Author Notes: The finale of the tale of sadness and tragedy. Helianthus turning out to be a true monster and having greater ambitions than what was initially thought.

As of 2/17/15, I'm taking out some of the content and moving it to the next chapter in order to make things flow better.

Chapter 37: Kill The Madness

Leone took a step back as she heard the name uttered from the dark skinned woman. It was the same as the leader of the Wild Hunt, a man ruled by sadism and self entitlement due to his heritage. Aside from the X scar, Leone could see a resemblance to Syura in this Rama woman, except she seemed more innocent than what she could've expected from the mother of a violent man-child that Syura would become. The fact this name was uttered, a thought drifted through the subconscious parts of her mind that seemed too disturbing to be true. It was not helped that the vision was heading into a much darker direction, one that had a much more darker tone in atmosphere.

The scenery moved faster than before with images of Lyre and Rama spending time getting closer to one after another flashed around her, including more intimate moments. It eventually slowed down with Lyre, now slightly older standing in front of his now dying father's room alongside his mother. Rama was in the other room, pregnant with his future offspring. However, it felt less like a final meeting with a parent and more like being in front of a lion's den for some reason that Leone couldn't explain.

"I can't believe Ryūo's gone missing. Where could he have gone?," Sincere asked Lyre with a sad expression on her face, somewhat satisfied that Truthful was finally dying, but upset that Ryūo was not with her. The last time they had spoken, Ryūo had inexplicably left the capital with no explanation. It was implied he committed treason, but the last one who saw him, the Emperor refused to elaborate on what had happened during their last meeting.

"At least, he's alive...," Lyre replied with a flat tone of voice, noting that somewhere deep in his mind, he likely cared enough about his father to be so emotionally distraught that he become placid in terms of pitch. As he thought of his half brother, his expression was a mix of envy and some corner of his thoughts, sadness. He knew that his mother had always preferred her second child and shown signs that she had resented Lyre for being Truthful's child in spite of genuinely coming to see him as a brother. With a quiet nod, Lyre went inside the completely dark room, prepared to face whatever his father had been reduced to. The time to resolve any negative ties they had with each other before his ultimate passing.

While he had expected was a pathetic remnants of his father, likely withered to a skeletal being barely kept alive through medicine, the opposite of this occurred instead when he finally saw what Truthful had become.

What he saw was disturbing, animal bones covered in blood lay on the floor and his bloated body was covered in bandages with five horns protruding from his skull. Leone was both disgusted and somewhat terrified at the sight while Lyre was more reserved when seeing the horrific form of his father. It was likely he was also terrified, but had learned to rein in his emotions in order to get used to seeing the horrid things that his father did over his lifetime. He also had long since suspected his father's secret, that he was slowly losing his humanity in this case, quite literally.

He had recalled that over the course of the past few years, that Trustful's appearances in the public had lessened and that rumors of an extremely Danger Beast that preyed on animals had increased in comparison. He now knew the truth as he saw the abomination in front of him and that he now had to hide this truth for the sake of the family. If this ever got out, banishment would be the most lenient of punishments that he and his family would face.

The being then noticed Lyre and began to speak. Lyre kept his distance, knowing how dangerous Truthful could be at this moment. If he wasn't careful, he'd be mauled or eaten alive as a last meal before he ultimately died. Truthful had devolved that much and Lyre could sense this was the case. Surprisingly for a man related to Honest's family, he was taking his death rather well.

"Lyre is that you? I see...regardless of our differences, you have now inherited the title of the Head of the Leo family and all of the duties that it entails. And don't bother trying to not follow the Evil One's plans...he will find ways to force you to do his work.," Truthful spoke in a deep, monstrous voice that barely seemed human as he laid out his dying wishes to his reluctant heir whom he knew would despise what he asking of him. Lyre could hear the audible crunch of some poor animal that he had currently devoured. Leone noted that there were no human bones among the remains nor did he smell any human remains from his horrid breath. Ironically by becoming a monster, he had not become as depraved as Honest who had implied to have indulged in cannibalism in his lifetime. That said, the fact that even now he was forcing him to engage with that terrifying monstrous sphere as well as perform those heinous rituals even after his passing in spite of knowing that his son abhorred these things- reminded Leone that this was still a truly devilish abomination. His demonic appearance was just now matching what was inside him all along.

"I feel like I shouldn't ask this, but...why have you become this?," the brown haired man said with a raised eyebrow, while unconcerned about his monstrous father whose form now matched his inner soul. Leone was horrified with what the answer was, the reasons why he seemed to be gradually becoming less human as Lyre got older and made her slowly comprehend how horrible things would become if its last user had continued to use it. There was small relief, it seemed that using it eventually led to the users death due to the changes in the body being too harmful to allowed to be kept living. Meaning...

Even if Honest wanted to. He'd eventually become a freak that no one would trust with running a government. In fact, everyone in the entire Empire would turn on him for being a literal monster, And if that wasn't enough, seems you slowly die from using it anyway. 130 my ass, you're doomed from the start., Leone thought with a morbid sense of humor, which slowly became sour when she thought back on the horrifying notion she realized when Rama named her child Syura.

"Absolute Limitation: Erastone; it destroys any Teigu and has to wait for a week to regenerate, but it once had more powerful capabilities, but they were restrained by the one you call Girasol out of fear of what it could do. As one continues to use it...this appearance speaks for itself... I look forward to how you rot this country and how it will lead to the end of human civilization.," replied Truthful with a coldly satisfied voice as the bandages on his face unraveled to reveal a noseless demonic face with a toothy maw. Suddenly, purple flames sparked on Trustful's bed and demonic arms sprouted from the cushions to grab his obese body. Leone was shocked at this nightmarish sight, but Lyre was different in terms of reaction. He actually seemed annoyed on that even in death, he was remorseless monster with no guilt for what he had done to him, his mother and his half brother, not to mention all of the innocent people he had killed. In fact, in his swing moments, he actually seemed to be happier than he had been ever in his life. Like he had this belief that his death would lead to something both more nightmarish than he ever imagined and something truly greater than his own life. To see him so triumphant made the situation of his demise, made watching him die not satisfying at all because Lyre felt like the one who lost in the mind.

As the composed Lyre backed away slowly as Trustful laughed in a truly unhinged manner as the arms ripped his body apart as the flames enveloped his bed. Above the flames, a yellow eye with a pink iris opened and looked down at Lyre. The white sphere had decided to lay out his plans and Lyre knew that he had no choice in the matter.

Then again, he could now choose how to interpret those orders now that he didn't have to worry about his father's approval.

Leone became glad that the scenery began to change again. It was too nightmarish to bare even for her tastes.

When the scenery had solidified once more, Leone saw that Lyre had once more made the decision to visit the slum districts to see Panthera of his own accord. He saw that she was now with another man with a rugged appearance with shaggy hair that covered his eyes. Initially, he was going to speak to his childhood acquaintance, but decided against it and begun to walk away until...

"Hey! Heard the news? Apparently, that old Trustful bastard responsible for the decline of the capital, died a week ago and the nobles are freaking out about the loss of their head honcho. I'm betting that things are finally going to turn for the better- oh hey it's Lyre! Hey Lyre!," shouted Panthera as she noticed the shocked Lyre. It seemed as though he changed his mind, likely fearing the reaction of the man with her if Panthera accidentally told him of their very close relationship and likely getting a beating from it.

As the brown haired man attempted to run away, Panthera sped towards him and grabbed his shoulder, dragging him along against his will with a dejected expression on his face. Seeing this caused Leone to recall how she had dragged Tatsumi along to Night Raid the day they first met. It seemed this trait was one that was inherited by this woman, this woman who was her...

"Come on, hang out with us! I'm settling with Barbary, I've given up on the thieving aspect of my life to set up a massage parlor.," she said cheerfully as she dragged him towards her barely functioning house. While initially, he was uncomfortable in the dusty home, especially with the company of the loud vixen and the large, brawny man; he eventually softened enough to at least tolerate their eccentric natures. It was nice to hang out with them again after what he had experienced with his father's death and what the white sphere had planned for him to do. Nice to have one nice day before he would have to engage that place.

As the day turned to night, Lyre left slightly ruffled as he headed back to his home with his heart uplifted from hanging out with his only friend. His only relief from his dismal life as a pawn to the whims of evil men against his will.

"I've decided that if I have a kid, you'll be her Godfather. Neat right?," Panthera said with a cheerful expression as she waved goodbye. This kind gesture touched Lyre who smiled softly back towards Panthera, grateful for still considering him a dear friend.. He then proceeded to walk back to his mansion. While he wasn't going to be his friend's significant other, being the Godfather of her child was good enough for him.

However, that was the last truly decent thought he ever was going to have. What followed was a trip into insanity that he'd never escape from.

The scene changed back to the mansion where Lyre was beginning to work on his studies for whatever the white sphere had wanted him to do. The door closed behind him to reveal Girasol with a placid expression on his face, appearing more cold than usual. He had likely overheard what Trustful and the white sphere had entrusted him, but he had his own ideas on how to go about things, even if it meant defying the plans of the white sphere in spite of knowing full well what it actually was. And he knew just how to do it without exerting any effort on his part.

He was holding a black headgear that caught the leonine girl's attention- Erastone, but there was something subtly different about it than when Trustful used it and eerily similar to what she had seen of this Teigu. Girasol drew closer and closer to Lyre, unaware of the former raising the crown over his head. Leone knew what was going to happen, Girasol was going to forcibly turn him into a monster and there was nothing she could to stop it- because it had already happened in the past due to this being a vision, recording of what had already happened. What followed was the scene turning to erratic static as Leone grew tense with apprehension as the scene turned to black. After this dissonant silence, everything that had seemed calm and melancholy turned chaotic and lucidly ecstatic, as if reflecting on the changes that were happening to Lyre's mind as he gradually lost rid on , lucid imagery appeared around her like detailed tapestry rushing forward at incredibly accelerated speeds. And what was being shown was truly disturbing. Leone watching this became increasingly disturbed by what she seeing, this man degrading into something monstrous...and familiar at the same time.

Images of Lyre becoming increasingly abusive to Rama and later Syura once he was born while having extreme mood swings going from peaceful to monstrous in an instant. It then switched to a stubbled bearded Lyre who was confronted by his mother on his recent behavior, who initially seemed to be genuinely sorry for his behavior...until a more aberrant mood swing made him go deeper into inhumanity. As she turned around to head away from the room, she didn't have time to react as the man walked behind her with his jaws unhinged like a snake ready to devour its prey. As the scene turned blood red, it switched to Lyre in fear and despair to what he had...only for him to start cackling insanely for several minutes and finally saying with a blank stare on his face as it spontaneously a long gray beard-

"Who the devil was that woman...?" The mentally broken Lyre then made a series of lucid expressions as he continued to laugh loudly. He then caught the glimpse of a hapless maid and with a deranged expression on his face, pounced on her and ate her alive. Leone understood at that moment, it was the "death" of a tragic man and the "birth" of a truly monstrous one, a person she knew as the Prime Minister of the Empire. Realizing it made everything she knew about him more morbid and disturbing in hindsight. It confirmed more than ever that this Helianthus was irredeemably evil, completely soulless and heartless.

Girasol looked from afar with a sinister glare as he smiled softly. He began to walk out of the room and slowly head to the top floor of the mansion. As he did so, his form gradually became less human and more like an incomprehensible demon. He perched himself on the top of the mansion with a devilish grin on his blackened face filled with sharp teeth and his back began to bulge. A gigantic sunflower expanded from it and began to generate a blinding light. Girasol then said this with a wicked tone of voice-

"Now to start my play of insanity, and my failed protege playing the star role...I think Honest has a nice ring to it."

1 Year Later

The light flashed and what followed was what Leone knew from the possible origins leading to the corruption in the capital except from an even more disturbing light than she thought possible. She quickly figured that his light was to erase the memories of others, likely explaining why no one ever brought about Lyre or Ryūo when talking about the past and why Honest seemed to be someone well remembered in spite of seeming to be a very flat character with no depth. Because in the latter's case, it was literally the case- he was a facade born from the shell of a man with far more depth, a truly surreal joke on human nature. It likely helped to make the corruption go quicker by having it seem it was always there, but those two points were the ones she focused on the most.

However, she had no time to think on these facts due to a more horrific scene about to take place.

"Was there a reason to come here? To think that below the torture chambers and hidden passageways that a place like this existed.," said an older voice of a gentleman that was skeptical yet polite with hints of sarcasm in his voice. One that she knew very well as it was something she had grown up with.

In a dark space that Leone felt was familiar for some reason, two men were having dinner in the middle of this area on a well lit and polished table. About to discuss nefarious plans as ones taking advantage of the other, not knowing that one was the true puppet master and that the other was his hapless pawn. However, knowing what she knew now, it was actually the older gentleman who was the pawn and the "younger" man who was the one pulling his strings.

"I am quite displeased with the Emperor's compassionate rule...it's far too suffocating...so you say you'll aid me in...dealing with him...Helianthus...are you saying I can rely on a man whose name means sunflower? I was surprised on how you managed to find me in my sleeping quarters and led me to this god forsaken place...though it feels nostalgic for some reason.," said a pompous and jolly tone of voice as while he was eating a large quantity of food. This Helianthus seemed to chuckle at this, knowing full well that this "older" gentleman had not only seen this place, but had actually known what it was for a long time. Leone knew that he was enjoying this twisted irony that only he found amusing.

"Yes. Much like you, I find his reign of peace to be insufferable and would much prefer a more...assertive ruler to take charge...someone like you.," replied a calm and level headed voice that began to sip on wine. On first glance, it seemed like this Helianthus was complianting him, but in reality, he had already staged everything so this conversation would take place as he planned it. The light soon revealed the talkers and Leone was not at all surprised who each were.

It was Girasol...or rather, Helianthus in his white, segmented attire who sitting on the other side of the table from a very familiar man that everyone in the capital despised. Except that Leone knew the pitiful truth about his origins that made him more pathetic in hindsight.

He was obese, middle-aged with light skin, gray hair, amber iris eyes, and a long grayish beard that extended down to his abdomen. He had a sinister, toothy grin on his face while he was speaking to the brown haired man. He wore a pair of brown boots, a dark green shirt, a belt below his belly and short pants which were also dark green, and a gray coat with some hair of an animal around his neck, resembling a bourgeois.

It was Honest before he became a Prime Minister, chomping on a large piece of steak with a gleefully evil expression. Helianthus then tossed him a vial with a black substance emitting a poisonous purple aura from its container. Something that made Honest scowl as if he had been cheated somehow, which annoyed Helianthus implying this vial contained something truly abhorrent within.

"So you want me to poison the Emperor and likely his spouse as well? How simple, I could do that with any poison I could buy from some vender on the street. It seems that whoever made this was clearly a novice when it comes to intelligence," Honest remarked with skepticism. This was something that he immediately came to deeply regret as the "maker" was in the same room as he was and this "maker" was someone far beyond his comprehension.

Suddenly, a large eye with yellow sclera and pink iris opened to the obese man's right. Honest glanced at the eye without much interest and turned his attention back to Helianthus. A second later, in a moment of realization, he snapped the head around with an expression of wide eyed shock. Leone then remembered that this was the area where the family had performed acts of sin around this entity. It became clear to Honest that he had no idea what he was dealing with and he was now in the middle of an affair that was clearly over his head.

"W-what is that?!," Honest said in a tone of fearful confusion, but became even more alarmed with Helianthus' sudden change in appearance. The handsome man's face had opened like a budding flower to reveal a blackened demonic skull with solid gold eyes, sharp white teeth with no lips and a set of three vertical similarly golden eyes on his forehead. The rest was obscured by darkness, but it had the outline of a muscular humanoid with five sets of sheet-like wings with human like eyes, adorned with Sunflower/Venus Fly trap heads with drooling, toothy maws. Tendrils writhed from all corners of the silhouetted form. Such a sight made Honest become beyond terrified, ironically more so than his actual death years later.

A blackened clawed hand suddenly stretched from the demon's side of the table to grabbed Honest by the collar, dragging him towards the creature. Forcing him to look directly at the horrid visage of a demon. And what he saw was truly nightmarish beyond all comprehension.

"Ah-Ah-Ah.," Honest whimpered at the sight of the monstrosity, with his sanity slowly crumbling. Helianthus shook him in order to have focused on what he was now demanding of him.

"There's something that you need to made perfectly made clear about. This is not an alliance for you to gain power, you are just our pawn for our own purposes Our pawn to spread the hedonism, corruption, debauchery, sadism, torture, suffering, despair, selfishness and other evils for one purpose above all else. To revive an even more vile evil that you could ever accomplish in your lifetime and remember you pig- that we can have you killed at anytime...to be perfectly "honest", once you've achieved your objective- you will be eliminated regardless, you little Lyre.," said Helianthus in a demonic and deepened voice, his tone satanic and wrathful in tone. He was uncaring that Honest was on the brink of losing his sanity at the sight of his true form. Before he continue taunting him, a more serene yet infinitely more terrifying voice spoke, deciding to let him know exactly what his role was. It came from the massive eye staring directly at him, which had the implications that it only the smallest part of something truly massive in size.

"Here's what you're going to do. In a few years time, the Emperor's successor will born and when he reaches a certain age- poison the little primate's parents, manipulate him into leading an empire of villainy and make sure it continues for a while. We've already procured a potential helper for you from the Partas tribe, she'll be a great asset for you to maintaining your rule.," said a gentlemanly, serene voice of the being with the large eye staring down at the future Prime Minister. Leone was appalled to learn that the entire system that ruined the lives of so many people had been orchestrated by this being. And her senses picked up that even now, she probably couldn't couldn't put a dent in this abomination, even if it was real. That's how outclassed she realized she was in comparison to the being that the eye belonged to.

"W-what are you? W-What do you get out of this? I can offer money, status, power, women or the permission to pursue your evil desires...no, t-then what is it then?!," Honest asked the eye with a cowardly tone, going on what corrupt people usually wanted in terms in motivation, but it clearly was something much bigger than what he could possibly imagine. He resigned himself to being killed by this abomination, but was surprised that it did not happen. This response caused the eye to widen, not expecting this answer since it assumed that no one would ever directly ask its motives. It then turned its eye like an upside down crescent as it began to speak with a more lucid tone of voice. And what it said was something Leone found far more repulsive than anything that she ever heard in her life. If the Devil existed in this world, this was the closest equivalent.

"I am Nequam, you could say I'm the brilliant mind of what you call the Devil himself. My goals are what I did before the Empire was established: Complete Genocide on the majority of you bare skinned primate, but leave enough survivors alive for them to repopulate. And then start killing the population, letting them repopulate again and again, in an eternity of slaughter, a repetition of a nightmarish process. To let my demonic Akujin legions do anything they want, even if its the most horrific actions one could commit or maybe even worse than anyone could imagine. Abolish every law and order that limit creativity of what evil can accomplish without restraint To allow theft, anarchy, torture and murder to be displayed as a daily routine without hiding in the shadows! With no one to stop my reign this time- I've made sure of that! Hell on Earth is my ambition! Those who annoy me or act on the will of the people shall be exterminated by my followers! A planet of insanity and depravity for my personal amusement. To bring out the evils of humanity that they foolishly suppress and force them to act on their evil impulses until Akujin kill them when they outlive their usefulness. I will be rewarded with that goal in mind, especially after I'm reunited with my body.," the large eye ranted as its eye generated ripples that continued to expand outwards from the center, its tone vile and insane with a shrill pitch that contrasted its earlier politeness. Leone staring from the distance clenched her fist with extreme anger and contempt for the creature uttering such sinister designs that were too malevolent to be real.

It was like Honest's goals, but the scale of it was far more massive and abhorrent than what the future Prime Minister could ever accomplish. Honest himself realized this as he found even that to be extreme, even by his standards. But, the sight of these monstrosities were too surreal to comprehend so what he was seeing. So it was simple...this was all just a subliminal dream that was telling him what to do. It was the only thing keeping him from losing what little sanity that he had left. And it worked in their favor because it meant that he wouldn't go ratting out on them and even if he did, he'd be seen as a madman. Meaning that there was no way that they'd ever be found out through him due to his already horrendous character making the least trustworthy person ever.

"I understand...I won't mention your existence to anyone and will follow your plans...ahahaha...," Honest replied with broken tears as Helianthus let him go to rush away towards the hidden passage way where he first entered the room, never to mention this encounter to anyone. The two then spoke to one another about what they had accomplished. Leone was sickened on how casually they spoke of ruining this man's life in more ways than he'd ever imagine.

"You definitely are cruel, turning your student Lyre into that warped parody that just spoke to us. And you rewrote the entire country's memories so that "Honest" always existed and let "Lyre" to be completely forgotten.," said the yellow eyed being to Helianthus who had resumed his human guise with a hint of a snicker in its voice. To which, Helianthus replied with a sinister glare as he deluged on how of his heinous deeds that he had orchestrated, especially with "Honest's" life.

"I've been acting as his butler among my other political positions across the world for a year now. I did enjoy how he sold his own wife into slavery, she'll be in bondage even after the Empire falls and threatened to do the same to his own son if he doesn't prove his evilness to him. It's amusing to watch him ruin his own life...and the kicker being that he's not even aware of what kind of person he was before I "fixed" him.," Helianthus replied with a conceited tone of voice as he snickered while reminiscing about his latest acts of vileness. Leone was disgusted hearing how he had not tormented his student's life, but had done something worse- he destroyed his very being, deforming it to something truly vile. It was surreally horrific that it managed to become even more terrifying when she thought about it.

"There is that Panthera woman that he's been hanging out with for years at this point- she's definitely a direct descendant of the first Lionelle user, more so than even the illustrious Leo family and carries his insubordinate attitude that I find repulsive. Her child might prove a threat if it survives the Empire's collapse...better to have it exterminated as soon as possible.," he continued with a vexed expression on his demonic face. Leone then realized in horror that he was talking about killing Panthera...her mother and that he was the one, not Honest's flunkies, that had orchestrated this event. Rage began to build up in her and only the fact that she knew that this was a vision kept her from tearing out his throat out of vengeance for what he had done.

"Have the White Wing, Alba- your true student do the deed. Your hands will be clean.," suggested the yellow eye with a foul and malicious intent. The mood changed to an even more horrific atmosphere as Leone immediately began to think about the avian being that she had overheard being responsible for Najenda's death while trapped in that circle. Apparently, he was far more vile than she thought he was...that he had killed her parents and only through luck that she managed to survive. Leone began to hate Alba more than ever before, especially after what the yellow eye revealed next.

"Oh he will enjoy adding this to his list of things to do. He's already planning to manipulate an Ubiquitous girl into villainy by framing her for various misdeeds, make her father seem like a traitor to the Emperor, disguising as an executioner to have him killed in front of his daughter and have her be instructed in the wrong definition of justice. He's also planning to perform surgery on some girl from the slums to make her clumsy and potentially more violent at the same time. Among other planned visions of implanting malevolence into unsuspecting mortals.," Helianthus replied as he started to walk away. It was clear to her now...everything bad that happened to her, to Night Raid and even the "truly evil" people all had their lives ruined by these truly monstrous entities. And if she ever got the chance...there would be a bloodbath...nothing else...just a no holds barred bloodbath...

However, the tone then became extremely hostile as the two revealed that their previous casual conversation hid a torrent of vehement dislike of one other.

"I know what you did 500 years ago. If they find out this, they're be after your throat.," said the eye, resuming its eerily, gentlemanly tone of voice. Helianthus didn't realize how subtly angry the eye was and then decided to gloat about something that made Leone want to kill him more. He being responsible for the war 500 years ago and all the tragedy that likely ensued.

"If it's about how I modified the Teigu and helped to turn the users against each other- history has long since forgotten-," Helianthus replied until he suddenly felt his neck being clenched by an invisible force. It became clear to Leone that Helianthus was not as loyal as she thought he was to this eye- that he was likely someone who had his own plans in mind. In other words, a backstabbing weed with no loyalty to anyone. Just another irredeemable quality that Leone despise him even more.

"I was referring to how you had Pandora, pregnant with my twin offspring be captured in the room hidden to the left of me and how you're planning to kill my other spawn by my other spouse in order to convince the leadership that you should be king. All in order to make it so you wouldn't have to keep hiding your little...perversions Let me make this clear- you will never have me or take my kingdom away from my grasp.," said the eye with a widened gaze and a pinprick pupil, voicing his abhorrence of the brown haired man that was currently with him. Helianthus barely able to breathe until he was suddenly allowed to gasp air once more. He stared at the eye with a defiant glare as the scene began to shine with a white light.

One thing was clear...Helianthus had to be punished in the most horrible manner possible for the truly monstrous person he was.

She knew the truth of Honest and what she knew...was beyond repulsive.

Next Chapter: Kill The Rage