Hello everyone! Here we begin the Demon Lords arc. I can't say how long this will be, but we are still nearing the end with every chapter. Sad.

However, as a little bit of cross promotion, I've posted the first few chapters of a Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's story. If you're interested in that, feel free to check it out! If not, obviously no worries, but I figured making sure might be a good idea. Anyway!

Enjoy!

The portal lay open in front of them, everyone watching it warily. Nashi half expected something to jump out of and start attacking them.

I'd say be careful," her mother said, "but I suspect it won't matter."

"It won't," her father replied. Leaning over, he kissed her on the lips. Nashi averted her eyes, kinda grossed out by the show of affection. Like really, right in front of her? After her parents stopped grossing her out, Nashi wrapped her Mom in a hug and squeezed her tightly.

"We'll be safe," she said. "I'll come back, I promise."

"Can I hold you to that?" Her mother asked weakly. Both of them laughed pathetically, and she felt herself getting squeezed tightly. "I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. Please know that no matter what happens, I love you more than anything, okay? I've always got your back." Nashi tried not to cry as tears threatened to fall.

"Okay," she said, "I'll keep that in mind." Nashi knew they couldn't stay hugging forever, so she forced herself away from her Mom and took a step back, her eyes falling to Luke. She knelt down on his level and smiled at him as he grabbed at her.

"I'll be back soon, little man," she said. "Keep Mom safe, okay?"

"Nashi!"

"Heh, yeah. Nashi. I'll be back, I promise." With this she stood back up, and turned back towards the portal. She exchanged looks with the others, all of them looking uneasy.

"Any idea where this portal leads, Damien?" Simon asked. Damien shook his head, looking even more uneasy than everyone else.

"I don't have any idea," she said. "All Anhkseram said was it was more spiritual than here. Apparently that'll help."

"Well, let's get to it then," Ultear said. The strike team began to enter the portal, and Nashi walked closer to it as well. The closer she got, the more worried she became. She really didn't want to have to do this, but she knew she had too. There was no other way.

Entering the portal, Nashi immediately found herself in a very familiar room. The portal had led them to a square-like room, one that had symbols engraved all over the walls, floors, and ceiling. There was barely an inch of it that wasn't displaying a glyph of some sort.

"This is..." she started weakly, remembering the last time she'd been in one of these.

"It's an ancient church," Steph said from in front of her. "Like the one we fought Zoka and Ruli in!"

"What are you doing here?" Elise demanded, "you can't fight them!" Steph looked rather embarrassed by this, making a face.

"W-We aren't in the Circles, so there's no problem, right?" She asked. No one had any argument for this, which worked just fine, because the portal had closed, and the staff flew back to Damien's hand. As for Damien, he was staring up at the roof in surprise, his eyes a million miles away.

"Are you okay, big man?" Michael asked him, clapping him on the back. Damien nodded slowly.

"It's just," he said, "this is the Primaglyphic language."

"The what now?" Elise asked.

"The Primaglyphic language," Damien repeated, "it was the first language spoken by humans. It's also the language the Gods used when they still communicated with us regularly. Because I'm Anointed, I can read it." Nashi ignored the fact that Damien had called himself Anointed to focus on his other statement.

"What does it say?" She asked curiously.

"A lot of it is repeating," Damien replied, "but the basic incantation is invoking the Gods for protections against evil and for good harvests. I would imagine it's more spiritually charged here because of these incantations."

"So it's a pit stop," Simon surmised. "Can we go now, or what?"

"Well, it was part that," Damien said. He turned to face everyone, staff clanking on the ground. "Listen up, all of you. It's all up to you after this. I can't say what will happen if I open the portal to the Circles. I don't know what to expect, and I know you don't either. For all we know, we'll die once we enter."

"Great pep talk," Rina called out.

"It's the reality," Damien said. Nashi frowned at his tone. With every that they'd gone through, Damien had lost a lot of his personality. He was so reserved and frightful these days.

"I guess we're going then," Winter said. "Steph, what will you do?"

"Guard this place," she said. "If Hades and the Children of Nyx are coming, they might come here." This thought seemed to occur to everyone at the same time.

"Alone?" Orga asked her, "that's a tall order."

"One I can't do," Steph replied confidently, "but if my fight can slow them down, I'll do it."

"What if they kill you?" Sting asked, "I won't be explaining that one to Laxus."

"Steph, I'll see if I can open the portal back home," Damien said, "and you can go back through."

"No!" Steph shouted, "let me help you! I won't go back there and wait for you all to come back! Not again!" This made some of her friends shift uneasily.

"Steph-" Simon started, but he was cut off.

"No, don't even!" Steph shouted, "I let you morons run away from me once, I won't again! Let me guard this place, or you can take me with you. There is no debate here!"

"Say it louder," Rina told her, "good job, Sparky. Let them know." Steph looked a but flustered at Rina's words, but didn't back down. She stood tall and stared down her brother, who looked just as irritated as she'd sounded.

"What if they kill you?" He demanded, "you can't take them on."

"I never said I could," she replied steadily. "But I can slow them down."

"But they'll kill you!" Damien shouted.

"Then I'm sure you'll save me again, won't you, big brother?" Steph asked. Damien narrowed his eyes at her, looking positively livid. "I'm risking less than all of you. All I'm asking for is the chance to help."

"We should let her stay," Ultear finally said.

"Not you too," Damien hissed.

"Would we be saying this to Drake if he was here?" Invoking the man's name made Nashi's stomach churn. "No, we wouldn't be. Because we know he'd never go back, that'd he'd want to help anyway he could. Steph deserves the same courtesy. Let her help us, even if only this way."

"Ultear's got a point," Simon said. "Let her stay, Damien." Damien growled and ran a hand through his hair.

"I hate all of you," he hissed angrily. "Fine, fine! She stays. But I swear to God Steph, if you die, I'll kill you myself."

"I'm sure you will," Steph said. Damien took a moment to compose himself, exhaling loudly.

"Alright, get ready, all of you," Damien said, "I'm invoking the staff again." Nashi tensed, watching him raise the staff over his head. Just like before, it flew from his hands and levitated before them, before ticking like a clock. Just like before, a new portal opened.

This one, however, was pitch black. a breeze flew out of the portal, but it sounded like a scream. It sent a chill down Nashi's spine, one she didn't appreciate.

"That's not ominous," her father muttered.

"we'll be fine," Gray replied, "Just remember the plan. We're not beating them, we're sealing them to their Circles. That's much easier to accomplish, so don't play it stupid." Everyone steeling themselves, they began to walk towards the portal.

They didn't get there before a wall of darkness erupted from the portal, swallowing them whole. Nashi barely got to scream before the darkness consumed her, suffocating her as she was washed away into the void.

Damien choked on the blackness as he sat bolt right up, coughing like a smoker. It felt like he was sitting in a puddle, but he was disturbingly dry. No matter which way he looked, he couldn't see anything at all. It was like the portal to the Circles had transported him into the darkest cave known to man.

"I was really hoping you wouldn't be with them," a familiar voice said behind him. Damien whirled, and saw exactly who he expected to be there.

"Xisplate," he said evenly, regarding the demon quietly. He looked exactly as he always did, a suit as black as their surroundings. Damien wasn't sure how he could even see the man, but it was like his being was illuminated in the darkness. He also noticed the pained expression on his old friends face. "Where are we?"

"Where do you think?" Xisplate asked, "this is the 12th Circle of Judgement. My domain." Damien looked around curiously, but still didn't see anything of value.

"It's just a void," he noted.

"My Circle looks however I wish," Xisplate noted. "Right now, it seems I've made it mirror my own feelings on this subject." Damien raised an eyebrow at him.

"Enough talking in circles," he said. "You've been doing it for years. Where are the others? Why were we separated?"

"You were all separated," Xisplate replied. "Well, some more than others. I just wanted to pick you out specifically."

"Why?"

"To beg you to stop this." Damien's expression hardened, but Xisplate's did the opposite. "Damien, not allowing Nashi Dragneel's soul to return to the Circles for judgement will cause the end of the world. The Archbishop told you so. If our powers wanes, Zomrus stirs. If we were defeated, it'd spell the end of everything. Zomrus would awaken, and we would all pay the price."

"So why not allow her to live?" Damien demanded, "what could that possibly do?"

"Are you naive, or just stupid?" Xisplate asked in exasperation. "Damien, the Three Laws Anhkseram gave us were to stop us from becoming Zomrus. The more of them we break, the more we stir his consciousness! He's slumbered soundly for ten thousand years, but he's beginning to wake up, because Nashi was returned to the world of the living! If we allow this to continue, a second God War in inevitable."

"Don't bullshit me!" Damien shouted, "Mezevera gave The Olympians that prophecy, so I know you've heard it too! Hell, Meridia told it to Bella! 'When the King rises, humanity will find Salvation in the end." Pythia's visions of Nashi means she'll save the world!"

"After ending it!" Xisplate yelled. "Don't you get that, Damien?! You and Fairy Tail are throwing away ten thousand years of peace for one girl's soul! Give her to us! Please!"

"Oh so now you want to look out for us!" Damien roared.

"I have ALWAYS looked out for you!" Xisplate snapped, advancing on Damien. "Who was it that taught you the lesson of control?! Who was it that gave you the information you needed to put Nashi Dragneel back together?! Who was it that has abstained from a vote of war with my brethren?! IT WAS ME!" Xisplate advanced again, and Damien instinctively backed away. "I have helped you countless times, and all I asked for was one soul in exchange for billions! You couldn't give me that?! You'd doom the world for her?!"

Xisplate let out an insane laugh.

"Damien, if Zomrus is allowed to awaken, do you understand what that means?! He's not a benevolent, loving ruler like Anhkseram! He will rule humanity with force and fear! He will cage you up like cattle and treat you like animals! He doesn't want you to live free, he wants you to live the way he wants you too! PLEASE, Damien! Please just give her up! Give her life in exchange for yours! for everyone's! For MINE!"

Damien watched the demon in shock, too stunned to say anything. He had never heard Xisplate lose his mind like that. He'd sounded afraid, truly, utterly afraid. But why? What could possibly happen to him?

"Xisplate," he finally said, eyes still glued to his old friend, "what happens to you if Zomrus wakes up?"

Silence.

"You're apart of him, aren't you? What happens to the Demon Lords if he wakes up?"

Xisplate didn't reply, just stared at him wildly. Finally, after an agonising few seconds, he closed his eyes and exhaled. It was as thought a thousand years of stress left his body, and he slouched in defeat.

"If Zomrus wakes up," he said, "the Twelve Demon Lords will be reabsorbed. I will cease to be. I am but a portion of him, and so he'll take me back."

He paused, then,

"And when he does that, you too will die. As will every Demon Lord takeover wizard."

Damien stared at him as his mind raced, trying to find any information that would mean he was lying. He found none.

"B-But..." He started weakly.

"You know is as well as I do," Xisplate said. "My power is intertwined with your soul. I am apart of you, and when I am taken away your existence will be unable to sustain itself, and will crumble away. Do you understand now, Damien? If Zomrus wakes up, not only is the world doomed, but so am I. So are you."

Damien collapsed back into the puddle, too focused on his imminent demise to focus on the dryness of it.

"I'm gonna die?" He croaked weakly. Xisplate nodded.

"Yes, if the God of Death reawakens," he said. "But it's too late to stop this fight now. My brothers and sisters are fighting, and the victor will decide if our world ends, or if it continues."

Damien tried finding any sort of reasoning that could defy his friend, but he found none. As he sat there, he came to the realisation that he would die if his friends won. If the God of Death woke up, he was dead. But he still had questions that needed answering, so he pushed on.

"How?" He asked, making Xisplate look at him. "How will Nashi being alive doom us? Explain it to me." Xisplate regarded him quietly for a moment, before sighing and sitting down with him on the ground.

"The Three Laws are an absolute to our existence," he said. "As you've been told, Anhkseram instated them on us to prevent us from causing harm as our original form did. It is, as you also know, possible to break these laws. When one of these laws is broken, the chains that bind Zomrus to his slumber are loosened. You must understand, Damien, that Zomrus is not a God like I or my siblings. He is what is called a Brother of Creation. Together, in the void of nothingness that predated all existence, he and Anhkseram were still there. And they gave birth to it all. Even when he is chained, when he is sleeping, his power is still all encompassing, all knowing. Zomrus is still here, around us even now, as he always has been and will be. There is no escaping him."

Xisplate took a breath.

"When a Law is broken, we are invoking the powers of ours most closely related to Zomrus. And he senses this, and it makes him stir. When Nashi Dragneel was resurrected, he stirred more strongly than ever before. We began to hear his voice. He whispers to us, Damien, tells us we are stronger as a part of him. We resist him as much as we can, but it cannot last. Soon enough, just like Zoka and Ruli did, we will fall to his influence. It is inevitable that, if this continues, we will succumb to his whispers and wake him ourselves. This can only be stopped if we return Nashi's soul to the afterlife and judge her. There is no other way to counter his influence."

"How does that do anything?" Damien asked.

"Because the act of judging her and allowing to pass into the afterlife is an act of Anhkseram," Xisplate said. "This act is holy, it is divine. And it returns us to be aligned with Anhkseram instead of Zomrus, and lulls him back to sleep."

It dawned on Damien then.

"Then there's no way to stop it, huh?" He asked, "Zomrus will wake up no matter what."

"Not if you give her to us!" Xisplate insisted, leaning forward. "If we return Nashi's soul to the afterlife, it will take him longer to awaken! It will not happen in your lifetime, or even your children's, or great-grandchildren! Damien, this catastrophe is inevitable, but we can stop it from being now! Please! Help me, and together we can judge her and end this!"

"Why do you need my help?" He asked. Xisplate frowned.

"Nashi is with her father," she said. "There will be a fight if anyone tries to take her. One Demon Lord won't stop them, but if you and I were to help, we could...We could end this before it dooms us." Damien stared at him in shock.

"Are you asking me to betray my family?" He asked.

"I'm asking you to save this world!" Xisplate said. "I'm asking you to save yourself!" He paused, face growing pained. "To save me."

"You're asking me to make someone else shoulder the responsibility," Damien said, "to make some guy ten thousand years from now do it."

"I'm asking you to save billions of people," Xisplate reaffirmed. "Damien I know you love Nashi dearly. As do I, if you can believe that. But please, she is not worth everyone! Everything! Is she?"

Damien knew Xisplate was right. There was no way to justify Nashi's life being more important than billions of others. It was a horrible thought to even consider.

But in his heart he knew he couldn't. He couldn't let her die for him again, he just couldn't. Even if it was him that had to die this time, he just couldn't do it.

But it wasn't just his life either. It was Gin's as well. The other takeover wizards would die too.

Bella.

"No matter what, we face it head-on. Together"

Her face flashed in his mind. He recalled the nights they'd spent together. He was killing her by doing this. Ending her life in exchange for Nashi's if Zomrus woke up. No, it wasn't an 'if' anymore. Xisplate had said it. By refusing to allow her soul to by judged, The Demon Lords would be influenced into undoing the seal themselves.

Nashi's life for billions.

Nashi's life for his.

Nashi's life for Bella's.

"Damien," Xisplate said. "We can end this together. Please, just give me your hand." Damien looked up to see the demon lending him his hand. He stared, unsure of what to do. Was this fair? Could he really justify this?

He didn't want to cause anymore pain. He wanted his family to live, to be happy. It was all he'd ever wanted. They had been through enough.

Tentatively, weakly, he reached towards Xisplate's hand.

"I never expected you to be so weak-minded, Damien Dreyar." A third voice said. Both Damien and Xisplate turned in surprise, and Damien's eyes widened.

A rift had opened in the darkness, and a man had stepped through it. This man had a suit similar to Xisplate's on, and he had a staff in his hands, it's obsidian serpent figurehead gleaming in the nonexistent light. Damien had seen him before. He knew who it was.

"Hades."