Pinkshuchan: LALIHO! It's Pinkshuchan! After a hard battle against the Slifer last chapter, will Akihiko and the others be able to take on another enemy? Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 19

Fear and Love

Misaki bolted up in a sitting position the moment his eyes opened wide. His breathing and his heartbeat was rapid in shock. It wasn't until he got an idea of things that they began to slow down back to normal. He had placed his hand over his chest and could still feel his heart beating against him. It was then he realized; he was completely awake, both mind and body. Did that mean…?!

"You've finally awaken, Princess. I guess that means Akihiko and the others managed to defeat that 'invincible' Slifer after all."

The young princess turned his head to see a man sitting there, wiping a sword with a cloth. He was confused as to who this man was when he remembered one of Akihiko's allies staying behind to take care of him. Misaki took this as a chance to look at his surroundings. They appeared to be in some sort of main hall surrounded by entrances to many different tunnels. There was green slime all over the place; on some spots on the ground and a few patches on the walls and ceiling. Confusion clouded his mind.

"Where are we?" he asked.

The older man didn't lift his gaze from his current task. "You said that you were surrounded by demons before ending up unconscious, right? This is no doubt their nest. Funny considering that demons are supposed to be serving someone from Damonen. Their leader would have to be just that. That, or the hybrid demon we're supposed to be searching for. Whoever it is, the biggest question is what he would gain from kidnapping you."

Misaki sat there, silent, when he remembered something. "I remember hearing a voice talking to me while I was trapped like that. I heard something about having Damonen fall in Erden's hand, thinking that it was them that took me."

"A full out war," The man put both the sword and the cloth away and stood up, facing the princess. "Damonen and Erden would be forced to fight each other. Did you get a reason why?"

"Something about avenging the people of Erden that had died," His eyes widened. "What happened 10 years ago! When demons attacked our people!"

"So the perpetrator is someone from Erden who hasn't gotten over the event."

"That's impossible!" Misaki lowered his head. "His voice. I admit that there was a little familiarity but… it was hard to tell. His voice was… hissing… like some sort of snake."

"The hybrid demon," the man began pacing, "That woman, Kaoruko, figured the hybrid demon had to be from someone born in Erden. The final question is who. Unfortunately, we're not going to find out here. We'll have to wait for Akihiko and the others to return before finding out all the answers. If any demons come our way, I'll handle them."

Misaki turned back to the side of the stone table he was sitting on so the bottoms of his feet touched the cold stone and held his legs close to him. "I hope nothing bad has happened to them. It's because of me they had to go find that monster after all."

The man just laughed, walking over to the princess, placing his hand on his shoulder and giving a kind, reassuring smile. "I wouldn't worry if I were you," he replied, "It's them we're talking about. That woman, Kaoruko, is a Damonen Knight. This type of thing is usually what she deals with. Then you have Hiroki, who is too hot headed and full of too much pride to let anyone kill him. And finally you have Akihiko; that son of a bitch was able to fall off a really high cliff and miraculously survive."

The chocolate haired boy's eyes began to smile themselves. "That was when he and I met. I healed his wounds. I found him completely injured and with memory loss. But all that got better and he remembered again."

"That's right!" the man removed his hand from the boy's shoulder, "That was how the two of you first met. Even since, Akihiko wouldn't stop talking about you. The fact that he would go through all this, fighting an enemy believed invincible as risking his own life, means he must truly love you."

Misaki brought his hand to his chest, feeling the deep thumping of his heart. "He… really do love me, does he? Enough to… risk his life." He lowered his head, appearing as if he was trying to forget something.

The man sat back down. "It's truly wonderful to love someone and to be loved," he sighed, "It is even believed in Stahlern that love is stronger than any steel and is the only thing that can pierce through someone's heart like a sword or an arrow."

The princess looked back up at him. "Did you have anyone like that, Mr…"

The older man laughed. "I'm sorry. I haven't introduced myself. I am Miyagi, a weapon's master and blacksmith of Stahlern. Yes, you could say that I loved once," His face fell and a frown showed on his face. "But that was a long time ago."

Misaki lowered his head again, this time apologetically. "I'm… sorry if-!"

"No," Miyagi replied, "It's all in the past. I try not to let it get to me."

The princess opened his mouth to continue when growls and hisses and interrupted him. They looked around to see reptile demons, preparing to attack. Miyagi pulled out a bow and arrow and held it steady.

"Stay close to me, Princess," Miyagi called out, "I'll keep you safe. After all, you want to see that Akihiko is safe, right?"

It was true. Misaki couldn't help but want to see Akihiko, to know that he was alright. But he couldn't bear for anyone to risk their lives in order to protect him. Remembering that was not really unarmed, he pulled out his choice of weapon, his dual wielding fans. "You don't have to worry. I'm not so weak as to need to be completely protected."

This was it; both Miyagi and Misaki versus a whole horde of demons. Miyagi started with shooting arrows at the demons he saw in the distance, but quickly switched to his sword the moment any got close to him. As for Misaki, he used the fans to push away anyone that came at him, though did do some damage. However, the most effective attacks he could do used magic. It used up a lot of his energy though.

When it seemed Misaki couldn't fight as well anymore, it was mainly up to Miyagi to protect the both of them. But no matter how well the older man fought, the demons kept on coming. Miyagi was knocked down by the demons the moment they overpowered him. Unless something good came their way, they would be done for.

But then, something was heard and all the demons retreated. Misaki and Miyagi looked in the direction of the sound. Was it Akihiko and the others? No, only one pair of footsteps came their way. A singular shadow was seen against the wall. Miyagi held out his sword again just in case while Misaki stared at it in awe. That shadow looked a bit familiar. He couldn't remember where but he remembered seeing it. And then, the owner of the shadow was revealed.

"Princess Misaki! You're alright!"

Misaki's eyes widened. "Sumi?" he asked as said soldier came running over to him, "How did you find me?"

"I noticed this hole that led down here," he replied, "His Majesty is frightened of what may have happened to you. But don't worry; once we take you back to him, everything will be fine." He grabbed Misaki's wrist and was about to pull the princess through one of the tunnels when the latter pulled away.

"I can't go back to my brother just yet," said Misaki, "Not until I know that Usagi is alright."

Sumi stared at the princess with a raised eyebrow. "Usagi? You mean the traitor?"

Misaki glared at him. "He's not a traitor! He was the one who defeated the creature that put me in a deep sleep. I would still be in that state if not for him."

"Princess, how do you know he was the one that defeated the creature? It could've been someone else."

"No one else would be able to," Miyagi butted in.

But Sumi just laughed. "I'm sorry, but I know full well that Damonen took Princess Misaki and hid him here as to confuse Erden. I was there when His Majesty King Takahiro saw Prince Akihiko kidnap Princess Misaki."

Misaki walked over to Sumi and placed his hands on the taller man's shoulders. "Listen to me, Sumi! Usagi is not helping Damonen. He's fighting for his freedom from Damonen. Besides, I wasn't taken by Usagi; I was taken by demons."

"Doesn't it still prove that Damonen would be held responsible for taking you?"

It was Miyagi's turn. "Damonen is trying to clear their name. The one responsible is something called a 'hybrid demon'. Once we find the hybrid demon-!"

"What the hell?" Sumi snapped, "What's a hybrid demon?" He grabbed Misaki's wrist again. "Let's go, Princess! We need to get you back to your brother before we continue anymore of this nonsense!" Misaki kept trying to get Sumi to let go by trying to pull out and asking for him to let go but it wouldn't seem the soldier was going to let him go.

"Misaki!" A familiar voice called out. Everyone turned their heads to see who finally showed up. Misaki looked like he was about to cry in happiness.

"Usagi," he replied breathlessly.

Indeed, standing there was Akihiko with Hiroki and Kaoruko standing behind him. Sumi glared at the silver haired man and let Misaki go before pulling out his dual axes, preparing for a fight. Akihiko walked over with his hands in the defensive position. Misaki tried to stop him.

"Sumi, no!" he cried while holding on to him, "Usagi is not the enemy! Please, you have to listen to me! Don't hurt him!"

But the soldier didn't seem to want to listen. He pushed Misaki aside, who was lucky to be caught by Miyagi before hitting the ground, and began walking towards Akihiko.

"It's true, Sumi," Akihiko replied, "The one responsible is the hybrid demon. Once it's dealt with-!"

"Again with the 'hybrid demon'," Sumi groaned, "Enough of that! I will deal with you and then I will take the princess somewhere he will be safe!"

Sumi striked at Akihiko, who dodged the attack. Another strike, another dodge. Another strike, another dodge. Sumi kept attacking and Akihiko refused to let out his weapon. This was because he refused to fight someone he didn't really need to fight. Besides, it didn't seem like Misaki wanted either of them to fight. However, it didn't seem like anything Akihiko would say would change Sumi's mind. Did he really think that Akihiko truly kidnapped Misaki?

Out of the blue, something unusual happened. Suzuki, who usually doesn't appear in front of other humans other than their allies or appear when there's danger, tried attacking Sumi. Akihiko didn't know why the small bear was doing it. Sumi was a soldier of Erden; no one evil. So then why-!

Suzuki attacked Sumi by biting him on its arm. It did hurt him, but nothing greatly painful. In a rage, he growled at the bear, picked it up, and threw it against the wall. Akihiko ran to his little demon's side in worry. He held him in his arms, noticing how hurt the little bear was considering his size and how hard he was thrown by the way the latter looked up at him. It hurt him to see him like this. But why did he attack Sumi? He looked back at the Erden soldier and noticed something that he never saw coming.

Where Suzuki had bit him, a part of Sumi's arm was covered in moss green scales. There was no way a human could produce scales on their arm. Unless…!

Kaoruko wielded her katana. "No doubt about it! He is the hybrid demon!"

Pinkshuchan: Sumi is revealed as the hybrid demon. What will happen now that they know? Read and Review!