Guardian

by yasha012

I used to want to save existence... I saw it as this beautiful place, capable of fostering life in all of its many forms. A place with the potential to nurture so much Light. But the closer I got to it... the more I fought for it… the better I could see the Darkness waiting within… the evil we would all rather forget. (Part 4 of the Hero series; sequel to "Eternal Shadow Falls".)

146. Return of the Lost One

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this battle… especially for the one who was lost.

~保護者~

"Return of the Lost One"

~保護者~

Sensing his legions of demons coming with Zareil and his generals at the helm would normally have evoked different emotions than it did. Pleasure, satisfaction, something akin to those at the very least. But this time Kaden's eyes narrowed as he watched the sky, watching for the precise moment they all arrived. Not for the first time, he was forced to acknowledge the truth. For some time now, he had been slipping. Faltering. He'd managed things flawlessly for so long, only for things to start actively falling apart around him.

He could very well pinpoint the time when this had truly begun occuring. It had been right about the time that Sonic had suddenly returned to life. And then sometime after that, despite having kept the younger man under some degree of protection for many years, he'd learned that Shadow had been harmed. Then Analia had been set free, and he'd been forced by Steam to confront the truth of what had been done to her by his own hands. And nothing had been the same since.

Not for the first time since being stuck here alone with his thoughts, he'd found himself questioning his own motives, actions, and thoughts. Could he not have escaped this predicament before being fully sealed here? Could he not have simply killed those in his way and gotten free? Why had he found himself allowing them to trap him, to stop him? It wasn't until he allowed himself to consider the truth that the answer came. This all happened because he had been slipping. The part of himself that he had for so long sought to silence and bury had damnably held on throughout the eons, waiting for a time such as this to truly fight back with what little strength it had left.

And he was letting it.

Why?

It was too little, too late to question it much further. He knew the demons were inbound. Only, this time, so was the one person he had tried the hardest to erase from his life besides his own past self. He was faced with a choice now. The question was, who did he turn to? What did he actually want? To remain this way, or to be returned to how he had once been? Whatever choice he was going to make, it had to be made soon.

The demons were coming.

~保護者~

Tails was the first to speak up after having put out a call to all their relevant allies. They were gathered at his home again, waiting tensely for the right moment to depart. "ETA is maybe ten minutes," he announced, eyes glued to his handheld screen. "If that. If there are any last minute preparations to be made, now is the time. Everybody with a weapon from Wery and I should probably give them a quick test."

"These're supposed to have Light or something, right?" Knuckles asked, eyeing one such weapon. "How'd you manage that?"

With a sheepish smile, Tails gestured to Rose. "It's more that she managed it. We just sort of assisted."

Rose created a small crystal in her hand and showed it to Knuckles. "I am capable of creating crystals that can act as storage for energies. I simply fill them with my Light and give them to Tails and Wery for their inventions."

The echidna blinked once, then nodded. "Ah. I get it, now." Rouge examined the crystal a bit more closely and soon smiled her satisfaction at its shiny, valuable appearance.

Amy spoke up about then. "Speaking of weapons… I'm still worried about my hammer," she admitted. "It'll burst into flames at some point. There's no avoiding that."

Steam piped up from where he stood, rapidly typing on his communicator. "Li should be here in a minute. He's bringing weapons for those who do not have one, or need a better one."

"That's good," Amy sighed in relief. "I wasn't sure if you'd managed to get in contact with him."

The green hedgehog tossed her a small smile before his attention was pulled away by something else on the screen. His face morphed into a frown and he grew a touch fidgety. Ah, shit.

Noting his change in expression, Sonic called over from across the room, "What is it?"

Steam definitely didn't want to explain this, and it showed when he visibly hesitated. "Zareil has her waraxe. She doesn't plan to hold back anymore."

Swears and other words of anger and dismay sounded from multiple people, but Sonic was quick to shush people so he could talk. "Are there any particular countermeasures, or…?" He trailed off, suspecting he already knew the answer.

"No… not really. There's not many people that can properly take advantage of her changing tactics like this, and most of them will be busy. I'm going to trust in Sein's shield to hold that off," Steam explained.

This made Alana frown. "We will do as you asked and hold her off once she arrives," she said. "If anything goes wrong with that plan, we will do our best to get word to you and others."

Steam nodded slowly. "I trust that. If all else fails, get that thing out of her hands. She's a bit easier to handle when she's using punches and kicks."

"If we can manage it, we will do so," Alana agreed. "The moment it is away from her, I will send it to one of my family's weapon vaults for the short-term. They are secure."

"Good, and speaking of weapons," Steam began, walking to the door and opening it. Li appeared seconds after, carrying a small assortment of weapons with a few of the bigger ones floating behind him. "Li made it."

The wolf walked in, sharing a quick and pleased greeting with Sein before leaning everything against a wall. There were a fair few more than Steam had requested, something that far from surprised the hedgehog. "I would've arrived sooner, but the project I was working on for Espio was just taking way too long. I couldn't finish it, so I came up with a quick backup plan."

His words earned a glance from the shinobi in question. "No one expected you to finish it so soon, anyway… but the effort is appreciated regardless."

Li nodded with a small smile, carefully picking up the blade he'd brought for Espio. "It's the best I've got immediately available for a strong being of Darkness. I usually make them custom for people as powerful as you and Ylden, but… yeah. This should do you well as a backup if something happens to your normal one."

Espio accepted the sword, situating it at his hip with the other one. "Understood."

The wolf then immediately grabbed the incredible hammer behind him, holding it from the heavy end toward Amy. "For you, Amy, a metal hammer. I made it with your powers in mind, so if you mentally order the head, it'll taper down to a point. Should be really helpful if you come across a demon with a thick hide or some sort of armor."

Amy's mouth made a little 'o' of amazement. "I… didn't know a weapon could do that," she admitted in awe as she took the weapon into her hands. The heft of it was nothing she couldn't handle, but also wasn't so much so that it wasn't satisfying to wield. She smiled a bit.

"There aren't many blacksmiths who can make weapons that will work specially with powers. I try to make things that people can make the most use of. If I'd had another day or so, I would've made it so you could easily channel your psychic powers through it," Li said, apologetic.

"Don't worry about it," Amy answered, smile growing. "I never learned to use them too much beyond telepathy and psionic blasts, anyway. This is more than enough for me as it is."

Li glanced around the room before his eyes landed on Cyril. "Cyril, I brought you a staff," the wolf said, grabbing the aforementioned weapon and holding it out.

The Babylonian blinked a few times, accepting it with a confused look. "I don't think I ever asked for one."

The wolf was going to answer, but Steam did so first. "Strong as your magic is, it's always good to have something to block with when sharp objects come at you, especially something that you understand how to use. Focus on your magic, but don't try and engage a demon's talons or claws with your metal cards," he warned gently.

Cyril slowly nodded at this, glancing at the weapon he now held. "Well, it's really appreciated. Thanks, Li. You too, Steam."

The two nodded affirmatively before Li spoke up again. "If anyone else sorely needs a weapon, I brought extras. Otherwise, I'll be fighting with them. If something happens to anyone's weapons in the fight, just say the word and I'll bring more."

After looking around at everyone in the room, Sonic said, "I think we might be okay for now. But if that changes, we'll let you know."

Nodding his affirmation, Li shifted his gaze to Alana. "Once this fight is over and we've had some time to rest, we need to sit down and have a talk about a proper blade for you. It's about time we get you an Immortal blade as well."

Alana sighed. "Yes, I agree. I have always used Father's blades, but I worry about breaking them." She tossed a glance at Sein. "...Is your weapon an Immortal weapon?"

Sein nodded, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before wincing as he remembered that he was wearing his gauntlets. "Yeah. Li was working on this ages ago for me. Gave it to me shortly after we were revived. Makes me feel a little bad that we haven't gotten to having one made for you," he admitted.

"It is not a point of contention for me," Alana answered. "I am not upset. Li, I will be more than happy to speak with you about this further when this is all over. Thank you for your offer."

Li nodded a little before leaning against the wall with his weapons. "That's all from me for now. Sorry for interrupting."

"Not a problem," Rouge assured. She was toying with a tiny throwing knife between her fingers. "No one minds getting fancy new weapons."

The wolf rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I can happily bring more knives like that, too. I don't have as many as I used to, but there's some spares that I won't be making much use of."

This made her eyes light up. "Oh? Well, I certainly won't argue with the idea. I do like a good knife." Knuckles huffed at her and rolled his eyes.

Li made himself busy with summoning the aforementioned weapons and showing her how they could practically attach themselves anywhere for easy transportation as Steam looked to Tails and Wery. "Did you guys get those relays placed, or do we need to get that done quickly? I've got no problem with teleporting a few times."

"We did that a while ago," Tails reported. "Everything is about as ready as it can be."

"Still planning to deply it during the fight?" Steam asked quickly.

Wery nodded. "As much as I'd like to have the shields up from the start… it would be best to activate them when it's needed. We'll probably benefit more that way."

"That makes sense," Sonic agreed. "We'll trust your judgement on this."

Steam glanced over the group. "I'm gonna go scout ahead, see what's coming at us first. I doubt that Zareil herself will come immediately, but we should know if something is fishy."

"Therin is already out there," Eirza unexpectedly said. Multiple people were startled by her voice, having not realized she was even there. "He has made no reports yet, other than to say that the area is getting a touch hot."

"Another pair of eyes is far from a bad thing," Steam responded. "I trust Therin, though. I'm just worried."

"Go look if you must," Eirza shrugged. "I will not fault you for it."

Steam teleported away in an instant. Sein let out a soft sigh and glanced to Alana. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I can be," Alana answered softly. "And you?"

"Hopefully," Sein answered. "Here's to hoping this shield stops that blade. Might be kinda hard to match her raw strength with a weapon that big."

"It will be alright," Alana murmured. It must be.

Sein let out a soft sigh, but his attention shifted to look at Ylden through a window as the man appeared nearby. He returned his gaze to his wife shortly after. The cat approached Marthal, and subsequently Tyria, quietly and with obvious intent. He carried a staff in hand and appeared beside Marthal, holding it out to him. "I hope this will suffice. It may be a bit heftier, made of metal as opposed to wood, but it will not melt easily, even with your flames."

After a slight pause, Marthal stood (he had been sitting in the grass before) and accepted the weapon. "Okay. Thanks."

Ylden was quiet, slowly crossing his arms. The man was dressed far differently than usual, forgoing some of his more flashy apparel for a far simpler version of his darker clothing. "I cannot stay by the main battlefield. I planned to guard the trap."

"I guessed as much," Marthal shrugged. "It sounds like your sort of plan."

"Yeah," he admitted. "It was my plan."

Marthal looked at him for a moment, nose twitching. "...You upset about it or something?" he found himself asking.

"I would prefer to watch over you and my daughter," Ylden said gently. "You have been corrupted once, and Armaris is a half-demon."

Hearing this, Marthal huffed and turned his head away. "Pretty sure that one Judgement woman is going to be watching her back. And I'll be fine." Probably.

Ylden's ears shifted down slightly. "I do not like the idea… but Kaden's purification is an important part of this plan. If someone is not guarding him and the Faein succumb to sleep… I fear that something may interrupt the process."

"Someone else is supposed to be there, too," Marthal said, frowning. "Guy smells like shadows. Pretty much looks like them, too."

"Finis," Ylden murmured. "I see."

"He stopped by a bit ago," Marthal added. "Didn't say much, other than that he was going to focus on defending Analia and, if need be, Kaden. He was mostly telling the rest of us. Steam seemed to know already."

Ylden nodded slowly. "I suppose the idea must have slipped my mind that he might arrive."

It took a moment to get a reply. "It's not a huge deal. People are stressed out. Forgetting details or missing them entirely here and there is bound to happen." Marthal shrugged. "It's normal."

"I should avoid forgetting things at this point," Ylden murmured. "...I should stop beating myself up over these things. It will help me none."

"Took the words straight out of my mouth," Marthal grumbled. He idly reached his hands up to adjust the volume on his hearing aids when something about his tone made one of them sound an electronic protest.

Tyria appeared beside Marthal with a nod. "It would be best."

The hearings aids complained some more and Marthal immediately muttered to Ylden, "Remind me later to get these stupid things fixed, alright? They're driving me insane."

"I surely will," Ylden murmured. "It seems to be irritating."

A bit more adjusting later, and Marthal finally lowered his hands. "I know they aren't injured or anything, but I don't suppose you know if it's possible to heal my fucking ears regardless."

"There may be a way, but healing would not be how it happens," Ylden answered lightly. That earned him an irritated sigh and a lashing tail. "I will check with a few people I know and see if it is possible," he eventually added.

"Fine." With this less-than-pleased response, Marthal gave the staff he'd been given a quick twirl, testing its balance and weight. "...Thanks again for this. It should help."

"I would hope so," Ylden said gently. "It was too late for him to custom-make it, sadly."

"It seems pretty well-suited," Marthal answered. "Not too different from what I'm used to."

Ylden nodded with a smile. "Man does good work. I trust him with every weapon I use."

"I get that." Marthal glanced inside through a window. "...We should probably get going. Looks like people are done getting ready."

The black cat shifted his own gaze away. "Be safe, Marthal. I will do my best to watch over the battlefield."

"Yeah. See you." Marthal leaned his new staff on his shoulder and teleported away in a burst of flames. Ylden watched as Tyria vanished as well, then he too decided to leave and flickered into Darkness, shooting toward where Kaden was contained.

~保護者~

Once Wery and Kira were seated, Tails briefly climbed back with them and helped to tighten their harnesses. "Sorry if it's a bit uncomfortable. It's just in case I have to do any crazy maneuvers for any reason." He quickly left their personal space again. "I promise to do everything I can to avoid that, but I'd rather you be properly secured just in case." He climbed into his seat then, closed the cockpit, and started preparing for takeoff.

Wery flushed a little at the proximity to Tails, averting her gaze quickly with a slight nod. "It's okay," she answered.

"Not a problem," Kira answered. She sounded more nervous than Wery was, and reasonably so. "I get it."

"With any luck," Tails answered over his shoulder, "I'll be able to drop you off before we start to see too much craziness. If it comes to that, though, just try to focus on breathing. Taking nice, deep breaths helps a lot of people calm down, but most people tend to start panicking instead. That doesn't really help, as you can imagine."

Kira rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Y-yeah… I've had my fair share of that in the past. I'll do my best."

Tails tossed both of his passengers a reassuring smile. "Don't worry too much, okay? I've been piloting ships for years. We'll be just fine." With that, he turned back around and started to initiate liftoff.

Though it was something hard to talk about with Kira around, Wery spoke up. "Hey… Tails. About that thing that happened in the lab… no matter what, just try and be safe, okay?"

"Of course," Tails answered immediately. "But, for the record, I'm not gonna die." He turned around enough to give her a wink and a smile before turning around again. "Mostly 'cause I refuse to." They lifted into the air and began flying, rapidly picking up the necessary speed as they went.

That's not exactly what I meant, Wery thought to herself before glancing outside.

Within minutes, they were more than halfway to their destination. With the barriers around the Highlands having been gone for some time now, it was easy to see the vast mountain ranges coming into view. Before long, Tails could also see fires. Crap. Looks like they beat us here… but maybe not by a lot. "Your work is gonna be cut out for you, Kira. They're going nuts already."

Kira let out a long exhale. "I can see that. I haven't fought my way through this many fires, but I'll have to." But look at how many there are…

With a glance at his communicator, Tails then reported, "Knuckles is there, and Sonic's on his way. They'll focus exclusively on the fires with you for as long as they can. It doesn't look like there are a lot of demons hanging around just yet, so you guys have a fair shot at getting this under control."

"Gotcha," the weasel answered. "Hopefully we can also get rid of the ones hanging around and keep it from spreading while we're working on others."

"Yeah, that would be good. I'll pick off anything I can get a lock on while you guys are down there, too." They rapidly approached the clearing where Tails planned to drop her off, and he lowered the ship to the ground. They were a few feet off the ground and hovering when he opened the cockpit. "Okay, here's your stop."

Kira released the seatbelt and leapt out, waving a little. "Be safe up there, you two! I'll see you both after this is over."

"Same to you. Make sure you head for cover whenever you think you need it, okay? Fires or no fires, I don't want you taking any needless risks." Tails glanced back at Wery, waiting to see if she had anything to add.

Wery passed a smile to Kira before waving. "Tails covered it all. I'll see you soon."

After giving a little wave of his own, Tails closed the cockpit again and ascended back into the sky. "I got all of those robots into positions all across the area a few hours ago. We all set to deploy them? Those three are going to need the help, I think."

"Yeah. I'll monitor them on my tablet until things get hectic," Wery answered. "Let's hope this all goes how we're wanting it to."

"Agreed." Tails glanced at his communicator and winced. "Looks like a cluster of them was consumed by the fires when they were initially set… We should get them spraying water ASAP." He levelled out his ship and started doing just that.

Wery grimaced a little. "The others are being engaged now."

"Okay, looks like everything is functioning normally for the surviving robots," Tails said. "Guess they were ignored. The ones that were melted might've just been in the wrong place at the wrong time… maybe." He returned his attention to his ship's controls and opened fire on a few airborne demons he'd noticed ahead of them. Being as weak as these early attackers were, they went down with no trouble.

"Yeah. They don't seem all too interested in the robots, really," Wery observed. "Maybe it's because they're not alive?"

"A lot of lower-level demons, from what Jet and I have been able to figure out," Tails explained, "pretty much never leave their world unless ordered to for attacks. So they really don't know a thing about modern technology. But the stronger the demon is, the more often they're able to travel and the more they know as a result. For now, the robots will be fine. Just don't expect it to last for terribly long."

Wery nodded slowly, watching her tablet carefully. All seemed to be going well for the moment. "We'll definitely know when the stronger ones arrive… won't we?"

"Yeah, we'll know," he confirmed. "It'll be obvious. The fight will get harder, for one thing. They won't go down as easily or as quickly. That'll be the biggest indicator."

The brown fox chuckled nervously. "Yeah… I figured that would be the case."

Tails opened fire again, then had to abruptly swerve to the left to avoid a return attack. A bit more gunfire took down their would-be assailant. "...Sorry," he muttered to Wery.

Wery didn't seem to be terribly shaken up, but it did have the side effect of throwing off her focus for a moment. "Oh, uh, it's fine," she assured quickly.

"Erm… just in case I have to keep doing that, I recommend not leaning toward the window. I really don't want you to hit your head." Tails focused fire on a new group of demons that descended into view from higher up in the sky.

She waved it off gently, swiping something on her tablet. "I'll be fine, I promise," she assured.

"If you're sure," Tails sighed. Sure enough, he soon had to veer sharply to the side again. A fireball went roaring past them, but a quick shot from one of his laser cannons ended that confrontation before it could really begin.

Wery flicked on her tablet and engaged another weapon they'd installed, firing on a demon flanking them. "I'll focus on the rear, now. They've started really noticing us."

"No kidding," Tails agreed. "All our secondary weapons systems are engaged. They're all yours."

~保護者~

Volleys of arrows soared from Rose's bow, pelting several of the weaker demons that had begun flying in and dropping them to the ground. She didn't hesitate to keep firing upon everything she saw until it became obvious she'd started becoming the object of their ire. Her bow became useless and for a split second, all she was left with was her fists. A well-placed punch crunched the attacker's face inward and she drew her blade to finish the kill before moving on.

Fighting from a distance was not her strong suit by a long shot. She was so accustomed to the chaos of the frontlines that it had merged with her mentality. That was where she fought, and being here left her off her game.

This was most evident when a demon she normally would have been on high alert to notice suddenly tackled her from the right and began clawing at her. Before she had the chance to kill it herself, Kial batted the creature away with his quarterstaff and pulled her to her feet. "Watch over yourself, dear. You are far less focused than usual."

Rose nodded slowly, knowing well he wouldn't see it. Her attention was inevitably drawn to the way Kial so effortlessly challenged the hordes heading for him with his weapon of choice and she idly blasted and sliced through the demons approaching. Was she usually this distracted? A sharp claw across her face reminded her that she was not paying attention and she grabbed the offender, plunging it into a wave of Light that evaporated it. She rubbed at it and grimaced at the blood before healing the wound quickly.

Renewed focus was all she needed, vaulting over the next attacker and cleanly shredding through a horde with her blade extended through the use of Light. She used a few as stepping stones to further advance into the waves before letting loose a large blast of Light in the midst of their ranks.

I am too far away! she thought, teleporting back to where she had been instructed to stay. Focus. You cannot be on the front line. Zareil will target you…

The idea didn't seem half bad, but then she found herself at conflict with the feeling. Why did the thought of facing Zareil again bring some form of pleasure? Rose shook her head, neatly dodging away from the claws of a demon to hold her face with a hand. That is not how I should conduct myself. Taking pleasure in the thought of harming someone is bad.

Kial found himself face to face with a beast several times his size and it took all he had to keep the thing from piercing his body. Rose's help would have been lovely right about now, but he could sense her emotional turmoil from here. Instead of waiting for her, he began transforming himself. The creature seemed a bit confused by the wyvern soon standing before it, but unperturbed.

Kial struck it down powerfully, driving his own claws deep into its spinal column and effectively ending it… or paralyzing it. He didn't have time to check before having to fling off several smaller creatures from his wings and tail. He whipped around and roared at them, unleashing a wave of sound that blasted them far away. I suppose I am glad that there were multiple notable types of draconic creatures to choose from.

He turned his attention briefly to Rose, the woman seeming to have regained her footing emotionally. Kial sensed a sudden sense of danger from near her and rapidly swiped his tail through the air, slamming several demons into the ground before he picked her up and set her on his back. He decided now was a good time to take flight and give her a moment to recollect herself. Rose usually wasn't this easy to get to, so he intended to help her stay safe. The two crashed into the ranks of demons and began rapidly obliterating what they could.

~保護者~

Despite his eyes being closed, not a single demon survived attacking him. He didn't even give them the satisfaction of making him move, controlled blasts of magic perfectly dropping every enemy approaching. These demons weren't worth his effort, not by a long shot. One brave demon tried to sneak up on him, and he gifted it a painful death by using it as a weapon against its kin. He brutalized the thing, crashing it through any other evil creature he sensed approaching. Then he felt it, a familiar presence. Not evil… but damn near edging into it. The woman from before when I was fighting in space.

Her presence was announced with a thunderous explosion, followed by an equally destructive wave of magic that forced him to stand lest he be thrown back. Anything lesser was likely injured, and opening his eyes showed how correct that was. She laughed in a raucous way before charging at the incoming enemies with a warhammer. Ylden pinched the bridge of his nose as he saw this all occur, groaning. Unexpected help was good, but she was unnecessarily wild. She was definitely on their side, however. With that acknowledgement, he focused his magic and cast a spell. "Ultima voto!" A massive sphere of magic expanded outward and rapidly expunged the demonic threat in the area and he called, "Oi! Go to the main battlefield! Your help will be more appreciated there!"

Tempest turned to face him with a bloodied grin. "Name's Tempest. We'll be talking later." She didn't hesitate to charge off again after saying that.

"I don't remember asking," Ylden muttered, crossing his arms. He turned his gaze back in the direction of the trap, something that was out of sight, but far from out of mind. He stretched his senses to check on Analia and Kaden briefly before turning forward once more. Disgusted by the audacity of the next demon, he grabbed it out of the air by its face and pitched it through several trees with a click of his tongue. "Fuck off, the lot of you."

~保護者~

Not being stationary was probably a good call, Sonic decided. It was how he'd fought back in his heyday, so to speak. Back before he'd been thrust into true warfare for the first time and had had to switch his focus to being sturdy and immovable on the battlefield. Not unlike how he'd always admired Locke doing back on South Island.

So far, no one particularly needed his support. As such, he focused his attention instead on killing as many of these demonic bastards he could as quickly as he could. With more than a few of them, that was easier said than done. But he knew the real challenges were laying in wait. These guys are just fodder. No demon worth their shit is gonna come charging in with the riffraff. The question is… when will they show up?

As he zipped about from place to place, he took note of everyone around him. Things seemed to be going to plan so far. Knuckles and Kira had a good handle on the fires, by the looks of things. Those who were working on crowd-control were making about as much headway as could be reasonably expected. The apparent Goddess of Storms was certainly helping a lot with both of those things. She was quite the sight to behold, swarmed with lightning and winds as she was. Vast rainfalls followed her everywhere she went. Sonic almost smiled. Sheesh… I can definitely see the family resemblance.

His eyes soon landed on a distant tree where a faint gray shape was crouched. Therin, he recalled. God of Thieves or something like that. He's on the lookout for anything unusual or suspicious. Better keep an eye on him, in case he starts trying to get someone's attention. Although, Sonic had to admit… he really hoped that that didn't actually happen. Sighing to himself, he continued blazing a path forward through the demons. It was all he could do.

~保護者~

Just after unleashed a few magical attacks from her palm, Wave suddenly yelled, "Eila, Cyril, on your left! That thing's incoming fast!"

Eila acted before Cyril could turn to face it, weaving a magic circle into existence and stopping the demon before it could come within more than a few feet of them. Her hands shot forward and the creature was crushed between the wave of magic she emitted and the barrier holding it in place. "Watch above you, Cyril," she murmured.

The finch was quick to act, flicking one of his cards into the air and blowing the incoming attackers away with a well placed blast of pure force. "Thanks. Appreciate it."

Wave made a sweeping motion with one of her arms. Below them, a vast swath of demons rapidly melted into the grass before evaporating into nothing. "Ick. I hate using that hex. Demon goo… So gross." She shuddered.

"I am aware," Eila answered, closing her hands and rapidly crushing several demons some distance away into a cube before flinging the contents back at more of their kind. "It is far more unpleasant to touch."

"Ugh, you've touched that kind of thing?" Wave made a gagging sound, then lassoed a demon by the neck and flung it face first into a broken tree. The trunk was more than sufficient to stab the breast's head through.

"It is incredible what a corrupted mind will do." The weird amount of emphasis on 'incredible' left her sounding disgusted and disinterested. "I will never do so again." Her magic quickly crashed over a wave of demons, slowing them down immensely for a short time.

"Yeah, please don't… for all our sakes. I might die from being too grossed out. Blech." Wave picked off a few more larger demons before saying, "Cyril, mind the clusterfuck beneath you, yeah? Looks like they're pretty aware of you now."

"I know," Cyril said. "Waiting for something…" he murmured. When the time was right, he waved a hand and opened a sort of rift that engulfed them all while flinging a metal card into the air. This opened a portal inside the rift that caused them both to collapse on each other, killing the demons inside. "Wanted to try and take them out all at once without… throwing blood everywhere."

"Understood." Wave thought for a moment before grinning a little. "Hey, you should try out some of those spells I taught you a while back. I'm sure these guys will love it."

The finch wasted no time in flicking his fingers through the air, turning several demons into what appeared to be fireworks that sparked a chain reaction and exploded any that got too close to it, creating a light show that would blind some of the approaching hordes. "Like that?" he asked with a wide smile.

Wave burst out laughing. "Hell yeah!"

Eila suddenly reached in front of him and grabbed a demon that had tried to sneak up on him, her face contorting with anger as she crushed it with a magic coated hand. "Watch your back as well as you do your front, please," she pleaded gently. She seemed to relax now that he was out of danger.

"Same to you, for the record," Wave added. "We don't need any casualties today."

The cat blinked once as her eyes glowed and she cast a wide barrier behind her, returning her gaze to the area she had been watching. It was always hard for her to respond when people showed any degree of concern toward her or her life. "I see."

Tossing her a slight smile, Wave refocused on her own portion of the fight. It didn't take long for her to call out again, however. "Hey… it's getting even hotter here, right? It's not just me?" She looked around, frowning deeply in spite of her casual tone. "I think Iblis might be getting closer."

Eila let out a slow breath before nodding and waving her hands, casting a magic over their allies. "I will do my best to shield people from the heat, somewhat."

"Cyril, think you can do anything to help her with that?" Wave asked quickly, already beginning to glow golden with her own magic in preparation. "I'm going to give that thing a good smack before it even fully lands, if I can."

"Cover me for a second," Cyril said. "I'll see what I can do," he answered. Wave set about doing that for him without a word.

"Understood," Eila murmured, waving her hands around gently. "But please be quick."

It didn't take Cyril incredibly long, tapping into his magic and casting a layer of protection over everyone. "As long as they don't jump into Iblis, they should be okay. Might get a bit sweatier than they're comfortable with, depending on how close they are."

"That's good enough," Wave murmured, her eyes closed in concentration. The massive, hulking beast was descending from the heavens already, making each breath of air scald from the inside out. Freaking hell… no wonder Silver and Blaze have no desire to go back to their own timeline for visits.

Eila coughed, holding her chest tightly as she tried to adjust. "Fuck," she bit out.

Aiming her palms forward, Wave loosed a truly impressive beam of magic into the creature's closest side. It let out a deafening, bellowing roar of pain and threw flames all about as it shook itself off in an effort to alleviate the sensation. Despite her struggle, Eila followed up behind her attack, using a wide barrier of sorts to contain the flames before bringing a massive magic circle around Iblis to attempt to hold it in place temporarily.

Not two seconds later, as promised during the group's last meeting, Silver began assisting from afar. His powers encompassed Iblis in a cyan glow and roughly pinned it to the ground with so much force that rocks were separated from the earth and blasted into the sky. He held it firm, not allowing it even the slightest range of motion. Seeing this happen as her own attack died down, Wave sighed. "Thank goodness… Kid wasn't joking when he said he'd be able to handle that."

Cyril pointed two fingers at Iblis after seeing Eila break out into a choking fit, firing a particularly strong blast of magic into the creature's body before more heavily protecting the cat. "Yeah. That's incredible, honestly."

"Come to think of it… Tails mentioned to me that he noticed Silver's powers spike not that long ago." Wave idly released another huge attack while tossing Eila a glance. "Right about the time you and him trained together, actually. You have a better grasp of psychic things than I do. Is it possible for people like you two to force your powers into rapid, early growth like that?"

Though her voice was strained for the moment, Eila nodded slowly. "He must be very strong already to have managed it."

"So it is possible? Damn." Wave returned her full focus to Iblis after that. Their job from here on was to wail on this thing as much as possible, and she intended to do just that.

~保護者~

Saying that they fought together well was an understatement. Cere was incredibly skilled and Armaris was by no means lacking. Controlled and precise blasts of wind and magic followed by hexes from Cere ensured that nothing remained close by for long. Tendrils of Darkness had long since sprouted from Armaris's back and were protecting her from behind, something she was incredibly grateful for as it allowed her to focus on what was in front of her. She wished she could fight as well as the shinobi, such as Espio, but that was not where her skills lay. Instead she focused on unleashing spells that obliterated the oncoming demons while anxiously awaiting the time where she would need to transform.

"You seem irritable," Cere gently pointed out. "Is it because of the demons?" she questioned.

"I hate them," Armaris muttered. It wasn't an admission with Cere, and she knew that. "I hate being one, but here I am about to transform myself into one."

Cere let out a sigh and cast a hex to give them a temporary break. It wouldn't last long as the next wave would replace the ones she had just removed, but… it would have to do. "Nobody requires you to make this transformation. You can back out still."

"No, I already agreed to do it." Armaris huffed, creating a concentrated sphere of wind in her hands. "If I back down now, I'll be going against my own word."

The Hexan winced slightly. Armaris certainly had taken after her to a degree, and with that came a few small downsides, such as her unwillingness to back down. "I understand. Just know that everyone appreciates your effort. You are doing a lot more than most would be comfortable asking of you."

When the demons began descending on them again, Armaris unleashed her attack on them, slicing everything around herself and Cere to pieces with wind alone. "I know… I just hope it doesn't backfire."

~保護者~

Though forced to hold back a bit to avoid breaking his sword, Espio was making quick work of the demons surrounding his position. Twirling out of the way of a particularly tenacious beast's claws, he lashed out with the weapon in question. The demon's nearest tooth came flying off, closely followed by a stream of blood from the fresh gash across its face. It snarled at him and launched an attack in his direction once more, but by now he'd had enough of its antics. One more clean slice, and its head came off.

It struck him how distinctly unsatisfying this fight was so far. He was almost bored enough to contemplate leaving, but in the end he knew he couldn't do that. Stifling a sigh, he blurred into motion and reappeared beside his mother. "The horde is thickening faster than it can be thinned," he muttered, cutting another smaller demon in half. "Something needs to be done."

Before Aniko could speak up, something cut through a sizable swathe of demons and landed somewhere between them, strutting forward with a grin. "Good to see you here, Espio," Toru chuckled. "Seems boring, eh? Let's get rid of some of the riff-raff."

"That is hardly more entertaining," Espio muttered even as he used a crushing wave of his own Darkness to do precisely what Toru suggested. He didn't let the energy remain actively for long before carefully bringing it all back, however, lest it begin to get out of control.

"Toru, leap into the sky," Aniko demanded. Though confused, he did so as Aniko outstretched a hand to Espio, launching threads in his direction. "Take them far in that direction. We will slice them to ribbons rather than entertain their presence." Never being one to argue with her ordinarily, Espio took the threads and promptly did as he was told. Once they were spread out far enough, Aniko made a quick hand motion and launched the threads into the demons. It was more like a razor when unleashed, a truly massive net of carefully woven threads that captured and promptly ripped through any demon that was weaker than Aniko herself.

When Toru landed, he laughed. "Well, damn. You still got it. Nice fucking job."

Aniko blinked once, tilting her head. "I never once lost my ability to fight."

The onyx chameleon sighed. "Not what I meant… at all."

"Mother, it is a compliment in the outside world," Espio explained with a sigh. "It specifically means that you have not lost the ability in question."

Her head tilted the other direction briefly before nodding. "He has obviously spent far too much time in the outside world."

"I'm right here, you know. Can hear you," Toru pointed out casually.

Espio then added to Aniko, "You are either forgetting or willfully ignoring the fact that I spent far more time out there than he did." As he spoke, he very idly sliced the limbs off of various charging demons, leaving them to bleed to death in the grass.

"Unimportant," Aniko answered, turning to grab the horns of a demon charging her as well. With powerful movements, she launched it into the sky to meet its currently flying brethren before careening into the ground with more than enough force to destroy every bone in its body.

"Well, while you guys are having fun over here, I'm gonna go clear up some of the demons tailing Tails and Wery. Don't want that thing they're flying to get overwhelmed somehow," Toru said, vanishing immediately.

After watching his friend disappear, Espio swung his arm and lopped the head off of another demon. "Watch your back, Mother. I am returning to my original position." He then also teleported away.

Aniko didn't respond verbally, passing an idle hand sign as she brought her knee into and through a demon's chin. The blood didn't bother her at all, but the presence of another chameleon did briefly. Ryuji landed somewhere in front of her and destroyed several demons before disappearing. She still wasn't… pleased with him, and his sudden presence didn't help the growing instability of her Darkness. Not that it changed much, but it made the situation that much more undesirable. This is only the beginning, yet I am already so close to the edge. I do not forsee this going well.

~保護者~

Rouge's knives soared through the air and impaled. Amy's hammer swung and crashed. Knuckles's fists pummeled and beat. All in all, he had to admit that they were doing pretty well together. So long as they were able to stay in a group like this, as was the plan, he didn't foresee them encountering too many problems just yet. As such, they were able to focus on their jobs. Namely, clearing paths through the swarming throngs of demons so that others could move around a bit more easily. And, of course, keeping the fires under control as much as possible. But that was more his job than theirs.

The spikes on his namesakes pierced through skin and drew blood. Rouge's kicks sent creatures flying. The shockwaves from Amy's attacks ensured they were given a fairly wide berth every so often. They made their way from one dense cluster of activity to the next, dispersing and killing off as many enemies as they could and eliminating fires along the way. It was slow going, but progress was progress.

We might not be as useful in a fight anymore as we used to be, Sonic… but you can be damn sure that we still have your back.

~保護者~

As important as general crowd-control was, Alana was only too happy to abandon that effort the moment she thought she sensed the presence of their true target. When it proved to be a false alarm, she frowned and returned to her work. Perhaps I am too on edge. "Sein, these demons are stronger than the last wave by a significant margin, are they not?"

"Enough so to begin being more of a problem," Sein agreed, batting a demon aside with his shield before letting out a beam of aura, clearing a bit more of a path for some of their allies a distance away. "Zareil hasn't come down yet, either."

"No, she has not," Alana muttered. She allowed her aura to sweep over the battlefield, eliminating everything that moved. "I do not know whether that constitutes a good thing or a bad thing."

"She's waiting for something, most likely," Sein murmured, shifting two of his fingers and casting a temporary barrier between some of the others they were fighting alongside and the oncoming new waves.

"But waiting for what?" Alana frowned. She concentrated her aura on a few particularly large and strong individuals that were currently giving Sonic a bit of trouble. Spying them high above him, he offered a wave and a nod of thanks before dashing off into the crowd again.

Sein watched him go before turning his attention upward once more. "What the hell are you planning, Zareil…?" A few demons tried to attack him while he was 'distracted', but they were instantly vaporized by the protective aura he'd thrown over himself. Alana tossed him a look over approval regarding his defense of choice and resumed sweeping her aura in wide swaths across the demonic hordes below them. Sein soon decided it was best to refocus on the battle, turning and unleashing a beam of aura that he directed over the battlefield, catching the strongest demons he could sense and wiping them out. I'm gonna protect you guys. Let's get out of this together and in one piece.

~保護者~

Removing fires from the area over and over again barely required a fraction of Locke's attention. His own raging Sunfire was harder to put out, as far as he was concerned. As awful as this is, it's nothing more than your standard Hellfire. Just a whole lot of it. We'd be in way worse trouble if it was a stronger form of demonic fire than this. With another wave of his hand, he banished more of Iblis's attempted attacks. Being pinned as it was, it could only open its mouth and attack using its breath. That made countering it even easier. Piece of cake… for now.

Sona was a bit more focused on some of the approaching demons, rapidly obliterating them with her fists and launching blasts of fire into them just to bunch them up before sending them into attacks originating from Sein and Alana. When there were no demons to be worried about, she turned and used her own powers to rapidly quell any fires that she could see attempting to spread before fighting demons anew. Her Starfire lacked some of the raw power that Locke's Sunfire held, but she made up for it with well placed usage of it to keep demons from approaching. "This is concerningly easy right now."

"Iblis was never the real threat," Locke told her, eyes sweeping across the battlefield. "Power boost or no power boost, he's not an especially strong demon. He can definitely wreak havoc if left unchecked, but not against us. Not these days. The real problems are Mephiles with his intelligence, those generals, and Zareil herself."

"...Steam chose to pit himself against Mephiles. You think that's gonna go well by any means?" Sona dared to ask. "Dude seems pretty smart, but these demons are something else at times."

"That's why he positioned Kath where he did," Locke answered. "So long as Kath keeps the guy frozen, Mephiles is helpless and Steam's in no danger. Not from him, at any rate."

Sona nodded slowly. "Then he is smart. Good to know we're not following an idiot."

"Clearly not." Locke waved a hand, banishing another roaring wall of flames that Iblis emitted from its mouth. "Hoping he gets Mephiles to the point of death soon. The sooner we can wipe him and this guy out, the happier I'll be."

"Same. I know I can't fight Zareil, despite that beating she gave me, but I want the chance to show those bastards that I'm not weak. Beating a general should say that clearly." Her gaze shifted up and she huffed. "You're late."

Pyrun shrugged apologetically. "I wanted to see what you guys are capable of. If I didn't know worse was coming, I'd say you guys had this handled without a problem. You're all killing it."

"Less talk, more kill," Sona huffed, pointing her finger at a horde of demons and blowing them away with her flames.

"Speaking of killing, being polite won't kill you," Locke pointed out with a roll of his eyes. "Just saying." Then, with nothing else to focus on, he resumed doing his job.

Pyrun shrugged. "Yareis has said far meaner things. This may as well be polite, compared to that."

Sona shrugged a little. "We don't need a whole lot of help here. I think the others could use you keeping those fires under control."

"Yeah, I'll get to that in a moment." Pyrun aimed his hand at Iblis and closed it into a fist, dampening the flames immensely. "That should keep things a bit calmer for a short time. Be safe, both of you."

~保護者~

Kath never used an ounce more Light than he needed to for each separate attack. His reserves weren't tiny, but they remained finite nevertheless. He understood the need to fight afar like Rose was using this power for now, however. It was one of the most effective means they had of rapidly clearing out demons before their allies were overwhelmed. As such, he spared nothing, wasted nothing, and remained relentless in his assault.

Stronger demons continued to arrive. They drew his full attention to them, much to their own dismay. The power he borrowed so carefully was too much for them to handle by far. They died by the hundreds with each separate attack he unleashed. He felt nothing about any of it, allowing his cold nature to fully rear its head. The reason for that was simple. His sword fed off of it. The colder his heart, the stronger the ice of his blade. If he wound up having to make use of the weapon, he intended to hold nothing back.

Far below, shadows gathered. Nearby demons reacted with varying degrees of glee and satisfaction. Narrowing his eyes, Kath descended and readied himself. He suspected he knew precisely what was about to occur. And, sure enough, those shadows quickly coalesced into the shape of a hedgehog-like person. This was indeed his target. It was time.

Blurring back out of the danger zone, Kath reappeared a short distance away and put up a protective barrier. Then, holding his hand out, he concentrated exclusively on one thing. Freezing time… but only for one person. With effort, as this was an ability he had not yet perfected (only to be expected, in such a short timeframe), he froze Mephiles where he stood and held him there.

He wasn't going anywhere.

Despite knowing he would be fine on his own, Yareis still appeared nearby and erected a wall of ice between him and further waves of demons as she moved to begin fighting as well. Exceedingly cold eyes drifted her way, not even so much as conveying thanks. His small nod in her direction, however, did. Yareis didn't seem to be paying much attention to that, drawing attention her way by rapidly freezing the air around several demons and allowing them to impale themselves on sharp icicles. She didn't even flinch at the sight of rapidly approaching demons, instead snapping her fingers and flash-freezing them before using the newly acquired ice statues as ammunition to blast other enemies some distance away.

Pathetic.

~保護者~

She usually didn't get to maintain her mental state when shifting into a demonic state, and she didn't expect to remotely keep it when taking on this colossal form. The chitinous armor formed from Darkness only expanded and grew across her enlarged body, and she felt the inexplicable desire to roar. Fuck me.

Her gaze fell on her target, Iblis, and enormous tendrils of Darkness collided with its body and began constricting around whatever physical material was inside of it. Whether the Darkness was destroyed in the process or not, it didn't matter. Keeping this thing at bay did, and it was made easier by the fact that she didn't have to worry about other demons with Cere around.

Armaris slammed up against Iblis with every bit of intent to surround and restrain it more as she forced herself into it further. Animalistic instinct drove her to desire killing it, but she knew that wasn't a choice. She had to hold it at bay. She almost snapped when she felt the tingle of Light Magic against her Darkness, but had to steady her nerves and remind herself that it wasn't a threat.

More tendrils flew out from her body and swiped at the hordes of demons, her irritation growing with the sight of them in the background. It took everything she had to not rampage through them, knowing damn well that these small fry couldn't compare to her current raw power.

Her awareness of Light soaring across the battlefield was troublesome. Three beings were using it, with two using more than the other had. Whoever that third person was… they weren't using it anymore. Further stretching of her senses reminded her of someone further away with an incredible amount of powerful Light, but they weren't close enough to be a problem. Don't think of them as nuisances. They're allies. Despite her best intentions, the thoughts and instincts of her demonic self conflicted with her own, leaving her with a small war of her own that she needed to control carefully lest she kill someone.

~保護者~

Espio vanished from his previous position abruptly. He was gone for several long, long moments. Without warning, Darkness flared. Darkness from two individuals of near-identical strength. Then the fighting started. Harsh clangs of metal range out from beneath the vast canopy of trees. Soon after that, dark streaks began flying across the battlefield at nearly impossible speeds, crashing into one another harshly every so often and with so much violent force that a shockwave was produced each time.

Despite wanting to try and intervene in this, Ylden resigned himself to collecting Espio's children and taking them to safety. He teleported to them with ease and knelt in front of Zei. "Sorry for suddenly appearing. We need to get you and Sako away from here. Will you come with me?"

The little girl looked up at him with wide eyes, but slowly nodded. "Uh-huh. B'other is in Dada's room."

In the blink of an eye, Ylden suddenly had Sako held carefully in one arm with the other extended to Zei. "I will take you somewhere safe, where people cannot harm you."

"Okay." Zei took his hand readily. Ylden opened a portal to his own realm of Death, leading the young girl inside to what appeared to be a sort of home. Of course, he always just willed whatever he wanted to be here into existence… aside from things like food or weapons capable of withstanding his fighting, for example. He opened the door with his magic and then carefully brought them both inside and stopped by a couch. "You can wander around, but watch after Sako, okay? Me or your dad will be here to get you soon."

"Okay," Zei said again. "I play?"

"Of course," Ylden murmured. "I've gotta go, though. Try not to break anything, please." It didn't matter if she did, but he always thought it best to keep that thought fresh in a child's mind when they were around someone else's belongings… just in case. Armaris alone is rambunctious enough. Ylden then opened another portal and stepped back through, closing it behind him and drawing his sword instead of his scythe. He then teleported near where he sensed Espio to be.

The chameleon was currently in a standoff with his foe, their swords locked and struggling so violently that sparks were flying. Both individuals had dug their boots into the ground hard to avoid being pushed back. Ylden raised a hand and idly cast a spell, not bothering to waste energy on something that wouldn't hit. This opponent wouldn't be easy to land a blow on, so he'd much rather save the effort for a guaranteed attack.

Only a split second before the attack was due to hit, Espio sprang out of the way. His opponent did the same thing at the same time, grinning all the while. She tsked at Ylden softly. "That was hardly worth the energy it wasted, old man," she called in lilting tones. "You seem to have missed."

"I wasn't intending to hit you, fool. I achieved my intention," Ylden answered easily. His tone was level and he ignored her taunting. "I've heard better from a child."

"I suppose you must have," was the amused reply. She turned her attention away from him. "Now, then, Espio. Shall you and I continue?"

The other shinobi was seething, but mostly keeping a lid on it for now. "No, we shall not, Nyokae."

"I could do existence a favor and condemn your soul," Ylden offered. "It would serve more purpose there than it does here."

"Ah, but to do that, you would have to catch me," Nyokae murmured. "Do you fancy yourself a chase? Because to me it sounds rather a boring prospect."

Ylden shrugged. "I might have fancied myself simply watching you lay down your sword, but I suppose that leaves me as the hopeful fool."

Espio's eyes narrowed. "Indeed." He rushed forward without further warning, somehow successfully landing a hit on Nyokae that managed to send her flying. Once she was down and away, he was quick to tell Ylden, "Do not let her anywhere near the others. She will slay them." With that said, he was gone again faster than Ylden could have ever hoped to blink.

The cat sighed. "Of course I'm set to guard duty," he joked dryly, teleporting away to do as Espio had requested.

~保護者~

Growling low in the back of his throat, Marthal irritably did away with the most broken-acting of his two hearing aids while simultaneously slamming one end of his staff into the ground. He used that position and the momentum from his movement to swing himself around and kick a demon in the face. The sheer force of his attack left the demon, which was far stronger than he was happy to think about, stumbling and snarling in pain. Blood poured from its fleshy nostrils and swollen eyes. It even looked like its lips had been cut up by its own teeth. He took a bit of satisfaction from the sight. Serves you right… Might teach you not to scream in someone's ears like that next time.

Tyria's hand dove through the beast's nose and ripped something free, dropping it dead. She glanced to the hearing aid Marthal discarded, briefly tilting her head before deciding it wasn't worth worrying about. As long as he had one or could understand sign language. Working with Marthal was easy, considering her fighting style was deadly and his certainly excelled in dealing damage. She could capitalize on wounds he created and end enemies with efficiency.

Marthal pulled his staff out of the dirt and thrust it forward with enough power to impale a creature that had attempted to charge at him. He then wrenched it free and made the same motion to his freshly deafened right side, his nose having given him plenty of warning about the oncoming threat. And these guys think they're sneaky… He scoffed to himself.

Tyria moved her arms in a careful manner, striking her hands together and creating a wave of force that snapped the necks of several demons around her. "I am not as well equipped to face several enemies, yet they fall all too easily."

"These ones do, anyway." Marthal turned his face up to the sky, breathing deeply and scowling, before muttering, "...She won't, though." Tyria took a slow step back before she was suddenly overtaken by a wave of demons. She wasn't in any real danger, but they were carrying her away rather than fighting her. Marthal watched this departure through scowling eyes, pupils narrowing dangerously. However, his voice was calm. "Just fucking come here, already. I smelled you ages ago."

Zareil emerged from the wave of demons with a wide grin, waraxe in hand. "Let's cut to the chase, then. Relax and I'll make this easy for you."

His tail lashing in agitation, Marthal hissed softly at her. "Like hell I will." He gripped his staff tightly. "The fuck do you want with me, you bitch?"

Zareil struck the ground powerfully with her waraxe, cratering it as she moved forward at him. "You know what I want. Don't bother resisting."

Marthal was forced to crouch low to maintain his balance. Fur rippled along his spine. "I. Said. No." In spite of his words, however, he knew he had no chance of fighting her off as he was now. His only hope lay in escape… but escape where? There was nowhere to go.

"'No' isn't a choice," Zareil growled, bringing her Darkness down around him with the intent of pinning him. "I'll take what I want." Indeed pinned down, Marthal could only hiss at her with all the anger he could muster in that moment, pupils narrowing yet further in response to the emotion. She ignored him willfully, allowing her Darkness to creep into his body and begin the corruption process anew. "Your little shinobi friend can't save you, even if she survives. Any resistance the two of you could muster would be worthless."

"She isn't my friend, and I never fucking asked to be saved," Marthal snarled, unconsciously digging his claws into the metal of his staff in his grip.

"Then don't bother resisting. You're nothing if you're not a demon," she returned in a snarl. "Nothing but wasted potential." This earned another furious hiss, but nothing more. Zareil planted her foot against his back and bore her weight onto his body, growling in satisfaction. "People are always more receptive the second time around, I'm noticing. Whether they're willing or not."

The cat struggled (uselessly, he knew) beneath her foot and her Darkness and snapped something in a yokai tongue. Then he roughly translated for her benefit, "Fuck off."

It was far from intended, but she did so. Tyria slammed into Zareil with fury in her eyes, metal skin adorned with spikes that stabbed into the demon's skin. Zareil stumbled back from the surprise, but her concentration wasn't broken and she kept the corruption going. "So, Marthal, wanna watch this little shinobi die?" She didn't wait for an answer, instead appearing behind Tyria and snatching her off the ground. Powerful muscles brought her body up against the blade of Zareil's weapon, repeatedly slamming Tyria into it and chipping away at what protection she had.

When Zareil felt that Tyria was sufficiently bloodied and her armor receded, she kicked the shinobi into the air and slammed her back down with Darkness, slamming the flat of her weapon against Tyria and launching her away. Zareil wiped some of the blood off her axe and inspected it. "Far from dead… she's tough, but not strong enough to make a difference."

Tyria returned despite her injuries, charging at Zareil. When the weapon was swung, she maneuvered to slide off of it and deliver a swift kick to Zareil's face before unleashing a shinobi technique and slamming her palm into the demoness's shoulder. Zareil suddenly dropped to a knee, but she snatched Tyria from the air before she could get away and slammed her into the ground. Fists pounded against the shinobi's body, drawing more blood and wicked smiles from Zareil as she felt and heard several cracks and snaps.

At some point she decided to stop. Tyria wasn't dead, but the woman had stopped moving or reacting to the blows raining onto her. Zareil chuckled softly and shook her head in dismay, turning back to Marthal only to be struck in the back by a force that nobody near her should have been able to muster. A hateful glare toward Tyria revealed it had been another one of those shinobi tricks. She kicked the woman away, leaving her to die by the hordes as she regarded Marthal once more.

By now, the yokai had ceased his struggles. He remained pinned on his stomach, glowering up at her with eyes that now glowed from within with a wicked light. Fucking bitch.

Zareil knelt down beside him and growled lowly, reminding him who had authority here. "I'm going to send you back to Kaden's world. You'll sit down like a good pet and not cause trouble. Understood?"

Although he bared his teeth at her, he instinctively knew better than to argue. "Fine," he bit out, furious.

Zareil teleported him away and stood. There were more people to corrupt and more to kill, and so she moved along.

~保護者~

Toru was struck from above by a force he didn't have time to so much as register, slammed into the ground with a grunt of irritation. "What, want a round two, bitch? I'll tear you apart," he growled.

"I'd like to see you try," Zareil snapped, slamming her foot down on his face and firmly planting him into the ground for now. "You pests are done getting in my way!" Her axe temporarily out of her hands, she moved her foot enough to slam her hands into the ground, but she didn't get the chance to bring them down on his head.

Toru stood, letting out a low growl. She started trying to corrupt me while I was pinned, he was forced to realize. The woman moved suddenly and he didn't get a chance to react once more, her axe slamming into his chest and throwing him into the air. It took everything he had to not be sent straight through the Tornado-Z (which was nearby), and this action stopped him from blocking Zareil's next attack. Her Darkness surrounded him and threw him into the ground, causing him to gasp and writhe as he fought to resist the corruption. As if he wasn't pissed off enough, Zareil began relentlessly wailing on him, landing blow after blow that caused him to cough up blood and wince. "Fuck off!" he demanded, letting loose the wave of energy that came with the power he'd once copied from her. It stopped her momentarily, but she started shifting and broke through it faster than before.

"I don't think I will," Zareil growled, gripping him up by the face and throwing him back against the ground. "You're going to help me. We're going to kill some of these sorry fuckers."

Something about this time was different, and Toru wasn't immediately sure about what it was with his ears ringing and his body protesting from the pain. This time the corruption set in, and far more easily than it should have, in his mind. He wanted so badly to ignore her, but ultimately the chameleon just picked himself up off the ground and held his chest. "Regenerating," he growled.

"Good. Go kill Wave when you're healed," Zareil said easily. "If you get through her, take out that weaker white cat."

Toru was pissed to say the least and he wanted to break her teeth into her throat, but ultimately he just nodded and unsheathed his sword, walking away while Zareil headed toward her next target. The woman exuded fury. I'm coming, Aniko.

~保護者~

Zareil moved far faster than Aniko, grabbing the woman by the head and batting her away with the flat of her axe before appearing behind her and slamming her into the ground. It wasn't about pleasure now, this was all business. Though… she'd hoped her rematch with Aniko would be more pleasing, but right now it was totally boring her. She still had every intention to corrupt the woman, and so she began that process, pinning Aniko down and holding her there despite her muffled protests. "Shut up. It'll be done soon."

Aniko tried and failed to resist, pushing herself up to no avail. She couldn't even keep her mind calm enough to stop the corruption, and she could feel it creeping ever closer to starting. But before it even could, a dark blur shot past her and slammed into Zareil hard. The force plowed her into the ground and sent her skidding away, breaking the connection and freeing Aniko. Espio was left standing there, staring at Zareil with fury in his eyes. His sword was pointed at her face. "You will not attempt that again."

"Watch me," Zareil snapped, gripping her axe tightly. "Try something, bastard."

"I would rather see you do so," Espio retorted calmly as Nyokae stalked into view behind him. The tip of his sword shifted to point at her threat. "I will make you bleed."

"You've got your own problems to deal with," Zareil pointed out easily, carefully preparing her Darkness. "Surely your woman shouldn't be kept waiting, right?"

"She is no concern of yours," was the murmured reply. "Worry about your own life."

Zareil grinned openly, thrusting a wave of her Darkness at him as she charged. Espio was more than prepared to dodge, but Nyokae blurred into motion. She snatched him by the hand and jerked him out of the way, causing them to trade a few harsh words. Ultimately, however, they both continued to focus on Zareil. "Want me to make her go away, darling? Or would you rather do the honors?"

"Call me that again and I will cut you," Espio muttered, not even batting an eye over the casual threat. It was just so… normal between them. He watched Zareil closely, debating what specifically he wanted to do.

As they talked, Aniko finally recovered. She'd seen enough, heard enough, and felt enough. "Fuck you," she growled hatefully, dragging her sword off the ground and walking toward Zareil. "Espio, kill that bitch Nyokae," she muttered, her Darkness rolling off her. "I'd rather you not be here in a few seconds." Nyokae promptly tossed him a wry grin and vanished into the wilderness. Scoffing, Espio turned and pursued her. With the both of them gone and her attention focused on the source of her ire, Aniko let her energy overtake her. Darkness consumed her body and she violently clashed with Zareil with glowing white eyes. "Die."

~保護者~

Finally spying their opponent in the fray, Alana summoned powerful balls of aura into her hands and called out, "Sein, she is to your right!"

Sein acted quickly, separating Aniko and Zareil from one another and kicking the demoness in the head to send her to Alana. A quick motion of his hand told Aniko to get the hell away from here as he charged in. "Coming your way!" Alana narrowed her eyes and immediately began providing support from afar while she assessed the situation at hand. Sein's claymore slammed repeatedly against the axe Zareil wielded, progressively pushed back by the sheer power behind every blow. He had to shield himself from one particularly nasty attack, send tumbling backward despite his best efforts to stay standing.

Alana was there in a flash, blasting Zareil away from her partner with an aura attack from her palm. "Sein, be more wary. It will extend your lifespan, you know."

Sein coughed a little, thumping his chest lightly with his gauntlet. "Yeah, I noticed. I think she's stronger than usual, though…"

"I believe I may have a guess as to why," Alana answered. She drew her sword and aimed it at Zareil. "I have heard of… berserkers before. Have you?"

"Yeah. They draw power from anger," Sein murmured, shifting his shield forward. "That means we're in for a hell of a fight. We need to keep from pissing her off further lest she get stronger."

"Indeed." Alana ensnared Zareil with her aura and dragged her forward. "What say you to a proper fight, hm?" she inquired softly. "My blade has not yet tasted your skin. I am rather partial to the idea of changing that."

"None of you have had the intention to kill me," Zareil observed with a grin, not bothering to raise her weapon up. "If you did, you would have probably stopped me from corrupting those two and killing someone."

Nothing about Alana's eyes or expression betrayed her surprise over the knowledge that Zareil had secretly corrupted anyone. She remained cold. "Perhaps," she conceded. "But that does not mean we are unwilling to hurt you for what you have done." Her sword pressed into Zareil's side hard enough to dig in and draw a trickle of blood.

"Go on, push deeper," Zareil growled. "Hurt me like you're serious about it." The way she said this troubled Sein, but he wasn't sure why. Alana only scoffed at her and slammed her into the ground back-first with enough strength to make the ground crater around the demonic woman. Sein moved forward to attack while this happened, and that was his mistake. The demon snapped her arm out and grabbed him by the shoulder, dragging him close as a cloud of red fog emanated from her body.

Suddenly, Sein screamed in fright, stumbling away as Zareil let him go. The man deployed his shield in time to stop Zareil's axe from cleaving him in two, then he went limp. Alana swore under her breath and rushed forward, dragging him to his feet and away from his attacker. "Sein?" she demanded, turning him around to face her. "Sein, what is the matter?"

Sein didn't respond as the fog only began spreading over the battlefield, arms limply hanging at his side as his shield vanished due to him not maintaining it. He stared ahead with a blank expression, tears streaming down his face from the initial burst of whatever he was hit with. Zareil decided to enlighten her, waraxe resting on her shoulder. "He's the one who dissociates under certain kinds of stress, right?" she asked slyly.

Alana carefully encompassed her partner with her aura to protect him and floated him away into the air. "That is none of your concern," she said coolly.

"It is yours, however. Can you face me alone?" she questioned. "Can you protect Sein while he's dissociated from fear?"

"I will do so with ease," Alana murmured. Bringing her sword level to Zareil's face again. All around them, demons and allies alike began to succumb to the effects of Zareil's strange attack, but she was unaffected. "Let us dance, then, hm?"

~保護者~

It had been virtually nonstop, raining down Light on the frozen Mephiles. He didn't dare let up, knowing that he needed to get the demon to the edge of death so that they could end him and Iblis all at once. He didn't have a choice, so he kept at it. His ears filled with the sounds of the battlefield, his senses on edge. Zareil had entered some time ago and only now was she really fighting Alana. Sein's presence felt dormant at best, and a single glance told him exactly what was wrong. "Zareil shouldn't have that power," he muttered. to himself. "It's a demon power, but… there's no way." He didn't want to believe she was truly using the Fear power...

He knew without a doubt that there was several people who could be affected by this rapidly expanding red fog. It attacked a person's mind and fed off their fears, forcing them to experience the worst things imaginable. Some were immune… however. Ylden was one who was untouched, as was Alana. Others could willfully resist the effects like himself, while most anyone else would simply be tortured to varying degrees, depending solely on the images that would bring them the most fright.

Steam raised his communicator and quickly forced open a call with Kira. "Kira! Make a wave of water and force this fog back! Keep it tall and dense so that none of this gets past!" She gave some sort of agreement and moved to action, and Steam ended the call to start up another one. "Eirza, I really need you to help Kira, the weasel, in pushing this fog away from everyone. We can't fight with the battlefield covered."

"Understood." This was the only reply he got before the call was disconnected.

The hedgehog nodded his vague approval, whether or not she saw. He let out a shaky breath and turned his attention back to Mephiles. The rest of the battle was hard to keep up with, considering that so much shit was happening all at once. His ears strained as he tried to listen for anyone that might need him, or maybe just for something that they weren't expecting. Anything at all could be headed their way.

He could only hope they were prepared.

~保護者~

Rose had recollected her focus and was now making herself a true threat to the demons. She moved through the air with her blade with newfound certainty and grace, slicing cleanly through anything in her path. Kial was elsewhere at the moment, as they'd chosen to split the task of holding off the demons.

Well placed blasts of Light cleared an easy path for her and she resumed her flight, disappearing in a streak of light with demons collapsing to the ground in her wake. It didn't take long for her to clear a wide arc around herself where she took a moment to breathe and stay calm. Every now and then the rapid slaying of demons got to her head and she had to remind herself of who she was and what her energy was about.

Her eyes widened as a similar and familiar energy flooded into her. She scanned the battlefield, finding no sign of the origin of this truly pure Light. Eona was elsewhere… Rose searched before coming to the shocking conclusion that the only truly possible source was Kath. He had healed her once with Eona's Light, so it stood to reason that it was him once more.

She didn't hesitate, shooting through the sky at the top speed she could without direct use of Eona's power. Whatever was happening, she had a feeling that reserving it might be necessary. No sooner than this thought had crossed her mind, a ripple of pure time washed over the battlefield, spreading beyond within seconds. It was raw, uncontrolled, and accompanying that was a surge of power from Mephiles. The demon had been set free.

While Steam was forced to set about fighting Mephiles, due to the newfound freedom, Rose set her sights properly on Kath. She had briefly heard about him recently awakening as the God of Time, but that wouldn't have changed him. Something is wrong. He would never let loose anything something such that in an uncontrolled manner. She teleported down to him and tried her level best to quickly analyze the situation.

The hawk was very clearly in a dire situation. All the defenses formerly surrounding him had been shattered and wiped away. He was pinned to one of the many high tree trunks by an invisible force. Corrupted energies that were far from demonic flowed into him even as he struggled against his unseen restraints in an effort to break free. Rose rushed to him and tried to find a way to free him, but ultimately she could just tell that this was beyond her. Rather than waste precious time, Rose decided to draw upon the Light Kath had passed on to her, throwing a wave of the energy throughout the battlefield. Without waiting to see the effects, the cat yelled out, "Kath is in danger!"

Alana's aura flared. But locked in battle as she was, she could do nothing to assist. It was possible that Espio could have, but he was so engrossed in combat with Nareish that he didn't even react to Rose's call. Locke and Sonic began separately making their way toward the cat, however, making headway through the crowds as quickly as they could manage in an effort to get to her.

Sein had somehow come to through some sort of intervention, with which he wasn't sure of the source. He didn't dwell on that, looking slowly in the direction that Rose was. His adrenaline spiked and all at once he tapped into his Immortal speed, appearing near Kath in an instant. Instinct drove him to immediately begin trying to free him with all the strength he had. Whatever wass restraining Kath, however, was resisting Sein's efforts. The corruption efforts only intensified, and his tight expression of pain didn't change.

He knew that this was linked to Nareish somehow and his power temporarily spiked. "Damn you, Nareish," he bit out, driving more of his energy into breaking the constraints. They finally split apart and Kath was dropped to the ground. He initially landed on his feet, but almost instantly collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting and shaking. Sein quickly knelt down by Kath, looking over him to make sure no internal damage was done. There didn't actually seem to be any injury at all, in fact, but in spite of that Kath soon slumped over, entirely unconscious.

Steam rushed over at the first chance he had, given temporary reprieve from facing Mephiles with Rose's intervention. "Sein, go back to Alana. Stop Zareil in her tracks. I'll get Kath back to Babylon where my grandparents can watch over him." Sein didn't respond with more than a nod, vanishing instantly as Steam teleported away with Kath in tow. It didn't take long for him to send the message out that Kath had been attacked.

~保護者~

He didn't need the message to know what happened to Kath. The brief three words only served to further solidify the truth of what had happened. For the first time, Cyril willingly tapped into the depths of his magic and wiped hordes of demons out all at once. His face morphed into a deep frown, he didn't try and keep it hidden that he was pissed. He had been corrupted once by Nareish and knew well what she would likely do to him. And so he tore through the battlefield with magic and cards alike, abandoning his post to clear away this threat for good. He didn't like being so angry, because it made him feel like he was burning up. It made him tense and a bit sick to his stomach, but right now he couldn't feel anything other than anger. You're doing it again.

He felt a strong demon approach him from behind and the finch swatted them away with a backhanded stroke, throwing them off into the distance. Across the battlefield, unusually fierce storms began to gather. Lightning crackled with lethal fury, almost as if responding to Cyril's emotions. But they weren't. Still, his own anger remained. I have to calm down. I can't fight normally like this. But… Kath… God, I'm really worried about you.

~保護者~

It was some sort of lame excuse that the Aether made to not be up with Wave helping in the fight. Really, it wanted to be there with them all, helping out, but it found that there was a far better option. Rather than stumble into learning how to fight, it could watch from the background and wait for the right opportunity. It sensed Nareish's energy and moved to action.

In the short time the Aether had existed, it had become aware of a lot of things. One such thing was that it had… 'relatives', in a loose sense of the word. Eona, Zenith, the Void, Teyan, and some other being it really couldn't seem to make out. Something about them made it really hard to notice their status or what they were, so the Aether simply shrugged it off. It focused on something else. Eona and Zenith both had children, the latter having lost his daughter to Nareish's corruption.

That was why it was spurred forward by Nareish's energy, knowing there was one chance to do this and have it work like the Aether wanted things to. The Aether appeared by Zenith in a form vaguely similar to Wave's, it's usual glow dulled down. "C'mon. We got our best shot here. Let's get your kiddo back."

The Dark entity turned to her, expressionless. "You presume to be able to accomplish this?" he soon asked.

"Mhm! Nareish isn't paying super close attention right now. If we're gonna do it, we need to go for it," the Aether said with a smile. "Ready?"

"...Hm." With this supremely vague reply, Zenith vanished into the realm in question. He extended his senses far and wide, searching for any hint of his daughter's energies.

Meanwhile, the Aether soared off at incredible speeds, seeming to already have an idea of where to go. Gotta free her, then find that other one… Nareish needs to really stop stealing people's kids, eesh.

Zenith soon appeared beside the Aether, effortlessly sort of hovering after it at the same breakneck speed. He gestured vaguely in a specific direction. "She is there… as is the other you are searching for."

"Awesome. You make sure they don't stab me and I'll handle the rest, okay?" the Aether's smile was unmistakably cheery as it shifted into its normal form, feathered body and all. Zenith nodded his agreement without a word. The Aether landed in front of Zenith's daughter, casually stepping toward her. "Alrighty, I need you to hold still for just a moment." To ensure that this happened, Zenith held out a hand. Darkness emitted from it and encompassed Aora in such a manner that she was not able to move but wasn't hurt. The Aether reached through the Darkness with one of its feet and pressed it against Aora gently, allowing its energy to flow through her and free her of the corruption. "You guys gotta get outta here. Nareish is gonna be super upset… maybe."

Zenith was by his daughter's side in an instant, holding her up by her elbow when she seemed to waver. He was quiet for a moment before saying to the Aether. "She cannot speak. But… she is doing her best to convey her thanks to you with her mind."

"I know," the Aether said with a smile. "Now go, both of you. Get her to safety." They did so without further delay. It moved its attention over to Infinite (who was a bit of a distance away) once they were gone, practically skipping to him despite having four legs. "And you have been waiting for this chance. I'll free you from Nareish, alright?"

The being in question scowled at it. "Unless you intend to succeed, don't waste my time."

"Didn't you watch me do it with Aora?" it asked, seeming a touch surprised. Without awaiting his response, it nudged him with a foot and freed him as well. "I kinda wanna talk to the big guy you're related to. That cool?"

That scowl turned less angry and more… confused. "We are not related," Infinite said first, sort of as a knee-jerk response. Then he added, "That is not my decision to make. If Malevolence is willing to speak to anyone, it will make that choice alone."

"Yeah, he's a big edgy man," the Aether said with a chuckle. "Now, c'mon. I don't think that either of us wanna be captured by Nareish. That wouldn't be fun."

Infinite scoffed, but opened a portal. He started to float through it, but paused. "...Your actions with me may be leverage enough to allow you to say your piece. That is all I can promise." With that said, he fully stepped through.

"I sure hope so!" the Aether said gleefully, prancing through after him.

They arrived deep within Malevolence's realm, mere feet from the creature itself. Black and crimson energies gripped Infinite and tugged him over, examining him thoroughly. He submitted to this without complaint, and was soon released when no traces of remaining corruption remained. Then dark eyes shifted to the Aether and a barely audible voice commanded, "...Speak."

"I know you're not gonna work with us or team up, truce… whatever. The only thing I wanted to ask is that we all try to collectively do something about Nareish." The Aether grew a touch more serious than it had been since coming into existence, frowning. "She's going to keep taking people from all sides, and I'm willing to bet she's gonna go after that chameleon that has your energies too. This is getting out of control."

It took time for Malevolence to reply. It almost never spoke throughout its life, so when it did choose to do so its words were chosen with care. "She has laid her hands on my spawn for the final time. She will be punished." It was the only agreement it ever intended to give.

The Aether nodded a little. "I gotta say I agree. She touches the person I'm bonded with and I'll give her some problems."

Malevolence seemed ready to retreat back into silence, but it decided it had one thing to say. "I cannot yet leave this place. Keep my… 'grandchild' out of her hands."

"Is it alright if we soothe his energies so that we can approach him?" the Aether asked with a tilted head.

Although the supreme being of evil, there was little other option here but to cooperate. At least until it was healed. So though its eyes narrowed, Malevolence eventually agreed. "Do not touch him. I will handle it."

"Alright," the Aether answered. "In return, I'd like to ask that you help keep his energies from flaring too much while he's around the people he cares about, if it's possible. They'll matter a lot to him remaining stable and safe."

"...For now," was the slow response. "I will not do so for a prolonged period."

The Aether frowned. "If things get too bad at one point because of something you're doing, I'll have to step in. I want to get along with everyone, but I have this sneaking suspicion that you won't let me."

"Power exists to grow. I refuse to stunt his over your ideals." Those dark eyes closed and turned away, disinterested.

"Wasn't talking about him," the Aether quietly revealed, opening a portal. "Have a good day!" it suddenly exclaimed cheerfully before floating through. It floated out over Mobius with a grin, flying down at top speed and bringing with it a wave of its energy, blasting through several demons and moving over to join Wave. "Alright! I think I've learned enough about fighting to help out."

~保護者~

Communing with spirits was never… pleasant. Satsuno remained in the same meditative stance as he had been when Seiko had first laid down, legs crossed and hands resting atop his knees with palms facing the ceiling. His face was scrunched up with discomfort and his head occasionally lolled weakly. But he wasn't aware of any of it. Not currently. He was too focused on the sensations, thoughts, and feelings being conveyed to him from afar.

From what he could gather, the spirits that he'd reached out to were witnessing a battle. A fierce one, at that. He felt their fear, their anger, their distaste. He heard their thoughts, the events that held their focus. Fires, a cacophony of roars and horrible screams, bloodshed, neverending waves of demons… He could see it all, too, through many eyes at the same time. He could hear through their ears.

It was all too much to cope with, but he forced himself to press on. He had to know what was happening. One thread of connection tugged at him harder than the rest. He let it draw him away from the chaos and to more focused, deliberate thoughts. He heard the words coming and many. The source of this connection was so far away that the words barely reached him. Then he heard Light, wicked, and danger.

All at once, his focus was dragged even closer with great force. His senses entirely merged with the spirit's in spite of the distance. A slight groan of discomfort escaped him. His head lolled again. But he was entirely unaware of that. He was too focused on what he was being shown. A combination of memories, current knowledge, and warnings. Light users strong enough to storm into Zyr and survive were coming. They were many, and they were not at all deserving of their powers. Dealing with them was beyond necessary.

By now Seiko had realized that something was occurring and woke up, watching over him briefly to determine what exactly was happening. Once she realized this wasn't a possession, she began trying to gently shake him out of it. "Satsuno. What is wrong?"

It took close to a full minute of her trying before he was able to notice and slowly respond to her. "...It's… showing me something," he muttered.

"What are you seeing?" she demanded gently. "Tell me."

His voice took on a note of strain as the visions intensified again, but he replied to her regardless. "Light. But it is wicked. They attacked Zyr, killed many, and… now they are coming here."

"Do Sonic and his allies have a being amidst them capable of facing them?" Seiko frowned openly at this idea, trying to decipher why this would be happening.

An answer soon came from the spirit, and he relayed it to her. "Several, but they are… occupied."

"...Should we go?" Seiko dared to ask. "We are supposed to rest, but I cannot do so knowing that people such as this are allowed to exist."

Satsuno abruptly wrenched himself free of the mental contact and opened his eyes, though the brief headache this caused almost wasn't worth it. "We must. Those are the same beings Aniko and Shei spoke of their parents and other chameleons fleeing from in times long past."

Seiko stood immediately, hands charged with her magic. "Then we must go."

Though slightly wobbly in the legs at first because of the intensity of his visions, Satsuno remained upright. "Go. We cannot waste time." He teleported without another word, not even bothering to grab his armor or weapon. Seiko followed him wordlessly, idly reminding herself to bring her own weapon simply because she was curious about how to use it.

Upon arrival, the two were greeted with the sight of several of the demonic generals engaging in battle against these Light users, as well as some other being using magic alongside a warhammer and their fists to fight between both. Seiko blinked several times before shifting her gaze to Satsuno. "I should have asked. Are you feeling well enough to face them directly, or should we do so from afar?"

"Do as you will," Satsuno responded, Darkness gathering around him like smoke. "I will handle myself."

Seiko allowed her magic to freely flow through the blade, a slow breath escaping her before she practically blinked out of sight to slice cleanly through a distracted demon general and a being of Light. Visibly satisfied, she twirled the blade in hand. "His craftsmanship is excellent. Kura is an incredible blade."

All around her, Darkness billowed and swirled, twining loosely around every violent Light user in what appeared to be a loose, harmless grip. But the victims were quick to begin screaming in pain, many even going so far as to drop their weapons as their life-forces were forcibly ripped out of them and destroyed, leaving their bodies to turn to dust and fade away.

She nodded her vague approval to Satsuno before unleashing a wave of her magic, watching as the demon generals it struck were paralyzed and fell out of the sky. The mysterious being with the warhammer had killed any that survived her attack, quite brutally bashing their skulls inward or otherwise goring them. Considering that this part of the fight was over, her eyes briefly scanned the battlefield. Two massive demonic forces collided with one another and Seiko tilted her head in confusion. Why are they fighting one another? It took her a moment and she glanced elsewhere, frowning. Part of one's energy is familiar, similar to someone we met long ago. "Satsuno! Do you sense him?" she called.

Her husband appeared beside her in an instant. He hadn't wanted to come this close, surrounded by so many newly departed, malicious spirits, but he did so in favor of not shouting over the noise. "Yes, I do," he agreed, looking around warily. "He is as locked in combat as everyone else."

"Pay close attention to the large demon comprised of Darkness," Seiko murmured gently. "I am not mistaken, correct? They appear to be related somehow?"

His senses focused on the demon in question. "Such similarity in energy can only mean a child."

"He has many questions to answer then. Let us go," Seiko said easily, teleporting to where they sensed the aforementioned man. Satsuno followed her, more than happy to move due to the particularly dense congregation of souls they had been standing in before. Whatever manner of creature this person was fighting died upon the impact of Seiko's magic as she stormed forward and grabbed him up by the shoulders. "Ylden, explain what that creature on the battlefield is!"

Satsuno was quick to separate the two with a small, harmless burst of Darkness, lest Seiko or Ylden accidentally harm one another. "Do not go around grabbing people on battlefields," he muttered to her, crossing his arms.

Ylden's stance revealed that he had almost attacked Seiko, but the sight of them both after they were separated halted his actions. "How the fuck are you two alive? More revivals?" Satsuno nodded just once in answer.

Seiko crossed her arms. "My question came first. It has your energy. What is it?"

"It is my daughter," Ylden bit out crossly. "Don't ever call her an 'it'."

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose. "You have a lot of explaining to do regarding how you sired a demon, Ylden. Disregarding that for now, why and how are you here?"

"For how, let's say that people have a hard time killing someone living in the realms of Death. As for why, I'm over here making sure no demons attempt to steal away Kaden or attack Analia," Ylden answered. It seemed that he'd calmed down now that he didn't feel like his daughter was being insulted. "You both should not be here, though. We need to prevent Kaden from sensing anything that might change his emotional state. From what I can tell, things are going decently."

Though he scowled a little out of concern, Satsuno didn't really argue. "We had to come… if only briefly. I was warned by a chameleon's spirit about the beings of Light, and was told we had to intervene."

Ylden frowned a little in response, but ultimately nodded slowly. "I was attempting to not expend too much of my energy, but in doing so I temporarily dulled my senses. I did not notice," he murmured.

Seiko shoved one of his shoulders with a huff, causing the man to stumble briefly. "Pay attention. This is a battlefield."

"Yes, mother," Ylden said sarcastically, making damn certain that she could see him roll his eyes in a full circle. Seiko indignantly snorted at Ylden, not saying anything in response.

Meanwhile, Satsuno closed his eyes for a moment and focused. All at once, many of the spirits lingering in the area were sent off to the main Realm of Death for sorting and placement. His frown deepened a touch. "...The realms are failing," he noted quietly. He opened his eyes to look at Ylden. "I will fix the issues that are present. You focus on this."

Ylden's eyes widened and he suddenly let out a deep growl. "She's influencing my daughter. Realms can wait three minutes while I kick this bitch's ass," the cat muttered hatefully before teleporting away.

Satsuno rolled his own eyes now. I said I would handle it, regardless. Then, turning to Seiko, he added, "I would like to leave. There are still many spirits. The realms are unnaturally full and cannot take them yet. I do not wish to remain in their presence."

"Understood," Seiko said gently, setting an arm on his shoulder. "I will follow your lead." There was nothing else to do but teleport at that point, so that was what Satsuno did and Seiko went with him. It happened almost as soon as they reappeared in their borrowed bedroom. A mental link was opened with them from far away, the threads of connection extending all the way back to the battlefield. Satsuno paused, trying to work out who had done this, but was stopped by an unfamiliar woman's voice.

"I apologize for this intrusion. I could sense your worry, but did not want to distract you while you were close by. Now that you are safe, I wish to assure you of Kaden's safety. He is responding far better to my efforts than I could have ever hoped. Your son has done the impossible, held on to crucial parts of himself deep down inside no matter how immense his corruption grew. He has held on this long because he is strong, and it is this strength that you gave him which will keep him alive. His life is in no danger. He will be brought back to us all."

The connection ended as gently as it had begun. Satsuno was silent for a long moment. "Somehow… I cannot say that I doubt her words, though we do not know her." In spite of his less-than-relieved tone and words, he was actually relieved. More than he would have thought he would be, based upon mere words. The amount of stress and worry he'd been coping with had been more than he'd realized.

"Yet she knows us," Seiko pointed out. "Or… she recognized us by the similarity in his energy to ours."

"Sonic's mother," Satsuno answered quietly. "He said she is a powerful Light user."

"I see," Seiko murmured.

Crossing the room, Satsuno sat down on the edge of the bed. That little bit of fighting had taken more out of him than he would've liked to admit. Which was all the more reason to hate being so damn tired still. "I suppose we should resume resting," he sighed.

Seiko took a seat beside him and nodded, leaning up against him. "We should."

In spite of what he'd just said, Satsuno hesitated greatly to actually lie back. "...Any number of those spirits might have begun following me here," he eventually said. "They will likely ignore Myriu entirely, but…"

"I will stay awake. You rest this time," Seiko said gently. "If they come, I will banish them." Though concerns nagged at him, Satsuno wound up just giving in. He kicked his shoes off and laid down, closing his eyes once he was comfortable. Seiko sat up beside him, gently rubbing his head with a hand. "Rest well. I will protect you."

Small touches like these had always had a way of comforting him and bringing him ease. Already, he was relaxing more than he had originally intended to. Sleep worked to claim him quickly, but he managed a soft reply. "I know. I trust you."

"I know this well," Seiko responded just as softly. But by then, he was already asleep.

~保護者~

To say that the Void was full to the brim with dark glee over their arrival here would be an understatement. It didn't even care that Jet wasn't here to satisfy its constant demands, either. It was just happy to finally be killing things. Even if they weren't the "right" things. Or people. The fact still remained that Jet allowed the Void to work in tandem with and also through him, and that was enough.

Together and yet apart, they appeared in the midst of the battlefield. With scarcely a wave of his hand, Jet decimated their ranks. The force of his attack sent his cloak billowing out to his side. Ethereal purple energy flowed around him, lashing out at any demon that dared get too close. Their lives were drained from them, leaving behind empty husks that soon disintegrated into dust. The Void's pleasure with the situation only grew.

Demons with even the slightest bit of intelligence began to flee. Stronger demons remained a touch longer, but that was their mistake. Even more of them were murdered with another wide attack. That convinced them to begin their own retreat. All that fled were promptly ignored for now. Drawing his sword, Jet calmly approached Zareil. He stopped just a few feet away, looking at her emotionlessly. "Leave," he murmured softly, "or I will force you."

Despite seeing the rest of her armies beginning to leave, Zareil didn't dare back down from him. "I'm not leaving without my God, you bastards," she growled.

Eyes briefly flashing purple, Jet responded in cold tones, "You will. You will leave either in one piece or in many. The fact remains that you are not staying here."

Zareil gripped her waraxe and shifted her gaze across the battlefield. The first thing to note was that all of the demons, save for Iblis and Mephiles, had retreated. Any that hadn't retreated were killed by Jet moments prior. This meant that all of these heroes were suddenly free and capable of leaving or fighting at any given moment… aside from the ones dealing with the two aforementioned remaining demons. Her situation was suddenly far more precarious.

On top of there being no supporting forces, whatever attack Jet had unleashed on her forces had drained the life from them. They were not simply killed. The hawk was also acting a touch more… aggressive? Cold? She wasn't sure of the word for it, and her fury addled brain wasn't processing this quite the way she expected. She reared her axe back and swung, but it never connected. In fact, she was forced to realize she'd just been teleported to the citadel. The demoness slammed the one responsible for this into the ground, pressing her axe against his throat. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demanded.

Steam kept his hands between the weapon and his body, trying to prevent his own death. "Jet might have killed you. He's not himself right now. If you had charged in, you very well might have died." Zareil didn't like that answer. She didn't like those words, and she sure as hell didn't like him. A quick movement of her axe sent him flying through the wall and he teleported away shortly after, leaving her there to stew in all of her hatred.

The hedgehog landed on Mobius, tumbling from the sheer force of being thrown as he fumbled his way to his feet, coughing deeply. "Fuck. That hurts…" he muttered quietly. By now, Jet had already vanished, almost as though he had never been there in the first place.

Sein appeared by Steam and helped him stand upright, dusting him off gently. "God, are you alright? What the hell just happened?"

"I took Zareil back to Kaden's realm," Steam answered. "She was going to fight Jet."

"...You think Jet would have killed her?" Sein dared to ask, concerned by the possibility.

Steam nodded slowly. "He very well could have. He was being influenced by the Void, and if he'd been pushed too far… I couldn't risk that."

Sein was quiet for a moment before turning back to look over the remaining battles. "We need to try and wrap this up quickly… take stock of what happened. There's definitely some stuff we missed."

The hedgehog nodded and teleported away to help Eila contain Mephiles with magic while ordering for various people to get the hell out of there, since there was no need for them to be risking themselves any more than they already had.

~保護者~

All of her being had suffused with Light. That Light crossed the distance between them, spanning across all of time and space to reach the soul she knew he still possessed. The true him was in there, fighting. She only had to reach him, to take his hand, to lead back to the surface. It took time. Oh, so much time. But even as the cacophony of warfare threatened to drown her out, she held true to one simple truth.

He has held on for this long. He has done the impossible, retained a piece of himself when no one else could. He will be alright.

And so she searched, digging deep and healing all along the way. She knew to expect resistance at first. He certainly offered it. But it wasn't as much as she had, up until recently, would have anticipated. Less than a year ago, she planned for immense fighting between them whenever they finally reached this point, this point where she was finally able to try and help him. Then things had changed. Events had played out that had spurred him, the real him, into renewed conflict with the demon he'd been forced to become.

It was that very same conflict which caused his resistance toward her to cease, gradually but by no means slowly. He wasn't fighting her at all now. She could feel how badly he wanted this, with every fiber of his being he wanted to be saved. He had just desperately needed someone, anyone to come along who was capable of providing that help to begin with.

If only it had happened so much sooner than this.

Taking her time was regrettable, but necessary. Every bit of corruption had to be erased. She could almost feel him guiding her to the worst places, as if silently begging her to heal them as well. So many emotions were swirling through him now. Chief among them were sorrow, guilt, and regret. He blamed himself, she knew, for what had happened. For what he had become. For what that horrific turning point in his life had led him to doing.

None of these were his fault. He had asked for none of this. If she could have corrected all of this here and now, she would have. As things stood, however, this was a problem they would have to address later. Going as slow as she was harmed him. It was the nature of these things. Light harmed Darkness. Darkness harmed Light. There was no escaping that, not even here. His consciousness was wavering badly by the time she finally made it to the very root of his corruption. This would be the hardest, and the most agonizing to remove. All she could hope was that he would pass out quickly.

She was as gentle as possible, but swift. She had to be, before these roots began spreading out again and taking hold in places she had already healed. The corruption was dug out and purified into nothing as the ever-thinning barriers separating him from her faded further. Her eyes opened in time to see his eyelids flicker shut as he collapsed to the ground. Tears filled her vision… but she smiled. Those eyes…

They were green.

~保護者~

19,690 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 9:35 p.m.) 05-21-21.