(Special thanks to Dark for this chapter)

~Also, there's a poll up on 'Who's the most productive Demon Hunter.' Be sure to swing over there and take your pick~

Chapter twelve – The Spark

-Somewhere away from the Demon Hunter HQ, Aisha's point of view-

I'm staring at Lyon's back with an irritated expression. "Why are you dragging me away from Reiku?" I ask.

"Because he has to do something important and you need to train more." he replies. I sigh and pull my jacket closer around my body. We've been walking for hours and he doesn't appear to be stopping any time soon.

"Where are we going exactly?" I mutter under my breath. I watch him readjust his gauntlets again and this spikes my curiosity. "Are they bothering you?" I say in an attempt to make small talk.

"We're going somewhere and no." he replies. I puff out my cheeks. He had always been tough to talk too, but this is different. He seems... on edge. I was so deep into my thoughts that I walked into him. "Oof..." I mutter and shake my head.

"This training is going to be different then how you train with Reiku." I hear him say. He seems to teleport a few feet ahead of me... with his wrist blade at the ready.

"W-w-what are you doing?!" I shout and conjure my wand. He lunges at me and I barely manage to dodge. I lose my balance and fall over. I roll onto my back and look up at him. He turns and thrusts his blade at me. I roll and it buries itself in the dirt less than an inch in front of my face. The blade retracts and Lyon backs up. I don't need a mirror to know I look terrified.

"You're a demon like me and you need to be able to call upon your powers. But at the same time you need to not rely on it. You know first-hand what danger we're facing." he says and I sit up. "We can't let them defeat us." he murmurs and I see him readjust his gauntlet again.

I gulp and I stand up. I grip my staff tightly. "Can you promise to make me strong? Enough so that the others will be impressed?" I ask while I feel my cheeks flush. A few seconds pass before I feel a hand on my head. Gentle... yet firm. I look up at Lyon.

"I'll do whatever I can to make you formidable." he replies quietly.

-A Few Hours Later-

I feel my knees shaking. My body is covered with sweat, bruises and cuts. I'm panting heavily while Lyon looks unfazed. He retracts his blade again and my knees fail me. I'm sitting on the grass, trying to regain control of my breathing.

I look up to see him walk closer to me and he sits at my side. "Are you holding out okay?" his voice is gentle, like he actually cares about me.

"I... I'm fine, just a little tired." I reply after my breathing slows down a bit. He runs a hand through his hair and rolls up his sleeves.

"Whenever you're ready we'll start again." he tells me. I look over at him and see him staring into space.

"Why did you leave?" I find myself asking suddenly. He turns his head to look at me and I see a crestfallen expression.

"There was something I didn't agree with." he mutters. I look at the ground sadly. I shouldn't have asked. He stands up and I feel a sudden pressure in the air. "We're going to work on tapping into your true power." he tells me and walks a few feet away.

I stand up and he turns around. "H-How is it supposed to feel?" I ask. Before I had heard rumors that Lyon could hold his own against the other commanders, in terms of power but I had never witnessed this. After seeing how he strikes and defends in the last few hours, I could determine that these claims were true.

"It should feel something similar to this." I hear him say. I feel the ground start shaking before everything with a foot of him start levitating. The amount of energy he's exerting is making me nervous. By now the trees are shaking and I can feel myself sliding backward slowly. It's taking almost all my remaining strength to not get blown away.

For a split second the energy starts retreating back to him. Then... some invisible force launches me. I teleport myself in front of a tree and I feel the bark against my back. The energy dissipates completely this time.

"Y-You... you can... really... how?" I ask, at a loss for words. My hands start trembling and my knees wobble. There's no way he should be afraid with that much power! I think to myself. I'm afraid to make him angry now.

"I left because I didn't want people to remember me because of their fear." he hisses. He covers his face with his hand. I manage to walk towards him, placing my hand on his arm when I do get there. I didn't know what to say, so I stay silent. He nods in appreciation. "Just concentrate on your knowledge, and draw all your power together." he tells me and I nod.

-Lyon's point of view-

I turn my head when Aisha closes her eyes. "What are you doing here, Rena?" I ask. Aisha stops and looks around. "Aisha, you better run. This might get ugly." I tell her as a green haired woman emerges from the trees. She was accompanied with Ara. Aisha gulps and starts running back toward the castle. I can tell she just hid behind a tree.

"Our lord wants us to capture you and punish you both for your betrayal." Rena replies, unsheathing her blade. Ara twirls her spear before pointing it at me. I slide a panel on the bottom of my left gauntlet. A bladed point appears. They both appear before me in a blur. Both of the weapons stop an inch from my face. They both look shocked that I caught the attacks.

I throw them both aside. Rena lets go of her sword and shoots a twig at me. I counter it with a disk shaped pellet. Both explode on impact and I glance the other way to see Ara running at me. I block her attack with my sword and she pulls her spear away. I stab at her and she steps under it, an orange ball in her free hand. It explodes and sends me back a few feet.

"Fatality!" Rena yelled from behind me. In a blur she passed through me, blade drawn. Blood dripped off the tip and I felt a stinging pain in my side. I fall forward, catching myself with an outstretched hand. Both my gauntlets return to their neutral position.

Ara walks over and inspects the injury from a safe distance. "I can't foresee you surviving more than a few hours." she says with a giggle. I see the both of them move past me and towards where Aisha was hiding.

-Aisha's point of view-

I back away from the two. Ara raises her spear. Closing my eyes, I'm ready for its cold bite. But it never comes. I dare to open one eye, to see Lyon standing in front of me. The spear tip is through his right shoulder blade but his face shows a warm smile. "Tell the others." he says, putting his hand on my head lightly.

-Ara's point of view-

I feel puzzled. Not only did he injure himself further for her, he sent Aisha to safety. Rena raises her sword, ready to finish him. But I feel something tug on my spear. I feel my weapon loosen and he disappears.

Rena and I turn to see him standing there, blood staining his clothes but, still willing to fight. I readjust my grip before Rena shifts into her fighting stance. His stance shifts as well, but it's different.

He makes the first move. I turn to see him appear behind me. But I didn't sense any other energy coming from him. I slash at him and he ducks. Rena turns to fight but he blocks her sword with his hand. He uppercuts her before jumping backward, disengaging us for a brief second.

"How?" Rena asks. I stab at him with him reaching at the same time. He catches my spear behind the blade and then it's my turn to get punched. He let go at the same time and I landed next to Rena on the ground. "He's fighting like a completely different person." I hear her mutter.

"It would make sense." I reply. I've never seen him pick a fight and the ones he does get into, he never fights back. "Add doesn't know if he's ever went all out before."

The two of us lunge again, but he moves faster. Once again both of our attacks are caught. He pushes them away from his body, releases and the two of us go flying. Unlike last time, though, he follows us. I make a stabbing motion after I land but I miss entirely. I turn to see him vault off a tree and high over our heads.

A giant column of purple energy comes crashing down on us. At first, we're both screaming in pain and then... it stops.

-Demon Base, Ara's point of view-

I land hard on my back and everyone in the room jumps at mine and Rena's sudden appearance. "Just what in the hell did he do to us?!" she snaps. I feel myself shaking. I wasn't sure how to respond to her but this feeling... I've never lost so horribly.

-Back at the battleground, Lyon's point of view-

I land and quickly suppress any extra energy I didn't use for my attack. "Why did a portal open?" I mutter. I shake that thought out of my head and start walking back to the castle.

-Infirmary, Lyon's point of view-

I wasn't sure I liked this arrangement. Lowe had forbidden me from going anywhere till I'm fully recovered. And Eve said she'd stay by my side until I can leave. I'm using a panel from my gauntlet as a screwdriver.

"You really shouldn't be using your arm." I hear Eve say. I look at from the corner of my eye.

"Doesn't really matter, I can't feel my injuries at all." That, of course, was a lie. They both hurt like hell. "Besides, I've fought in worse condition for longer." I add. Her expression was enough to show her displeasure.

"Stubborn." she mumbles.

"Trust me, this is nothing." I say as a door opens. Aisha walks through, eyes on the floor. "Glad to see you're alright." I tell her.

"I'm sorry." she blurts out. I replace the panel and look at her with a raised eyebrow. "If I was stronger, you wouldn't have to save me." I see tears fall from her eyes.

"Don't worry about it." I say. I raise my left arm and make sure I did the tightening correctly. After I ensure that it was correct I let my arm fall. "Aisha, I'll be fine. You need to focus on training." I tell her and she nods. I take my gauntlet off and hand it to Aisha. She squeaks.

"S-so heavy..." she mutters.

"Eve, can you show Aisha where our room is so she can drop that off for me?" I ask. Eve nods and leaves. Aisha followed her. I look out a window and frown. I can't keep avoiding conflict. I'll have to lock horns with them at some point. My eyes narrow as I recall why I left.

-A Few Years Ago-

I jumped through a window, target in sight. I kicked them in the back and pinned them down with a dagger. "Stay quiet if you want to live." I told them. They nod and I rolled off. "All I want to know is the whereabouts of the blueprints." They glanced at a portrait on the wall. I moved toward it and lifted the painting off the wall. Underneath it was a safe. A burst of energy was enough to shatter the door.

"Pleasure doing business." I told them before a barrage of swords ends their life.

-Present Time-

"They died because the higher ups learned of those gauntlets." I hear the door open again and a head of white hair runs in.

"Lyon, Lyon I'm bored!" she yells and tackles me. My side explodes in pain and the two of us topple over. I feel my eyebrow twitch as the door opens yet again. This time Eve is the one to walk through.

-Eve's point of view-

I leave for five minutes and this happens. The sight alone was enough to invoke feelings of jealousy and blood lust. I stomp over and kick Lyon in the shoulder. He yells in pain loudly. "Pig." I say and I turn to leave. A few seconds later I feel someone tackle me.

"That was uncalled for." Lyon whispers in my ear. I feel a scowl creep on my face and I try to get him off me.

"Get off." I tell him and he does so. "Aisha dropped your gauntlet and it exploded." I mutter. He leans to the left and sees Aisha standing a distance behind me.

"That's fine, I rigged it to do that." he replies. I raise an eyebrow at him. "I made a new one with a completely different layout. I predicted it will improve my combat performance immensely." I follow him when he starts walking toward our room.

"Thanks for all the help, Aisha." Lyon says and ruffles Aisha's hair.

"U-uh... no problem." she whispers and runs off.

-Lyon and Eve's room, Lyon's point of view-

I fasten the last piece of metal to the new gauntlet. This one looks a lot more streamline than before. I pull on the steel under gloves and slide both gauntlets on my forearms. I clench my fists and smile to myself. I rotate my arm and remove a panel. Underneath is a seal.

"What's that for?" Eve asks curiously.

"It keeps my abilities sealed. I could only use raw energy, but ruining it should make it feel more refined." I say. I hold a blowtorch near the edge and drag it across the magic circle. The slash through it effectively nullified its purpose. I sigh and feel the power course in my veins once again.

From the corner of my eye I see Eve shiver slightly. I grab a coat from the closet and drape it around her shoulders. I step closer to her and zip it halfway for her. I rest my forehead on hers and a rosiness creeps onto her cheeks. "Did you know I wake up in the morning just because I know you're there?" I murmur to her.

"That's creepy." she replies and quickly plants a kiss upon my lips. "But also very sweet." I hear her add. I pull her into a hug and feel glad just because she's here, safe.

-Demon Base, Add's point of view-

"You both fought Lyon, at the same time, and still lost?" I ask. The two of them nod slowly. A sigh escapes me. "Seems we've a new reason to be concerned." I mutter. "I think it's time we let him out."

End of chapter 12

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