Chapter 12

An Unlikely Ally

"D-Dia Jaganshi?!" Derek stuttered out, partly because of sheer shock, and also due to the fact that he was half dead, "But…but how?! We all thought you were dead!!"

Dia smirked and walked over to Derek, "You are in no shape to be calling anyone dead, Maison." The demon replied, grabbing Derek roughly by the arm and swinging it over his shoulder.

"Wait…what? Dammit, Dia, you're not making sense!!" Derek shouted.

Dia glared over at his rival. "Will you shut it? Don't make me regret saving you from killing yourself…where's your friend Kartana? I assume he is around here half dead as well?"

Derek was about to yell again when he suddenly did remember Corey. "Shit!"

Derek released himself from Dia's "support," and started to hobble over to the top of the stairway, where Corey was still lying barely alive.

"Corey!" Derek cried out, seeing his friend in even worse condition then what he was in before.

"It doesn't look like he'll make it…" Dia commented, coming up the stairs after Derek.

"Shut up!!" Derek yelled, kneeling over to his friend and trying to pick him up, but found that he was in no condition to do so, "Dammit!"

Dia sighed and pushed Derek out of the way, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Move…" Dia grumbled, lifting up the young warrior and swinging him over his shoulder. The rough move caused Corey to start to cough up blood.

"Dia!! He's injured, for Christ's sake!" Derek yelled, slowly picking himself up.

"Will you just shut up for once in your life!" Dia retorted, "This is the quickest way to get him to your medical unit!"

Derek blinked, and then thought of something. "Dia! What's going on outside?"

A small smirk came across Dia's lips, "You're so-called 'army' won the day, Maison. Surprised me, that's for sure. I figured I'd have to come in and stop Darkine's troops myself."

A sigh of relief came out of Derek's mouth, who propped himself against a wall. Dia scratched the back of his head and jumped down off of the second floor and began to walk out.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Derek asked, clearly worried about his best friend.

"I'll tell your troops to come get you…I think Kartana here is in worse shape then you. Go figure…he is a human, after all." And he walked through the already opened gate.

Not a minute later, Derek saw the Rebel Army soldiers coming running in, spotting their general.

"General Maison! Are you alright?"

"Secure the area! I want troops to search the entire castle and find Prince Koenma and the demon-fox Kurama!"

"Once the area is secure bring General Kartana and General Maison back in!"

"Move troops!"

All around him, Derek could see and hear the surviving rebel warriors run about, getting everything under control. The general began to ponder on how many of the troops actually survived. Would it be enough to attack Darkine's stronghold? How many more of his friends would have to die to beat the evil being? Was Corey okay? What the hell was Dia doing here?

With those thoughts in his mind, Derek began to slowly fade into unconsciousness against the wall, glad for one thing that had happened today…

They were one step closer to victory.

*****

Derek felt his body and mind slowly awaken. The first thing he noticed was how much pain he was in. Clearly it hadn't been that long since he had been out.

The second thing he noticed was his location: a place that he hadn't been in over fifteen years. The Spirit World infirmary.

"Wha-?" Derek asked aloud, forcing himself to sit up. He looked over at the bed next to him to see Corey, still unconscious and looking pretty beat up. Half his body was covered in braces and wrappings.

I hope he's okay… Derek thought to himself. He then took the time to examine his own body.

He was only wearing a pair of blue trousers, obviously given to him by Spirit World's doctors.

So…it wasn't just a dream… Derek thought to himself.

At that moment, Derek heard the door to the room open, and Liz walk in. She smiled with relief as soon as she noticed Derek up.

"Derek! You're alright!" She exclaimed, walking over to his bed.

"Yeah…" Derek nodded, still a little unsure himself, "Are you alright? I heard you took on a Captain by yourself."

Liz nodded. "Yes…a little tired still, but I'll be fine."

Derek smiled and glanced over at Corey, then back at her, "How long has it been?"

"Three days." Liz replied, "Everything's really chaotic right now. We found Koenma and Kurama half starved in the Spirit World prison, and well…" She looked away for a moment.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"King Yama is dead."

"Say what?!"

King Yama, Koenma's father and ruler of all the worlds. Usually, Koenma did most of his work, but he had been a great ruler nonetheless…or so Derek had heard. He was mostly a side party, only stepping in when absolutely necessary.

"How is Koenma taking it?" Derek asked.

"Fine, I suppose." Liz said, "He has a lot of things going on right now, like trying to re-establish order around here. Kurama's helping him, of course."

Derek nodded. "That's good. I'm glad they're both alright." He glanced back over at Corey once again, who was still asleep.

Liz caught onto his worry and smiled, "The doctors say he'll be fine. Just needs a lot of rest." She paused for a moment, "What happened in there, Derek? Corey was half crushed and your entire body looked like it had been ripped up."

Derek sighed and then proceeded to tell her about the entire battle, and what surprise occurred at the end.

Liz nodded slowly. "I see…wow. I still can't believe Dia Jaganshi is alive."

"Shocked me, too…" Derek agreed, "But why now? Why would he make an appearance now of all times?"

"I don't know." Liz admitted, "He hasn't spoken with anyone, that's for sure."

"You mean he's here?"

"Yes." Liz answered, "But he isn't in the palace. He's outside, near where we camped out before we attacked. He said he wanted to talk to you once, err…once you were better."

Derek gave a shallow smile. "Why do I doubt those were his exact words…"

The older general laid back in his bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking. What could Dia want with him? And a better question: how was he able to suppress the Black Dragon Armor?

"Hey, Liz?" Derek spoke up, but didn't look at her, "Is Kurama able to come visit me? I'd like to speak with him."

"He's in a meeting right now with some of our Lieutenants and Koenma, but I'm sure he'd love to see you once that's done. He's been down here a couple times already, worried about both you and Corey."

Derek nodded. "Alright. Thanks, Liz. I think I'm going to sleep a little more now."

"Okay. Good night." And she left the room, leaving Derek basically alone.

Dia…what have you discovered?

*****

A couple of hours later, Kurama emerged into the hospital wing, smiling at Derek.

He hadn't changed much, with the excepting that he looked a lot thinner than he had ten years ago. He wore his usual robes, and his long red hair was even longer than he remembered.

"Derek…it's good to see you conscience." Kurama said, taking a seat next to Derek's bed.

Derek smirked. "It's good to see you at all, Kurama. It's been over ten years."

"Indeed." Kurama glanced over at the still sleeping Corey, "Has he woken up at all?"

Derek shook his head. "No…but he took a pretty savage beating from Stephen."

Kurama nodded. "Yes. I, too, fought that beast…but I'm afraid I didn't have the power to beat him. Darkine must have been very worried about keeping Spirit World under his control to allow that creature to remain here."

"Yeah. Listen, Kurama, you've heard that Dia is here, right?" Derek asked.

The spirit fox nodded. "Yes. I must say, it's quite the turn of events…we knew that he wasn't dead…otherwise he would have gone to Spirit World--"

"Spirit World!! Spirit World is open again, right?!" Derek quickly exclaimed, cutting off whatever it was Kurama was about to say.

"Yes, Derek…Spirit World is open again." Kurama replied, smiling lightly, "But it will take some time for the spirits of those who have been lost in this world to find there way here."

Derek blinked a few times and turned away from Kurama, "I see…"

Secretly, tears of joy were streaming down Derek's eyes, but he did not want Kurama to see, even if he had guessed already. Jade. Jade could finally come to Spirit World and rest in peace, as well as John.

Finally, they had done some good for the world.

"Stop crying, will ya…?" Came a voice from the bed next to Derek.

Both Derek and Kurama looked over to see a barely conscious Corey, grinning weakly over at his two friends.

"Corey!" The two demons exclaimed.

"Yeah…that's me…" Corey grumbled, very slowly sitting up in the hospital bed, "So…what have I missed? I guess we won, eh?"

Derek once again retold the tale of their battle, starting at the point where Corey had lost consciousness.

"Dia Jaganshi?! There's a shocker…" Corey said, just as bewildered as Derek had been.

"Yeah…I don't know what he wants, though. I was going to go see him tomorrow, once I've recovered a bit more." Derek said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wish I could join you…" Corey said quietly, "But I doubt I'll be out of this bed anytime soon…"

Kurama smiled at the young man. "Now that you're awake, we'll be able to heal you with spiritual power. You should be up and going in a couple of days."

Corey nodded. "That's good…I couldn't stand sitting around for a few weeks…I've been doing that way to often."

The three laughed a bit, but then business came up.

"Kurama…" Derek began, "Will Spirit World be able to figure out where Darkine's Keep is?"

Kurama nodded, smirking. "Of course. I assumed that was part of your plan to begin with. We should be able to, but it will take at least three weeks to get everything situated…then anywhere between a day to a week to actually find Darkine."

"So…we have at the latest a month to prepare for the attack…" Corey said, frowning a bit.

"What's the matter, Corey?" Derek asked, glancing over at his friend.

"To be honest, Derek…I don't think we'll be able to defeat Darkine like we are." Corey admitted, "We both basically got our asses handed to us in that fight with Stephen, and he was only the second strongest in Darkine's forces!"

Derek frowned as well. "That is a good point…damn!"

The two friends thought on what to do until Kurama interrupted,

"Why don't we hold off on thinking about that until Derek has his meeting with Dia and when Corey recovers. Don't forget…you both did fight a Captain before you went up against Stephen."

"That's true, but still…" Corey said. Neither him or Derek were convinced. They both did need to get stronger.

"Anyway…I do agree with Kurama about waiting to worry about this until after we've recovered." Derek said nodding a bit, "Let's rest up for a little while longer, alright Corey?"

Corey nodded as well. "Okay. I could use a bit more shut eye…" The young man slouched back into a laying position and instantly fell back asleep.

Kurama chuckled. "It's so weird…seeing him back."

"I know…at least he's aged a bit for you. I saw him just like he was when he first disappeared!" Derek laughed.

It felt just like the first time Corey and Derek went to Spirit World. It was nostalgic for the older general. Of course, back then, they were laying in bed after having saved the world. This time, it was only half the battle.

******

The next day, Derek could move around much better and with a quick goodbye to Corey and Liz, left Spirit World's palace to go and talk with Dia.

Nearly all of the rebel warriors were camped out on the bridge of Spirit World, respecting the laws that for the most part, living beings were not allowed through Spirit World's gates. Koenma did make an exception for the injured and the generals to come up with plans for their future attack on Darkine.

Derek gave a few nods as he walked by, answering questions that came his way, until finally he got passed the rebel camp. A more miles and he reached Dia's own camp. The demon was sitting next to a fire, his katana laying next to him.

"So…you came." Dia said as Derek approached.

"Yeah…I heard you wanted to speak with me." Derek replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I did." Dia stood up and looked over Derek, "So it seems you have learned to use the Black Dragon to some degree."

Derek flinched a bit. "I guess you could say that…why do you bring it up?"

"I figure it would be obvious." Dia said, folding his arms across his chest, "You can't control the dragon once you've used the full power of the Black Dragon Armor."

Derek stared at him for a few moments. The way he said that, it made him think…

"Are you saying that you know how to control the dragon?"

Dia chuckled. "You might say that."

There was a moment of silence between the two rivals. Did this mean that Dia was more powerful than Derek was now? He hated to admitted, but it made sense. In these past years, Derek had been trying to balance running an army, a family, and his own training, where Dia only had to worry about training.

"Dia…how did you survive fighting Darkine?" Derek finally asked, changing the subject for a moment.

Dia grit his teeth. "That bastard…that bastard let me live. He claimed that I wasn't worth his time. I didn't even get a hit off of him, but he beat me…and left me for dead."

Dia's fists clenched, "That was his mistake, Maison. I laid in a pool of my own blood for two days, thinking about the last thing he said to me. 'You lost because of two reasons: One, you're weak. Two, you do not know humility. You're not even close to the warrior your father was.'"

Dia went quiet, just staring into his fire, with Derek watching him.

"…and then what?" Derek finally asked.

Dia looked up at him. "After the third day, I could finally move again, and I realized something…he was right. I was weak. That was my second loss, Maison…the first being against you in the Demon Realm Tournament…so I left that place, healed myself, and then trained. I trained until I couldn't move anymore. Slowly, I gained more and more power from the Black Dragon, as I'm sure you had, and nearly lost my sanity because of it. There was only one way to control the dragon…" He paused.

Derek waited impatiently for the answer, "And what is it?"

Dia looked up at Derek and grinned. "You have to face the Black Dragon."

Derek stared at his rival for a long time, letting the news he had just heard sink in.

Face the dragon? But how? The Black Dragon resides in the deepest pits of the Demon World, in regions that no demon has actually gone too…

"Dia? Have…have you actually faced Black Dragon?" Derek finally asked.

"Yes I have…"

Another pause.

"What happened?" Derek asked, giving Dia his complete attention.

Dia sighed and stirred his fire with a wave of his hand, "I failed."

Derek blinked a few times. "You failed?"

Dia glared at him. "That's what I said, isn't it? I could not control the dragon to it's absolute potential. It…overpowered me…"

Derek stared at his rival for a few more moments, and then asked the next question that came to mind.

"What happened after that?"

"I lost the power of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame…"

"What?!"

Dia glared at Derek and slammed his fist into the ground. The sheer power of it caused the earth beneath them to quake and make a crater.

"I said I lost the power of the Black Dragon!!" Dia roared, "I can no longer wield that power anymore!"

Dia ripped off the white bandages that were around his right arm, and sure enough the black dragon tattoo was no longer there.

It took a moment, but Dia calmed down and continued his explanation. "That was two years ago. Since then, I've been honing my fire techniques and my mother's ability to cut dimensional time riffs…so do not think you are better than me, Maison, or I will kill you."

"I never thought that, Dia." Derek said, trying to remain calm himself. The old attitude of his rival was bringing up his own rage against the demon, but he subdued it.

"So…now I'm here. I waited for you and your little army to attack Spirit World." Dia scoffed, "Shit. I didn't think you'd ever get around to doing it…but then again, you weren't of you right mind awhile ago, were you not?"

The chilling memory of Derek's darker side flooded his mind, "Yes. I lost control of myself when my wife was murdered. I have to live with that. Now. Besides mocking me and my army, why have you come here?"

Dia looked up and began gazing at the sky. "Maison…there needs to be a wielder of the Black Dragon. I honestly believe that it will be the turning point for the final battle against Darkine. If I can't master it…" He looked back at Derek and pointed at him, "You have to do it."

Derek stared at Dia, silenced. Was he hearing what he thought he was hearing? Dia Jaganshi, his sword rival back from when they were training together, wanted Derek to best him?

Dia must have noticed Derek's confusion, and sighed quietly,

"You were my father's pupil, as well, and gained adequate control over the Black Dragon. I truly believe that I have no chance to ever wield that power again. I've come to terms with that. I have found another source of power, and I will use it to defeat Darkine…"

Derek frowned at this, but let it slide. He could understand why Dia wanted to kill Darkine so badly. The monster had killed both his mother and father.

Dia continued, "…but I suppose if you had the true power of the dragon, you will provide…decent support."

Derek couldn't help but smirk. Decent support, huh? Heh…you've changed, Dia. Fifteen years ago, you didn't want our help, and now you've come to offer it.

Dia frowned at his rival. "Are you listening, Maison?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, I am. Alright, Dia. How do I go about facing the dragon?"

Dia frowned and closed his eyes. "You will need to enter a meditated state, leaving your physical body here. That shouldn't be a problem since we are in Spirit World. Once you do that, allow your spiritual form to find the Black Dragon, and fight it."

"Fight it?"

"Yes. I warn you now, though. You won't be able to use any of the dragon's abilities once you've entered combat with it. That was my mistake when I fought him." Derek could see Dia clenching his fists,

"I had relied to heavily on the dragon's power, and when it came time to face it, I had no other attacks that would do any good." Dia frowned for a moment, then looked back at Derek, "What about you, Maison? What abilities have you acquired that don't rely completely on the Black Dragon?"

Derek had to think for a moment. What abilities had he learned? Now that he thought about it, he really didn't have that many. There was his Mortal Flame, but how much good would a fire technique do on a fire dragon?

"I…I guess I'll have to rely on my swordsmanship." Derek admitted, making Dia laugh,

"Your sword, huh? You do realize, Maison, that you only get one shot at this…and you can't bring your little human friend with you on this. This is a complete solo mission…and I warn you. If you fail, you will lose the dragon…forever."

Derek thought on this for a moment, clearly worried. The Black Dragon was his greatest asset, but to use it's full power caused him to lose his ability of reason. If he could obtain the true power of the dragon…

But is it worth the risk?

Dia watched as Derek pondered what to do next, his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, Maison? What're you going to do?"

Derek looked at him and a small smirk appeared on his lips.

"Alright, Dia…let's do it. I'll obtain the true power of the Black Dragon."