Chapter 11 a choice of morality

Rushing to grab a shield and spear I leapt inside the room and shouted, "what is the meaning of this! How dare you intrude upon my home and attack my tsuguko! You may be fellow Hashira but what gives you any right to do this!"

Sanemi leapt at Ayano only to be met by my shield bashing him away as he shouted, "isn't it obvious! We're trying to kill the daughter of Muzan!"

So that wasn't just my imagination… Ayano really is his daughter. I took a deep breath in and faced them keeping my guard up and not saying a word.

Ayano growled and said, "Yeah I'm his fucking kid! You're lucky I have taste and I'm on your side! You may be hashira but I know how to kill each and every one of you. I may look weak but I've taken out the lower moons before the current ones you have been killing."

I then gave Ayano a stern look and said, "that is enough out of you!"

I gave Shinobu sensei a stern look and said, "Sensei, she saved my life on multiple occasions and has helped us with these eclipses! If she had not been with me, I doubt I would have been as prepared for any of them! And as such I will gladly stake my life on her! please give her a chance!"

Shinobu Sensei started to walk forward, and I coldly raised my spear at her pointing it directly at her face and said, "keep your distance."

This actually surprised Shinobu sensei as she said, "Nikolaos, this isn't the same man I trained! W-who are you! why are you protecting the daughter of Muzan Kibutsuji! She is the bio daughter of our enemy! An enemy you swore to kill!" as she said this my guard loosened as I noticed she was holding back tears. I could see it in her eyes, regret, pain sorrow, she- she really was conflicted with what she was doing.

Sanemi rushed forward and said, "enough of this! If this traitor wants to be difficult, I'll make him regret it! Wind breathing second form claws, purifying wind!"

Slamming my own shield down I shouted, "Pantheon breathing 8th form iron guard of Hephaestus!" defending against Sanemi's vicious attack that tore through the walls of the bronze pavilion.

Obanai tried to follow it up by going in from the side to try and get at Ayano but Inosuke landed a devastating kick to his face saying, "we won't let you hurt Ayano sensei!" sending him flying back a bit.

I looked furiously at Inosuke and said, "ENOUGH!" before slamming my spear into the ground shattering the floor putting everyone off balance, even Gyomei staggered a bit.

Looking at Inosuke, Zenitsu, Tanjiro I said, "you three should get out of here…I don't want my sins to end up hurting your futures."

I then smiled softly at them and said, "let this old timer deal with the consequences of his actions you three get out of here."

Zenitsu and the others nodded and left and I faced the others and said, "look we all know fighting isn't going to solve anything, you know I am one of the strongest fighters here, so how about we come to a negotiation…I'll be with Ayano in a separate room waiting for your decision" before grabbing Ayano by her hand and leading her out of the room.

Shinobu sensei's pov:

To think that the young lady was really Kibutsuji's daughter…it was quite disheartening but at the same time we had to make a decision.

As Nikolaos left the room I turned to my fellow Hashira and said, "there is no way we are going through executing him are we! Nikolaos did nothing wrong he's just protecting a demon like he did before and how the young kamado boy protects nezuko we can't kill him for that even if she is muzan's daughter!"

Gyomei being the most sound of us sighed and said, "Nikolaos has put us in a tough position, the girl must die no doubt about that however I doubt Nikolaos would allow us to kill her without killing him and I don't think it is wise….i vote for exile"

Giyu nodded his head and said, "I see so if we can't kill him strip him of his title and status…but what about the girl?"

Lord tengen growled and said, "if Nikolaos wasn't the strongest of us I'd say we all team up against him and kill him! But as it stands I say we exile him…but what about the master he is in the dark about this, and I don't feel comfortable looking him in the eye and saying that we exiled lord Nikolaos for this"

Obanai looked at us and said, "the master doesn't have to know…"

This shocked me greatly as I said, "what! How could you even suggest that! It is wrong and vile Obanai and you know it! To lie to the master have you no heart!"

Giyu chimed in again saying, "as much as it sickens me to admit it he has a point Nikolaos was one of the master's favorites don't forget the number of times the master left his mansion just to come here to feast with Nikolaos, Rengoku sensei and Ayano….He wouldn't take Nikolaos's death at our word though we'd need proof of his defeat"

Sanemi had a vile idea however as he kicked over one of nikolaos's pricelsss antique Greek vases depicting Herakles fighting the Lernean hydra and said, "I think I have an idea, we ask Nikolaos to surrender his shield spear and sword along with that demon whore ayano's blade, find a pig and slather them in pigs blood before breaking them up a bit before returning to the master and saying he fell in battle against an eclipse hahaha for good measure we can demand he give up his Haori too and tear it up a bit and splatter pigs blood on that too!"

I wanted to punch Sanemi as I said, "how dare y-"

Before I could finish my thought though Gyomei said, "as vile of an idea as that may be, it may be the only way to convince the master that lord Nikolaos is in fact dead, lets put it to a vote those in favor of exile say I"

Sighing I said, "aye" followed by mitsuri who had been very quiet this entire time, then Obani, giyu, Gyomei, and Tengen

Gyomei then said, "and those in favor of execution?"

Sanemi sighed and said, "aye" followed by tokito.

Gyomei then said, "it is decided then Lord Nikolaos will be forced to give up his Haori, nodachi, spear and shield along with Lady Ayano's katana leaving him only with his Kopis to protect himself from demons and he will be stripped of his title and status as a demon slayer, hashira, and demon slayer trainer"

Gyomei then looked at me and said, "please tell Lord Nikolaos to come back, alone"

I bowed and somberly left to go and get him.

Back to Nikolaos's point of view:

Sitting in my mian quarters looking over my wounds I could see they had healed a bit which worried me, how long was I out.

Ayano softly approached me and said, "you're probably wondering how long you were under…."

I nodded my head and said, "when I went down, I watched you run away in a panic…what happened?"

Ayano looked away and said, "its been 4 months lord Nikolaos, I have been on the run for Four months with the Hashira hunting me and Tanjiro and his squad rushing to bring me back here to safety. It worked for a moment, but word got around fast who I was really and soon…well soon they found out I was hiding here…I'm sorry Niko I am so sorry."

Ayano looked like she was on the brink of mental despair, so I brought her in for a hug and said, "hey you have nothing to be sorry for…. if I had a secret like that revealed to the entire world I would have done something similar" before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

Ayano cuddled into me and calmed down a little when I heard a knock at the door.

I could hear Shinobu sensei on the other side saying, "Lord Nikolaos, it's me I have been told to come and fetch you for our verdict…"

I nodded my head and left Ayano there smiling as I said, "whatever happens now I want you to know it has been an honor being your lover…. Lady Ayano"

Ayano nodded and tried to hold back tears as Shinobu led me in silence back to the others avoiding eye contact with me as we entered the still destroyed room with the other slayers.

Gyomei stepped forward and looked at me sternly and said, "I wish it didn't have to come to this Nikolaos you were amongst the strongest of us and I wish not to kill you so we have decided to banish you from the demon slayer core and strip you of your weapons minus your kopis you will no longer be considered a Hashira nor will you be considered a demon slayer or demon slayer trainer, the bronze pavilion will stay in your name as your abode but it will no longer be considered a place to train demon slayers"

I raised an eyebrow and said, "what about the slayers who have trained here and have made it through final selection surely, they're not going to be punished for my actions and stubbornness will they? And my crow will it stay with me?"

Shinobu sighed and said, "your Kasugai crow knows only Greek so it will stay with you, as for the slayers you have trained including Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke and Zenitsu we will not hold them responsible for your actions nor will we speak ill of you to them."

I bowed and said, "if that is what you decided and if it is what the master wishes then I will gladly give up what I have" before bowing and leaving.

Before I could leave however Sanemi laughed and said, "oh you think we're going to do this behind closed doors so you can lie and say your still a hashira! Hahahah no you foreign bastard we're doing it publicly in front of the other slayers you have here! we'll let them all know just how far you have sunk so get your things and meet us outside in front of the bronze pavilion! We'll let everyone know to gather so just say your goodbyes to your gear!"

Bowing again and leaving to see Ayano I knocked and heard Inosuke on the other end say, "whats the password!"

Chuckling I said, "there is no need for one, you know it is me"

Inosuke opened the door, and I walked in somberly passing by Zenitsu, Tanjiro and Nezuko who were all trying to comfort Ayano before reaching my armor stand. taking my Haori and folding it up nice and neat followed by my nodachi and spear before laying them in my shield.

Sitting down on the floor cross legged I took a deep breath in and calmly said, "I want you five to be the first to hear it but it has been decided that because I had failed to kill Ayano when it was discovered that she was the daughter of Muzan I am no longer a member of the demon slayer corps nor a Hashira, as of today I am to surrender my demon slaying weapons and Ayano's katana and hand them over to the other Hashira"

This infuriated Inosuke who said, "what! They can't do that!"

Zenitsu agreed saying, "you took down that big scary Aztec demon and this is how they repay you!"

Tanjiro looked the most angry though as he said, "the others are right…how is this fair! How can they in good heart take away your honor and strike your deeds from their books! You gave slayers a new fighting chance with your methods, and more importantly you have proved yourself time and time again wittling the number of Eclipse demons down to just two! How can they do that"

Sighing I said, "its their choice and I must abide by it or face their wrath, I might be able to hold them off but if they get to Ayano I'll be broken once more since the death of my fiancé…look I want you all to not think of the Hashira in ill will after this they are only doing what they think is best for the survival of the corps Ayano and I can manage on our own here just promise me you will continue to fight for your beliefs and remember the will of fire I taught you"

Zenitsu nodded and said, "to be bold enough to stand against foes twice your size and fight like the mighty herakles" before getting up and bowing to me before leaving.

Inosuke walked over picked up his Katanas, walked over to me and handed me some acorns before saying, "innovate with the weapons you have to fight enemies tougher than you just like wise Odysseus" before also bowing to me and leaving.

Nezuko then beat her chest and I interpreted that as the third will of fire to never forget that which makes us human before bowing to me and getting inside her box.

Tanjiro then picked up the box and bowed to me saying, "and the final will of fire to never let hatred blind us and let love and passion be our fire" before leaving.

As young Tanjiro left, I said, "tanjiro, wait I have a gift for you" before taking Rengoku sensei's Tsuba off my neck and handing it to him.

Tanjiro looked at me shocked and said, "but- but this is the only thing you have to remember your sensei by! I can't take this from you!"

I patted the boy on the head and said, "rengoku sensei would more than understand, after all he passed down his will of fire to me and that matters more than some lump of metal, go on take it before I change my mind boy, and thank you for protecting Ayano, you have a good heart and a good will I am sure you'll make a great demon slayer and one day when you become a Hashira I hope im around to see it and smugly tell that bastard Sanemi I told you so"

Ayano came up to and looked depressed as she said, "its time…the trainers and the slayers are assembled in the courtyard for your farewell Lord Nikolaos"

I sighed as I got up and picked up my spear, shield, and Nodachi and sheathed them all for one last time before making my way outside to see the 50 slayers and 15 trainers assembled standing sternly.

As I got closer I saw the other hashira and bowing I said, "I Nikolaos Aristokles the last spartan of Greece have dishonored the demon slayer corps by refusing to give up the demonic daughter of Muzan, and as such my title as demon slayer and Greek hashira are forfeit to those who have worked for me for so long I am sorry for dishonoring you, to those who I called comrades I pray my atonement brings you back some level of honor" before presenting them all including my Haori.

Gyomei took them and bowed back to me saying, "your banishment will weigh heavily on our hearts Lord Nikolaos know we will harbor no ill will towards those trained here and more importantly your honor has not been tarnished as you agreed to our terms without any fight or hatred…farewell old friend" before leaving with the other Hashira.

Calmly I looked at the other slayers and simply said, "you are all dismissed".

For the first time in ages the Bronze Pavilion was silent.

3 hours passed till I finally left the courtyard and got some bento boxes from slayer town for myself and Ayano. Luckily the people of slayer town harbored no true ill will against me and instead treated me still with the respect I had earned from my career as a slayer. Walking back into the Bronze Pavilion I noticed Ayano was sitting on top of the Pavilion alone and in pure sorrow.

Walking through the empty corridors and empty rooms which once held people tending to their own training wounds or training with people, I felt nothing but sorrow as I was alone with my thoughts, what would Rengoku sensei think of me…no what would my family think of me if they were still alive. They may have been pacifists, but they were still villagers of Neochori which makes them descendants of Spartans like myself. They had a strong will and code of honor.

Would they be proud of me? I refused to kill the daughter of an enemy of mankind, I had abandoned my own homeland in the pursuit of a worthy fight and had left behind myself…only to find it now when I have lost everything.

Approaching Ayano with a bento box I calmly said, "mind if I sit with you? I brought food it's a tempura shrimp gyudon fried rice bento."

Ayano looked like she was about to cry before saying, "Nikolaos I am sorry."

Confused I said, "why are you sorry?"

"I- I cost you your spot as a Hashira! They took away your nichirin nodachi! Your spear! Hell even your shield How can you call yourself a spartan now!" Ayano cried.

Sitting next to her and handing her one of the box lunches I said, "it's not the weapons that make the spartan, those are but accessories to the true mark of a spartan."

Ayano looked at me as I gazed out as demon slayers started to pack up their things and leave the bronze pavilion and said, "what is that mark?"

I held my heart and said, "willpower, the true mark of a spartan is his heart without it a spartan is nothing but a cold soldier, however that's not the only thing that makes a spartan a spartan, passion, love and determination though it has been said numerous times I can't say it enough that these qualities are what make a spartan"

Ayano wiped away her tears and said, "I guess you are right but….what happens now?"

Chuckling I said, "that I do not know…the future is no longer a straight line like it was when I was a slayer, it is as ever flowing like a river, and I think I am okay with that…Kotoyami come forth"

My crow soon made its way back to me and said, "how may I be of service lord Nikolaos?"

"I want you to keep an Eye on young Tanjiro and his friends they showed the most promise and I want to see just what kind of flower they bloom into, I am sure Rengoku sensei is up their watching them as well but I want to hear about their progress for myself and know that my training has not gone to waste" I chuckled eating some Gyudon.

The time we spent wasn't all quiet however as hordes of demons made their way to the Bronze pavilion in an attempt to curry favor from lord muzan by killing us only to be met with the swift slice of my sword and Ayano tearing their heads clean off and smashing them into mush.

"I may no longer be a hashira but I am still lord of this area! I am still the great lion of Neochori! Hear me roar!" I shouted as I sliced through demons like paper.

Later that night I decided to relax in the hot spring and sip some wine.

Ayano then came in a cuddled with me naked saying, "quite the productive day wouldn't you agree?"

Laughing I said, "you could say that yes, but I have a feeling some how things are about to get even crazier"

I was right cause a couple days later Kotoyami returned shouting, "upper rank 6 demons have been defeated by Nezuko and her friends! I repeat Tanjiro and his friends have defeated an upper moon!"

Ayano looked at me with wide eyes and said, "they did it! They actually did it!"

Slamming my fist into the wood I howled in laughter and said, "I knew they could do it! Fwehahahahaha I just knew it! Kotoyami did you get a good look at the battle how did it go!"

Kotoyami nodded and said, "they fought like you lord Nikolaos, they fought like true greeks ducking behind cover rushing him even Nezuko used that shield and sword you gave her and gave the twin demon a run for their money it was beautiful!"

I shed a tear as I howled to the air shouting, "you see Muzan you bastard! Even when I am not around to take out your eclipses my will and the will of my sensei have been passed down! You watch out Muzan Kibutsuji cause the new generation shall be your end!"

4 months would then pass silently as slayer town still bustled with life as a training ground for the local lords who wanted their samurai protectors to be trained stronger. That was until the lords pulled back their troops to deal with some uprisings and once again slayer town became quiet.

One day however as Ayano and I were sparring with my wooden shield and spear against her wooden katana a messenger came by and said, "um lord Nikolaos you have a visitor waiting for you in the garden"

Looking at the messenger I said, "you let in a complete stranger into the bronze pavilion? Who gave you the right without informing me before hand? Who is this stranger?"

The messenger bowed and said, "he said he calls himself the master."

And with a pain in my chest, I looked at Ayano and said, "I will deal with this, you go and hide just in case the master has brought hashira to attack you."

Ayano nodded and I went first to the wine cellar to pick out a good vintage before going to the garden where I saw the master and his wife admiring my oleanders and I chuckling saying, "been a while master…I hope you are in good health."

The master turned to see me and my heart felt nothing but sorrow, his condition has gotten worse since last I saw him and I knew deep down it would only get worse from here but with a smile he said, "I am feel much better seeing you haven't given up hope lord Nikolaos I must admit your garden is so foreign yet so beautiful, tell me what is this bright pink flower? Is it a new breed of cherry blossom?"

I shook my head bowing to him as I got closer and said, "no it is a Greek flower known as Oleander, in my culture it is the flower of romance and charm symbolizing the determination of a man wooed by the priestess of Aphrodite, their love was so strong he swam the great Hellespont strait every night to see her but one night he was swept away in a great torrent and drowned but from that point on the priestess swore a life of celibacy cause she could love no other…"

I then looked at the flowering trees and said, "growing up in Greece these were my mother's favorite flowers, said it reminded her of how her and my dad met and ever since then I have always loved them."

The master then patted the ground next to him and said, "your love for your homeland is strong as ever lord Nikolaos I am more than grateful for that come we have something I need to discuss with you"

Sighing I said, "is it about lady Ayano being the blood daughter of Muzan?"

The master nodded and said, "not only that but the insult the other Hashira have done to you."

Confused I sat down and said, "I don't understand…the others said that you had told them that I will be exiled instead of executed…is this not what you wished?"

The master nodded and said, "I had known for some time that muzan had a daughter but I had no idea who, I assumed she was a lesser demon hidden somewhere as an extra body for muzan to use, but instead she is a girl with little to no cells of his, no alignment to him it's as if he was using her only as a test subject to see how far his cells can go and what he is capable of, when I saw Ayano I knew almost instantly she was Muzan's daughter and had accepted her as someone we can trust, however the way the hashira treated you was unacceptable, they told me you were slain in battle and presented me with your weapons broken and covered in blood as if to mimic you being slain"

I laughed a bit and said, "let me guess sanemi said something like oh he died valiantly skewered on his own spear, there was not enough of him to even recover! or something like that?"

The master chuckled softly and said, "yes almost exactly like that in fact! However I was clued in something was up when I looked at lady shinobu, she looked like she was hiding something so I had my wife pester her for four months about what really happened till she broke finally this morning"

I watched as a blue jay flew by softly and said, "master…the other Hashira will never accept Ayano you and I both know that it would take a miracle to make them accept her."

The master then reached over and took the bottle of wine and from beside him pulled out two glasses and said, "well a miracle has happened which I am sure you are aware of."

Raising and eyebrow and taking the wine bottle to pour him a glass I said, "you mean the defeat of the upper moon 6 by tanjiro and his group?"

The master nodded and said, "according to Tengen who was with them during the fight he witnessed them fighting like you and more importantly he watched the young demon Nezuko fighting like Ayano proving that your training is strong enough to face upper moons."

Rolling my eyes as I savored my wine I said, "so they don't want us back out of regret but because they want something from us, gee there's no way that can go badly."

The master laughed and said, "no its not that exactly its more…they honestly do miss you, without you or rengoku the other hashira have become docile and not so expressive, even Mitsuri has fallen into this pit of boredom going from mission to mission, you and Rengoku were the life blood of the hashira and without you I fear they may become cold and heartless towards the world so I ask of you no, I beg of you lord Nikolaos"

I then looked over and nearly had a heart attack as I watched the master bow to me like a subject would to a king as he said, "please return to the Demon slayer corps!"

I then realized that surrounding us were the other hashira who came forward and stood behind the master and bowed as well in apology.

Getting up I said, "I will come back only if Ayano is accepted as a member of the corps too and not treated any differently than when you guys first accepted her, demon or not she has proven herself worthy of the title of hashira"

The master softly chuckled saying, "I wouldn't say she is a hashira, she has proven herself more than capable as your tsuguko truly but we shall vote on the hashira title at a later date for now though I regret to say your spear shield and swords have been…destroyed and as such we will be sending you straight to the swordsmith village to meet with your new swordsmith about replacements, and one for lady Ayano as well"

I bowed and said, "I am honored to come back then master if I may ask though, where is lord tengen? Surely, he did not fall in battle"

Obanai said, "no he retired! He said he had enough action and is somewhere with his three wives relaxing! He's weak he has always been the weak link, I don't think he would have done well anyways after all he only killed upper 6 so he really didn't deserve that retirement"

Coldly I said, "you hold your tongue Obanai. tengen was the boldest of us next to rengoku and myself, I will not allow any disrespect of his name while you are on my property."

I then turned to the master and said, "you have no reason to bow to me master stand up, all of you please stand up! You have no reason to bow to me I will gladly get Ayano though and we shall head to the swordsmith village wherever that is."

The master chuckled as he got up and said, "I will send for a member of the Kakushi to transport you and lady Ayano by cart to the village, its location is a well-guarded secret so we cant allow you to actually know its location"

I nodded and said, "thank you master, however since you are all here would you honor me by having dinner with lady Ayano and me? We can make it a feast with the whole village plus this would be the first time you have tried Mediterranean cooking master I would be honored if you and your wife tried my people's cooking again! It has been a long time since you have been over!"

The master nodded they followed me up to the bronze pavilion where Ayano was waiting with Kanao.

Ayano cried as she saw me and rushed me tackling me and hugging my as she cried, "by the gods Niko! By the gods I am so happy! I can't believe it we- we're back in the game!"

I smirked and said, "I am happy to be back in action too my dear now then let the village people know that tonight we feast on the finest of foods! Tonight, we celebrate my reentry into the demon slayer corps and the reopening of the bronze pavilion as a training ground for demon slayers! Send out as many crows as you can calling back as many trainers as possible!"

Ayano nodded and ran to send word as Shinobu sensei ran up to me and said, "I am truly sorry for how I acted Nikolaos as your mentor I should have stood by your side through this! I failed you!"

Laughing I hugged Shinobu and said, "you didn't fail me at all sensei! In fact you reinvigorated me! I now have a new reason to fight and live with the news that an upper moon has been killed it means that we now have hope!"

End of chapter:

Nikolaos: fewhahahahaha boy I was worried! I thought this would be the end of me but it looks like my legacy continues!

Shinobu: I had the upmost faith in Nikolaos now then time for a taisho era secret!

Shinobu: when Nikolaos was still training under me he would always eat the fruit from a plant that was highly poisonous and overtime he built up one of the toughest poison resistances even beating tengens! Of course though this left him with a horrible digestive system which leaves him with stomach cramps if he eats to much spicy or sweet foods

Nikolaos: next episode, ney next season the swordsmith village arc! Lets see what happens, I can't wait to see how big young tanjiro's fire is!