Heartlessness and Fate

The wind sent Aziel flying into the tornado.

As he came in contact with it, he felt the tornado ripping his hakama.

Gio appeared again as he attempted to strike Aziel.

Aziel dodged Gio's attack, and the resulting wind flew through the tornado and destroyed more buildings.

"You're more durable than I thought. Not even my tornado can do much to you," Gio said as he turned back into wind, "no matter. I'm not here to defeat you. All I need to do is stall until I get the signal."

Aziel swung his scythe in the direction where he sensed Gio.

"Just as I thought," Aziel said, "I can't attack you with my scythe. It just goes straight through you."

"What exactly is your prana?" Aziel asked.

Gio let out a laugh as he said, "why would I tell you that?"

"I have to think this through," Aziel said, "when he dissolves, the wind speed always picks up. I know his prana has something to do with the wind. But he could stay as wind and prolong the fight. So, why does he exit that state?"

Aziel sensed Gio coming. He stood there and allowed the wind to hit him.

"These attacks are fairly weaker than the attack he used when he was in his actual body," Aziel concluded.

Aziel sensed his opponent once again coming towards him.

The wind pushed Aziel further into the air and, Gio appeared before him.

"Now," Aziel whispered.

Aziel swung his scythe, slicing Gio in the shoulder and sending him crashing into the ground.

"I'll end it here," Aziel said as he fell towards Gio.

"No, you won't!" Gio shouted as he vanished.

He reappeared near Aziel.

"Wind Prana: Wind Blade Shower!"

Aziel landed on the ground and began to sense many blades of wind above him.

"I hate how I can't see these attacks," Aziel said as he skillfully avoided the attacks and looked at Gio, who was on the floor staring at him.

"I think I've got you all figured out," Aziel smirked, "while you're in that wind state, your attacks are much weaker and, you can't do anything but increase wind speeds. You exit the wind state so you can unleash more powerful attacks. I could've attacked you with prana but, I wanted to gain an understanding of your abilities," Aziel said.

"I haven't had the best day," Aziel continued, "that kid pissed me off by mocking my parents and, now you decided to stall me."

"I'll punish you for wasting my time," Aziel said as his white prana erupted.

David stood with his scythe at Sergio's neck.

Sergio let out a deep breath and, his cold breath caused David's scythe to begin to freeze.

"This boy's prana is such a nuisance," David muttered.

David looked up and noticed that Sergio was gone.

He sensed Sergio coming towards him.

"I can't kill this guy," Sergio whispered, "but I'll have to force him to tell me where Koji is."

Sergio channeled some prana to his fist and swung at David.

Just before Sergio hit, David teleported and replaced himself with Koji.

David appeared beside the two brothers.

"That was close," David said with an evil grin, "thanks for taking the hit for me, Koji."

Sergio realized what had happened. He looked up at his brother, who stood before him with blood spewing from his mouth.

Sergio's hand had pierced straight through Koji's stomach.

Sergio removed his hand and froze Koji's injury.

"He won't die," David said as he looked at Koji's injury, "that boy may be dumb but, he isn't that weak."

Koji's eyes closed and, he stood still for a while before his legs gave in and, he dropped.

Sergio caught him before he hit the ground.

"That injury should quickly heal if he sped up his cells as I told him to. Koji's just fatigued from his battle with Aziel," David explained.

"You're heartless," Sergio spat as he watched Koji's injury slowly heal.

"You could say that," David said as he removed his top clothing revealing the hole in his torso.

"How ironic that someone who acts heartlessly would be missing a heart," Sergio said.

"You think I act heartlessly?" David said, "everything I've done is for a reason!"

"What reason? Sergio asked.

"It's for my family!" David shouted, "why is that I am in the wrong for wanting to avenge my loved ones?"

"Avenging your loved ones?" Sergio questioned.

"I'm Aziel's brother. I'm sure you've heard about the death of our parents. Since then, Aziel has done nothing but sit around. But, I have been working on a plan to get my revenge. And if living a life of heartlessness is what it will take to avenge the people that cared for me the most. Then I am ok with that."

"Besides," David sneered, "I can live on fine without a heart."

Rome held Raijah and Teo by their shirts.

"Go get the princess," Rome said to Kan, "I can take these two."

Kan dashed away and began to sense Cora's prana.

Raijah and Teo struggled but, they couldn't break free from Kan's grasp.

"We can't let them get Cora," Raijah said as he continued to struggle.

Raijah shot a lightning bolt at Rome, who dodged the attack.

"That nearly hit my afro," Rome joked.

"How did we lose so easily?" Teo said as he attempted to break free.

"It was your fate. Fate is absolute," Rome replied, " Your fate was sealed as soon as this fight began."

"Dark Prana: Dark Beam!"

Dark prana swirled around Teo's sword. A beam fired towards Rome and, as he dodged it, he released Teo and Raijah.

Teo and Raijah turned around and dashed in the direction of Kan.

Rome appeared ahead of them as he said, "why are you guys trying so hard to defy destiny?"

"Move out the way!" Raijah shouted as he dashed towards Rome.

Rome quickly appeared behind Raijah as he grabbed Raijah's shirt.

"We were once like you," Rome chuckled, "Gio, Kan, and I were all peasants who believed we were capable of more than our fate had decided."

"Your destiny gets decided at birth," Rome explained, "so things like your talents and abilities are also determined at birth."

"We don't care about your small talk," Teo said as his dark prana erupted. He dashed at Rome and, Rome effortlessly dodged his attack and kicked Teo's sword away.

"Was that the prana of a devil?" Rome asked as he kicked Teo into the ground.

"I have not used my prana once in this fight and, you guys have not been able to keep up with me," Rome said, "you cannot change that."

"We will," Teo said as he struggled to stand.

"You cannot change fate. I can explain why," Rome said.

"Us elite guards grew up in the country of Solaris. Our parents did not care about us and did not bother to look for us when we left the house. The three of us had been friends ever since we were born and, we ran away when we each turned sixteen and got our prana awakened. Our destination was Avalon, a country known for its peasants. We thought it was the ideal place for us to live. We cared for each other and made a living through hard work. We also trained our prana as a sort of hobby."

"During our training, we found out that we were each born with talent and decided that we could use that talent to better our lives, but as I said before, you cannot change fate. A peasant will live a life of peasantry and, a royal will live a life of royalty. These factors did not stop us. We continued to search for ways to manipulate our fate. We wasted many years of life as we awaited the day that our talent and training would pay off. That day never came."

"Take our lives as an example," Rome said as he stared at Raijah, "we were born with talent and prowess for prana, and to this day, we live a life of peasantry. We pushed the limits of our fate and, although we aren't your usual peasants living on the street. The royals still view us as such. No matter what we become, we are still peasants in comparison to the royals. That is fate."

Kan appeared with Cora slung over his back.

"Now," Rome said as he threw Raijah into the ground, "you still have time to push the limits of your fate. You remind me of myself when I was younger, so I'll spare you. But do not make the mistake of believing that one who is born a peasant can become more."

"Before I let you go, I'll make sure you don't make my mistake," Rome said as he punched Raijah into the ground, causing him to bleed at the mouth.

Rome prepared another punch, and Teo got in the way, taking the blow to the chest for Raijah.

"W-why?" Raijah stuttered.

"You stopped me from going down a path of darkness," Teo said as he bled, "the least I could do is take a punch for you."

Teo's eyes closed and, his exhaustion knocked him out.

Rome lifted Teo and said, "this should be good enough for Gio. He's never been able to experiment on a devil."

Kan nodded his head in agreement.

"What an interesting sword," Rome said as he looked at Teo's black sword, which was floating beside Teo even though Rome knocked him out.

Rome walked over to a tree and plucked it out with his free hand.

He threw the tree high into the air and blinked. The tree exploded, causing a loud noise which was a signal for Gio.

Raijah dashed at Rome.

Rome dodged the attack and grabbed Raijah's arm.

"This is your last warning," Rome said, "get lost."

Rome threw Raijah into the ground and, he and Kan dashed away.

Raijah, unable to move, watched Rome, who held Teo, and Kan, who carried Cora.

As he watched his friends get taken away, tears ran down his cheeks, "even with my prana," Raijah sobbed, "I'm still so weak!"