Third Person

~

"Last chance Demon Keeper, surrender now and we'll grant you a quick, painless death," Ahlai suggested in a calm lilting tone.

"I'll be fine either way, it's more fun if you struggle though," Beelzebub added.

Kira glared, her shoulders were tense and her eyes were observing the numerous Yokai beyond her attackers. The start of things was already proving to be very difficult.

'This doesn't look good,' she said to Troy and Kuro in their minds.

'How many do you think there are?' Troy asked back, Kira was very sure he was in the trees somewhere, staying out of sight as instructed.

'Maybe a hundred or so, but I can feel the dark energy pouring off them. Nightmare has used souls to make them more powerful," Kuro explained.

Troy shifted in his hiding place among the branches of a tall oak. He wasn't too far from the clearing, and the height granted him a view of the battlefield, it wasn't the best view but it would be sufficient enough.

'I'm using Thunder," he announced, raising his hands to start the attack.

'Troy it's too soon,' Kira hissed, doing so would be announcing his hidden presence to their attackers.

"You've got five more seconds, Demona," Ahlai called.

'We'll start on the offensive with another surprise attack and give them little time to react,' Troy told them, the skies rumbled, and he could feel the familiar spark of energy that accompanied the flow of his magic pulsing through him if Kira and Kuro were going to give their best and beyond in this fight, he was going to do same.

'Don't worry about me. Now, shield your eyes!' He said finally just as the glowing pillar of sparks and light descended, striking a good portion of the Yokai army.

Kira pulled Kuro to her side and lifted her cloak to shield their gazes from the blinding glare.

The air thrummed with energy once more, and the skies rumbled even louder.

"He's going for a second one?" Kuro said, probably not meaning to sound as questioned as he felt.

'Troy?' Kira reached out, but his only reply was another pillar preparing to descend toward where Ahlai and Beelzebub stood. Ahlai hopped gracefully out of the way while Beelzebub looked up a cold grin on his features as he raised his hands.

"Not bad Archer, but not this time," an obscenely large energy blast had already built up in his palm and with a flick of his finger the ball flew upwards and collided with the incoming Thunderstrike sending a pulse of heavy winds through the forest.

Troy leaned heavily against the trunk of the tree, teeth clenched behind closed lips in frustration, "Damn it," he whispered under his breath.

Kira dropped her cloak and surveyed the grounds, a good number of the Yokai had been taken care of by Troy's attack, and the rest were disoriented by the effects of its brightness but wouldn't last forever.

"We can't waste the opportunity he's given us, Demona," Kuro voiced as they got to their feet.

"Yeah, I know, I hope he's alright," She wanted to reach out but she knew he'd be low on energy now and he'd probably not respond.

"Have some fate in Angel boy," some Kuro's feather had already fanned out across the clearing, swiping at several Yokai as they spoke, "Let's do our part."

Kira watched him lick some blood from a feather that had returned, "Hold them still for me,"

"Will do, boss."

Ahlai sneered, mentally scolding herself as she watched Demona and the Dark One tear through their Yokai army. They should have noted the absence of the archer much earlier but they'd been too occupied with the two in front of them.

"Don't just stand there, Bel, find the archer and put him out of commission before he recovers," she hissed to Beelzebub.

"On it, it's you I'm worried about," he drawled as he climbed bolted past her into the forest, slowing only briefly to whisper into her ear, "The Keeper did break out of your hold the last time."

Ahlai scowled, lifting her hands to take off her mask. She threw the wooden item to the ground the seal symbols in her irises glowing bright red against the natural purple.

"I'm better prepared for them now," she growled under her breath as her gaze was quick to find the ones who stood against her master, "And this time you won't escape."

Kira felt the tug on her mind just as she was about to strike one of the Yokai Kuro had managed to take hold of. Darkness swamped her vision and a familiar house came into view.

She felt bile and fear claw up her throat but she wasn't going to give in so easily. She tore through the memory, sending out a wind a pulse of air to find Ahlai, and once she did shoot herself blindly in that direction, her arm pulled back until she was close.

"Damn! You!" She screamed, the darkness cleared and her fist made contact with Ahlai's midsection.

The punch sent the demon hurtling a few feet through the air before she managed to right her footing. She smirked, leering at Demona, "You've grown stronger."

"No shit," Kira snarled back, breath leaving her lips in pants, 'You okay, Kuro?'

'Yeah, thanks. I couldn't fight it,' she heard his pained response.

'I'll take her attention until Troy's back in action."

'But Kira,'

'You can handle the rest of the Yokai on your own, right?' Her eyes were carefully watching Ahlai's every movement, her body ready to retreat or attack at the slightest provocation.

'Count on it!'

That was all she could ask for, Beelzebub was nowhere in sight, meaning he'd probably gone after Troy who would be hard enough to find already. If the demons were confident enough to split their forces, they shouldn't be afraid to do the same as well, especially in these circumstances.

"Do you know what I hate most about my ability, Keeper?" Ahlai said coolly, hands reaching into the folds of her sleeves to pull out two of her golden kunai.

Kira drew her weapon as well, nerves on high alert.

"Tell me, Demona, what do you fear deeply, what rocks you to your core so intensely that your screams tears and agony that night were the most exhilarating I've come across in years!" Ahlai screamed before charging toward her, Kira managed to deflect the strike before leaping out of the way.

Her vision turned dark once more bloodied visions of Ares and Kat's faces flashed before her eyes, only to vanish as Ahlai planted a fierce kick to her face.

Kira recovered quickly, wiping at her split lip and sending chains after Ahlai who dodged each one and even sliced through one with a knife.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"I can't see them you know, the visions my abilities conjure, all I can do is feel the hopelessness and despair roll off you hapless mortals in waves," the demon scowled, "Such brittle creatures to break under just the right amount of pressure, physical," the blades of their weapons clashed once more, "Or mental."

Kira's vision darkened again, she cursed loudly and threw out a fist at full strength, sending Ahlai into the air, "You'll pay for that," she hissed, winds swirling around her as she kicked off from the ground and sent herself soaring through the air.

She made a swipe with her scythe, which Ahlai knocked out of her grasp, Kira countered with another punch which Ahlai caught in a tight grip.

"Was it family?" The demon asked with a mad glint of euphoria in her eyes which continued to glow as they hurtled toward the ground.

More visions of her family flashed before Kira's eyes as she struggled to claw her way out of the barrage of dark memories.

Stabbing pain in her abdomen brought her back, she looked down to see a kunai buried deep in there, but before she could respond more visions flooded her.

"Was it friends?" Ahlai asked again, with a swift twirl, she kicked Kira into a tree that cracked with the Keeper's impact.

Kira picked herself up, fighting to push through the images Ahlai conjured, a mountain of her friends' and teammates' corpses lay before her surrounded by a sea of blood that kept building up to her knees.

Taunting calls on her demons' voices called to her as she trudged through the dark red sea, but she knew it wasn't them. They believed in her, she knew that.

But why was it hurting more?

She stumbled in her steps, the doubts were starting to creep in. What if Troy had been right all along, that demons were never to be trusted no matter what they said?

'Keep moving, Kira!' she heard Lucifer urge through the void. Her head snapped up, adrenaline pumping through her veins once more. She could read people, it was one thing she prided herself in, and there was no way Lucifer and Mammon held anything but hope toward her.

The darkness faded, and Kira barely managed to raise her to block Ahlai's Kunai that had gone for her neck.

"Why are you still fighting, Demona? No matter what you do, no matter how hard you fight, at the end of the day, Master Nightmare will triumph!"

Kira pushed more force behind her block, pushing Ahlai a couple of feet. The dark need was struggling to close in on her again but she wouldn't let it, "Why are you all so determined to take our world?!"

"We simply want to see it burn, does a world that creates monsters like us deserve peace?" Ahlai answered, fingers flexing around the kunai in her grasp, "Do you know what demons are made from? Our need for blood, violence, for chaos, all come from the world we left behind. Pent up and left to swell in a cage of suppressed desires until we're birthed in a new plane.

A plane full of sorrow, and misery. A place we're told we truly belong, all because the world has damned us to be the monsters." Her eyes met Kira's alert gaze from across their new battlefield, far removed from the clearing. They were within the trees now, the stars struggling to pierce their light through the foliage.

"I didn't mind though, I'd always dwelt among the miserable, always longed to see suffering on the faces of others whether they wronged me or not," She charged and their blades met once more in vicious clashes, neither giving room to slip by, "Despair was always such a curious emotion, one minute you think everything is going to be fine until you suddenly realize..."

Kira's vision darkened as she was struck down.

"It's all hopeless."

***

Troy swung himself off the ground with the nearest tree branch that came into view. Narrowly missing the outstretched hand of one of Beelzebub's undead minions, and managing to keep himself out of sight of the demon itself.

"Come out, come out, archer boy! I'm sure you won't want to miss the downfall of your team." Beelzebub shouted into the forest, a mocking tone to his voice very obvious.

Troy remained quiet, glaring down at the hands of the undead minions that stuck up from several parts of the ground. The forest floor was no longer an option and leaves were sure to rustle if he decided to keep using the trees. Combat was the only other option.

"If our first plan to track you all down had worked I wouldn't have to go through this crap mission," the demon scoffed, throwing a large energy sphere wildly. It zoomed past Troy's hiding place, taking down a decent amount of the foliage.

The blond knew it was better to keep silent, but he was curious, so he got ready to spring, "What first plan?" He threw an energy sphere of his own. The demon scowled hitting the projectile away allowing him to miss the direction Troy had jumped next.

He chuckled, "You didn't know? We figured out your patrol pattern some weeks ago, the old one that is."

Troy could recall Kuro had changed their patrol pattern some time ago without giving much explanation to it, it was after...

"We sent some special bugs to inject you all with a venom that would allow us to track you, but by the time we got there, something had canceled it all out. Bummer. I'm all for intense battles and screams of agony but you kids are more trouble than it's worth."

Troy growled and stepped out of his battle place. His kitanas flared to life in his hands and he lifted his eyes to glower at Beelzebub, "Despicable monsters, all of you," they'd almost made him the cause of their downfall. All the extra work he'd been putting in to make sure nothing would hinder their quest and he'd been so close to failing without even knowing it.

'Failure is never to be tolerated,' his master's words echoed in his mind.

"Finally decided to show face?" Beelzebub grunted, his form shifted as more zombies began to pull themselves from the ground. Two horns sprouted from his head and his claws grew out to razor-sharp lengths.

"Whoever said I was running?" Troy scoffed, doing his best to recall what Kira had told them about how to make sure a demon was dead. She'd said the one named Lucifer had told her and although Troy didn't trust demons, they had nothing else to go on and he didn't want a repeat of the last time when the Demon had managed to flee the body.

'Lucifer says that we have to make sure they're pretty weak, it takes a lot of energy to separate from a body so once they're weak they can't do that. From there it's only a matter of striking the right place with a weapon that must have magic.'

'Where do we hit?'

Troy lifted one blade, pointing it at Beelzebub's chest, "I'm coming for your heart."

The demon smirked, "I'll be sure to repay you for the other time, bring it!"

***

The air trembled with sounds of intense slashes as Kira and Ahlai clashed in a battle of high-paced attacks and mental will.

Kira struggled not to stumble when the demon flooded her mind with bloody visions and Ahlai battling to keep up with the Demon Keeper's ever-increasing pace.

'Kira calm down, don't over-exert yourself.' Lucifer warned.

'I can't wait, the timing between the visions is getting smaller, and she's growing stronger too, if I don't stop her soon she'll thrash me.'

Chains sprouted from the ground spiraling into the night sky and chasing Ahlai who simply cut them down or used them to boost herself higher.

Kira chased, not giving in. They met in a flurry of fists and kicks before showing their weapons once again, blades and energies clashing in a flash.

The Keeper scowled as a smirk graced Ahlai's lips, "What the hell are you smirking for bi-"

The world turned dark, and all sounds seized, Kira found herself staring down at the body of the child she'd been forced to beat up years ago. Her fists were bloodied and she couldn't sense a pulse from him.

Dead.

There were screams around her, people she'd never seen before and we were watching her with horror, screams of horror everywhere. 'Monster! ' Someone shrieked.

Kira reached out, trying to calm the crowd, why was she so confused, she wasn't a monster, 'I... It's not-' she saw Ares, from all those years ago, he was looking at her with a look she'd never thought she'd see directed at her.

Pure unadulterated disgust.

The scene spun once more and she was before the door to the dining room of their home, everyone was their heads on the table, and blood spilled from their orifices. Loud clacks drew her eyes to the counter where Nightmare stood leering down at her.

'You should have left, Kira. You failed and led me right here, his does it feel knowing you made the wrong choice?'

Kira screamed, stumbling back and grabbing at her hair, desperately trying to convince herself that it wasn't real. But the smell of blood and corpses was everywhere, suffocating her and leaving her no room to breathe as she struggled to tear away from the nightmare.

There was a loud crash, she felt blood crawl up her throat as her pain flared up her back and pain wracked her body. She'd fallen all the way from the sky. She was disoriented, the damage to her head seeming intense.

A pained groan left her mouth as she turned over, trying to get to her knees but her body wouldn't let her.

'Get up, Kira.' She hissed to herself and started a crawl towards her staff that had fallen some feet away.

There was pressure at the back of her head, stopping her, visions poured in but before she could think of fighting them, Ahlai's foot drove her face straight into the dirt.

The Demon removed her foot from Kira's head, cackling gleefully, "Nothing has excited me this much in a long while, Demona, your pain is my pleasure but it's about time that we end this."

She reached down and pulled Kira's head up by the hair, trying to see past the Mask into what those swirling pools of green light really looked like. She put her kunai to the girl's throat, "I'm still curious, Keeper, what sucks the hope from your heart?"

Kira reached up an arm weakly, grabbing the demon by the hand that held her and managing to put a little bit of strength behind it.

She wasn't going to go that easily. She wasn't done yet, not until she was dead, and Kira didn't plan on dying anytime soon. She didn't have energy but she'd buy her body time to get it back.

"If you want to know so badly, demon scum..."

Ahlai felt something cold as small graze the skin across her wrist. The sensation was so small she'd probably have thrown it aside if she was so caught up by how Demona's green swirls turned purple, red seals gracing their center.

"You'll have to tell me yours first."