Pinkshuchan: LALIHO! It's Pinkshuchan! Here it is; the next chapter. Sorry it took so long. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Demon War

The air felt colder than it ever felt before. Maybe it was because they were in the demons' hideout for too long or because the sun was setting. Either way, the air had an unusual chill to it. With darkness fast approaching, Akihiko and the others knew they needed to reach the village as soon as possible. Even better, they needed to get there before the demons and warn everyone of what was to come to them. They just hoped they weren't too late.

They hurried as fast as they could to the village. Misaki, being born from Erden and who knew his way around, lead the way with Akihiko right behind him and everyone else not too far behind. They ran and ran, passing nothing but what appeared to be an endless row of trees. These were not endless, however, for eventually they would reach the village to try to stop the demons.

An arrow zoomed past them before they could take another step, luckily not hitting anyone. They looked in the direction the arrow came from. It came from the Erden soldiers, who began to surround the five and armed their weapons. They had already found them. Standing there alongside them was King Takahiro. Akihiko put two and two together and knew what situation they were in now. Takahiro, trying to search for the kidnapped Misaki, and Akihiko, assumed to be the kidnapper. Plus with Misaki standing beside him now made it look more obvious. It would take a lot of convincing on his end to prove he was not the kidnapper.

"Big Brother!" Misaki spoke up, "This is-!"

"Misaki! Come here!" Takahiro interrupted. Misaki wanted to say something to prove that it wasn't what Takahiro was thinking but those eyes that usually kind and gentle towards him appeared cold and yet scared for his little brother's safety. The princess, unsure of what to do, looked up at Akihiko. Could he really just leave him to be close to dead? The silver haired man looked at his beloved princess and gave him the signal to go over to his brother. The chocolate haired boy stared at him in worry, not sure if Akihiko really meant it. But then he knew what the former prince was thinking. Takahiro would only be more convinced of Akihiko as the kidnapper if they didn't give in.

They had no choice. Misaki slowly and cautiously walked over to his brother, hoping that by walking closer to him that he would cause more trouble to the man who saved him; the man who said he loved him. After taking his time, he finally reached his brother and the soldiers. They raised their guard more in case Akihiko and the others tried to do anything. Before they could think of attacking, Akihiko speaks up.

"Could you just listen to me for a second?" he asked, "Misaki was taken by demons, yes, but they were demons cut off from Damonen. They are on the loose and they are heading to the village as we speak."

"And just how do you expect us to believe you when you were caught twice with Misaki in your grasp?" Takahiro replied back, "Isn't this more proof that you really are responsible for my brother's kidnapping?"

Misaki just stood there with his head down. He didn't know what to do. What was happening was something that would affect lives of both Akihiko and the village. This would mean talking back to his brother; the very person who raised him after their parents' death. He began to realize what he was thinking? Was he willing to let others die because he was too cowardly to talk back to his brother? He had to speak up, for the people of Erden and for Akihiko.

"Big Brother," his voice let out, "If you would just-!"

"Be quiet, Misaki," Takahiro snapped back, "It's best for you to stay out of this."

And within a second, something within the princess snapped. "No, I will not be quiet!" The king stared at his little brother in shock but listened as Misaki continued. "Usagi was not the one who took me! He was the one who saved me! And right now, he's trying to save everyone in Erden. He is not like the Damonen Knight who tried creating homicide on our people. I was there to see everything that happened and I know what I saw. His words are true; there are wild demons heading to the village, and if we don't get there soon, we'll have a repeat of ten years ago!" Seeing the look on his older brother's face, Misaki resulted back in his meek state and lowered his head. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't…"

During that small time, Takahiro remained quiet and took in all his little brother said. Never had Misaki ever properly spoke up to him like this. Not since ten years ago. He walked up to the princess and placed his hands on the younger's slender shoulders.

"Misaki," Takahiro finally spoke out; his voice back to its usual calm demeanour, "Your words are true? It's been so long. You… will stand up for someone who I saw kidnap you?"

The princess looked up at him. "He never did kidnap me, Big Brother. He has been nothing but kind to me since we met. And… I know… just by being beside him or just by looking at him… that I can trust him."

Takahiro looked into Misaki's eyes. With every word he spoke, emerald eyes would sparkle with radiance. He had seen that look before; it was the look of…

He pulled back and looked over to Akihiko and the rest of the soldiers. He thought about it briefly before something happened. The ground vibrated below them, stones shifting around. A large rumble could be heard heading towards them. They looked in the direction of the rumble and saw what it was.

The demons were heading in their direction. It was a surprise that they hadn't already reached the village. Kaoruko smirked at something. Akihiko took a closer look and realized what it was. As the demons were running, it appeared that something was after them. They were chased by another group of demons of a different variety. He recognized those demons all too well and knew who they belonged to.

"It seems Brother Haruhiko was prepared for something like this to happen," Kaoruko replied, "He may have slowed them down but they're still heading this way."

Akihiko pulled out his staff. "Then we'll have to take care of the rest."

The rest of Akihiko's companions wielded their weapons and followed Akihiko into the battle. The soldiers looked over at their kings, waiting for a command. Takahiro wasted no time. If those demons really were planning to attack their village, he couldn't let it happen. He gave the command to join the others against the demons. As for the king himself, he and a few soldiers, including Todo, stayed behind with Misaki to keep the latter safe.

The fight went on until one side appeared superior. There were a few injuries but Erden's soldiers were able to succeed with the help of Akihiko and the others. They thought that they have fixed the problem for good until they saw smoke coming from the direction of the village. It couldn't mean…!

"I should've known!" Kaoruko gasped, "There were a lot more demons from what I remembered in the lair." They didn't want to waste any time and hurried to the village.

They reached the village seeing the people fleeing and the entire village being engulfed in flames. Once the people saw the Erden soldiers, they ran over to them, hoping for protection. There were cries about demons attacking the village and that some people were still trapped inside. Takahiro froze in fear in hearing that Manami was one of them trapped. Nothing more needed to be said before Akihiko declared that he was going to go in there to help everyone still in the village. Misaki tried to go with him, but Akihiko refused to let the princess get hurt. He told the chocolate haired boy to stay behind and take care of the people with the others before running head on into the burning village with Hiroki, Miyagi, and Kaoruko following behind him.

The moment they got into the village, the green of the plants and trees were replaced with a bright red from the flames. Branches from the houses made of trees would occasionally fall from the destruction the flames made. Miyagi gave the idea for them to split up in order to cover more ground and find people quicker. Hopefully they reach these people before having their lives taken by the flames consuming the village or the demons which may have caused the fire. As decided, they split up in their own direction. Akihiko headed to where the rock castle was. There demons that tried to block his path, but he was able to get past them with little to no injuries.

After quite a distance in some time, he finally reached the rock castle to see Manami trying to escape from what looked like a crocodile type demon. He attacked the demon, putting it out of the offensive, and called on the queen to run. She did not hesitate and ran as fast as she could to escape the village.

A battle began between Akihiko and the crocodile type demon. The demon made the first move and Akihiko blocked it. A back and forth between the silver haired man and the demon began to take place. The demon was able to take physical attacks while barely feeling anything but it was an entire different story with Akihiko using his lightning bolts. Akihiko on the other hand did well to avoid the demon's attacks as his speed was faster. While he would still get hit by the occasional attack, it wasn't too bad. But he noticed that the tables were going to turn by one attack it was able to do.

Back outside the village, Misaki watched as Hiroki, Miyagi, and Kaoruko returned with a few survivors. Some were injured while other were just terrified from what happened. A few lives were taken, but the majority of the village was okay. Takahiro cried with joy when she saw Manami appear. He ran over to her and held her in his arms, never planning to let her go. But one thing worried Misaki.

Where was Akihiko?

Manami explained that Akihiko appeared and was able to distract the demon while she made her escape. There was only one thing though about the demon; it was the demon that started all the fires in the village. If Akihiko was not careful, it was most likely that he was going to die.

Before another word about the matter could be said, Miyagi noticed something and shouted. Everyone turned to see Misaki running into the village, most likely to go help Akihiko. They were about to go stop him until they saw another twist happening. Another horde of demons was heading their way. The soldiers would have to take care of them, so they couldn't do anything to stop Misaki. Hiroki, who like Misaki was deeply worried about Akihiko, agreed to follow the princess in and go help save Akihiko. With no more words, he too ran into the burning village.

Akihiko was brought down to his knees. He never expected the crocodile to be able to spit out fireballs at such a rapid pace, giving the silver haired man no chance to dodge them and only knocks him down if he tries to guard. He looked up at the demon to notice something happening. It took one deep breath, flames slipping out from time to time, for one great attack. Akihiko was too weak to get up and he couldn't even properly lift his staff. He only closed his eyes, hoping that even if he were to die that the others were saved. The crocodile let out a blow and a stream of fire came right towards the silver haired man.

But there was no pain or complete darkness. He opened his eyes to see what had happened only for a bright pink light to blind him. He was able to open his eyes again when he noticed the light dimmed a bit, revealing that he was in some sort of flower bud shaped barrier. He looked over at what caused the barrier and after the barrier was completely gone along with the river of flames from the demon, he used all his strength that was replenished to catch Misaki in his arms. He didn't think the princess would come to his aid and protect him using a barrier. Not to mention the barrier had weakened the princess quite a bit to knock him off his feet.

Misaki looked up at him and gave a small smile. "I'm okay," he assured the silver haired man, "It's just very rare for me to use that skill so it takes a lot out of me. Not enough to not be able to heal you." To prove it, he raised his hand close to Akihiko's chest and the bright light returned on his hand to heal the wounds made by the demon. Akihiko felt refreshed, but he wasn't sure about what to do with Misaki and with the demon close by.

He then realized. Why didn't the demon try to attack them while they were both down? They were perfectly open for any attack. He heard roars from where the demon was and saw the demon fighting with Hiroki. Akihiko began to worry for his friend.

"Hiroki! It's not safe!" he cried.

But Hiroki wasn't going to listen. He was determined to defeat the demon. The demon spit out fireballs but Hiroki was able to catch them in his hands, considering how his own hands were able to summon fireballs. Once he caught the fireballs, he threw them back at the crocodile demon. Because the demon was more strength than speed, all the fireballs were able to hit him. One of them hit it in the eye. It roared in pain; feeling the flame burn through the eye, melting it. With its defence down, Hiroki looked over at Akihiko, as if he was signalling him to finish it off. With one arm still holding Misaki close to him, Akihiko used his other hand to aim one last lightning bolt at the demon and strike it down. It roared before fading into dark mist, same as other demons.

It was defeated.

They hurried back to the others. Hiroki used his immunity of fire to look for safe pathways back while Akihiko carried Misaki bridal style, despite the younger's protests. With this effort, they finally made it back to be greeted with joyful and relieved faces. Akihiko put Misaki down just as the princess was scooped up in his older brother's arms and held in a deep embrace. The chocolate haired boy assured him that he didn't need to worry; that he was perfectly fine.

But then there was the matter of the demons that were still in there and the ones still coming their way. It was something to worry about until another bunch of demons appeared; Haruhiko's demons. A war between the rouge demons and the royal demons began, filled with bloodshed and fear, underneath the blood red sky and within the hellish flames. Many of the Erden civilians, including Misaki, were petrified in fear of the sight before them. At the same time, they could not take their eyes away, in case the rouge demons won and planned to come after them. Some people, especially Misaki, were reminded of the war from ten years ago from the sight.

Akihiko noticed Misaki's body tremble to the sight. He cautiously wrapped his arms around the small figure in a way of comfort. It caught him off guard when the princess returned the embrace and held onto him tightly as if he would fall if his grasp was looser, hiding his face in the older man's chest.

The battle went on and both sides kept losing some demons from their forces. In the end though, Haruhiko's demons won and the enemy demons were wiped from Erden. As well, rain hit Erden and eliminated all the flames. The people were safe although left homeless. It would take time before they could regain what was lost. A few grieved with the people that were killed because of the demons, but even so there was enough people that survived to continue Erden. The people rejoiced at that fact.

And then there was Hiroki. It was not that he wasn't happy for the people of Erden, but rather that he was a little envious. The demons attacked them twice and yet despite the lives that were taken, there were still enough to continue on and build Erden again. He looked down at his hand, remembering everything that had been done to him and his village; the fact that they were treated as test subjects to figure out how to create an artificial hybrid demon. Now, he was the only citizen of Feuern left.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Miyagi standing there. The raven haired man asked f he was okay. The half demon forced the hand off his shoulder and explained coldly that he was before storming away. Miyagi could tell by his attitude that that was not the case. However, knowing how angry the cinnamon haired man can get when provoked, he decided not to push any farther on the subject and hoped that he'd calm down eventually.

Suddenly, they heard rustling from some bushes. Those experienced with a weapon held their guard in case anything came at them. Whatever it was in the bushes came closer and closer. When it finally came out, Akihiko and his companions recognized who it was.

It was Sumi. He appeared to be out of breath considering he may have run quite a distance to get to the village ruins and happened to still be in his demon form. But before anyone could point it out to him, he gave a sigh of relief.

He told everyone the truth, knowing he'd have to come clean. He explained everything; his plan, the fact that kidnapped Misaki, and because of him that the demons were furious enough to force their anger against him on Erden. He even explained the cause of how he became a hybrid demon; demons gave him blood to keep him alive when he was close to death during the attack ten years ago. He expected the people to be furious with him as much as the demons were. It completely shocked him when King Takahiro walked over to him and placed his hand on the hybrid demon's shoulder.

"What you had done had almost placed all the people of Erden in danger," he spoke up, "You kidnapped Misaki just to see Erden and Damonen commit not a righteous for either continent, but meaningless bloodshed that should not be executed. While I can understand why you would want to do this, this doesn't make it right."

Sumi only laughed like an insane person would. "Why?" he asked, "Most of our loved ones were killed by these demons controlled by Damonen. The ones that served me were free from that control. With the power of the demons and the strength of Erden, we could avenge our loved ones' deaths."

Takahiro glared at him. "But if we did that, we would be no different. The reason of Erden's existence was to be peaceful with everyone and everything around us, fighting only when the peace is broken. Our way of fighting should be to protect those we love, not to use for vengeance. I too was in pain after the death of my parents and many others' loved ones. But I always remembered what my parents told me while growing up; something I will keep with me until the day I die. 'A tree that survives a fire or a slaughter does not become poisoned with hate; it lives on, rebuilds a forest, and keeps on going'.

"Just like that tree, I will not let hatred consume me. I will keep life going in Erden. Not just my life, but the lives of my wife, my little brother, and the people of Erden. The trees destroyed would not want the survivors to grieve them."

The king's words touched the hearts of the people. Everything he said was true of how more bloodshed would only taint the paradise they called their home. Even Akihiko, Miyagi, and surprisingly Hiroki could feel the passion in his words of strength. Hiroki lowered his head. Could he really live on knowing that the people he loved were taken from him? He shook his head. He wasn't alone. He had Akihiko and Miyagi with him.

Sumi only shook his head. "Peace will only get you so far. Strong men go after the weak."

"There is a difference of what it means to be strong and what it means to be reckless," Takahiro lent his hand to Sumi. "You are a citizen of Erden. You were born this way and always will be. And nothing that has been done to you can change that. As long as you are a citizen, you are always welcome here."

The hybrid demon was silent. He didn't know how to counter the king's words. He always assumed that King Takahiro would appear weak as he would never dare fight for those that needed to be avenged. But he was wrong. The reason why he would never attack Damonen, even after the deaths of many people he loved, was because he needed to protect the people he loved that were still alive. That indeed proved him strong in spirit. But Sumi only thought of him as foolish.

He took Takahiro's hand and stood up. When the king lowered his guard, the hybrid demon was ready to strike. He was unable to do so however when something was dropped on the both of them. It appeared as some sort of net. Both Sumi and Takahiro tried to break out but it was no use on their own. Misaki cried in fear as he ran over to aid his brother. He pulled out his fans and also tried to cut the net. The net was impenetrable. Whether on the inside or the outside, it would not break. Akihiko was on his way to assist in any way possible when something caught his eye.

A medium sized phoenix like demon appeared within the dark grey sky. It was amazing how its feathers made of flames would not dim or go out from the drops of the rain. It gave a cry before swooping down on them. Akihiko grabbed Misaki to pull him out of the phoenix's way. When they raised their heads, the princess cried as he watched the phoenix carry away the net that held his brother. The rest of the people began to panic for their king that was taken away from them. Manami had to try to calm everyone down, telling everyone that Takahiro would return. Sadly, she herself didn't seem to be sure and also showed worry on her face.

Akihiko wanted to hold Misaki in his arms to comfort him. But he knew that wasn't what he needed at the moment. There were questions that needed answering. The silver haired man stormed over to Kaoruko, who he knew had an idea of what was going on and demanded an explanation.

"That net is a trap created in Damonen to catch any hybrid demons we find," she explained, appearing monotonous with everything that happened, "It was created to be indestructible and will not let loose until released within quarters of Damonen's palace. It was by mistake that it took Erden's king."

This did not please Akihiko. "Tell Haruhiko to send King Takahiro back to Erden this instant!"

Kaoruko glared back at him. "You don't have the authority to order me around, traitorous prince! Besides, even if you did there is no way to contact Brother Haruhiko. Whether anything needs to be discussed from two different parts of Elementar, it can only be activated on his side."

"Even so, he needs to be returned to Erden."

The Damonen Knight just brushed him off and began to walk away. "Unfortunately, it is of no concern to me unless I'm given the order to do so. The hybrid demon is being taken back to Damonen as we speak and yet failed to eliminate you. As far as I'm concerned, anything involving you will be the job for the next Damonen Knights and Brother Haruhiko has no order to bring back King Takahiro."

She said no more words and was gone before anyone could stop her. The rest of the day, Erden was in grief. With all of their homes burned down, they all had to reside in the rock castle, which was still in tact despite the flames that consumed the entire village. With it getting so dark, Manami offered Akihiko, Hiroki, and Miyagi a place to stay until dawn. Despite Hiroki's protests, explaining that they still had things to do, they accepted the offer. Manami smiled and showed them where they could rest.

As they walked around the castle, Akihiko realized something. "Where is Misaki?"

"He went off somewhere to calm himself down," Manami explained, "Don't be so worried! I had Todo accompany him." This made Akihiko feel better but he still couldn't help but worry. He knew that this impacted the princess more than it did for the rest of Erden and he was not sure how he was taking it.

Quite a distance from the village but not too far, Misaki sat on a rock with his head down, feeling the pain of losing his brother, the only family he had left. Todo, although standing there, kept his distance. He knew that the princess wasn't in a good mood for anyone to be close to him at this moment. He hoped though that the princess would still talk.

"Princess?" he spoke up.

Misaki did not move. It was as if his grief had turned him into a motionless statue, forever showing hurt and pain. His voice, however, didn't show it. "Todo, if possible I just want to be left alone. I'll be fine. I just…"

He couldn't continue. The rest was just too painful to say. But Todo only gave a melancholy smile. He bowed. "Yes, my princess!" He walked away, hoping that he was doing the right thing.

When he felt Todo's presence go, Misaki raised his head and looked properly at all the damage that had been done. The rain continued to pour despite the flames had already vanished. But the damage was still visible, from the skeleton trees it left to the ashes that got mixed in with the dirt. A little farther away from the village, he could see that there was still a lot of green in Erden. But the green around the village had turned into a dark and dreary graveyard.

The chocolate haired boy's heart began to feel heavy for the damage; for the village almost getting destroyed and for the kidnapping of his brother. His eyes blurred as tears began welling up and falling down his cheeks along with raindrops. He brought his hands up and covered his face in guilt.

"It's all my fault," he sobbed quietly as the rain kept falling down and darkness took over.

Pinkshuchan: Yes, we leave it on a sad note. It was a really long chapter although hopefully the next chapters won't be as long. What will happen now? Read and Review!