PART XI
Destined Awakening, Pacts Returned, and a Rescue
Kagura, comatose, faintly heard a voice coming from a distance speaking to her. It was a voice that was intimately familiar to her, filled with pain and sorrow mixed with overflowing love. She yearned to go to that voice, but the Darkness bound her pulling her down into its Depths. Kagura fought back with all her strength, but the Darkness was pulling her deeper and deeper into a Dark Abyss she knew would trap her forever. As her consciousness was fighting the Darkness keeping her comatose, a faint light illuminated the Darkness and freed her from its Dark grasp. She was free. Kagura could now go toward that familiar voice speaking to her, but something told her she needed to stay in the Light for the time being. As the Light continued to illuminate the Darkness keeping it at bay, a Soul materialized from the light and solidified into a figure, a beautiful woman with long blonde hair in a pale white dress. A sense of familiarity came over Kagura as she looked at the woman. As if she had known who it was for a very long time. The woman smiled gently at her and spoke, "My beloved descendant, we finally meet."
Kagura stared in shock when she heard the woman's voice. "I remember you; you came to me before. You are Lilith, the Demon Brothers' late sister. What are you doing here?"
"Yes, I am Lilith. I have come to impart important information onto you. You are my human descendant who carries the blood of angels within you. The time for your full awakening has come to pass."
Kagura stared at Lilith, "What do you mean by full awakening?"
Instead of answering, Lilith replied, "You'll know soon enough," before continuing, "To fully awake, you need to combine your human blood with your angel blood to awaken all the Powers you possess including your Angel powers.
"Wait, I have Angel powers? When did that happen?" Kagura asked in disbelief.
"Yes, you do. You've had Angel powers for some time now. You used it unknowingly with the Chimera." Kagura stared and was about to ask something else before Lilith raised her hand and stopped her. "My time here is short so I cannot answer all your questions. You'll need to discover everything yourself."
Kagura nodded knowing that it was hopeless to get any more answers from Lilith.
Lilith smiled her thanks then continued, "Once you awaken, you must save my other Brothers who are by my Tomb. They are severely hurt. Your Powers is the only thing that can save them. Please save my beloved Brothers. Once you have healed them, all of you must go to Lucifer. He, Lord Diavolo, and Barbatos are in terrible danger. Please protect and save them before it's too late."
Knowing that Lilith was going to stay cryptic, Kagura sighed inwardly and just went with the flow, "I will protect and save everyone Lilith. I promise. What of the Angel Simeon? Is he hurt like your Brothers?"
Lilith shook her head and said, "The Archangel is safe. The reinforcements had come just in time. I do not have the strength to stay longer, but I need to tell you one more thing. When you awaken your Powers, you need to draw on it to save you from the Darkness that is trapping your consciousness. Now awaken and return to your beloved. He is waiting for you."
After Lilith disappeared, Kagura forced her consciousness away from the Darkness that was about to bind her again. After forcing her consciousness away, Kagura knew what she had to do. She needed to tap into her Powers in order for her consciousness to follow the flow of power within her. By following the flow of power, she would be able to come across her said Angel powers that lay slumbering. Tapping into her Powers, Kagura's consciousness sensed a power different from the power that flowed within her. The power she sensed was the same power that had caused the golden aura around Angel Simeon when she first returned to the Devildom amnesiac. However, this power was stronger than his. The power felt familiar to Kagura as well. She had first encountered it when she made contact with Lilith's soul a long time ago. As Kagura remembered her first encounter with Lilith's wandering soul, a lost memory with a fragmented conversation suddenly returned to her followed by the truth of her first encounter with the shadowy figure before her as it slowly woke.
"…Lilith…I miss you…Lilith…" followed by another fragmented conversation. This time Kagura sensed fear coming from her and heard the same voice filled with barely concealed rage and murderous intent "…All I can do is thank you Kagura…Now I can finally achieve what I set out to do." More fragmented conversations returned, gaining malice, a voice full of hatred followed by a feeling of getting killed and betrayed, "Don't blame me for tricking you, blame yourself for falling for it…If you die, the exchange program will be ruined and Diavolo's reputation will be in tatters…"
Kagura remembered getting choked as she said a name, "Belphie…" before the shadowy figure cleared before her eyes. It was Belphegor, Belphie, Avatar of Sloth, looking at her with barely concealed malice and hatred. "…No human will ever get to call me that! I hate humans! I hate them more than anything in the three worlds!" More of the memory came to her as Belphie broke her bones and choked her to death. "Does it hurt? Finding it hard to breathe? I have to say seeing a human's face twisted in pain like this…it's so much fun that I can barely stand it!"
As the Dark memory she had hidden deep in her heart returned to her so did the other Dark memories she had hidden, Kagura's dark memories of Satan and Lucifer when they had nearly killed her too. Only Belphie had come close to killing her before she got healed by Lilith's remaining power. Returning from her thoughts, Kagura knew that she had released all the negative emotions she had kept sealed away inside her heart. With the current situation, she knew that the partially awakened Ancient Evil would find out about it sooner or later and would take advantage of it. Kagura needed to cleanse all her negative emotions before He fully awakens, but to do that she needed to overcome it on her own by talking to Belphie, Satan, and Lucifer individually. However, that can come later. What takes priority now was to regain all her memories of Belphie. Resealing her negative emotions, she continued to regain all her memories of Belphie. It wasn't long before the memories returned, memories of his pain after losing Lilith and his slow recovery from so much pain and suffering. Finally, Kagura remembered the Pact Belphie had made with her, the Pact that connected them.
"Kagura, how would you like to make me yours? I'm asking if you'll make a pact with me…I want to be the closest demon to you…the first one you turn to for help whenever you need it. I want to do this right, and finally make up for everything I put you through…So please, Kagura?" Kagura had nodded and the Pact was made. After the Pact, she had shared a close hug with Belphie. As the memories of Belphie returned along with the memories of her first encounter with Lilith, Kagura's Angel powers that had lay slumbering finally awoke. Remembering Lilith's words, "To fully awaken, you need to combine your human blood with your angel blood to awaken all the Powers you possess including your Angel Powers."
Kagura knew what to do next. Closing her eyes, she tapped into her human blood and angel blood and combined them into one. The Power that awoke was immense. It flowed through her in unlimited quantities restoring all the magical energy she lost. Because of her mixed blood, the Power unexpectedly changed Kagura's blood into that of a Nephilim, a half-human, half-angel being.
Kagura knew what the Nephilims were. Another name for them was demi-angels. Nephilims are beings born from a human and an angel. Their lifespan is longer than an ordinary human and had Powers that were stronger than Demons and other supernatural beings. However, the Angels were stronger than the Nephilims. Kagura wasn't born from the union between a human and angel, so she wasn't a true Nephilim. She became one after her awakened Powers combined her Angel Powers with her human soul, changing Kagura's blood and not her appearance. She was thankful of that. Kagura also knew she had to keep this a secret from Solomon, the Angels, and the Demons. She needed to keep her change a secret from the Angels because according to Nephilim history, God and the Angels hated the Nephilim and would eliminate any on site because they were afraid the Nephilim would turn their offspring against the Gates of Heaven. She also had to keep this a secret from Solomon and the Demons because Kagura did not know how they would react to this news.
Returning from her thoughts, Kagura freed herself from the Darkness before she slowly awoke from her coma. As she awoke, she saw Satan crying over her body. Kagura's heart wrenched at Satan's pain and sorrow as he grieved over her. Making a silent promise to never leave Satan ever again, Kagura raised her left hand and touched Satan's head, at the same time, noticing the purple gem on her bracelet. Her pact with Belphie had returned.
Three days had passed and Kagura had still not wakened or responded to any of Satan's continuous one-way conversation since two days ago leaving him heartbroken. He had lost his beloved. Sitting by her bedside, Satan's pain and sorrow overwhelmed him as he grieved over Kagura's still form. As he wept, he suddenly felt a faint touch on his head and heard a soft voice filled with its own pain calling to him, "Satan, my love, please don't cry anymore. My heart cannot take any more of your pain and sorrow. Raise your head for me and let me see your beloved face."
Satan stilled, not daring to believe before he slowly raised his head and saw that his beloved had finally woken up. With a cry of relief, Satan stood up and sat on the bed. He helped Kagura up before pulling her into his arms then kissing her with all his passion and all his love. Kagura kissed him back and together they shared a passionate kiss. When the kiss ended, Satan told her to never leave him again or he will shatter into a dozen pieces. Kagura promised before they shared another passionate kiss.
As they kissed, Kagura felt Satan unbutton her blouse and immediately knew what he wanted to do. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her falling back to her bed. As Satan lay in Kagura's embrace, he continued to unbutton her blouse then unclasped her bra before kissing every part of her that was bared to him. It wasn't long before Satan's passion reached unprecedented heights. During the aftermath, a truth came to him. Satan had come close to losing Kagura forever. If that had happened, he would have died on the inside. Without Kagura in his life, his life would become meaningless.
Several minutes later, Kagura remembered the return of Belphie's Pact while she was comatose. Sitting up, along with Satan, Kagura told him that another pact had returned while she was comatose. Satan's eyes widened before he asked, "Whose Pact?" Raising her left wrist, Kagura showed Satan the purple gem now embedded next to Lucifer's blue gem before saying, "Belphie's Pact."
Satan looked at the gem and went still. He remembered what had happened to Kagura when she returned to the Past to find out who released Belphie from his attic prison. Belphie, out of him and his other Brothers had been the one to come close to killing Kagura. After her "resurrection", Satan had had nightmares about it for a very long time, leaving him waking up drenched in sweat. Even now, he still hadn't recovered from the trauma of watching Kagura dying in front of him. Looking back at Kagura, Satan asked in a soft voice, "Does that mean you remembered everything that had happened between you and Belphie?"
Kagura's eyes darkened and Satan felt his heart wrench. He couldn't do anything for her. She had to overcome the trauma on her own. For once, Satan felt truly helpless. He could not protect her from the Dark memories. How would Belphie react once he finds out about the trauma he had caused in Kagura? He would be devastated.
Closing her eyes, Kagura forced the Dark memories away sealing it inside her heart. When she opened her eyes again, Kagura replied with a forced calmness, "Yes, but I will need to overcome those Dark memories on my own. However, they are not my priority now. There is something else that takes precedence."
Pausing for a moment, Kagura continued, "When all my memories returned of Belphie, another Power slumbering within me awoke."
Satan stared in disbelief, "What?! Another Power awoke? What…" Before he could finish his question, Kagura and Satan both felt several surges of Power getting released. Satan's eyes widened as he recognized the Power surges. What in the Three Realms forced them to release all their powers? After thinking about it, he suddenly knew. Something had happened, something serious. That was the only possible reason why they would release all their demonic powers. Kagura's own eyes widened when she felt the Power surges. "Satan, where did those Power surges come from? What on earth is going on?"
Satan looked at Kagura a moment before replying. "The three Power surges came from Lord Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer. Something serious must have happened that forced them to activate Power Release. In other words, they released all their demonic powers."
Kagura stared at Satan before she suddenly remembered something else she had to do. "Satan, this may come out as a shock to you, but while I was comatose, I learned of what had happened to your other Brothers. They are severely injured."
Satan went pale, "Levi and my other Brothers are severely injured?! What happened to them and how do you know?"
Kagura told Satan that she had learned of their situation from Lilith shocking Satan even more. Continuing, Kagura said, "Lilith materialized before me while my consciousness was trapped in Darkness. The light that surrounded her kept the Darkness at bay and temporarily freed me from its entrapment. I know you have many questions, but we need to go to your Brothers immediately. Lilith told me where they were. They are by her Tomb."
Nodding at Kagura, Satan said, "I can hold off on my questions. My Brothers' situation is more urgent. We have to go to them now."
Nodding, Kagura got off her bed along with Satan. They straightened their clothes in no time flat before both rushed to the Underground Tomb where they found the unconscious Brothers, a Protective Barrier placed around them. Satan immediately knew who had cast the Barrier. It had been Lucifer.
Looking at the Barrier then turning to Satan, Kagura asked, "Satan, do you know who cast this Barrier? It needs to go down if we're to check the extent of your Brothers' injuries."
Satan nodded and said, "It was Lucifer."
Kagura then asked, "Can you deactivate it for me?"
Satan nodded again. With a sharp word in the demon tongue and a wave of his hand, the Barrier deactivated. As it deactivated, Kagura and Satan rushed to each Brother to check their pulse and found that they were faint. That meant that they were still alive. Sighing with relief, both checked the extent of their injuries and were stunned at the severity. All the brothers carried severe to near-fatal external and internal injuries. Kagura knew what she had to do as Lilith's words returned to her, "Your Powers is the only thing that can save them. Please save my beloved Brothers."
Turning to Satan, Kagura said, "When we were back at the House. You were about to ask me what was the other Power that awoke within me. You never finished your question because the Power surges interrupted your train of thought. Now I will reveal what the New Power is."
Satan nodded.
Kagura slowly stood up and stepped away from the unconscious brothers before tapping into her Angel powers. As her Angel powers activated, Kagura started to emit an aura of golden light. Satan stared in disbelief at the golden aura surrounding Kagura. He recognized that aura. It was the Angel's Blessing, a power that can only be found in Angels. How in the Three Realms did Kagura gain Angel Powers? Though she carries angel blood in her veins, the blood is not magical in any way or form. Kagura's angel blood is her connection to Lilith. Returning from his thoughts, what Satan saw next left him speechless. The golden aura surrounding Kagura had turned massive before it changed into a Light halo that floated above Satan's unconscious Brothers. As it increased in size, Kagura shouted, "Angel's Halo!" Seconds later, a gentle beam of golden Light appeared and engulfed Satan's Brothers. As they lay within the Light, all their external and internal injuries were healed instantaneously. After they were healed, the golden Light dissolved then disappeared.
Satan was stunned. He recognized the 'Angel's Halo' Spell. It was an Ancient Healing spell only known by Michael and a select few of his Archangels. The spell lies within the Grimoire of Heaven. 'Angel's Halo' can not only heal external and internal injuries but can also heal near-fatal to fatal ones. At the same time, the spell could return all the Powers that were lost or depleted to both Angels and Demons. Before Satan could ask or say anything about Kagura's shocking new powers, his Brothers awoke and gingerly sat up.
As they awoke, Kagura ran to Belphie and hugged him, crying, shocking Belphie. Before Belphie could ask what's wrong, he saw the purple gem on Kagura's bracelet then saw the purple metal band on his wrist. His pact with Kagura had returned. As the gem and metal band made contact, the gem gave off a brilliant purple flame. After hugging Kagura back and comforting her, Belphie asked, "Kagura, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Wiping away her tears, Kagura said, "I'm sorry Belphie. I can't tell you now. This is something private between us. I'll tell you in due time. Please, just trust me on this." Belphie heard something in Kagura's voice that sent a chill down his spine. He knew whatever it was would change the outcome of their relationship. The outcome could either be good or bad. If it was the latter, Belphie didn't think he would be able to handle it. Before he could ask anything else, Kagura shook her head then gently pulled away from Belphie.
Turning to the other Brothers, Kagura said, "Lucifer, Lord Diavolo and Lord Barbatos are in danger, we need to get to them as soon as possible."
Belphie, returning from his current dilemma and his other Brothers looked at her in surprise before the demon Leviathan asked Kagura, "What do you mean they're in danger? What happened?"
Looking at the demon Leviathan, another Dark memory surfaced in Kagura. The memory showed a shadowy figure with a serpent's tail facing her, emanating from the figure was an intense murderous aura. They were in a room that had eight glass-paneled windows and eight throne-like chairs. A fragmented conversation soon followed.
"…I suppose this settles who the true TSL nerd is— "A mysterious voice that sounded almost musical to one's ears, but no memories surfaced.
"…No! I won't stand for this!" A voice filled with murderous intent and rage that matched the aura of the shadowy figure… "All you did was stay up one night marathoning the DVDs. The idea that someone like you could actually be a bigger TSL fan than me, it's…"
"No...NO! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!"
Before the figure could attack Kagura, she was pulled away to safety by Lucifer in demon form. As the Dark memory faded, another of her lost memories returned when she heard the word "TSL". Closing her eyes, Kagura thought hard. Why did that sound familiar?" It soon came to her. She was standing in a room with a bathtub bed. Next to the bathtub bed was a glass aquarium with a single goldfish. She saw a bookcase filled with books. One of the books was titled 'The Lord of Shadows Awakens'. As the memory returned, another fragmented conversation came to her.
"Are you a fan of 'The Tale of the Seven Lords'?"
"Sorry, I've never heard of it. What's it about?"
"…You've never…never heard of…HOW?! How could you not have heard of the story, called TSL?!"
More memories surfaced of the TSL fan and her as well as more fragmented conversations before one of those fragmented conversations finally revealed to Kagura who the shadowy figure with the serpent's tail was.
"In TSL, the Lord of Shadow and Henry didn't start out as friends. They took time to develop their bond over a series of adventures that tested the character of both men and strengthened their friendship."
"You make a good point. We're not best friends."
"But we could be…look Levi, I don't want to be enemies with you…I want us to be friends…I want to be your friend."
"…Did you say friends? You and me…?! A-A-Are you…are you out of your mind? I tried to attack you; you know that right? If Lucifer hadn't intervened, you'd be dead right now."
"I know, but I'm okay. I understood why you lashed out at me. You had every reason to because I kind of egged you on. I'm not going to hold a grudge and I hope you don't either."
"All right…you remember why we decided to have the TSL competition in the first place, right? It was to see who the bigger TSL fan was. And I told you if you won, I'd enter into a pact with you. A promise is a promise…"
"Hang on, the contest we had ended in a draw. Neither of us won."
"That was only because of my outburst. You were set to win before I lashed out at you. I'll keep my end of the bargain I'll do it. I'll make a pact with you."
As the fragmented conversation ended, Kagura's memory showed her a room with a domed roof, a fountain, and five balls of light hanging from roof. Before her stood a shadowy figure that looked like the shadowy figure with the serpent's tail. As the shadows cleared, she saw who it was. It was the demon Leviathan. The demon who loved anime, manga, and games, the one who had looked very sad when Kagura forgot about him, and the one who had asked her whether she liked to play games. The connection she had with him returned as well. Kagura was the only true friend Levi had ever had. As all her memories of Levi returned, an orange gem appeared next to Belphie's purple gem. Looking at Levi's face, her heart wrenched. Tears of joy were streaming down his face, unnoticed.
"Levi, I finally remembered you." The next instant, Kagura ran to Levi and hugged him."
As Kagura hugged Levi, she felt him hugging her back.
A few minutes later, Kagura turned to the rest of the Brothers and said, "Four of my pacts have returned. The remaining Pacts will have to come later. Right now, Lucifer, Lord Diavolo, and Lord Barbatos need our help. We must go to them."
The Brothers went still with surprise once more. Kagura had never taken the initiative to act before. This was a side of Kagura that was unfamiliar to them. Something drastic had happened to her, and whatever it was, had changed her. She was no longer the Kagura they knew. This was a different Kagura, a Kagura that felt almost distant, leaving the Brothers' hearts in tatters. Satan felt it more strongly than the others. Closing his eyes painfully, he thought, Oh Kagura, what has happened to you? A memory soon surfaced. When Kagura had told Satan that all her memories of Belphie had returned, he had seen her eyes go dark, emotionless. He had a feeling that this Darkness wasn't only about Belphie. Had it also involved him and Lucifer? Satan froze at that thought. Kagura must have also remembered how he and Lucifer had nearly killed her too. Had those Dark memories changed her? He prayed that it wasn't so. If it was, then he wished with all his might that he could take back the fear and pain he had caused her. If Lucifer knew of this too, Satan knew he would be just as affected by it as Satan was. Crying inside, Satan thought, I'm so sorry Kagura. I never meant to cause you so much fear and pain. Please forgive me. If you cannot forgive me, I don't know what I'll do. Returning from his painful thoughts, Satan looked at Kagura and said softly, "Okay, Kagura. We will help them. Let us go."
The other Brothers nodded in unison.
As Kagura and Lucifer's Six Brothers rushed toward Downtown, Kagura sent out a thought toward the vast sky. Lord Diavolo, Lord Barbatos, Lucifer, wait for us. We are on our way.
