Disclaimer: The recognizable characters appearing in this story are © Chiho Saito and Be-Papas, all rights reserved. They are used without permission and for entertainment purposes only. No profit is being made by the author for writing this story. No infringement upon nor challenge to the rights of the copyright holders is intended; nor should any be inferred.
Akio's Visitor
Akio sat in front of his desk. The letters he had written to begin the duels anew were strewn all over the floor.
"What has come over Anthy? Why did she leave? She should not have been able to do so."
The thought of her last words to him, "You do not realize what happened. You can stay in your coffin if you want. " haunted him. They had for days. He sat there, only pausing to relive himself or to sleep.
He needed to find a new Rose Bride, and fast, before his power totally left him.
Akio leaned forward and rested his head on the desk. He would just rest his eyes for now.
When he awoke the room was completely dark, darker than it should be. He used the button on his watch to find out the time. Only an hour had passed.
"Why is it dark already?" he asked himself," and the windows are open, there should be some light in here."
The sound of breathing stirred him from his musings. He looked around. Perhaps Anthy had come back.
A whispered, seductive voice broke the silence," You do not know what has happened, do you, Lucifer."
"Whose there?" He shouted, "Anthy?"
"Oh no." the voice purred, "your protector is gone. You know well that to open the rose gate, you must win the last duel against the champion. You cheated. You did not win the duel. The duel did not end. The champion waits for you to continue what was not finished. As for your dear little Anthy, she left the gate of swords. It is opened, although you did not want to be."
"The gate of swords?"
"Daft as ever I see. You can not tell me that you did not know she kept the gate of swords closed. And, you can not tell me that you do not know MY voice"
Akio heard faint footsteps as the owner of the voice came closer to him. She put slender arms around his shoulders and began to blow on and kiss his ear.
"Who are you?"
"Come now lover, it hasn't been all that long has it. Only a few thousand years ago."
Akio reached across his desk to turn on a light. He gasped. The creature that stood before him was white as alabaster. She has piercing blue eyes and jet black wings. As the light hit her skin, it glistened with every color of the rainbow.
"How did you get out?"
"The same way you did, someone opened the gate of swords, only now, it is fully opened."
"Hoshiba That is your name isn't it. The queen of hell, Hoshiba"
"So you do remember, Lucifer."
"That is not my name anymore. At least not in this country."
"Whatever you say. My name is Asteroth in most places. You can not escape who and what you are, even if you did clip your wings. Your 'twin' is out too. The half of yourself you call the butcher. So I would be on my guard, lover."
"Samaiel escaped. That is not good."
"Not good for you. He still wants to kill you, so you two can be merged back into one being again. How can your precious rose gate open if only half of the devil is trying to open it. It will not work."
"I refuse to merge with him and become Satan again."
"Like it or not, you are half of that creature called Satan. Both halves are evil. You are just a little more sneaky about it."
"This is not possible."
"Oh, lover, but it is. While you sit here in your little coffin, your other half is destroying your little school. The duelists are all gone, seeking their desires without your help. The students that remain are either running away or fighting each other. So now, Lucifer, what are you going to do about it?"
"The gate of swords needs to be closed again. For that, I need to find another Rose Bride."
"Don't look at me for that task. If you remember, and I am sure you do, I was the first Princess and the first Rose Bride, or rather the Sword Bride. The one that allowed the demons to roam the earth."
"That is a Lie!"
"Is it, lover? Do you remember what heaven was like? Do you remember when we both shined before Him? Do you remember our castle? Do you remember when you promised to make me more than a princess?"
"Stop it."
"You tried to make yourself a king. The king of heaven so that I could be your queen. He was angered by your ambitions. You, me, and all of those who presumed to take what was not theirs were cast out."
"I do not want to remember."
"To keep from falling entirely into hell, you split into two. The butcher lie with a human and he placed in the child the half of him that was the deceiver, you. To protect you, I took on all the swords of heaven and earth. The gate of swords was formed. The butcher fell in anyway."
"Please stop."
"A girl, whom you called your sister, was the daughter sired by the butcher at the same time as your making."
"I do not want to see anymore."
"Since she was sired by a half of your own soul, she was both daughter and sister."
"No."
"You began the duels, with me as the Sword Bride, the first princess. If I was saved, all girls would become princesses."
"Not possible."
"The Damned and the Nephilim were your first duelists. Normal humans were not allowed in the game at that time. This was to only open the sword gate and free their brethren , after all."
"Please, do not go on."
"It was a success, and the gate of swords was opened, and I was freed, but I was not what I had been before. The butcher had kept me close. He whispered in my ear and transformed my shape into this. You hated me and I hated you."
"Why do you persist?"
"All the girls of the world became princesses, except for one, your sister."
"Anthy."
"The demons were rampant on the earth. I especially liked to torture all those little princesses to death, because they were what I no longer was. It elated me to see you come to rescue them and try to vanquish me. I would lie still and let you have your praise. Then I would get up and torture another one. I wanted you so badly. I wanted you to die, so you could be only my prince again, even if you were a demon prince, it was better than none at all."
"There was a problem."
"Oh yes. You found the rose gate, or rather, the butcher did. Your sister was the one who helped to seal it from us, the Damned. I do not know if you knew that."
"I didn't."
"She ran from him, trying to find you. She desperately wanted to be a princess, you see. She was ignorant at that time. She wanted the demons to go back through the sword gate. Once that was done, the rose gate could open and the sword gate would be sealed forever. She did not realize that in order to do that, YOU had to pass through the sword gate."
"I see."
"She ran to you and the butcher was on her heels. Since the butcher was the other half of your very own soul, he was the only one who could harm you. She did not know that until you were severely wounded chasing him away."
"The men of the world came to find you. The demons,finding out that you had been hurt, upped their pace of torturing, raping, and killing all of the princesses. If you were called out, you would die."
"But Anthy stopped that."
"Yes, she became the Rose Bride. All of the demons were pushed through the sword gate and she kept both gates closed, until now."
"Until now."
"Yes. She gave up her immortality. Her champion helped her to cast out the taint in her blood. She can now pass through the rose gate at will, as can most humans."
"What's done is done. I need to seal the sword gate. For that I need a new Rose Bride. Perhaps Utena will do."
"How stupid can you be? Have you been reading the news lately? Look at that computer of yours and look at the news. Terrorism and violence are rampant. The half of you that is the butcher is loose, not just here but all over the world. Having a Rose Bride will not work until you get him back through the sword gate. There is only one person and one way that can be done now."
Akio looked up at Hoshiba. She stared intensely back at him.
"What do I have to do?"
"You know. You have to kill him."
"That would mean merging with him again."
"It would."
"I do not want to become the devil again."
Hoshiba took his head in her hands and gave him a deep kiss.
"Unfortunately, lover, no matter what you do, you always were, and will always be, the devil. It does not matter if you are split in two."
Akio began kissing her back, " Perhaps you are right."
The kiss was no normal kiss. Hoshiba knew it, but did not care. Akio was plotting again.
Akio's Visitor
Akio sat in front of his desk. The letters he had written to begin the duels anew were strewn all over the floor.
"What has come over Anthy? Why did she leave? She should not have been able to do so."
The thought of her last words to him, "You do not realize what happened. You can stay in your coffin if you want. " haunted him. They had for days. He sat there, only pausing to relive himself or to sleep.
He needed to find a new Rose Bride, and fast, before his power totally left him.
Akio leaned forward and rested his head on the desk. He would just rest his eyes for now.
When he awoke the room was completely dark, darker than it should be. He used the button on his watch to find out the time. Only an hour had passed.
"Why is it dark already?" he asked himself," and the windows are open, there should be some light in here."
The sound of breathing stirred him from his musings. He looked around. Perhaps Anthy had come back.
A whispered, seductive voice broke the silence," You do not know what has happened, do you, Lucifer."
"Whose there?" He shouted, "Anthy?"
"Oh no." the voice purred, "your protector is gone. You know well that to open the rose gate, you must win the last duel against the champion. You cheated. You did not win the duel. The duel did not end. The champion waits for you to continue what was not finished. As for your dear little Anthy, she left the gate of swords. It is opened, although you did not want to be."
"The gate of swords?"
"Daft as ever I see. You can not tell me that you did not know she kept the gate of swords closed. And, you can not tell me that you do not know MY voice"
Akio heard faint footsteps as the owner of the voice came closer to him. She put slender arms around his shoulders and began to blow on and kiss his ear.
"Who are you?"
"Come now lover, it hasn't been all that long has it. Only a few thousand years ago."
Akio reached across his desk to turn on a light. He gasped. The creature that stood before him was white as alabaster. She has piercing blue eyes and jet black wings. As the light hit her skin, it glistened with every color of the rainbow.
"How did you get out?"
"The same way you did, someone opened the gate of swords, only now, it is fully opened."
"Hoshiba That is your name isn't it. The queen of hell, Hoshiba"
"So you do remember, Lucifer."
"That is not my name anymore. At least not in this country."
"Whatever you say. My name is Asteroth in most places. You can not escape who and what you are, even if you did clip your wings. Your 'twin' is out too. The half of yourself you call the butcher. So I would be on my guard, lover."
"Samaiel escaped. That is not good."
"Not good for you. He still wants to kill you, so you two can be merged back into one being again. How can your precious rose gate open if only half of the devil is trying to open it. It will not work."
"I refuse to merge with him and become Satan again."
"Like it or not, you are half of that creature called Satan. Both halves are evil. You are just a little more sneaky about it."
"This is not possible."
"Oh, lover, but it is. While you sit here in your little coffin, your other half is destroying your little school. The duelists are all gone, seeking their desires without your help. The students that remain are either running away or fighting each other. So now, Lucifer, what are you going to do about it?"
"The gate of swords needs to be closed again. For that, I need to find another Rose Bride."
"Don't look at me for that task. If you remember, and I am sure you do, I was the first Princess and the first Rose Bride, or rather the Sword Bride. The one that allowed the demons to roam the earth."
"That is a Lie!"
"Is it, lover? Do you remember what heaven was like? Do you remember when we both shined before Him? Do you remember our castle? Do you remember when you promised to make me more than a princess?"
"Stop it."
"You tried to make yourself a king. The king of heaven so that I could be your queen. He was angered by your ambitions. You, me, and all of those who presumed to take what was not theirs were cast out."
"I do not want to remember."
"To keep from falling entirely into hell, you split into two. The butcher lie with a human and he placed in the child the half of him that was the deceiver, you. To protect you, I took on all the swords of heaven and earth. The gate of swords was formed. The butcher fell in anyway."
"Please stop."
"A girl, whom you called your sister, was the daughter sired by the butcher at the same time as your making."
"I do not want to see anymore."
"Since she was sired by a half of your own soul, she was both daughter and sister."
"No."
"You began the duels, with me as the Sword Bride, the first princess. If I was saved, all girls would become princesses."
"Not possible."
"The Damned and the Nephilim were your first duelists. Normal humans were not allowed in the game at that time. This was to only open the sword gate and free their brethren , after all."
"Please, do not go on."
"It was a success, and the gate of swords was opened, and I was freed, but I was not what I had been before. The butcher had kept me close. He whispered in my ear and transformed my shape into this. You hated me and I hated you."
"Why do you persist?"
"All the girls of the world became princesses, except for one, your sister."
"Anthy."
"The demons were rampant on the earth. I especially liked to torture all those little princesses to death, because they were what I no longer was. It elated me to see you come to rescue them and try to vanquish me. I would lie still and let you have your praise. Then I would get up and torture another one. I wanted you so badly. I wanted you to die, so you could be only my prince again, even if you were a demon prince, it was better than none at all."
"There was a problem."
"Oh yes. You found the rose gate, or rather, the butcher did. Your sister was the one who helped to seal it from us, the Damned. I do not know if you knew that."
"I didn't."
"She ran from him, trying to find you. She desperately wanted to be a princess, you see. She was ignorant at that time. She wanted the demons to go back through the sword gate. Once that was done, the rose gate could open and the sword gate would be sealed forever. She did not realize that in order to do that, YOU had to pass through the sword gate."
"I see."
"She ran to you and the butcher was on her heels. Since the butcher was the other half of your very own soul, he was the only one who could harm you. She did not know that until you were severely wounded chasing him away."
"The men of the world came to find you. The demons,finding out that you had been hurt, upped their pace of torturing, raping, and killing all of the princesses. If you were called out, you would die."
"But Anthy stopped that."
"Yes, she became the Rose Bride. All of the demons were pushed through the sword gate and she kept both gates closed, until now."
"Until now."
"Yes. She gave up her immortality. Her champion helped her to cast out the taint in her blood. She can now pass through the rose gate at will, as can most humans."
"What's done is done. I need to seal the sword gate. For that I need a new Rose Bride. Perhaps Utena will do."
"How stupid can you be? Have you been reading the news lately? Look at that computer of yours and look at the news. Terrorism and violence are rampant. The half of you that is the butcher is loose, not just here but all over the world. Having a Rose Bride will not work until you get him back through the sword gate. There is only one person and one way that can be done now."
Akio looked up at Hoshiba. She stared intensely back at him.
"What do I have to do?"
"You know. You have to kill him."
"That would mean merging with him again."
"It would."
"I do not want to become the devil again."
Hoshiba took his head in her hands and gave him a deep kiss.
"Unfortunately, lover, no matter what you do, you always were, and will always be, the devil. It does not matter if you are split in two."
Akio began kissing her back, " Perhaps you are right."
The kiss was no normal kiss. Hoshiba knew it, but did not care. Akio was plotting again.