Chapter 19 - Loki's True Nature

Yami's POV

The course of energy flowing through my veins, the cool breeze of a storm beginning to start overhead brushing against my wings, the rush of blood and adrenaline to my head, everything starts to blur as this demon slowly corrupts my thoughts.

The prophecy... That's the only reason that Amitos came to see me right now. To help me get rid of this demon. But I've been thinking lately...

What if they fail? What if they end up dead because they didn't have the strength to subdue me?

Then again, if they fail, then I might not be alive. By then, the demon may have already torn apart my soul and take over the human race.

But at the same time, I want to be free of everything. I just want to give up, there's no hope of escape save for Ami- No, he's chosen the name Yuugi. Like I had chosen Yami.

I forget why we had. For me, it was an alias, but for Yuugi, it became his identity after he forgot what happened that day.

Regardless, I can feel him constantly trying to get inside my head, to help me back into control, but Daemion... He's a powerful parasite demon. An autocrat like him isn't going to give up control easily.

The only thing preventing Yuugi from harm is whatever semblance of control I have left over my body. If I lose that, then I might lose him.

And I can't afford to let that happen...

Normal POV

Daemion was beginning to have problems with fending off both Kaiba and Taki's continuous onslaught of attacks. With his host trying to regain control of his body and mind, the parasite demon is taking on a two-front battle and it's not going well.

He can't afford to lose this fight because of how many people are taking him on. He didn't let numbers stop him last time. Why should he worry now?

Daemion taps into the abilities of his host and uses fire to push them back and keep them at bay. While Taki was known to have power over it, he was sure that this human being wasn't able to manipulate flames like demons would.

Then an idea pops into his head. Instead of fighting both of them at the same time, he could just keep one preoccupied with a different fight.

The parasite glances over at Kaiba with his golden eyes and waits a moment, watching as his shadow began to rise from the ground.

"What are looking at, fool?" the teen CEO says coldly, unaware of the being that creeps up behind him. When it places a hand on his shoulder, Kaiba turns, startled by the appearance of a shadow with his particular silhouette.

"What the-"

His shadow takes his moment of shock to grab him and shove him to the ground. The blue-eyed male instinctively starts burning him with his hands, which were currently glowing with a white light. His shadow clone releases him and retreats a couple feet away from him.

Surprised, he remembers that Yami had gifted him with some of his strength, which never left after he was freed from his trance.

And if this clone of his was created from darkness, light can get rid of it.

Kaiba starts creating a ton of pure white crystals around him, launching them at the clone all at once. Seeing it bleed where the darts had landed or brushed against it was a startling sight for the brunette considering it was just a silhouette of himself.

Meanwhile, Yuugi is staring at Sakura and Dartz, waiting for an answer. "What is Ryou doing here? It's dangerous for him to be here right now!"

The timid albino walks out from behind them and says, "Well, you guys are out here risking your lives for something and right now, I don't want Seto to get hurt because of it. He has Mokuba to take care of after all."

"That doesn't matter," he groans. "There's nothing you can do that'll help at the moment. This is magic, demons, and angels we're talking about here. Mere humans would most likely become collateral damage and I don't want you to be on conscience if you get killed."

Sakura steps forward and laughs. "Don't waste your breath, Amitos. We've already had that discussion with him and he's bent on helping out Kaiba. So, I'm going to lend him some of my strength." Ryou glances at her, surprised that she even offered. "After all, the more we have, the more likely we can have this end in our favor, right?"

Yuugi thinks about it, then Dartz, walks over and whispers to him, "Don't try to argue with her methods right now, not when your husband's life and soul are at risk in the hands of a parasitic demon. You can confront her about it later."

The Light Prince looks at her, still uncertain that Ryou should even get involved. "...Fine," he answers. "But don't hurt Yami. Freeing his soul and releasing the demon is my job, am I clear?"

"Crystal," the albino agrees. Sakura turns him towards her and places her right hand over his eyes. "So, which element should I give him?"

She searches his mind and his past as far as she dared. Sakura detected elements in his past that were similar to her own, but otherwise, he was pure and cared for his friends, helping them out as much as he can. "I know exactly which one to give you."

Taki flew backwards onto the floor of the rooftop once again, her wrists singed by her own flames. She knew full well that using fire for too long can become a two-edged sword, but she was bent on taking the demon. After all, if he's a parasite demon, he can get a hold of the host's memory. Taki needs the two items that Loki and Sakura hid from her. If the demon takes over, she can get her answer about one of them.

And to do that, Daemion needs to use darkness as often as possible. It suffocates the soul if it's used enough. Considering that it lines up with the host's element perfectly, what better way to manipulate him that to use her strongest element.

"You honestly think that your futile attempts to defeat me would work on me, Valentine?" Daemion laughs. "Almost tragic, you're becoming your sister. I thought you were dif-"

He was cut off by the javelin in his stomach. Taki had taken the time to throw it in the middle of his taunt. "I am different. You don't know what I have in mind. You think I'm so easy to read? Think again!"

She gets up and starts walking towards him. Already, the wounds on him were beginning to heal. One of the perks of being a supernatural being was a swift recovery. Taki rips out the javelin, causing the possessed prince to gasp in pain.

Taki kneels and whispers to him, "It's not you I'm trying to put down."

Before Daemion could figure out what she was going on about, Sakura tackles her, pinning her to the rooftop. "Agh! Release me at once! I'm not finished with him!"

"You are in my eyes," her sibling scoffs. "You've done enough damage. We're trying to save Loki, not kill him. Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm trying to get things done around here!" Taki hisses at her. "If Loki's already lost, why are we trying to help him? It's not gonna do us any good."

"There is still a chance that my brother is alive and I don't want to lose him because of crazy scheme or strategy you happen to have in mind," Sakura says to her, a dark look in her eyes. Can she see what's going on inside her head? "Hurt him again like that and I'll make sure that it'll be your last, got it?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Taki grumbles.

Daemion stares on at the twins still having a discussion on the ground. Looking up and over at Kaiba's current predicament, he notices that the brunette had finally pinned the shadow in place with ivory chains. It's clearly not going anywhere.

Kaiba glares at the possessed male, somewhat exhausted from the fight with his clone. "Tired already, boy?" the demon calls out to him.

The brunette CEO smirks at him. "Are you kidding? I'm just getting started!"

He watches as the demon starts walking by the twins still talking it out on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a familiar shape in the shadows by the stairs. Two, in fact, one of which he knew well.

The albino steps out from shadows and hits him with a ball of light at the back of his head. It was enough to startle the demon from Kaiba. Ryou watches as Daemion turns his head and looks at him, his golden eyes narrowing.

"Who's the kid?" the demon inquires, not remembering when the albino got here. Ryou takes the new powers he obtained and makes a bow and arrow. "I'm a man who's going to help put you down, demon."

A/N: Well, this is it, working our way towards the end of the story! ^^ Just so you know, sometime in the future, I might update chapters and rework the story to put the prologue pieces in the beginning of the fic. Just a little thing I need to fix before this story is wrapped up. I'm not taking it down, I just wanted you guys to be aware of that in case something changes before or after the story is complete. With that, Please Review! ^w^

Next Chapter: Mind Over Matter

"Or what?" he interrupts with a laugh. Yuugi tightens his grip on his bow, pulling the arrow back just a little further. "What can a powerless child like you possibly do to a great demon such as myself?"