Chapter 49: A Quiet Sunset

-A Little over Year Ago-

Kentae 12th 2033 the day the Sun Demons became inaugurated into the D.E.O. as their special force. They were given a special code name.

"Sun Angels!"

A man with blonde-short hair was hunched over patting a kid on his head. He was muscular and wore fancy clothing, his facial hair complimented him nicely as he looked down at his son.

"That's what they'll be calling us from now on Kazuki!"

Kazuki was 16 at the time hearing the news. He was confused.

'Wasn't I born a demon…I've already killed so many humans. Is it even possible to redeem myself?'

"Dad?"

Kazuki's blonde hair was shorter and his eyes seemed to have been brighter too.

"Yes, son?"

"Can mom become an angel too?"

Kazuki's father lost his smile as he looked rather disappointed. The room seemingly fell silent as Kazuki watched as his father started to walk away.

"Forget about your mother Kazuki…"

The man thought of his wife being chained down to a chair in a pitch-black room.

"...but da-"

"I said forget about her!"

Kazuki fell silent as a lump in his throat formed. He hadn't seen his mother in almost a year since she went on a mission her father sent her on. His father stopped walking as he reached a door.

"Look Kazuki…your mother is a demon, she is and always will be."

He closed the door behind him leaving Kazuki alone holding back frustrated and confused tears.

'What does that make me then?'

Kazuki choked on his tears.

***

-Present Time-

Ena stood in a different spot now with marks and burns on her body.

'He won't let me get away!'

Kazuki stood in front of her as his Aspect had grown into a formidable beast.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance."

*BOOM*

The entire area between Ena and Kazuki was blinded with light as he now had an infinite source of energy.

'Great...'

The sun had risen.

'She's running again.'

***

Ena landed on top of a building near where the blinding light had just been.

'I don't understand how a demon can work for humans. It makes no sense!'

*Swift*

She started to run as fast as possible across the top of buildings. The light of the sun and the faint darkness from the light seem to have intertwined in the middle as she made her escape.

'I just need to get back home…To see father-'

*Shink*

Ena felt a burning pain in her stomach.

'He caught up?'

The light that went all the way through her back had disappeared revealing a fairly large hole in her stomach.

'It burns!'

She fell over in pain.

"The sun is up, there was very little hope of you being able to get away."

Kazuki walked calmly over to Ena.

Sun Angel's greatest abilities come out when the sun is present. Depending on how powerful the Angel's Aspect is, when they activate their Karada they can sense upwards to 100 feet of radius around them. The only requirement is that the sun must be touching that object or being.

Ena looked up at Kazuki who was on the side where the sun was rising. He was straight out of an art piece. Something then gleamed at her; it was his badge. She cracked up a smile.

"You know…you can see me however you want but…"

Kazuki listened to her as tears flowed slowly down her eyes.

"No matter how many badges or titles you might throw on yourself…You're still a demon."

She struck a chord deep within Kazuki as she continued talking in great pain.

"You're a demon, killing another demon, while playing dress up as an officer. You're sicker than me."

Ena laid back completely as she stared at the sky.

"Even so…maybe you're right to kill me, maybe I am on the side of evil. Besides, dying in battle is seen as noble, a noble princess dies in battle just trying to get home."

"Why are you talking so much?"

Ena was surprised he talked back.

"Well, wouldn't you want to get some things off your chest before you died?"

Ena thought to herself of her mother.

'Even if I was just wasting time, I'd still bleed out. There's no doubt about it, he hit the core of my Aspect. This pain is immeasurable and yet I feel so peaceful...is this what dying feels like?'

"You're talking to me as if you feel like you can."

"I'd already be dead if it was anyone else you and I both know that."

Ena sighed as Kazuki stared at her with puzzling eyes.

'What is she after? Does she really just want to talk? Can I let her do that?'

"Tell me…Kazuki? Was that it?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, how old are you?"

"I'm 17."

'Great, I lost to someone younger than me…'

Ena sighed greatly as she felt it was harder to breathe.

"That's cool…I'm 18."

"Nice…"

Kazuki rested for a moment, he let down his guard as he crouched down balancing on his toes with his arms resting on his knees.

'She's my age…It could be me in her shoes…It should be.'

"Hey…Kazuki…?"

"Yeah?"

He sounded annoyed.

"Can you kill me right now?"

The question stumped him.

"Why?"

Ena had blood slowly flowing through her throat as she choked on it. She cried. Kazuki couldn't look.

"It…"

*Coughs*

"...Hurts!"

Kazuki stood up silently as he had no expression on his face. He stood over her body as she looked him in the eyes. He couldn't look back. Kazuki placed his hand over Ena's body.

"...I'm…I'm sorry."

A tear went down his face.

*BOOM*

A big ball of light then appeared no smaller than the building they were on top of.

***

*Sirens*

Amon sat on a stretcher as he looked over at Sally who had been attending to Archie's side as paramedics loaded him in a vehicle.

'He'll be okay…'

Amon looked down at his feet as they almost touched the ground while he sat on the stretcher.

'I…I have to find a way to keep up with these things!'

He thought back to how Ena stomped him into the ground.

'...'

*Helicopter wings*

Amon looked over at the helicopter landing as it was all white with official D.E.O. logos all over it.

'D.E.O. Helicopter?'

A man with medium-length blonde hair walked out. He was big and looked like a powerlifter.

'Who's he?'

"That's the man I came to talk to."

Amon jumped and landed on the ground as Zefu appeared beside him.

"Woah! Zefu? Where'd you come from?"

"I just got here."

Zefu looked at Amon with a gentle smile.

"You did very well Amon, If it wasn't for you being here I think some of my family would have died."

Amon felt pitied but looked down at his feet once again he was standing after all.

"I'm sorry about Archie…If I had reacted faste-"

"Hush, Archie's been banged up like this before he'll be fine."

Amon silenced himself listening to what Zefu was saying. He then realized someone walking past them.

'The boy?'

Kazuki walked past both of them as he headed towards the Helicopter.

"Hey!"

Kazuki stopped as he turned to Amon's voice. They locked eyes as Kazuki seemed unfazed like nothing had happened.

"What happened?"

Kazuki paused for a second hearing Amon's question.

"I burned her till she was nothing but ash."

Kazuki turned away and continued on his way to his father.

"Hey…Zefu?"

"Yeah?"

"That kid he's the son of the Sun Angel's Leader right?"

"Indeed."

Amon looked over at the blonde man who had a smile on his face saying something he couldn't hear.

"So…is that?"

"Yes, that is Rishi Metsu, The leader of the Sun Angels and considered to be one of the strongest Sun Angels to ever live. Just the man I came to speak to…"

Amon watched as Zefu started to walk away.

"...Amon! Head back to headquarters. I called you a transport already, I'll meet you there in some time just get some rest."

"Yes sir."

"And remember Amon!"

Zefu turned as he walked with a smile.

"You did good!"

Amon felt good as he stood up straight watching Zefu walk away between the debris and flashing lights. It felt like he was watching some action film with the main character walking away from a fight he had just won.

'..I did good?'

***

Kazuki looked at his father who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts.

"My boy!"

He squeezed Kazuki with a bear hug, lifting him off the ground.

"I heard they sent your first mission. I had to fly in!"

"Yeah?"

Kazuki seemed displeased with his father. Rishi put his son down with his big smile still present. He looked at him, seemingly comparing Kazuki to a younger version of him.

"Look at you! So grown so big and strong, please tell me, how'd it go?"

"We can talk about it later…There's someone here to speak with you."

Kazuki slightly pushed past his father as a man was revealed behind him. It was Zefu. Rishi's smile quickly faded as his son entered the large helicopter closing the door.

"What is it?"

"Ah…good senses on the boy just like his father it seems."

Rishi scratched his beard in annoyance.

"What do you want, White Fox?"

Zefu smiled as he closed his eyes.

"Now, now Rishi, we are coworkers after all, you can call me by name."

"Mhm…look I have to get going now. So I'm gonna have to cut this short."

Rishi slightly turned as Zefu appeared in front of him.

"I'm sure you can take a moment to talk to me…it is me after all."

Rishi's body produced a little bit of steam as he got annoyed.

"I'm not scared of you Zefu."

Zefu's smile was still present as he stood up straight. Rishi towered over Zefu.

"Why would you be?"

Rishi released some more steam.

"What is it?"

Zefu was delighted to hear the question as his smile faded slightly. He looked Rishi in the eyes.

"There's been something that's come to my attention recently…remember that incident on Almond Street and how the committee told us to be wary about it."

"Yeah?"

"It's "The Boy""

Rishi seemed to choke up slightly in shock.

"...How…how do you know that?"

Zefu started to look at the helicopter. The scenery around them was odd with a large fancy helicopter in the middle of a battleground.

"You're going to doubt my hunches now after all of this time?"

"What are we going to do then?"

Zefu looked back at Rishi with a smile.

"I just wanted to let you know is all…be wary of all these missions you're signing your son up to without him knowing. Who knows, maybe one of these times he'll run into one of them. "

Zefu then disappeared as Rishi blinked. He was infuriated as steam came burning off of him. He looked around as he let out a deep breath.

*Controlled breathing*

'Damn White Fox! Who does he think he is reading my head whenever he gets the chance?'

Rishi turned around and started to board the Helicopter.

'Still…the news about "The boy" being confirmed is a problem. Let alone these talks of a group of Grade 0 demons banding together with unknown objectives…things are getting out of hand it seems. Could it be true?'

He thought about a legend he heard about as a kid.

'No…that'd be ridiculous.'

***

Kazuki sat in a room in the helicopter by himself. He looked out the window in dismay.

'What a way to start off my missions as a D.E.O officer.'

He looked out as he saw Amon getting in a black vehicle.

'Now that I think about it…how was that human able to see past her illusions so often?'

Kazuki thought back to when Amon had pushed him to the side saving him from certain death.

'That sword had hints of a Demon's Aspect in it…was it imbued with demon blood by chance? Even then how could a human get strength from such a thing…It must have just been Ena's technique was not as effective on the human by focusing on me so much…that's the only explanation right?'

Kazuki heard his father on the phone in the other room.

'Ena…'

He thought back to that moment.

'I hope she doesn't become a problem later down the line.'

***

Ena sat in an alleyway in pain but her wound from the attack that struck her Aspect's core had been almost completely healed.

'That damn boy…'

She thought back to the moment on top of the building.

***

Kazuki stood up silently as he had no expression on his face. He stood over her body as she looked him in the eyes. He couldn't look back. Kazuki placed his hand over Ena's body.

"...I'm…I'm sorry..."

A tear went down his face.

"...Dad…"

He said as a big ball of light surrounded them and the building Ena closed her eyes.

'I'm dead...I'm sorry Father, I tried to make you proud, I really did.'

Suddenly Ena felt a warm liquid in her mouth. Her taste buds were ecstatic as was her body.

"Huh?"

She opened her eyes and she saw Kazuki's hand bleeding as his blood was dripping into her mouth. She closed her mouth as she went to spit it out. Kazuki grabbed and held her mouth shut.

"Look…just swallow damnit! Don't go and act like you don't have somewhere to be!"

Ena cried as she swallowed without much of a choice.

"You don't deserve to die here…you barely are even older than me! I couldn't imagine dying next year. Run…and don't come back or else I will have to kill you!"

"Why?"

"What?"

Kazuki was confused.

"Why are you doing this?"

Kazuki was confused. He too was confused about why he was doing this.

"Because…it's because you were right…"

He looked at her with soft but serious eyes. All Ena could see was him and only him.

"Because I-"

***

Kazuki stared out the window of the helicopter as it soared over the clouds.

'I am a demon…'

His father walked into the room he was in with a big smile.

"What's wrong kid?"

"Just tired Dad."

Kazuki continued to stare out the window.

"Get some rest, we have a long trip ahead of us, we can celebrate your first mission!"

Rishi was excited as he held his phone in his hand and it suddenly started to ring. He picked it up instantly.

"Rishi speaking, who is it?"

He walked out of the room, while Kazuki's eyes didn't stray off of the window once.

'I was born a demon…why would I kill other demons who were born just like me?'

Kazuki then closed his eyes as he drifted into a nap.

***

-In a Unknown location-

"A storms brewing…"

A cackled voice said.

"Oh really, how so?"

A feminine voice asked intriguingly.

"Seems we are being found out about."

The room was pitch black as only the two people seemed to be in there alone.

"Well, that was part of the plan."

The woman smiled, tapping her nails individually on a table.

A door opened down a long hall and someone walked in.

"I'm back!"

A boy walked in with a blue kitsune mask on, and a white shirt with blood all over it.

"Oh, my welcome home!"

The crackled voice said in the dark.

"Oh hello Boy…did you complete your tasks already?"

The woman's question made The Boy laugh slightly.

"Of course I did! All 5 should be dead…unless that one Yami demon survived that attack somehow."

"Oh goody!"

The crackled voice rejoiced as the person seemingly danced. A small symbol showed in front of them on a table, it was a smiley face. Another for the woman who was speaking being a witches hat. 4 more symbols shined revealing 4 more people hidden in the dark. One symbol was a Tie, another was a crown, the third was a rock, and the last was a symbol that resembled an om. The boy walked into the dark as he too was now hidden. His fox symbol then shined with a total of 7 present at the table now.

"Does that mean it's my turn for a task yet?"

The woman with the om symbol said asked with a soft voice.

"Now, now everyone."

A man said at the end of the darkness. His symbol of a full moon appeared at the end of the table.

"We must wait our turns, besides…we now get to move on to phase two."