10 Chapter 9

~Akeno's room

"Karan! Karan! Karan!" Akeno repeatedly yells at a sleeping Karan, frantic. She just overheard a disturbing conversation between her mother and father. Apparently her mother is worried about Karan sleeping too much, that one day he might not wake up. Akeno doesn't give up; she pounds his chest with her hands in frustration.

With no success, she begins to fear the worst. Her eyes start to form tears, and she begins crying over Karan's body. "Karan…Karan…" she murmurs quietly, putting her arms over him as she lets her emotions run free.

As she cries, she suddenly feels arms wrap around her in a protective fashion. She looks up and immediately wipes away her tears, knowing crying isn't what will bring Karan back.

"What's wrong, Akeno?" Karans asks, awake, with concern in his voice.

"Okaa-san says you're sleeping too much," she tells him with a frown, relieved he woke up yet still upset he scared her.

Karan's own frown turns into a sweet smile. "It's okay, Akeno. I'll be fine just as long as you're fine, okay?"

"I'm fine!"

"Then I'm fine," he says, causing the young Akeno to pout.

"Prove it," she demands. Karan moves closer to her causing Akeno to blush and slightly back away.

"Date?' he asks, in an almost seductive tone. Akeno suddenly becomes a tomato, and looks away. She wants to look at him with confidence, but hasn't reached the point where she can yet.

"Y-yeah," she answers quietly.

~Later in the city

The reason why Karan wanted to go on a date so suddenly is because of the intense images he's seeing, the images of Akeno suddenly bloodied and dying before him. It's traumatizing, even for Karan. The two connect arms like a married couple would, which gets a few odd stares from people, but most just seem to assume that the two don't want to get lost from each other. Akeno blushes at the close contact but tries to keep her own; she's been wanting to confess something to Karan, and she believes tonight is the night.

They walk around for a few hours, looking through stores, going to the mall and eating ice cream. Karan still has a very uneasy look, which doesn't go unnoticed by Akeno. Sometimes, when she goes off to look at a section of the store, Karan will suddenly call her name, just to make sure she is still there.

Karan is getting desperate. He really doesn't want to lose Akeno; she has become a very important friend to Karan, his first in this world, and he doesn't want her to go. He promised her that she is his best friend and that they will do everything together once they attend high school. They have so many plans for the future together that it would break Karan if she were to die.

He begins to think.

He needs his power

ALL of his power.

Currently, the two young lovers stand outside the ramen stand they often go to. It's one of their favorite spots because it was the first place he took Akeno on their first date. The images of Akeno, bloody and dying, are so frightening that he begins to think perhaps he's simply having a nightmare. But in contrast to that nightmare, he's living a dream by being with Akeno. It's a very complex thing for Karan, who barely understands what is going on.

"Classic, please," Karan tells the waitress who is taking their order. They usually order the same classic, which consists of ramen and chicken.

Karan looks over to his right, and notices the same girl that tried to attack him a few weeks ago. It's odd; this time, she is simply staring at him. She may have had over 20 bowls of empty ramen in front of her and is probably waiting on another order, but she is very intimidating.

~Later at night

As Karan and Akeno walk back to the Shrine, Karan feels a bit weary. But as they approach the Shrine, he realizes with a jolt that' it's under attack. Karan can feel the presence of numerous Fallen Angels at the Shrine, but only Shuri is there to protect it.

Karan tells Akeno to stay behind. His eyes do not deceive him; he can feel Shuri's life energy disappearing at a fast rate. He curses himself for having such a small body. If his legs were longer, he would already be there!

As he approaches the steps of the Shrine, he sees that Shuri is still somewhat fine, but he also sees that she is surrounded by a small army of Fallen Angels. Quickly, he uses his flames to catch their attention, so the Fallen Angels will be distracted by Karan instead of finishing off Shuri.

"Hey, it's that kid Kokabiel-sama warned us about!"

"He doesn't look so tough."

"Just kill him and the mom, we'll find the daughter later."

These are the same words all of the fallen angels are thinking as they begin charging at Karan. Wasting no time on pointless stuff, Karan's right eye shines in the night as it emerges.

The Fallen Angels almost catch him off guard with their immense speed, but with Mana Burst he is able to see their movement just 1 second before they can actually land a hit on him. 'Rakq' he utters, and the flames form around him. The Fallen Angels at that very moment begin stabbing the area Karan is within the fire. As they almost begin cutting through, he pours more of that foreign energy into it. The flames start to grow, creating now hand-like features as well as a head with glowing, red eyes, and that's when the Fallen Angels begin to widen their eyes.

The figure begins to finally reveal itself; it is holding a large bow. As Karan keeps running through the enemy mercenaries, the ones who thought melee weapons would work are instantly disintegrated by the powerful red flames.

~With Shuri

As Shuri lies at the very end of the temple, she soon realizes that, soon, she will no longer be able to see the light. Darkness is slowly overcoming her. She has a few final wishes, but knows that her time is short; she has a huge wound on her side, which was the main cause of her quickly bleeding to death.

"I suppose I can have my way with you before you die," a Fallen Angel with dark grey hair says. He has a massive grin on his face as he comes closer and closer. "You're beautiful, after all. It's a shame that you couldn't be my slav-"

Shuri eyes widen as suddenly a red flaming hand suddenly grasps the man and lifts him into the air. She turns to see Karan, and a trail of bodies lit on fire; they are all dead, and Karan didn't even need to move his hands to kill them.

"What the hell!?" the Fallen Angel says, as he tries to escape creatures grasp. It's a failed effort… but he is suddenly dropped.

"Ah, shit! Kokabiel-sama! I found the kid!" the Fallen Angel yells out as he falls, trying to get the attention of his leader. Karan wastes no time. The creature of fire grows even further, and its hand knocks the Fallen Angel away from Shuri.

Shuri still wears her shocked expression. She has felt this energy before, but didn't think it could possibly come from Karan. She watches as the flaming monster gains armor, skin, hands, and an odd looking bow. It was 'O Vaktra Agni Dev' which was a skill Karan had developed with his own efforts and now is becoming massive; its petrifying red eyes make it even more intimidating. Karan doesn't say anything, just moves with Flaming Shadow.

The monster begins charging a bow, shocking the Fallen Angels before it. It unleashed an arrow, which flies past all the Fallen Angels except one. The one who claimed he was going to rape Shuri now has a massive arrow running through his abdomen, and just to make things worse for him, Karan purposely avoided any serious vital organs just so he stays alive longer.

Oh, he's mad alright.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the fallen angel screams in agony, but he is still alive. Karan then unleashes red flames onto the Fallen Angel, but aims them at the feet, so he will slowly burn to death by the intensity. Shuri watches in horror as Karan narrows his eyes, eyes filled with hate and pain. He doesn't want to lose his new family, so he will do anything, both good and bad, to make sure they are alive and well.

As the man's body is slowly becoming nothing, consumed by the flames, a few other Fallen Angels try to help but the fire catches onto them and begins a massive spread. The gray-haired Fallen Angel is finally coming to his death; he opens his eyes, one last time, to see the power of the person who is killing him.

He shouldn't have opened his eyes.

Suddenly the flames on the man disperse, but he passes out with his eyes shot open. He will either die from blood loss.

Karan then scares off the rest of the Fallen Angels by flaring Shadow of Agni Dev. A few almost get away, but he shoots out a wave of red flames at them which kills them instantly. Karan then turns around and makes his way to Shuri, kneeling before her. He can tell that her life is coming to a close.

She speaks. "Karan-kun, why aren't you with Akeno?!"

"Believe me, she's perfectly fine." Karan would never come here before making sure Akeno is safe. He knows that and so do Akeno's parents.

"Karan-kun… you should stay with her. I knew this was going to happen one day."

"…"

Karan's expression falls into a depressed one. This is as if he is witnessing his own mother's death. Shuri has become close with Karan like a true mother would. Karan begins to think of his parents. He never stopped to think about how important they were, and never thought how much he really misses them until now.

"I know this must be hard for you, but as long as you live happily with Akeno, I know I can die peacefully," Shuri says, as tears began flowing down her face.

"Shuri, you can't die—what about Akeno? Do you know hard it is when parents die? The children left behind grow up filled with revenge, hating everything. They only see darkness and only seek vengeance." Little tears begin forming in his eyes.

"It'll be different, Karan-kun, she won't be alone," Shuri says. "You know, Karan-kun, Baraqiel and I always wanted to have a son after Akeno… but I'm glad we found you instead. It may not mean anything because I am not your mother, but I'm very proud and happy of you… Thank you for being here with us. I'm glad I got to meet you in the end."

Karan looks at her, and closes his eyes. He remembers these past months. She was the only one who ever said she was proud of Karan.

"No," he says in a deep tone. He re-opens his eyes with his showing. Shuri's eyes widen at it. To her, it is a marvelous sight… but she can also see the pain and sadness behind the eyes. The red and grey eye combination make some what odd , but she knows just by looking that the eyes hold power.

"This isn't the end for you…Okaa-san. I swear it. You will be back, with Akeno."

Shuri makes a small laugh in her head, but tears up, because this is the first time Karan ever called her Okaa-san. She can now rest in peace knowing she entrusted everything to Karan, who will do anything, at all costs, to make sure Akeno is alive and happy.

"Thank you, and always make sure Akeno is happy." She closes her eyes for what seems to be the final time. She can hear Karan call her name, but the voice soon gets quieter and quieter… and then, she is at peace.

When Shuri opens her eyes, she notices that she is now sitting on a wood log, and in front of her is a small fire. The fire keeps on burning, ceaseless.

Only one thing comes to mind as she is sitting there…

'Fufufufu, it seems I'll just have to wait. I wonder how you will live life, Karan-kun.'

~With Karan

Karan looks down with saddened eyes. Shuri's death hit him harder than anything he has felt in a long time, but he is not all misery. He knows one day he will see her again, that she will be alive and well, and Akeno will be thrilled… But for now he has to worry about how Akeno will take it.

'You better remember me. Her body can't be preserved forever,' a familiar voice calls out to him. Karan knows what the Kundal can do so he quickly places it on her ears, the effects were immediate her her skin regained gained colour and her temperature came back to normal additionally all her wounds were healed though she still was not breathing and with the power of the Divine Noble Phantasm her body won't age a day until the day it is removed then a green light flashed and an astral form of Shuri entered the body showing her soul still unharmed but now , though her body and soul are still intact but the connection between them was severed but can be rejoined using 'Prana' .The Aitareya Upanishad mentions that only the "Atman" (the Self) existed in the beginning. The Self created the heaven (Ambhas), the sky (Marikis), the earth (Mara) and the underworld (Ap). He then formed the Purusha from the water. He also created the speech, the fire, the prana (breath of life), the air and the various senses, the directions, the trees, the mind, the moon and other things, later it was used by Indra and Agni in various situations. Having his Lance Vasavi Shakti which contains the original 'breath of life' ,which was given to him in Mahabharata by Indra or the power of Agni that he already has enables him to use Prana but the problem was he did not know how , but he also knows learning such a technique is extremely difficult and will take a while before he can learn to sustain himself after using it.

'You will teach me it,' Karan says, threatening the unknown man within him.

"Karan?" he hears a sweet innocent voice call behind him. Akeno has already passed the trail of bodies that are now becoming nothing due to the fire. Then she realizes that Karan kneeling above someone.

"OKA-SAN!" she yells, before running over to Karan, but she is suddenly stopped and forced into a hug by Karan, blocking her from seeing her deceased mother.

"Don't look," he says, causing her to fear the worst. Akeno tries to push Karan, but he is holding her with full force.

"Karan, let go of me!" she says, now crying, Karan isn't going to let her see her mother dead. He knows it will cause nightmares for her, like it did for him.

"You'll have eternal nightmares. Please, Akeno, don't look." Karan begs Akeno to stop and look the other way.

He will do anything in his power to make sure Akeno doesn't suffer a fate like this.

"Akeno, I promise, you and Okaa-san will be together again. I know how it is to be without parents or family, but you won't be alone," he says, now crying for Akeno.

"Oto-san! Where's Oto-san?!" she asks, causing Karan to look away. He doesn't know where Baraiqel is, but it's almost certain he was killed trying to fight the fallen angels. An honorable death. 'You're a good person, Baraqiel. I promise I will not let your sacrifice go in vain.' Karan swears on his life that nothing wrong will ever happen to Akeno, and that he will protect her with all of his power.

"It's okay, Akeno. They loved you. And I'll make sure nothing ever happens to you," he says, but doesn't think the words are actually heard by Akeno, as she is still crying madly into Karan's chest.