Pinkshuchan: LALIHO! This is Pinkshuchan! For those wondering about if there will be any romance in this story, yes there will be, but it's not the main focus. It will have all three couples but not right away. If you all can be patient and just enjoy the story, then you will see them. But for now, plot! Also, this story is rated M for future content. Well, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
The Way to Freedom
Three days had passed since Haruhiko and Akihiko had 'talked', and as promised Akihiko waited. He did not travel to someplace new and make it hard for his older brother to find him. He stayed in the wastelands of Feuern, fighting demons still sent to kill him with the help of Suzuki. Akihiko was determined to receive his freedom away from Damonen by any means necessary. But he could not help but wonder; what was Haruhiko planning?
Akihiko returned to the cave he had considered his home for the past three days and sat there, waiting for the illusion of the head of his intolerable older brother to greet him and explain what he had found. But even as he was waiting, he was sceptical about the whole thing still. Haruhiko's idea of giving them what they want could be for one of them to surrender, which neither brother wanted to do.
But the silver haired man did not have a choice.
Like his brother, he too wanted this all to end. It was not like he enjoyed having to fight demons everywhere he went. It was not like he enjoyed a life of bloodshed, walking through blood trails alone. Although used to the feeling of being alone with the exception of having Suzuki around, it did not mean he didn't want someone walking beside him. But fighting the demons made it impossible, meaning he would have to push them all away from him until he obtained his freedom.
He didn't want that to happen again.
As expected, the illusion of Haruhiko's head appeared before Akihiko again. The latter expected him to say that the only way to end would be surrender. It was a complete surprise with what the ruler of Damonen had to say.
"For the past three days, I have searched for a loophole on your abandonment to the throne and I finally found something that shall allow the laws to excuse your inexcusable behaviour. It will not matter if you survive or not; I'll get the peace I want once this is over.
"In order to obtain proper freedom, you must travel through all six continents; Damonen being the last to reach. It is possible you might skip through all the continents and go straight to Damonen. If that's the case, you must bring proof that you have gone to the other continents before heading to Damonen. As proof that you have gone through all six continents, you must bring with you a flame that never goes out from Feuern, water that has never been tainted from Ozean, a bag of furious wind that has never been opened from Kurbeln, a flower that never dies from Erden, and a metal ore that never breaks from Stahlern.
"Once you have gone through all the continents and reach Damonen with all those objects in hand, you must defeat the current ruler of Damonen, which is me, in a battle determining strength and wit. If you are to defeat me, your freedom shall be passed to you. If not, I am to do with you as I please, which means I am allowed to execute you and you have no choice but to accept it."
"So all I have to do is go through all those continents, gets those items you mentioned, and then defeat you when I reach Damonen?" asked Akihiko, "That shouldn't be too hard."
"But do not forget Akihiko," Haruhiko continued, "Your freedom is out of reach until you succeed. The demons will still chase after you and take your life. One wrong move and it is the end for you. I must admit that I am curious if you are able to do this. Although you have been able to survive against my demons in the past, they grow stronger day by day until their strength surpasses even you. It would take a lot to be able to survive that and still be well enough to fight me. But I honestly don't care if you survive or not. Either way, I won't have to deal with you anymore once this is all over."
And once again, without another sound, the illusion of Haruhiko's head disappeared. Akihiko sighed in relief. He was glad it wasn't a surrender idea. Still, he could not help but worry about what Haruhiko has said. Normally, he never gave a damn to what his older brother thought, but he had noticed it for a while. The demons slowly have been growing stronger. It was slow but Akihiko could sense it. He began to question his chance of survival against the demons. But he couldn't give up. He wanted his freedom and he knew that if he believed, he could get it. If he kept up what he had done for the past 13 years, he would surely win his freedom.
Back at Damonen Palace, Haruhiko sighed. He finally found what he was looking for and was relieved to finally see this coming to an end. It wouldn't be long before he would be able to rule over Damonen and the rest of Elementar in peace without any trouble from his younger brother.
"Is something wrong Lord Haruhiko?"
Haruhiko looked over to see a tall older man dressed completely in black bowing before him. The Ruler of Damonen's stern face did not alter. "Everything is perfectly fine Tanaka," he replied, "I had just finished talking with Akihiko. We are ending this."
The man, Tanaka, looked back up, his face not daring to hide his fear. "What do you mean by that Lord Haruhiko?" he asked in worry, "You do not mean that Prince Akihiko will be surrendering his life! Or will he be returning to the throne like he should?"
The ruler of Damonen would not answer. Instead, he only passed Tanaka a book with a bookmark on a certain page. The older man took the book from his master and opened it to the right page, only to be staring at it in shock. "Lord Haruhiko! You don't mean…!"
"Akihiko is stubborn enough to want his freedom; to break his leash from Damonen," Haruhiko explained, "Even if he does break his leash, he will always be a Prince of Damonen. But at least this way, he can try to earn his freedom."
"But there is a high chance that Prince Akihiko will lose his life!" cried Tanaka, "Please Lord Haruhiko! Surely there must be some other way!"
Haruhiko only sat in his throne, proud and respectable. "This is the only way for Akihiko to win his freedom. Besides, I don't care if he lives or dies after this. All I know is that after this, it is all over." And so, Haruhiko continued to rule comfortably in his throne, while Tanaka deeply worried for the young prince given such a dangerous task.
The night in Feuern would be dark if not for the occasional spark of light from flames that would rise from the ground. Akihiko slept in the cave safely with Suzuki in his arms. The silver haired man and his bear friend were perfectly calm; protected from anything that may come after them.
But it didn't last for long.
Recurring thoughts of the task at hand brought Akihiko unease. They refused to help him sleep easy for the big day ahead of him. After a long fight with his uneasiness, he decided to just get up and clear his head. The demons will grow stronger every day. Will Akihiko take them on? He assured himself that he could. He always managed to defeat them before they ended up too powerful anyways. But then it occurred to him that some of the demons may be hiding; raising their strength until they could defeat Akihiko in one blow. How can he defeat them all by himself?
It's true that as Prince of Damonen, Akihiko can summon demons, especially powerful ones to defeat him. However, unlike Haruhiko who trained day and night to be able to summon demons at ease, Akihiko always skipped on the training. As a result, although he can summon powerful demons, it takes a lot of energy just to summon them. The only demons he could summon were level 1 and level 2 demons without losing such energy. However, he doubted that any of the level 1s and 2s could defeat level 5s so easily.
But even so, he couldn't give up. His freedom was right within his grasp. Sure, it would be tougher than it has been, but he only needed to grow stronger and let his determination win him that freedom. He will search for the five items in the five continents and return to Damonen to win against his brother. He had to!
"Hmm, nice place you got here."
Akihiko slightly jumped to the voice of another in the cave with him. Obviously it was not Suzuki. The tiny bear was still sleeping. He turned around to see a hooded figure standing there, glancing around.
"You know, personally this is not to my taste," the figure continued, "I prefer much more… classier places whenever I'm hiding in a spot temporarily. Oh well! Different people have different tastes. Obviously someone like you prefers this lifestyle."
"Who are you?" Akihiko snapped at the hooded figure, "Are you a demon sent by Haruhiko?"
The hooded figure looked at Akihiko as if in anger. "What? Me? A demon? As if! I don't live as low as them," The figure snapped its fingers and a fan appeared in its hands. "It's really hot here. Has no one ever heard of air conditioning?"
The silver haired man fell back in shock. "How… How did you do that? I've never seen anyone summon a fan! A demon, obviously, but not an inanimate object!"
"There's a lot you don't know, my dear Akihiko," said the figure.
"And how do you know my name? Are you from Damonen?"
The figure just looked at him in annoyance. "What, you wanna play this guessing game all night? I thought you would possibly want some help in making your freedom a reality."
This got all of Akihiko's attention. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, "I can get through all of this all by myself."
But this did not impress the hooded figure. "Yes, sure you can," the figure replied sarcastically, "And I am your fairy godmother who will take you to the castle in style. Actually, being a beautiful fairy godmother wouldn't be so bad. But that's beside the point! You keep up that mind of thinking and you'll never get your freedom. Well, you would but not in the way you want it to be. But oh well! You don't listen to me, you get the items and reach Damonen to fight your brother, you die, everyone is happy. Goodbye!" The figure was slowly disappearing into the night.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the silver haired man cried out.
The figure returned. "Yes?"
"How do I know I can trust you?" asked Akihiko, his tone unbelieving, "You just come here and say you know how to ensure my freedom from Damonen? What's your proof?"
Before Akihiko could even blink, the figure was close to his face in fury. "Listen here you stupid excuse of a prince! I blew off my hair appointment just to come to your rescue! Trust me; you look under this hood, my hair makes Medusa look like Aphrodite!"
The silver haired man was confused. "Who are they?"
But that didn't make the hooded figure any happier. On the contrary, the figure looked like it was one step closer to murdering him. "My point is that I busted my way here to help you get your fucking freedom and maybe have some more wonderful stuff along the way, and you don't even appreciate it! You're going to listen to what I say, you're going to do what I say, AND YOU'RE GOING TO WIN YOUR FUCKING FREEDOM AND HAVE A FUCKING HAPPILY EVER AFTER! UNDERSTAND YOU FUCKING STUPID SON OF A BITCH?"
"OKAY OKAY!" cried Akihiko, "I get it! Just tell me what I need to do so you can leave me alone!"
The figure calmed down. "That's much better," said the figure cheerfully, "Thank you Akihiko. Now, to ensure that your freedom will be in your hands, it is true that you must obtain the five different items from the other five different continents as proof that you've been to them and return to Damonen to fight your brother. However, no matter how many demons you defeat out here, your strength will not compete with your brother's, who has enough power to control them. He has the strength of all the demons. But what is stronger than the power of demons is the power of all five elements put together.
"Along with the five different items as proof that you have made it to the five different continents, you must also gain alliance with five different individuals from those five continents. With them beside you, you will be able to master the elements of fire, water, wind, earth, and metal, and use them against your brother."
"Gain alliance of five people from the five continents? That's impossible!" said Akihiko, "I can't get anyone else involved with this ever again. Not after what happened before."
The figure tried to think. "Oh yes! I think I know what happened! Well on the plus side, no one was killed from that mistake."
Akihiko lowered his head. "But the result is worse than death."
"Well, I guess you know what to do first!" The figure looked at the sky. "Oops! Look at the time! Love to stay and chat with you Akihiko but I must go! I have a rescheduled hair appointment to go to. That way, I'll be sure to look my best the next time we meet. And remember; you must gain alliance with five from five different continents or you die."
With that said, the figure disappeared out of thin air for good this time. The words of the figure rang through Akihiko's ears. 'Gain alliance of five individuals from the five different continents.' How could Akihiko do that? Walk to them and say 'Oh, hello! I need an ally from each of the five different continents to help me find five items and return to Damonen to defeat my brother and obtain my freedom. Will you help me?' Not only would that be completely stupid as there were so many people that fear Damonen, but that would mean demons protecting the certain continent would get him for sure and kill him.
Morning finally came at last. The sky was grey from the smoke of all the flames and the ground still red and burning hot. Akihiko yawned and stretched his arms. Today was the day he began his journey. With Suzuki beside him, he left the cave and began walking, searching for the first item; the flame that never goes out.
Little did he know that a pair of eyes were watching him very closely, waiting to make a move.
Pinkshuchan: Oooh! What's gonna happen next? I guess it's pretty obvious who all the allies are gonna be. The question is; which character is which element? You already know Akihiko is from Damonen meaning he can summon demons. But what about everyone else? I'd love to hear your ideas on which character is which element. Read and Review everyone!