robe. The robe's open from the waist to her black boots. Her yellow irises and sharpened pupils give Minerva a menacing appearance.

"I was kidding," Aquarius says with his ridiculous smile. "But I really think you fell in love with that boy. And falling in love was not part of the job."

Minerva tries to punch him in the face, but he jumps back to avoid the blow. "To hell with you! Don't act like you know me!"

"But you kissed him more than needed. It could've fooled me. Hell, it could've fooled anyone. I guess you're just that good an actress."

"That is not funny. And Aquarius, I warned you once. Don't make me warn you again!"

"Fine, fine. Sorry about the actress thing. Any who, how's your side?"

"It's been better... Demeseus noticed it."

"What did you tell him?"

"I was attacked by a wolf and fell on a rock."

Aquarius begins to laugh uncontrollably. "That was lame! And he bought that!? How naïve!"

"There's just one thing I don't understand. There is no way Demeseus could have got his memory back so fast. It's as if another hand was in play that no one knew about."

"Hey, you did what you could. Your job was to keep him here for two months, then kill him. That way, after two months of no contact with his Empyrean Blade, he wouldn't be able to accidentally call upon it in an emergency, in theory. Oh well, you kept him here for a little over half that time." Aquarius smiles and stares up at the sky. "Anyway, here."

He hands her a small black object with an ear clip and two small silver buttons lined in the middle of the teardrop-shaped device.

"What's this?" she asks.

"They're earpieces so that you, me, or anyone else in the Righteous Kiras can communicate with each other from long distances. And I mean long distance. We can talk from almost anywhere. Oh, by the way. Derexen said if we fail to keep Demeseus here, we have to take this area captive."

Minerva tugs on her black leather gloves. "Where do we start?"

Aquarius raises his hand and the mountain shakes, causing an avalanche. "We'll start here!" A giant snowball begins to form in front of him and Minerva. The balls flatten out and turn into snowboards made of ice with foot holders.

"We shall board down this mountain," Aquarius says. "If the avalanche doesn't plunge this place into darkness, then the World Guardian's still alive."

They watch the snow knock down trees as it nears Greenwood. They grin simultaneously before jumping on their boards and riding down to Greenwood.
Chapter Eight: The Everblooming Darkness

It's been seven months since the destruction of Greenwood. The spread of supernatural events has become a widespread phenomenon. Not much action has been taken to address these events, just quick patch and fix jobs from the government. Because of this lack of action, another town is about to fall prey.

The town's officer stands watch at the entrance when two men jump out of a tree and knock him to the ground.

"Derexen, perhaps we should keep a low profile before we start killing people off," Alexus says.

Alexus is wearing a black, hooded robe that has small silver crosses and red oval gems in the middle. This design lines the outer edges of his entire robe. His once long and fuzzy hair is now short and gelled back. Alexus wears fine leather gloves and matching black boots.

Derexen has on an all-black hooded robe with nothing special on it. Like Alexus, he wears similar gloves and boots. Derexen kneels down to the fallen man and lifts his head, "Dying man, tell me what village this is?" he asks with dreariness.

"It's... It's Carealotta," says the town guard in a low raspy voice.

Derexen snaps the man's neck before laying him down softly. "Thank you."

Derexen's once excitable, angry mannerisms are a thing of the past. As he stands, his face expresses a serene state of gloom.

Carealotta is an average sized town, slightly bigger than a small town. It has an old western style with late 18th century flare. From the houses to the stores, everything is composed of mostly wood. The town is built near a large forest that happens to be the entrance for many travelers who are not native to the area.

Carealotta is a place that's meant to be passed through on a journey. A place to replenish your supplies and to rest for a while. The town makes nearly all of its profits from travelers and tourist. For this purpose, the town is designed as a straight path rather than a place full of twist and turns.

The clouds slowly part, glazing the town in a luminous light. Derexen looks up at the moonlight before letting his eyes gloss over the town.

"It's like the moon is symbolizing this town's end," Derexen says. Alexus doesn't hear Derexen, for his mind is elsewhere. He continues to look down at the man Derexen just killed. "Alexus, did you hear me?"

"Oh, no, my lord. I missed what you said."

"Alexus, I know you don't think this is right, but be patient. Sometimes, in order to do right, you must do what feels wrong. We've been over this, remember?" Alexus nods. "Let's get this done away."

The two men enter the town with darkness covering their bodies. Suddenly, the darkness vanishes from them, along with their robes. Alexus and Derexen are now wearing finely cut, black suits and matching shoes. Derexen's doesn't have a tie, just an open collar that isn't buttoned all the way.

Derexen calmly looks around, "Listen, we have eight hours before the sun rises. The night sky is always the best cover when trying to do one-night takeover operations. I don't want this to be another Greenwood failure."

"Yes, sir," Alexus says with a nod.

"You take the west side of this town, and I'll take the east."

The two of them continue to talk and walk together while the townspeople barely notice their presence. When they split off from each other, Derexen enters a bar, and Alexus a restaurant.

As Derexen enters the dimly lit saloon, he grabs himself a stool and sits up at the bar. He observes his surroundings and adjusts to the heavy beer smell. Although the place isn't crowded, he feels smothered.

Derexen leans over the counter to get the barkeeper's attention. "What do ya' need?" the barkeep asks.

"Let me get a vodka beverage mixed with rum and orange juice."

"Sure thing, boss man." Derexen spins around on his stool to watch a group of men playing a card game. "Here's your drink, sir," the barkeep says before handing him a large mug.

Derexen picks up his drink and takes a sip. He then begins to listen closely to the four men who are nearing the end of their game.

"Well, well, well, look at my hand," says one of the men. "Read 'em and weep. What do you have, Sam?"

"Well, Tom, my hand sure beats yours. What do you have, Balthazar? As the hot-headed troublemaker of this town, I know you have some bullshit to offer the game."

The three men glare intently at a low-cut, brownish-red-headed man with hazel eyes and a slim solid build. His skin is a light sandy-pink complexion. He has on a light blue dress shirt, navy-colored slacks, and a pair of black sneakers. Balthazar's bold brows roughly promote his "tough guy" appearance.

Derexen calmly takes another sip. These men have a hidden agenda, he thinks.

Balthazar looks at his cards. He looks up to the left, then to the right. "Well, boys, I got to say it's been fun, but I got a royal flush. So, I'll collect my winnings and go."

"Wait!" shouts the fourth man at the table. "I find it pretty amazing that you got a royal flush when I got a full house." He flashes his hand. "A full house that consists of four aces!"

"Hmph." Balthazar leans back and folds his arms with a smile. "It looks like your friend's a cheat, fellas."

The three men stand up and surround Balthazar. "Hey, you four!" shouts the barkeep. "Take your fight outside!"

"Yeah, let's take him for a walk," Sam says.

They lift Balthazar out of his chair and head outside. Many other bar members run out to watch the fight as well. Derexen sighs before grabbing his drink to go watch the fight. Maybe the guardian will show up once the violence begins, he thinks.

The three men throw Balthazar to the ground and begin kicking and stomping him. "So you like to cheat, huh!?" Sam shouts. "Well, this is what we do to troublemakers!"

Suddenly, his foot is stopped. Balthazar holds his foot, twists it, and drops him to the ground. "You pussies obviously can't take me one on one," Balthazar says before spitting blood. "So instead, you all jump me at once."

Sam stands up and grins. "Okay, boys. Back up and let me take the troublemaker."

Balthazar rises to his feet with a bloody lip and bruises on his face. Sam knees him in the gut and elbows him in the neck.

"Get up, cheat!"

Balthazar picks up a rock and conceals it in his palm before rising back to his feet. When Sam throws a curved punch to his face, Balthazar blocks it and smashes the rock across Sam's face. Once Sam hits the floor, he kicks him in the nose.

"That's one down," Balthazar says.

One of Sam's friends punches him in the head, dropping him back to the ground. They begin kicking him in the head and stomping his legs. Once Sam comes to, he watches his friends kicking Balthazar around.

Sam waits before ending the beating, "Guys! Let the loser rot in his blood. He's not worth wasting our energy on."

Sam begins to walk away as the two men kick Balthazar once more before taking his money and spitting on him. While he lies on the floor coughing blood, the rest of the people from the bar head back inside, except Derexen.

Derexen approaches Balthazar, looking down on him. "What the hell do you want?" Balthazar asks.

"Nothing. I'm just remotely curious on what took place here. Till this day, there still seem to be things about humans I don't fully understand. Why would you play with people you know dislike you? Is it because you were looking for trouble? Is it the thrill of the fight? The need to always have to prove yourself to others, even though no one asked for you to prove your strength?"

Balthazar's brows bunch in anger. "Who do you—?"

"You have a large ego, one that may have spawned from a young age. A prideful man who can care less who likes him, as long as they fearfully respect his might. Fiery passion with senseless pride. Humans like you tend to burn themselves out long before their time matters. Chances are—you'll die young."

"Shut up! You know nothing about me, you damn freak! Get out of my face, you stupid shit!"

Derexen tilts his head and turns his back on him. "And your response is an angry one. This means there's a sixty-eight percent chance I am correct. Nevertheless, I need to ask you a question. Have you seen anything considered supernatural around here?"

"No, you stupid fuck."

"Still angry, even though the situation has passed. That raises it to a seventy-nine percent chance of me being correct. Good day, Balthazar," Derexen says before walking back into the bar.

At the restaurant across the street, Alexus sits at a table for one while eavesdropping on everyone's conversations.

A casually dressed middle-aged woman comes in the restaurant. She has on dark gray slacks and a reddish-orange blouse with navy blue high heels. Her hair is orange and her eyes are dark brown.

She has her hair tied hastily into a ponytail with a hair band holding it together. She has smooth white skin, except for the little scratch on her cheek, and the row of freckles above the bridge of her nose.

The woman looks around and walks over to sit with an annoyed man. "Hey," she says in a light huff. "Sorry, Toby, I didn't mean to be late, but you know my lifestyle."

"Yeah, I know," Toby says, trying to withhold his irritation. "But what was so different today? Usually you are fifteen to thirty minutes late, but two hours? And what happened to your face?"

"I went to see a gypsy. Then I ran into Balthazar, and my cheek? My patrols got a bit messy tonight."

"That's two wrongs in one sentence. What the hell are you doing seeing a gypsy? They lie, never giving you a straight answer. They leave you to fill in the holes so you think they're right. And don't get me started on Balthazar."

"The gypsy told me a fortune that even you would find odd."

"Catherine, I really think—"

"Toby, please listen to me. She said a great shadow has covered this town and it wants to feed. And the thing this shadow wants—is me."

Alexus becomes slightly alarmed by her words. He makes a tight shaky fist with darkness seeping from between his fingers. He opens his hand to reveal a black Demi mouse with gold eyes.

Alexus leans over and whispers to the mouse. "Go over to table eight and let me know if that woman is a World Guardian." The creature jumps out of his hand and sprints to table eight.

"The meal is you?" Toby says fearfully. "What does that mean?"

"Isn't it obvious? My life is in danger. That's not all either. I think I know who may be involved."

"Here is your steak and mashed potatoes, sir," the waiter says as he hands Alexus his food.

"Thank you," Alexus replies.

The waiter walks away as Alexus begins to cut and eat his steak. Shortly after, his little messenger returns. He lowers his hand for it to climb in. He lifts it up to his waist and looks into its eyes. "Very good." Alexus crushes the mouse back into the darkness and continues to eat his meal.

"You might know who's involved?" Toby says. "I bet this is where Balthazar comes in."

"Yes. After I left the gypsy and finished up the last of my Demi patrol, I came to town. But on my way back, my Empyrean Blade began to tug at me, leading me toward the bar. So I jumped on the bar's roof from the back and tiptoed to the edge of the bar. That's when I saw Balthazar talking to a man who I've never seen before. The man asked him if he had seen anything supernatural. Toby, do you think someone's watching me?" Catherine asks in a worried tone.

"Hmm, maybe, but who else besides me knows of your secret?"

A waitress comes by the couple's table, talking in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I overheard some of your conversation and—I'm a gossip," she says proudly. "Anyway, my friend just told me the man who was talking to our town's troublemaker didn't arrive here alone. The man at table two came in with him."

The three of them look over to table two and see there's no one there, just a half-eaten steak on the table. Catherine looks by the door and catches a glimpse of the man before it closes. "Excuse me. Thank you for the dinner, Toby." Catherine says, as she quickly stands up and rushes out the restaurant.

"Catherine, wait!" Toby shouts.

She steps outside and sees him walking off. "Hey!"

Alexus stops without turning around. He then takes off full steam down the street. Catherine bolts after him, making sure she doesn't lose sight of him.

Though quick in her movements, Catherine chases him at an unsteady pace. "I can't keep up with him like this." She jumps up from her toes and swiftly kicks off her heels. "That's better," she says with a smile.

Alexus presses down on his earpiece to contact someone. "Derexen, come in."

"Hey, stud. How ya' doing?" Aquarius playfully asks.

"I said Derexen."

"Okay... Sooo, what you doing later today?"

"Aquarius, not now! I'm on a mission!"

"Alright, alright."

After Aquarius's interruption, Derexen answers Alexus's call. "Alexus, what's going on?"

"I found the guardian. She's chasing me as we speak. Meet me at the end of town."

Alexus looks back and sees that she's gaining on him. He jumps on top of one of the buildings and continues to outrun her by rooftop.

"He's fast," Catherine says. "But not fast enough. Iris!"

She puts her hands together in front of her face, then arcs them apart like a rainbow. A semicircle of light appears in front of her. She waves her hand to complete the circle. Soon after, it becomes a light bubble and pops. Catherine catches her Empyrean Blade and smiles.

The blade has a shiny gold hilt with a guard that resembles the sun. The blade has a pink luster, but isn't very long. It is strongly curved at the tip and shines a soft white glow. The sword's grip has a woven series of white suns down the middle on both sides of the royal blue grip.

"Now I should be able to keep up with him with this spell. Celerity!"

Catherine begins to run twice as fast using a spell that doubles her movement. "Nicely done," Alexus says. "But you are not the only one who can use spells."

Suddenly, Alexus splits into ten copies of himself. "Damn it, I can't do much more or innocent lives will be dragged into this. I'll wait till we get to the outskirts of town."

Once they reach the end of town, all ten Alexuses jump off the roof and into the trees. Catherine stops at the front of the forest when one of the clones leaps out at her.

She stabs it in the face and watches it burst into to harmless black smoke. "Show yourself!" she demands. "We can do this annoying dance all night!"

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Alexus says in an echoing voice. "Sorry, madam, but I don't have all night."

Alexus descends from the tree in a slow glide toward the ground. He waves his finger twice and several clouds of smoke rise up from the trees.

Catherine looks up and grins. "You cancelled your attack squad? How confident you must be."

"Hmph. So how are we going to do this, Derexen?"

She looks back and sees Derexen leaning up against the town's wall. "I don't know," Derexen says while briefly staring at her. "I guess we could do it like a tag team, or a double team."

"But then it wouldn't be any fun. It would end too quickly."

"True, and I'm not one to ruin another man's fun, unless it's wrong and cruel. By the way, there's a conference coming up."

"Oh, about what?"

Catherine grits her teeth and stomps her foot, "Damn it, stop acting like I'm not here!"

"Pardon my rudeness," Derexen says. "How about you choose your opponent."

"Fine, I choose pretty boy," Catherine says, pointing at Alexus.

"I would think that was a wise choice, but either opponent is a dead end. Good luck to you both."

Derexen walks by the both of them and hops up into a tree. Alexus closes his eyes and waves his hand. Dark clouds appear before him as his scythe materializes. He sticks his hand in and swipes it out from the clouds.

"Let's go," Alexus says. He swings his scythe to release a massive sonic boom that pushes her back and scatters the leaves. As quickly as she blinks, he's already in her face. He leans in and whispers in her ear. "If that pushed you back, then this is going to be quick."

He backflips and kicks her in the face. She stumbles back and steps further from him. Alexus sets the head of the scythe down on the ground, making it stand straight up like a pogo-stick.

He sits Indian style on the opposite end of his weapon using just balance and arm strength to hold himself. "Come on, dear, work your magic."

Catherine rubs her chin. "You want to see magic? I'll show you magic. Acute Fireball!"

She shoots three fireballs at him from her palm. As the fireballs near, Alexus jumps back and slashes all three with lightning speed. He finishes the final slash kneeling forward and grinning, till he realizes the split balls didn't vanish. They rapidly expand and explode around him.

Alexus leaps out from the flames and closer to the forest. His clothes have mild burns from the blast. Suddenly, a shadow begins to quickly grow where he is standing. He looks up and sees her coming down with sword raised.

Alexus grabs his scythe from both ends, quickly blocking the attack. With blood dripping from her teeth and onto his face, he winces from the drips and pushes her back up into the air. He then hurls his scythe straight up to hit her. Catherine nimbly dodges the attack with a midair flip. In an instant, Alexus appears before her and does five jabs to her face.

Catherine sees an opening and makes a vertical slash. He dodges and takes two more jabs at her. She shakes it off by swinging her blade at him three times. Under his swift speed, she fails to land all her strikes. Alexus jabs her twice in the face, then gives her two more. He grabs her shoulders and knees her in the stomach three times before backhanding her into the ground.

Dirt rises after her body crashes into the ground. Alexus lands slowly and raises his hand up to catch his scythe. He walks slowly up to Catherine and puts his blade to her neck.

She slowly opens her eyes, "Not yet... I can't lose." She coughs with a brief wheeze. "Shadow blade!"

Suddenly, an identical version of her Iris blade sticks out the ground and cuts his leg. Another one appears behind him, then another. The blades are popping out the ground all over the place, leaving nearly nowhere to stand. Alexus quickly jumps into the air to avoid being stabbed.

"Oh no, pretty boy. It's not that easy. Prepare to see my 'seek and destroy' beast as Iris reaches its full power!"

Suddenly, all the blades in the ground form together to create a giant snake of swords. The serpent rises over the trees and shakes the ground as it slams its massive tail. It looks at Alexus and bares its large sword fangs.

The snake attempts to swallow him whole. He jumps up once more and leans to the side before being eaten. He lands on the ground and runs off into the forest.

Catherine's snake lowers its head and flips her up onto it. She stands tall and rides it into the forest to chase Alexus. As it speeds through the forest, its naturally sharp body cuts down trees just by touching them.

Derexen walks out from a fallen tree, watching the snake sliver away. "What a powerful technique," he says with a stern look.

Catherine's snake nears Alexus and prepares to attack. The metal monster opens its mouth and fires three blades. Two are dodged, but the last one goes through Alexus's back. The snake stops at the clearing to sniff his pinned body.

Catherine rejoices. "Yes, I got 'em! Huh?"

To her surprise, the body lying on the ground bursts into black smoke. "It was my last copy," Alexus says, standing behind her with his scythe to her neck.

As he readies to remove her head, she looks down with a grim face, then smiles. "You're not the only one with tricks."

The swords Alexus is standing on suddenly collapse. The moment he begins to fall, he tries to cut her, but she slings downward from the blade's range. The hole closes completely and a grinding noise begins to come from within. The grinding stops and silence takes the forest for a moment.

"And that's game," Catherine says.

Suddenly, Alexus's echoing voice fills the air, "At least for you it is. Grim Implosion!"

The forest begins to shake when the snake lets out a dreadful scream. At the core of its body, the metal monster starts to collapse into itself. Catherine jumps off the snake's head and watches it disappear.

Her sword returns to her hand as the sounds of snapping metals fill the forest. All that remains after the snake is gone is a small black hole the size of a handball.

It begins to flash purple and pink colors as it slowly pushes out a black fog. The fog shapes out and forms into a bloody Alexus wearing his robe. He floats high above her with a menacing look.

"How did you escape?" Catherine asks with a shocked look.

He says nothing as he continues to look down on her. Alexus waves his hand to mark the field. Suddenly, the black opening expands into a large gaping hole emitting heat.

Catherine feels her body go cold with fear. "What have you done with my snake?"

"I put it together once I fell inside that monster. Only one of those swords were the real Empyrean Blade. The rest were just replicas made from traces of metal you found in the ground. With that knowledge, I was able to recycle your waste of talent. Farewell." He raises his arms and forces them to his sides. "Ignite!"

The hole spits out red-hot jagged shards of metal. Each piece rips through her body like a hot knife through butter. When the hole vanishes, all that's left of Catherine is a pile of gooey flesh.

Derexen appears from the distance wearing his robe. "Her spells were more advanced than the average guardian." he says, staring at Catherine's remains. "It's no surprise she caused you harm."

Darkness begins to rise out of the ground with Demis appearing everywhere in the forest. A series of screams come from the town of Carealotta. Derexen looks to Alexus and nods to acknowledge a job well done.

Hours since their victory, the two men sit on a fallen tree in the forest. Derexen stares up at the pinkish-white moon while Alexus is deep in thought. Suddenly, a fiery blue figure begins to come toward them.

Alexus stands up. "Derexen, what is that?"

Derexen stands up, focusing his eyes on the flames. When the flames go out, a young man appears from the shadows. He has brownish-red hair that is cut low, and his eyebrows are bushy and wild like his hair.

"So Derexen is your name," he states.

Derexen gives him a mildly surprised look. "Balthazar?"

"You know him?" Alexus asks.

Balthazar flexes his hands several times with a big grin. "I don't know what's going on, but I do know one thing. I definitely didn't get the raw deal on this one. It's a pity that everyone else is dead, though."

"Does that upset you?" Derexen asks.

"Not at all. I just don't get how?"

"We did it. Do you want to stop us for what we have done?"

Balthazar makes a blue flame in his hand. Alexus gets ready to attack until he extinguishes it. "Nope, I just want in on this kill fest of yours."

"There is more to it than that. My organization does not cause trouble for no reason. We have a goal."

"I don't care!" he shouts with absurd excitement. "I just want to cause as much chaos as I can! I'll be sure it's still in your benefit, of course."

He stares at him briefly. "Alexus, forward the message that the meeting will be held here in the next thirty-six hours."

Alexus pushes on his earpiece. "Yes, my lord."

"I ain't gonna call you lord, or sir, if that's what you think," Balthazar says boorishly.

"I didn't ask you to," Derexen replies. He looks up at the sky before the breeze hits his face. He turns from them and slowly inhales. That makes seven, he thinks.
Chapter Nine: The Eye of Deception

Deep within the metallic city Midgear lies a ruined church where people who have lost hope come to pray. A young woman and her daughter kneel in front of a wooden altar, praying for a better tomorrow.

The church's walls, floors, and doors are made of compressed cans and other metals. The glass windows give the illusion of stained glass because they are made from different colors of recycled glass.

Midgear is a city widely known for using all its resources to the fullest. Even the buildings are made of recycled material. The idea was born from lack of funds to keep the city in good shape, while also keeping people employed longer than their seasonal time.

Midgear was always on the list of the poorest cities that should have been unsuccessful long ago. What saved them was their past president's brilliant thinking by making Midgear economical and the head pioneer of carbon reduction. Other locations have to some extent copied their resourceful strategy, but not enough to make Terra an eco-friendly world.

Without warning, an unexpected light flashes from behind the statue near the altar. It gleams with beauty for several seconds before fading behind the marble statue.

A man walks from behind the statue bearing a massive sword with chains wrapped around it. He's armed with heavy black and white gauntlets with chains wrapped in rows of two around the wrist. The black and white pattern on the gauntlets are swirled upon each other.

Around his neck is a lackluster, medium, silver cross attached to a dull silver chain. Above the chain is another chain made of white gold with a small gold and silver locket. His hair is wild, and his clothes are street casual, wearing a white T-shirt and loose-fitting dark jeans.

He notices the woman. "Hello, miss. I don't mean to impose, but can you tell me where I am?"

She gets up and runs to him while tightly gripping her dark green blouse. "Oh my God," she says. "Can you be the answer to my prayers?" She looks down to her daughter. "You see, Mindy? I told you if you pray really, really, hard it would one day come true."

The little girl giggles, "Sure did, mommy."

The woman is dressed very conservatively. She has on a long gray dress that hangs just above her tan loafers. Her dark brown hair is neatly pulled into a bun with a few of her bangs framing her dark brown eyes. Her skin is a beautiful mocha color that compliments her slim figure. For her lean face, she has excellent high cheekbones.

The little girl has nearly the same skin and facial features as her mother. Her black hair is nearly shoulder length, and her eyes are a lighter shade of brown. Her clothes are much like her mother's, a white blouse and burgundy dress to compliment her one-strap black shoes.

The hysterical woman and the bright-eyed little girl stare at the man with eyes full of hope. "What's your name?" the little girl asks. "I'm Mindy, and she's mommy."

The woman chuckles. "Actually, my name is Dante, and this is my four-year-old daughter."

"Nice to meet you both. My name is Demeseus. Now back to my earlier question. Where am I?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. This is Midgear, a city mainly made up of scraps of metal. This place is what you could call the result of extreme recycling. Only a few places in this city are not made of scrap. So, savior," quickly moving the conversation along, "how will you help us?"

Demeseus gives her an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

"You came to us in our time of need. A time when our city is at its worst. You see, a few months ago, a visitor came to our city dressed in corporate attire, claiming she had important business to do with the president of MGC."

"MGC?"

"Also known as Midgear Central. A few weeks during her visit, the president of MGC began to act really weird, even charging people for the strangest things."

"What kinds of charges?"

"It's a variety of things. He charges people for walking too close to MGC. One dollar charges for every eight ounces of water you get from the tap. And a few weeks after the visitor left, we stopped seeing the president all together, but that wasn't the end of our troubles. He continued to enforce unjust laws on us. During that time, he had his employees hang banners around the city with two letters on them."

"Two letters?"

"RK. Unfortunately, I have no idea what that means, but all of that is nothing compared to what happens late at night. Around the same time every night, little evil creatures begin to appear everywhere, most of them coming in and out of MGC." She shakes her head. "They're evil. They eat and kill people on a daily. The more they kill, the more that will arrive. That's why we need a hero more than ever!"

As she looks up at Demeseus with eyes of desperation, the church roof caves in. A demi-wolf with a half black and red face has blood-soaked strings of muscular flesh coming out of its right eye socket. The red side of its face has no fur, skin, or full muscle tissue, just torn, hanging pieces of muscle fiber. The creature is balding and bleeding in leaky patches on the floor.

The Demi howls and growls at the couple.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Mindy says, while cowering behind Demeseus with her mother.

Dante holds her daughter tight, "Demeseus, please, will you help us? We have no other alternatives."

Demeseus smiles. "It's funny how you assume I have the power to help you." His face becomes serious. "But you don't need to ask me for something I was planning to do anyway."

He slightly leans forward and dashes off toward the wolf in the blink of an eye. Demeseus appears behind the wolf with his sword spread to the far right of his body, kneeling in an after-strike pose. The wolf turns gray and cracks into a crumbling ash. He turns around looking at the ash until another mutated wolf crashes through the ceiling.

The beast lunges at the mother and her child. Demeseus somersaults over to the wolf and lands before the woman. He grabs the Demi's head, seconds before chains shoot out of his gauntlet, crisscrossing through the wolf's body. The chains forcefully tear the beast apart. Its bloody body flies around the room as it quickly becomes ash.

Demeseus turns to them, "I have to get you two somewhere safe!"

Dante picks Mindy up in a hugging manner. Demeseus angles his sword on his hip and lets the chains wrap firmly around his waist. He then scoops them up and jumps through the hole in the ceiling to land on the roof.

He begins hopping from building to building. "I have much experience fighting those things, but I only see them when it's dark. With the assumption they are demons of the night, I need to know when the sun shall rise, Dante."

Dante looks disturbed. "I may have left that out, but ever since these creatures came, the sun has stopped rising around here. With no sun, the Demis seem to never sleep."

"Demis..."

"That's what the president calls them."

"Is there any place I can take you two that's safe?" he says with shaking arms and winded breathing.

"My house is located at the edge of the city. The bright lights over there keep the creatures at bay most nights."

Demeseus reaches one of the brightest areas in the city and gently puts them down. They slowly walk up the block with Demeseus cautiously stepping ahead of them. He peeks around the corner. "Is the house to our left yours?" he whispers.

Dante nods. Demeseus notices that the lights only illuminate the rest of her block while the remaining buildings are in darkness. He waves them over to follow close behind him. As they stop in front of her house and she fiddles with the locks, Demeseus sees claws and sizzling paws coming in and out the light. Dante gets the door open and the three of them slowly move inside.

Mindy and Dante move through the house to turn on all the lights.

The living room has three tall bookshelves and two small tables. The ceiling fan has a metal base with plastic blades. It isn't a big room, though its crowded appearance still gives a relaxing feel. The rug of multi-fabrics and the discolored floor lamps are the only offsetting items.

Demeseus looks out Dante's window and sees several Demis waiting in the shadows. "These things are like hyenas. Dante, you said something about a visitor. Tell me more about her. Did she do all this?"

Dante places her keys on the table. "I don't know. I just find it suspicious that life got so bad here once she came along. All I know is that she was always around. Even when the president made public speeches, she would stand right by his side. Come to think of it, I've never actually seen her alone."

"I did, mommy!" Mindy blurts out.

"When did this happen?"

"It was late night I got out of bed and went to get glass of milk and heard talking at window. It was the lady, mommy! But I couldn't see who she's talking to. She said something about keeping glass half empty."

Demeseus walks by the door, then back to them, "I think I should scout the city tonight, but I don't want to leave you two in danger."

"Oh no, go on," Dante says lightly. "We shall be fine. As long as we have the bright lights from outside, no danger should come our way."

Demeseus nods and runs out the door. He kills two Demis sitting outside Dante's house before jumping onto a building.

He travels from rooftop to rooftop, trying to stay out of sight. He hops on a building near MGC, calmly looking over the area when the sound of his locket catches his ears. He takes it in his hand softly. When he opens it, a smile crosses his face as he thinks back on his time in Greenwood.

He tucks the locket away and kneels down to scan the city for anything out of the ordinary. He looks to the MGC building and notices Demis guarding the front. Demeseus turns toward some of the metal buildings of Midgear that look like stacked compressed trash.

He peers below to see that workers have left metal sheeting near one of the buildings and tightly compacted, recycled metals from street signs, trash cans, and soda cans. Next to the building is a closed store that pays people a dollar for every three-fourths of a pound they recycle.

Demeseus looks back to MGC and spots a man coming out the building. What strikes Demeseus as odd is that the creatures guarding the building do not attempt to attack him. The man walks down the stone stairs and turns down the street alley a block away.

Demeseus grabs onto the pipe connected to the building and slides down before jumping to the fire escape. He carefully looks around and sprints into the alleyway.

Surprising him, Demeseus sneaks up behind the man. "Are you the president?"

The man stumbles over his own feet, "Oh, oh, oh! Oh my, you shocked me."

"I will ask again, are you the president of MGC?" Demeseus asks with irritation.

"No, I was just a hall guard."

"What are you guarding, and why didn't those creatures attack you?"

"My job was to guard anyone heading to the president's room. The creatures around the building don't attack unless someone is coming in who wasn't here since the beginning."

"Since the beginning?"

"If you were not in the building when all the major changes began, then you are seen as an enemy to the creatures."

"Have you seen or talked to the president lately?"

"I have spoken to him through the door and through the intercom, but I haven't seen him in weeks." He shakes his head. "And after all I did for him, he fired me."

"Fired you?"

"Yes, he fired me and fined me for being in his building. What kind of stupid money grubbing scheme will he use next?"

"That is odd behavior."

"Hey." The man looks over Demeseus's shoulders. "Have you realized that the more people who die here, the more creatures enter this city?"

"I just got here. I haven't been able to observe the situation that much."

"Then I feel sorry for you. You shouldn't have come here."

"You let me worry about that. Explain to me your theory."

"Well, I think these creatures are the people who died here. At least some of them are."

Demeseus looks at the man as if he's insane. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Think about it. These creatures sometimes spawn straight from the darkness, but their spawn rate is very slow. Now I've been watching them for a while, and when you do the math, something doesn't add up. The spawn rate alone can't do it, but combined with the deaths, it all comes together."

Dante did mention something about that before, Demeseus thinks. But can it really be possible for humans to become the very things I've been slaying?

"See, you're doing the math, right? The population of creatures just doesn't add up. So my best guess is that either these things are coming from somewhere else, or the lives being lost here are fuel added to the fire."

"That's one hell of a theory. But it does sound very possible. And if it is true, then I need to find a way to end this."

"If you ask me, the answer to the troubles in this city lies with the president. You can't ask the source because she left long ago. But you can ask the one who was around her the most."

"Then let me ask you a couple more questions. Do you know anything about the woman who came into the MGC building? Do you know anything about her whereabouts?"

The man begins to think, tapping his finger to his arm. "Not a lot, but I did eavesdrop every now and again. She said that she was from an urban town with a low population. She claimed she's the vice president of her building. Apparently, her reasons for coming here had something to do with her boss wanting to make a merger with MGC and MYC. MYC is the sister of this city, also known as Midyork Central. So she says anyway."

"Have you ever heard of MYC?"

"Not at all. We've had many visitors in the past, but not once did they ever speak of Midyork."

"Hmm, it might have been all a ruse. Is there anything else you can share?"

"Nothing else important, besides the president firing all his other assistants and making her his number one. She took care of all his meals and paperwork, but that's all I know about the subject." The man briefly looks behind him. "I have to leave and see if my wife is okay. We live on the dark side of the city. The creatures attack our house almost every night."

"Okay, thank you for your help. Please get home safely." Demeseus walks out from the alleyway and stands in the middle of the street. He's right. If I want all my questions answered, I need to ask President Dumbass.

Demeseus begins to walk slowly toward the building, putting himself in view of the Demis as he puts his hand on his sword's grip.

Their large eyes turn from white to red with target lock symbols. The seven Demi soldiers are black, and have on army-issued clothing and equipment. They are short and have sharp, widely spaced teeth with no lips.

These virtually hairless Demis have hands and feet much larger than the average human. Strapped with grenades and assault rifles, these Demis are more than ready for battle.

Three of them jump to the front of the steps. They simultaneously let out a loud bellow before opening fire.

As the bullets whiz by Demeseus, with a few grazing him, he continues to walk slowly and calmly. He quickly raises his unraveling sword to deflect several shots. He then points his gauntlet and fires four chains, using them to disarm his frontline foes. He wraps his chains around their guns and yanks them out of their hands.

They backflip behind enemy lines as two others step forward. They each remove a grenade from their belt and hurl it at Demeseus. The grenades are a direct hit. The explosion goes off, filling the air with smoke.

As the smoke clears, all the Demis see is a big hole, but Demeseus is nowhere in sight. Without warning, chains burst from underneath the ground below the two Demis on the frontline. The chains wrap around their ankles so it's impossible for them to move.

The ground begins to shake. Demeseus emerges out from the front steps and simultaneously cuts down the two Demis in a Z formation slash. He looks over to his far left and goes after one of the armed soldiers. It's about to open fire, until Demeseus's sword pierces its stomach, pinning it to the wall. Demeseus quickly rips the grenade belt off its body and puts it on himself. The two unarmed Demis charge at Demeseus.

He pulls out his sword and walks calmly toward them. "Celerity," Demeseus says.

He begins to move at great speed, leaving nothing behind him except afterimages. He kills the remaining four Demis by upper slashing the first one, cross slashing the second one, beheading the third one, and piercing through the last one.

Demeseus stands still with his eyes closed before slowly rising up. "Ashes to ashes." His eyes open, and he sheathes his sword behind his back with the chains hugging his torso. "Dust to dust."

The motionless Demis turn gray and burst into ash. Demeseus kicks open the front door and sees the hallway lights are dimmed to the lowest level possible. Aware of the chance of hidden dangers, he proceeds cautiously. He soon realizes that the deeper he goes inside the building, the darker it becomes.

It becomes so dark, the halls are pitch black. Demeseus hugs the walls to make a couple turns in the building. He tries to find his way back, but gets lost. He turns around to backtrack until he hears a deep voice from behind him, "Can I help you, boy?"

"Yeah, where is the president's office?" Demeseus asks.

"That is classified information."

"Can't be that classified since I'm already in the building."

"Are you hungry, boy?"

"What?"

"I'm always hungry—for something—good."

Demeseus begins to hear a low growl. He makes a small fireball in his hand and turns around. He sees a decayed bald man with black eyes and extremely sharp fangs. The fiend begins to extend his jaw to inhuman lengths and lets out a beastly howl.

Demeseus interrupts his howling by blasting him in the face with the fireball, blowing his body all over the wall. Demeseus makes another fireball and stares at the charred remains of the creature with cold eyes before turning to walk away. Suddenly, he hears rough breathing.

"Some hero," the beastly man says.

"What the hell?" Demeseus turns with a face of disbelief. "How are you still alive?"

"I won't be for long." He looks to Demeseus. "I hope you don't plan to do the same to the president."

"What do you mean?"

"You're reckless, attacking me like that."

"I slay evil. You just happened to be on the list."

"How can you even be sure that I am evil?"

"You barely look human. Your jaw extended when you roared at me, and you have black eyes. Sounds pretty evil to me. And weren't you going to eat me?"

The-soon-to-be-dead man uses his one good arm to prop himself up on the wall. "You made no point. The woman who came here looked human enough, but she was far worse than me. The fact I look remotely human is a sign that I have not fully shifted."

"Shut up! You are not human and that's that!"

"Trying to rationalize with your guilt?" He grunts and closes his eyes for a moment. "You know, I used to be human. That attack you used destroyed most of the darkness in me. That's why I'm able to talk freely like this. I don't know if you know this, but when darkness takes over a town or city, creatures begin to spawn from that darkness. But what happens when there's a lack of beast to supply fuel for the darkness? They recruit by using the leftover essence of their kill. Much like me."

Demeseus shakes his head and looks away. "Imagine a place between life and death," the man continues. "It's like being stuffed into a flask that's far too small, helpless and only able to watch. Your essence mutates into a hideous monster with actions you can barely control. The worst part is this new body of yours makes you throb in pain every second of the day, and there is nothing you can do about it."

"Then why did you insult me by saying, 'some hero'?" he says with a sickened face. "Technically, I did you a favor."

"No... I didn't want it to end this way." He begins flaking and turning to ash. "I doubt this is the only way to save a suffering soul who only partly mutated from the darkness. This can't be—everyone's—fate." The mutated man turns gray and crumbles into ash.

Demeseus kneels over to the ashes. He grabs a fist full and lets its pour slowly out of his hand. If the president is in this state, then I may have an idea on how to save him. The question is, should I? This thing probably just lied to my face so whatever's haunting this city will get the upper hand on me. The thought of killing humans makes me feel like I'm the monster. Demeseus's eyes widen and he puts his hand on the wall. I sense something beyond this point. There might be a switch nearby.

Demeseus looks around where the half man had fallen. As he feels along the wall, Demeseus feels a cool draft coming from the area he's searching. At the corner of the wall, there's an open slit revealing a dark hidden passage.

He steps back and puts out his fireball. He then takes a grenade from his belt and throws it at the dusty wall. The wall blows apart, opening a pathway with dimmed lights on the walls. Demeseus walks through and follows the red carpet up the stairs to discover set of double doors.

He puts his hand to the doors. It seems to be sealed with a dark aura, he thinks. A light begins to drain from his hand and onto the doors. The dark aura dies out and the door slightly opens.

Demeseus enters the dark room where four long frame windows bring low lights from the streetlamps. As he takes a couple steps forward, the door behind him shuts. The darkness in the entire room intensifies, and the darkness that had faded from the door returns stronger than before.

He slowly proceeds, "Mr. President, I would like to know what you've been doing to this city," Demeseus asks while looking around. "Why have you been neglecting your duties as president?"

From the back of the room, Demeseus sees a blade creep from the shadows and gleam in the moonlight.

He begins to hear a low, raspy voice in the shadows, straining to speak. "I can't stop it. The infection. The infection." His voice suddenly becomes a deep, demonic, bellow. "The infection!"

Half of the president's body steps out into the light, wearing a white business suit. Demeseus takes a second glance at his sword and realizes that it's an Empyrean Blade.

Demeseus is surprised when he sees little eyes blinking at him from the base of the president's blade. The grip is a black, smooth texture with a matching guard shaped like batwings. The medieval sword suddenly gains more winking eyes on the blade, and one on each wing.

Suddenly, the sounds of something panting with small growls in between, rises from the corner of the room. The sounds were somehow coming from the barely breathing president. He stares at Demeseus with a hazy expression.

"Mr. President, who else is in here? Tell me who else is in here!?" he says in near panic.

The president does not respond to his question, only repeats the same eerie words. "The infection. The infection! The infection. The infection!" Suddenly, the two voices scream simultaneously, "Bonnie's Malevolent Legacy!!"

The president stops swaying in the light, quickly making such an angry face at the sight of Demeseus. He charges at Demeseus like a mad bull. The second the president's whole body hits the light, Demeseus knew where all the growling and panting came from.

The man is half human and half Demi. He has the face of a monster on his stomach with sharp teeth and a flat nose, but no eyes. He has another smaller face on his shoulder with only one eye.

The rest of his body is large and it looks like black and bloody flesh, especially his right arm. His deformed arm is twice the length of a man's arm and is bloated with throbbing muscles. His hand alone could wrap completely around a grown man's body.

Demeseus braces himself for the incoming attack. "I'm used to fighting boneheaded brutes like you." To his misfortune, Demeseus is rammed across the room by the president's massive strength. The president runs over, lifts him, and tosses him to the windows. Demeseus looks up slowly. "Damn, his right arm has too much reach. I have seriously underestimated his strength."

A black hole appears near Demeseus's face. The president's infected fist comes through it and hits him into the corner. The fist opens up to reveal a big eyeball in the palm. Demeseus looks up with his eye half swollen shut.

When the hand begins to retreat back into the hole, Demeseus raises his arm and fires chains from his gauntlet and wraps them around the president's infected wrist.

Demeseus stands up and begins to pull with all his might. As the president's hand nears his, it suddenly stops. Demeseus is no longer able to pull his hand in. The hand begins to pull him instead. Demeseus quickly uses his sword to chop off most of the arm, revealing the fingertips of the once-human president.

The president and the two Demi faces scream. The bloody stub goes back in the vanishing hole. The screams stop as the sounds of heavy footsteps move in the dark. Demeseus stands up in front of the window, trying to see within the darkness. His eyes dart back and forth as he sidesteps very slowly.

Without warning, he stops cold and begins to feel something's hot breath on his ear. He turns as the president swings his blade at him.

Demeseus blocks it and jumps back. __ He fires chains from his gauntlet and wraps them around the president's head, yanking him downward.

He slams his head into the floor and tries to pull him in. "I can't kill you, but I can attempt to restore your body."

The president knocks him off his feet with a solid right-handed tug on the chains. He pulls the chains off his head and stands up.

He lifts his sword to his mouth and closes all his eyes. When he opens them, __ Demeseus's body suddenly straightens out, making him unable to move. My body feels heavy. I can't even move a finger.

The president walks over and stabs him in the shoulder. With the widening of the eyes, he gradually pushes deeper. He twirls the blade inside of him in order to widen the wound.

"Argh!" he groans in agony. "Would you just snap out of it already!? This isn't who you are! Wake up!"

The president looks at him. "The infection...," he says before slowly sawing the sword downward.

Demeseus screams out. "Aaarrghh! I can't—! Grrr-argh! Chain Disarray!"

Without warning, chains begin to burst from his equipment. Dozens of chains are smashing through everything, from the walls to the floors. From all directions, the chains puncture the president and quickly suspend him in the air.

When the attack ends, and the spell breaks, Demeseus drops to the floor. He looks up at the president's bloody body hanging in the middle of the room with blood dripping from his limp head.

Demeseus sulks, "I'm sorry. I should've tried harder."

The chains begin to rattle as Demeseus slowly looks up with great surprise.

The president slightly lifts his head and grins. "Thank... you," he says in a low voice before dropping his head.

Demeseus stands up and smashes his sword into the floor. He closes his eyes with his hand out in front of him. He's not dead, Demeseus thinks. This means there's still time to save him and his city. He begins to focus his energy to create a white and gray aura around him. Eternity, lend me your strength and help me purify this man. Destroy the darkness in his heart and let the light flow in.

The chains become pure light and gently burst into little spheres while softly laying the president on the floor. The infected parts of his body turn gray and flake off. His potentially fatal wounds begin to close with every descending orb entering his body.

Outside MGC, the Demis burst into gray ash as the looming darkness flees under the rising sun.

Demeseus falls to his knees and makes a sigh of relief. "I need a vacation."

A week has passed since the city was saved. Demeseus is staying at Dante's house as a welcomed guest. During his stay, a call comes through on Dante's phone while she's in the kitchen preparing a few meals for Demeseus's journey.

She hears the phone ring and rushes to pick it up from the corner of her kitchen. "Hello. No, Demeseus hasn't left yet, but he was planning to... Okay, I shall relay the message." She hangs up and walks into the guest room where Demeseus is on the floor playing with Mindy. "Demeseus, I just got a call from the president's assistant. He wants to meet with us."

"That's fine," Demeseus says while tickling Mindy. "I have questions that only he can answer."

The three of them leave the house and walk the streets of Midgear. Midgear's livelihood has returned. The people are energetic and happy to be back outside. The citizens are handing in their metals for money while workers are finishing buildings that are under construction. Midgear is quickly getting back on its feet.

After walking through the halls of the MGC building, they reach the president's door and knock.

"Come in," says the president's assistant.

They slowly enter his spacious room and step onto his blue carpeted floor. Demeseus notices the shelves with all his personal rewards since he was a kid. Next to that shelf are pictures of loved ones and the previous president of Midgear. In the corner lies the president in a circular bed and heavy bed sheets. Near his bedside are three chairs and his assistant.

The president is covered in bandages. His blond hair is partially wrapped in gauze on the right side of his face. The president's brown irises have dark spotting, possibly from blunt trauma. His skin is a bit pale, leaving little color in his hands. His fingernails are chipped and dry, much like his skin.

As they approach the president's bed, Demeseus leans over to whisper in Dante's ear, "Does this guy have a real name?"

"His name is Russell," Dante replies.

The three of them reach his bedside and sit in the available chairs before them. Russell turns his head. "Are you, Demeseus?"

"Yes, you don't remember me?"

"My memory is foggy. I can only recall so much. Over the past few days it has been drifting back to me slowly."

Dante stares at Russell with pity in her eyes, "President Russell, how did you end up like this?"

"It's vague, but I'll see what I can recall. It all started when I hired a new assistant from a far-off town called Boleyork. She said her boss from MYC wanted to merge companies with us."

"What did your assistant look like?" Demeseus asks.

"The woman wore a tight black skirt with a burgundy suit jacket. She had long dark blue hair that was tied up tight, but still a bit puffy. Her lips were always coated with a light pink, sheen, and her skin is a light, whitish-yellow."

Demeseus waits for him to say more. "Is that all you can remember?"

He puts his hand to his head. "Powder blue eyes... and she wore glasses." He pauses for a moment. "Oh, and she has a cute little beauty mark under the left side of her lip. And she's a petite woman with a medium-sized bust."

Dante raises an eyebrow. Someone became lively, she thinks.

"Uh, that's pretty descriptive," Demeseus says with a similar expression to Dante's. "But I don't believe I met her before. Continue with your story, President Russell."

"Well, even though she wanted to merge, I wasn't too sure about it. So she decided to stay, helping me from day-to-day until I could come to a decision. She helped take care of a lot of things, like energy consumption in the city, and my public speaking. She even got my food and drinks throughout the day."

"Russell, you let a stranger handle your food?"

"What's wrong with that?" Dante asks.

"A man in his position should be wary of any attempts on his life, especially from unfamiliar faces.

"I didn't see it as a big deal at the time," Russell replies. "I mean, do we really know all the people who handle our food and drinks?"

"He has a point," Dante says. "Anyone could have been taken in by something like that."

"I wouldn't dream that my assistant would ever harm me through the means of food. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever felt that way."

"True, but it's just not wise," Demeseus says. "You never know what people could be doing to your food. If you ever get sick more than twice after having someone's helpings, maybe they're the cause."

"Demeseus, we're going off topic," Dante says. "That has nothing to do with this."

Russell looks across the room, "Actually, it does." He closes his eyes and sighs. "If I were a less naïve fellow, I'm sure things would be different. I did get sick a few times after taking something from her. I would usually get nauseous, have some water, and feel better."

"That sounds odd to me," Demeseus says. "I would have been suspicious of her for it. Then again, maybe she did nothing to you. As a World Guardian, you should have been able to detect what she was doing to you somehow."

"I didn't know I was a World Guardian until that night. Even though I had a dream beforehand making me choose a sword and then telling me bizarre things, I didn't give much thought to it. A dream is a dream. Who would've thought it had anything to do with my real life?"

A dream, Demeseus thinks. It always begins the same. He looks away from the president. But what we do with that power is what separates us, he thinks, seeming distraught.

Russell begins to explain what happened to him the night before he lost himself...

That morning, I woke up with stomach pains, a fever, and a bad cause of nausea. I ran to the restroom and threw up black vomit. What frightened me most was what was in that black ink. It was a fat, slimy, black snake or worm. I don't know what it was, but it had no eyes and four mouths. I wasn't sure if I was hallucinating, or it was already there.

In a panic, I flushed it and ran to my assistant. I told her what happened and she told me to take some of her village's medicine.

She claimed they have the best medicine around. Supposedly, that's what they were known for. So I took it with some water and I felt better. Although the pains went away, I couldn't stop wondering what had been going on lately.

Two days ago, I had complaints about how I was running the city. I found that strange since I hadn't changed anything. But that was before I saw the problems that they were speaking of. And it was getting worse. It's as if I'm sleep when the events take place and someone else who looks, and sounds like me is trying to affect my laws.

I took a walk outside and to no surprise, my people hated me. They began to riot at the sight of me. It got so bad that I had to run away from them. That's when I bumped into Dante. She said she would help me get away, even though she didn't seem like she wanted to.

She took me back to her house and poured me a cup of tea. "Why?" she asked. "Why did you do this to us? You were supposed to make things better. I demand an explanation or out you go."

I shook my head in confusion, "What are you talking about? I haven't done anything different than what I've always done for this city. I've read some of the reports, but they lack detail. What are the problems that have everyone so angry with me?"

"You should know."

"But I don't. I honestly haven't been doing anything those reports have been saying."

"You don't recall creating these new laws that make no sense. Like the whole no electricity after dark or you'll be arrested if caught. Or how you plan to bulldoze the church to make way for a new plant from Boleyork. What are you doing, Russell?" she said with disgust.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember doing these things. Are you sure it's me enforcing these laws?"

"Yes, idiot, we know your voice! Who else has the power to change them? You've been doing this crap almost every night at one in the morning."

"That can't be? I'm usually asleep by that time. The only one who is usually up around then is—" It was then that it all became clear to me. "I have to go. Thank you for your help."

I rushed out of her house.

When I got outside, I looked up and saw that the moon was out and the sky was going dark at three in the afternoon. I went as fast as I could to make it back to my building, but by the time I made it back, it was night. I was feeling light headed as I walked toward my building. At the time, I thought it was because of all the running.

When I neared the stairs to MGC, I saw black creatures rising from the ground. The sounds of people's screams hit me like a brick. People being thrown out their windows and carried off by all these strange monsters. I was terrified and completely useless when my people needed me most.

Suddenly, I heard sinister laughter coming from behind me. I looked to the front door to my building and see my assistant, Molly, smiling. She turned around and strolled back inside with a happy frolic.

I quickly chased her back to my office. I bust my doors open and saw her calmly staring out my window. "Molly!?" I slowly approached with anger rising in me. "You think it's funny that my people hate me? Do you think it's good that my people are dying? What the hell is going on here!? Who are you?"

She laughed and turned toward me. "My real name is Bonnie, and I think it's time it took effect."

"What are you-argh! My stomach hurts. Why does it hurt so—?" I fell to the floor, balled up in pain and sweating. I couldn't move from the tearing in my gut.

"You want to know what's going on? Okay then. I'm not here on a business merger, nor is there a company in Boleyork... Anymore. I'm a scientist, and I'm here on special research about human essence and its reactions to the darkness. My research is top notch!" she said with sick excitement. "But for some reason, I was having a hard time with you, until now. Although it's working, I don't know what took so long."

"Your town," I grunted. "Your reasons. Your kindness. It was all a cover up?"

"Once I see my results, I will record my findings and abscond from this city. But I really wonder why it's taking so long? I feed you medicine that amplifies the darkness in your body. Yet you resist, why?"

She walked up to me and knelt down with a confused look on her face. She stood back up, fixing her glasses before digging out her pocket watch. She popped the watch's door open, "It's been over the estimated time and you still show no change. I hope you don't become a failed experiment and die like the others."

"How many others—have you done this to?"

"As of today, forty-six women, thirteen children, and ninety-six men."

I couldn't believe the casual level of callousness coming from this woman's mouth.

She turned from me while slowly pacing, "I think the hardest part is condensing the darkness to a point that's tolerable enough for the core not to collapse from the darkness alone. Even when you achieve that, you have to ask yourself, is there enough darkness to take effect? Furthermore, there is an anomaly in the makeup that has a natural resistance to the darkness. This makes it harder to find a balance between these two entities."

She turned back to me. "But you're different. I had to use higher levels of darkness than usual, and you're still alive." She grabbed me by my neck and lifted me into the air. "Show me my results! Show me!"

"Grrr-argh!"

At that moment, the light and darkness poured out of my body. I remained elevated, even after she let me go. Magically, a pen and clipboard appeared in front of her as she began to write while keeping close watch of me.

"Yes," she said with wide, excited eyes. "Very nice. Mhmm, mhmm, a mild reaction between both forces." She tapped the pen on her chin. "But this still doesn't explain the subject's high resistance from the darkness."

The more she spoke, the madder I became. Sadly, my rage amplified the power of both forces. I felt like I was going to explode from the energies. Then it happened. The Empyrean Blade appeared in my hand. This moment made Bonnie's eyes light up in amazement.

She laughed in a weird fit of joy before normalizing her laughter a bit. "Now it all makes sense! Your unnatural resistance comes from your link as World Guardian. Do you know how far you've just advanced my research?"

"Shut up. I've had enough of your research talk, you, you, she-devil."

"She-devil?" she said with false astonishment. "That may be, but I wouldn't expect a mere mortal to understand my ambition."

At that moment, the power of both forces took over my body. I became half monster and half man. But the darkness had greater control over me than anything else. I fell to the ground, quickly losing myself.

As my consciousness began to fade, she said one more thing before I blacked out. "Let it be known that Bonnie's Malevolent Legacy lives on."

"And that's all I remember," Russell concludes. "The rest is still foggy, or just missing from memory."

"When you were that thing, you said that before," Demeseus says. "What does Bonnie's Malevolent Legacy mean?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"I see. Then my job is done here. Thanks for the help, Russell. You too, Dante."

"No problem," Dante says. "I hope to see you again someday."

"I doubt it, but if we do, I would love to have more of that famous tea you make." He kneels down to Mindy. "You take good care of your mom, alright? You should grow up and become just as kind as her."

Mindy nods, "I will. Be safe and happy!"

"I'll keep my smile just for you, little one." He tickles her chin and stands up.

Demeseus turns to leave. "Oh, Demeseus, before you go, be sure to drop by my treasury," Russell says. "The guard out front will have a reward for you."

"Oh, you don't need to reward me."

"Yes, I do. I can't thank you enough for saving my people and my life. If there is ever anything else I can do for you down the line, do ask."

"Will do, Mr. President."

"Lila, please show him the way to the treasury," Russell says to his assistant.

She opens the door and waits for Demeseus to walk out before gently closing it behind her.

Deep in a dark drizzling town, Bonnie is standing up against a wall wearing a robe while talking through her earpiece.

Bonnie's robe is dark purple with gold stitching edging the entire robe. The hood itself is a bit bigger than the usual cloak. It opens down to the top of her chest, revealing some cleavage. On the back of the robe are large black demon wings stitched into the robe.

Her blue hair is tied in a ponytail to the right side of her head. Some of her hair is spread out, giving her thick, heavy bangs over her forehead. Long strands of her hair hang down the left and right sides of her ears.

"Derexen. Come in, Derexen."

"What is it, Bonnie?" Derexen replies.

"I have my results, and I'm ready to present."

"We'll discuss that later. Why aren't you in Carealotta? I'm sure you received the message from Alexus."

"Yes, I did, and I'm on my way." She ends the conversation and sighs. "What could the big news be this time? Maybe it's the rumor I heard about the new member."

She looks up toward the wet sky slowly damping her face. With soft eyes, she seems to be reminiscing. Her calm expression suddenly becomes angry as she grits her teeth. Small sheets of black paper rapidly shed off her body until she completely vanishes.
Chapter Ten: A Meeting in the Dark

In the woods of Carealotta, Derexen and Alexus wait for the gathering of the organization. In the area they wait to meet is a circle of fallen trees and tree stumps in arrangement for sitting.

Derexen sits on a fallen tree, calmly waiting. "What is taking them so long?" he says in a monotone voice. "They're all late."

"It's like you said, it's hard to find loyal anarchist," Alexus replies while standing next to him.

A feminine voice intrudes the atmosphere. "Shut up, Alexus. Unlike you, some of us work hard for the organization."

Sheets of black paper begin forming on a fallen tree, shaping out into a woman with glasses.

Alexus stares at her with irritation in his eyes. "Looks like number six has arrived."

"Hi, Alexus, did you miss me?" Bonnie says, blinking at him flirtatiously.

"As much as I miss my days on the island."

"Ouch. Well, I know our outstanding leader misses me."

Derexen sits with his head down and his eyes closed, as if to hear nothing.

"I find all this lovey-dovey stuff so misleading," says an echoing man's voice. "Wouldn't you agree, partner?"

Suddenly, water starts to rise on a nearby tree log with a black mist swirling next to it. When the water freezes and shatters and the mist fades, Aquarius and Minerva are sitting on the log.

Minerva opens her fiendish yellow eyes, "Don't ask me stupid questions. That really annoys me."

"But all you need is love," Aquarius says in a singing tone, while tapping his index finger on the top of her forehead.

She makes an angrier face at him, looking like she may hit him.

"Welcome, number three, Aquarius, and number five, Minerva," Alexus says. "So glad you two took your sweet time to come," he says sarcastically.

Without turning, Aquarius creates a chair back by forming it with water and freezing it to lean on. "Better late than never, right? Besides, big boss gave us three missions in a row because of the Greenwood thing, so cut us a little slack."

Derexen looks up at them. "Enough idle chatter. Let us begin."

"Okay, boss, but do you want a back rest like me? I think it will help you relax."

"Aquarius, stop it," Minerva says while nudging him.

"What? I'm just being nice." Derexen gives him a mellow stare. "Fine, I guess there is no room for jokes. How boring we can be." The back Aquarius created melts into the ground as he puts his hands under his chin and elbows on his knees.

Derexen calmly cracks his neck and exhales, "Alright, the first order of business is everyone's report on their previous missions. Aquarius, you first."

"Awesome, I've got the floor," he says as he gets up to move to the middle of the circle.

"Sit down, Aquarius. You can tell us your progress from your seat."

"Awe."

When he sits back down, Minerva leans to whisper, "Aquarius, stop it. I don't think he's in the mood for your games. And I don't want to go on another three missions in one day."

He leans away from her grinning. "On our last set of missions it was a triple success without fail."

"Bonnie, how did the experiment in Midgear go?" Derexen asks.

Bonnie smiles and pulls notes from her robe, "It went perfectly! I have some data that can further our organization's goals and—"

"Your data can further our goals?" Alexus says skeptically. "You're a hack that takes seating space in the organization," he says spitefully.

"Hold your tongue, Alexus! Despite how you may feel about me, never insult my scientific genius! My experiments are far from useless! That's more than I can say about your advancements to the organization."

Derexen folds his hands across his lap, "Bonnie, calm down. He does aid the organization more than you know. Just recently, he took this place single handedly. I think the only reason Alexus spoke out of character is because the area I asked for you to take is now shining brightly."

"What!?" Bonnie says with shock in her voice. "That can't be right. Before I left, that city was slipping ever so close to the darkness."

"Either your experiment failed, or—"

"One of our lost children liberated it back from us," Aquarius says with his ever-present smirk.

"Which leads us to our next order of business."

"Wait, Derexen, I didn't finish explaining my experiment's advances," Bonnie says as she pushes up on the bridge of her glasses and goes through her notes.

"You can tell me later. Now, it has been nearly a year. I haven't seen Greyshio in months, and I haven't seen Demeseus since I confronted him on his island. Having them move around unchecked can become dangerous. I know one of you must have seen either of them at least once."

"Maybe they're already dead," Bonnie says with a sulky, uninterested look on her face. "So why worry about their existence?"

"Because I know those two don't die easily. Trust me, they're still alive."

"But who cares about them. They hold little to no value to us."

"Bonnie, if I wanted your opinion on the matter, I would've asked you. I have my reasons. Accept the fact that they are potential threats and keep yourself contained."

"Yes, milord, sorry milord," she says apologetically.

He looks away from her. "Does anyone have anything pertaining to what I asked?"

Aquarius quickly raises his hand, waving it back and forth. "Oh, oh, I've seen one, I've seen one. And Minerva has definitely seen one."

"No, really?" Minerva says sarcastically. "Of course we did, you moron."

"Oh yes, the Greenwood failure," Alexus says. "How is my adversary?" he says with slight anger in his tone.

"I don't know personally because our amazing leader said I had no part in the play of Greenwood," Aquarius says. He turns to Minerva like a high school girl itching for gossip. "So, Minerva, tell us. Tell us your experience with Demeseus."

Minerva gives Aquarius a cold stare, then looks over to Derexen, "As we discussed, Demeseus had no memory of his past life. I was naturally doing my part to keep it that way, but as time passed, his memory was returning slowly through dreams. Then one day, it all came back to him in a flash. What I didn't understand is how did so much of it come to him at one time? It was as if something or someone triggered it," she says before glaring at Aquarius for a moment.

Derexen stares calmly at them, "Why do I have the feeling you two are hiding something? You've been playing eye games since the beginning."

Minerva's leg is barely able to remain still due to a nervous habit.

Aquarius glances at her, staying calm and collected. "We're not hiding anything," Aquarius says. "We just haven't been getting along lately. But we're working through it," he says as he tries to put his arm around her and gets it slapped away.

Derexen stares at them for a moment. "Please continue, Minerva."

"There isn't much more to say," she says. "That's the last I saw of him."

"Can he use the Empyrean Blade yet?"

"I believe so. I have seen him summon it, but I don't know if he can use it efficiently."

Alexus smirks and looks into the woods, "If this is Demeseus we're talking about, then I'm certain he can use it by now."

"Well, I think that's enough talk about Demeseus," Bonnie says. "Because basically all she's told us is that she has no information on him whatsoever. I guess that makes her seat in the organization as useless as mine, right, Alexus?" she says with a mean-spirited glance at him.

Aquarius laughs briefly, "I agree. Besides, I want to hear more on this Greyshio kid that only Alexus and Derexen have ever seen."

"Yes, what does he look like?"

"The rest of you can update your intel through Minerva and Aquarius," Derexen says. "As for Greyshio, he's a proud young man full of courage and ignorance to the truth of the real world. He's sensitive, and easily vexed by taunts, and personal shots at the one's he cares for. He's of average height, has black spiky hair, light skin, and blue eyes. His Empyrean Blade is called Braveheart, and he's pretty much a person you can call, pure of heart." Derexen looks beyond the circle. "I believe that covers it, number four."

Pink and black sakura petals form between Alexus and Derexen. Suddenly, a large sakura blossom blooms near them. Inside the flower is a robed woman with her legs crossed, hands on her lap, and her hood up. Within seconds of blooming, the blossom quickly withers and dies. She keeps her head low to prevent showing her face.

The robe has an unusual blend of black and dark purple that's only noticeable up close. On the bottom of her robe is the design of sakura flowers and buds colored black and pink on branches.

Bonnie makes a disgusted face at the woman. "Who's that?"

"Everyone, meet number four," Derexen says.

Aquarius makes a pondering expression, "Hold on. Now that I think about it, the numbers never did add up. What's going on here?"

"I discovered her right after you, but it wasn't time for her to come out in the open yet. To some degree, it still isn't. I can't reveal her name or her face."

"Oh, come on. Why can't we know who she is?" Bonnie asks.

"Let's just say her home life was a bit traumatizing. On to the seventh member."

"Finally, I was waiting for you to call on me," says a man's voice echoing from the woods.

A blue flaming figure lights up from the distance and moves closer to them. The flames go out as he walks to the circle with a grin on his face. He has on a black hooded robe, half of it lined at the edges with blue flames.

"Meet Balthazar, the 'Blue Candle'. He originated from this town."

Balthazar nods his head brazenly while looking around at everyone. "So this is RK, huh?" he says. "Looks like a group of pansies. And you have way too many women in here." He looks to Minerva, smirking. "Unless they serve a more useful purpose that I've missed."

Minerva narrows her eyes at him with a life-cutting glare. He grins and waves his hands about in a playful, surrendering fashion.

Derexen shakes his head, "This brings all seven members to the table. I will now assign partnerships."

Bonnie raises her hand like a student and begins to speak with a fake smile, "Umm, Derexen, might I make a suggestion? I think that everyone in the group should swap partners. Like for example, you and I could be partners. What do you think of that?"

"I think that idea is irrelevant. Out of everyone here, you are the only one without a partner." He looks to the group. "Teams will remain the same. Bonnie and Balthazar are together."

"Oh my god! Can we at least speak after the conference?"

"Fine, moving on. It's time to speak about the organization's future. But before that, I would like to touch back on the Greyshio and Demeseus subject."

Balthazar interrupts, "Yeah, I was listening to that conversation from afar. So are they a big enough threat that we should crush or what?"

Aquarius shrugs, "I personally find them to be a threat. I mean, they are World Guardians after all. The longer we leave them unchecked, the stronger they could become. But Derexen didn't really say what measures to take on them." He looks to Derexen. "Do you think they're big enough threats that require attention?"

"They are, Aquarius," Derexen replies. "But I can't focus all my manpower on two people. The organization is still too young to do something like that."

"I'll do it," Balthazar says confidently. "Send me to wipe out our little problem."

Derexen looks at him. "I can't send you on a high-class solo assignment. You're new to the group."

"Oh, come on! I'm a soldier of chaos, not a lapdog."

Aquarius glances at Balthazar for a moment and chuckles. "I have to ask, who are you again? You've been in the Righteous Kiras for five minutes and you already think your hot stuff?"

Balthazar smirks, "I don't think, I know. Do you feel upset that I'm better than you?"

Aquarius chuckles again and is interrupted from saying another word by Derexen. "Let it go, Aquarius. He has the personality of a prideful fool. You'll be wasting your breath to go on with this."

"Awe, but people like him are my specialty."

"That may be, but you know how prideful people tend to act. In the end, you will be forced to kill him. I don't need less members, I need more."

Balthazar looks at them and grunts.

"Despite the meaningless squabble that almost took place here, the new guy does have a point," Minerva says. "What do we do if we see them during our mission work?"

"That's simple, we kill them, right Derexen?" Bonnie says cheerfully.

Derexen nods at her, "I'm glad you understand the situation."

"I live to serve," she says with a cheerier tone and smile.

"On that note, let's finish speaking of the organization's future. I've been meaning to set up stationary locations of areas we've taken."

"Yes, all that constant world travel can be quite annoying," Minerva says while rubbing her shoulder.

"It's not world travel, Minerva. The word 'world' is just a term used for taking sections of the same world. The book I read is old, and so is the knowledge within. We know true world travel firsthand. But yes, I would like to spread out in order to keep our worlds from being liberated from under our noses. If the organization can reach at least thirty members, we can push this plan forward. If you see any potential members, report it to me."

Aquarius begins to smile, "Our own locations. I like that idea."

"It's very intriguing," Minerva says. "We can finally start making real changes."

"An empire full of lab rats is quite exciting," Bonnie says. "I can only imagine how many scientific discovers I can make. The possibilities are endless. Oh, I can hardly wait," she says with barely repressed joy.

"Don't get too happy," Balthazar says loudly. "The plan is far from happening. We're at seven, and he wants a minimum of thirty before we can push forward. So keep your dreams in your head, Bonnie."

Bonnie stares at him with a face of revulsion while not blinking. She then looks to Derexen. "Seriously, this guy?" she says while pointing her thumb at Balthazar. "Out of all people to put me with."

Derexen ignores her comment, "As for our final order of business, the Righteous Kiras will be disbanded for a week."

"You can't be for real!?" Balthazar says. "I just joined, and we already have to call it a day? This blows."

"It's only for seven days. During that time, you can do whatever you want."

"What do you mean?" Aquarius says with an intrigued smile. "Define the terms of our disbandment."

"In other words, you will take no orders from me. If you and your partner prefer to go your separate ways, then you may for those seven days."

Minerva smirks, "Bye, Aquarius."

"That brings our meeting to a close," Derexen says. "Keep your earpieces nearby in case of possible emergencies. You're dismissed. Minerva and Bonnie, I need to have a word with you two."

Aquarius begins to pat Minerva's head, "Uh-oh, trouble awaits my fallen angel."

She pushes him off the log, "Seven days! Seven days away from your stupid ass!"

"So much anger. Hmph, we are such opposites," he says while shrugging his shoulders and disappearing.

Derexen stands up shortly after the others leave. "Minerva, let's walk. Bonnie, wait here."

They walk for a few minutes, going deeper into the forest. They soon reach a clearing with a large rock by a small, running stream.

Derexen stops suddenly and stares into the water. "Have a seat, Minerva." She sits on the rock. "You know, every time I think about the Greenwood disaster, certain things come to mind. The plan I made was flawless. It shouldn't have fallen apart. Unless someone, or something had direct influence over it."

Derexen looks to Minerva. "The only ones who could have done that were you and Aquarius," he accuses. "Now Aquarius is like a swirling pool of words—unreadable. But you're much easier to read. What happened in Greenwood? Did you do everything I told you? Did you keep an eye on him like I told you?"

Minerva makes a disappointed face as she looks at her boots. "I followed my orders. I checked his memories periodically with indirect questioning and interaction. He was certainly experiencing amnesia. But... There were times I didn't do my part, and that's only because I thought the plan was going fine... Until that night. Before that night, all he had was vague dreams, but somehow it all came back to him in a flash."

Derexen walks slowly toward her. He looks down at Minerva, making her feel uneasy. "You are not doing your part. I expect more from an ex-soldier. This blunder is careless. I told you not to leave him alone, always be around him. If anything, I should blame the whole Greenwood failure on you."

"I apologize. He eluded me that day. He was chopping wood and he should've came right back. I asked around town if anyone had seen him, but no one did. All I got was that someone saw a guy heading toward the cabin you setup for me."

"What guy?"

"I don't know. I never got to see him myself."

Derexen begins to walk from her. "Where was Aquarius that day?"

"I don't know for sure. I rarely saw him unless he was in that old man form. I do believe he was following orders and staying out of the way, but I still can't help think that he could have had something to do with it. Unfortunately, I have of proof on the matter, and I take full responsibility for the entire failed assignment."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did have something to do with it. I know he was upset that I didn't involve him in such a delicate matter. But I felt such a task needed more of a woman's touch. I was wrong." He looks to Minerva. "Keep an eye on Aquarius and report to me all his actions. When your seven days are up, you will have that on top of your regular assignments. You're dismissed."

Minerva gets up and bows before walking away. "Oh, and Minerva?" She stops to turn her head to him. "If I find out Demeseus's speeded recovery had anything to do with either of you, I promise an unwelcomed act of retribution."

She closes her eyes and fades away in the black mist she commands.

Derexen pushes his earpiece. "Bonnie, come." Bonnie suddenly appears in front of him. "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my findings that bring us one step closer to 'Project Immor'. When I was in Midgear, I successfully turned a man into a Demi. But all tests showed he had an unnatural resistance to the darkness, including all late-night sleep injections."

"I see." Derexen watches a drowned bird become wedged between rocks. "Did you ever discover why he was more resistant than the others?"

Bonnie sniggers. "Get this, he's a World Guardian."

Derexen makes a mildly shocked face. "You actually deformed a World Guardian?"

"Well, half of him, but the darkness was still taking its hold." Derexen's remotely astonished expression fades. "Milord, please don't pronounce this project a failure. You have to understand, genetic engineering is really tough, especially since my specimen was a World Guardian."

"And you need to understand that it's not technically a success either. You only changed half of him. You have no full transformations up to date. The fact Midgear was taken back from you after you left is no small matter. For all we know, your transformations are only temporary."

"Fine. Then for the seven days we are off, I will prove to you that it can be done."

"When you do, I will give you a pass on Project Infection." He faces her. "Your scientific conquest is very important to me. I do believe it will benefit us down the line. Prove yourself and I may reconsider your change of partners."

"That's all I can ever ask for. The fact you believe in my work is good enough for me already."

"Good, then we're done here. I will see you in seven days."

She smiles and disappears.

He turns back to the stream and raises his hand above his diaphragm. Suddenly, the black book from his island magically materializes in his palm. Sticking out of it is a bookmark using a folded piece of paper. He opens to the page and looks down at the dead bird.

I will find out who wrote this book, Derexen thinks. A small fox tiptoes across the stream and grabs the bird before running to the woods. He focuses his eyes on its steady getaway. And how they inevitably failed.
Chapter Eleven: The Mask Behind The Masquerade

In the famous town of Ragado, people are full of life as the time for the annual ball nears. This large town has gray stone-patterned streets and cement sidewalks. Ragado is built on flat ground and small slopping inclines that don't affect the foundation.

The brown, tan, and eggshell color scheme, combined with the careful craft of the buildings gives a welcoming feel to its surroundings. A beautiful clock tower is being built to become its new landmark. It towers over everything while somehow making the entire town look more intricate.

Ragado is famous for its ball and the comfort given to others who decide to stay on vacation. Because of that, the town grew and offered high quality merchandise to newcomers. Ragado was one of the most prosperous towns on Terra at the time.

Demeseus arrives at the town entrance, carrying a green duffle bag. He stands there for a moment, looking confused.

"Everyone here is so—happy," he says. "Why would Eternity bring me to a place with such happy people? This is strange, but it sure is good to see happy and smiling faces for a change."

A little girl runs up to him. "Hi, sir. Welcome to Ragado. May I ask for your name?"

She's a light-skinned girl with freckles, brown eyes, and blonde hair. She has on nothing too fancy, just a pair of gray and black jeans, and a long-sleeve dark gray shirt with the design of a white cat in the bottom left corner.

"Uh, Demeseus," he says with hesitance.

"Mr. Demeseus, are you here for the annual ball? If so, we have a fifty percent discount on the rooms at the Delio Inn."

"I'm not so sure about the ball. How many days until it begins?"

"Two days from now."

"Okay, give me a two-day room."

"This way, Mr. Demeseus."

She grabs Demeseus by his wrist and hastily moves toward the Delio Inn. When they enter the inn, the little girl runs behind the counter. She throws on the inn's company hat and puts on a red, paper-thin vest that has the inn's name on it.

"Okay, we're in business. Mr. Demeseus, would you like the standard or the deluxe?" she asks.

"Well, I was paid very handsomely for my previous job. I'll take the deluxe."

"That will be one hundred fifty dollars, plus room service. In your deluxe room, there's a hot tub."

"Really? That sounds great. Here you go." He hands her the money. "And here's a twenty for your kindness."

"Awe, thank you, sir. Estelle!"

An old woman comes from the back room and stands behind the counter with a miserable expression. The dark circles under her eyes and saggy skin give her a corpse-like appearance.

"This way, sir," the woman says miserably. Demeseus follows her up the stairs and arrives at his door. "Here's your key, and here's your room."

Demeseus looks at the door number. "Six grand, how did you know?" he says jokingly. The woman stands there, not even cracking a smile. "Get it? 6G, six grand?" She remains displeased. "Either you hate your life, or you're having a bad day."

"Both."

"That's... Would a twenty dollar tip help?" he says, holding up twenty dollars.

"No," she says as she snatches it and walks away.

Demeseus opens the door and is blown away by the amazing things he has in his room. Near his stylishly large bathroom is his large, red-quilted waterbed with a ceiling mirror above.

Inside the bathroom is a large golden bathtub, and a hot tub that's literally a few steps and a sliding glass door away. The room has a fluffy red carpet with a stereo system and TV unit that faces the bed. To the right side of his bed is the balcony.

"Wow, look at this place!" He slowly walks around the room. "This—this is even too good for me." He drops his bag and walks to the stereo. "Looks like someone left a CD here."

He puts the disc in the machine and a romantic song begins to play. He lies on the bed and lets the music relax him. Demeseus looks over at the digital clock and sees it's half past three in the afternoon. Without realizing it, he falls asleep before the song even ends. When Demeseus wakes, the sun has gone down.

He turns over to see the time and slowly gets up while yawning. "Man, it's dark. Where are the lights?" At that moment, the room lights up. "Whoa. Now that's cool."

He jumps out of bed and takes off his shirt. Demeseus has a number of scars on his body, some are still healing. He walks into the bathroom and takes a quick shower.

Forty minutes later, Demeseus comes out wearing blue jeans, a black long-sleeve shirt, and a gray short-sleeve shirt on top. Demeseus puts on a black leather belt with a small dagger holster on the side. He throws on a pair of plain white sneakers and heads out the door.

When he locks the door, a woman wearing a black leather coat holding two suitcases walks past him with an employee. He turns to go downstairs when he hears a familiar voice that makes his heart skip a beat.

"Thank you, I will take it from here," the woman says.

Demeseus turns around, "Michelle?"

She turns her head, and her eyes became wide with joy. "Demeseus!" They run over to each other. She jumps into his arms and he spins her around. "Demeseus, it's been so long!" she says as he puts her down.

"I can't believe you're here!" he says with excitement. "Come to my room so we can catch up!"

They enter Demeseus's room and Michelle leaves her suitcases by the front door. She sits on the bed and Demeseus pulls a chair over.

"It's so great to finally see you again," he says with a smile. "Why are you here?"

She begins to rub her hands on her dark blue jeans. "I didn't come by choice. These black creatures came and started killing everyone in town. I was fighting them off until I got sucked into a vortex. I wasn't hurt, but I was sent far from home," Michelle says with a sad face.

"And you ended up here?"

"No, I traveled here. That's why I got luggage."

"Did you see someone in town that you've never seen before?"

"No. Let's talk about something else. I've spent months trying to forget that incident."

Demeseus smiles and nods. "Okay. But, wow, it's been over nine months since I last saw you. I feel like I'm imaging this." He gets up and begins touching her face, making her blush. "I've missed that embarrassed look of yours," he says, rubbing his thumb on her cheek.

She lightly smiles and looks away. "I don't miss feeling embarrassed. It's embarrassing."

His hand goes up the side of her hair as he gently strokes it. He stares into her eyes with the penetrating gaze that she once fell for. "I've missed you more than you know," he says in a loving tone.

She grabs his hands and slowly puts them down. "What matters is that we're together again."

"Michelle?"

"Yes?"

"There's a ball coming up, and I was wondering if you would be interested in going with me?"

"You fool. You ask as if I would go with anyone else. I would love to go to the ball with you."

"You've made my night." She smiles. "I just thought of something. We should split up tonight and find what we're going to wear to the ball. If we finish ahead of time, we can have a pre-date."

She stands. "Sounds good. Let me go to my room and start my quest for the perfect dress," she says with enthusiasm.

"You could just go to the ball wearing nothing at all."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"So would the rest of the world."

She laughs and walks to the door.

They leave the room with Demeseus handing her the cases. He gives Michelle a peck on the lips and jogs down the stairs while she heads to her room. Inside, she turns on her lights and drops her luggage by the door.

Her room is far less decorative than Demeseus's. Michelle's room has a white-padded carpet with a blanketed twin bed.

Next to her bed is an old wooden chair with faded white paint. She has only two rooms, the bedroom, and the bathroom. The bathroom has nothing special besides its decorative soaps and scented oils. She has a standard TV on a rolling cart near her balcony and dresser.

Michelle flops onto the bed and heavily sighs. "Seven days, but only two of those days will mean anything to me."

"Why? What's so special about those two days?" asks a familiar voice.

Michelle's irises immediately turn yellow with sharpened pupils.

She quickly sits up in a startle while hastily looking around, "Show yourself!"

Water begins swirling in a chair by her bed, freezing, then shattering. The ice melts and evaporates with Aquarius sitting in the chair smiling.

"Aquarius," she says with displeasure. "What the hell are you doing here? We have no missions together, why are you following me?"

"I've learned in the past few days that most of my fun comes from upsetting you. So I'm going to spend the rest of my days off bothering you," he says with an obnoxious smile on his face.

"Let me try to get this straight. You want me to jump from this bed, beat the shit out of you, fold up your body, and toss you in the nearest ditch. Did I get that right?"

"Fine, fine, I'll be out of your hair soon. Oh, by the way, I heard Bonnie's trying to score some extra points with the boss. Rumor has it she's found an eighth member."

"I don't care. I don't need extra points to be a valued member of the organization."

"Hmm. Hey, Minerva, don't you ever get tired of Derexen's orders?"

"No, not really."

"Well, I do. We never take missions that really push us to our limits, you know? I want to fight these potential threats, Greyshio and Demeseus."

"Why—are you talking like that?" she says in a suspicious tone.

Aquarius begins to laugh. "Gotcha! I got that line from Balthazar. He was drunk talking to a trash can. It was so funny, but odd since the boy's never been on a mission."

"Are you spying on the entire organization?"

"Uh, well, somewhat. The one I really want to spy on is Derexen. I swear, when that guy moves it's like he's untraceable. Not even Alexus knows where he may be, and he tells him everything, or so we believe."

Minerva shakes her head. "If you're spending your vacation spying on others, that's sad."

"Oh, come on, like you don't wonder what Derexen does on his free time. He knows so much, and yet he shares so little. And you know who else is untraceable? Number four. Those two are the enigmas of the group. It's weird, but he must have some kind of bond with her and Alexus. I'm starting to think they're moving as one unit doing God-knows-what. I so do wonder where he got that book he's only pulled out once in front of me."

"You are too inquisitive on matters that don't concern you. Now if you are done, I would like to enjoy my last few days off. Please leave."

"Please? It's not like you to use the 'please' word on me."

"Get out!"

"Okay, okay. I've got my eye on you," he says before disappearing.

She drops backward, then irritably sits back up. "He's so annoying."

Meanwhile, Demeseus walks up and down the Ragado district looking for the best tux. He stops at a store window looking at a black tux with a multi-blue pattern tie, and a white collared shirt with a blue vest. Demeseus doesn't think twice and enters the store to purchase it.

After he buys his suit, he makes his way back to the inn and spots a flower shop. He smiles while looking into the store and heads back to his room.

Back at the Delio Inn, Michelle finishes taking a shower and turns off the nozzle. The bathroom door opens with the release of steam clouds. She walks out dripping wet while drying her raven-black hair. She fully dries off and throws on white see-through undergarments.

Michelle goes deeper into her suitcase and pulls out a plaid mini skirt, a white collared shirt with buttons, and a plaid tie. She gets dressed and puts her hair up. She spikes it out the back and lets her bangs hang low at the front. She sits on the bed and begins to think to herself as she styles her hair.

A dress... I haven't done something like that in so long. Someone comes to the door and knocks loudly. "Who is it?"

"Room service."

She gets up, tucks half her shirt in, and opens the door. She finds herself looking down on a young teenage boy.

He looks up at her and begins to stutter. "H-h-h-hi, I-I-I got you, yo-your din-dinner. Gosh, you're pr-pr-pretty."

"Thank you, little guy, but I'll have to pass on dinner. I'm going out. I'll take those rolls, though."

She grabs the basket of rolls and begins to eat them as she walks down the inn stairs.

By the time she's outside, half of the rolls are eaten. She continues to stuff her face while walking the bright, crowded streets. Damn, these buttery rolls are good, Michelle says to herself. Who would have thought using a hint of garlic and parsley flakes would add so much flavor.

A happy couple walks by her holding hands and kissing. She stops for a moment and watches them with a sad look. They look so happy. Can I live a life like that someday? No, it's best I just think about the world's future and our goals. But I still...

"Can it be that you are searching for things that are better left forgotten?" Aquarius says while sitting on top of a nearby fruit stand eating a red apple.

She looks up and becomes angered. "I thought we had a deal. You said you would leave me alone."

"What? I never said that. That's what you want. But I refuse to give you what you want."

He prepares to take another bite, when she suddenly throws her basket of rolls at Aquarius's apple when he isn't looking. His face has a moment of playful surprise before he smiles and stands. "Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." As he turns from her, he does a double take and looks her up and down. "Why—?"

"Don't!" she says, pointing aggressively at him.

He shrugs with his hands up and uses his water powers to disappear without being seen. She shakes her head with annoyance and continues her walk down the street.

She finds herself in front of a women's clothing store before going inside. It's a massive two-story clothing store. The first floor is dress wear, and the second floor is casual wear.

Michelle slowly walks the aisle of dresses. She spots a white dress with a fluffy bottom and a tight top with an open back. She also picks up some white high heels before taking the items to the nearest cash register.

As the woman at the register rings up Michelle's stuff, she glances at her. "You have very nice taste. You must really know your body."

Michelle looks up and smiles. "Thank you."

"Might I suggest you wear another item?"

"No, thanks, I don't think it's necessary."

"But it is. For someone with looks like yours, I know you're not going to the ball alone, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then you should put this diamond necklace on with your dress. I promise it will bring out your eyes."

"That's okay, I don't wear jewelry. Maybe if he marries me, I would."

Michelle pauses for a moment, stunned by the words that came out of her own mouth.

"Oh, he must be really something," the cashier says.

Michelle looks back up at her with an angry face. "Shut up and pack my bags!"

The cashier stares at her in astonishment, then smiles. "Yes, ma'am. Here's your change, and have a good day."

Michelle picks up her bag and glares at the woman before walking away from the register.

When Michelle makes it back to her room, she throws her bag on the floor and turns on the lamp next to her bed. She looks in the mirror on the dresser and sighs. Michelle turns off the lights and leaves her room to go knock on Demeseus's door. She knocks a few more times, but gets no response.

"I guess he's still out shopping."

When she turns away, the door opens. "Come in," Demeseus says. "I was hiding my stuff."

Michelle walks in and dashes to his bed. She turns over with a seductive pose. "Soooo."

He looks at her and raises his eyebrow. "Sooo, what?"

"What do you think of my outfit? You've got to admit, I look good." She runs her fingers from the bottom of her thigh to the bottom of her skirt. "And I've got legs to die for."

Demeseus watches her with a smile. "Legs to die for? Please. Overall, you have the body of a goddess, and the face of a seductress."

"Woo, my king sure knows how to make a lady melt," Michelle says as she playfully fans herself. Demeseus walks slowly toward his woman before pinning her to the bed. "Ooo, are we doing the rough stuff tonight?" she says with a sexy smirk.

He grins and begins to passionately kiss her. Demeseus kisses his way down to gradually lick and suck her neck. He opens his mouth and firmly, but gently, bites down on her throat.

She gasps at his actions and giggles a bit. "Animal, animal! You're such a bad boy."

He begins to run his hand up her skirt while giving her collarbone succulent kisses. She leans her head further back with such a large smile on her face. She runs her fingernails down his back. He nibbles on her chest through her shirt, biting around the areola. She gasps again and turns him over. Michelle seductively begins to unbutton her shirt. He tries to sit up, but she pushes him back down.

Against their wishes, someone comes knocking on the door. They simultaneously shout, "Go away!!"

"I'm sorry, but everyone must evacuate the hotel!" says an employee. "A three-headed monster is attacking the building!"

They quickly scramble to their feet and run out the hotel. Once they're outside, they see a creature spitting fire into houses and stores. Demeseus watches with a worried look in his eyes, "Shit, it's a chimera-type. I dealt with these things before. They don't die easily."

Michelle pulls on his shirt, trying to make him move. "Demeseus, we have to go."

"No, I got this. Hey, everyone!" addressing the crowd with loud clapping. "Please stand to the side and enjoy the show!"

"Demeseus, what are you doing?"

"Relax, Michelle. This is what I live for."

Demeseus steps into the middle of the street, approaching the six-foot chimera destroying the bookstore. The beast soon takes notice of him and growls.

The chimera has the heads of a lion, a ram, and a wolf. Its body is a combination of all three animals, though his body frame is more on the side of a well-built wolf. The chimera also has a scorpion tail that's more than four feet long.

Demeseus puts his hands together and Eternity appears with his gauntlets. He glances at his sword. What are you talking about? I won't injure anyone in this fight, trust me. He grins at the beast. "Let's go."

The chimera opens all three of its mouths, releasing a black snake from each one. The first two wrap around his ankles while the last one wraps around his neck. Demeseus starts choking as he tugs on the one around his neck. To no avail, he's quickly being pulled closer to the chimera.

He takes his sword and swings it one time in a windmill fashion to cut himself loose from the snakes. The chimera screams and jumps back with the snakes lying dead on the floor. The beast pants while slowly drawing the snakes back into its mouth.

Demeseus fires four chains from one of his gauntlets, wrapping them around each of the creature's ankles. He swings the chimera over his head and releases it into the burning bookstore.

The crowd begins to cheer, but the battle is far from over.

Without warning, the chimera leaps from the building, engulfed in flames. Even though it's burning, the flames are not harming it.

Demeseus grunts. Damn, this must be a fire blessing technique, he thinks. Each head has the ability to use one of the four elements. And like a fool, I aided its skill.

The wolf head barks three times, creating three flaming mirror images of itself. One of the flame copies dashes toward Demeseus. He quickly slashes it, destroying the replica instantly. Although it was for only a second, the temperature of the flames were so high, it forces him to drop his sword.

The second flame image comes galloping toward him. Demeseus makes an open palm and smashes his hand into its head, destroying it. But doing so once again, forces him to discard his gauntlet. The second Demeseus looks up after discarding his gauntlet. The last flame image is already airborne and about to collide into him.

Luckily, Demeseus is quick enough to backhand the last beast while discarding the last of his overheated equipment. He rubs his mildly burnt hands and looks over at his gear. The chimera heads make three different demonic chuckles while the flames slowly fade off its body.

Michelle watches from the crowd and begins to worry about his safety.

The chimera kneels down and fires pink venom at Demeseus from its tail. He does a quick turn out of the way while keeping his eyes on the creature. Demeseus hears a sizzling noise from behind him. He looks back and sees a plank of wood gradually dissolving from the acidic venom.

He glances back at his weaponry and sees they're still a little orange. The chimera turns sideways and raises its tail high, ready to fire. Demeseus watches its tail with intense eyes and prepares for the attack.

As the tip of the chimera's tail swells, Demeseus puts his hands together. "Celerity."

The chimera shoots rapid shots at him. With Demeseus's increased movement, he is untouchable. Suddenly, he appears behind the creature with a dagger in his hand that he pulled from his belt. He jumps up to stab the beast, but is already spotted by the chimera. The chimera shoots its venom, seconds before Demeseus casts a second spell.

"Solidify!"

The venom flies toward him, turning into an irregular solid shape of what it once was. He catches it in his shirt and stabs the wolf head in its eye.

Demeseus jumps away from it and rips a piece of cloth from his shirt to wrap the venom in. After putting the venom in his pocket, he looks at his sword and sees it has cooled, but the wounded chimera sees this as well.

They both dash toward Eternity. Demeseus is the faster one until his celerity spell ends. The chimera reaches the sword first and wraps its tail around the handle of Eternity. It lifts Demeseus's sword and attacks him with it. As the blade nears his neck, it vanishes in a flash. It returns to Demeseus's hands, seconds before he dips down and does a full body sword sweep.

The beast quickly jumps up in the air, only to be encountered by Demeseus again. With sword raised, Demeseus takes a mighty swing, removing two out of the three chimera heads. The heads hit the ground after they land on the roof of the inn. The chimera kneels over, bleeding heavily.

"Looks like you've been reduced to nothing but a goat head. You'll be dead soon."

Water begins forming over the open neck wounds, shaping into the missing wolf and lion head. The water freezes, and stops the bleeding. The chimera's eyes glow, focusing on Demeseus's pocket.

Demeseus quickly realizes what the chimera's going to do and reaches into his pocket to throw the frozen venom away. Unfortunately, he doesn't dispose of it quick enough and is splattered on his shirt.

Demeseus hastily removes his shirt before his skin is exposed. "You're a smart thing. I was actually planning to do the same to you."

The chimera starts to form countless large icicles and begins launching them at Demeseus. He begins to run and hop from roof to roof. Once he reaches the third roof, he jumps off while hurling his blade into the ground.

While still in the air, he puts his hands together as a white glow envelops him. The moment he lands, icicles crash down on him with dirt clouds rising up. Michelle and the citizens watch in silence.

The chimera rushes over and tries to see through the dirt. The dust clears, and everyone sees Demeseus standing tall with his gauntlets on and chains coming from them. His sword also has chains flowing out as they hold every icicle that was speared at him.

"I didn't want to use this technique," Demeseus says. "Needless preserve. But I think it's time I stop flexing my ego and get serious," he says firmly.

The chains stop rattling and crush the icicles into shards. A numerous number of chains dive into the ground from his gears. Demeseus stares down the beast with stern eyes when suddenly the chains reemerge underneath the chimera as a giant hand. Demeseus's hand slowly rises up in synch with the chain replica. The chimera tries to jump off, but its feet are entangled in chains.

The hand goes high into the sky and stops. Demeseus clasps his hand, making it rain blood. Before the blood can hit anyone, it turns to ash and blows into the wind.

The chains burst apart and retract with a dangerous speed. Demeseus jumps behind his sword and holds his hands out as the chains return. Concentrate, he thinks with shaky arms barely able to stay up against the smashing and wrapping of the chains' return. All the chains retract perfectly. He pulls Eternity out the ground and glances at the blade. I had to overcome it sometime, right?

Firefighters rush to the scene as Demeseus slowly walks up the street toward the inn.

He stops in front of Michelle, "That didn't end as smoothly as I would have liked, but at least no one else was hurt."

His gauntlets and sword disappears as the people standing nearby begin clapping and cheering. They crowd around him and push Michelle out the way. They start to ask him questions about his powers and how grateful they are for him saving their lives.

She watches from the back and looks unpleased. That's your world, she thinks before looking over at the clock tower with a slight bunching of her brows.

As the excitement settles, Demeseus and Michelle head back to his room. "Well, that was one hell of a first date," he says as he falls onto the bed.

Michelle doesn't even sit down after entering the room. "That was very reckless of you."

"It's what I do. I can't make danger stop."

She shakes her head. "I need to step out for a moment. When I get back, we need to talk."

She walks out and slams the door.

"Umm, okay?"

She goes back to her room and clutches her fist with a very angry expression before vanishing in black mist. Michelle reappears in the dark clock tower of Ragado. She stands there for a moment with her eyes closed. When she opens them, they're yellow with elliptical pupils.

"Get out here!" she shouts. "I know you can hear me!"

Aquarius comes from behind a large pillar with a rarely seen serious expression. "What?"

"What? What is all you've got to say? How about telling me what the hell you're doing sending an elemental Demi into town while I'm trying to relax!?"

"Just because we are on vacation, doesn't mean I'll neglect my duties completely. And who's to say I did it?"

"Oh, your signature was all over that one. Look, why don't you take over another location, and I'll handle this one."

He stares at her without a slight grin. Even she knows something's going on. "A new layer."

"What?"

"Something has changed? What's changed?"

"What's changed? I'm on vacation!"

"You're being dishonest. There's something else in this town that is giving you a change of heart. After today, you shall see me one more time. Because tomorrow is when vacation ends. Until then."

He steadily moves back behind the pillar. Minerva stands there with a confused look from his unusual behavior.

Michelle heads back to the hotel with a lot on her mind. She goes in Demeseus's room and finds him bandaged and asleep. She locks the door and gets under the covers with him.

He slightly wakes up and kisses her on the back of her neck. "Goodnight."

Michelle's eyes gaze out the window with a concerned look. "Goodnight."

The following morning, Michelle lies awake, still staring outside. Once the sun hits her face, she turns over and begins to wake Demeseus.

"Demeseus? Demeseus?"

"Hmmm... Oh, morning."

She sits up with a faint smile. "Morning... The ball's today."

"Yeah, it is." He yawns. "Michelle, I was thinking. After the ball is over, I will have to leave again and finish my journey. And you know that will mean we'll have to separate once again."

"Oh. That's fine. I have to get back to work anyway. Today's my last day off."

Demeseus sits up rubbing his eyes. "Is that so? Is that what you wanted to talk to me about last night?"

"Yes. So I guess we will see each other again soon."

He puts his hands on her lap. "Why wait? I was thinking instead of us separating, why don't you come with me? I'm now strong enough to protect us both."

"Demeseus, that's sweet, but I can't go with you," she says with a forced smile.

"Why, what's stopping you? If it's money, don't stress it." Her expression does not change. "Or is it something else entirely?"

Michelle removes his hands and stands from the bed. "Demeseus, you don't know how much I want to be with you. But I can't go with you."

Demeseus tries to hold his frustration. "And why's that?"

"I just can't"

"I need a little more than, can't."

"Just understand that I can't."

"Why!? Give me one good reason! No, give me any reason."

"Stop yelling and just let it go!"

"Why!? What are you not telling me!?"

"Stop yelling at me, you idiot! Stop asking me questions!" She heads to the door and stops with shut eyes to calm herself. "You have to understand that it's complicated. My job requires all of me. I can't just be half motivated if we plan to make—" Demeseus looks confused as she stops mid-sentence. "I've said too much. I'm gonna go." She puts her hand on the knob. "I don't think we should go to the ball."

"You can't be serious?"

"I am," Michelle says as she opens the door.

Before she walks out, she looks back at his sad face. "Demeseus, understand that this is for the best. And I hope you never understand that."

The door closes softly.

Demeseus moves to the edge of the bed. What's changed from today and last night? he wonders. Could it be my line of work? Michelle... Why wouldn't you tell me?

Demeseus gets dressed and puts on a red and black button-up shirt before walking outside. He sees the damage from last night is already under quick repair. He stops at the flower shop and picks out ten red flowers for purchase.

The cashier recognizes him and becomes excited, "Hey! You're that guy who killed that monster."

Demeseus looks up and forces a smile. "Yeah, that's me."

"Oh, these are very rare flowers you're about to buy. They must be special."

"They are. How much?"

"It's on the house. I can't thank you enough for saving all of our lives."

"Oh? Thank you."

As Demeseus begins to walk out of the store, the cashier stops him for a second. "Hey!"

"Yes?"

"Those flowers are for a girl, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are. Why do you ask?"

"Well, those flowers resemble dragons. Wouldn't you want to get her nicer flowers instead?"

"I would, but these are her favorite. In any case, flowers in general are nice, so it's an ironic mix." He stares into the bundle. "When I look at these, they remind me of her. Tough, yet fragile."

"Why do you think she likes them so much?"

"Besides what she once told me, I don't know. I'm starting to think there are a lot of things I don't know about her. But I will, because she's worth it."

Demeseus leaves the flower shop and takes his time going back to his room. Once he returns, he puts the flowers in a vase filled with ice-cold water. Shortly after, he goes back downstairs to talk to a woman behind the lobby desk.

"Excuse me? Sorry, I don't mean to impose, but is there a special way I can go to the ball in style?"

"You could rent a carriage," she replies, "but you would have to go all the way to the other side of town. It's located near the clock tower, which might take a good amount of the day."

"That's fine. I should be back in time. By the way, what time does the ball begin?"

"Nine p.m. This means you have six hours until then."

"And how long would the walk be across town and back?"

"Two and a half hours, which will leave you three and a half hours to spare."

He gives her a slightly amazed look. "You're like a calculator. Well, I better get moving then."

He quickly walks out of the building and proceeds across town.

Back upstairs, Michelle's in bed with the lights out and the sheets over her head. She tosses and turns in her short, white tank-top and panties. The longer she remains awake, the more she struggles with herself.

What have I done? Why do I even care? You would think after my life experiences I would have learned not to dip my hands in the tides of chaos. No. This is all an act so I can make the right move. She sits up. "What am I saying? I am Michelle White. I was trained not to feel. My looks and intellect shall be used only to deceive." She falls backward and throws the covers over her head. There's no mistaking that.

It is now 8:30 p.m. Michelle is still in her room asleep. The sound of three hard knocks on her door interrupts her slumber. She peeks from under her covers, blinking her bright yellow irises. Whoever this is—I will kill them for this. She gets up and walks slowly to the door in a swaying motion. The knocking continues. The closer she gets, the madder she becomes.

"Michelle, open up. It's Demeseus."

Her eyes revert back to normal, and her face goes from angry to languor. "Demeseus," she says in a low voice.

When Michelle cracks open the door, the first thing she sees is a bundle of red flowers in her face.

Demeseus pulls them back and smiles, "Hey. Listen, I'm sorry. I tried to pressure you to come with me when I shouldn't have. I want to put that aside and have this night dedicated to us. As you can see, I remembered your favorite flowers."

"The crimson Antirrhinum," Michelle says with a shocked look on her face. "You remembered."

"It was the only flower able to grow in the cold climate of Greenwood. I guess that makes them strong, like you."

"Demeseus, we really—"

"Don't say anything. Just go to the ball with me. Let me show you that I can put all your fears at ease. Stop letting this thing between us get in the way." She looks away. "Michelle, no matter what you do, I will still find a place in your heart." Demeseus takes out one of the flowers and sticks it in her hair. "Will you accompany me tonight?"

She stares at him, looks down, then slowly closes the door. In discouragement, Demeseus puts his back to the wall and slides down with his hand to his face.

"If my king waits for me in the lobby, I will be ready within the hour," Michelle says from behind the door.

Demeseus jumps up full of life. "I will! I will be there! You just look pretty!" he says before running off to his room.

While softly brushing the petals of the Antirrhinum, Michelle's back is against the door as she smiles into the flower. She takes a gentle sniff and joyfully rolls her eyes before walking away.

The clock in the lobby hits 9:55. Demeseus is waiting in his tux while holding her flowers. He hears footsteps coming downstairs until they stop halfway.

"Demeseus, are you ready?" Michelle asks from the staircase.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Damn, Michelle, you sure took—"

Demeseus takes a long look at Michelle as she comes from the stairs. He's once again, blown away by her beauty.

Michelle stands before him in a white dress with a fluffy bottom and white silk gloves extending to her elbows. Her hair is pushed up and curly with white pins arching over the crown of her head. The dress itself is hugging every curve on Michelle's body, accentuating her bosom and posterior.

Her lips are glossy, and her eyelashes are full and long. She has on light make-up, giving her cheeks a slight, pink, glow. Her eyelids have a light, pinkish-white eye shadow that brake sharp at the corners of her eyes.

She smiles at him and takes a deep breath. "Well, do you like?"

He walks up to her and takes her by the hand, "When will you learn that you can never disappoint me? Asking me if I like it, is the same as asking me do I breathe. I always do."

She gives him a light kiss on the lips and looks into his eyes. "You still are the sweetest man."

"Shall we go?" he says with a smile. "Your carriage awaits," he says before opening the lobby door.

To Michelle's surprise, she sees two horses and a carriage sitting out front. They both step into the carriage with much enthusiasm before the horses begin to gallop.

Time seems to have slowed down for them as they ride through the town. They move close while holding hands under the starry sky. Michelle looks over at Demeseus and smirks at his boyish joy during the ride.

He kisses her nose and puts his head to her forehead. They lean back looking up at the stars, helplessly enchanted by the moon and their blissful delight.

They reach the ball and prepare to enter a large fancy building with the other guests. The stairs are wide enough for large crowds to walk up and not bump into one another. At the corners of each step are white decorative pots with plants.

The dome-shaped building has white flowers all around the windows with dimly lit lights. The room for the ball is four floors total. Although it only has four floors, the size of the building makes it seem like far more. It has several balconies lined all around the room leading outside, or to different parts of the building.

Michelle and Demeseus get a table instead of dancing with the other couples. Michelle looks over at Demeseus, seeing how much he's enjoying the dancing. She brushes his hair back while gently stroking his cheek.

"This is nice," Demeseus says they watch the couples dance.

"It is. It's moments like this you wish you could freeze time and live like this forever."

"Or create millions of moments like this. And someday, that may actually be possible."

Demeseus doesn't notice, but every time he looks away from her, she ignores all around her and focuses all her attention on him. She feels captivated by him, even through silence. As another song ends, the next one begins. The elegant tune quickly catches Demeseus's ear.

"What an amazing melody," he says. "The piano man is really something, and the strings are superb." He stands out of his seat. "Come, Michelle. Come dance with me."

She looks up at him and becomes nervous. "What!? Oh no-no-no-no-no-no, I can't."

"Didn't I say let go of your fears? Take my hand, Michelle. I'm here for you."

She looks at him with lack of ease before taking his hand. They walk to the center of the dance floor, making their way through the couples.

They begin to dance slowly, closely moving as one while slowly spinning Michelle at precise moments of the song. Michelle is immersed in his eyes, until she quickly looks away.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she says, still looking down.

He lifts her chin. "What's wrong?"

"Dancing is embarrassing. I don't ever feel like I'm doing it right."

He puts her head to his chest. "You feel that?"

She looks surprised. His heart's so fast! Michelle thinks.

"You're doing it right."

As the song climaxes, the people on the second floor balcony watch the dancing couples below, including an unwelcome guest.

"Geez, this is lame," Aquarius says before yawning.

He's still in his robe, but has his hood down. Aquarius is not even trying to blend in with the guests of the party.

"Just one more day." Suddenly, he notices a familiar face. "Whoa, is that Minerva? Why is she so fancy?" He squints. "Who is she dancing with? Do my eyes deceive me? If I am not mistaken, that is Mr. Demeseus from Greenwood. So she did fall in love with that boy. Good for her. But I think it's time to see where her loyalties really lie."

A fat man taps Aquarius on the shoulder, looking quite angry. "Excuse me, sir, but you're ruining the party theme. You are too loud, and not properly dressed. You must leave."

Aquarius chuckles. "Sorry, tubs. I'll be on my way."

He moves out of the fat man's way and begins to leave the ball. As he goes down the stairs, he pulls out his earpiece and begins speaking with someone on the other end.

The song Michelle and Demeseus are dancing to ends with a soft fade. The lights dim as she leans her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes. The ball comes to a close a few hours later with couples leaving hand in hand.

As Michelle and Demeseus reach the bottom of the steps, water swirls in front of them, forming up into a diamond and freezing. It shatters with a man in a white robe and his hood on. From underneath his hood are large bluish bangs that help conceal his face.

"Well, if it isn't the great Demeseus," he says.

Demeseus grunts, "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Too bad you can't remember, but we have met before. The real question is do you know who she is?"

"I know who she is, but I don't know who you are, which is starting to piss me off."

The man laughs. "You think you know who she is, but there's more to this woman than meets the eye. She seems kind enough, but she's far from that. If only you knew the truth." He smirks. "It just might kill you."

"I'll ask again, who the hell are you?"

"I'm the thing you've been trying to pursue."

"You're not Derexen. My best bet is that you're one of those RK guys."

"Ding, ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! That's right. I am a member of the Righteous Kiras. Young lady," addressing Michelle, "do you mind if I have a few words with this young man?" he asks, grinning.

Michelle steps forward with an angry face until Demeseus throws his arm out in front of her. "Demeseus, no. He's a lying, dangerous man," she pleads.

"Go back to the hotel," Demeseus says. "I'll be okay. Get back safely and wait for me in my room."

"Ewww, she's your escort?" the robbed man says.

"Watch it!" Demeseus barks. Michelle's eyes dart back and forth with conflicted interest before she runs off. "Let's take this to the back of the building."

"Whatever you say, Demeseus."

The two men head to the back of the building. Demeseus suddenly stops. He turns around and summons Eternity. "You know, you've got a lot of nerve thinking we're just going to talk."

"It's not nerve, it's fact. We are not going to fight."

The man throws off his hood. "You're that guy! You helped me regain my memories!"

"Mhmm," he says with his wide smile. "Demeseus, how important is she to you?"

"She's the love of my life."

"Then I will take it that you will do anything to protect her?"

"Of course."

"Then if you don't want her in danger, you can't tell anyone that I was involved in keeping you alive with your memory intact."

"I don't see how one has to do with the other."

He chuckles. "All will come to light. Tonight, all you don't know about her will be revealed. Meet me at the highest level of the clock tower two hours from now—alone. I guarantee tonight will be a moment you will never forget."

"What do you mean?"

"There are going to be a lot of surprise guests. Don't be late."

Water swirls around his feet before encasing him inside freezing water. The ice shatters, leaving nothing behind but quick, evaporating ice shards.

Aquarius reappears at the top of the clock tower, lit with construction lights. On the top floor is a giant bell that has yet to be installed in the tower. Stacks of bricks, buckets, ropes, and bags of mixing material are scattered all around the tower corners.

He pushes on his earpiece. "Minerva, come to the clock tower."

Black mist swirls before him. The mist fades with Minerva in front of him in her organization robe.

"Minerva, the gig is up. Have you betrayed us?"

"No, it's all a ploy to weaken his spirits so he can be easier to kill," she calmly replies.

"I don't believe you, but if it's true, then you'll be proving it to me tonight."

"I don't have to prove a damn thing to you," she says rudely.

"No, but as your superior, you have a lot to prove to me," says a deep, echoing voice.

A black rolling fog appears next to Aquarius. Once the fog fades, Alexus is standing next to him.

"Alexus!?" Minerva says with shock. "What are you—?"

"Aquarius informed me earlier."

"Aquarius? What is wrong with you!?"

"Hey, I'm not the one on trial here," Aquarius says with a smirk. "You just might get executed."

"It all depends on your performance tonight when you fight Greyshio," Alexus says.

Minerva looks at Aquarius, then turns her head to Alexus, "Greyshio? The guy we're talking about is Demeseus."

"Demeseus?" Alexus says with a confused face.

Aquarius smiles and shakes his head, "Oh, that's right. Derexen said Greyshio has black hair, and blue eyes. Wow, how did I mix that up?"

Both of them look at him with disbelief about his mix up.

"But, yeah, Minerva's going to fight your longtime rival, and I know how much you wanted to fight him too. But we have a possible traitor in our midst. And, Alexus, if you put your desires ahead of the organization's future, wouldn't that technically be treason? I know the boss would not be happy about that."

Alexus looks at him with an irritated leer in his eye. "Come on, Alexus," Aquarius says, "I know you're mad, but if I said it was Demeseus, you wouldn't have gone along with this. It's better to find out if she's a traitor now than later, right?" Aquarius says playfully.

"Aquarius, for the last damn time, I am not a traitor, and you know it!" Minerva says in an aggravated tone.

"If that's true, you shouldn't have a problem proving it to me and Alexus."

"That's enough," Alexus says. "Let's get into positions. Demeseus needs to see Aquarius first."

Alexus walks off behind a pillar.

Minerva glares at Aquarius. "What is this, act two, Aquarius?"

"It's a bit more than that. But believe what you want, I really don't care. I want to find out what's going on with you two. The best way to find that out is to throw you straight into the fire. Now get behind that pillar. I sense Demeseus's aura."

Minerva walks behind the pillar, and Aquarius turns toward the opening on the side of the clock tower.

Aquarius smiles and turns around toward the stairs behind him. "Are you trying to avoid my gaze, or did you want the element of surprise? You're early by the way. I sensed you were at least three thousand feet from here. But you covered that in seconds. Impressive."

Demeseus stands in the staircase before walking the last few steps into the clock tower. "My mind is jumbled," he says as he enters the room. "You can't tell me what you said and expect me to be alright with that. I need to know more."

"Gee, Demeseus, you're really acting out of character here. It's screwing up the timeline. But I guess we'll just have to move this play along. Minerva, would you come out here, please?"

She comes from behind a pillar and stands next to Aquarius.

Demeseus can't believe his eyes. "Michelle!? What kind of trickery is this?"

"Oh, this is no trick. This is your baby girl in the flesh."

"No, you called that woman Minerva. That's not my girlfriend's name."

"Actually, it is. In fact, both those names are her names. But the name Michelle is more like her forgotten name. A name that holds ties to a past she rather forget. Did you know every time you called her Michelle, you pained her to think about a time of misery? Right, Michelle?" he says to her, hoping for provocation. "You agree, Michelle? Michelle, you there? Michellllle."

"This still doesn't add up. What does Michelle have to do with you!?"

Minerva finally breaks her silence, "Demeseus, you fool! I'm with the Righteous Kiras. And he's my partner."

Demeseus looks away, staggered by the news. "I don't believe what I'm hearing. You're lying... You're a hallucination."

Aquarius shrugs with a smile, "Such denial."

He continues to shake his head. "This can't be. What about everything we—?"

"We had nothing!" she says coldly. "This was all a plot I made in order to defeat and humiliate you. Just the way you did me. Forcing me to report to my superior that I failed. That made me look weak and incompetent in front of the team."

Demeseus approaches her slowly. "This is insane. What are you saying?"

"Face it, she never loved you, man," Aquarius says.

Demeseus stands before her, staring into her eyes. She looks back at him with not a slight sign of affection.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me," Demeseus says. "Try and say that without a care in your heart."

Minerva punches him square in the chest, knocking him on his back, "I don't."

Alexus jumps down from the gears of the clock tower. "Great, more," Demeseus says while clutching his chest. "This really isn't my night."

"Alexus, it seems he doesn't recognize you," Aquarius says. "Maybe you should morph into your original form."

"No, thanks," Alexus says. "That life is dead to me now." He looks down to Demeseus. "It's good to see you, rival."

Demeseus turns his head to him. "Rival?" His eyes widen in disbelief. "Lex? What the hell?"

"I guess you remember me now. Do me a favor and call me Alexus."

"That's great, you two are back together," Aquarius says carelessly. "But let's get back to the show and see where our possible traitor stands."

As Minerva slowly walks toward him, Demeseus stands. "I won't fight you," Demeseus says to Minerva "Not after everything we've had."

Minerva gets into a boxing stance, "If you can't take a hint, fine. My fist will show you the way."

With amazing speed, Minerva jabs Demeseus in the face four times, then switches hands to punch him once with the left. She uppercuts him in the gut with enough force to lift him in the air. She then switches into a kick boxing stance and kicks Demeseus twice in the chest on one leg. He's sent flying through the air with blood coming out his mouth.

After the final kick, Minerva extends her leg toward the ceiling, showing off her power, flexibility, and balance.

Alexus nods his head at her display of strength, "I have never seen hand-to-hand this advanced. She can switch styles in an instant and maintain form all at the same time."

"Yup!" Aquarius says eagerly. "She's the best in the organization when it comes to close combat. You should see her when she goes one hundred percent. It's mind blowing, even for me."

Demeseus slowly begins to stand again, "I won't fight you. Just wake up! Are you under a spell!?" He coughs some more blood, making short gasp.

Minerva quickly does a flying somersault with her leg raised. She drops the heel of her foot into the back of his neck. His face slams into the ground, stunning him momentarily. She stands in front of him and is irritated that he's pushing himself up again. With a broken nose, busted lip, and swollen eye, he still looks up at her with harmless intent.

"Why won't you stay down?" she says. "I'm going to rip your heart out if you don't stop."

Demeseus begins to chuckle as blood drips from his face. "Too late. You stole my heart the first time we met. Now you're slowly squeezing the life out of it. But it's yours to use as you please."

He sits up and looks at her with a grin on his face.

Minerva is completely unfazed by his words and jumps up to knee him in the jaw. Before he can fall back, she kicks him with the same leg, sending him soaring into a nearby pillar. The impact slightly shakes the tower floor.

Aquarius's eyes are darting all around the room, "Easy, Minerva. The top floor of this place isn't finished yet. Don't go overboard. This entire floor is very fragile."

As Demeseus slides down the pillar, Minerva quickly rushes in front of him and wraps her fingers around his neck. She begins to squeeze and lift him off his feet.

She glances at his sword and grins, "I see you haven't dropped your Empyrean Blade yet. Why don't you use it to help you out of this bind?"

Demeseus struggles to speak, "This weapon is for my enemies. The second I raise this sword to you, you are my enemy. And you are not my enemy."

She grits her teeth and tosses him to the side like a doll. "Then I guess you want to die a coward. That's not the man I knew. The man I knew had a fire that was inextinguishable. It would burn anyone that dares to resist it."

Demeseus chuckles a bit. "I knew you still cared for me. If you didn't, you wouldn't give a damn about how hard I fight. You're just putting on a show for these clowns," he says as he tries to stand up.

She puts her foot on his head and leans forward. "I just hate when my enemies can't make me sweat. It makes me want to put them out of their misery."

He looks up at her. "Then do it."

"My pleasure."

She begins to apply pressure to his skull, causing him to scream and squirm. He tries to push her foot off when suddenly, he hears a pop.

Demeseus manages to push her foot off and roll away. He sits up and runs his fingers under his eye socket and feels a piece of bone missing underneath.

"I don't believe it," Demeseus says with pale shock. "You were really trying to kill me."

"You finally understand," Minerva says. "Demeseus, this isn't a game. This is reality, where nothing else matters except life and death."

Alexus makes a slight grin, "Well, I'm convinced that she isn't a traitor."

"Pfft, I'm not," Aquarius says. "Minerva, stop playing with your food and end this!"

"There's no need for that," she replies.

"Do it," Alexus says sternly. "Derexen called for my return over five minutes ago. Prove your worth to the organization and bring this to an end. Unless you really are a traitor."

Minerva begins to stretch her body all over like a gymnast. Some of her stretching looks strange and creepy.

"Prepare yourself," Minerva says before closing her eyes.

She opens them, revealing her yellow irises and cat-like pupils. Minerva zips behind Demeseus and kicks him in the back. The kick crashes him through one of the tower pillars. Before he lands, she quickly appears with her leg up, standing where he's going to land.

When his head is about to whiz by her, she drops her heel onto his face, leaning his lower body up toward her. She then does a half-spin kick to launch his body through another pillar.

As Demeseus lies on the floor, barely breathing, Minerva dashes toward him and grabs Demeseus by the neck to drag his body across the floor. She lifts him and slams him into the largest pillar at the center of the clock tower. It slowly begins to crack while they have a brief talk.

"You probably want to use that cross of yours to pray to whatever god you worship, because I'm about to send you to him," she says menacingly.

"I'm not going to die here," he says as his Empyrean Blade begins to crack. "You can beat me till every bone in my body is broken. But you and I both know I will always find a place in your heart."

She squeezes harder on his bruised neck, completely restricting his breathing. "You just don't stop, do you? Your promises, they look like lies. I can see the honesty slipping through your eyes. You know you want to fight me, so do it! It's the only option you have."

As Demeseus's face turns blue, he takes his two fingers and wipes the blood from his head. He then puts it to his lips, and then to hers. Minerva's eyes slightly untense before she releases him. The second his feet hit the floor, she barrages his body with countless high-speed Capoeira attacks.

Each blow causes the pillar and the Empyrean Blade to crack. She doesn't stop until Demeseus's body is half sunken into the pillar. Suddenly, the roof begins to crumble as the entire floor shakes.

"Excellent show, Minerva," Aquarius says while vanishing. "But I think it's time to go."

"Yes, you have proven your worth, now come on," Alexus says, as the black rolling fog comes to take him away.

Minerva stands still, staring at Demeseus's lifeless body as her eyes revert back to blue. She doesn't budge until a giant piece of the roof begins to come down above her head. She looks up as black mist encircles her body. She fades away a moment before the roof piece collides with her.

As the top floor continues to collapse, a man appears from the stairs. His blondish-black hair is a mess pressed against his sweaty forehead from all the running. He's wearing baggy, black, acid-wash jeans with images of skulls down the bottom left pants leg.

His black shirt has the picture of a shadowed man holding a naked cartoon skeleton kid in his hands. Its big head has a crack in it and is curled up like a puppy. The skeleton child has no lower jaw, just a few upper teeth. Across his chest are the words "Skull Children" written in an eerie font.

"Anyone up here!" he shouts. "Answer me! I heard voices on my way up!"

Just when he's about to take off, he sees Demeseus's bloody body covered in bricks. He runs over to quickly push and toss bricks off him. Underneath, he sees a very cracked blade next to Demeseus. So this is what I was drawn to, the man thinks.

He takes Demeseus's hand and wraps it around the sword before tucking it behind Demeseus's shirt. The man picks him up and throws him over his shoulder before doing a running jump out the clock tower.

They fall for a few seconds before the man calls his Empyrean Blade. "Come to me, Sorja!"

Small green leaves appear, swirling around his hand. The leaves turn into vines and shape out as a glowing green blade. The light fades and Sorja appears.

The sword, Sorja, is mid-length and has a bright white luster to it. The grip is covered in smooth green emeralds with three large ones at the tip of the blade. The fuller of the blade also shines with a green luster. Sorja's guard is green and shaped like a cluster of circular vines.

As the two men near the ground, he points his blade down. "Zephyr."

The closer they get to the ground, the slower they fall. The two men are falling slower, and slower, until they make a gentle landing. Once his feet hit the ground, he takes off running toward the nearest hospital. Softly, rain begins to come down as he shouts for people to get out of his way.

He rushes into the ER, making demands at the front desk. The nursing staff quickly takes Demeseus to the ICU. Shortly after he is moved, the man waits upstairs to see if Demeseus will pull through. He looks through the glass window and sees a young doctor and nurses talking over him. The doctor tries to take the sword on his back, but it vanishes and reappears in Demeseus's hand. The people in the room look at one another, seeming confused and a little frighten. The man knocks on the glass. The doctor comes out while the nurses continue to treat Demeseus.

"Did you see what that sword just did?" the doctor asks.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. It's going to keep doing that."

"You know this boy and his magic sword?"

"Yes, I do. He was saving the east side of Ragado a day ago. Did you hear about the man who slayed a monster?

"It was all over the news. That was him?"

"Yes, using that very sword you're trying to remove. Just leave it be, it won't leave his side." He looks into the room. "How is he doing? Will he make it?"

"He's still in critical condition. The staff will have to keep an eye on him all night. Thank you for bringing him in, sir."

"Call me Jerried"

"It was your speedy response that may save his life, Jerried."

"That's good news. Is there anything else I should know about his condition?"

As Jerried nods to what the doctor is saying, he looks through the window and sees the Empyrean Blade erupt with more cracks. A nurse runs out of the room yelling for the doctor to come back in.

Jerried nears the glass, "I can't hear anything." Jerried puts his finger to his ear and closes his eyes. Ultrasonic, he thinks. Jerried is now able to hear everything going on in the room.

"He's not breathing!" says one of the nurses. "His heart's stopped too!"

"Okay, prep him!" the doctor says as he cuts open Demeseus's shirt and prepares to use a defibrillator.

He takes Demeseus's wrist and shakes the sword from his hand to the floor. He grabs the paddles while a nurse manually pumps air into Demeseus's lungs.

"Clear!" the doctor shouts before shocking him. "No response."

Suddenly, all the cracks on Demeseus's blade begin to connect and travel all the way to the handle.

Jerried becomes worried. You've got to be kidding me. Come on, is this really how you want it to end?

The doctor shocks him once again, but no change. The entire blade is now engulfed in cracks. It's on the verge of shattering.

Jerried turns from the window and sighs. "It can't be helped. I will have to give him some of my own life force. Sorja, come." His blade appears. "It's amazing how far I would go for another guardian."

He kneels down, putting his weight onto the blade. Suddenly, a greenish white aura, not visible to others, begins to leave his body and pours out white from his blade. The aura seeps under the door and is absorbed by Eternity.

Jerried begins to sweat and opens one of his eyes to peek at his blade. Damn, my blade is starting to crack. Do I have to die for him to live?

In the room, the doctor shocks Demeseus once more. Demeseus's heart begins to beat again.

The nurse exhales, "Doctor, his heart rate is starting to stabilize."

The doctor is relieved, "Good, he's out of the woods." He walks out the room and sees Jerried on the floor, passed out. "This is going to be one hell of a night."

Jerried begins to wake and stand up, "No, I'm fine. Just a bit tired. How is he?"

"He is no longer critical. The staff is still going to monitor him, but I can safely say he'll be okay. It might be a few days before he wakes, however. If you would like to see him, you can. I have to file his paperwork. I will check back in shortly with a few things I need from you."

The doctor walks up the hall while Jerried waits for the nurses to exit the room before he can enter. He goes inside and sees that more than forty percent of the blade's cracks have disappeared. Eternity is still slowly recovering before it vanishes. Jerried makes a pleased face as he walks toward the window. He looks outside to watch the rainfall before closing the curtain.

Three floors down, a man stands outside, staring into Demeseus's hospital window. He lifelessly lets the rain fall on him in his dark gray trench coat. His coat is custom made with a hood attached, and a large slit in the middle of his coat's shoulders.

"You lived," he says. "Perhaps you're stronger than I thought."

He begins to walk his way out the town with a broadsword lightly swinging on his back from underneath his coat. He walks with a slow and steady sway that insinuates an air of arrogance and lifelessness. The wind gently blows toward him, opening his trench coat to reveal a bright silver belt buckle with the letters "AOD" engraved on it. He wears black suede pants, and a tight black shirt that complements his ripped upper body.

A flash of lightning illuminates the sky. Before the light fades, a white heart with a golden tip briefly gleams on the sword's pommel. He strolls out of Ragado and disappears with the night's rain.
Chapter Twelve: Water into Wine

Several days have passed since Demeseus's heartbreaking encounter. The gleam of morning makes its way through the town. Construction workers are fast at work to repair the top floor of the clock tower.

The sunlight reaches the hospital building, slowly lighting every room. Demeseus gently wakes from the warming sunrays on his face.

"Where am I? Michelle!"

He sits up too fast and aggravates his injuries. The front door opens, and a man he has never seen before comes in holding a cup of coffee.

His blondish-black hair is parted down the middle of his head. His bangs hang past his dark brown eyes, and the rest of his hair hangs down the side of his face. His high-yellow skin gives him a handsome glow in the light. He wears a charcoal gray long-sleeve shirt with cartoon skeleton children on it.

Across his chest are the words "Skull Children" written in an eerie font. The size of the skeleton children's heads is comically large. The skeleton children have no lower jaw, just a few upper teeth.

The kids on his shirt are playing cards with an unorthodox deck size. One of the skull kids have a pink bow on its head with a black and pink skirt and angled pink stripes of various sizes. Some of the stripes blend into each other. Her black shirt has pink dots on the puffy shoulder sleeves. The other kid has on a black sweater with black sweatpants and black sneakers. His jeans are black and baggy with three rows of chains going down both sides of his pants.

"Don't get up," the man says while approaching his bedside. "I went through too much trouble to get you here."

"Who are you?"

"Jerried. I was the one who brought you here."

"How did you find me?"

"This showed me the way." He extends his hand and summons Sorja.

"A World Guardian?"

"We as World Guardians have to look out for each other, but I do have some questions to ask you." Jerried dismisses his sword. "Who beat you up so badly? Was it the Righteous Kiras?"

"How do you know about them?"

"What World Guardian doesn't know about them? I don't know how long you've been trailing them, but they're not as underground as they were when I first heard of them. Even the government is making public of their activities. They have most World Guardians shaking in fear. The mystery that remains is who's their boss and what do they want?"

"I know who their boss is, but their goal is unknown."

"That's nice. Now answer my question."

Demeseus sighs. "It was my girlfriend. Turns out she's a member of the Righteous Kiras. She betrayed me and beat me to near death, but I know deep down she still cares about me."

Jerried looks at Demeseus with a raised eyebrow. "You're joking, right? Look at you. You have two broken ribs, a chipped eye socket, a bruised trachea, a fractured skull, a broken nose, and bruises on your neck caused by pressure from someone's fingers. So tell me, where is the love?"

Demeseus looks up at the ceiling clutching his sheets. "She's special to me. I still can't just let that go."

"That may be, but it looks like she has. You really need to rethink your priorities. Have you thought about what you will do when you see her again?"

"If she wants to fight again, I will give her what she wants."

"If that was true, you would have done that the first time. Instead, you lie in this bed, losing everything, forced to watch your life pass you by."

Demeseus turns his head toward him. "I barely know you, so don't you dare badger me like you know it all! You don't know what we had! Our love is divine!"

"Your foolishness is divine. When will you open your eyes? When she beats you half to death? No, that can't be it, since she took you one step closer by dropping you at death's door. Too bad she forgot to ring the bell. Maybe in death you'll understand that love and all other needs take a backseat when the one thing you want, stands against all that you swear to protect. Do you even know what it means to be a World Guardian? A guardian is supposed to do right by the world before doing right by themselves. But it looks like you've forgotten that, or never knew."

"Well, who the hell said I wanted to be a guardian?"

"Ignorant and selfish. Why the hell would the 'fates' make you a guardian? You lack all qualities of a true hero."

Demeseus shifts himself toward Jerried and smacks his coffee out his hand. "Get out! I thank you for saving my life, but now I would like you to leave."

He steps back. "I'll leave you to think, but I shall return later today. But regardless of how you feel about me, or what I said, you should really rethink what's most important to you."

Jerried leaves the room.

Demeseus turns his head toward the window. "I know what's important to me."

In a distant location, the Righteous Kiras gather in a large incomplete castle. All seven members arrive in a room with no roof, and fallen rubble. They sit at a long oak table with matching brown chairs. The place is under mid-repair with Demis doing construction all around them.

Aquarius looks over to Minerva and smiles, "Minerva, you have been staring at the blood moon for quite some time now. I have insulted you twice, where's the rage? Without the rage, I get bored of you."

Minerva says nothing and sets her eyes on Alexus.

"Good evening, everyone," Alexus says. "I'm glad you've made it on time. That's a first. The briefing is about to begin. Please take your seats," he says before sitting down himself.

Derexen leans his head on his hand, while sitting in a large granite throne chair. His seat is elevated above the others.

"This meeting will be short," Derexen says in a calm, colorless tone. "This is the first time we've all gathered since the break. I want to see if anything interesting has happened since then. I will also be issuing out assignments for the day. I'll begin clockwise. Bonnie, did you do anything on your seven days that's worth mentioning?"

"Oh, yes, your highness," she says optimistically. "I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Within seven days, I have found two potentially new members for the organization. I have also given them aliases that I hope you'll agree with. Up first is Valerie, the 'Illusionist'."

A quick puff of white smoke appears next to Bonnie. It quickly clears up to reveal a petite woman in a black robe. The robe has thick, red stitching crossing through each other along the edges. On the back of her robe is a red star with fine stitching. The pattern continues to shape out like two ram heads meeting up at the top of the star.

She has short, blonde hair like a school girl. It's parted down the middle with a bit of a curl at the ends. Her hair hangs a little past her jaw, draping the sides of her face. She has silver irises, and buttermilk skin. Her body's very lean, and her breasts and hips are rather small.

"Next up is Gabriel, the 'Diamond's Heart'," Bonnie says.

A large diamond pierces up through the floor with a wavy figure inside. Suddenly, a man walks out the diamond like a shadow.

He wears a black hooded robe with the image of a diamond on his back. He's a tall man with a large muscular build. His eyes are brown, and his skin is a light tan color. His mid-length black hair is neatly combed to suit his mature age.

The diamond vessel slowly sinks back into the ground. Aquarius leans over to look at the hole in the floor and sighs, "We just got these floors done."

"Don't stress it, Aquarius," Bonnie says. "I'll get more of the Demis to fix this little mess up."

"Hmm, might I ask why you gave them such aliases, Bonnie?" Derexen asks.

"Well, Valerie is an illusionist. She can fool anyone with illusions. Making her targets see what she wants them to see. She could even fool you into running toward a lake when in actuality you're running toward a cliff. Other than illusions, she is proficient at sensing other high-level beings." She turns her head to Gabriel. "Gabriel has the power to manipulate diamonds in more ways than you can imagine. Shape, size, density, you name it. He can do almost as much manipulation as Aquarius does with water."

Derexen nods his head. "I strongly doubt that. You are highly underestimating Aquarius. Nonetheless, you have broken a record in the organization. Two new members in one week. Your value in the organization will not be forgotten."

"Thank you, milord. That is all I have to offer today."

"Balthazar, do you have anything to offer us?"

"Nope, I was drunk most of the week," he says.

"I see. Aquarius, Minerva?"

Aquarius digs in his ear, "I have nothing worth any value to you, but Minerva just might."

Minerva looks up at Derexen. "I ran into Demeseus. I killed him."

"No, you didn't." Aquarius and Minerva look confused. "I received word that the clock tower finished him off. Or so you three thought."

"What are you saying?"

"Did any of you take the time to revisit and see if he was truly dead?"

"I did," Alexus says, "but I couldn't find his body under all the rubble."

Number four shrugs, "Hmph, it seems we have another foolish action when it comes to Demeseus."

Aquarius grins, "Well, look who gained a voice over break. Did you kill a mockingbird for that squeak box?"

"Change the subject all you want. The fact remains you three failed a mission that was on your own free time. That's pathetic."

Derexen raises his hand for them to settle down, "Number four, don't blame Alexus. This was all arranged by Aquarius, if I'm not mistaken. In other words, a failure made a failed project that he ensured a successful mission taker would succeed. If you need to blame anyone, you should blame Aquarius's failed calculations, and Minerva's inability to kill when ordered. And to hear you say such things." He looks in her direction. "You are strangely wishful for his death."

"Not wishful. I'm just making clear how pitiful these failed attempts are."

"I see. Let's move on. Thanks to, Bonnie, we have just reached one-third of our target size. I have also discovered a new member. Coda, the 'Chronicle'."

Suddenly, a messy gray shimmer with no specific shape, appears next to number four. The messy images instantly materialize into a little boy.

He wears a black hooded robe that has a stitched smiley face on the back with stitches along the mouth. He has mid-length, dark brown hair hanging mostly on the right side of his head. It's parted toward the left, leaving the rest smoothed down. His eyes are hazel, and his skin is white.

"Coda has a unique skill that allows him to infiltrate the minds of others. It's easier if you're not awake, but he can do it regardless. He also possesses a hint of force rejection. It's very similar to telekinesis. His technique comes from more of his body energy while relying very little on his mental strength."

Aquarius makes a pondering expression, "Sooo, he can read minds and slightly push you away with a weak spiritual blast? He sounds as useless as Bonnie's experiments," he says jokingly.

Bonnie gasps at his statement, "Not you too, Aquarius!?"

"I'm kidding, relax. But this kid doesn't seem all that tough. But I won't judge beyond this point. Derexen doesn't elect just anyone into his fold, so if you say he's powerful, then he's powerful."

Derexen nods slightly, "To bring this to a close, it's time to formulate team members. Coda and number four shall be paired. As for Aquarius and Minerva, you two shall be separated. Valerie shall be paired with Minerva, and Gabriel with Aquarius. This could be temporary or permanent. Alexus, hand out everyone's next assignments."

"Why did you make it like this?" Minerva asks while Alexus passes out documents.

"Because it is not wise to pair two new recruits without any real grasp on operation protocol. The wise choice is to split two veterans of the group and pair them with a new member. This way, the percentage of success will rise. You are all dismissed," addressing the group.

Each member disappears one by one while Derexen remains in his seat. He looks up at the red moon. He runs his fingers through his hair and disappears in a flash of light and a cloud of darkness.

Elsewhere, Bonnie and Balthazar begin their next assignment. They walk up a sunny path set on a steep hill with skyscraping trees all around. As the two of them tread on, they spot a large set of stone stairs leading above the clearing.

Balthazar sighs. "Why are we here again?"

"Besides the fact we're hunting a World Guardian," Bonnie says before fixing her glasses. "There is apparently something in this town he wants to contain. What that is wasn't clarified in the reports."

"Then what should we be looking out for?"

"Did you read the documents at all?" she says with annoyance. "His theory is based on rumors and evidence he has collected on his own. He thinks it's a hybrid Demi. If it is, our goal is to subdue it and contact him immediately."

"As in kill?"

"What part of 'contain' do you not understand?"

"Bonnie, I'm about to slap the crap out of you! Keep talking to me like that and see what happens."

"Thick-headed swine," she grunts through her teeth.

They walk up the long set of stairs leading to a small town backed by a mountain. This place is surrounded by a stonewall going all the way around with the only entrance at the stairs. At the top of the stairs is a raised medieval gate with two men standing watch.

"Hello, fellow travelers, and welcome to Fortlindo," the town guard says.

Fortlindo is a secluded location set at the base of a mountain. The road to this mountain is a curvy, deep hill surrounded by trees. At the heart of this town is an old castle known as a great tourist attraction. It's a tight and small place that has continued with the medieval theme out of respect to the still standing castle.

"Who would've thought in this day and age, there would still be a castle?" Balthazar says.

"That's because we preserve our history so we'll never be forgotten," says the second guard.

"Is anyone currently living in that castle?" Bonnie asks.

"There hasn't been anyone there for over two centuries," answers the first guard.

"Then that's where we shall begin."

"I'm sorry, but no one is allowed to enter the castle. There have been some problems lately and it's currently not allowed."

"Fine by us," Balthazar says passively. "Come on, Bonnie. Let's just go sightseeing around the town."

Balthazar walks in while Bonnie grunts under her breath. Bastard giving me orders like he controls me, she thinks.

As they cut through Fortlindo, they casually take paths leading to the castle before stopping in the middle of town.

The buildings are all mostly made of stone with a touch of modern-day structure design. There's even a town well in the ground. The villagers are committed to the theme; from hanging their laundry outside their homes, to drying dead animal skins on a line. However, since it isn't actually medieval times, there are others who are using modern items like fans, phones, and other devices.

"Bonnie, call up some Demis to help us find the guardian," Balthazar says.

"If you give me one more command, I will kick you in the neck," Bonnie replies angrily.

"I'm not giving you commands. I'm just saying things you should already be on top of."

She grunts at his comment and waves her hands to create seven cloudy holes on the ground. Suddenly, seven Demis rise from the ground wearing light plated armor with helmets and chipped swords. They have no eyes and pointy ears. Their armor is a bit bigger than they are.

The creatures drool mindlessly as they await her instructions. Bonnie pulls out a black whip from the waist of her leather black pants under her robe and cracks it on the floor.

"I'm only going to say this once," she says. "Find the World Guardian, and don't fail."

Balthazar looks slightly confused. "World Guardian? I thought we were hunting that thing."

"If it's here, it will surface, knowing there's no village protector. If it isn't, that's just more territory for us."

"But those weren't the orders."

"It's called taking initiative. You should look it up sometime."

Balthazar grins at her. "Is that what you're doing?" he says with lack of faith.

Bonnie takes two potions from her robe and throws them to the ground. Red smoke rises up in front of them. When the smoke clears, two demonic horses appear.

The horses have hollowed eyes with a dim yellow glow inside. Their bodies are black with dulled crests, and gray smoke around their fetlocks. They have leather saddles on their backs, and ash-colored armor all over. The chanfrons have spikes going down the middle that pierces partway through their foreheads, and muzzles.

Bonnie jumps onto the horse. "Shadow knights, move out! Balthazar, get on."

He gets on the horse and they start galloping through the town, scaring everyone.

Balthazar watches the dwarf-size Demis outrun them while the others move at their speed, "They're fast little things. Much faster than the assassins. And yet, none of these Demis are affected by the sun. How come I've never heard of these types before?"

"Idiot, high-level Demis are not affected by light. Are we affected by the light?"

"You're the idiot if you think I would fall for what you just tried to pull. These Demis are obviously low-levels."

She smirks. "That's because they are genetically enhanced Demis that I created in my lab. They will only obey my commands, no matter how strong the person trying to control them is."

"They only obey you? Does Derexen know about this?"

"If you are speaking of betrayal, that is not my objective. Don't pretend that you care about our leader's wellbeing. You just want to make trouble where there is none."

"That's a no. But you're right, I don't care, and you're lucky I don't because if I was a one hundred percent loyal anarchist, I would keep an eye on someone like you."

Bonnie stares at him with a stern glare before continuing to look ahead as they gallop to the castle.

The sun begins to set, and another person arrives at the town's entrance while others evacuate. He wears a dark gray trench coat with his hood up and carries a large sword on his back. The guards watch him walk up the steep steps before suddenly stopping in front of them.

"Excuse me," he says. "Did anyone enter your town in robes?"

"I can't disclose that," one of the guards says. "We are currently in the middle—"

The man pulls out his sword and spins around, slapping the guard down to the ground with the flat side of his blade. He completes his spin and stops with his blade tip at the throat of the other guard.

"I won't repeat myself. Give me an answer or lose your life." Suddenly, bright lights start to go on and off at the castle, catching the man's eye. "Never mind, I have my answer."

He lowers his sword and enters the town. As the man slowly heads to the castle, Demis begin to appear all over the place. The creatures snarl and growl at him, but he isn't intimidated.

"Looks like I'm running out of time," he says while still walking at the same slow pace.

At the castle gates, a man wielding a sword speeds toward Balthazar. As soon as he gets close, a whip wraps around the wielder's neck. He drops to his knees and releases his weapon. He tugs frantically on the whip, trying to breathe and break free.

Balthazar walks slowly to him and forces his hand over his mouth. "Don't gasp for air," he says. "That's false hope in the fact you think I would ever let you breathe again." Blue flames appear on his arm and sink into his hand. "Here, inhale this."

The man's skull begins to become extremely hot and mildly blue. The heat and the blue color spread throughout his entire body. The man tries to scream as he shakes in pain until he spontaneously combusts into blue flames.

Balthazar brushes the ashes off. "That was easy enough. You know, we may not like each other, but we make a decent team."

Bonnie cracks her whip twice. "Meh."

"Hmph, right. In any case, let's explore this domain."

The two of them stare up at the massive Fortlindo castle. It has metal rails traveling all the way around with few leading to the center courtyard. Some of the railings are in rows of twos, threes, and fours. Very few are single railings. Some of the rails travel deep into the depths of the castle that can't be reached otherwise.

The castle has several short stone bridges with no water underneath. Behind the castle are three tall towers with the tallest one in the middle.

Long after their takeover, Balthazar grinds to the top of the middle tower, standing tall with his hands on his hips.

Bonnie grinds to the top with a smile on her face, "This place is like an amusement park with the perks of a genuine castle. The best part is the underground dungeon."

"I used to think having boots with flexible steel bottoms was a dumb idea. But just this once, it came in handy."

"Did you find anything that relates to the mission?"

"Damages, but not the thing that may have caused it."

"Regardless, it will probably show up now that the darkness is settling in." She looks around and exhales happily. "This place is beyond perfect. I think this shall be mine kingdom for me."

"I hate when you get excited. You start talking in a lost language that no one really cared for. And what the hell do you mean, your kingdom?"

"And why thou believe this be thy kingdom?"

"I killed the World Guardian here, and I like Fortlindo!"

"Well, you didn't kill him alone, I aided you!"

Balthazar grits his teeth. "But I was the one who landed the final blow. That means—"

"That just means you killed him, but you still had help regardless of what you say."

"Bonnie, you are pissing me off! Today was a great day until you started acting like a bitch!"

"Excuse me!? I should have some say on who gets this place!"

Balthazar calms down and turns his back to her. "Why are we arguing? No one can claim anything anyway."

"True, but I can pre-own it."

He quickly faces her. "Pre-own my ass! You know what, Bonnie!? I have just had—!"

Bonnie puts her finger up, wanting him to be quiet. She looks to her left, then to her right. She quickly turns to the far left tower. "Balthazar, who's that?"

They look up and see a man in a dark gray trench coat carrying an Empyrean Blade.

"Don't sweat it, Bonnie," Balthazar says with a grin. "According to the reports, there are only two guardians that travel worldwide looking for us. So, which one are ya'?" he asks the man.

At that moment, the man in the coat appears behind Balthazar with his sword to his neck.

A fearful panic crosses Bonnie's face. "He's fast! He teleported! In the blink of an eye!"

"Nah, he just moved really fast. I like this boy."

The man puts the sword closer to Balthazar's neck. He removes his hood and gives off a dead gaze to his foes. His black hair is cut short and rugged. On his lifeless and void face is a scar above his left eyebrow extending to his cheekbone.

"Call me Greyshio," he says. "But you won't live long enough to fear it. If it helps, think of me as your angel of death."

Bonnie looks him over for hidden weaponry and notices his belt buckle. Angel of death, she thinks. AOD.

Bonnie slowly begins inching toward the tower's edge. "Don't move," Greyshio says firmly. "You'll get your turn."

"Hey, Greyshio? Have you ever heard of the story about Icarus?" Balthazar asks. "His father, Daedalus, warned him not to fly too close to the sun. And I believe the reason was—"

Balthazar grins and cocks his head toward him. Without warning, blue flames pour out of his body.

Greyshio throws off his trench coat as he stumbles back. Bonnie seizes the moment by wrapping her whip around his neck and jumping off the tower. He tries not to, but quickly ends up falling with her. She lands on the lowest rail of the tower and begins to grind away. Balthazar jumps off the opposite side of where Bonnie was and begins quickly grinding his way down the tower.

As Greyshio dangles below Bonnie, he tries to cut her whip, but it doesn't cut. He sheaths his blade behind him. He uses his light extension ability to wrap around Bonnie and pulls her down. He breaks the whip's hold and shoots another string onto the rail above him. Greyshio pulls himself up and uses his sword to grind the rails like a surfboard.

Suddenly, Balthazar comes grinding from around the tower with a blue fireball in his hand. He throws it at Greyshio and has it quickly deflected with a brief wind gust.

Balthazar makes a ring of seven fireballs with one in the middle. "You dare challenge my flames?"

Greyshio's back is slightly burned as one of the fireballs grazes his back. He continues to blow fireballs at Greyshio, missing each shot.

As they enter the courtyard, Greyshio is knocked off by a flying Demi. He hits the ground before Balthazar jumps down. Greyshio is about to rise until three more Demi birds come toward him. Suddenly, one of the birds are set on fire, making the other two stop. Greyshio looks over and sees Balthazar's steaming hand raised at the birds.

"This is my fight," Balthazar says boldly. "If any of you damn Demis value your lives, you will stay away from my prey."

The Demis in the courtyard begin to back away while the flying ones leave the field.

Bonnie comes walking from the shadows, a little dirty from her fall. "What's the plan? His arrival was unexpected."

"I fight—while you be a good little cunt-monkey,

Bonnie's face is beyond shocked. "Wha—how dare you!? You do not speak to me like that!"

"Hey, play your role, and shut the fuck up!"

"Damn it, Balthazar, I hope you die!"

"Hmph." He turns to Greyshio. "Now where were we? Get up, Greyshio. The battle has just begun."

Greyshio stands up and dashes toward Balthazar. But once again, he is blown away and burned by the blue flames that pour from Balthazar's body.

Greyshio falls on his back and sits up with an irritated look, "Damn it. Why can't I ever get near you?"

"It's simple really. My battle aura is in play. My battle aura is like an auto-defensive shield for incoming danger, but it also serves as a great offense. You'll never get past my flames."

Greyshio stands up and raises his hand to him. "Gale of Swords."

Strong gusts of wind blow toward Balthazar, slashing up his robe and his face. The wind continues to slash him mercilessly until his battle aura activates. The swirling blue dome of flames quickly turns into orange fire. The dome begins to expand the more Greyshio forces his attack. Greyshio cancels his spell, turning the flames back to blue before they vanish.

"I don't understand," Greyshio says, looking mildly confused. "You should've been shredded."

Bonnie sniggers, "It's called flame manipulation. By manipulating the oxygen in the air, it caused your deadly wind attack to be nothing more than fuel for his fire. It's a very simple trick, my boy, if you understand the elements," she says conceitedly. "It's one of the very fundamentals of science. Think about it. Every element enhances the other one while at the same time destroys it."

"Bonnie," Balthazar says calmly. "Shut—up! Spectators don't talk! Stop giving him ringside pointers to aid his victory."

"Didn't you hear what I said before? I hope you die."

"Okay, keep playing the bitch role. But if I live, which I will, how do you think Derexen is going to feel when he hears you want all his Righteous Kiras to die?"

"What? I didn't say that. I only said you."

"It's your word against mine."

"You wouldn't," Bonnie says with a little worry in her voice.

"I will, if you don't shut your damn mouth!" He turns back to Greyshio. "Now that the interruptions are done, try this."

Balthazar steps forward and stomps his foot, making a tidal wave of flames rise up and crash down on Greyshio.

Steam rises up from the ground. Once all the steam fades, all they see is a dome of molten rock where Greyshio was standing. Without warning, Greyshio bursts from the rock dome. He speeds toward Balthazar and swings his sword. Balthazar barely gets out of the way as he hops several times to the side on one foot from lack of balance.

Greyshio slides and turns back toward his opponent. He then takes his broadsword and smashes it into the ground to create a large wave of dirt and rock. The attack propels Balthazar out of the courtyard and over the castle walls. Greyshio rips his sword out of the ground when suddenly the surrounding area's temperature begins to rise.

What is up with this heat? Bonnie wonders.

An orange light begins brimming from behind the castle wall. Two giant hands made of fire grip the top of the wall. In a slow rise, a giant flaming image of Balthazar appears. The real Balthazar rises up in front of the burning figure. His once blue aura is now a burning orange that encases him in a sphere.

Balthazar glares down at Greyshio, "First these open gashes, then hurling me over a fucking wall. That's it. I've had enough of your smug looks." Greyshio just looks up at him, not even slightly worried by the amount of fire he's controlling. "There it is! Right there! It's that same, 'I'm too good for you' look! I hate people with that face! Stop looking at me like that! Fine, you can die with that disgusting mug."

The flaming giant opens its chest and Balthazar fuses into its core.

I guess he's going for the grand finale, Greyshio thinks.

The flaming image talks with a booming voice, "Bonnie, move out of the way!"

Bonnie races toward Balthazar and hops on top of the wall before running toward the far right. The flaming giant makes a fist and slams it down on the right side of Greyshio. He lifts his fist and leaves a burnt print on the ground. He makes an open palm and slams it down above Greyshio's head.

He nimbly rolls backward, dodging the attack by being in between the giant's fingers. The fingers begin to come together. Greyshio quickly jumps high up to avoid it. The giant raises its hand straight up to incinerate him.

Greyshio puts his hands together, "Aqua Sphere."

He holds his breath, and a sphere of water engulfs Greyshio's entire body. The hand goes right through him, leaving a hole in the giant's hand. Greyshio lands back on the ground, popping the aqua sphere. The giant's hand regenerates before roaring loudly. He extends his jaw and unleashes a stream of fire that surrounds Greyshio with a ring of lava.

He's trying to reduce my evading options to a minimum, Greyshio thinks. There's nowhere to run.

He plunges his sword into the ground and puts his index and thumbs together. His body begins to emit a blue aura. Greyshio waves his hands over his boots to create flourishing bubbles. He then pulls his sword from the ground as thin lines of water begin to swirl around the blade. The flaming giant raises its fist for the final strike.

As his fist comes down to the ground, Greyshio backflips in time and shoots a stream of water out of his hand. The stream's pressure places him directly over the burning hand. He lands on his wrist and heavy steam begins to rise up.

Greyshio immediately runs up the giant's left arm. With every step he takes, thick layers of water form under his boots as protection. He reaches the giant's elbow and slices his arm clean off.

He hops to the right side of his body and lands on his forearm. Greyshio grips his sword with two hands and begins to run up the giant's body while dragging his blade up his arm.

He reaches his shoulder, jumps onto his collarbone, and slashes his throat. He then jumps straight up and slashes the flaming giant from the top of his head, down to the castle wall. Greyshio backflips off the wall's edge and lands back in the courtyard.

The flaming creature turns blue and explodes. Balthazar is unconscious as he falls out of the sky. Before he hits the ground, Bonnie swoops down and grabs him by his hood while grinding the rail. The rail leads them above the castle wall while Greyshio just watches them without giving chase.

Using a concealed device, Bonnie opens a portal far ahead of them as Balthazar awakes in a blunt rage. "Greyshio, you stupid motherfucker, no one humiliates me! I swear on everything you love, I will fucking kill you!"

As they vanish into the portal, Greyshio turns around and shrugs his shoulders. "Then I guess I'll be the one to kill you."

All the Demis sitting in the shadows watch him closely. He suddenly acts like he's about to attack them, making them cower.

Wind begins to blow in the surrounding area, putting out the flames. Greyshio looks up as his Uniship arrives to retrieve him.

Back in the town of Ragado, Demeseus lies awake in his bed with his mind troubled. The front door to his room opens with Jerried knocking on it.

"Can I come in?" Jerried asks.

"You did that ass backwards," Demeseus says. "You knock, say your name, then ask can you come in. What are you doing here?"

He approaches his bedside. "I told you I would be back. Have you given any more thought to what I said?"

"Yes, but I—"

"I think you know what the answer is, but I refuse to leave you alone until you admit it yourself. It doesn't mean as much unless you say it out loud. That way, you have no choice but to accept your own words."

"I... I have to do what's right by the world and not what's right by me. Even if it means destroying the one I love."

"You're still on that, aren't you? I honestly feel you're no longer fit to be a World Guardian. It's not all your fault, but part of it is."

Demeseus begins to laugh. "You're such a shithead. You come in here as if you know my whole life story. Who the hell do you—!?" Demeseus pauses, holding his side in pain. He grunts through the aches as his forehead moistens. "Who the hell do you think you are? There is no way this situation is my fault."

"Let me enlighten you on how this situation is your fault. As a World Guardian, you should not create a personal life in any shape or form. The thoughts and dreams of being happy are meant for humans without the responsibilities we have. Our hopes and dreams have been taken away. Trying to still live them out are foolish notions that will ruin you."

"When I met Michelle, I didn't know I was a World Guardian. But once I found out, I left her side. That was me severing my personal life. I knew that we couldn't be until I finished my job as World Guardian."

"Yeah, but when you saw her again, you decided to rekindle that love."

"Oh, come on! What were the odds she would be a member of the Righteous Kiras?"

Jerried wipes his face in frustration. "Even if she wasn't, many other horrible events could have transpired. What if she was killed by a Demi while you're out protecting others? What if she was captured by the Righteous Kiras in order to lure you into an obvious trap that you would have fallen for? You know why? Because you won't be thinking, you'll just be acting on impulse. Impulsive people get killed. You can't run around fighting according to how you feel."

"So what, we should just be mindless soldiers? Look, like I said, I didn't know she—"

"Don't feed me that bullshit again, Demeseus! Don't tell me that shit again! I don't want to hear you saying you didn't know she was a Righteous Kira because in the end, you didn't have to revive a dead relationship."

"You can't revive something that never died."

"The more I talk to you, the more I realize you have no idea what you want. You're constantly contradicting yourself." He begins to pace back and forth for a moment. "Okay, new plan. You're not leaving this town until you give me the answer a true hero should give. Even if you get healthy enough to stand and walk, I won't let you go until you say the right words."

"Fine, then here it is. The world is in danger, and it needs to be saved. This issue is bigger than me and my little problems. So I swear on the World Guardian title that I will get the job done, no matter what. Satisfied?"

Jerried smirks. "It looks like you are finally embracing your destiny. I'm going to hold you to those words. Don't forget what you just said because those words will always be what puts you back on track. With that being said and done, we shall never meet again. Fate guided me to you on that night, and I believe it was for more than to just save your life. I pray that when this is over, you find that happiness you deserve because between you and me, I can't help feeling you got a raw deal. You, and your friend."

"Hey, how do you know—?"

"Farewell, Demeseus. May the light guide your souls to a bright tomorrow."

Jerried puts his hand on Demeseus's shoulder. "Owe! You're electrically charged. That was a strong static cling." Jerried begins to leave the room with a grim face. "Hey, Jerried, stop acting like it's the end of the world. Besides, visiting hours aren't over." Although Jerried hears him loud and clear, he stops for a moment and proceeds out the room. "Jerried... Thank you."

While Demeseus remains on bed rest, Jerried sits in the darkest corner of town. He quietly sits in a bar drinking scotch as he waits for someone. Jerried swirls his drink a few times while looking into his glass. Suddenly, the booth rocks as a man wearing a black robe comes and sits in front of him.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Jerried asks.

"No, thank you," the robed man replies.

"Right, strictly business."

"He has been on my list for some time now. I was able to abide by your proposal since he is a small nail in my path."

"Then why bother?"

"Because a nail is still a nail. It won't kill you, but it can scar you if not dealt with. As discussed, I'm to give him twenty-four hours of no assault. He's down to his last six." The man lifts his head. "He'll be dead by morning." Jerried calmly drinks his scotch. "Your life for his, and the secret of the holy realm's power was the agreement. Where is it?"

"I never found that deal fair, but you were so bent on killing him that I had to give you more than my life. In the end, the best I was able to do was buy him some more time before everything here is reduced to nothing. You want to know the location of the holy realm? A place shielded from the dark and believed to be the ultimate holy power. You want to know where Elysium is. Fine, but that can't be discussed here." Jerried finishes his scotch and slams down his glass. "Come on."

The two men walk through the back door to the stairway leading to the roof. The robed man walks behind Jerried at a slow pace. Suddenly, Jerried loses balance and nearly falls. The robed man notices this, but says nothing.

They reach the roof and stand eight feet from each other.

Jerried hesitates to speak, "Lying to you would be pointless. I know you have an innate ability to tell when someone is lying to you. I've only been there once, and they know of you. They know of your actions. Whether I tell you how to get there or not, you'll end up finding a way eventually, wouldn't you?"

The robed man doesn't respond. "In order for a dark being to find this place," Jerried explains, "he'll have to seal many locations in darkness. After that, you'll have to connect all those hot spots and concentrate their power to create a dark gateway to the strongest level of darkness there can be... Elysium."

"Elysium? That's the realm of supreme light. How can it be the realm of ultimate darkness as well?"

"There are two sides to every coin. Same rule applies to the laws of life. The areas of Terra you've taken used to bask in the light. Guardians are the ones who kept that darkness at bay. If the realms were all pure light, then no matter who you kill, the darkness would not take over. So if you think about it, the stronger the light, the stronger the darkness, and vice-versa. Now you know how to get there. What do you plan to do with that information?"

The robed man puts his hand to his chin and nods. "That's not something I would share with you. But you have made me rethink my plans. All in all, this will accelerate things, if all goes as designed." He lowers his hand. "There is something I should tell you. Trusting me was obviously beyond your better judgment. And I would have liked to have honored that trust. But due to how another in my organization felt about the one you were trying to protect, I'm afraid that Demeseus will not see the sunrise."

"Damn it, Derexen, a deal's a deal! Don't go back on your word now!"

Derexen flicks back his hood and looks at him with an apathetic face. "I didn't. Your deal was with me. But if someone else wanted to kill Demeseus that wasn't involved in this predicament, then I can't help that."

"You double-crossing snake. You sent one of your cronies to do your dirty work."

"I told you, I didn't send anyone. He just heard about it from me and wanted to settle the score with his old-time rival. It's part of the deal I made with him. He will obey me obediently, but if a situation involves Demeseus, he is allowed to do as he pleases. So do understand, I didn't double-cross you. I'm just honoring a deal I made with someone I knew long before you."

Back at the hospital, Demeseus's door is cracked open when a cloaked man creeps into his room and quietly closes the door. He stares at Demeseus's bed and sees him still sleeping under the covers. He creeps over slowly and quickly yanks the sheets off the bed with his fist raised. To his surprise, the bed is empty, with nothing under the sheets except pillows.

As the wind begins to blow past Jerried, he looks at the ground and smiles. "I knew you weren't one to trust. That's why Demeseus is long gone from here."

Derexen tilts his head. "You're bluffing. I don't see how a man who can barely stand can flee this town. No—you're not bluffing. What would you gain by lying now?"

"Damn straight. You're right, though. He couldn't move until I paid him a visit today. Without him realizing it, I gave him over eighty percent of my life force. It's my sword's special ability. So I guess your friend won't find anyone there tonight."

"You do realize all you did was decrease your chances of victory."

"Let's be honest with each other for a second. The day I was taken to Elysium was the day I knew my time was short. And to have to fight someone like you of all people, I already knew that it would be an impossible fight to win." He slightly frowns. "Whether I was at full power or not. Unless you want to spare me?"

"Not likely."

"Oh, well, it was worth a shot." Jerried waves his hand and the severely cracked blade, Sorja, appears. "Even though this is your fight, I don't plan to make this easy for you."

Jerried quickly speeds toward Derexen. Before he collides into him, Derexen closes his eyes briefly and slowly opens them. At that moment, his eyes are completely black and a lightly burning pentagram scorches its way to the surface of his eyes.

Instead of slowing down, Jerried stabs him in the chest. Derexen coughs blood and slowly lowers his head. Without warning, Derexen's head turns upside down with his tongue flapping about in a deranged manner.

Derexen's body unexpectedly bursts into ravens. Jerried is about to step back until a thin black sword comes through his throat, spraying blood everywhere. The blood pours from his mouth as he gags and chokes on it. Tears run from his eyes as he is slowly lifted into the air. Derexen stands behind him, facing back to back with Jerried while holding a longer version of Catastrophe.

Jerried looks down at his sword and reverses the blade. He tries to thrust the sword into the side of Derexen's face, but before the blade can hit him, it shatters. His whole body hangs limp while Derexen, after nearly being stabbed, stands fearlessly poised in his fixed gaze.

He pulls his sword out of Jerried's neck, dropping him to the ground. He then puts his hand to his eye, grunting and sweating heavily. One eye reverts, but the other one is still black and orange. Alexus falls from the sky, landing in front of Derexen. The flames on the pentagram are slowly becoming unrestrained.

"That technique," Alexus says with concern. "Derexen, use Genesis. You're still not used to that power yet."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Derexen says in a grunting tone. "I can handle it!"

He covers both his eyes and groans louder, looking like he may fall over. A few seconds later, he removes his hands. Both of his eyes have returned to their original color.

"Why did you use that anyway? You know you shouldn't activate that unless you have Coda or Aquarius around."

Derexen tries to stand, but soon kneels down on one knee. "I feel if I don't, it may one day sneak up on me and devour all that I am. I would like to be in control of it as soon as possible, rather than using it in sporadic moments of fear. These eyes... are dangerous."

Alexus nervously swallows spit and changes the subject. "I have news. Demeseus is—"

"I know. He's gone. We need to pull more darkness into this world. The day is coming when our most important mission shall affect everyone's future." He stands up and looks over the darkening town. "We can no longer walk blind. We have to open our eyes."

The lustrous town of Ragado—is swallowed in black.
Thank you for reading. Every book is better than the last because I believe in progression. I try to improve anyway I can. Please feel free to continue this series and leave as many negative reviews as you wish. If this book series is something you wish to drop, please do so after telling me off. I hope they're positive reviews but I rather you're honesty more than anything else. Below I have listed the series in chronological order which are available at Barnes & Nobles, Amazon, Apple Books and Kobo. If you wish to chat with me at anytime on my socials I would HIGHLY appreciate it. Thank you again for your time.

Book Two: The Way To Dawn: Ascension Zero

Lost Story Volume 1: The Way To Dawn: Apocryphal

Lost Story Volume 2: The Way To Dawn: Remnants

Book Three: The Way To Dawn: Dominion of Eden

Book Four: The Way To Dawn: End of Days

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The Way To Dawn (paperback): <https://app.thebookpatch.com/BookStore/the-way-to-dawn/8b01a978-b53e-466f-a9fe-293d8a990849?isbn=9781620307397>
About the Author

Charles Lee has always been a fan of stories with greater meaning than what the surface portrays. His love for profound fantasy began at a young age. His growing interest in thought-provoking stories ranged from a gamut of different areas of literature. These are experiences he's cherished and evolved with for over a decade. It's his key drive for creating compelling, unique, philosophical stories.

When he decided to begin his own novel, The Way to Dawn, he originally had no intention of pursuing writing as a career. But when he fell in love with his own characters, he became inspired. He was so proud of his creations that he wanted to share this part of himself with others. In no time, writing soon became more than just his way of expression. It became his wings. 
