Chapter 24: Halcyon Years

Gishiki was sitting in the middle of the Dreadnaught Crusader's library, the room was torn apart, books thrown around the room, scraps of paper sprawled around the room, he couldn't handle what was going on after his encounter with Ochita, he was in the Chaos Realm, he couldn't just leave easily to see if his parents were really dead or not, for the first time in a long time, he felt like he couldn't go on.

Gishiki used Desiree as a way to keep himself up, but she was gone now, his best friend had turned against him, then it finally hit him, he was the cause of his best friend going insane. He looked down at his hands, they were shaking in fear of what could happen next, an unknown possibility. He closed his eyes, leaning his head back, thinking back to his final fight with his gang, they were terrorizing some weak looking students and then he showed up.

Kaiza Akuma, a well-known person among those who caused trouble, he was the Devil Kaiser, hell he felt more like an emperor, stronger than others, showing no signs of emotions, high above all. But that wasn't what he truly was, Gishiki realizing that Kaiza was as normal as any other human, his anger that he was chosen first, was all because of his disdain for what he did to his gang. But from spending his time with him, it made Gishiki rethink on how a hero truly should act, no high up there attention seeking, a true hero was someone who only acted.

From within Gishiki's spirit, a small ember, lit up to a small flame and then a voice rang through his ears.

"Please let me out, we have to save him!"

Gishiki opened his eyes, looking around the room, seeing no one, the voice continued ringing through his ears, he got up following the echoing voice, he didn't know where he was fully going, but his body moved on it's own, until he stopped in front of the door to the garage, he opened the door to see Angelic Chariot shaking side to side. He walked over to the vehicle, until he heard the voice again, but finally a different line.

"Arch, please let me go, I have to save him."

"Who, who do you have to save?" Gishiki asked.

"Kaiza, he is in a bad place, my abilities should be able to help him." Angelic Chariot said.

Gishiki was taken aback, Angelic Chariot could sense where Kaiza was.

"Let me go with you." Gishiki said.

"No you're needed here, this is something he has to do on his own." Angelic Chariot said.

Gishiki thought, a hero must act, while Jan and Sora could be useful here, he isn't to sure what is happening to Jan and Malum is still out, Gishiki looked down at his hands, closing his eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled, letting Angelic Chariot go from it's retains, then opened the hanger door. Angelic Chariot revved it's engine then drove out of the hanger, disappearing within a sand storm, as Gishiki closed the hanger door, leaning against it once it shut.

"I have to do some training for the upcoming fights." Gishiki thought to himself.

Jan's Bedroom

Jan was sitting on the side of his bed, Nora was asleep next to him, Jan was looking at his hand, seeing as the effect of Final Act, still slowly spreading up his wrist.

"Will this progress faster the more I transform?" Jan said to himself.

Nora let out a light sound, causing Jan to look back at her to see that she was still sleeping. Jan let out a light sigh, looking back at his hand, forming a fist, wincing slightly in pain.

"To run away and hide like the monster I was as a child, or to stay and fight like the Father figure who raised me." Jan thought to himself. "What is it that I truly want and what will be my outcome?"

Nine Trails: Floor Two Lust

Kaiza continued falling for what felt like forever, until something came into view of his view and what he saw was Angelic Chariot driving down toward him while driving on the wind.

"Kaiza link with me, it is your only hope, I will transfer the data to you." Angelic Chariot said into his mind.

Kaiza closed his eyes, pulling out Hell's Access II, placing it onto the top of his right hand, taking a Contract Card out, pressing it against Hell's Access, pulling his right hand back, forming a fist and thrusting it forward.

"Henshin!" Kaiza shouted.

Once his fist connects with the front end of Angelic Chariot, once this happen the motorcycle proceeds to break apart, Kaiza transforms into Vent, but his winged arms break down to reveal arms, he out stretched his limbs, letting the pieces of Angelic Chariot form around him, forming that of an angelic knight and falcon.

"This Gale Storm of love is used to smite the ones who use it for Lust, the Zephyr Knight roars loudly." Hell's Access II chimed.

Diavolo rotated himself backwards, until his feet were pointed downwards, raising his right foot slamming it down hard enough creating a strong air pressure, shooting him upward fast, in no time he appeared back at the entrance of the floor. Diavolo scanned the area not seeing the Demon-Like form of Be, but he could hear their howls in the wind, he ran toward the ledge of the platform, kicking off the ledge, using an extra kick of some strong air pressure, to launch himself forward, following the howls.

Shooting through the wind, Diavolo spotted Be scratching at the ground, Diavolo pulled out a Contract Card sliding it along Hell's Access II.

"Overload Finisher: Typhoon Bombardment." Hell's Access II chimed.

Diavolo pulled back both his hands, clenching them into fists, then started punching forward, creating strong pressure of air, launching them toward the demon, the air shot forward, hitting the demon knocking it back a bit. The demon growled toward Diavolo, as Diavolo lowered his hands downwards fast creating another hard air pressure, but this one sent him in a front flip front, launching him forward and he slammed both of his heels into the demon's head, knocking the creature down.

The demon howled in pain, then lunged at Diavolo, knocking him to the ground, but Diavolo put both of the palms of his hands against the creature's chest knocking it backwards, Diavolo raised his legs and jumped back onto his feet, stretching his body.

"It feels like this form is helping my breathing, more than the previous floor." Diavolo said to himself.

"That is because you are getting better, this was training for the Sinful Seven, this is now training for you." A voice said in Diavolo's mind.

"I kind of figured that … Wait, Kai is that you?" Diavolo said and asked.

"Yes but you don't seem all too surprised." Kai said.

"I mean we did that weird fusion thing, I grew my leg back and became Aneglo." Diavolo said.

"The Children of Destiny can be quite mysterious." Kai said.

"Tell me about it, but not now." Diavolo said, seeing Be getting back up. "Hey, I got an idea, but I will need your help."

"What might this be?" Kai asked.

"Are you linked to me and the suit or just me?" Diavolo asked.

"I'm linked through you and your powers … is that what you're thinking?" Kai said and asked.

"Yeah, do you think you can do it?" Diavolo asked.

"Only one way to find out." Kai said.

Diavolo closed his eyes for a bit, then said along with Kai.

"Mind and Body swap."

The yellow eyes of Zephyr Knight slowly became white as Kai was now in control, Diavolo took a more formal fighting stance, instead of Kaiza's free form fighting style. While Kai went ahead to fight the demon, Kaiza sat within his mind focusing on the mystery of his powers, trying to link with Be's mind. What felt like forever Kaiza was break into the mind of the demonic Be, what Kaiza found in Be's mind was an empty white room, with Be rolled up in the fetal position, Kaiza began making his way toward him, but the closer he got, a strong gust of wind would push him back.

"Be, I've come to help you!" Kaiza shouted.

"Why does it matter, everyone only sees me as the fool of the group, even the Sinful Seven never treated me right, I act out as really sexual, but I feel like I only embarrass myself even more." Be said.

"Have your siblings, or whatever they are to you, ever say they didn't like you, or did they ever treat you differently!" Kaiza shouted, pushing himself through the wind. "Who cares what others think of you, all that matters is how your true friends care for you, it only means they care deeply for you and like you for you!"

"Kaiza the Demonic form is going wild, I'm going to have to take it out!" Kai shouted into Kaiza's mind.

"Wait not yet, I'm thinking I'm getting somewhere!" Kaiza shouted back.

"See, you're not even paying attention to me!" Be yelled.

With the yell, an even stronger gust of wind started beating against Kaiza, sharp wind pressure would proceed to cut into Kaiza's skin and clothing, Kaiza winced in pain, but he stood his ground and started forcing himself toward Be.

"Don't you think you can push me away, pushing others away will only make it worse, I will keep reaching my hand out to you, so I can help and comfort you!" Kaiza shouted.

The wind was so strong, then Be could never hear Kaiza again, keeping to himself finally.

"They would never understand the pain from inside, it's best to keep it all to myself." Be said to himself.

"You sound like a damn new age goth song." Kaiza said.

Be shot up surprised to hear Kaiza so close, looking toward him, until his eyes went wide, what stood before him was the heavily cut up, bleeding and torn clothed figure of Kaiza.

"H-Hey did you get here, no human … oh that's right, you're not a human." Be said. "But what kind of idiot would physically hurt themself, for someone they barely know!"

Kaiza fell to his knees, wincing in pain, wrapping his arms around Be's neck, pulling his head into his chest.

"Then let's spend some time together to get to know each other better and help each other out." Kaiza said softly, placing his right hand on Be's head, starting to rub it.

Be said nothing, all he did was start bawling his eyes out, as the room and everything in it faded away, as Kaiza returned to his mind.

"Kai, are you ready to finish this?" Kaiza asked.

"Took you long enough, let's finish this together." Kai said, pulling out a Contract Card, putting it against Hell's Access II.

"Trinity Rush Duo EX: Blazing Typhoon." Hell's Access II chimed.

Diavolo spread open his arms, as the spiritual form of Blazing Beast Diavolo (Kaiza) shot outwards, Zephyr Knight Diavolo (Kai) brought his arms behind his back pulling out two wing-shaped scimitar, slashing them both forward creating sharp wind blades, which arched around Diavolo (Kaiza), cutting the demon-like leopard.

Diavolo (Kaiza) ran toward the demon, slamming both of his fists into the demon's side, the explosion and Diavolo (Kaiza) performing a backflip, letting Diavolo (Kai) rush under him with strong winds shooting him forward, with his right foot slamming into the wound Diavolo (Kaiza) created. Diavolo (Kaiza) lands on the ground, but creates an explosion under his feet, he performs a front flip, flipping over Diavolo (Kai) bringing a flaming heel down into the demon's spine.

The demon let out a blood curdling growl, until it slumped over, slowly fading away, revealing Be, who smiles at them, fading away as well, leaving behind a small glowing orb. The two Diavolos formed together, with the form breaking away, Kaiza knelt down picking up the orb.

"Goodbye my friend." Kaiza said softly.

Kaiza stood up, making his way toward the next gate with ease, pushing the large doors open, making his way down the stairs, the doors slamming behind him with the words appearing on it.

"Gate to Gluttony."

Oritsu's Noble House

Oritsu slammed his right foot hard against Akumu's chest, knocking him to the ground, going over to kick him repeatedly and yelling loudly.

"How dare the Lord of Madness treat me like this, I am a king, he should be bowing his head to me, who cares who he is, I should have him beheaded!"

Akumu stayed motionless on the ground, taking the kicking, without saying anything, even if he could, whatever the king wants, the king will have. Hikari was seated at the other end of the table, watching Oritsu kicking Akumu, she would stop him if she could, but on both sides of her were Oritsu's demon knights, one wrong move and they would have apprehended her, she took a breath and decided to speak up.

"So father, if you hate the Lord of Madness so much, do you have any plans to dethrone him?"

Oritsu's head shot toward her, with a glare in his eyes until, his face lighten up a bit, walking over to his elaborate chair at the other end of the long table, while the table was filled with a large amount of different kinds of food, Hikari wasn't that hungry, she only ate the major quantity, just being in the presence of Oritsu made her sick to her stomach.

"I have many plans to take him out, while the demon knights were created from the powers he leant me, they are mainly my creation, so they follow my will." Oritsu said. "I have the ability to create as many knights as I can, I can use them as an army to attack the Lord of Madness."

"Why are you telling me all of this, I could simply be easing you into telling me all of your secrets to use them against you." Hikari said.

Oritsu took his wine glass, leaning back in his chair, taking a sip from it, looking back at Hikari with an evil grin.

"And do what with it? You are only one person, I have an army, Akumu is my faithful soldier once again, neither you, nor your allies know the exact location of this place. So you tell me, what can one foolish person do against the odds of the many?" Oritsu asked.

Hikari kept her mouth shut this time, not because she was at a loss of words, she kept a calm expression but her anger was held back, her years of police work helped to hide this. From the corner of her eye, in a basket of bread rolls, she could see the faint glowing light, no one else seems to be able to see it, she motioned her right hand toward the basket, making sure the movement looks natural, but one of the knights grabbed her wrist, but she kept calm.

"What am I not allowed to go back for seconds?" Hikari asked, looking toward Oritsu.

He simply lightly jolted his head to the side, motioning for the knight to release her, Hikari put her hand into the basket, moving the unknown item into the sleeve and taking a bread roll, putting butter on it, to eat.

Back in Hikari's Room

Hikari was sitting on her bed, she pulled out the item she hid in her sleeve, looking at what looked to be a small knife, she turned it around between her fingers, accidentally pricking her finger of the tip of the knife, wincing in pain, she brought her finger to her mouth, sucking on it, to stop the bleeding. Her eyes began to shine brightly, as a scene appeared in her mind.

833 Years Ago

Akumu sat on his bed, while Hikari was on her knees behind him, taking care of the wounds that covered his back.

"I-I have to find a way to sneak into the throne room while Oritsu is away, so I can take back the family rings, they should be buried where the village once stood." Akumu said. "But I don't think I'll be able to with all the guards."

"I think I will be able to try and get them." Hikari said.

"But that is dangerous to do, what if the guards see through you?" Akumu asked.

"I will say my father requested them." Hikari said. "Plus you can't be the only one fighting our fate with my father, you can't be the only cool one when you tell stories to our child."

Akumu said there, processing what he just heard, until his eyes went wide, then he turned around to face Hikari.

"C-Child?" Akumu stuttered out asking.

Hikari gave a soft smile, while her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, moving one of Akumu's hands to her stomach.

"It is still too early to know for sure, but I just have a feeling that there is someone there." Hikari said.

Akumu looked at her stomach, then his hand, as tears dropped down onto his arms.

"I'm gonna be a father." Akumu said.

Hikari smiled softly, hugging his head.

"You will be a great father Akumu." Hikari said softly.

Present Day Oritsu's Throne Room

Akumu stood up slowly after receiving another beating from Oritsu's anger, his mind slowly cleared a bit more and uttered the words.

"I-I had a child."

Oritsu heard this, his anger boiling over even more, as he went back to beating Akumu.

"No, don't you dare think you can break from my power, you belong to me!" Oritsu roared out.

Hikari's Room

Hikari slowly returned to her senses, as she noticed the visage of Shi Hikari infront of her.

"You guys had a child?" Hikari asked.

"Yes we did." Shi Hikari said.

"But what happened to them?" Hikari asked.

"That is for another time, but I can feel the control over Akumu is weakening, you only have two more items left to collect, please save us from the fate of my father." Shi Hikari said.

Hikari gripped her hand around the knife, her anger for Oritsu growing, Shi Hikari smiled lightly, until she faded away.

Medical Room on Dreadnaught Crusader

The heart monitor that Malum was hooked up to, was showing signs of his life getting better.