A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to the next chapter!

Gov. Brown has extended school closure until April 28th in Oregon. ANOTHER WHOLE MONTH. Good news? I'll be able to publish more. Bad news? My mental health will become unstable and I'll go insane for being around my family too long.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER THREE: PHOENIXES VS SERPENTS

Meanwhile, two Horned Serpent guild members were talking about the quick recovery that Daisuke will make now that they had the Blood Dragon Slayer. Suddenly, the guild doors blasted open, sending the two members back.

When the dust cleared, it showed Dusk, Master Harumi, and the rest of the guild behind them.

"Twilight Phoenix has come calling!" Master Harumi shouted.

"All right!" Dusk shouted as he attacked some of the members with his magic. "Anyone will do! Come and get me!" The Twilight Phoenix members and the Horned Serpent members clashed.

"Power Pulse Magic: Taser Hand!" Loji shouted as he grabbed onto one of the Horned Serpent members and sent a shockwave directly throughout their body.

"Azure Dragon's Brutal Fist!" Zack yelled, his fist was covered in blue light energy as he punches his target, sending them flying.

"Aura Magic: Spirit Orb!" Ajar formed a blue sphere in his hands and threw it at his opponent.

Atlas and Nero were back to back. "Earth God's Bellow!" Atlas shouted as a wave of dark black-golden energy infused with earthly materials blasted from his mouth. While Nero teleported to his target and did a 5 punch combo that ended with the last punch stunning his target. Some of the Horned Serpent members got scared.

"They're strong!"

"I recognize those two. Atlas Wardnorth. Nero Lamenton. They are known as the King Slayers of Twilight Phoenix!"

"Is this what Twilight Phoenix is like?"

"Star Dragon's Slash!" Dusk shouted as starlight envelops his fist and he attacks his target.

"Dusk! We can handle things here! Go and find Akame!" Julian shouted as he attacked some of the Horned Serpent members with his magic.

"Right! Good luck!" Dusk said as he headed up onto the second floor with Chii and Bruno following him. "If they really Akame's Blood Transfusion spell, he wouldn't be in the dungeon. He would be in the infirmary. Just hold on, Akame. I'm coming..."

Akame sighed in frustration as he threw his spell book down. "Nothing... Absolutely nothing..." He thinks to himself. The door opened and in walked Quartz and Peridot. "Have you made your decision?" He asked.

"How many times have I told you I'm not doing it?" Akame asked.

Quartz twitched his eyebrow as he clenched onto Akame's shirt. "Listen, this person right here is important to me, and if you don't revive him, there will be hell to pay. I'm pretty sure you want nothing to happen to Dawn's twin brother wouldn't you?"

Akame clenched his fist. "You do realize you're threatening your guild mates family, right?" He asked.

"Oh, who cares? We're in a dark guild. There's no such thing as love, family, or friends. We're simply comrades with similar goals." Quartz said. "Your guild is here to rescue you. You better make the right choice or Dawn's brother will be stardust."

And with that, Quartz left. Peridot gave Akame a sympathetic look before following his partner out of the infirmary. Akame picked up the book once more. He finally spotted a spell that may be able to help him.

"Blood Dragon's Recovery... A spell that can make vitals and organs back to normal if damaged." Akame read in his mind. "This just might work."

Akame placed his right hand on Daisuke's chest as a dark red glow appeared. "Blood Dragon's Recovery!" He shouted. He waited a few minutes. Finally, Daisuke opened his brown eyes and sat up.

"Ugh... What happened? The last thing I remember was-" Daisuke started to say. Though he was interrupted by Quartz walking back into the room. He froze when he saw Daisuke sitting up.

"Dai!" Quartz shouted, hugging him.

"Quartz, why are you so loud? My head is pounding." Daisuke groaned. "What happened to me?"

Quartz smiled. "It doesn't matter, Dai. What matters now is that you're okay. Come on, let's get you moving." He said. Quartz helped Daisuke from the bed and helped him walk out of the infirmary.

"No such thing as love in a dark guild? I call bullshit." Akame thought. He watched Quartz and Daisuke as he left. "I want something like that someday. Loving someone..."

Suddenly, Dusk rushed into the infirmary and into Akame's arms. "Thank god, you're still alive. I saw Quartz and a light green haired guy leave here. I thought you-" Dusk trailed off.

Akame pushed Dusk off of him. "First, personal space please. Second, I already told you I wasn't going to use that spell unless it was someone I would gladly give my life for. That didn't include dark guild scum. So I found an alternative." He interrupted.

Dusk tried not to look hurt when Akame pushed him off. "We got to go help our guild with defeating Horned Serpent. So, let's go." Akame added as he left the infirmary. Dusk just stood there and sighed.

"Damn it, it's really hard to be in love with someone who doesn't feel the same way." Dusk thought before following Akame out of the infirmary.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on Dusk back there?" Chii asked her partner, who was running and trying to find someone from his guild. Akame looked at her in confusion, trying to figure out what she meant.

"What do you mean? You know I don't like it when people invade my space." Akame reminded her.

"Sometimes I wonder how I'm his partner. Everyone knows Dusk is in love with you, oblivious idiot..." Chii scolded her partner in her head.

"I just think that... you shouldn't be too hard on him. You guys are friends." Chii stated.

Akame chuckled. "Star breath and I are not friends. We fight all the time, and it's annoying as hell. And don't say it's because we're both Dragon Slayers. Jude is a Dragon Slayer and he doesn't fight with him, only me. He's constantly bothering me and it pisses me off." He said.

"Have you ever thought that the reason he fights with you is because he wants your attention?" Chii wanted to say to him, but didn't. Akame had to figure out that Dusk loved him on his own. It wasn't her place to tell him.

"I just don't understand, Bruno. What am I doing wrong?" Dusk questioned as he sighed. Bruno looked at his partner. Him and Chii have been talking about Dusk's 'problem' and have been close because of it.

"What makes you think you're doing something wrong?" Bruno asked.

"I've tried everything to get Akame to notice me. Am I coming too strong on him? Should I just back off?" Dusk replied.

"You know how Akame is, Dusk. He's oblivious to people who have a romantic interest in him. Plus, Chii had mentioned to me that you starting fights with him all the time has been annoying him." Bruno informed.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do? That's the only way he pays attention to me. If I don't start fights with him then he just ignores me." Dusk said.

"Maybe try being his friend? Get close to him. Ask him out on a date." Bruno suggested.

Dusk sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'll ask him once this whole war is over." He said.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A voice taunted. Dusk looked up to see a twenty-three year old man with silver hair and gray eyes looking down at him. He went shirtless as he wore a black jacket, gray pants, and brown combat boots. A gray Horned Serpent guild mark was located on his right pectoral.

"Who the hell are you?" Dusk asked.

"My name is Riku Hinata, and you my little Phoenix, are in for a surprise." Riku replied, smirking at him.

A/N: There you go!

Hope you enjoyed!

~Kyle