The Trials of the Future Generations

[Skylos]

Chapter One - The Mysterious Boy with the Straw Hat

A boy sat in an oak tree in the presence of a breeze. His face was smooth, unblemished, andalmost perfect in skin type. He had bright emerald eyes and a type of smirk on his face. He appeared to be your average, laid-back, teenager. His hair was a little off beat; It was black but with green streaks.He yawned slightly has he laid back on the branch and watched the people in the park. "So young...The lot of them." The boy had thought in his head. He sat up again. "I bet that all of their ages combined wouldn't even be how old I am." He chuckled.

"Hah...then how old is everyone here? Two months each? "Another boy, with brown hair and eyes, appeared to have been at the base of the tree, out of the first boy's sight, until now. He seemed to be of the same age...somewhere around fifteen.

The first boy looked surprised for onlya second before he laughed. "Nah. I was just praising how young I am."

The second boy shrugged and rolled his eyes. He muttered. "Or being an idiot."

The first boy jumped from the tree and landed on the ground. "I heard that." He cracked his knuckles threateningly. He stared into the boys eyes and looked him over. Something about him reminded him of an old friend. "What's your name?" He inquired.

He responded, "It's Peter...and I now remember who you are...You're that weirdo...Sid, wasn't it?"

Sid rolled his eyes. "Yes, but I'm not a weirdo. Erm, though who would say that?" He seemed to be in wonder. No one really paid him much attention.

Peter grinned. "Most people nowadays. You should hear the rumors about you...disappearing at night, not having a family; strangely strong...It's enough that people avoid you now."

Sid put on his straw hat. It seemed to be rather old, actually. "Hmm...Now aren't those interesting...Ah, but why aren't you avoiding me?" He grinned slightly. This would be interesting.

Peter coughed slightly. "Oh, um. Erm...I kind of think that if you don't care about the rumors, then you must be hiding something. Not to mention that I kind of like you anyways." Peter hoped that would suffice. Otherwise, he'd have to go into detail about wanting to crack down on what Sid was hiding, if there was anything.

Sid didn't answer. He just gave an unappreciative glance at him. If that was true, then it would be just like having paparazzi on your tail. He couldn't have that, since he was hiding something. "Meh...I have nothing to hide." He wondered what to say about the praise though. He didn't have any friends and hadn't had any in a long while. "Well it's nice to know someone cares. I'll catch you later." He suddenly said this and hurried off. He didn't even notice that a green candle fell from his pocket as he ran off.

Peter stood there and blinked. "That was a fast escape." He looked down and saw the candle. He picked it up and examined it. It didn't appear to be made of wax but of someone unknown substance. "This just keeps getting weirder..." He noticed that the sun was setting. "Disappearing at night" rang in Peter's head. "...and weirder." He stood there a few minutes as the wind blew before deciding to follow him the next night. He pocketed the strange candle and then wondered why Sid even had it to begin with, and howdid he get it?

***

Sid stared down at Peter from the top of a nearby building. His eyes were a blood red, and could easily see Peter as though he were right in front of him. The shadows masked the rest of his body, which seemed to have changed.

[Skylos]

Chapter Two - In the Black of the Night

Peter awoke the next day with a start. He had forgotten to turn off his alarm clock off again. Peter muttered to himself about how forgetful he was with things that seemed so simple to deal with. He pulled himself out of his bed and got dressed. "Blue jeans and a simpleorange solid shirt would do." He thought to himself. He flew through his morning routine like a breeze so that he would have plenty of time to make research on Sid. Who knew how many new rumors were up in the air nowjust by night passing!

***

He made his way to the park on foot. He cautiously looked around for Sid, making sure that he wasn't spying on him. Peter didn't see him around, so he made his way to one of his friends who he had called the previous night to come and meet with him. He saw her almost instantly; Her red eyes seemed to always give her away (She had said something about hergreat-great-grandmother having eyes like that). "Katie, over here!" She turned around at the calling of her name.

"Ah, why if it isn't Peter. You sure take your time." She teased him slightly. "Anyways, we have some juicy rumors going around about that wei-"

Peter cut her off. "His name is Sid. Just call him that. I don't think 'weird kid' is all that nice to our 'subject'."

Katie simply shrugged and continued on. "Sid, seems to also hang out with some strange person apparently. I think they sometimes get into fights according to eyewitnesses!"

Peter muttered, "Ah...I bet we can trust every person who says they're an 'eyewitness'." Peter was being rather sarcastic at the moment. Perhaps it was because of all the just plain outrageous rumors that were going around. "But I do think that is believable. Sid does look like he could take care of himself."

Katie rolled her eyes at his first comment, but nodded at his second. "So you met with him, correct?" She inquired softly.

Peter nodded. "Ah yes...what a character. He was going on about how old he thought he was when I found him." Peter scratched his head (His dad told him that his grandfather did that a lot)."Unless he really is old. Maybe we should add that to the rumor bin."

Katie shrugs, "Sure...that sounds plausible, right from the subject himself. Maybe he is loony, like #35 on the list says."

Peter shook his head. "Ah, but remember that#67 disproves that because of that 'test' that was given to him."

Katie blinks. "Oh yeah...Maybe we need a new #35 then...But that would mess up the numbering system..." She smacks her head. "D'oh, come on, this meeting is for gaining new information."

Peter nods. "I have. #1 has been proven. he does disappear at night; He ran out while I was talking to him." Peter walked over to a bench and sat down.

Katie followed him. "I see...Where did he go?"

Peter smiled. "That is what I'm going to figure out tonight. I'm going to tail him. All of the secrets will be out of the bag." Peter snapped at this (His dad also said something about his grandfather being an excellent snapper...whatever that meant).

***

Sid yawned from his tree. That boy is going to be a problem. I can't have him following me around and such...that and making friends. That is not my goal in life. My goal is to live...and that is precisely why I can't make friends...

"How sad that sounds." A person who was heavily clothed was at the base of the tree.

Sid looked down in surprise. "Ah blast it...stop reading my thoughts." Sid stared slightly as if looking through the person. "What exactly would a Shadow Wielder like yourself possibly want here?"

The Shadow Wielder responded, "I was sent because there was a prophecy pertaining to a boy of great power. He would end up having the power to rip apart the fabrics of the very universe. A boy is rather vague...so I went looking for people such as yourself."

Sid raised an eyebrow. "Um...what?"

The shadow wielder paced. "I'll give you until tonight to think it over...I'll get rid of you weather you give up or not." With that, the shadow wielder sank into his shadow and disappeared.

That was...disturbing. This distraction made him forget all about Peter.

***

The sun was setting low and Peter was quietly and quickly on Sid's trail. It was ashame that he didn't know what he was getting himself into.

Sid was on the top of a building. The sun now set and all was dark. He looked around and then he changed his form...Into something completely not human.

[Skylos]

Chapter Three - Unexpected Occurances

"What the-?" Those were the first words out of Peter's mouth as he had climbed the stairs and reached the top where Sid was standing.

Sid's eyes narrowed. He had excellent hearing in his new form. He heard Peter and knew that he had been followed. "Stupid...stupid!" He thought to himself. He had let himself be followed by someone who would most definitly get in the way. He turned around and stared at Peter with his red eyes. A bit of anger was mixed in his body-piercing stare.

Peter froze. Was this really Sid? He couldn't see him clearly enough; It had gotten to dark. He could make out the eyes with no problem; They were like glowing rubies. But what was the silhouette behind him? He just couldn't make it out. He dared to inch closer.

Sid met this by crossing his arms. He figured that peter wasn't going to give up. Perhaps he could knock him out before anymore damage was done. It was at that moment when the Shadow Wielder appeared behind him.

"Giving up?" The Shadow Wielder inquired, already knowing the answer.

Sid turned around more annoyed than ever. "Absolutely not!"

Peter could see Sid from behind now. The earlier silhouette appeared to have been, "Wings?" Peter stared in disbelief. Red eyes were one thing, but wings? Who and what was Sid?

"Who is this? Your second?" The cloaked figure seemed rather sarcastic with this remark.

Sid gritted his teeth (which Peter then realized were fangs, adding to his disbelief). "No...He's some boy who followed me here." He turned to Peter and added coldly. "I'll deal with you afterwards."

Peter gulped at this as the Shadow Wielder raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so...You see...I'm going to kill you. There won't be an afterwards." Something formed in his hands.

Sid's eyes allowed him to see what was forming. It was that shadow power that they used. But he knew that he had the upper hand. The sun had set and there weren't many shadows to work with. He suddenly found himself thanking the darkness. Sid formed some type of energy orb in his hand.

Peter pretty much forced his eyes to see what was going on. Sid had formed something in his hands. It was black...very helpful in his struggle to see it. Shots were beingfired now. The two figures ran along the top of the building firing off their respective elements. Peter was unsure of what those actually were though. He attempted to stay out of the way, though many attacks seemed to fly very close to him. The other two did not even seem to care.

The Shadow Wielder suddenly disappeared from sight. Sid searched around quickly, but couldn't locate him. The Shadow Wielder reappeared behind him and delivered a dropkick and sent Sid to the floor of the roof.

Sid recovered quickly and slashed at the Shadow Wielder's chest. The Shadow Wielder toppled over on the ground as blood dripped from the wound. Peter had then noticed the claws. "What...are you?" Another black orb appeared in his hand. "That is none of your concern." He raised his arm and pointed it at Peter. "Good-bye Peter." He fired it with shocking speed and slammed it into Peter's chest. Peter went flying backwards as the wind was knocked out of him.

Peter gasped in shock as he stared up at the sky. Was he bleeding? Did Sid just try to kill him? Was he going to die? Thoughts and questions flowed into his mind slipped into an unconscious state. Sid looked at him and put his clawed foot on Peter's chest, planning to kick his heart for a finishing blow.

But...

"Where am I?" Peter looked around. Everything around him was a pale color. He stood up and looked around. More pale color. He walked for awhile until he came across two spheres that were larger than him. He stared into them. The white one had someone in it, and so did the black one. He seemed more comfortable around the white bubble. He pressed his hands up against it and light erupted from it in all directions.

***

Sid went in for the final kick. He stopped in mid-kick as a brilliant light erupted from Peter's body. Sid was thrown back onto the roof's floor again. Shock had filled his face as he stared with his jaw wide-open.

Peter was standing up now. Light was emanating from his body and shone on Sid's body. He had green fur and he was wearing green robe like clothes. There were three distinct horns on his head as well. A tail was now visible from below the middle set of wings. Two other sets of wings were on his back as well; one below, and one above.

Peter stared at Sid's form. "Good-bye to you too, Sid."

[Skylos]

Chapter Four - An Ironic Outcome

Sid got up and stared at Peter. "...You look like a light bulb." Sid cracked his knuckles. "You'll just blow out in the end." He rushed at Peter with his claws extended.

Peter momentarily flinched at the insult, but quickly recovered in time to block by making the light into a solid form around his arm to ward off the claws. "Last I checked...I was still winning." he grinned.

Sid looked at Peter from close up and noted his yellow eyes. "What do we have here? A Light Human? Haven't seen one of those in awhile." Sid head-butted Peter with his triple horns.

Peter took the hit, not expecting it. The horns dug into his forehead a little and cause some massive bleeding. "Ugh...I've been dormant for awhile...That's all." Peter grabbed onto Sid's bulky head and blasted him in the face with a light burst.

Sid fell over on the ground, momentarily blinded and somewhat crispy. "Ouch...Dormant? You don't even sound likethatlittle bratPeter." He swiped blindly with his spiked tail.

Peter dodged with ease and side-kicked him in the head. "That's Light Essence for ya." Peter then tripped over Sid's wildly swinging tail and fell on his face.

Sid had not been affected by the kick, apparently. "Ah, so you're not Peter. I'll make sure I kill ya then.I can't have you mucking with an innocent little child." Sid charged up a black orb in his hand and fired it at Peter's back. The sludge like material stuck him to the ground.

"What the? I c-can't move! I can't protect someone if you're ruining my ways of attacking!" Peter struggled but to no avail.

Sid grinned. "Protect? You're a lousy protector then. Or maybe it's because you're up against a 195 year old demon. That could be the problem..."

Peter laid there silent. He then spoke up a few moments later. "Well...this wouldn't have happened if you were truthful to him."

Sid snorted. "You're just making excuses. I would never give out my identity willingly to a human. I don't care who he or sheis." Sid glared. "Now where was I before? Right...kicking your heart out."

Peter gritted his teeth. "Who says I'm beat?" Peter tried to emit a light burst, but he failed for some reason. "What? Why can't I attack...That's such a simple move to use..."

Sid stepped on Peter's back. "My black slime drains energy. You can barely stay concious I bet. I'll drain you out of Peter's body." He grinned and applied pressure.

Peter put out his hand and noticed that there was no slime there. If only I can get one clear shot in one super charged blast, I might win. He thought to himself. He pushed himself to blast out one super attack. He would be completely vulnerable if this failed. "Sid...you wouldn't kill an innocent human would you? I'm sorta one."

Sid seem to think about it.

Peter took this moment to fire the blast at Sid. It hit him him dead in the chest. he went flying backwards and crashed to the ground on his back. The slime on Peter vanished. "Yes...I did it." Peter struggled onto his feet and gasped at Sid. "No..."

Sid stood up with ashes falling from his stomach. "That...was extremely stupid. You show that you have no training. Your power takes over your body..." Sid gritted his teeth. "Get over here...Your ignorance annoys me." Sid walked over to him and grabbed Peter around the waist and flipped him 90° so that Sid could haul him away.

Peter flinches at first until he realized what he was doing. "What? You're not going to kill me? Train me?" Peter closed his eyes and fainted from overuse of power. He returned to normal as well.

Sid took off in the air and flew to his "hideout" and put him down. "What have I found here? A goldmine...that's what." He grinned.

[Skylos]

Chapter Five - An Alliance?

Sid stayed in his demon form. There was no point in hiding from Peter now.

Peter had awoke with a start, but not to an alarm clock this time. He looked at Sid which confirmed that the whole thing hadn't been a dream. "Why am I not dead?" If Sid had told him already, then he had forgotten.

Sid walked over to him and sat down across from him. He stared into Peter's brown eyes. "You're not dead because of what you showed me last night."

Peter blinked. He hardly remembered what happened after getting knocked down. Paleness, bubbles, light...There was something else too. "I got trapped in my mind... I saw someone...no, two people."

Sid raised an eyebrow. "I must have pushed you into a state within your mind. You have hidden power it seemed. I thought you were something called a Light Human-which I believe are all gone-but that doesn't seem to be the case. You're completely normal now."

Peter frowned. "Probably because you made him think he was a complete failure at life..."

Sid glared. "Well excuse me for defending myself."

Peter laughed. "Ha! Back at 'cha."

Sid gave an unloving stare. "You want me to try to kill you again? Maybe you'll get saved...though I'm thinking you might not get saved this time." He grinned.

Peter moved his head forward. "Is that a threat? It's rather lame...I guess that comes from being old, gramps." He grinned.

Sidleaned his head closer, very close to Peter's face. "...and you're a little helpless baby. I think I'd rather be old than freaking out over everything."

Peter moved even closer. His forehead was almost touching Sid's. That would make Sid'd center horn rather close. "Fine then...I accept your challenge."

Sid grinned wide, showing his fangs. "You've got guts to take on a demon after almost being killed by the same one."

Peter wrapped hisright arm around Sid's neck. "That or I'm crazy.* He grinned. He couldn't help but like Sid like this.

Sid laughed and backed away from his face. He also plucked Peter's arm off from his neck. Peter seemed like someone he could trust. "There's no real reason to fight."

Peter crossed his arms. "Are you backing away from a human?" He joked.

Sid seemed to think a few seconds. "Oh no." He put his clawed left hand on Peter's head and put a little bit of pressure.

Peter fell over. "Ouch...I think you win."

Sid helped him up. "Yeah...humans nowadays are too easy...ever since "The Incident.""

Peter sat down again. "Incident? What happened to make us so weak?"

Sid sighed. "It isn't what happened to you, it's what happened to us. There used to be realms of demons, many demons of the same kind." He paused to see if Peter was listening. "Then one day, the realms' crystals were all taken to the Sol Demon's realm and used to try to get a sol orb for some void human-I won't mention his name-and the end result made each of the demon realms have only one demon. However, all of the demons had been put together, so we're all super strong. No humans could hurt us. Your attacks last night barely did anything, if you saw. You need to train."

Peter took this all in. "I see...But why should I train?"

Sid smiled. "I need your help. I want you to get rid of all the other demons and I have a way now."

Peter blinked. "That's a big, not to mention strange task you have for me."

Sid nodded. "A friend gave me his treasure...it contained all information on demons. The book itself changed after The Incident to match the names of the demons. He also gave me one of his relative's inventions...some type of orb. He called it a Capture Orb. Seems he has quite a collection." Sid grabbed a book with a skull on the front and gaveit to Peter. He also gave him a case. "Better get to learning, eh?"

Peter nodded slightly. "My family..."

Sid smiled. "Oh don't worry. I took care of that. For all they know, you were at a sleepover."

Peter left afterwards and went home. The book in his hands weighed a ton. The suitcase seemed light compared to that.

[Skylos]

Chapter Six - The Weakest Demon...

Peter had scanned over the book and found that he couldn't read about three-fifths of it. The entire front part was written in some language that Peter had no understanding of. The back of the book was written in English. The book had some type of table of contents that would open to the page you were looking for, provided that you weren't too vague on what you were looking for. He had barely begun reading it and wondered weather he should even be helping Sid. He had noted that Sid wasn't even in the book. How could he trust him with no information on him. Speaking of information...what was he going to do with Katie? She would be expecting some sort of report on where Sid had gone off to. All of the thoughts raced around in Peter's head before he made his mind up. He would help Sid, but only because he wasn't sure weather his powers were safe. They could attack at any time now he felt.

Now another problem arose. He had his powers...but he couldn't control them. How was he going to catch all the other demons while he wasn't even sure if he would remember to even throw a capture orb in his light state. Peter rubbed his temples. He was giving himself a headache with all of this thinking.

He suddenly had an idea. "Mm...I could take out the weakest of all demons to see if I can last. If I can't beat even that...then I can tell Sid that I can't help him; that my powers are just too unpredictable." He nodded to himself and grabbed the book. "Weakest demon." The book seemed to think about it a few seconds and then it opened to a page with a detailed picture of a demon. The demon was mainly purple, but had a blue sort of mist in the background. the text on the page marked the demon as "Aura." The information also noted that it was a female demon. Peter sighed. Now he had to attack females...things were just getting better.

He read further and the text noted that she was mostly peaceful and didn't have that many skills. she seemed to be mainly a support type and to be used to make other demons more powerful. She was often asked for help. Peter thought about it some more. "If I were to catch her...then I would be making quite a few demons upset...I could be in for it later..." He paced a bit before laying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling. Pondering didn't seem to help him. If he didn't help Sid (now that he thought about it) then how would Sid react? Mad? Sad? Maybe he wouldn't care.

He closed the book and sat it on his dresser. "I have too much on my mind. I just need to do one thing and see what happens. I'll attempt to catch her." he had decided. The text of the book said that she lived in another realm (since Peter also found out about the many other realms from the book)so Sid would have to take him there. he left his house for Sid's...but...

It was then that Katie saw him leave and she came up to him. "So how did it go?"

He dreaded this question and clearly showed it since Katie raised an eyebrow. "Not so good. I found out that Sid is a demon." Peter expected Katie to laugh a bit and think that meant that the mission had failed, but she frowned instead.

"Ah." One word, that was it. That was all she said.

"Ah?" He inquired.

Katie nodded. "Don't tell anyone...but...I think I'm related to a demon... My great grandparents were supposedly demons...so was their daughter...but she was a hybrid."

Peter blinked and stared. The irony here baffled him. He wondered weather Katie was joking around, or if this meant she had some powers of her own. He shook his head. "Yeah...Well I have things to go do today. I'll be seeing you!" He left in a hurry and didn't stop once on his way to Sid's.

When he arrived, he saw Sid standing in the doorway. The shadows were cleverly placed on his body that it almost seemed like he had black fur instead of green. However, as he neared, the green fur was visible and looked like it had never been black. Sid addressed him in his demonic tone. "Peter, have you found a target?" He expected Peter to be working with him anyways. Peter had realized that he couldn't have escaped being drawn into this mess anyways...Sid was to into it to allow Peter to not help.

Peter nodded. "Aura." The name had a nice ring to it.

Sid shrugged slightly. He gave a disappointed look as though he had expected him to pick someone really strong.

Peter sensed this and replied as though Sid had said this. "Look...my power is untrained andI don't even know if I could take anyone on. My power was on autopilot last time."

Sid grunted. "You have no confidence because you fought me...I'm practically invincible." He said it so bluntly that Peter didn't even think that Sid was beingcocky but rather, honest.

"Maybe so...but I still don't trust it."

"...and there's your other problem."

"Shut up...you sound like you know everything."

"I do."

"..." Now he was just being difficult. "May we get going already?"

"So polite, yet full of a rude sense of pushing." Sid grinned and walked over to Peter. "Let's go."

Peter held one of Sid's claws (since his hand was as big as a watermelon which made his claws rather large) and they teleported to Aura's realm.

[Skylos]

Chapter Seven - ...Is Still Stronger Than Any Normal Human

"What do you want?" That was the first thing that was heard when they entered the realm. Aura probably didn't get many visitors and probably didn't want any.

Peter wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, though Sid stepped forward as if knowing what to do.

"Hello Aura~" A sing-songy voice he used. "I bet you can guess what I'm up to."

"Oh...You. What's with the human?"

"Easy." he grinned. "He's my trump card...He can used capture orbs."

Aura seemed skeptical. "Right...and even if he could...He's no match for me."

Peter frowned. He hadn't seen any other types of demons. This one seemed strong even though it happened to be female and even if the book said that it was the weakest. He didn't even know if he could beat it. "Oh I can use capture orbs. You don't have to worry about that."

Aura only yawned. "Your aura is so tiny...I doubted you could do anything. I can just look at it and can tell that you've never trained it." She smiled spitefully.

Peter growled slightly; He didn't like getting picked on. "I'll show you...I do have power in here." He suddenly went into his light form, and seemed to be controlling it himself. "Heh...See?"

Aura was already attacking. She didn't care about Peter's sense of trying to prove her wrong. She slashed with her claws at his chest.

Peter had nothing to block with and he was thrown across the field they were in. it was then he noticed how full of flowers it was. He supposed Aura was rather girly or something to want to live here. He got up and noticed he was actually bleeding and there was pain. His light aura seemed to be healing it though. "Ouch..." he quickly rushed at Aura and hit her with a quick light orb. It didn't seem to do much. "Huh?"

Aura grinned. "Tsk tsk...weak as I thought...no, knew." She laughed.

Peter seemed ticked off by now and fired off another light orb, but slightly larger. The impact left a burn mark on Aura's left arm.

"Ouch...Hey, your aura got bigger...Using hate isn't a good idea kid, then you go down the wrong type of power path." Aura seemed to up her own power and tried to overcharge Peter's aura. Good way to beat him. He would destroy himself.

Peter struggled in his own aura. it was getting too big and out of hand. If he didn't discharge it soon, then he'd probably get burnt alive in his own power. Aura had purposely done this to him. Discharge? He formed a light orb in his left hand and gritted his teeth, the energy caused him pain to do so. The entire aura reached into the orb and it seemed to do the trick. He fired it at Aura who couldn't actually do anything about it.

Aura took the hit expectantly. She figured that Peter couldn't have ever maintained such a blast. She fell over.

Sid grinned. "Go for it Peter!" He shouted to him.

Peter took out the violet capture orb and put it on his index finger. The orb began to spin on the tip and he point his finger at his target. The orb shot off his finger tip and slammed into Aura's forehead. She broke up into tiny particles and slipped into the orb. She was reconstructed inside and locked in. Peter rushed over and grabbed the orb. "Victory!"

Sid reminded him as they began to leave. "That was the weakest demon...Just wonder what it takes to beat a demon at my level." He chuckled.

Peter teleported back and realized that he wouldn't be able to beat anyone like that

[Skylos]

Chapter Eight - A Tale of Love and Hate

Peter awoke to sunlight. He looked over at his dresser. A case was sitting there on top of it. He moved himself out of the bed and walked over to face the case. He unlocked the locks on it and peered inside. A purplish orb sat perfectly in an indention. Aura stared up at him with an annoyed expression. Peter sighed and closed it back. Sid had stated the night before that the orb would keep the demon secured, and nourished.

He left his room, after dressing, and slipped out of the house. He was met on the street by a familiar boy wearing a straw hat. "Mornin' Peter. I have some thingsI need to teach you."

Peter nodded slightly. What was it he could teach him? He followed Sid to a secluded spot in the park. "Okay...So what is this thing you need to teach me?" He inquired.

Sid put his arms behind his head as though stretching. "I need for you to be able to search for auras. Demons will simply pass you by on earth if you don't know what you're looking for."

Peter nodded, but wondered how he could sense auras. "But...I don't know the slightest thing about aura searching..."

Sid rolled his eyes. "If you knew about how to do it, then I wouldn't be teaching you. Now focus your thoughts on me and close your eyes." Peter did so. "Now, visualize an aura...It's like a shower of sparks."

Peter nodded. With that in mind, he visualized Sid in front of him. The first thing that came to mind was green. Sure enough, he was starting to see green sparks in the shape of Sid's Demon body. "Oh!" he lost the picture. "I saw you as...A demon."

Sid grinned. "Then you did it correctly! Congrats. However, that is only stage one. Can you see your own aura?"

Peter looked down at his hand. He couldn't see anything. "No...I don't know...how to visualize myself with power...I can only think of..." His mind wandered to the bubbles in his mind. The white one, and the black one. He thought he was starting to see something grey, but then Sid distracted him.

"That's alright. That's the last step anyways. You need to be able to identify others first. You can see me...but that's only because you know what you're looking for. So what are you looking for you ask? Fire, water, earth, wind, et cetera. Think of how they are."

Peter thought about it. Earth was like the ground...which is brown...He looked around. Nothing of that color was showering sparks. He frowned.

"Also, your range of sensing is very low at this point. I can only sense up to about 50 miles even at my old age." He winked.

Peter nodded, feeling better. "What should I be looking for then? Shouldn't you know?"

Sid shrugged. "Try searching for... Red and pink."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Red and pink? What kind of demon would be red and pink?" he searched, nonetheless and even found what Sid had said. "Whoa...That's a big mass of aura..."

Sid chuckled to himself. Peter couldn't tell one aura from two. He noticed that Peter had already taken off and he needed to catch up to the youth.

Peter had come up too close to the aura search and saw that two people were looking at him. Oops. He thought.

The two had been arguing, and seeing Peter, they stopped. "What do we have here?" The first male said. "A brat, I would say." Said the second male.

Sid arrived and concealed himself behind a tree. He'd let Peter do all of the work.

Peter frowned. Now he got it. Sid had purposely said red and pink because there were two demons together, not one. "Heh? Stop the hiding; I know what you are."

The two looked skeptical; the red aura more so than the pink aura one. "And what is that supposed to mean?" The red aura said. The pink one stared at Peter slightly and gave an almost recognizing glance. "Hm? Yeah, what are you talking about?" he said after a bit.

Peter grinned. "You're demons, I can see your auras."

The pink one raise his eyebrows. "Okay, Miso...Differences aside for a moment...We have a human that knows we exist." he morphed in a frenzy of white feathers and stared down at Peter. He was wearingalmost all white. Hisbright yellow eyes showed a hint of a mischievous intent. A halo sat about his head.His white feathery wings donned on his back.

Miso glared. "Fine, Akio." he morphed also, a black tornado of rose petals changedhim into a taller, black furred demon. He had long curled horns on the side of his head and hateful red eyes with black scleras. A black, spiked halo floated above his head. Black wings appeared on his back.

Both of them had six wings, and looked very dangerous. Peter gulped slightly. "Erm...Um...As a Demon Catcher, I will capture you two! No mercy!"

Akio grinned. "Oh really? I might have to make you fall in love with a tree first, though." His pink aura sparked.

Miso rolled his eyes. Akio always used that line...even after 80 years. He hated that line, he thought as his red aura sparked.

[Skylos]

Chapter Nine - All's Fair in Love and War

Sid chuckled slightly. "Now ain't that an interesting line." he said from behind a tree. He spied on Peter's battle that was just about to begin.

Peter sweated. "A...a...tree? He stammered. He pulled out his Demon Book and flipped through the pages to find Akio. He found him next to Miso's page. "Both have powers over emotion?" He shuddered. He also read that Akio used roses. Roses? How the heck will that do anything? He frowned and took out a capture orb. Perhaps this will be easier than I thought.

Akio's yellow eyes feel on the orb. "Ah! I recognize that! Better watch yourself, Miso. It'll suck you in and won't let you out." Akio crossed his arms. "Of course, little kid, I won't let that happen." His gaze turned to a more serious glance as he sped toward Peter. His claws slashed as he got near.

Peter snapped the book shut and pocketed it. He side-stepped to the right, only to be met with a sharp kick in the gut from Akio. Peter toppled over on the ground.

Akio wasted no time with wisecracks and stomped his foot down on Peter's back.

Peter coughed. "Ouch...What did I ever do to you?" He looked forward and saw Miso approaching. Oh no...

Akio crossed his arms. "Other than threatening a demon, no, two demons, nothing."

Miso sat down at Peter's head and then starred into his eyes.

Peter struggled to get up. He knew from looking at Miso that he wasn't any type of nice demon. He peered into his mind to try and connect with his Light form. He needed it very badly now.

Miso grabbed his head; Peter's head seemed to fit into the giant hand perfectly. "I can't say what the outcome of this will be. I can sense him gaining a light aura, so I can't be certain that he will lose as he berserks..." A red aura enveloped Peter's body.

Peter screamed as a pain shot throughout his entire body. He successfully turned into his light form; however, his scleras turned from white to black. His brown irises turned to their usual yellow.

Miso took his hand away. "He'll be the end of himself now. I've loaded him with so much hate that he could level a city..." Miso got up and walked out of the way.

Akio took his foot off of Peter and backed up. "You made him more dangerous? What are you thinking?!"

Miso grinned. "Well, let's say that he can fairly fight you now. It's no fun when you beat someone so easily."

Peter twitched on the ground. He slowly rose from the ground and gave heavy breaths. He turned his head up and glared at Akio. "I'm going to kill you!" He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

Miso gave an amused look. "Good idea, Kid. That way, I don't have to!" He laughed.

Akio glared in annoyance at Miso and turned his attention back to Peter. Great. Now I have a two annoyances; an overgrown ram, and a light kid. He took out a red rose.

Peter spat to the side. "A rose? That's your big weapon? Spare me!" He charged up an orb of light into his left hand. He raced at Akio and smashed it into the side of his head.

Akio lost his balance and fell over. He recovered within seconds and slashed at Peter, who nimbly dodged and chuckled a newly made orb at Akio's gut. He winced slightly and jumped back. He wasn't scoring any hits anymore. The rose in his hand glowed red, suddenly. he swipe at the air and razor sharp petals flew out and stormed Peter.

Peter fired a barrage of light orbs, but found that his attacks were missing petals. The petals slashed at Peter around his whole body. His white clothes were turning red innumerous places. The petals continued to fly around. He growled slightly and fired a beam of light from the tip of his left index finger. The petals started to catch on fire as he hit them. Using the property of light that he put in the rose petals, he directed them back at Akio.

Akio was blazed with his own attack. He really had though he was going to beat him with that move. He would have to switch to his specialty. His yellow eyes started to glow as he ran at Peter.

Peter rushed at Akio with blinding speed and was soon up in his face, about to punch his forehead.

Akio aligned his eyes with Peter's hate-eyes.

Peter's expression suddenly changed and he stopped his punch. His sclera turned back to a normal white. "Ah...My head...is cleared..." He looked at Akio, remembering his fight. "...Right."

Akio wasted no time and slashed with his rose that had now turned into a thorn covered sword.

Peter took a gamble. He grabbed the sword, finding that his hand had struck a large thorn, he yelled, but then jammed his capture orb into Akio's forehead.

Akio gaped at his predicament. "Kid...!" His body broke into tiny pink particles and entered into the capture orb, which promptly fell out of his hand and into the tall, charred grass.

Peter fell to the grass in pain. He looked at his hand that had been struck by the thorn. It was slightly purple. He winced. "Poison...?" He grabbed the capture orb. "Akio...I need the...cure..."

Akio crossed his arms. "Done." The orb glowed pink.

Peter looked at his hand. It was normal. "Why did you...?"

Akio glared slightly. "If you die, then I don't have much of a chance myself!"

Miso chuckled and left in a hurry. He ran into Sid. "Hm? Why...?"

Sid grinned. "Hello Miso. Long-time, no see."

Miso raised an eyebrow. "You know Sid...You can always be the best, without having to get rid of the rest of us demons."

Sid chuckled. "Where's the fun in competition?"

Miso crossed his arms. "He only won because I helped him. You better train him better...He can't beat the Upper Quad and I bet he couldn't even begin to harm Lunar or Phantom."

Sid smiled. "I know. He needs to figure out his powers before then, first. Anyways...You better get before he fires a capture orb at you."

Miso glared. "How threatening." he extended his wings and flew off.

Peter held up Akio's orb. "Hey...I wouldn't be doing this if I hadn't felt threatened."

Akio mumbled. "I think I'd have to agree with you...Sid is...like that..."

Sid came up behind him. "Better get home Peter. Almost time for supper." He winked.

Peter walked home with Akio.

[Skylos]

Chapter Ten - An Uncontrolled Power

The next few days were uneventful, save the everyday visits from Katie. She began pacing after the third day. "Three days, and you haven't seen any demons? Maybe they're avoiding you now." She came to her conclusion and frowned. She messed with her black hair.

Peter nodded. "Yeah...You must be right. Though I don't know why; I have only an Aura demon and Love demon...Not that powerful."

Two "heys!" came from the case containing Aura and Akio.

Peter opened it and looked at the scowling faces. "Well...It's true. You couldn't beat me."

Aura glowered. "You beat me with my help..."

"...and you beat me with Miso's help!" Akio snapped.

Peter frowned. That was true...he had help on both cases...Sid wasn't doing much on the lines of training him...He'd probably have to ask to be trained...and that was truly embarrassing.

Katie smiled. "Cheer up! You do have two and that's all that counts!" She patted him on the back.

Peter smiled and absentmindedly looked out the window. He gasped. "I see a demonic aura! It's red and black!"

Akio cocked his head to the side. "Sounds like a Blood demon."

Peter grabbed his Demon Index and flipped through. "Who is that?"

Aura scratched her head. It became apparent that the demons were forced into their human forms while in the orbs. "Her name is Aima."

Peter found it right away as she said this. "Aima...controls blood...or rather, controls whatever her blood lands on. Can also suck the life-force out of whomever she gets her claws around..." He shuddered. "At least we have evening on our side this time. A battle won't be noticed." he smiled optimistically and headed out.

Katie yelled after. "Wait! Don't you have a plan?" She followed.

Akio and Aura sighed slightly.

Downstairs and outside, Peter confronted Aima. "Hey." he said plainly.

A woman in a black overcoat turned around and starred. She knew that he knew. "Ah...Little Peter Pantech is challenging me? I can tell; it's written all over your face!" She grinned. "...A soon bloodied face!" her body changed and became a lot like Miso's, but the horns were not like a ram's, but shorter and straight up. Her body was almost liquid like...like blood.

Peter grunted slightly and conjured his Light form. His clothes changed into their white apparel as his irises turned yellow. "This should be quick."

"Likewise." She replied much to Peter's dismay. She stuck out her forked tongue and opened the battle with a foward slash of her long black claws.

Peter barely dodged and noted that black and night caused Peter to be at a disadvantage. He lit a light orb and found where she was. He perfromed a jump-kick and was caught by the feet!

Aima swung Peter round and round until she released him.

Peter crashed into the side of a tree and toppled to the ground. He recovered quickly, using his light to heal himself. I'm glad I read up on my powers... He put his left index finger out and fired a beam of light at Aima's forehead, only to have it blocked by a clot of blood that flowed from Aima's outstretched palms.

Aima mocked him. "That's it? How the heck did a low-life like you catch two demons? Oh I know...because they probably let you or laughed so hard that they couldn't fight!"

Peter gritted his teeth. "Why you...!"

Sid had seemingly arrived. He watched from a tree.

Aima went on the offensive. She rushed at Peter and grinned as she got close.

Peter put up his guard as he expected impact. But no solid impact came...

Aima had turned into a liquid form and soaked Peter head to foot in a blackish-red liquid that Peter then found to be demon blood.

Peter looked around for Aima, but could not locate her. He became worried. He dripped with blood that he could not clear away from his body. "What...?"

Aima chuckled from somewhere. "Heh heh heh. I gotcha!" Peter's eyes became red as he lost control of his body.

Peter found himself in his head again...The room with the two bubbles. In front of him was a river of blood that his light form was standing in as he watched from the light bubble. The light form turned around and fired at the light bubble!

Peter freaked out and needed to escape somehow! he called to his light form, but it wouldn't snap out of the weird possession. He noted that the blood on the ground was the cause, so he couldn't leave without becoming possessed, but where would he go? he looked around and found the black bubble, that looked grey from the inside of the white bubble he was in. Could he ask help from the essence in there? He felt uncomfortable, looking at it. He jumped in the bubble since it was close to the light bubble.

A form that looked exactly like Peter looked back at him, unloving. It had violet eyes, and was wearing all black.

Fear suddenly went through Peter as he looked at him. Could this be his evil side?

The black-dressed Peter got up and walked over to the real Peter. "Sit." He said without emotion.

Peter obeyed and sat down, as he was too afraid not to.

The black-dressed Peter put a cold, pale hand on Peter's head. "I'm taking your body over now. That will be the price of me rescuing you." A black and violet mist swept through the outside of the bubble and cleared the blood away completely. The Light Peter returned into his bubble and the black-dressed Peter left his.

Peter sat in the black bubble, feeling completely helpless and cold.

On Earth, the blood reformed as a fuming Aima who found that her power had been drain substantially.

Peter opened his eyes. They were violet and his white robe and undergarmets had turned ebony, black. He put his right hand out and the mist from earlier choked Aima as it was poisonous to breathe.

She toppled over after awhile, seeing that she couldn't face this power. "S...s...stop! You...win!"

Peter stared down at Aima's eyes and locked them.

Aima suddenly saw all of her fears being realized; the blood around her was drying up and she was crumbling away. She screamed and stared at seemingly nothing.

Katie was shocked at this transformation of Peter. He seemed...Cold-hearted and slightly evil.

After a bit of pleasure, Peter threw a capture orb at Aima's forehead and she broke into tiny particles which reformed in the orb. he picked up the orb and pocketed it.

Katie ran over. "Peter?"

Peter turned to her. "What do you want?" He said coldly.

Katie glared. "To justify what you just did!"

Peter scoffed. "I returned the favor of controlling someone's mind. An eye for an eye they say."

Katie went to slap Peter's cheek, but found her hand to have been caught. A black glove squeezed her hand.

Peter glared. "I'll do it to you too!" he threw he over and she hit the ground. "Now shut up your antics and get used to seeing me. You'll never see the old me ever again!"

Katie was on the verge of tears. Not only did that hurt, she was losing her friend to some new uncontrolled power.

Sid only laughed and knew he'd be challenged again.

[Skylos]

Chapter Eleven - Power Controlled

Peter snapped his attention to the tree where Sid lurked. "Now come out of that tree..." He said, sensing Sid's greenish-black aura.

Sid landed and grinned. "Ah...Peter's at it again...not knowing how to control his powers." he wagged his index finger. 'Tut tut." He mocked.

Peter had crossed his arms. "...You done?" He said, unemotionally. He lit an orb that seemed like a violet-black mist. He threw it at Sid who wasn't even in his demon form.

Sid caught it and peered into it. "Ah...Lovely darkness...I almost miss the Dark Humans." he rolled his eyes and threw it back.

Peter caught it as well and increased its size. He ehld it up with both hands and it exploded into an ebony mist that flooded the area. He seemed to melt into it.

Sid looked around, seemingly not impressed. "Well...Ninja like aren't we?" He morphed into his demon form and grinned, showing his fangs. He looked around through the mist, only needing to see Peter's aura in order to fight him. He didn't see it, so he figured that the mist was concealing it rather well.

Peter skulked around the mist and fired at Sid from the front with darkness in the form of knives. Numerous of these knives flew at Sid, who retaliated with some type of black substance that stopped them dead in their tracks when it hit them.

"You call that an attack? Try harder." He continued to mock Peter's power.

Peter narrowed his eyes to tiny violet slits. He directed his right hand in a way that seemed like he was calling a charge. Suddenly, the black mist began to swirl around in a tornado fashion which threatened to engulf Sid.

Sid flapped his six wings vigorously. The move paid off and blew the mist out of proportion and destroyed it. Sid grinned, happy at his good work. He rushed at Peter and slashed Peter's chest, since he was now exposed.

Peter, having no escape, was slashed and thrown to the ground. He clutched his chest as he was now in pain, though he didn't seem to show it.

Sid chuckled as he put a talon of his foot on his chest and applied slight pressure. "Now, you're going to release Peter." He would move his talons in and out, slowly, so that the pain would increase.

Peter showed looks of discomfort. "Never." He locked his eyes with Sid's.

Sid widen his eyes as the world seemed to melt around him. "Ah...a Mind Trauma. Try me." He challenged. He knew that a Mind Trauma was a Dark Human's ability that allowed for a Dark Human to pry into a person's mind and find what they feared most, and then recreate it. It was an illusion, but it could cause great damage to those who were weak minded.

Peter gazed in Sid's mind, but found nothing. "I-impossible...You have no fears?" He was shocked.

Sid grinned as the Mind Trauma dome shattered. "Not just that, you're too weak to even see my mind. I'd only need twenty-five percent of my power to block you." he laughed. "Now release Peter; you lose."

Peter gritted his teeth. "Fine...I'll return him...but he better use me in the future-"

"Then give him full control of you." He interrupted. "Peter will learn better that way."

Peter groaned slightly. "Fine...It's not like I have anything better to do..." He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were brown. "Ugh...My head." His clothes had turned back to a red shirt and blue jeans. His wounds had healed. "Where's Aima? Oh...hold on...I remember now." he suddenly became fearful. "That...Darkness inside of me...It was so cold...lonesome...Depressing." he shivered slightly in the night air.

Sid morphed back into a human form and gave a slight hug. "Hey...Don't worry about it...It'll be fine now. he won't bother you now. You can use him withou-"

"NO!" Peter interjected. "I will never use him! He took over my body and hurt Katie! Katie...!" he remembered and rushed over to where he had thrown her. She had watched Sid's fight. "Katie?"

Katie smiled slightly. "It's okay...I knew it wasn't you." Peter helped her up and she hugged him. "I'm just glad you're safe." Peter blushed slightly. "I'll see you tomorrow. G'night." She bid him good-night and she left for her home. She check her watch. "Oh my...Quarter to midnight!" She rounded the corner and seemingly walked for quite awhile. She looked at the watch again. "Huh?" it read, Quarter to midnight still! She put her ear to the watch and found that it was working fine. "I don't understand. She rounded the last corner and saw her house coming up. "Whew..." She happened to see her watch stil lsaid the same. She looked around nervously, feeling a strange aura. "Huh? AHHH!"

Just then, something grabbed her. Her watched fell to the ground. It read eleven forty-six.

[Skylos]

Chapter Twelve - Finally a Trainer

Time went on as though nothing had happened. Peter had learned the next day that Katie and her family had decided to go on a vacation and weren't returning for a few weeks. He shrugged and found that normal like anyone would. Sid, on the other hand, noted that a time discrepancy had occurred as Katie had left the following night and wasn't too sure about the spontaneous vacation. "Let's get some training done." he finally decided. Peter nodded, agreeing that this was much needed.

Sid walked him to his cave and stopped outside of it. he breathed slightly and whirled around to talk to him. "Okay. You have quite a few Demons left: Dimension, Lunar, Cat, Hate, Steel, Time, Death; just to name a few. You have failed at Hate and gave into your evil desires. You have no perception of Time anomalies." he sighed. "We'll get to those two later...You obvious can't beat them at your level. You can't go for Dimension either as that is one of those really strong demons as well as Cat. Dimension, Death, Lunar, and Sol make up the Upper Quad...Stay away from them for now." Sid's talons scratched at the ground. "You can't beat the Middle Quad either; stay away from Dawn, Dusk, Twilight, and Phantom." Sid then smiled slightly. "You're almost read for the Lower Quad: Fire, Water, Earth, and Storm." he smiled. "Now are you read to train? You're going to need it for your battle with Steel or Death. Shall we begin?"

Peter digested all of this information and quietly nodded.

Sid nodded. "Great. Change into your Dark form now."

The color from Peter's face drained. "No..."

Sid narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?"

Peter glared at him. "NO! NEVER! I already told you that last night!"

Sid walked up to Peter and peered down at him. Sid was exactly one and a half feet taller than Peter. His shadow made Peter back up as Sid's irises flooded red. "You will do what I say or you will find yourself without a few organs..." Sid stretched his claws out.

Peter turned and ran as fast as he could. he was stopped short as Sid tackled him to the ground by flying right into him. Peter found a clawed hand around his neck.

"Don't make me possess you and force you into Darkness. Embrace your darker half, young one." Sid said.

Peter struggled, but soon gave up hope. "But..." A liquid like hand went over Peter's mouth, silencing him.

"No buts. You will do as I say and train." he would lay there on him all day if that's what it took for him to bring out his dark half.

Peter couldn't speak and knew that swallowing that liquid was probably not wise. He gave in. he closed his eyes and his Dark Robe appeared on him in a blackish-violet mist. His irises were violet when he opened his eyes. "Are you happy?" he asked stolidly.

Sid grinned a fang-full grin. "Yes Peter. I'm thrilled." he got up and gave a bow to Peter. "Throw knives at me." he said abruptly.

"Pardon?" he said quietly as he arose. He went over this in his mind and came to a conclusion. "Right...Knives of Darkness." He flicked his right wrist and placed his palm out. He focused in his mind on making knives of Darkness. He found he could not do so. "...I cannot." he finally said.

Sid sharpened the horn that was above his forehead with his claws time was passing rather fast it seemed. "Having trouble? Try making the knives first, then add the Darkness. It helps to work in steps until you can work it out without effort."

Peter nodded to him. "Thank you, sir." He said calmly. He focused on one word. Knives. He found himself thinking of sharpness as well. Words streamed into a description and he finally thought of Darkness. Suddenly, there they were in front of him, just floating there. "...I see."

Sid grinned. "See? What did I tell you? Easy. Now aim them at me and fire them."

Peter thought in his head and took aim at Sid's...heart. They at once flew off and seemingly impaled him. "Sid?" he saw his knives protruding from Sid's green robe...But there was no black stain.

Sid laughed. "Great shot Peter. It's a shame that you'll never be able to beat me even if I left you hit me." He grabbed a hand-full of knives and threw them on the ground. They disintegrated into a black mist as they hit. "Now...I have a test for you." he pulled a few small links of chain that were connected. "Make them move, Peter."

Peter raised an eyebrow. How was he to do that? he closed his eyes and felt the chain. It seemed cold from where he was standing. He couldn't make it move, however. "...I do not think I can."

Sid smiled. "Sure you can...The other side of your family was pretty good at it."

Peter raised an eyebrow and wondered where Sid got his information from. Later, he'd ask. Peter shook his head. "...I really cannot. I can't even make it twitch."

Sid yawned as time passed. "You're going about it the wrong way. You don't have telekinesis. Try using yourself."

Peter nodded slightly and closed his eyes. Seeing the chain, he transferred Darkness into it and it twitched slightly. He then concentrated rather hard and made it move around like a snake in Sid's melon sized hand.

"Very nice. You have basics for that. You've worked hard. It's time for you to rest your mind, Peter." He stalked off into his cave.

Peter decided to follow him in. "Mind if I stay?" he asked quietly.

Sid grinned. "Not at all! I love company." he motioned to his extra bed. "Sleep well."

Peter smiled in his Dark form.

[Skylos]

Chapter Thirteen - Great Uncle and Company

Peter awoke and changed back into his original human form. He found that Sid was out and he had the place to himself. His curiosity got the better of him and he began to snoop around. Going through his things, he stumbled onto a group picture of a few people. There was no trace of Sid in the picture. A boy in white with yellow eyes and a boy in black with blue eyes stood next to each other. Off to the right side was a brown demon with brown eyes who was giving the white clothed boy 'bunny ears,' but they made him look like a demonic bunny because his fingers were clawed on the ends. There was also a man to the left side with silver hair and brown eyes who wore a two-toned robe that was black and white. Next to him was a younger looking man with white hair and brown eyes who was not wearing a robe, but normal clothes that happened to be white. Another demon was also in the picture and he was next to the brown demon. This demon looked a lot like the silver haired man, as he was wearing a two-toned robe of the same colors. A final demon was sitting between the boys in front. He was wearing a silver robe and had silver eyes.

Peter raised his eyebrows. There was something about this photo that seemed familiar...The people in it anyways. A shadow was suddenly over him. Peter froze.

Sid stared down at Peter. "Hasn't anyone told you about personal space?" He put his claws over Peter's shoulders.

Peter gulped. "S-s-s-sorry. I was just curious at what you kept around here...I didn't mean any harm!" He put the photo back on the table in front of him. "Who are they anyways?"

Sid tightened his grip. "You don't need to know! Those people aren't important anymore and aren't to you either!" he seemed unusually angry.

Peter winced in pain. "Okay, okay...I get the point...I'll forget I ever saw it!"

Sid let him go. "You'd better." He walked over to a bookshelf. He grabbed a photo album and opened it. He put the photo back into its slot where it should have been.

Peter caught a glance at one of the pictures. It was a picture of the white robed boy and Sid posing by having their arms over each other's shoulder. They were both grinning. Peter quickly retreated so Sid didn't catch him looking. "Sid...I'm going to go...um...Demon hunting, bye!" he rushed out the cave without any further interaction with him. "Who were they...?" He said aloud to himself.

Sid watched him leave. He snorted slightly. "Some nerve...Poking into my life even after we've become 'friends'." He stared at the boy in white and his expression lightened. Looking to the other page, a boy with red hair, who wore a black shirt and blue jeans, had his arms crossed as he found his hair dripping with some green liquid. Sid closed the album and put it back on the shelf.

Peter wandered into a nearby swamp and wandered if this was a good place to start, since his demon book pointed that this was a good area for looking for the Earth Demon, Robbie. As he walked around, he found that the trees became more present and it was very dark, even though it was now mid-day. He suddenly tensed up after more minutes of walking. A demon aura was present now. He crept forward and then almost tripped as he found his foot was stuck in mud. He caught his balance and found that he could not escape! His other foot was then caught as well and the mud buried his feet. The swamp mud started to bubble and a creature arose from it. It had glowing brown eyes that matched Peter's very well. Its body dripped with the mud that Peter realized was the source of the demonic aura. He had walked into a trap. The demon flexed out its six wings and grinned at Peter.

"Hello little human. Did you bring anything other than yourself to eat?" He laughed and showed off his fangs. They were like tombstones.

Peter struggled to get away, but it made him sink more, so he stopped. "No demon... or should I say Robbie? Not a very convincing demon name."

Robbie licked his lips with his forked tongue. "I used to be human like you are. ‘Been over eighty years since I was turned. Now I'm apart of the Lower Quad." He walked over on the mud as though it were carpet and then leaned down into Peter's face. His front horn cut into Peter's forehead and made him bleed. "Your demon-catching spree is over Peter." he pressed harder so that he'd be closer to his ear. "I'm going to kill you..." he whispered. He then grabbed his neck and struck Peter in the back with the spike protruding from his elbow. It became bloody and red and Peter fell over into the mud. Half of his face was above it as he was sinking into it.

Peter coughed and found that his body couldn't move. In seconds he would be dead...under the mud...trampled by the talons of Robbie...He closed his eyes to face the worst...He suddenly stopped sinking and found himself being raised from the mud. He was thrown against a nearby tree and looked up at that had saved him. It was Sid. Peter then saw that Sid had broken through the trees from the top and light was now pouring in. He gasped as he looked at Robbie; the brown demon from the picture!"

Sid stared at Robbie. "Do you know who you're killing?" he said to Robbie, obviously angry.

Robbie grunted. "Yeah...My next meal: the demon-catcher kid. If you will excuse me..." he pointed his palm at Peter and a spike made of granite shot at Peter's heart.

Peter was already ready this time and had changed into his Light form. He shot a beam of light at the granite and it exploded.

Robbie then stared at Peter and gaped. "Ca-ca-ca-" he stopped trying to sound something out as Sid hit him square in the chest with the spike on his shoulder. Robbie slammed into a tree and cough up black blood. He stared at Peter as though he'd seen a ghost. "WHO ARE YOU?!" he roared at Peter.

Sid helped Peter up and he walked over to Robbie. The ground had hardened. "That's what I was trying to tell you. This is Peter, Pantech."

Robbie looked at Peter. His expression was shock. "Then you must be...my...great nephew." His face paled. "I almost killed you...I would have..."

Peter gave a shocked look. "Great...uncle?" he paled as well. "Sid...you never told me I'd be fighting my own family!" he became frustrated. "Those other people in that picture...Those are my relatives, aren't they! You've no right to hide those from me! How did you even know about them anyways?!" His color changed from white to red in his face.

Sid frowned. "You won't have to worry about the other two demons for awhile...they are stronger than most demons..."

Peter put his left hand to his forehead and healed the tiny horn wound with his light.

Robbie regained his color. "Great nephew...I'd rather you not confine me to a capture orb..."

Sid interrupted. "But he is going to...Or else he shall face me..." he distorted his facial features and glared with red eyes.

Peter stood and hung his head. "...Sorry great uncle...Just as you want to live...so do I..." He held up a capture orb and sighed.

Robbie went to his feet and made a trident from granite. "Then we fight and kill each other..." He lunged at Peter.

Peter jumped out of the way and formed a light orb in his palm. He then delivered an uppercut to Robbie's chin.

Robbie took the blow, but then clutched Peter's neck and rose him from the ground. "Last chance, great nephew!"

Peter was choking, but this was the distance he needed. He fired a light beam right in between Robbie's eyes and blinded him. "Bull’s-eye!"

Robbie began to slash rabidly as he could not see clearly now.

Peter dodged with ease. He knew that this was now his best chance to catch his...great uncle. he sighed and spun the capture orb on his left index finger. He fired it and smacked Robbie's forehead with it.

The fight wasn't over though. A burst of the demon's aura sent the orb flying back. Peter caught it and saw Robbie's anger. The ground went soft and Peter sank again. Stone knives and spikes shot at him.

Peter was easily slashed up by the knives and spikes, making blood loss unavoidable. He weakly put his hand up and fire a light orb at Robbie's head, but it was destroyed by the swing of Robbie's tail which swiped painfully at his feet and caused him to topple over onto his back. Peter became distressed and found he was stuck!

"This is the end..." he said morbidly. His tail had morphed into a stone mace that swung at Peter's heart.

Peter attempted something new at that point. It was all-or-nothing. He focused all of the light in his body at one center point and then cause it to explode all at once from his body. The result cause the light to blast Robbie back and even shattered the horns and spikes on his body. Robbie's center horn was the only horn that was safe. He fell to the ground. Peter got free from the mud once again and pressed his luck again. He shot the capture orb with the last of his strength and it hit Robbie. Robbie shattered into his aura and entered the capture orb and reformed inside.

Sid picked up the orb and tossed it to Peter, who barely caught it. He pocketed it. Sid picked him up and flew him back to Peter's house. he opened the suitcase that contained the caught demons. "Aura...Can you help Peter heal himself?"

Aura nodded. The orb began to glow purple. Sid picked it up and placed Peter on his bed. Peter took the orb in his left hand and found that he didn't have to touch his wound to heal it. He listened to Sid talk.

Sid sighed. "There are some thing you should know about that picture. Your-" Sid was cut short.

The window shattered and a white furred demon landed into the room. "Peter Pantech! You're coming with me, NOW!" His demonic voice stunned Peter, who laid there, stunned.

[Skylos]

Chapter Fourteen - From Dawn to Dusk; From Twilight to Shadow

The white furred demon glared at Peter with bright yellow eyes. "I said, NOW!" He grabbed at Peter's shirt collar and threw him off the bed.

Peter landed with a smack. He had Aura in his left hand. "Ugh...Sid...Why aren't you helping me here?!" He quickly leapt to his feet and threw a glare at Sid who was just standing there, grinning. "Oh! You're no help..." Peter was hit with a clawed hand that was white. He recovered and lit a light orb. "Stay back! I have no feud with you currently...Whatever demon you are..."

"Light." He snapped. "Or Dawn...Whatever you prefer." He looked at the light orb and laughed. "And what is that? A candle?" The demon put his large palm forward and a prism colored orb formed into his hand. The Light energy was literally dousing the area in an aura. It was overwhelming Peter.

"Wh-?" Peter's orb extinguished in front of him. "How?" Peter found that he had nowhere to run to. He put his index finger out and charged up the light and...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." came the demon's reply. He tossed the orb to his right hand and pointed his index finger out. "I bet my life that yours will come out as white light." he grinned.

Peter froze. There were levels of Light? He really should have trained more...but once again, Sid was the issue here. He only trained him in Darkness. Ah! Darkness might work here! He thought.

"...I hope you don't try anything stupid...My Light beams are prism as well..." The demon smirked. he still had that orb as well.

Sid tapped his claws on the desk nearby. "You know Peter...You don't have to fight him. I'm sure if you just asked what he wanted...things would be far less complicated."

Peter muttered under his breath. Sid had such good advice, but he had a tendency to fail to get it across on time... "Oh alright! What do you want anyways? I'm not just going with you without at least some information as to where I'm even going."

"Such bold words for someone backed against a corner...Why...I've even bested you at your own element." He said, tormenting Peter. His yellow eyes narrowed to slits. "You don't stand a chance against any of the rest of demons with your level." He said, spinning the prism orb on the tip of a claw. "As to where you're going..." He said it as though he had no choice. "...I'm taking you to the Middle Triad."

Peter really wanted to pound the demon as hard as he could now. He resisted, remembering that it would be the quickest death if he tried that. He sweated. "And what is that?"

Sid coughed. "Simple really. He wants to take you to the Middle Quad of demons. Actually...he is one of the four." He chuckled.

Peter frowned at Sid. Why the heck was he always so happy when he was in pain? He shook his head. "Should I be afraid?"

The white demon's grin widened even more...if that were possible. "You should be very afraid. You're not allowed to bring any orbs either." He said, looking at Peter's hand.

Ugh...He could have been using that all along. He put the orb back in the suitcase with slots for 22 orbs. "Fine. How are we going? Provided I don't give the slip..."

"I don't you can give me the slip..." He cleared his throat. "Why...We'll teleport...but you probably don't even know you can do that. Such a shame that you have little talent. Such a shame that the demons you captured have none."

The demons all scowled from their orbs.

"That's pretty harsh...I'll have you know I worked hard to get those..." He was getting rather mad again.

"Temper, temper..." he wagged his index finger, "Don't get too mad or you'll end up like a Hate demon. Oh but you failed in capturing that one... Oh don't look surprised. The reason we're even summoning you deals with what we've seen." He grabbed Peter's collar from the back as peter struggled to get away. "We're leaving now. I hope you didn't have any plans...for the rest of your life." he said, as though Peter were doomed. They burst into prism colored light and Peter winced as he was overpowered with Light.

Peter opened his dazzled eyes and looked around. There were so many strange things to see. The sky was a pale grey, and had four moons that seemed to be in a fixed position. One was a full moon, another was new, the next was first-quarter, and the final was last-quarter. He was standing in the center of a gazebo which had four entrances. The pathways each led to a different tower. The tower that the first-quarter moon was above, seemed to be like some sort of ruins. The full moon tower was made of white marble. The new moon tower was made of some unknown, black material. The last-quarter tower was grey, and also made of some unknown material. The sky was filled with stars.

Peter looked in the gazebo. A fountain was in the center that was quietly going about its function. "This is...The Middle Triad?"

"Yeah...Home of the Middle Quad. Wait here...won't cha. I have to get the gang." He left Peter there to absorb his surroundings.

Peter sighed and sat on a bench that went around the center. It faced inward, so that you'd be looking at another person across from you. He sat there waiting for something bad to happen...he could feel it. A cold feeling suddenly came over him. Black fur was suddenly to his right. He looked and there was a demon, towering over him. Its stare pierce right trough him and caused Peter to flinch. The violet eyes were probably more evil than Sid's red eyes. "H-hello?" He said, cautiously.

The demon sat next to him. He looked a lot like the white demon; however, he was entirely dressed in black. "Hello human." He said, quietly and lacking emotion. He appeared to loss any interest he might have had in Peter and stared ahead.

"Um...What's your name?" he said. It was kind of awkward just talking to a demon who he didn't know.

"Skoteinos." he put, simply. "You're Peter."

Peter nodded. He looked at Skoteinos's aura. It was familiar. "You are Darkness...I can use that too."

He nodded. "I know...But you're in Light form...currently."

Peter nodded. "I feel the most comfortable in this form. I like darkness and all...But I don't feel like I like it when I am in Darkness."

Skoteinos put his hand on Peter's head. "I understand. You're too used to your emotions so that having none, makes you feel strange."

Peter almost freaked when he had put his hand on top of him. He calmed and let the frozen feeling sink into his skull. Darkness was very cold. "You're very understanding."

"I can read minds...share your feelings. Most Darkness understands, just never understood."

Peter blinked. Such philosophy...His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of other demons; the white one and two new ones. The demon on the left had white hair. Only his right hand was clawed and his wings weren't on the large side. Like most demons, he had webbed wings like a dragon, though these had holes in them. His robe was grey, just as his skin was. One of his horns was broken; only half remained. His fangs were also not like most demons; only some were pointed. This demon made Peter shudder slightly. A somewhat familiar aura came from him, but Peter couldn't place it. The demon on the right looked somewhat like the demon on the left since they were both grey, only this demon had fur. His robe was two-toned: black and white...which looked remarkably familiar as though...

Peter's eyes widened. This was the second demon he saw in the picture at Sid's cave! What id...he were like Robbie and was related to him? Perhaps he'd get a tiny break. It was also here that Peter noticed, since there were four demons in the room, that most demons have the same basic components: Fangs, tail, claws, talons, wings, and spiked shoulders.

The white furred demon spoke. "I've brought him." He narrowed his eyes. "It seems Skoteinos has already met him." He said, amused.

Skoteinos replied. "There's nothing wrong with answering questions, Fos." Peter now knew the name of the white furred demon.

Fos shrugged and turned to the other two, waiting for something.

"If you two are done..." The demon on the right started, "...Then we can start." He looked at Peter with grey eyes. "I am Tranductus. I am a Void demon...or Twilight if you prefer. Next to me is Lareo. He is a Phantom demon...Shadow is apart of that power he uses."

Ah! I knew that was familiar! Peter thought. He looked at Lareo again. Yeah...he sure does look like a phantom... Peter became a bit more nervous. These demons all seemed to be apart of each other and had to be very strong when working together. Getting them alone to capture would be out of the question. He noted that Lareo hadn't spoken yet.

Tranductus interrupted his thoughts. "Depending on how things go tonight...you might live."

[Skylos]

Chapter Fifteen - Another Alliance?

Peter's face flushed all remaining color that might have been left.
Lareo shot Tranductus a look that made Tranductus retract slightly. "But...you will be surviving," he quickly added, "You just have to swear your allegiance to us and betray your allegiance from Sid."

Peter shook with fear, "That's...Easier said than done...He'll kill me...He would have...On the night I saw what he really is." Fos punched his fist into his other palm. "He's a weakling compared to us. We'll put him straight for you...But you have to agree to us first." Peter looked to all of the demons, except Lareo whom he thought was to frightening to look at, and sighed. "Alright...But you need to explain to me why I should be holding an alliance with anyone. The only reason I was with Sid is because he threatened to kill me...What do you guys want from me?" he said boldly as he looked to each demon (except Laero of course).

Tranductus snorted, "You're in no position to be demanding answers." His grey eyes seemed to shoot spikes into Peter, "You will just obey us and that's it." Lareo shot another look which shattered Tranductus's mental spikes. Tranductus retreated again.

Skoteinos spoke in his monotonous voice, "We need your assistance, Peter. We would like for you to get stronger...not to fight demons...But for another reason that we are not supposed to reveal as of now." Peter couldn't help but a slight dread come from Skoteinos.

Peter finally looked at Lareo again. He was starring straight into Peter's eyes. Peter couldn't help but flinch from the stare. He wondered if Lareo could even talk. Fos interrupted his thoughts out of impatience. "So are you going to agree or not?" Peter gazed at him and nodded. "Yeah...I guess..."

Tranductus arose, "Good...then release the captured demons...Fos will take you and bring you back here. I'm glad we didn't have to convince you otherwise about joining our group. You wouldn't have liked what we had against you."
Peter bit his lip, "Wh-what? You were going to blackmail me on top of it all? You guys are horrible..." He frowned, "What do you have?" he said nervously.

Lareo stepped to the side and Peter gasped as he saw that Katie had been behind him. She was with the Time demon, Chronos, and was holding her by gripping both shoulders. Chronos spoke. "I'm very glad you sided with them...I'd have hated to have killed her..." His manner was like a butler: Kind and there to serve. "They ordered me to grab her a few weeks ago... I hope you don't mind master Peter." he gave a tiny bow.
Peter shook his head and hugged Katie. "Alright...We'd better go-"

"Don't get me wrong, Master Peter," The butler-like demon continued, "She needs to stay here for now...her powers are developing as well." Peter gasped. "What can she do?" He responded, "She has power over time." Peter nodded in awe. "Good luck...Don't over-do it, Katie." She smiled. "I won't! You don't either..." Peter raised an eyebrow. "Hm? But why would I be..." Claws gripped his left shoulder and a normal hand on his right. Peter turned to see Lareo's grey eyes starring into his. He spoke in a voice that seemed to issue power. "You'll be training with me." The words made Peter's mind ache. it was as though it were a command that he had to follow. "Yes...sir."

Fos grabbed Peter's head and squeezed slightly. "We're going now." He teleported the two back to his room in a shower of prism.

Sid was not there on return. Peter opened the suitcase on the dresser and took the orbs out. "Good-bye hard work..." he freed them all from his window and they appeared outside. "Now don't kill me!" he hid behind Fos. Fos grinned. "Okay kid...We're going back...These guys won't hurt you."

"Especially me." Robbie said as he walked behind Fos and picked Peter up without any effort. "Hey! Put me down..." He struggled. Robbie grinned. "We're ready Fos...The other demons are glad to be released." Fos crossed his arms. "And why should I take you?" Robbie rolled his eyes. "Tranductus is my 3x great grandfather..." Fos nodded and teleported the three.

Arriving back at the gazebo, only Tranductus had stayed. "Lareo wants you to go into his tower." he pointed to the ruin like tower. Peter left and walked toward the building. Being alone with Lareo...scared him.

Tranductus looked at Robbie. Giving a quick hug to him, he spoke, "How's...Skylos?" he said. Robbie sighed. "Last I checked...He was fine and still frozen in that same place...along with his counterpart. I hope a day will come for when they will both awaken." They nodded.

Peter opened the door and crept in. It closed behind him and left him in the shadows. Peering around, he found a maze interior. He wandered around until his instinct pointed him into the room with Lareo. Peter advanced. A bead of sweat dripped from his brow.

[Skylos]

Chapter Sixteen - His True Power

Lareo beckoned Peter to come closer to his 'throne'. Peter walked through the doorway and it slid shut behind him. Peter's sweat dripped to the floor as he heard it shut with a clunk. He continued his walk until he was in front of Lareo. "Peter," he began, "you must have questions that need answering...But I'm going to have to train you first before I answer any of them." Peter looked around the room, avoiding Lareo's eyes as he talked, and noted that there were other doorways that weren't sealed. "In this tower...there is one room that I want you to find. In that room, you will find myself and power. Beware of traps along the way." he faded away at this, leaving Peter alone.

Peter bit his lip. "I'm alone...With no direction..." He chose the doorway behind the throne. As he walked along, he couldn't help but feel that everything looked that same and he might wander around forever, lost in the labyrinth. He remembered reading a book about solving mazes...he put his right arm on the wall and moved along. This way, he would eventually end up at the end. But what had Lareo said? Traps? He became afraid. What would he be faced with? Turning into a room, he couldn't help but feel as though he were being watched. The air seemed to stiffen. "H-hello?" he looked around the room. He thought he heard dripping water.

The roomed filled with mist and the outline of a floating body appeared. Blue eyes stared at him. Suddenly, a wave of water flowed directly at him. Alarmed, he ran from the room and ran down the hallway to his right, in which he hadn't come from. The wave came fast as he ran down a flight of stairs. He ran into the first room on the right and slammed the ancient stone door. Panting, he turned around and paled. The room was misty as well, and incredibly hot. The outline of a body was present in the mist, and red glowing eyes were seen. Freaking, Peter ran blinding against the wall in hopes of finding an escape. Fire was raining down on him as the room began to fill with lava. An exit was found just in time as he exited through it, slamming the door behind him. He was in another hallway.

He sat down, breathing hard. "I suppose...Those were the traps...heh..." A stairwell was to his right, and left. One went down, the other went up. He decided that up was the answer and he climbed the stairs. These stairs were long and had to have gone up three floors. Peter panted as he arrived at the top. He was surprised to see the last quarter moon above him. He was on the roof. On the opposite side, there was another stairwell leading down back into the building. A fog rolled in as he was ready to move to it.

An outline and purple eyes appeared as it did before and Peter felt his hair begin to blow. Suddenly, it became much harsher and even seemed to threaten to pick him up! The fog stayed, but Peter was beginning to be lifted from the roof. Taking quick strides, he was just able to reach the staircase. He looked behind him and saw that the wind had acted like razors and has destroyed the roof in the path that Peter had taken. He quickly ran down where the wind could not follow him. The stairs led a long way down and seemed to go on and on. Finally, he reached the end and turned to his right, into a large room with a large stone door on the opposite side. The room was filled with ancient pillars and two doors were on the right and left. He walked to the stone door and paused. Next to it, were alters that looked like they could fit something-- a key...perhaps.

He could not get the door to budge. He walked over to the door that was on his left and entered. A stone door shut behind him like with Lareo. He turned around in shock and then was blinded with light. He turned to the source, but could not make anything out, except for yellow eyes. He turned his darkness on and stared with violet eyes. This toned down the light and he could make out the outline now. There was nothing other than the two of them in this room. He tried to create a dark orb, but it wouldn't even form. He feared that using light would only make things worse. Using this form burned at his skin, but it was the only thing he could use. Testing his different attacks, he found that he could use only one attack. Pulling his sleeves loose, black smoke filled the room from his sleeves, refracting the light and causing it to be ineffective. He took his chance and shoved a dark orb into the outline's face. The outline faded and the light abated. In its place, was a white crystal. The door behind him opened as he took the crystal. He entered back into the giant room and put the light crystal on the alter.

As soon as that was done, all of the doors closed and Peter was fling across the room to where he had first entered. The room filled with a mist and an outline appeared once more. Brown eyes glowed. Peter heard something crash next to him. It was one of the pillars, just barely missing him. He felt it. It was made of some type of mixture of mud and brick. Hearing another one falling, he rushed to a door, trying to get it to open. Finding it useless, he ran for the crystal. Eight or so pillars were suddenly flying after him. He searched his mind for an answer to escape. Perhaps the crystal would help! He grabbed the crystal and took it out. Immediately, the mist abated and the pillars dropped to the ground. Peter then realized that it had started when he had put the crystal in. Perhaps he needed a second one and that one needed to go in first. He took the crystal with him and ran into the door, which had now reopened, that he hadn't been in yet.

The door closed behind him and he was left in darkness. Not a shred of light was present, except for the white outline of a body and eyes. He turned into his light form and found that he radiated no light. Shocked by this, he tried as many attacks as he could. None of them worked. He took out the crystal and snapped. This would work! He held the crystal up high and charged it with as much light as he could. It burst forward a huge amount of light which made the outlined body disappear and leave a dark crystal. He took it and exited.

He made sure to put the dark crystal in first. Nothing happened. Then he added the light crystal. A click was heard and the giant stone door opened. He walked in and the door closed behind him. In front of him, was Lareo. "Very good Peter. We'll talk after you take your power." He motioned Peter to a table which had a white cloak. Peter raised an eyebrow. "A cloak? How is that power...?" Lareo kept his word by not answering. Peter went to touch the fabric and froze. "By taking the cloak...you are binding yourself to an agreement with me. If you want to leave...I will grant that wish." Lareo suddenly said. Peter blinked and took hold of the cloak. "Then I agree to do your bidding." He wrapped the cloak around himself and felt as though his mind might explode.

"Peter...That is your true power. It was sealed away from you 15 years ago. You and I are quite alike." Peter nodded. He could feel so much power flowing through him now. Both Light and Darkness flowed through him freely. His aura matched Lareo's. "Shadow." Peter said. Lareo nodded to him. "I will answer your questions now."

Peter nodded. "Why was my power sealed?"

Lareo starred at Peter's white irises (for they had changed), "It was for your safety. There is an enemy which threatens the universes. No one is safe anywhere as long as it lives. It was said to have been created as a destroyer to the demon race...but it instead has target all humans as well. It thinks itself the superior being to all. Our Sovereign demons were crystallized and taken by this being. It calls itself the Crystal Demon...Krystallos." he paused for Peter. Peter nodded for him to continue. "Your grandfather, Skylos, sealed your powers and with the help of his third cousin, Neon, they sealed Krystallos by crystallizing themselves in suspended animation. Had they not, they would have been absorbed by the Crystal Demon. He was the one who wipe the Light, Dark, and Void human away." he cleared his throat. "Shadow Human, you are indeed more powerful than Void. Destroy the Crystal Demon..."

Peter frowned, "But... I have no training."

Lareo smiled for the first time. "I have someone who can help you." As if on cue, an outline body with grey eyes appeared. Peter went on guard. Lareo laughed. "Settle down Peter. The sages won't harm you anymore." The outlined body became a person. "Hello Peter." he said. Peter blinked. "Nice to meet you as well...Um...Sage of Shadow I presume. I was fighting others as well...Does anyone else know about them?" Lareo grunted. "Yeah...A kid named Rem was friends with the Sage of Light..." Peter blinked. "That sounds familiar...Wasn't that Katie's-" he was cut off as the sage coughed. "Oh sorry...let's begin training." The sage led the way.

Lareo sighed. "Skylos has been there for 15 years...protecting us all...Neon as well." He vanished and appeared back in his throne room. Three people were in there. "The fourth is almost ready. With you four...You will be victorious." He nodded to Katie, who was one of them. The other two were covered by shadow...

[Skylos]

Chapter Seventeen - A New Quad

Time progressed gradually since the time that Peter was reunited with his powers. The Sage of Shadow trained him personally for what seemed months. Lareo also had trained with him when the Sage of Shadow could teach him no more. Peter knew that Katie had stayed there as well to get her Time powers trained by Chronos, who was a servant of Tranductus. Peter had always found that he had a feeling that there were others there as well. Every now and the, he would catch a hint of aura, but it would fade almost instantly. Peter was limited to the ruins and gazebo, and could not enter any of the other three towers. He never saw Katie when he was at the gazebo.

One day was different. On exiting the ruins with Night Shade (for he had found out the sage's name after asking one day), he sensed a powerful aura that surpassed all demon auras he had ever sensed, put together. At first he thought it might be that the Crystal Demon had finally broken out and had come to the Middle Quad dimension, but as he made his way into the gazebo, he found it to be a demon wearing a black trenchcoat and sunglasses. On first gaze, he knew this demon to be another of his relatives, because it was the demon from Sid's photo...

A grin came from the demon as he laid eyes on Peter. His sunglasses were pushed down slightly so that his eyes were over the top of the lens. His eyes were silver. "Peter!" He said as Peter neared. "Good to see you again." He chuckled. "You look confused." Peter had given a look that said 'when?' "Allow me to explain. I met you about sixteen years, a little after you were born." He extended a human hand (as there was no point to be in demon form in a safe place) to shake with. Peter put his hand out and was gripped tightly into a shake.

Behind Peter's relation was a sickly, paled-skinned demon. He also wore a black trenchcoat, but the collar was larger and was in tatters. He could see that the inside material was red. It gave Peter the same feeling of when he first saw Lareo. Perhaps this demon was like him in some way. His eyes glowed red and on his back was a tube shaped holder with a scythe put in it. His relation then interrupted his thoughts.

"The two of us are from the Upper Quad. I'm the leader since I have the strongest power of the four. My 'friend' here that I brought with me is the second strongest. His name is Blade. You'll find that he doesn't talk very much." Blade starred at Peter, and then seemed to lose interest. He looked around as though he was fed up with being there.

It was at that time that Peter finally saw Katie after many months. She came out of Tranductus's tower with Chronos and immediately hugged Peter. She had seemed to grown a bit from their last encounter. Then, Peter's suspicions were correct. From Fos's tower came a boy with red hair and a fiery designed jacket and red shirt with black jeans, and from Skoteinos's tower came a girl with blue hair and an overall blue wardrobe. The boy was with a red eyed demon and the girl by a blue eyed demon. The four had apparently all met for the first time.

Lareo arrived seemingly out of nowhere. "You're training with your teacher ends today. You four will now be working together as a team." he then addressed them one by one. "Peter, Katie" he looked to the girl then to the boy, "Cerulean, and Zestos." He lined them up in that order. "Shadow, Time, Water, and Fire. Shadow for destruction, Time is self-explanatory, Water and Fire to weaken. Those are your roles to destroy Crystal." with that, he started to leave. "Night Shade, Chronos, Thalassa, and Flare-- I thank you." he entered back into his tower.

The four watched him go and then found that they wanted to get to know one another. They chatted for hours and they were suddenly stopped by Peter's relation. "We need to get going soon. I'm moving you to my realm, the Upper Realm." the four were shocked by this statement and didn't realize that they were leaving. Peter suddenly felt a lump in his stomach as though he had failed to accomplish something. Lareo. He thought. His connection to shadow made him realize how much Lareo had done for him. He had never properly thanked him. Stepping behind one of the large pillars leading to the ruins, he teleported inside.

He raced through the ruins that he had memorized and soon came to the 'throne' room. Entering quietly, he soon was in front of Lareo, who had his eyes closed as he sat on the 'throne'. he opened his eyes and looked down at Peter with his grey eyes. "Peter." He said simply.

Peter smiled and put out his left hand. He knew very well that Lareo's left hand was clawed. Lareo paused for a moment, and then extended his claws. Peter's shadow flew into his hand and replicated a demon clawed hand. Lareo raised his eyebrows at what Peter was suggesting...But a demon handshake was considered to be highly regarded as loyalty. It was a type of ritual where when shaking, the clawed ends dug into the wrists of whom you were shaking with and generally drew blood. The blood symbolized your loyalty because you had freely trusted someone with your blood-- your life source. The handshake was exchanged and Peter didn't even wince. "I will miss you Peter. My only wish is for you to return safely." Peter's shadow wrapped around his left wrist to act as a bandage. "Thank you for everything." he began to walk out. A sudden inspiration hit him. "Phantom Master." he said as he left the building. Lareo broke into a grin.

Peter stretched his sleeves slightly to hide what he did from the others. He rejoined them. "Ah...The Shadow kid rejoins us...swell." His relation wisecracked. Peter shrugged. "I was just saying good-bye." His relation messed with Peter's brown hair. "Yeah yeah...Let's go everyone. You have to beat the four of us now, heh heh." The four broke into two groups. Blade's bone wings suddenly appeared by busting through his skin. They wrapped around Cerulean and Zestos and the three burst into a black mist. Before Katie and Peter could react, silver wings wrapped around them and they were taken away as well.

Brilliant sunlight burst forward. Everyone seemed to be blinded. The sun in the Middle Realm wasn't very bright, but the Upper Realm's was like Earth's. Looking around, the place seemed a lot like earth. "Alright team. There are four of us here...You'll start with 'Death' and eventually work up to my level." Blade seemed to have already left. "You'll be staying together for now on...I don't think any of you here could beat any one of us alone. You never know when we might shoot a 'pop quiz' at you, heh heh."

Behind Peter's relation was a gigantic mansion. He turned to it. "I hope this will suit your needs. Feel free to wander around. I don't suppose the crystal demon will break out anytime soon...so there's no rush with your training." he grinned and pushed his sunglasses up. He started to break into a silver mist. "I wish you good luck." Peter spoke up. "What's your name? You haven't told us!" His relation chuckled. "Omni." he then disappeared, leaving the four to their new home.

[Skylos]

Chapter Eighteen - Old and New Bonds

The mansion's interior was more than they needed. The second floor was where their rooms were. The boys' rooms were on the left, while the girls' were on the right. The floors were a marvelous white marble. The rails of the giant staircase were varnished. The quad explored the mansion and found it to be amazing. Now they wondered what they should do.

"I suppose we should get to know each other better." Peter stated. "I mean...I know Katie like the back of my hand, but I don't know either of you." Katie nodded to this.

"Strange...Since I've known Cerulean for so long... I suppose we'll just exchange partners for awhile and then switch again." Zestos said.

The girls nodded and switched places. "We can talk as a group later, outside near that giant tree I saw earlier." Katie said as she left the room with Zestos.

Peter gave one last glance at Katie before she was gone. "Shall we find somewhere to sit and talk?" Cerulean smiled warmly. She led Peter by the hand to a parlor and sat at one of the tables by the window. She stared out at the lawn and the clear sky. Peter noticed the bright blue eyes she had as he sat down. "So where should we begin?" she said as soon as he was seated.

"I suppose I should start." said Zestos in another room when Katie asked the same question. "I'm what you would call a Fire Human. I can freely control fire to my will. It seems that my ability has been a trait of my family." he smiled. His red eyes reflected the light from the skylight dome above them. "I'm from a little town France...Though I believe the four of us are." Katie agreed with a nod. "My grandfather taught me the basics of power since I had to learn control... The demon Flare taught me the rest." he gave a warm smile. "What about you?"

Katie was listening intently the whole time and then realized she was asked a question. Blushing slightly from the slight delay of comprehension, she then replied. "I only found out recently that I am a Time Human, a type of human that has been absent on earth for centuries. I was abducted by the Time Demon Chronos one night partly for training, but also so that Peter would agree to help fight the Crystal Demon."

"Interesting." Cerulean said as Peter finished his story. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I'm Cerulean, from a small little town in France. I grew up learning how to use herbs and to control water. The talent was such a surprise to me when I first found that I could use it. My father said it ran in the bloodline for many centuries." With that, she motioned to the door. "I think we've been here long enough. We might be keeping the others waiting..." The sun had moved quite a lot during their talk. "I agree. Let's go." The two departed and were shocked when they saw Katie and Zestos being confronted by a demon!

Cerulean gave a concerned expression and Peter rushed off to the black furred demon with ram-like horns. "Miso!" He yelled as he neared him. Miso turned around and looked down at him. "Kid... What on Earth are you doing here?" Peter was already punching Miso's stomach when he finished. Miso gave a slight glare as Peter punched his abs. "Are you having fun with your little revenge or whatever you're doing?" he grabbed Peter's neck and squeezed. "Stop." he said, narrowing his eyes. Peter blinked and dropped his arm. Miso leaned down to his ear. "Now why are you here of all places?"

Peter choked on his words. "Training...against Crystal...Demon." he coughed. Miso laughed. "YOU? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You're just a kid...a HUMAN kid at that." Miso's eyes suddenly widened as Peter's turned cold. A blade made of shadows was at Miso's neck. "Just a kid...Who could kill you in an instant." He retorted. Miso loosened his grip and Peter pulled away, still holding the blade. Miso glared. "You think you can kill me? I'd like to see you try!" He put his black index finger claw above his head and drew a circle in the air. A black, sharp halo formed from the circle he drew. His muscles seemed to boost.

Cerulean joined with Zestos and Katie. They seemed to be keeping their distance from the fight. Miso flew at Peter and his claws slashed through the shadow blade, to Peter's dismay. Thinking fast, he stepped on Miso's shadow which shot a pain through Miso's left arm, which is the part of the shadow that he had stepped on. Peter used this distraction to point-blank blast Miso's chest with an explosion of Shadow energy. Miso flew back and crashed to the ground. Miso got up and glared widely at Peter. The giant orbs he made in his clawed hands matched his eyes, red and black.

Peter stayed on guard. He knew not of what the orbs would do to him. Miso smashed them together into one huge orb. He took his halo from his head and put it around the orb. His eyes burned with hatred as the orb seemed to brim with power. Peter felt sick just being in its presence. His emotions were going haywire all around him. Pain was felt at the same time as pleasure, sadness with joy, and numbness with friendship. Miso was now very close to Peter with the orb. He held it over Peter's head and was about to use it somehow.

Just then, a silver orb collided with it and shattered it in one hit. Miso fell back with surprise, his hatred dissolved. Shaded eyes and a slight frown was on Omni's face. "Peter Pantech and Miso... Allies should not fight one another." A look of shock erupted on Peter's face. "Allies? Him?" The blast of Lunar had knocked him away. "I don't understand, Omni." Omni grinned. "Meh... it's simple really. All demons are on your side, except for Sid--He gave up hope years ago--and the Sol Demon, for he has gone missing..." Peter looked at Miso who looked back. "I apologize Miso..." he gave a bow. Miso was taken aback by the sudden apology. "I...Forgive you?" he said, uncertainly.

Omni shrugged. "The other demons are here as well... they won't have any hard feelings..." he said this as if it were an edict. Omni bent down and whispered into his ear. "Great nephew, don't get into unnecessary fights... You must conserve everything for when you destroy Crystal." He stood back at his full height. Peter nodded grimly as he knew there would be resentment despite Omni being the strongest demon. Omni patted him on the head and left.

Cerulean. Zestos, and Katie joined him. Katie spoke, "My goodness! What were you thinking, challenging a strong demon like that?" Peter sighed slightly. "I had a run-in with him before...it didn't end well." Zestos gave a grin. "Too bad he's an ally...It would have been fun to beat him." Cerulean rolled her eyes. "Oh no it wouldn't have been...Your face would have been slammed into the dirt." Zestos groaned. "Must you ruin my fun?" Miso only chuckled from where he was left. He got to his feet and brushed himself off. He went on his way without further words.

At this point, Zestos and Peter exchanged information while Cerulean exchanged with Katie. After all was said and done, they walked back indoors. The sun was setting and made a brilliant orange and red sky. Zestos looked at it through his giant window in his room. "Just my colors..." he mused. He let out a gasp as he saw one of the now coming out stars, go out, as well as a few more.

[Skylos]

Chapter Nineteen - The Power of the Phoenix

Zestos hurried out onto the lawn. He looked up and bit his lip as a circle of stars disappeared. But then he saw an aura of flames descend from where that circle had been. Whatever was coming down along with the aura had to be huge. Zestos then put his hand to his forehead. The power he was feeling was literally giving him a headache. It was so massive! Suddenly, the landscape around him flooded a gray color. He looked around in wonder as everything had seemed to freeze...like time stopping.

And then it made sense. Time did stop. He wondered if Katie was affected, since she was a time user. Looking up, he could now see that it was a giant blazing phoenix! Wondering if this meeting was meant for him, he walked to the edge of where the flaming aura met the ground. The inferno of flames of the phoenix slowly descended to the ground in front of him. He gaped as he saw that the huge figure was suddenly in front of him. It must have been at least ten feet high! Looking very closely, he finally found its eyes. They were like any other eyes, except for the colors: yellow pupils, orange iris, and red scleras--like flames. It suddenly spoke in a voice that was flat, and male. "Zestos." The phoenix nodded his head to him.

Zestos suddenly straightened up. There was something about him that was of authority. "Yes sir?" He even felt that he needed to add sir to his reply. The phoenix responded in his monotonous way. "Power is among the worse things you can have. You're subject to become corrupted, you are often pestered by those weaker to train, you must always prove your power; the list goes on and on. Even your power does not save you." Zestos raised an eyebrow and wondered what this phoenix was getting at. "With all of the power you collect over the years, you find your struggle was pointless and that you've wasted your life. Therefore, I'm giving you the core of myself...In hopes that I will have finally done something with my power that is good."

He closed his eyes and wrapped his great wings around himself. He shrunk about two feet before reopening his wings. Zestos was shocked to see that the phoenix had changed into a demon! The demon was wearing a kimono of sorts with flame designs on it in different colors, being red, blue, and yellow, trimmed in white. Zestos also noticed that his wings followed his eye pattern, but continued over and over. He was also the first demon that he noted that had feathery wings, other than Akio. His body was a deep blood red, and he had a single, black horn on his head, just above his forehead. A faint yellow light around his head gave him a halo. He cupped his giant, black clawed hands and an orb matching his eyes appeared. "For millennium I have been around, in charge of all demons." He gave a bow. "I'm the Sol Demon, the Sovereign of All."

Zestos was overwhelmed by all of this. He had no idea of what to say to him. He starred for awhile until the feeling passed. "I...I accept your gift...humbly." His face sweated from the intense heat he felt all around him. The Sol Demon spoke again. "This power is for everyone." The orb split into fourths. He put his massive hand down to Zestos. Zestos took the orbs from his hand and pocketed three of them. "Power is enriched by greed. I do hope they get to your friends. The consequences will be dear not only to them, but to yourself as well if they don't." Zestos nodded. "What do I do with it?" The demon seemed less bright now and the aura ring had calmed. "You are a star without a core..." He said as a reply. Zestos raised an eyebrow, but then got the message. He pressed the orb to his heart and felt it entered into him. His entire body then twitched with intensity. It was like his mind was exploding. He held on to it with both hands as he fell to his knees. "Can you take this extreme? If you cannot, then you are a hopeless cause..." he said as flat as possible.

Zestos shut his eyes as the pain was unbearable. "N-n-n-no...I will...I will...take...it..." His breathing became erratic. "I can stop it..." Zestos put a hand out. "No..." The demon replied. "Very well then." The burning eyes bore into him. Zestos coughed harshly and a bit of blood came up. He finally rolled over on to the ground and laid there silently for some time. The demon only stared at the limp body. "...You may get up Zestos..." he said. Zestos lay there with his eyes forcefully shut. he then opened them. His iris alone now matched the Sol Demon's full eye colors. His breathing slowed. "...I'm alive..." He sounded dumbfounded. The demon closed his eyes. "My power has given birth to demons... Why? It was a selfish reason. I wanted to ease my loneliness. I left behind something for power...and it gave me nothing. I have never been truly happy since... longer than my memory should have been. My power has given birth to a new seed of my power... in a human, like it should have been." Zestos rose and wondered what he was rambling on about. He found that he could now ask, for at that moment, he vanished and the area was flooded with color again.

"Zestos!" A call came from behind. He turned to find that Peter was calling to him, and the girls were following. When they arrived, they had noticed that the energy had left. "Was that your power Zestos? It couldn't have been..." Cerulean exclaimed. Zestos smiled. "I was visited by a phoenix... He told me to give you these. But I warn you, it will hurt to absorb it." he took out the orbs and handed them to each. Peter held it up as if appraising it. "Lareo had something like this... But this power is even greater." Zestos watched as the three took them in. He comforted them through the process and delivered them to their rooms to recover. Only he seemed to have recovered instantly. It was probably because he was fire. But now....He was Sol. A Sol Human. It was until the next morning that Zestos had found that his group had recovered. Blade awaited them outside, not knowing their new power.

[Skylos]

Chapter Twenty - From Bones to Dust

Blade watched silently as the children exited from the mansion. He noticed that they seemed different... They had wounds which was not there the day before. Had they undergone training with themselves? No matter. He was no push over.

Peter stared at Blade. He still seemed groggy, as well as the other girls. Only Zestos seemed to be in tip-top shape. When they had assembled in the courtyard, Blade summoned his scythe from a black mist. The blade appeared to be made of pure silver. It was crafted like a saw, causing it to be even more deadly. He pointed the scythe at Peter, mock-threatening. "And now you are here to prove your worth. As one, you cannot beat me. As four? Let us find out." He began to float in the air. Spinning his scythe around, a cloud of black mist erupted from it and encircled the courtyard. The sun was no longer in site.

Zestos leaped forward and initiated the battle. he called to both hands his white flames. They encircled his arms and flared out. The flames turned into a bow of flames, complete with an arrow. Taking careful aim, he fired a shot at Blade. The arrow soared with remarkable speed. However, Blade simply knocked the arrow away with a swing of his scythe. Blade's body broke into black mist and he appeared behind Zestos. He reformed and stabbed at his shoulder.

Before Blade could complete his stab, a whirlpool of water enclosed Blade and buffeted him. Cerulean had moved forward and put both of her palms out. Peter had moved to Blade's left and Katie to his right. Blade broke out of the whirlpool and narrowed his light eyes. Zestos had turned around by then and had nocked another arrow. Blade went in for another slash, but found that he could not. A cube around his body had turned the area gray. While his mind was not affected, his body would not respond. Katie had used her time stopping powers; however, it didn't fully work on Blade, because Blade was much stronger than her.

Cerulean held both hands out, so that the palms were facing towards Blade. Her index fingers were touching, and a blue aura appeared. Torrents of water appeared from the palms, and swept at the immovable Blade. At the same time, Zestos's nocked arrow doubled in size and was completely white. Peter had summoned the shadows of all who were present and made them into three-dimensional forms of energy. The black energy he made hovered in the air. Katie made a white and red ball of energy. At one time, they all fired at Blade. Katie's attack wrapped around Blade and caused him to drop his scythe from his grip. Apparently, the orb had temporarily caused Blade to have the strength that he had 500 years ago-- none. Zestos released his arrow and it hit Blade square in the chest. His body burst into flames and his trenchcoat was then ashes. Cerulean's attack started as water and hit him in the back. He was then encased in a block of ice. Peter finished the combined attack with his shadows. The shadows sunk into the ice and engulfed him from the inside.

The group all had grins and was ready to celebrate from a well deserved victory. However, fate had another plan. The ice suddenly shattered and the shadows were dispelled. Both time controls faded away and he was no longer burning. Blade was standing there, without anything on. The group was shocked to find that Blade was a living skeleton! "Wha-a?" Katie exclaimed. Blade bent down and picked up his scythe. "Are you in shock or awe? You cannot kill me. I am already dead, so to speak." He looked at their unchanging expressions. "...You underestimate me. I'm not even showing you my full power yet." Peter was at a loss for words. They had used their attacks at the same time... Like a team. But here was this cruel joke! They could not so much as scratch him.

"If this is all you have... Then I will end it quickly." he said morbidly. Without warning, the grass underneath of Blade wilted into dust. It spread all the way to the mist barrier like a ripple in a pond. Black markings filled the air around Blade and wrapped around him. The black mist then spread from out of his body and engulfed everything in the barrier. The group was at extreme risk of decaying from the mist. That was not the only risk that was now presented to them. Blade's body broke apart and the bones floated in mid-air. They enlarged and changed in shape and recollected themselves. Blade now towered at fifteen feet above the group of four. He looked as though he were a giant, bone pterodactyl. Spikes made of bone protruded from various places. He was now garbed in a giant black cloak that reached to the floor from his neck. Four eyes stared down at them. "You have five minutes. Then I shall welcome you in death." He appeared to be serious.

Cerulean shook in fear. She was in fact the youngest of the group. "What...do we do? Our attacks are useless!" Zestos tried to calm her. "We fight until the end! That is why we're here. To fight." He put his hand out. Cerulean looked into Zestos's eyes and smiled. She took his hand. Another hand took hold of theirs, and then one more. Katie and Peter smiled. It was then that Zestos considered Blade's words. "As one, you cannot beat me...As four?" Four...Fourths of power...The Sol Core! He looked excitedly at his team. "Let us use our trump card...But not as parts, as a whole!" Peter showed concern. "But...it nearly tore us apart last night...I doubt that we've all really recovered..." The mist was beginning to kill their skin; pain was following.

Black orbs with orange centers filled the air. They rained down on the group and burned whatever they touched. They quickly dodged all they could. Blade mumbled. "Three minutes...or less, depending on your luck with those hellfire orbs." he swung his silver sickle and hellfire energy issued from it in the form of soaring ravens. Katie bit her lip but then said, "But how do we use the cores? I don't know how!" Zestos was taken aback from this. Not even he knew. He searched his mind as he dodged the feathers coming from the ravens.

How does one use their heart as power? It wasn't truly his heart that had the power...No...That would be too much of a cliché from a bad anime... The Sol Demon had given him a core. How could he use it? He did have the answer. Be as one. The attacks from Blade had separated him from his friends. He somehow worked his way back to Cerulean. Katie and Peter were together and nearby. He called to them, "I think I have it!" They rushed over. How much time did they have left? Seconds? "Join hands...I think it will be like putting the fourths of the orbs together." they did as he said, but nothing happened. "There has to be more to this..." Peter said quietly. He seemed dizzy. The effects from the mist were truly becoming dangerous.

Zestos smiled. "Okay...The only thing I can think of to do that would make sense, is to use our powers at the same time. Theoretically, we'd be using the fourths at once, creating a whole. Now on three..." They all closed their eyes and waited. "One...Two..." At that moment, Blade flew at the circle with his silver scythe. He raised it up in the air to ready for a swing. "Three!" Cerulean's hands glowed blue and connected to Peter's black, which connected to Katie's white, to Zestos's red, and back to Cerulean's blue. The place where their orbs had entered, their hearts, glowed with red, orange, and yellow in the eye pattern that Zestos now had. These rings encircled them and closed them into a sphere.

Blade froze. "That's...Sol?" The Sol energy around the quad burned through the mist around them, catching everything around them aflame. The sphere left them and rammed itself into Blade's chest. The impact caused the orb to expand and fully enclose around Blade's full fifteen feet height. The group stood side by side now and looked in awe at what they had created.

When everything cleared, sunlight was back to being present. Blade's normal body lay motionless on the ground in a heap of blacken ash. Most of the bones were shattered beyond repair. Blade groaned from the ground. "Explain yourselves..." He apparently did not feel pain. Peter spoke. "We received power from the Sol Demon." Blade grunted. "He hasn't been around for years... he just lives in his solitude. Why would he help you?" Peter shook his head. "Maybe he thinks we can do what he can't?" Zestos knew his reason, but he figured that it was somewhat of a secret that he was trusted to keep. "Anyways," Began Zestos, "Who's next?" Blade's skull stared at Zestos. "Megethos..." Katie raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't tell us much..." Blade spoke. "He has power over dimensions... Go rest. He'll fight you tomorrow." "Why tomorrow?" Cerulean asked curiously. There was in fact the rest of the day they could fight. "Because he is not here... he'll return late tonight." Katie nodded and motioned to the others to go.

While Zestos, Cerulean, and Katie left, Peter asked, "Will you be alright?" Blade stared. "I'll regenerate eventually...I have to form new bones..." Omni appeared behind Peter and put his hand on his shoulder. "My my...You decimated Blade... I'd expect nothing less from a Pantech." He messed with Peter's hair. "Hey..." Peter protested weakly. He smiled, however. Omni chuckled. "Say Peter...What is your middle name?" Peter raised an eyebrow at the random question, but figured it was a demon's attempt to make small-talk. "I don't have one..." Omni dropped his smile. He wanted to protest with a 'Yes you do!' but knew that he shouldn't. By saying that he didn't have a middle name, Omni knew that Peter's parents had kept something from him. "Interesting." he finally said. "Well...You'd better get some rest..." With that, he left just has quickly as he had come. Peter left Blade to regenerate as he made his way inside.

[Skylos]

Chapter Twenty-One - The Return of Sid

Even though they had the rest of the day to themselves, the group found that their pillows were very comforting. The mist had been toxic to their bodies and Omni found that he was the only one present that could cure any side-effects. He strode into the mansion with quiet feet and checked in on the girls first. Katie appeared to have been more affected than Cerulean. This was a simple explanation (since Omni happened to be part Death himself and would know this): The older you are, the closer death is to you. With a small grin that he usually wore, he walked over to Katie's bed.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, noticing him (Cerulean appeared to be asleep). Omni responded. "Oh I'm just dropping by. You look a bit pale." he said. Katie raised an eyebrow, expecting that he wasn't just here to talk. "I would think you'd be pale after fighting... that bone thing." She rolled her eyes. Omni gave a chuckle. "I couldn't possibly be faint at myself." He lit a small silver orb in his right hand. "Let me help you out a bit." he said before she could inquire his meaning. The orb floated over Katie and burst into a mist of the same color. Katie's somewhat dangerous position had been obliterated by the mist and now she would be much better. He strode over to the sleeping Cerulean and did likewise. A "Thank you" came from behind, and he looked at Katie. He nodded and went for the door. "What did you mean by "faint at myself"?" She said before he could escape. Omni turned. "I have a great deal amount of powers. Death being one of my main ones." His face was suddenly all bone and he gave a wicked grin at her. Katie's face turned pale again and she fainted. Omni blinked, his face becoming normal again. "Well...Guess I'm done here." he then left, and headed for the boys' room. He slipped in and found only Zestos awake. "Hello. I'm just dropping in real quick to heal you two." Zestos nodded slightly and said. "And here I thought you were trying to get us killed." He gave a chuckle, and Omni joined in. "No no. It's all a test... Just pass this next one, and we can get things done." Omni lit his silver orb and it again burst into a silver mist which flooded the room. "Give Peter my regards." Omni then left.

Peter woke up later and Zestos recounted what Omni did to them. Peter began to question Omni's random interest into his middle name. He did not understand Omni's reaction when he had told him that he did not have one. There seemed to have been a hint of strong denial in his face, which was quickly covered up by Omni's quick exit. Peter rose from his bed and said, "Think we'll be ready for the fight tomorrow?" his voice lacked certainty. Zestos replied with a shrug, "I hope so... but we don't know the condition of the girls." Peter frowned, "I hope they're alright... perhaps we should pay them a visit?"

Peter and Zestos left their room and swiftly made haste to the girls' room. Both Cerulean and Katie were awake now. Katie appeared to have thought the boney Omni was just a bad dream... The boys knocked at the girls' door and entered when prompted. The four sat around a square, wooden table which was next to the large window. Peter spoke, "I can see that we're all alright but I worry that we won't be able to win against Megethos, the Dimension Demon." Zestos nodded and replied, "It would do us good to ask Omni about what we're up against." Cerulean agreed but voiced a problem, "We don't know where he goes though... he comes and goes as he pleases." Katie frowned, but then brightened up, "Peter! Can you find auras?" Peter frowned, however, "I have tried to find his aura before... but I have never been able to locate it." Cerulean mused, "Demon auras are quite thick... Maybe another demon could help us find him. Aren't all of the demons here in this realm?" Katie rolled her eyes, "All but Sid I suppose."

"Sid?" Zestos questioned. "He's a bit of a mystery," Peter explained, "I could never figure out his power." Peter rose from the table and paced slightly. "You know... Zestos, you look strikingly like a person in a photo that Sid has." Peter then stopped. After the first time that he had gone into the album, he went into it again and found other pictures. "Actually... You mentioned a grandmother, Katie. I've never seen another woman with red eyes until I saw one in that photo album... And blue hair... Never even thought about it again until I met you, Cerulean." The more Peter thought about it, the more he wished Sid was here to explain. "That's...a bit unnerving...He's stalked our grandparents." Zestos said flatly. Cerulean replied, "Well...perhaps we should find him so we could clear this up." Peter crossed his arms, "That's all fine and dandy, but he's not in this realm, as Katie said to start this conversation." Cerulean shrugged, "You only need his name and candle to summon him."

Peter's eyes suddenly widened. he had found a mysterious green candle many months back when this whole thing started. "Could this be...?" Peter spoke as he removed the candle from one of his inner pockets. Cerulean nodded, "Yup. Demon candles have black wicks." Peter held out the candle. "Zestos," he began over politely and with a grin, "if would be so kind to do the honors." Zestos grinned, "Oh would I love to." He pointed an index finger at the wick and it caught flame. "Oh Sid~."

Sid appeared in a fabulous display of green smoke. Sid looked quite annoyed with being summoned, but also quite shocked by who had summoned him. This was Zestos's and Cerulean's first time seeing him. He was of course around seven foot four and wore a green robe. He his three pairs of wings and his many claws and fangs. Three horns adorned the top of his head and a long tail flicked behind him. His green eyes and black scleras finally fell on Zestos. He spoke first. "How funny that the four of you should be in a group together." It was almost as random as it was cryptic.

Peter stepped forward, "Okay Sid... you have explaining to do. How do you know our grandparents?" Sid clicked his forked tongue and then grinned in amusement, "Now don't you sound as if you're in high authority." Peter gave an emotionless look at Sid in annoyance. Sid recoiled at the look as if it meant something to him, but he recovered quickly. "Alright... I was only having fun; there's no reason to look at me like you're going to kill me, Peter." Zestos crossed his arms, "Then speak." Zestos looked at Peter's expressionless face and knew he had seen a face like it before, but not from Peter. He had been shown a picture of a long since dead Shadow Wielder who was known for his lack of emotion when killing.

Sid interrupted his thoughts, "Okay... I know them quite well since I was pretty good friends with most of them. I wish that all of them could have had children." He grinned, "It would give me more friends to annoy." Peter softened and replied, "Please tell us about them." Sid sat down on the giant circular rug in the center of the room which was next to the table. "Which one? I can blabber on about Skylos, Zach, Halo, and Aqua. There are others in the group, of course." Cerulean smiled, "Zach sounds like a nice man." Katie had thought that she would have picked someone from her family. Perhaps Cerulean actually knew her grandparents, unlike everyone else. "Zach?" Sid brightened up. "He was a fine Fire Human who I liked very much I could always crack a joke with him and we loved to annoy one another...or at least I did...heh heh. He worked together with a Fire Demon named Flare-" Zestos interrupted him. "Flare? That is the same demon who trained me. He didn't tell me that he knew my grandfather." Sid grinned. "Maybe he didn't want to think about the past, while worrying about the future. Zestos nodded. It was a good point. Sid continued, "Zach's ability to control fire and shift dimensions was very noteworthy. There was talk that Zach actually had the Dimension Gem of Fire! He also had two swords that he could use at the same time." Sid smiled cheerfully as he reminisced over his apparent best friend.

Peter snapped Sid out of it, remembering why they asked him here. "We'll have plenty of time to talk about them later. We need your help to find another demon." Sid stared at Peter a few seconds and then burst into laughter. "You can easily do that yourself. Here, take this." Sid took out a capture orb from an inner pocket and opened it. Peter's suitcase popped out of it. "Eh? How would the demon orb suitcase help me?" While Peter pondered this, the other three opened it to find many round slots that were filled with many different colored orbs. Cerulean commented, "Wow! They're all glowing... well these two aren't." Cerulean pointed to the large one in the middle that looked like a sun, and also to a black one that looked like the night sky, complete with stars. Sid then explained, "You may have not noticed before, Peter, but the orbs glow based on how close the respective demon is to the orb." Zestos gave a long whistle, "I'll say. That green one looks ready to explode!" Sid scratched the back of his head, "That's mine... if you haven't already figured it out."

Sid moved the suitcase onto the table, and they gathered around. "Which demon are you looking for?" Katie bit her lip. "Umm... It was a Lunar Demon, right? His name is Omni." Sid gave a large chuckle at that. "Oh really? It looks like I should find 'Omni' as well." The grin in his face hinted that there was some sort of joke surrounding Omni's name. "That one." Sid pointed to the orb that looked like a moon. "It even has craters!" He exclaimed with a laugh. Peter picked it up. "It glows brighter when you get closer... so we should walk in one direction until we find the right way to go." The plan seemed like it would take a long time though. "Or..." began Sid, "since the orb is glowing, you could unlatch it from its slot and it will fly like a magnet to him, but you need to activate it for it to work." Peter unlatched the orb and held it out. "How?" Zestos asked. Sid replied, "We better do it outside; I don't like broken doors (unless you watch a particular samurai burst down the door. Now that is funny!) and windows."

Peter held the orb out once more. "Fly!" The orb hovered, and then shot off towards its target. Peter enter the orb's shadow and was able to keep up with it since he was now apart of that shadow. The other three grabbed onto Sid and flew on his back while hanging on to dear life. The orb suddenly stopped on its own, glowing quite brightly. Peter came out of the shadow and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say halt." Sid landed behind him. Katie appeared to be having a bad hair day. Peter took the orb into his hand. It shone brightly for awhile, but then went out. Sid frowned. "How unfortunate. He must have just left the realm. That was probably aura residue that the orb sensed."

Peter and Zestos were at a loss for words. Katie had taken out a collapsible brush out of her pocket and was fixing her hair, when and idea came to her. "Could you trace his aura to where ever he went?" Sid nodded. "Yeah... but he's probably busy. What did you need him for anyways?" Cerulean smiled. "We have to beat Megethos, the Dimension Demon. We were going to ask Omni for some pointers." Sid seemed pensive for a few seconds before answering. "I know someone better to ask." he grinned once more. "I have to admit that he's more annoying than me though." Zestos raised an eyebrow. "I suddenly get the feeling that I'm not going to like this person." Sid only grinned wider. "I'll invite him here. Go back to the mansion and wait for me there." With that, he vanished in a green smoke. "That wasn't so bad." Cerulean stated, having expected something worse. "Yeah...But don't be fooled; he was just in a good mood today." Peter said with his arms crossed. "Whatever the case," began Zestos, "he's helping us, so let's treat him fairly."

The group then set of for the mansion. The day was now turning into evening and the sky became a brilliant orange. The journey back was a half mile, and they made good time. "Let's meet in the dining hall instead." Cerulean suggested. They all went in, save Peter who left briefly and returned with the suitcase. He put the Lunar Capture Orb back in its slot, after he put the suitcase down on the table. "We'll know when he gets here." Peter said.

While they waited, they had a brief conversation. "I still think it’s too risky to rely on the Sol Core." Katie had said. Peter frowned and replied. "We barely defeated Blade with it. We'd all be dead if it hadn't worked" Zestos disagreed, mainly because Omni had told him that he was not looking to kill the group. "I know they're demons and all... But do you think, Peter, that your own relation would have set it up so that you'd die if you had failed?" Peter scratched the back of his head. "Well-" Zestos interrupted. "Demon or no demon, he's not going to kill his family."

"So true!" Came an unknown voice. "Oh look!" Cerulean had said at the same time. Sid's orb was glowing, meaning that he had returned. They looked at the stranger in the doorway and noticed his...interesting attire. He wore a shirt with horizontal violet and black stripes, a gray vest over it, gray matching dress pants, and sunglasses with circular lens. He was wearing a top hat, and a bit of silver hair was visible. He was also wearing white gloves and black boots. "Now how can Charles Pantech be of assistance to children?" He said with a sneer. "Pantech?!" Peter exclaimed, "That's my last name! Who are you?" Charles slid his sunglasses down with his left index finger and peered at Peter. "Why if it isn't my great grand-nephew! When did you grow up?" He appeared next to Peter and started looking him over. "My, my...do babies look different after sixteen years. Can't say I like the white eyes though. Pantech eyes are brown."

Zestos jabbed Charles in the side. "Chuck." he said, almost regretfully. Charles looked at Zestos and broke into a grin, "Mini-Zach! How swell." Chuck looked around at amused faces and laughed. "What are the odds that these guys are in a group together?" Cerulean scratched her head. Sid had said that too. "What does that mean anyways?" Katie said. Sid replied. "Oh sorry. It's just that your grandparents were in a group together. Chuck knew them... and it seems that Zestos was told about Chuck. What a sour face..." Zestos rolled his eyes. "I wasn't given a very good report about him." Chuck chuckled. "All that aside, I'm waiting for an answer." Cerulean blinked. "Oh sorry. I had forgotten why we had asked you here." She gave an apologetic bow.

"Sid says you could help us beat Megethos, the Dimension Demon. You must be very knowledgeable on the subject of dimensions." Zestos sighed. "he is. He's the best, actually. But he's also quite spiteful." Chuck crossed his arms, but was still grinning. "I'm standing right here ya know." Zestos ignored him. "How does one defeat dimension?" Chuck gazed at the group with his brown eyes. "Well, it helps that you're a descendant of Zach. You'll have inherited his dimension powers." Zestos grumbled. "I just had to have the luck of getting the same power that Chuck has." Chuck sniggered. "I'm still here ya know. Now anyways. You will be pulled into the Realm of Dimension. You will find that you won't be able to move there. You can... but the way to move there is simply to think where you want to be."

Chuck looked to Peter. "Dimension and Void don't mix. I recall a certain Shadow Wielder that could switch between using Shadow and using Void. I want you to do the same, Peter. I have a feeling..." he looked at Sid who was somewhat frowning, but then looked back at Peter, "that you can." He have only a half smile himself. He then turned to Katie. "Time and Dimension go hand in hand. Work with Zestos and you'll win this fight easily. Now Cerulean... I have something to teach you." Chuck motioned to the doorway. "Follow me, miss." He grinned and exited. Cerulean nodded to curious faces and hurried out to catch up. Peter was the first to speak. "He seems to know a lot." Zestos replied, "He seems to demand a lot..." Katie rolled her eyes. "C'mon Zestos. Let's just practice with your dimension powers or whatever." Katie tugged him by the shoulder and dragged him out of the room. "Ugh...stop that!-Ow! Hey quit it!-Uff!" His protests only made Sid chuckle.

Sid stopped when he noticed that Peter was starring at him with cold white eyes. Peter spoke. "You left me." Sid replied. "Pardon?" Peter continued on. "No good-bye, no see you later, you didn't even seem interested that I left. Why didn't you come with me? Was our friendship without meaning? Was I just some puppet for you to use to gain domination?" Sid was rather affected by Peter's look and was spooked by how calm his voice was. The accusations were like needles. Sid opened his mouth to speak. "Don't...look at me like that; it reminds me of someone I never want to look at again." Peter narrowed his eyes. Sid was only making this worse on him.

"Alright. I didn't go with you because I knew that they'd try to force me to join with them. Therefore, I couldn't visit you either. Look... I admit I was just using you at first, but over time, I felt like I had finally found another friend." He smiled. Peter did not look very convinced. "Sid. Are you afraid of me?" he asked quietly. Sid looked away and sighed. "Yeah. I've been expecting you to blast me away with no remorse. Who knew that you were stronger than me? You had his eyes... soft and warm... But now you have his eyes. I'm sure you won't turn out like him though. No one despises you." He smiled. Peter said, "Who do you keep talking about?" Sid shook his head. "You don't want to know. I'll shut up about him now. Could we try being friends?" He said, hopefully.

Peter walked over to Sid and looked up at him. "Of course. As long as you treat me as one, and not as a tool, then we shouldn't have any problems." Peter turned and looked at the now night sky. "It's getting late." Sid nodded and suddenly turned his attention to the suitcase. "They're all glowing... Except of course the Sol Demon's..." Peter walked over to the case. Indeed, Omni and Megethos were in the realm…

[Skylos]

Chapter Twenty-Two - Chaotic Crystal

...But was worse was soon to follow. Omni and Megethos rushed in the room where Peter and Sid were. Omni looked momentarily confused at the sight of Sid, but quickly put on a frown. "Where is everyone else?" he said, in a distraught voice. "We have big problems." Megethos, the Dimension demon, wore a robe like all the rest, but this one was black with four-pointed star designs on it. His skin was a light purple. he seemed to be keeping his composure quite well. Peter related. "Chuck is teaching Cerulean something...and Zestos and Katie are training Time and Dimension." Omni blinked, quite surprised by D, all of the above. "Well there's no time for that." He snapped, slightly. "Go find them at once!" Peter and Sid scrambled out of the room and went to find the three.

Sid found Cerulean and Chuck, just as they were finishing up the lesson, and he related the happenings to Chuck and Cerulean. The three-some headed back while Peter found the other two, which were now quite confident that they could cause some damage with the combination of Time and Dimension. Those three ran back as well. When they arrived, they were all already seated. they quickly seated themselves as well. Omni spoke. "We have some...very bad news. The Crystal Demon is breaking the last of Universal Barrier as we speak. We need to leave immediately to the Universal Nexus.

"The where?" Katie interrupted. Omni rolled his eyes. "It's the place where all Universes touch. Consider it the center of a Venn diagram. Anyways." He then continued. "We trapped the Crystal Demon there many years ago, but now we can't keep up the...net, to lack better term. We need to take it out, now." All eyes in the room were worried. "We'll of course have every demon come with us...and we'll be counting on you four." He meant Katie, Peter, Zestos, and Cerulean. "We're leaving immediately. I have all of the demons waiting at the portal, minus the three of us." He included Sid. "Let's move." he broke the meeting and was already moving out to the portal he had apparently made.

The group followed quite closely. Peter kept up with Omni. "No more fighting?" He asked. Omni shook his head. "There's no need. Your little group is quite capable. I don't see why we need to test you further...unless you want to see this fight as your exam or something... Just don't get killed." They arrived and were met by demons they were familiar with, and many they weren't. Omni spoke loudly. "This is where it begins to end. Let us all be triumphant!" There was a mixed roar of demons and suddenly, everyone was warped to the Nexus.

The Nexus was quite a spectacle. The sky looked like space as it was in every direction. The group was standing on large square of rock, with pillars all around and going along a staircase from each side. At the top of the staircase was a giant crystal, along with two medium sized crystals. A faint aura came from both of them; the one on the left was white and the other one on the right was black. The giant central crystal had an enormous aura which could only belong to the Crystal Demon. The area around already looked like ruins. Peter wondered what the ruins would turn into once the Crystal Demon got out. Omni sighed. "This, place used to allow people to go to other Universes...But that has been gone since we sealed that here... Your grandfather, Peter, is in the crystal on the left." Peter frowned as he looked to the crystal that was far above him. "Let's get him out then." Peter said. Omni nodded sadly. "Yeah... Their barrier is about gone anyways...We might as well." Omni was, however, looking at the right crystal. The large group made their way to the top on all four sides of the staircases.

Katie and Cerulean flinched when they got to the top; Zestos almost fell over. The Crystal Demon had been frozen in a shocking pose of it about to slash the life out of someone (Peter had been inspecting the crystal of his grandfather, and he didn't notice). Omni looked into the other crystal. "Ah...Perfectly preserved." Inside was the unconscious form of a Dark Human. He was wearing all black. It was a robe of some sort and was probably demon in origin. Around his neck was a brilliant onyx amulet. The Dark Human's skin was a very pale color which had nothing to do with him being preserved, and the only spot it wasn't was around his eyelids, which were black, supposedly from lack of sleep over the years. His hair was also quite black. Omni smiled and said quietly. "My nephew... Neon." He put his hand to the crystal, and it cracked. He spun to Peter. "It's worse than I thought. Just touching it will free them now..."

Peter, meanwhile, had been examining his Grandfather. Inside was an unconscious Light Human. He was the exact opposite of Neon. He wore all white, but he also was wearing a robe of demon origins. It appeared that he too had an amulet around his neck. It was a white stone, so he knew that it had to be an opal. His skin wasn't tan, but it wasn't pale either. Compared to Neon, though, he would look African. The Light Human's hair was a beautiful snowy white and his facial expression was actually a smile. "Skylos...I'm told." the crystal cracked on its own as he heard Omni.

Zestos, Katie, and Cerulean jumped back as the crystal casing on the Crystal Demon splintered and shattered to the ground. At that moment, every demon began an onslaught and went at the demon. Neon and Skylos were freed themselves, but they were still unconscious. "I'll take them to safety." Chuck had come with them and had volunteered. He scooped up the two bodies and then found that the other humans were helping him. "Don't you have a fight?" Chuck asked. Cerulean voiced. "Yes, but these two need attention..." Chuck knew what she was getting at...after all, he had taught her just minutes before. "Go ahead." he said quickly. Cerulean closed her eyes and a watery aura lifted in the form of a mist. The mist flowed gently down on Skylos and Neon and their bodies glowed bluish.

The effect ended moments later, and they came to with a large gasp for air. At this point, Omni and Robbie had joined. "Thank goodness," Robbie began, "they're alive." Skylos looked around wildly and figured out what was going on. "Oh...It's been ages since I could move." he said. Neon had already stood up and was receiving a hug from a grinning Omni. Peter offered a hand to Skylos, Skylos took it, and he then looked at Peter when he was on his feet. He stared slightly and gave a soft laugh. "I'm not sure who you look more like...me, or H--" He was cut off as Omni hugged him too. Omni stared talking really fast. "WefoundawaytobeattheCrystalDemonwhichinvolvesthesefour--" Neon covered Omni's mouth and stared slightly. "Slow down." He said in a deep, unemotional voice. Omni took a breath. "Crystal is like glass. Fire and ice should actually do the trick, so here we have Zestos and Cerulean." he said, introducing them. Sounds from the battle echoed all around. Crystals were flying everywhere and explosions were erupting. "...Reunion later." Zestos said. "We still need to win this fight." They turned to rejoin the fight.

"Wait!" Chuck suddenly said. "Your card is finally burning, Skylos." Skylos turned and blinked. That fortune had to have been 60 years old... "You remember...The card was the one that pointed towards a solution. Do you have one on you or something?" Skylos looked at Neon and exchanged glances. "We have... Some artifacts that we've collected over the years... We tried using them ourselves, but it didn't work." Neon cut in. "You mean six of them didn't...two worked quite fine." His blue eyes fell to Skylos's amulet. "We have six people here. Give yours out." Neon finished. He took from his pocket a green amulet, a violet one, and an orange one. He handed the green one to Robbie, the violet one to Peter, and the orange one to Chuck. Chuck exclaimed. "The Dimension Jewels!" he was shocked. Skylos pulled out a red one, a yellow one, and a blue one. He gave the red one to Zestos and stopped. "Your granddad used to own this. I'm sorry it took me so long to return it." He gave the yellow one to Katie, and then the blue one to Cerulean. Omni looked quite pleased. "Ho ho! All eight of the most powerful things in the universes." Neon held up a hand. "Save them. You only get to use them once. Use your own powers first. They're only a last resort." With that, he teleported to the top and began fighting. "Follow him!" Katie shouted with a jump. Up the stairs they went.

The demons were all fighting to the best of their ability, and they appeared to be winning. The Crystal Demon was firing blue shards all around which scraped the skin of a demon every now and then. The air was filled with the scent of the black demon blood. The Pantechs all joined the battle, minus Peter, who stayed with his group. "Alright." he began. "Let's stick with the plan. Katie shall freeze the time of attacks. Zestos will then heat the Crystal Demon's body up into extreme temperatures. Cerulean will then immediately douse the demon in icy water. We'll repeat this until the demon is filled with cracks. Once this happens, We'll all go for a final attack, with the help of the Sol Core. Any questions?" Everyone shook his or her head. "In that case, 1, 2, 3, break!" They rushed to the battle scene and took up positions. While the demons were distracting the Crystal Demon, Zestos let out a wall of searing white flames. He knew that he needed to heat up the body, but that would take some time. Flare saw Zestos and then decided to speed up the process by helping him. He had a cheery look to him and commented. "Just like old times..." Cerulean stood ready as Peter helped to destroy the crystals being thrown around. Large energy beams also threatened anyone in front.

Finally, The Crystal Demon appeared to be red-hot. "Now, Cerulean!" Zestos yelled. Cerulean took her place and in one move, she doused the Crystal Demon in freezing water. A loud cracking sound was heard, but it then stopped. Katie frowned. "You'll have to do it again... or wait. Run around the demon and fire continuously as you run around! The cracks will be distributed more." But the Crystal Demon was now aware of the danger and was attacking Zestos and cerulean now. Katie quickly froze the attacks. Peter was fending off claws. "Do hurry! The Demons are running out of strength as it is!" he bit his lip. Cerulean put herself on the opposite side as Zestos. They began running around the demon and attacking as they went. The confusion of temperatures was already starting to take its toll, since there were already cracks. Peter took his place next to Katie and then a shattering sound was heard as the layer of crystal broke away to show the tender layer of crystal skin. "Now!" Peter yelled and they all converged on the demon, using the Sol Core as one, the Crystal Demon's body glowed orange, and then exploded in a wild display of blue.

Shockingly, where the demon had been, an unconscious human was floating down to the ground. Peter and Omni reached the body first. The human was wearing a two-toned robe. The sleeves were black, while the body was white. It was trimmed in black, but the belt was entirely black, just as the boots were. His face seemed young, but his hair was dazzling silver. The body was quite cold and only seemed to be a shell. Skylos and Neon, tired from fighting, bent down and examined the human. "The old guy looks dead..." Skylos said, with a frown. Neon shook his head. "His body cannot live without his soul...or in his case...souls." he took off the amulet and placed it on the old human's chest. Skylos followed suit and understood. Peter was quite confused...How could their main enemy have been human? And how did they know who he was... The two amulets both shone brilliantly and seemed to sink into his body. With a gasp, the old guy woke up and looked around. His eyes were brown. The human met Peter's eyes and gave a look of surprise. "Who are you?" Peter asked first. The human got up and brushed himself off. "Well that's simple. Omni Pantech."

[Skylos]

Chapter Twenty-Three - The Future of the Demon Race

"Omni Pantech." Peter repeated in disbelief. He pointed to Omni...Well the Demon one. "That is Omni Pantech, right over there." he said, quite sure of this. Omni - the human - looked at Omni - the demon - and couldn't help but crack up. "When I said that you might be the next Omni, I meant that I'd actually have to die first." Omni - the demon - rolled his eyes. "Oh give me a break. We all thought you died years ago!" Omni - the human - sighed. "Look... Let's just go by our real names, okay? I can tell that we've already lost the young ones." And it was true. Katie and Zestos were both scratching their head while Peter was just still trying to make sense of it all. Cerulean had wandered off and had started to heal the wounds of the other demons. "Let's try this again. I'm Felix Pantech." Felix shook hands with Peter. Peter recoiled slightly. There was something he didn't quite like about Felix. It seemed like he knew him already, and had some difference with him. Felix frowned a bit, and went over to greet Zestos and Katie, and then Cerulean. Omni - the demon - sighed. "I guess I'll have to drop the Omni title. My name is actually Tom." He revealed.

"Tom?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't fit you very well; it sounds too human." he laughed a bit. Tom laughed too. "You can't choose your name." he shrugged. At that point, Felix sighed. "We really don't have time for the whole family reunion thing...We still have problems to deal with." The others gave a confused look. Felix frowned. "I wasn't the only Crystal Demon...I was King Ranked. We still have to kill the Sovereign rank! Krystallos." Peter's jaw dropped. He had forgotten that the demon's name was Krystallos...and that definitely wasn't Felix's name. "W-wait..." Studdered Katie. "Another one? A stronger one?" She bit her lip in fear. Felix tried to soothe her. "Now, now my dear... You have me to help you now. We're all in this." He smiled. Of course Felix's proud demeanor meant nothing to Katie, since she didn't even know Felix, so she wasn't comforted much. Zestos wasn't too thrilled either. "Where is this demon?" Felix then replied. "He's here...But sleeping. We have but a few minutes before he'll awaken." He shuddered.

This was a great dismay to everyone. "But…We just finished fighting you...We're tired!" Cerulean related. Felix sighed and noticed the amulets for the first time. "You have the Dimension Stones." he pointed out. "All of them? Remarkable... I searched my whole life for them..." he smiled happily. Tom nodded. "Felix is made of two of the stones. He forced life into himself and made himself a body. It's quite remarkable." Chuck nodded. "It's strange to think that our ancestor was a rock...no wait, two rocks." he laughed and Peter rolled his eyes. "Even so... What if these Dimension Stones aren't enough?" Felix frowned and then said morbidly. "Then we die... I am counting on you to kill this demon that has haunted me for over 500 years."

Peter narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are we fighting for you, or for everyone?" Felix paused as he felt a wave of nostalgia rolled over him. The acidic remark reminded him of someone...and it should. Felix shook his head. "I'm just saying that I'm one of millions who has been tormented by this demon..." Felix bit his lip. "Tom, may I speak to you alone?" He moved away from the group with Tom. Once he was alone with him, Felix spoke. "His memories are resurfacing... Is that bad?" Tom gave a worried look. "I'm not sure...It might be a good thing. You did say that he was free once he completed the job you gave him. Maybe this means the death of the Crystal Demon will be within these next few minutes!" He seemed excited now. Felix sighed. "But you know how dangerous he'll be! We shouldn't be cheering for his memories to resurface... He'd probably kill me if he knew the truth... What I did to him. I've used him as a tool for... what? Eighty years? Though most of that was just sitting as a soul..." Tom stiffened. "Look. You've done what you've had to do. When it's over, just kill him. You're thinking too much on him. He's just a kid in this life..." Felix narrowed his eyes. "Yeah...only now I've made him stronger."

With that, the two came back to the group. Zestos sighed. "Felix, will these Dimension Stones really do the trick? I don't even know how to use it." Felix nodded. "Yes. Since we have them all, we can easily destroy him...I think. I've never used them all at once. It's been forever since they've all been together." Which was quite true, in reality. Since creation, they had never been all in one place. "Now using them is quite simple. Each one of you is already a master of your skill. You just have to let the core essence of the stones fill your being... From there, you unleash the entire thing at once. As we do this, the power will collide with each other and destroy the demon. That is the plan." Katie raised her hand. She acted as though there were a classroom. "Um. Should we clear everyone else out, then?" Felix scratched his chin for a few moments and then nodded. "Yes. That is the safest thing to do. They're probably at their limit now anyways. Let's get them out of here in the little time that we have left." Skylos, Neon, and Tom descended down the stairs...

The six humans and the Earth Demon gathered at the center. Silence was omnipresent as they waited for the Crystal Demon to make its appearance. They next few minutes would be the most important time of their life. It was either be victorious, or die trying to protect everything they loved and cared for. They were the only ones that could protect the future now. Felix had met this monster on the field before, but even he was worried of failure. Looking behind him, he could see the apprehensive faces of his fellow friends and family. He wished that there was some way that he could cheer them up, but no ideas came to mind. Instead, he had to painfully watch and wait for the Crystal Demon to suddenly appear and destroy them. "Felix." A sudden call from Peter had distracted him. "Yes?" He said, cautiously. He hoped that the kid hadn't gotten back any of his memory. Peter said. "You have some explaining to do, after we win." Felix nodded. He promised to himself that he would explain everything to him. He deserved it.

Then the entire realm started to shake. It became worse and worse as the second passed, until they stopped suddenly. Krystallos was standing there, at fifteen feet high. During the quakes, the team had ended up making a circle around him. Felix was facing him from the front. "You...!" He roared. "Will give me what is mine! NOW!" Felix was clenching his teeth in fury. Krystallos seemed quite calm as he replied with one, booming, syllable. "NO." Felix expected this to be the case, so his reply to that was to fire a void orb at the demon. The orb imploded, but did no visible damage. Since Felix had apparently started the fight, each took turns attacking. Peter fired a menacing blast of shadow energy from Krystallos's own shadow. Zestos unleashed a fury of white flames. Chuck tried tearing the fabrics of the dimension where the Crystal Demon stood. Katie combined her time powers with Chuck to further destroy the demon, and she also let out bolts of electricity. Cerulean sprayed a geyser of needle-like water. Finally, Robbie conjured razor-sharp spires which launched like missiles at the Crystal Demon. These attacks went in a clockwise direction.

Unfortunately, all of the attacks appeared to do minimal damage, as Krystallos was unfazed. In return, Krystallos stomped his massive right, clawed foot and the whole ruins rocked back and forth. This quake sent everyone off their feet and only a few were still standing down in the demon section, down below. The seven quickly jumped to their feet. "Again!" Felix roared. The group then repeated their onslaught, except this time around, Peter and his group used their Sol Core pieces. While this normally would have destroyed even the ashes of the target, Krystallos stood firm. It seemed like none of their attacks - no matter how strong they were - could penetrate the Crystal Demon's body. Krystallos responded 100 times more aggressive this time around. His massive claws cupped together and formed what appeared to be a Crystal Orb. The raw power sent a wave of nausea over everyone in the realm. But that wasn't the actual attack itself... Krystallos through the orb into the ground, right below him, and the entire stone structure of the floating ruins burst forth with crystal. Humans and Demons alike sprawled out into the no-gravity zone above the ruins.

Everyone appeared to be on the verge of unconsciousness, which would be the death of them. The scent of blood was everywhere. Felix was the first to recover of the seven in the circle. He looked all around him at the carnage and gritted his teeth. "If our attacks won't work... Then we'll just use the stones..." He found his group and rallied them together. While they were in this cluster, Cerulean healed the little group. Before the Crystal Demon could attack again and wipe everyone out, they hurried back into their circle formation. As they hovered there, the other demons were recovering with help from Skylos and Fos. "Alright everyone..." Felix said quietly as he closed his eyes. His left half of his body started to glow white and the right half started to glow black. It was as if his entire body was becoming an aura. The same thing was happening to the other six as well. The circle started with Zestos now, and he was glowing entirely red. It moved on to Chuck, who was orange, and then to Katie and so on in rainbow order. The combination of the energies made the demon resonate loudly.

All in one moment, the energies stretched out to one another and all fused together in the center of the circle. The color made was unidentified; it was one that had not been discovered. This brilliant color swirled around like a storm above Krystallos. The demon didn't seem all too interested in it. He started to charge up another orb. Neon then shouted to everyone in their minds. You MUST use it now! And use it they did. All at once, the seven directed the flow of energy and it rained down in a beam that was as wide as the Crystal Demon. The blast lit up Krystallos and it uttered a booming...scream? The sound was so unreal that no one could say what it was. The demon's body cracked loudly and shattered into dust. The crystal encompassing the ruins turned to dust and disappeared. Everyone was able to land back on it now. Peter touched down first and was relieved. "Have we done it?" He said, uncertain. The others touched down as well and were looking in all directions, as if they were expecting the demon to still be there. Felix beamed. "Yes!" He paused. "Yes..." He blinked. It was...over.

Joy spread throughout everyone as this reached everyone's realization. There was much hugging going on. Peter and his group, and Robbie with Chuck. Felix looked up into the sky as he finally had served his purpose. His smile was wiped away as a mist of crystal blue was hovering there. It shot down a blast of crystal which was aimed for Felix. It never made it, however. Suddenly, the Sol Demon appeared in the realm and neutralized the blast with sol. He spoke. "This has gone on long enough! I will not accept my emotions to destroy any longer. My point of existence was to make everyone better than what they were. I strived to come up with a way that would do this. So I absorbed an orange gem I found one day in my exile which made me what I am today. But then I was the only one that had found perfection. So I split all of my elements, powers, and emotions into what you would call the first demons. They in turn made other demons...and I was quite satisfied with my work. But this Crystal Demon was made...and it was pure chaos. Not anymore! I am taking it all back!" he finished his laconic speech.

As he finished, he focused all of his power. All of the demons in the realm began to glow. Their demon cores left their bodies and shot up to the Sol Demon. Even the Crystal Demon was helpless to this attack. All of the cores rejoined with the Sol Demon, and he crashed into the ground. All demons were out cold now. Felix bent over the Sol Demon and checked his pulse. He was alive. Skylos and Neon also checked the others, and found them to be fine as well. Cerulean then yelped in astonishment. The Water Demon, Thalassa, had suddenly turned...human. Zestos's jaw dropped as he saw Flare as a human as well... And well, the others had all changed too. Even the Sol demon's form had diminished, and he was human. Felix was astonished. "There are...no more demons!" A strange concept. The Sol Human was the first to wake up. He looked around and groaned. "Am I successful? Or have I moved on with you as well?" He asked, lightly. Felix grinned. "You did it." He stood up and lit a Sol Orb. "I still have my powers." he said simply. "They have them too." He could apparently sense it. "Omni. Was this entirely my fault?" Felix frowned. "No. You did what you thought was best. You didn't know that this would end up happening." But then the Sol Human shook his head. "But I neglected to do anything about it." Felix shook his head. "You did something not two minutes ago." The Sol Human just shook his head in response.

Felix walked over to Peter. "Are your memories back, now that you've completed the task I set for you eighty years ago?" Peter nodded and replied in a very disgusted tone. "Yes." he narrowed his eyes. "We'll talk, but after everyone leaves." Felix nodded at Peter's conditions. This was going to be very rough.

[Skylos]

Epilogue

With the Crystal Demon destroyed, the Universal Nexus's power was restored and travel to other Universes was returned. The Humans all returned to the Upper Realm and crammed into Tom's mansion for a celebration of their freedom. The only people who did not join this party were Skylos, Neon, Felix, and Peter; they stayed in the Nexus. Felix and Peter stood at the top of the stairs, while Skylos and Neon watched from the edge because they figured there would be trouble. Peter was owed an explanation by Felix. Felix drew a long breath and then searched his robe pockets. He pulled out a mask that had only one eyehole in it. It seemed very old. He handed the mask to Peter, who put it on without thinking. Peter shook his head. "So you put the remainder of my memories in my old mask..." He said, sounding as though he had another personality entirely. Felix then replied. "Yeah. I knew that the mask meant something to you, so it accepted your memories without any protest." Felix then crossed his arms as Peter took the mask off. "So Peter, are you going to start killing people again like in the past? I've given you a conscience. I doubt you could kill now..."Peter was suddenly furious and he charged up a gigantic amount of shadow energy, which he blasted Felix with. Felix went rolling down the stairs until he stopped at the bottom.

Neon and Skylos were about to go help him, when Skylos barred Neon from continuing. Skylos's mouth hung open a bit. A Time Ghost was apparently watching Peter and Felix. It just so happened that this time ghost was a person he knew very well. In the past, he had met a revived samurai leader who had sought to conquer the world. There were other occasions that he saw him, but he hadn't though that he'd have met him...here.

Felix and Peter apparently hadn't notice the time ghost. Felix sighed and called up to Peter. "Oh so now you're going to try and kill me, again? Haven't you learned anything from being Peter?" Peter jumped down the entire flight of stone steps and confronted Felix. He was about to draw a shadow blade when Felix then said. "What? Are you going to kill your friends after me?" Peter froze and looked at him in horror. Unlike his past self, he had never been able to care for anyone for the obvious reason of wanting to constantly kill. But now...he had them...and... He felt horrible. He put on a fake, composed look and said softly. "Is it bad for me to be torn between friends and killing?" Felix then grinned. "Absolutely!" he started rather cheerfully. "If you're really considering killing over friends, then there's something really wrong with you after all!" Peter narrowed his eyes and reached for his blade. He said each syllable. "I. Hate. You." Felix then rolled his eyes and gave a shrug. "many people do. They seem to think that because I'm so strong, I'm not to be trusted. They seem to think that I should be an enemy and suspicion is always thrust on me. The only difference between you and me that you need to understand is that I have looked at both sides of the fence, and have seen what the better choice is. Now are you Peter or your middle name?" Peter apparently got the point and shook his head. He then mumbled. "I can only be both if I compromise." Felix turned and strode toward Skylos and Neon.

Skylos had heard all, but was still looking at his past enemy's time ghost. Felix raised an eyebrow as he past the time ghost without noticing. "Whatcha lookin' at?" He inquired with a grin. Skylos pointed. "Him." Felix turned his head, just in time to see Yamiken, before the time ghost fazed out of existence. Felix then frowned deeply. "Oh dear... Yamiken knew all along that I wouldn't be able to return Hanzo to him, and he never said anything to me." Felix smiled softly and looked at Peter. "I promise never to mess with anyone's core, ever again..." He swore and then left for the Upper Realm.

Peter walked up to Skylos. "Will you please explain what happened to me? My memory doesn't hold the information..." Skylos nodded. "Alright. Ponic extracted - I'm going to say 'your' - core when 'you' died. Ponic then gave it to Felix, who used it in his 'unlocking universe' scheme. After he was done, he was meaning to give it back to Yamiken, but he wasn't around. So instead, he decided to experiment with it. He put it in my body and my body absorbed all of its properties. Felix was quite intrigued with this and found that your subconscious was embedded into myself. 'You' were able to control my body at some parts, but I doubt you remember much. Anyways, at some point Felix promised you that you'd get your own body if you helped him with something. 'You' refused at first, but then he tipped you off that you'd become stronger as a result of this, and he reeled you into his Crystal Demon scheme." Skylos paused for a breath or two. Peter then asked. "But I was already in a new body when we fought the Crystal Demon." Skylos nodded. "Yes... Yamiken never asked for Hanzo back, so Felix kept him in my body for years." Skylos scratched his head. "I'd buried you in my subconscious and forgot about you. My wife had a kid one day, and Felix noticed that 'you' were no longer in my mind. He checked Luke, and found no trace of him. You should have seen Felix. He was in a state of panic for months. Lucky for him, he forgot about it until Luke’s wife had you... That's when he found what he had done. He had remembered that certain traits usually skipped a generation...The same had happened with you. So that is how you became...a Pantech."

Peter took a deep breath. "Then who am I...?" Neon put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Man has been asking that very question for as long as we have been around. There is no answer. Just be who you want to be." Skylos's eyebrows went up. "Since when were you a philosopher?" Neon gave a very, very, VERY small smile. "You'd be amazed of how you start sounding like other people when you're around them long enough..." He took his hand away from Peter and retreated back a few steps. Skylos grinned. "So now what, Pete?" Peter thought on it. "I've decided to not be how I was before... Alone. I realize now that I've missed something grand for hundreds of years. Shall we join the others?" He smiled. Skylos and Neon nodded and they all left to join their friends and family.

~End~