Well this chapter didn't take me long to write, once I sat down at the comp and typed it. Lol yes, it's been like two weeks since my last update. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This chapter has some gore. I'm surprised at how this chapter progressed... I honestly didn't know this was going to happen. We've got some wicked fighting scenes coming up. Anyways, enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

HOROBOSU

Shuichi breathed deeply through his nose, forcing himself to calm down and concentrate on the octopuses that were holding him. I can do this… I can do this… I am strong. I AM STRONG!

All the octopuses restraining Shuichi began writhing in pain. Then, all of their bodies imploded, spraying blood everywhere. Shuichi plopped to ground, breathing heavily, as blood and tentacles rained about him. He had mentally pictured the blood that was inside of the octopuses bodies' and literally made it boil. Eventually, the demons imploded.

"HA HA HA! SEE THE LITTLE BOY SQUIRM?!? I LIKE IT! KILL HIM!" The voice boomed out, causing Shuichi to jump up, looking wildly around him. He saw Suzu fighting off octopuses and Tiril behind her, safe in his barrier. A parade of octopuses was headed straight for him.

The entire room was the epitome of chaos… and Shuichi was in the core of it. He was surrounded; he was being overtaken again. Suzu was blasting the demons with fire left and right and there was no sign of Sasayaku anywhere.

I must look like a monster again… covered in blood. Shuichi's shoulders rose up and down. Kill… kill… Shuichi let out a wild scream and dove at the nearest demon, punching it across the face. He began punching and kicking and screaming, not bothering to use his head.

"Shu, calm yourself. If you lose control of your demonic energy, you'll regret it." Suzu instructed without turning around. "That technique you used earlier works. Use it instead."

Shuichi froze and shook his head, taking deep breaths. She's right… I almost lost it. I panicked. I can't do this here. Not now. Not when Apollyon's life is at stake! The half-demon looked at the girl. "Suzu, I'm going into the barrier. I need to concentrate. Can you hold them off?"

"Yeah, but hurry up!" Suzu shouted back, grateful that Shuichi was using his head again. Shuichi nodded and ran into the barrier.

"Shuichi, are you okay?" Tiril's innocent eyes widened. He was completely unharmed and Shuichi hugged him for a second.

"I'm fine." Shuichi let the Fallen Angel go. He closed his eyes and began focusing on the demons that were surrounding Suzu. He had to do this quickly, or her life would be in danger.

"I wanted to fight… but Suzu made me stay in here." Tiril smiled sadly, looking out at Suzu taking on about thirty octopuses at once. She can't fight on her own for long… Suzu was putting up a good fight, but her numerous opponents were beginning to get the best of her. The only thing Suzu had left was her speed, because if just one tentacle bound her… countless more would follow.

"That's because if one of us gets hurt, we need a place to recuperate." Shuichi answered quickly. He started to picture all the blood running through the demons' veins. It was what kept them alive. It was getting hotter and hotter… unbelievably, uncontrollably scorching.

Finally, Shuichi heard the splatters and opened his eyes. Once again, the floor became covered with blood and body parts. Tiril whimpered and closed his eyes as oozing tentacles landed on the barrier, painting blood all over it. The barrier automatically electrocuted the body parts and they plopped to the ground, crackling where they lay.

"You're going to be fine, Tiril." Shuichi knelt down so that he was eye to eye with the little boy. "Remember, I'm here to protect you."

"I guess so. I'm allowed to be a little scared, though, right?" Tiril smiled nervously. Suzu burst into the barrier, the identical octopuses slithering after her. They were all simultaneously electrocuted and thrown back, but only a few of them died. "Hi Suzu!!" The remaining octopuses stationed themselves outside the barrier.

"Hey there…" Suzu sat down, taking in oxygen as fast as she could. "Good job, Shuichi. You took about half of them out. We've got about fifteen more to go. But one thing is bothering me: Sasayaku still hasn't shown himself. We've heard him speak a couple times… but he hasn't shown his face-"

"He's trying to tire us out with his troops, so that when he shows up, we'll be too exhausted to fight him at our full strength." Shuichi finished, taking the words out of Suzu's mouth.

"Full strength… yeah, that clocked out a few minutes ago." Suzu smiled sheepishly, wiping sweat off her forehead. "But we'll figure something out. Tiril, can you still sense Apollyon?"

"Yeah… he doesn't seem to be dying anymore." Tiril responded thoughtfully. "It's weird…"

"So… Sasayaku being here is keeping him alive?" Shuichi wondered out loud. Aw, what do I know about that? The only thing I do know is that we need to quickly get rid of Sasayaku's remaining troops and then go for him!

"We don't even know if Sasayaku is here… we've only heard his voice so far." Suzu pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"OH HO HO!!!" Sasayaku bellowed, causing all three beings to freeze. "WHAT A BARRIER THIS IS… LET ME CRUSH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The walls crackled at the intensity of his voice. The ground beneath them shook violently. "MY CHILDREN… STAY STILL!!!!"

Tiril gulped and looked up. He let out a shrill scream upon seeing what was silently plummeting down towards the barrier. Shuichi looked up and his jaw dropped. Suzu almost passed out.

Sasayaku was completely black octopus about the size of a two-story house. His tentacles stretched to about forty or fifty feet. Millions of designs and insignias had been inscribed all over his slimy flesh in blood red ink. It looked as though someone had planted two golden boulders where his eyes should have been, because they were huge, round, and lacked pupils. The demon's mouth was a thin line, but numerous fangs were seen poking out of the cavity.

Interestingly enough, there were no suction cups anywhere on Sasayaku's extremely long arms. However, he was holding a colossal weapon in one of his arms: a thick metal spear that wasn't too long when compared to the length of the demon's arms. A golden anvil headed the spear and it twinkled at Shuichi as Sasayaku plunged nearer and nearer towards them.

Suzu was the first to break out of the contagious stupor. "We have to get out of here- NOW!!!" Suzu picked Tiril up by his waist and dashed out of the barrier.

"Are you crazy?!? Put me down!!!" Tiril's shouting made Shuichi jump, bringing the teen back to reality. Shuichi dove out of the barrier just as the golden anvil smacked the barrier with a mighty clang that rang throughout the entire room. The force of Sasayaku's attack tossed Shuichi's tiny body into the air.

Golden light filled the entire room for a few seconds. The piercing clank startled Suzu so much that she dropped Tiril so she could cover her ears. Tiril followed suit, but not before hooking an arm around Suzu's leg.

And then… they all heard it. The sickening crack. Shuichi opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground behind an overturned table. He stood up and watched in shock as Tiril's trusty barrier-the barrier that no one had yet to surpass- crumbled into shards of bluish purple particles and disintegrated into the air. Tiril's brooch lay feebly on the ground.

Sasayaku let out a roaring laugh, causing Suzu to cover her ears again. Now on the ground, the octopus practically took up half the room. Shuichi raced over to where Suzu and Tiril stood. The three of them braced themselves against the stone wall. It was the only security they had at the moment.

"You're both okay, right?" Shuichi demanded breathlessly.

"No… this is probably a bad time to tell stories, but my mother is a dog demon." Suzu rubbed her ears, wincing slightly. "My father wasn't, but that doesn't matter. The thing is… my ears are much more sensitive than yours. I wouldn't be surprised if his anvil broke my anvil…"

"I want my brooch back." Tiril said stubbornly, glaring up at Sasayaku. "It was a gift from Raphael and it's important."

"Tiril, right now we have to concentrate on staying alive!" Shuichi shouted at the boy. Crap… and now that Sasayaku broke the barrier… one of us has to protect him. This is NOT going to be easy at all.

"I don't care!" Tiril turned his cold gaze on Shuichi… and ran out into the open, where about fifteen octopuses were waiting for him.

"Tiril!!!!!!!!! No!!!!" Suzu and Shuichi screamed out, running after him.

He sure picked the worst time to go psycho on us… stupid kid. Suzu growled as she pumped her legs faster and faster.

An octopus reached out an arm to grab Tiril, but the Fallen jumped in the air and kept on moving towards Sasayaku. Shuichi grabbed the octopus and flung it into the air. Suzu blasted it with fire and it fell to the ground, dead.

"Tiril, come back!!!!!!!!!" Shuichi shouted in protest, but Tiril ignored him. Three more octopuses dove at Tiril. They wrapped their arms around him and held him in place. Tiril growled and released his fangs. His sharp teeth tore right through the arms and he kept on going, his red eyes fixed on his destination.

"YOU WANT THIS BACK, BOY????" Sasayaku bellowed, holding back his laughter at his miniscule opponent. He clonked the spear on the ground, sending a gust of wind Tiril's way. The brooch was on the ground near the massive spear.

The Fallen Angel was thrown high into the air, due to the powerful wind. His boy was aimed straight for the wall. Shuichi's eyes widened and he shouted out Tiril's name. Suzu looked up and screamed, knowing that no matter how fast she could fly, she could never reach Tiril at her current strength. Still, she took off as fast as she could, despite the fact that her body was shrieking at her in protest.

Tiril turned around and saw the jagged rocks of the wall reaching out to him. His red eyes flashed for a second and time seemed to stop. His body released a rainbow of colors that swirled around him, holding him in place. The colors shot out everywhere, zooming about the room. From where Shuichi was standing, it was as if a rainbow had exploded all around Tiril.

The colors flew right through Suzu… and her body was completely healed. The light gently carried Suzu back to the ground so that she was standing next to Shuichi. The light then traveled to Shuichi, healing him as well, but for the remaining octopuses? They were all killed upon impact of the light.

"WHAT IS THIS??????" Sasayaku howled furiously, upon seeing that all of his subordinates had been vanquished.

All the colors zoomed back up towards Tiril. They formed a brightly colored image, high above his head: two gigantic wings. The multicolored wings floated back down to Tiril and entered his body. White light obscured everyone's vision.

When all the light cleared away, one sound resonated throughout the area: the beating of wings. Sasayaku, Shuichi, and Suzu looked up in astonishment. Tiril was hovering in the air; he hadn't moved an inch. His menacing, red eyes glared down at Sasayaku.

Tiril's majestic, black wings didn't reach that far, because he was so small. They were sharp, sleek, thin, and delicate. The right edges of his wings curved outwards in one direction and the left edges hooked and curved in many directions. The Fallen Angel grinned, his fangs quivering in excitement.

"You're going to give it back!" Tiril shouted out, literally diving at Sasayaku, or rather… the spear the demon held in his hands.

"I don't believe it…" Suzu was still rooted to the spot she stood.

"What is it?" Shuichi turned to his companion.

"Someone put a seal on his wings. And he just broke it." Suzu replied slowly, her eyes still stuck to Tiril's flying form. "And that was no weak seal either. Someone powerful put it there." That wasn't a demonic seal either… an Angel put it there. Who is this boy?

"Who cares who put it there? Let's go fight!!" Shuichi ran at Sasayaku as fast as he could, which was incredibly fast now that his energy had been restored. Suzu frowned slightly, but flew in the air towards Sasayaku.

He's strong… too strong. He'll draw attention to himself. Suzu thought intuitively as she soared on. And if the "Raphael" he mentioned is the Raphael…

Tiril reached Sasayaku first, eyes gleaming with malice. He soared about the spear, flying down and down in a spiral around it.

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH IT!!!!!!!" Sasayaku roared at Tiril.

"Pay attention to who you're fighting!" Shuichi snapped back, releasing a bunch of tiny bubbles into the air. "Suzu!! Let's go!"

Suzu shook her head, chasing her earlier thoughts out of her head. Now was the time for battle. The demon dove down and under Shuichi, so that the boy was now on her back. Suzu then zoomed up as fast as she could towards Sasayaku's head. Shuichi crinkled his forehead in concentration.

"If he has that accelerant in him, extract it." Suzu ordered quickly.

"One second." Shuichi replied calmly. Tiril finally neared the ground and stretched his arms forward. He was going to get his brooch back.

"NOT IF I FLATTEN YOU FIRST!!!!!!!" Sasayaku took his spear off the ground and aimed the bottom of it at Tiril's little body. The octopus brought the spear down rapidly, ready to crush the boy.

Tiril looked up and saw the metal pole headed straight for him. His speed increased tenfold in a fraction of a second. He snatched the brooch off the ground and was zooming up towards Suzu and Shuichi before the spear met the ground. When Tiril saw that he wasn't in danger, his speed decreased once again.

Tiril looked down at his hands as he flew. His brooch was back where it belonged. Upon studying it, he saw a zigzag-shaped crack going down the middle of it. Scowling slightly, he put the brooch back on and continued on going up.

"Are you done yet?!?" Suzu screamed Shuichi. "We're almost there!!"

"You'll want to be moving up as fast as you can now." Shuichi opened his eyes, a smirk on his face. He turned his head and beckoned to Tiril. The Fallen Angel instantly increased his speed.

"What?" Suzu's face paled, but she followed his instructions all the same. When Shuichi felt that they were high enough… a popping sound was heard. Twenty cyclones whirled about the room, bombarding Sasayaku. The demon's body was the one begin thrown about now.

Suzu, Shuichi, and Tiril watched from high above as Shuichi's handiwork ravaged Sasayaku's body. The sound of the water was deafening, but not as shrill as Sasayaku's anvil. Tornado after tornado tore through the octopus.

"Awesome!!" Suzu pumped her fist in the air. "A couple more hits like that and we've got him!"

Shuichi had his eyes closed. He was focusing his mind once again. If seventy-percent of a human's body contains water… how much does Sasayaku have? The half-demon began picturing innumerable volumes of his element. Shuichi wasn't even sure how he knew that fact, but he was glad he remembered it when he did.

Tiril's red eyes turned orange and his fangs vanished. The boy looked from Suzu to Shuichi, with a big smile on his face. "I can fight, too!" The Fallen Angel nodded his head happily.

"Suzu. Hit him with your strongest fire attack." Shuichi spoke up suddenly.

"Strongest? Are you sure?" Suzu raised an eyebrow.

"I am." Shuichi said confidently, tightening his grip on Suzu's shoulders.

"Aye-aye!" Suzu nodded her head, imagining her favorite animal in her head. Purple energy waves began to emit off of Suzu's body. Tiril turned to Suzu in shock, feeling the demonic energy crackling in the air.

Shuichi continued to ponder about all the water in Sasayaku's body. Mind over matter… mind over matter. He held up both his hands, releasing his hold on Suzu, but kept his legs wrapped around her waist. (He didn't want to fall and crack his head open, of course.)

All of the cyclones circled around Sasayaku. They were no longer whirling around in a circle; they were all closing in on him. The demon's spear was useless against the water. Tiril watched as all the cyclones converged, becoming a gigantic pillar of water that held Sasayaku captive. In the blink of an eye, it happened.

The pillar of water froze completely and Shuichi froze all of the water inside of Sasayaku as well. There was no possible way the octopus could move. "Do it now, before he breaks free!" Shuichi opened his eyes, his hands fumbling for Suzu's shoulders.

"Tiril, hold Shuichi." Suzu said sharply, tossing the half-demon over to Tiril without blinking an eye. Tiril let out a squeal and held onto one of Shuichi's arms with both his hands. She held her right arm towards her, as if she was checking the time or getting ready to hook someone across the face.

A shimmering, tiny figure materialized onto Suzu's arm. It was a tiny, black and white rabbit with black eyes. Suzu stared at the bunny with intensity… and the animal stared right back. It was the cutest thing Tiril had ever seen. However…

"What is that supposed to do?" Shuichi voiced Tiril's worried thoughts.

"Do not underestimate my pet." Suzu said simply, stretching her arm outwards and downwards, so that her fingertips were pointing at Sasayaku's frozen body. The rabbit instantly zoomed towards it, despite the fact that it had no wings. Shuichi's jaw dropped; the rabbit was faster than Tiril. The second the rabbit's pink nose touched the ice, an explosion of fire erupted from its body.

The force of the blast blew everyone back and the room was filled with heavy fog. Scorching flames were all about the room and when the fog finally began to clear, Sasayaku's singed body was lying on the ground. Half of his arms had been burnt off. His spear had been completely melted.

"Where's the bunny?" Tiril looked around quickly.

"Back in here." Suzu put a hand over her heart.

"Huh?" Shuichi raised an eyebrow.

"The art of summoning is much too complex to explain right now." Suzu answered mysteriously, effectively ending the conversation.

Her attack was much stronger than mine… Shuichi thought to himself. When we get Apollyon back, I'm making him teach me how to summon!

"Bravo, bravo, little children." A cold, quiet voice froze everyone. Tiril and Suzu turned around slowly. The most terrifying demon any of them had ever seen was floating right behind them. How long had he been there?

"I must say, I am quite impressed with all of your powers." The demon smiled maliciously, striking more fear in the trio's hearts than Sasayaku's loudest shout. "My name is… Horobosu." Tiril's face paled and his eyes widened.

"Horobosu is one of the oldest demons alive. He was an army commander during the Zenith Wars. But unfortunately, his malevolent, distorted mind was too radical for even the demons to control. He was executed and sentenced to Hell for all eternity by his subordinates. Being stuck in one realm for so long can build resentment in a demon.

"Like his younger brother, Ramechi, Horobosu specializes in hallucinations and such. This is the only thing they have in common, besides sharing blood. But demonic families believe in blood loyalty, so after the entity known as 'Ichigo' killed Ramechi, Horobosu was immediately notified." Tiril blurted out loudly, once again not knowing how in the world he knew all of this. "In other words, Shuichi, he's come here to kill you."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS BEFORE?!?" Suzu and Shuichi shrieked at Tiril simultaneously.

"I'm sorry…" Tiril whimpered. "I couldn't remember for some reason."

"I decided to intervene before you removed one of the strongest demons in Hell. Or at least, the one with the biggest reputation." Horobosu chuckled quietly, causing all three of them to stare at him again.

Horobosu was a tall, gangly demon. His skin had taken on a gray tint after being dead for so long. His dark, ebony hair had been neatly combed to the side with a few strands falling loose onto his face. Two large horns that resembled a bull's horns came out of his head. His long, black and white kimono-styled army robe was stained with blood-both old and new. Badges from his previous military positions still adorned his robe showing just how revered he was a long ago.

OH MY GOD… Shuichi took a deep breath. He's going to kill me…

"I have spoken to my loyal associates, who informed me that if I touched you three, I would surely not be forgiven." Horobosu continued on, ignoring the horror that was emitting from his next victim's body. "However, you can imagine my surprise when I was told that no one would care if I killed you."

Horobosu looked straight at Shuichi. "You see, you do have a family. You do have social promise… however, your status is nothing compared to that of Suzu, Tiril, or Apollyon. You have yet to establish yourself in all three worlds… and your existence will remain the same whether you are dead or alive.

"I made sure to preserve the Angel's life so that if he dies after I kill you, I cannot in any way be blamed for it." Horobosu wove his hand and Apollyon's body appeared out of nowhere. His body was lying horizontally in the air, floating next to the demon. Shuichi gasped in shock. Apollyon looked exactly the same.

It looked as if Apollyon had been sleeping the whole time; not a hair on his head had been harmed. Shuichi remembered everything about his teacher: His soft, shoulder-length brown hair that covered one of his hazel eyes. The tears of blood that rained down his face and his bandaged, bloody arms. He was still wearing the white, elbow-length sleeved shirt, the tight, black pants, and black, leather boots that went up to his knees. And of course, his large, black wings were still there.

"Apollyon…" Shuichi spoke the male's name for the first time in… just HOW long had they been separated?!? "I can't believe it…"

What are we going to do? We can't let him kill Shuichi! Suzu thought uneasily.

"He will not wake unless I wish it so." Horobosu turned his cold gaze on Suzu. "Are you thinking of saving him? It is useless; I will do what I came here to do… and I will do it now." The demon wove his hand, a seemingly innocent gesture. It was not so. Tiril and Suzu's bodies were teleported back to the ground and Shuichi was left alone with Horobosu, his body only staying in the air because Horobosu was using his magic to keep the boy up.

"SHUICHI!!!!!!!!!!" Suzu screamed out from the ground. Tiril gulped, looking up at the two of them.

"Troublesome…" Horobosu looked down at Shuichi's friends. He snapped his fingers and a transparent box-shaped barrier rose around Suzu and Tiril. "Wouldn't want them to interrupt our conversation, would we?"

"Conversation?" Shuichi repeated weakly, shaking in fear. The only reason I'm still here is because he's keeping me up… I've never met someone so strong before. Sasayaku is nothing compared to him.

"Yes, there are things we must clarify." Horobosu smiled cruelly. "I've already devised the perfect way to kill you, so even if by some miracle you and your friends make it out of here… you'll die eventually. If by some miracle, you manage to escape my grasp here… I will return to you. I will find you. Not physically of course, I've got better things to do with my time than chase you around while you're on your little adventures-"

Horobosu teleported so that he was right behind Shuichi. He immersed his hand into Shuichi's pink hair, his fingers grasping the boy's scalp. "I'll be in here. While you sleep, while you dream, while you think…. you can never escape me. I'll always be in here." The demon pulled on Shuichi's hair, yanking out some strands.

Shuichi let out a loud shriek and tore himself away from Horobosu. "During the day, you'll be too exhausted to function properly. While you sleep, you will see nothing but horrific, traumatic images that will haunt you for the rest of your life. You'll begin to fear things you never feared before. Sooner or later, you will become an insomniac, because you'll be too afraid to sleep. If the lack of sleep doesn't directly kill you, you will end up killing yourself. You see, no one can stand psychological torture for too long.

"I'm going to give you a little sample of what you'll be seeing in the dark if you get out of here. So this way, you'll know exactly what's coming. You'll beg me… to kill you." Horobosu smiled calmly. "Ready or not… here I come."

Shuichi began to cry, but he didn't even notice it. His eyes were stuck to Horobosu. He couldn't look anywhere else, couldn't think of anything else. Suddenly, Horobosu's body disappeared. Shuichi looked down. Suzu and Tiril were gone too… even Sasayaku's incapacitated body was missing.

Shuichi was alone inside the huge chamber. Then the darkness came, folding itself around him and blinding him. He couldn't see an inch ahead of him. "Suzu?" Shuichi whispered weakly. "Suzu?!? Are you out there?!?" He began shrieking and shouting and more tears were running down his face, but he was too afraid to move.

But then… it was as if someone pulled a rug out from under him. Shuichi began falling down, going further into the darkness. He couldn't see where he was falling… he couldn't see anything. The boy turned his head and saw a sea of sharp, jagged rocks on the ground, waiting to impale him. He started screaming louder, but he couldn't fly. He couldn't stop himself from falling.

I don't want to die!!!!!!!!!! Shuichi mentally screeched. Just as his body was going to reach the rocks… he stopped. The teen didn't know how his body stopped falling… it just did. His body was floating right above the sharp rocks.

"Now then, Shuichi, won't you come out?" A familiar, cold voice asked.

Shuichi looked up in shock, already knowing who it was. The heartless face of Lord Seguchi, Tohma's father, was staring down at him. His light blonde hair lit up the darkness. Lord Seguchi smiled widely… and large fangs popped out of his mouth. Shuichi gasped about and tried to move, but… his body was immobile.

Lord Seguchi's face began to warp into that of a monster's. His blonde hair became long and stringy, his eyes became narrow and red, his mouth widened and a gigantic, purple tongue slithered out of it. Spiked, red tentacles erupted out of his ears and his nose, slinking towards Shuichi. I can't move… I can't move… He's going to eat me… Shuichi whimpered to himself.

"Ha ha ha! Now then, Shuichi, won't you come out?" The distorted face of Lord Seguchi demanded. Just before he devoured Shuichi, the boy blacked out.

Next up... Chapter 28: Divine Intervention

Can Suzu and Tiril save Shuichi from Horobosu before it's too late?