Chapter A1 – Balancing Force

He didn't know long he'd been walking. After a while his concept of time had blurred, replaced with increasing breathlessness, mixed with a sharp pain in his chest. But he couldn't afford to stop yet. This pain was nothing compared to the wound his pride had taken.

He'd lost to Shinjiro.

He'd been useless against Damia.

He'd been humiliated by Ikutsuki.

And Salvatore annihilated him.

Agnus had suffered too much to let a few broken ribs stop him.

Still, he was starting to get annoyed. Not at the pain in his chest, but by the fact that he'd been walking for so long, yet still hadn't run into anything to fight. If he didn't fight, he couldn't get stronger, and if he didn't get stronger, he'd never be able to look at Shinji as an equal.

And there were other reasons he needed strength, but now wasn't the time to think about those. Right now, he needed absolute focus on his training. For a little while, he'd been forced to use his spear as a crutch to walk, but that time had thankfully passed, and he was now walking normally, albeit with one hand clutching his chest. His spear now rested across his back, with the handle positioned for a quick draw when he needed it.

Sadly, given that the last few halls he'd been through were completely abandoned, getting to use his weapon looked increasingly unlikely. Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised, given that he'd gone to one of the many unused wings of the school. Rumours said that a Dragon lived here, and that its eggs held the secret to opening your heart (A thought that made Agnus shudder), but rumours also said that Mao had recently been here, and come out fine. So either the rumours were a lie, or Mao had simply killed everything that once called this place home.

Either way, it pissed Agnus off to know he'd come here for nothing.

Letting out one final sigh, Agnus admitted that there was nothing here to fight, and turned to leave. He walked for a few minutes before hearing something coming from back the way he'd just come from. A scream.

'Oh, come on! I was just down there!' He thought bitterly, convinced that the universe had waited till he was leaving to do this, just to increase the amount of walking he had to do. Part of him was tempted to leave, after all, it wasn't in a Demon's nature to help people. On the other hand, something had screamed and where there were screams, there was life, and where there was life, there were thing to beat the crap out of.

A short jog later, and he saw the source of the sound. Kneeling in a corner was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, which were almost in tears from his situation, not that Agnus could get a good luck at them through his bangs. He wore a white robe covered in feathers, tied with a bright blue ribbon, and adorned with a yellow cross. Underneath the robe, Agnus could see a smaller robe, in the same shade of blue as his ribbon, and that his feet were covered in greaves. His gloved hands were clutching at a bow and arrow, but were shaking too much for him to possibly fire it.

He didn't look like he'd put up any sort of fight, which was probably why he was now surrounded by several dangerous looking Demons. There were at least five of them, four Cu Sith's and one Ronin, who appeared to be the leader. He was pointing his sword at the boy. "Time to come along kid. Seniors don't take no for an answer."

"I-I-I don't understand… Why are you doing this to me…?" The blonde boy forced out, still not able to raise his bow at his attacker. The Ronin smiled, in a way that made the temperature in the room drop a few degrees.

"Simple… Because we can." He raised his sword, ready to cut off any part of their target he felt they didn't need. Before he could bring it down though, he was startled to see one of his companions have a spear thrown through their head, impaling them to a nearby wall. All eyes turned, finally noticing the injured Demon in the doorway. Agnus wasn't intimidated by the four Seniors' glares, but it was starting to piss him off.

"I don't what you want the kid for, but you're not gonna get him." The Ronin sneered at this.

"Why? Cause you're here to protect him?"

"Nah. I couldn't care less about him. You're not gettin' him, cause I'm gonna kill you!" As he spoke, he cracked his knuckles and flexed his neck. His opponents laughed at his words.

"And how you gonna do that without your little stick?"

"Don't need it to kill scum like you." As if to prove that he was done talking, Agnus slipped into his fighting stance. With one last chuckle, the Ronin signalled for one of the Cu Sith to attack. It charged forwards, its horn ready to painfully remove a large portion of Agnus' digestive system. Still, Agnus stood his ground, waiting for his enemy to get closer.

With a simple turn of his body, Agnus easily dodged the attack, before grabbing the horn and, with all his strength, pulled it free of its owner's skull. The shock was too much, and the beast fainted. Agnus could really feel the adrenaline kick in now, as he felt his enemy's blood on his hands. He turned away from his fallen foe, just in time to see one of the other Cu Sith jump at him. Acting on instinct, he ducked down and stabbed the beast with its comrade's horn. As it jumped through the air, the horn tore through its body, spraying Agnus with blood. There was no way that one would survive.

The Ronin was really angry now. Apparently he didn't like looking like a fool, which was what Agnus was certainly doing a good job of doing. Without a word, he extended his open hand to the last Cu Sith. In a flash, the beast was gone, and the Ronin was now holding a sword in the shape of its horn. "Seems I misjudged you. If you're going to die, it's gonna have to be at my hand."

"Finally grow a pair, huh?" He chuckled before gesturing for his enemy to come closer. "Alright, let's do this!"

Without wasting time, the Ronin closed the gap, almost too fast for Agnus to see. There was no chance for him to block the attack, so he did his best to dodge it. Sadly, he didn't have enough time, and the blade cut a nasty gash into his shoulder. Still, if he hadn't moved when he did, it would have cut his heart in two, so he still got off lucky.

His enemy didn't give him enough time to recover, instantly attacking again. This time Agnus did a better job of avoiding it, as it only left a graze on his hip. This was small comfort however since his attacker refused to relent, continuing his savage assault. He was dodging the attacks now, but he was exhausted, injured and unarmed. Sooner or later, he was gonna slip up, and then it would be over.

Eventually, he ran out of space to dodge into, the swordsman forcing him into a corner. Desperately he raised his hand to try to block the next attack, and felt it sink deep into his palm. The pain was excruciating but he forced himself to hold on. As one hand held the blade, his other let out a series of punches to the man's ribs. The punches were fairly light on account of his shoulder damage, and the Senior didn't seem particularly bothered by them, but each one made him move back that little bit more, giving Agnus more of an opening to escape.

Finally, the gap was large enough, and he forced his way past the older Demon. Sadly, as he did, the Senior struck at the back of his leg, forcing him to the ground. "You put up a good fight kid. But it's time to die!"

'No… I can't… die here…' Agnus thought to himself, desperately trying to force himself to his feet. But alas his pain and blood loss had finally gotten the best of him, and he could not find the strength.

"Say good bye!" Agnus slowly closed his eyes, as he waited for the inevitable to happen. But then something happened. His mind cleared, his pain vanished, and parts of him that went numb from lack of blood, felt rejuvenated. Snapping his eyes open, he could see the blonde boy the Seniors had been threatening casting some sort of healing spell on him.

Deciding not to complain about a free healing, Agnus decided to repay the boy, by springing to his feet, narrowly dodging the Seniors blade. In one fluid motion, he landed next to the boy, grabbed his spear, pulled it free, and turned in time to block another attack from the Senior. Tired of going on the defensive, Agnus grabbed the Senior by the back of the head, and slammed his forehead into the swordsman's nose.

Reeling back, the Ronin glared up at the young Demon with fire in his eyes. Agnus smiled, remembering when someone had used that very attack on him, and how it was just as effective now as it was then. But now wasn't the time for reminiscing. Now was the time to teach this Senior what Agnus Torii is capable of!

Lifting it over his head, Agnus threw his spear like it was a javelin. With his fast reflexes, the Ronin easily knocked it aside. But he'd been so busy doing that, that there was nothing he could do to stop what Agnus did next. Clenching his fist, the young Demon summoned all his anger and punched clean through the floor. The second he did, a pillar of fire engulfed the Senior, who screamed in agony as the flames burned his flesh.

A few seconds later, the fire faded, leaving the horribly burned Ronin to collapse onto the ground. With a sigh of relief, Agnus turned away from his enemy and towards the boy who was gazing at him with wide eyes. He was about to try and play it cool, saying he didn't need any help from him, when something darted past him. Before he could react, a sword shaped like a Cu Sith's horn pierced the unprepared boy's shoulder, pinning him to the wall.

Wheeling around, Agnus saw the man he'd just been fighting had forced himself up. Half his face had been burned off and his clothes were in cinders, but he still looked willing to fight. But there was no way he could win, not just because of how badly injured he was, but also because, for reasons even he didn't fully understand, seeing someone who tried to help him get hurt like this pissed Agnus off.

Yanking the blade free from the boy's shoulder, allowing him to slump to the floor and rest, Agnus raised his foe's weapon to the sky. He could feel all his anger taking form as the blade began to glow a bright red. But even that wasn't enough, as his rage burned so hot that the flame-like energy turned a bright green.

The Ronin tried to charge him, but it was far too late. Brining the blade down, Agnus cut him down the middle. His enemy stumbled slightly, still trying to attack him, however he didn't notice that Agnus' attack wasn't over. He realised what was happening just before a huge burst of fire descended from the sky, cutting through every floor of the old building before finally finding its target. It struck with enough power to send the Senior clean through the floor, and straight into an endless abyss. His screams slowly faded, as he got too far away for anyone to hear him.

His anger fading, Agnus tossed the sword down to meet its former wielder. He didn't know what that power he'd called on just then was, but there was no way it had failed to end his enemy's life. Looking back at the one he'd saved, he could see that he'd passed out from blood loss. Part of him was tempted to leave him here, but another part told him to help. And that part was annoyingly loud.

Sighing again, he approached the unconscious boy and looked at the wound. It seemed fairly deep, almost impressing him with how well that Senior had thrown the blade, considering how badly injured he was. Cursing the fact that he had no healing items, and had neglected to learn healing spells, he unwrapped the bandages he'd been previously wearing. He was thankful that the boy had healed his ribs as well as his cuts. He knew that reusing his bandages on the boy's injuries wasn't hygienic, and that he'd likely get yelled at by Matildo if she ever learned he did this, but it was all he could do right now.

Tying them as tight as he could, he was able to stop the bleeding, but it till needed proper care. Grudgingly, he realised that he'd have to go back to the nurse's to get it looked at. He could only hope that he wouldn't run into any of his former team there.

Carrying the boy over his shoulder had been surprisingly easy. He was light and skinny, so Agnus hadn't even needed to put much effort into it. Everything was going smoothly, till he heard the young healer groan. Slowly, the blonde boy awoke, somewhat surprised to see that he was being carried somewhere. "Hello…?"

"Oh… You're awake…" Agnus groaned, having hoped that he could get the kid to the nurse's without anyone realising it. Now he'd have to come up with some excuse for why he was helping him.

"Oh! Are you that man who came to save me? Thank you thank you thank you!"

"I wasn't helping you! I needed practise, and those guys were strong. You being there had nothing to do with it!" He could already feel a headache starting from this guy's fast talking. The young man's face fell a little, but he didn't let Agnus' harsh words affect his effort's to start a conversation.

"I'm Gabe. What's your name?" He said, trying to turn to get a look at his saviour's face. Given his angel, he could, at most, see the back of the red-haired Demon's head.

"None of your business. Don't assume that we're friends. I'm just gonna drop you off at the nurse's, and then you're not my problem anymore." It took him a second to realise that he shouldn't have said that, as now Gabe started getting even more emotional.

"Y-you're taking me to a nurse? You do care!" He yelled, practically crying with joy. Agnus' headache was growing and he could feel his anger from earlier returning.

"Shut up! I'm only doing this cause you helped me! After that, you can rot for all I care!" For a few, glorious seconds, his new 'friend' was silent.

"… I'm sorry." He heard, for once quietly. Over and over again, Gabe kept saying that, and from the tone of his voice, it sounded like he was crying a little. Feeling a little annoyed (and secretly a little guilty), Agnus stopped and put Gabe down against a wall, before sitting against it himself.

"Stop apologising. It's annoying." He said, turning his head away from the boy. He made sure to cut Gabe off before he could apologise again, before continuing. "I'm grateful that you healed me, and I'll repay that favour. But until I do, no talking. Okay?"

Gabe nodded his head, then seemed to realise something. Brining a hand to his hurt shoulder, he created flash of bright light. Once it faded, he unwrapped the bandages, revealing that his wound was completely gone. Agnus could feel his mind beating itself for not thinking to suggest that. "S-so… this means you don't owe me anymore? That you'll leave?"

Agnus took a look at the boy, who looked extremely sad. He thought about his options. On the one hand, he could abandon this annoying little kid and get back to his training, headache free. On the other hand, he'd almost died more than once over the last few days, so keeping a healer around might be a good idea. Or at least that's what he told himself.

"Tch. Alright! We'll stick together. But only cause, you're a good healer, understand?" He said, making sure that Gabe didn't get the wrong idea. With a huge smile, Gabe nodded and got to his feet. "… and, I guess you can talk."

"Thank you thank y-"

"You already said that. You don't need to repeat it." He was already starting to wonder if this was a good idea…

"So… If we're gonna be working together, shouldn't I know your name?"

"… Agnus."

"Nice to meet ya Agnus!"

"… Let's go. We don't have all day." The spear wielder claimed, walking away before Gabe could argue. The young healer quickly rushed after him. For better or for worse, Agnus had a new ally. He only hoped that he'd be useful.

Okay, I know this isn't the chapter that most of you wanted to see, but I just got inspiration to write it, and figured I'd give you this while I try to work on the next part of the main story. I don't know when that'll happen, but I hope that this will tide you over till then.

Special thanks to Mossnose for Gabe, whose character sheet you can find below.

Gabe

Voice: Jason Liebrecht

Title: Lost Angel

Evility: Life Up (Boosts Max HP by 10% * number of allies on the field)

Weapon: Bow and Arrows

Skills: All Celestial Host and Archer skills in Disgaea 4, all Healing spells

I'll Help! (Gabe starts praying, healing a portion of his ally's health by sacrificing some of his own) Description: Don't worry about me... Range: 13 (affects one unit, can't be used on self)

Blast Shot (Gabe creates an arrow of light, which creates an explosion once it strikes its target) Description: It shouldn't blow up on me this time! Range: 5 (plus formation, hits any adjacent enemies to the targets)

Judge (Gabe starts chanting in Angelic and rises into the air, with Celestia's symbol appearing above his targets, before raining down a storm of light arrows) Description: Let justice be done! Range: 9 (square formation)

Appearance: Gabe has short blond hair in a bob cut and bright blue eyes, which are often hidden by his bangs. He wears the traditional white feathered robe of a Celestial Host, with a bright sky blue ribbon in front and a bright yellow cross. His underclothes are the same shade of sky blue, and his sleeves are a little shorter than normal, only reaching his elbows. He wears white gloves in order to maintain a better grip on his weapon, and his boots are armoured.

Description: Gabe is extremely shy, above all else. He apologizes a lot and cries if he gets yelled at. He always manages to find some way to blame himself for whenever bad things happen, and likes trying to help everyone he meets, even if it's detrimental to his own health. He's somewhat naive, as he is still young, and he is an avid supporter of Flonne's teachings of love and kindness, often babbling about the beauty of love without even noticing. But if he needs to fight, he's surprisingly competent and determined as long as he can keep his distance and fight with range. The most significant thing about him, however, is his lack of a sense of direction. Too many times he's gone looking for something and somehow ended up somewhere he shouldn't have. The Netherworld is no exception; in fact, he's famous because he's gotten lost their five times while trying to find a coffee machine. Even he doesn't know how his sense of direction can be so horrible, but if he sticks close to others and doesn't let them out of his sight, he won't lose his way.

PS, to Hades Revolution. I know you said that Agnus had healing spells, and he will learn them, but he hasn't yet, hence why he couldn't fix Gabe's shoulder himself.

PPS, I have a little challenge for anyone willing to listen. If any of you have access to a DeviantArt account, or any other site which allows you to post images, I'd like you to try and draw any character or characters from this story and leave a link to them in the comments section. If I like your drawing enough, I might even make it the official image for this story. This has no deadline and is just for fun, so if you're interested, feel free to give it a try. Or don't, it's your decision.

PPPS, I have a poll on my profile regarding thee recent announcement that the P3 protagonist's name is Makoto Yuki, instead of Minato Arisato. Please vote on it.

Until next time!