_-_-AliceArianRose-_-_ Hello everyone, It's come to my attention that there is some confusion with the story. If you haven't noticed or your new then allow me to explain what's going on. This is a continuous story starting form my first story Stray Cats, then Lost lord and lastly Fallen Hearts. If you want to get a full grasp of all the characters that are in this story you might want to start from the beginning. Thank you.-_-_
Twins of Blood and Fire
-_-_-Itsuma-_-_-
In the large house in Midcross, Itsuma the king of the Blood Gods sat with his wife and children in the living room. It was late in the evening and time for his twelve year old kids to learn about their legacy.
"So our grandmother was a goddess?" The boy asked.
"Yes, but she was more than that. She had the power of all the elements and even control over light and darkness."
"Wow." The boy mused and looked to his sister. "What do you think about her?"
"I haven't heard enough yet to form a proper opinion of her." She answered as she adjusted the frills on her Victorian style dress. "Do continue father."
"She came from another world and made a home for herself here. But when she came to this world there were many things unresolved and those problems came to haunt her. Mother had left behind a demon that she loved, his named was Sesshomaru. He is incredibly powerful and in his world he is a demon lord. One day he and his companions came to this world and mother had to face her unresolved problems head on. She had to face the darkness that had been growing within her since the day she came here. And in the end she was successful but that brought about a choice. On that she wasn't ever suppose to know the terms for. She was to choose which world she wanted to stay in, without knowing that she decided to go back. And in doing so, like all the other visitors here, she forgot all about this world and everyone she left behind."
"So she has no idea she has two grandchildren?" The girl asked bluntly.
"No, as far as she knows all she has in one son named Shin."
"That's really sad." The boy stated.
"It was her choice; she should have been made aware of the circumstances." His twin argued.
"Calm down you two." Itsuma smiled. "One day, maybe she'll come back and you can meet her."
"That is very slim chance father."
"Claudia, there's still hope you know."
"Yes a small speck. You are such an optimist Cainen."
"Okay you two," their mother smiled. "Here Claudia I want you to have these." Their mother, Rumi, gave her daughter a box full of silver bracelets. "I trust you know what to do with these."
"Of course, mother."
"And this is for you Cainen." Itsuma placed a silver chain around his son's neck. "Take good care of this okay?"
"Sure."
Claudia slipped on six of the bracelets and hung one onto her brother's necklace. "Now we match."
He smiled. "Yeah."
"Okay then it's about time we get going."
_-_-_-Sakuya-_-_-_
The goddess sat nervously as she watched her son spar with Sesshomaru. Shin had come a very long way in just a few years. He can control his powers much better. Not only wind but the power that he inherited from her, he was more powerful than any demon his age. He had long black hair and endless silver eyes. It has been months since he demanded to train with Sesshomaru. The demon lord didn't pull his punches with the boy he just fought him. No matter what Shin would pick himself up and fight back as best he could. And from that he grew stronger faster than they had imagined.
Both Kaze and Tsuzuha came and joined Sakuya on the porch.
"He has improved a great deal." Tsuzuha said with a smile.
"Yeah, he has but I'm a little confused."
"About what?" Kaze asked.
"I don't know why he's been training so hard. He just demanded it out of the blue. That's not like him at all."
"I've never thought about it before but your right." Rin commented. "Shin did mention a name but I can't seem to remember it."
"A name?"
Shin was whipped over the top of the castle by the demon lord's fist and came crashing down into one of the spare rooms. "Ow!"
"Are you okay Shin?" Sakuya hollered.
The boy came walking out into the large entry way holding his shoulder. "I'm fine mother, can't say the same for the roof though."
"Shin listen I don't think you need to train so hard. You're only seven."
"But I have to keep this up! If I don't he'll die!"
"Who will die?" The little demon went quiet. "Shin."
"I've told you this a hundred times and none of you ever remember. I have to save my brother, Itsuma."
"Shin, you don't have a brother." Kaze corrected with a smile.
"Yes I do. His name is Itsuma Rahmore he lives in a world called Midcross. He has an adopted brother named Kibe and a sister named Maria. Come on mother you have to remember him."
"I don't Shin, you must have dreamt all this up."
"NO I DIDN'T!" He looked down at his feet with his fists clenched. "Kizuyo told me that I have the ability to see things, almost like he does. I know you have these weird dreams about him mom. And when you wake up you can't remember him and you feel sad. Itsuma is real and soon he'll need my help. But if one of you doesn't remember him or the others soon it'll be too late."
"Shin-san, calm down, Itsuma-san will be fine he's strong…" Rin's eyes widen. "I remember him. He has red eyes."
"Yes! You remembered Rin!" The entire sky went dark and a large door opened. Beyond that was a portal that drew everyone in before closing.
-_-_-_ The House-_-_-_
Itsuma and his children walked out of the forest, both he and his daughter looking angered. Rumi sat in a sitting room with one of doors leading outside opened. All of them entered and Cainen ran into his mother's arms.
"What happened?
"It seem as though the clan doesn't approve of their new prince." Claudia stated in a calm voice. "Those fools had the nerve to insult him, repeatedly. So I took it upon myself to punish them."
"It took me an hour to calm her down and keep her from killing them. For some reason they don't consider Cainen a Blood God. They say he is more of your genes because he refused to drink blood. To be honest I was about to let Claudia do what she wanted."
"There's nothing wrong with me." The boy said in sadness. "I'm fine the way I am…"
Rumi hugged him tightly. "There isn't a single thing wrong with you. You're perfect the way you are and those people you met just don't understand you yet but they will. Just know that they'll be more people out there like that so be strong okay?"
He stood back and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I will mother."
Claudia held his hand and he smiled. "He won't be alone."
"I know, now why don't you two get ready for bed." The twins went off to their rooms and Rumi focused her intense blue eyes on Itsuma's. "So…WHO THE HELL HAD THE GULL TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT MY BABY?"
Flames erupted around her as she glared at him. "Some idiots, trust me Claudia handled it. She's a lot like you in that respect. She knows how to handle herself."
"AND WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?"
He smiled. "I was trying to catch up with her, she's a speedy one. And believe me when I say that they'll be worse off tomorrow, I'm making sure of that."
"Good, cause otherwise I'd be paying them a visit." Her flames vanished.
"I know don't worry, I can handle a few punks."
"Good, so on to something else. How are you holding up?"
"Fine, the blackouts have stopped and I have some new abilities. I still can't remember what was happening though."
"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that everything is back to normal."
Itsuma laughed. "Define normal again?"
"Right bad choice of words" she kissed him. "So, what do you wanna do?"
"Don't start this again, besides…we seem to have an audience."
Just outside the blonde All God stood and waited. The couple walked to him. "Sorry to interrupt." He was dressed in his god robes that were too long and dragged behind him and draped over his feet. "I have some good news."
"What is it? I haven't seen you in months Cainen's been asking for you." Itsu spoke,
"I've been busy; the gods are really disagreeable I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet."
"Busy with what?"
"That's what I want to talk to you about. You see, the thing is I've been trying to make sense of why they sent Sakuya away. She's like a sister to me and sometime during this huge and nearly endless debate I had a vision. And she's coming back."
"What?" Rumi gasped.
-_-_-_The Twins Room-_-_-_
Cainen tossed as he struggled to sleep, that was when Claudia entered the room.
"I know you can't sleep." She sat next to him. "Stop worrying about it."
"I can't help it. We're the same age but my powers haven't appeared." He pulled the covers off and sat up. "It's not fair to you. Every time I get in trouble you have to rescue me."
"There isn't anything wrong with that. Besides even if you did have powers I would still come to help you."
"But…what if I…never get my powers?"
Claudia sat with her cold brown eyes on her other both of them with long black hair; hers' in long winding rivets and his long and wavy. They were nearly perfect images of each other. "Give me your hand." He obeyed and held her hand. They had been holding hands for as long as either of them could remember. It was a way of communication and comfort. "You have power Cainen, you shouldn't stress over it. And even if it never emerges I will always be here looking after you."
"Thanks Claudia…"
"Get some rest." She curled up under the covers and faced away from him.
Cainen smiled and did the same and fell asleep almost immediately. He entered into a dream where he was standing in front of a small two floor cabin in the snow. In the top left window a blurred image stood watching him. The moment he stepped towards the house everything around him vanished. He was in the woods near his home his father, mother and friends all standing nearby. It was dark but above him he could see a light. He reached for it and it became a gateway, and from it came a voice.
"Name me…and my power shall be yours…"
And suddenly the dream faded and left nothing but darkness around him.
-_-_- Itsuma-_-_-
"So let me get this straight: you were arguing with the gods about my mom when you suddenly had a vision she was coming back?" the Blood God repeated.
"Yeah."
"And you're sure about this?"
"Yes I am, I know she's coming back. First and I felt the portal in her world open."
He sighed. "So when is she getting her?"
"I thought you would be happy? Any time now."
"I'm not sure how to feel about this. The gods here seem to have a really messed up sense of humor. They give you something and snatch it away in an instant just to see you squirm."
"Not all of them are like that Itsuma, there several gods that are on your side me being one of them. Just wait here I need to get changed."
As he left Rumi stared at her husband. "Itsu, what's wrong?"
"I don't know, I just have this really uneasy feeling about this. Almost like mom showing up is the final piece of a puzzle, I can't really figure it out yet."
"You will," She held him. "I won't let anything happen to you."
"I know."
_-_-_-Forest- Midcross-_-_-_
Shin and the other found themselves in a dense forest after spilling out from the dark portal.
"Is this it?" the young demon asked as he looked around.
Sakuya closed her eyes and took it all in. "Yes…this feels like home."
"Where's the house?" Rin asked.
"I don't know I've never been to this part of the forest…it feels different than before."
"And what would you know?" a man dressed in black walked towards them. His eyes crimson red and his hair black. The powers emanating form him was dark and murderous. "Look what I found, a couple of punks creeping around in the woods."
"And just who are you?" Kaze asked a smirk on his face.
"I don't see the point of telling a dead man what my name is." As he raised his hand up the dark power that surrounded him grew and formed into thousands of spikes. Just before he was able to launch his attack he froze in place.
"You have horrible manners Devlin." Another man with pure white wings approached. "Please forgive my colleague. He's been looking for a fight all day."
"Damn it, Angel, I can handle this." The man struggled against an invisible force.
"You obviously can't. So may I ask what you all what your business is here?"
"We're lost." Shin stated. "We're looking for the house."
"And how is it you know about our home?" he gave them all a hard look.
"Itsuma Rahmore is my son." Sakuya added.
The angel's eyes went wide and he knelled. "Forgive us for our rudeness."
"It's alright, it was a mistake."
"We shall guide you to the house. My name is Angel and this is Devlin."
The man in black looked ashamed and bowed at the waist. "So what now?"
"Go ahead of us and make sure the way is clear."
"Sure." Devlin sprouted wings and flew off in seconds.
"Follow me, Dev, is clearing a path for us but stay close."
They all followed the man into the dense, dark forest trusting that he would led them to the house.
"So Angel, how'd you come to live at the house?"
"It's quite a tale really." He smiled. "Our story begins thousands of years ago when the cat demons had a there first king. His name was Panther. Devlin and I had escaped our separate worlds. I from Higher Ground and Devlin form Lower Ground. Both he and I formed a contract and almost immediately we were sealed away by Panther." Devlin fell from the sky and walked beside them. "Anyway we were released from our bondage by the power of the new king, Echo."
"Needless to say we wanted our revenge but Panther had gone missing for nearly as long as we had been sealed." Devlin continued. "So we decided to attack this new king. Echo lived in this house with demons and other things. We found him easily enough and tried to fight him. But we got interrupted." He laughed.
"Yes, there was a young boy that joined in. He challenged us to a formal battle. So we gave him a week and came back to fight. He was strong, and managed to keep both my partner and I from Echo. We were nearly beaten when Panther appeared and attacked the boy. Needless to say we summoned what strength we could to fight him off. But it was the boy's mother that ultimately stopped him. After things settled down the boy invited us to live with him and his family. It was the first and most genuine act of kindness we had ever seen since coming here."
"The funny part about that is this kid didn't have any powers and still beat us and he was ten." The devil laughed.
"That's amazing."Shin smiled. Is that the house?"
Peeking just beyond the branches was one of the doors. "Yes, young one that is it."
As the approached the tall, buildings they noticed a group of people sitting on the grass. The two women, Rumi and Maria, and three men, Itsuma, Kibe and the All God stating out into the forest and waiting for them. Kibe was the first one to his feet and he and the other ran to the goddess. The cat demon was the first to get to her and hug her tightly.
"Mother." He said nearly in tears. "I missed you."
"I missed you too Kibe." She smiled as he let go and let Maria greet her.
"Your boys truly are a handful mother." She smiled and hugged her. "I'm glad you're back."
Then the All God stood before her. "Hey Saku."
In an instant she punched him with all the force she could muster and sent him flying halfway to the house. "YOU BASTARD! You have some nerve. After all this time, you should have told me about the choice I had to make! What kind of brother are you, Max?"
He sighed and got up and appeared in front of her. "We were given a choice too. Either not tell you and make your choice or tell you and you get sent straight to Purgatory and sealed away. We all did what we had to…and I'm sorry it made us betray you."
"You…I didn't know about all that…Look, Max you ever do anything like that again and I will kill you!"
He smiled. "Yes ma'am."
Itsuma stood off to the side holding Rumi's hand when Sakuya came to him. "Hey mom."
"Hey…so um…how are things?"
He laughed. "Things can't be this awkward…I'm fine. Oh, let me introduce you. Mom this is my wife Rumi."
"Hi Mother." She smiled and waved.
"You!" She pointed at the blue haired girl before her.
"Y-yes ma'am?"
"From now on…you call me Mom or Sakuya." The goddess winked. "Got it?"
Rumi gave a big smile. "Yes, mom."
"Eee, Itsu she's so cute, you lucky dog." She turned to the others. "So what else did I miss?"
"You have grandchildren." Itsuma stated.
"I-what? You mean you two…?"
"Yep, you have two beautiful, talented grand kids."
She was speechless, and just stared at them. "Oh by the gods…I- I'm so proud of you." Sakuya hugged them both.
"They're asleep right now but you can meet them in the morning."
"I can't wait." She turned to the others.
"Hello, brother." Shin smiled.
"Hey." He flinched. "Sorry I have to get use to that."
"It's alright I understand."
The Blood God's eyes fell on Rin and he smiled. "Wow, you've grown Rin."
"Is that a bad thing?" she combed her hands through a loc of her long dark hair.
"No, you look beautiful." He winked. "Hi everyone else."
"Itsuma." Sesshomaru called before lashing his whip at him.
In an instant the Blood God vanished and reappeared across the yard. "Your slower… it's only been seven years to you. Are you really that out of practice?"
"That was only a warning."
The demon charged at Itsuma who dodged the assault yet again. The half god sped around the demon's swift attacks and smiled. Both he and Sesshomaru were now evenly matched. The demon lord stopped and stared at him. "Is that it then?"
"You've gotten stronger, there's no point in fighting you at this moment."
He laughed. "Yeah I guess you're right besides you guys need some rest after all this excitement. "Angel, show them their rooms."
"Of course, please follow me." They followed Angel and Devlin into the main house. On the third floor they stopped and found empty rooms. "The rooms on the left are free. Goddess Sakuya you may stay in your old room. It was kept exactly as you left it in the event of your return. Do make yourselves at home."
"Yeah, let's get some rest while we're here, Angel. I'm beat."
"Yes, it's about time we rested for a change. Until tomorrow have a good rest." They both bowed and walked downstairs.
-_-_-_ The Next Morning-_-_-
Sakuya and the others woke up to the sounds of raised voices. As the all went downstairs to investigate they saw Arequin standing outside the open door with his usual stern face and arms crossed. Everyone in the house was in the large dining area yelling over each other. But as the angel of death raised his hand all of them fell silent.
"I am not here to hear your complaints nor do I wish to. I have work that needs to be done so I will make this brief. As I have already told you the man in Third's position is on the loose yet again, there are very few places he could be and at this very moment we are searching for him. I was told to that the ones in the most immediate danger were those of this household. So not only am I allowed to give the Mark of the Higher Ground but also take said gift away. And that is precisely what I have done. Uru, Shadow and Dona will no longer be under the Mark's protection I have instead given these Marks to Sakuya, Kaze, Rin and Shin as is mandatory. Now that is all I have to say on the matter."
"Fine, by me." A cat demon with silver eyes shrugged. "I can handle myself just fine."
"Uru is right we can't keep depending on Arequin's protection all the time." Dona agreed.
"I never saw any point in me having protection anyway." A blonde man with dark eyes stated.
"Thank you for understanding. I'll be leaving now." And with that he vanished.
"What an ass." Ishio huffs in boredom. "Oh well that just means less of you to worry about then."
"If you were listening you little pest you'd have noticed that we're still very much alive." Shadow glared in his direction.
"For now anyway."
"The upstart is simple jealous that he doesn't even have the power to kill a demon of a lower status like you." Maria's father, Lucas smirked. "Not that I'm insulting you Shadow."
"I understand, I'm one of the lowest classes in existence that still has a human form. And this little pest is so close to reaching your status yet he can't even beat me."
"I'll be a devil soon enough."
"Oh I doubt that, upstart."
"My name is Ishio, old man."
"Not important upstart."
"Look this isn't important, Third is out there somewhere and if we learned anything from his last attempt he has a plan." Itsuma spoke up. "The thing is now that mom is back he could be after her."
"But last time he said he wanted to ultimately kill you." Ken stated. "So that not only puts you in danger but your children and Rumi-chan."
"I'd like to see that bastard try and lay a hand on my kids." Both Rumi and Itsuma said as their anger flared.
"Calm down you two there's no way we'd let that happen." Max motioned to them. "We have to look out for each other just as we always have. We're a family, and that is what we do."
"Agreed." Sakuya chimed as she and the others entered the room.
Everyone agreed and began to bombard the goddess with questions about her time away and her new son. In the middle of the Q & A Itsuma and Rumi dragged her away. Sesshomaru and the others followed out of curiosity.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see." The half god smiled as they made there what to the opposite side of the house. "Ready?"
"Sure…"
He opened the door leading outside where she saw to children both with long black hair. The boy sparing with the angel that led them to the house, while his sister sat on a white blanket wearing a yellow dress with numerous ruffles, frills and lace, drinking tea. Two men sat with her and served her tea and sweets, Drac and another vampire with white hair.
"Well?"
"Those two are…your kids?"
"Yeah, want to meet them?" She nodded and they led her to the young girl.
"Brother, come and join me if you would."
"Sure." He stopped fighting and ran over to this sister's side and sat next to her.
"Hey kids." Rumi smiled as they reached them. "We have some people that would like to meet you."
"Very well." Claudia held out one of her hands and Drac helped her up. While Cainen stood and took his place beside her. She curtsied. "It's truly a pleasure to meet you, I am Claudia Rahmore."
"I'm Cainen Rahmore, nice to meet you." He smiled.
"Sakuya." The goddess struggled to speak. "I'm Sakuya."
The boy's eyes went wide. "Grandma?"
"Yeah." He ran to here and gave her a big hug.
"I was hoping it would get to see you!" he let go and looked at the others. "You must be the demon lord Sesshomaru, and Rin, and Kaze and Shin! Dad's told me so much about all of you! I'm glad I finally get to meet you."
"So am I."
"This is the boy we were telling you about."Devlin spoke. "He's a tough one."
"You guys were talking about me?" he blushed. "Why?"
"Goddess Sakuya asked us how we came to live here. It's rather difficult to tell her without mentioning you." Angel smiled.
"I…I didn't really do anything."
"You're far too modest, Cainen." A cat demon approached from the forest his fur the color of ash.
"Uncle Echo! Where have you been?"
"Home getting chewed out by Panther for wanting to stay here instead." He sighed. "Anyway I wanted to come here to see how my favorite twins are."
"We are all fine and well. Drac I wish to continue with tea. Grandmother and friend feel free to join me."
"You have Drac serving you?" the goddess gasped.
"She can be very persuasive."
"Kalix, see to it that they have snacks and tea."
"As you wish." The other man said as he poured everyone tea and made plates of cupcakes, cookies and various other sweets. Once he was finished he sat next to Claudia and remained silent.
"So Claudia what kind of tea is this?" Rin asked.
"I thought it best to have green tea today." She said as she stared at Cainen preparing himself to spar.
"Are you worried about him?" Kaze asked. "I mean he doesn't have any powers right?"
"He has powers; they're just sleeping right now."
"So you have powers don't you?" Shin asked.
"Of course I do."
Cainen stood at the ready with Echo, Angel and Devlin opposing him. It was a free for all battle just like the first time they fought. "I'm ready whenever you guys are."
"Very well." Angel stepped forward and walked towards the boy. "Let's begin."
Devlin ran to Echo, his large bat-like wings open and power radiating from them. Angel summoned a long short and swung it toward Cainen, creating a barrage of spikes. Both the boy and cat demon ducked and charged for their attackers. The young prince was able to land a hit on the angel and he quickly ran as fast as he could away from him. Deadly spikes rose from the ground and quickly gained on him. The ash grey cat put his paws to the earth and lifted up patches of rock the Cainen ran on as they rose higher into the air.
"Cainen! Jump!" the boy's uncle warned as the spikes were only inches from him.
He launched himself off one of the platforms and fell. Echo ran with incredible speed to the aid of his nephew. And the devil blocked his path without stopping he just smiled. And Devlin stared at him in shock. "You bastard, you didn't…"
"I did." He replied as several bolts of lightning came crashing down toward his opponent.
Angel appeared next to him and held his sword skyward and the bolts were drawn into it. Echo caught Cainen and set him on the ground.
"Nice catch." The boy smiled at him.
"Still good to go?"
"Yeah, somehow I remember beating them being a whole lot easier."
"So do I but they just keep getting tougher." The angel hurled the lightning at them but Echo held up his paw and it vanished. "So what to do?"
"Let's finish this quickly."
"Okay," He removed the charm from his neck. "Hold on to that for awhile."
"Um…okay."
Echo smiled and vanished leaving Cainen alone to face his two friends.
"Damn kid he just left you?"
He shrugged. "I guess."
"Would you still want to continue?" Angel asked.
"For a chance to beat Devlin up? Sure!"
They laughed. "Very well."
As they advanced on him the charm in his hand began to heat up. Echo reappeared and slammed his paws to the ground again. The charm sparked and Cainen dropped it. A tornado of flames erupted and encircled their two opponents. "Do you give yet?"
"It's your call Angel." Devlin's voice questioned.
"Yes I think it's time we call it because I might start taking this battle seriously."
"We give!"
The flames dissipated and the only thing that could be seen was Devlin's wings wrapped around himself. As he spread them Angel came into view. The devil was clinging tightly to his partner protectively.
"Wow, I thought you guys were hurt or something." Cainen ran over to them.
"No way I'm a devil that means I'm fireproof."
"That's all well and good but how long do you plan on holding me like this?" Angel questioned.
Devlin quickly let go and stepped back his face colored pick. "S-sorry."
Sweeping his eyes over his friend. "It's no problem really just two things you were holding me very tight and the other you're hot." Echo, Devlin and Cainen stared blankly at him for a moment. "Don't tell me I phrased that wrong again…"
"Um, kinda…but don't worry about it." Echo smiled.
"The language on this planet changes so rapidly."
"Well that's all for today." The boy smiled as they all headed to the blanket.
"For a boy with no powers you can fight really well." Shin complemented.
"That isn't much of a mystery. I may not have any abilities but my body is very abnormal. So I have physical strength."
"Brother."
"Yeah?"
"I don't mean to be intrusive but that dream you've been having is really odd."
"Eh? How long have you known about that?"
"Since you began having it four years ago."
"Yeah I know, but it's nothing to worry about."
"Sorry to say, but are you two really twins?" Rin asked.
They looked at each other for and turned back to the others with that same blank expression. "Of course we are. We are one and the same. Two halves to a single whole, sharing the same thoughts and experiences." They spoke in unison. "Does this answer satisfy your curiosity?"
"Y-yes."
Cainen slipped back into his normal bright and hopeful expression while Claudia stayed the same. "It seems as though we are out of tea. Kalix, time."
The vampire that was completely covered in black clothing pulled out a small silver pocket watch. "An hour till noon."
"That late already is it." She rose to her feet. "Dear guests if you'll excuse me, I must run an errand."
"I shall accompany you."Drac smiled.
"Very well, don't train too hard brother." She turned and walked away with Drac at her side.
"See ya!" Cainen waved as his sister vanished down the path to the city. "So what to do."
"We could train some more." Devlin offered.
"No, father says too much training will only hurt my progress. Oh hey Lord Sesshomaru I wanted to ask you something."
"What?"
"Well, I wanted to know if you liked the concert last time you were here."
"It was loud." He stared at the boy.
"I can show you how to play the guitar if you want."
"No need to overcrowd our guest Cainen." Angel placed a hand on the boy's head.
"Yeah besides we have to patrol for a while." Devlin looked out into the forest.
"Can I come?"
"I'm sure your grandmother would like to spend some time with you."
"We can go and visit Es and MNG. I know they miss you. Echo when was the last time you went to see him?"
"Um, a long time…" He blushed. "He might be mad at me…"
"Don't worry he'll be happy to see you! Come on!" He led the way into the forest with Rin and Shin at his side. While their elders were a few steps behind them talking.
"So you know Es?" Sakuya asked.
"Yeah, he raised me after my mother died. He's like my father and he does what he can to look after me, even now."
"So Panther keeps you in his castle?" Kaze asked.
"It's not exactly a castle but yeah he does. I'm supposed to take his place so he keeps me hidden away there. Cat demons don't do well with being cooped up. We aren't tame."
"No chance of being a domestic at all." Es appeared with a smile. "I heard you coming. You look well, Sakuya."
He looked different, he wasn't pale anymore. He stood tall, nearly MNG's height. His eyes were deep green and his once black hair had a tint of brown to it. "Es, you look different."
"Yes I feel much better now; we found a cure for my illness although it nearly killed me."
"I bet your dad is happy about that."
"King Mori died a year before Echo was born." MNG stated. "Esamaru is king now."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay really. So let's catch up."
-_-_- Forest Clearing: hours later-_-_-
"That was fun." Cainen smiled. "Is this where you guys patrol?"
"Yes it seems that this place draws a lot of attention. I haven't discovered the reason why." Angel sighed. "It's a beautiful night."
"Yeah. It is." Itsuma said as he walked over to join them with Claudia and Rumi with him.
"Cainen, I was looking for you." His twin said.
"Sorry, what is it?" He hurried over to her side and they talked.
"Itsu, he reminds me so much of you." Sakuya smiled. "You two raised him well."
"Are you sure sis?" Cainen asked.
"Yes, now do it." Claudia turned and walked to her father.
"What's going on?"Rumi asked her daughter.
"Just testing something."
Cainen looked up at the dark sky and focused on a star the seemed unusually bright. He raised his hands up to it and it sparked brightly with light. It was all to familiar…this was just like his dream. The small star grew closer and brighter. He could feel it pulling him as the voice spoke to him.
'Do you wish to open the gate?'It asked.
"Yes."
The light burst and a figure fell in front of Cainen. A young man with dark hair knelling with his head bowed down. "Name me, master and my power will be yours."
"Cainen…what have you done?" Angel gasped in horror.
-_-_- Throne -_-_-
The man that had taken the position of Third sat patiently. He didn't have to wait long before a messenger walked in.
"I have news, the Sakuya has returned."
"Good, just as expected. So tell me has the plan been set in motion?"
"Yes, but you may have a problem." He said reluctantly. Spikes closed in around the man's neck as the god approached him.
"What did you do?"
"It wasn't me your lordship it was another someone outside of the plan. I sent men to go and find out who." He rushed through his words and shut his eyes tightly expecting this to be his final moment. The spikes withdrew back into the shadows.
"What did this unknown person do?"
"I'm not sure how my lord but they opened one of the Mortal Gates."
"Which one?"
"The Forbidden one my lord and what's worse it's a person of that house."
The god let out a loud angry yell and slammed his fist into the wall. "Damn it! Find this person and keep with the plan and unleash the first beast. I won't be stopped this time I refuse to let those people live!"
"As you wish my lord."
-_-_- Forest-_-_-
"What?" Cainen asked.
"You are the one that opened the gate aren't you?" the man asked and stood. With his dark red eyes fixed on the boy.
"Yeah."
"Then you're my new master, and your name would be?"
"Cainen Rahmore."
"Cainen…how appropriate, I am the nameless creature locked beyond the Forbidden Gate. You Cainen have released me and I will be in your service until you die. I will only do work equal to yours that is simply how I work."
"Um, look i…"
"No need to worry, I already know about your pervious battle with the devil and the angel. Also I won't be able to do anything for you until you name me."
"I…I don't know what you name you."
"Very well then I will wait by your side until then."
"Cainen," Angel called to him with his sword in hand. "Send that thing back."
"I don't know how."
"Enough of this." Claudia sighed. "Cainen has been having a reoccurring dream about that gate. I knew that this was connected to him so I asked him to reenact his dream. With that being said this man is my brother's garud and will not be sent back to his gate unless my brother wished that do I make myself clear?"
"You have no idea what you're talking about."Angel shook his head. "But fine, I'll allow it for now."
"Good now let's go home we have some things to take care of."
She led the way back to the house.
"She really is bossy." Shin said.
"She's strong…I like that about her." Sakuya mused as they walked back home together.