Third person POV
"Are we even going in the right direction!?" Zen exclaimed, unsure and frustrated with the abnormal amount of stairs and hallways they have passed.

"I honestly don't know at this point, but we can't just stop!" Mitsuhide replied within ragged breaths.

"... My guts are telling me that we are going the right-" Ryu gasped, cheat tightening, eyes widening, and feeling his blood run cold. The sharp point of a dagger's tip ran across his cheek. "Gah!" The stinging sensation burned and flamed as he touched his right cheek to feel blood flowing down.

"Ryu!" The gang exclaimed extremely worried.

Obi and Hanayuki immediately stood in front of Ryu, aware and protecting the already injured. Mitsuhide and Kiki unsheathed their swords while Zen was preparing to unsheathe his.

"Who dares go there!? Come out! Show yourself!" Zen shouted, waiting for the attacker to reveal themselves.

Everyone was on guard. Their muscles were tense like a tightly knotted rope. Their breathing was low and quiet.

"Hmph. One simply does not give orders to those who clearly can kill you in an instant." Slowly stepping out from the shadows, there that arose was the black warrior of shadows.

"Kuroiryuu!?" Hanayuki exclaimed and questioned, quite surprised to see him before the other warriors.

"Greetings Mistress Hanayuki. It is lovely to see your face again after-"

"No! I'm not fighting you warriors anymore! I don't want to fight you guys!" She curtly cut in.

Obi saw the despair and guilt in her eyes and knew how much these "warriors" meant to her. They were dear family who could possibly even be more.

"Man. This guy has some crazy presence." Mitsuhide nervously said.

"It's extremely overwhelming." Kiki commented.

"Please let me speak before you make assumptions." Kuroiryuu hardened his stare, tensing the muscles of the gang even more.

"..." Ryu remained silent, staring at the red orbs Kuroiryuu held as it slightly reminded him of the one eye Kiroyuki had.

"My name is Kuroiryuu as you heard. I've come to warn you all."

"Warn us?" Obi questioned, extremely confused.

"The rest of the warriors and I had discussed that it is best for us to not interfere with your path to saving our lady." He seriously stated.

"Then why did you throw a dagger at me?" Ryu questioned blankly.

"..." Kuroiryuu stared at Ryu for a few seconds and turned away, changing the subject. "The sacred warriors are disobeying our lady in order for you outsiders to save her."

"W-wait! Why are you changing the subject?" Ryu questioned, confused. Hanayuki sweat dropped, knowing that Kuroiryuu will only continue to ignore the poor boy.

"There isn't much time before the artificial Kiroyuki will decay within her."

"Artificial Kiroyuji!? What does that mean?! And shouldn't we be chasing after her right now!?" Obi shouted, feeling impatient.

"The Kiroyuki you've known all this time is just another being in our real princess. The real Kiroyuki was the horrendous child you had thought to be a crazy and cold hearted murderer."

"What!? No way!" Zen, Mitsuhide, Kiki, and Obi exclaimed, shocked and unable to believe what this man is saying.

"There's no way the Kiroyuki we know is that murderer!" Obi yelled furiously.

"Kiroyuki is an earnest and kind girl!" Zen retorted.

"..." Hanayuki stayed silent within the shouts.

"..." Ryu was speechless... Has he been loving a girl who has never existed and will never cease to exist any longer? The times with Kiroyuki... was it all a lie? An illusion?

"You've all been trying to save a true murderer and demon this entire war. Have you never even thought to believe or question that such girl who holds magic in an ordinary world can be cursed? You fools don't know anything about our lady except Hanayuki."

Right on cue, everyone turned to Hanayuki to see her fearful expression.

Eyes that burned through her overwhelmed her fragile heart.

"... You knew about this?" Obi asked, solemnly.

"N-no, I mean yes! I did, but it's not what you think! I went into Kiroyuki's dream once to warn her of her, but, but... You all must feel betrayed... I'm sorry, but you have to believe me that I don't know much! I haven't been able to watch over Kiroyuki by spiritual bonds until she was eight years old!"

Hanayuki sobbed, hating the stares of mixed emotions towards her. The eyes... Their eyes... Flashbacks reminded to those dreadful days of darker times of trauma.

"Don't blame Mistress Hanayuki. She is to not blame for the birth of "Kiroyuki". Mistress Hanayuki is partly Kiyoyuki's savior since she helped suppress the rate of the return." Kuroiryuu instantly was next to Hanayuki's traumatized figure, lacing an arm around her trembling shoulders. For she was in a trance of her precious life.

"What did you do to her!?" Obi yelled, irately and hateful of the expression the girl held.

Obi was about to throw a dagger, but Mitsuhide restrained Obi as he slowly calmed down, gaining his rationality back.

"I did nothing of any sort." He calmly replied. "The kingdom of Hyoushou has a lot of secrets and hidden curses throughout centuries. Kiroyuki is merely just an added soul to my true lady. Meaning- There are two souls within one body. One being the original owner and the other being a replacement."

"So the Kiroyuki we know is the replacement..." Kiki summarized.

"Correct. Due to a gruesome event during our lady's young childhood, a soul was transplanted into her body, sealing away the true heart of "Kiroyuki". Everything changed since then. Her name, her appearance, memory, deaths, the kingdom, and anything that connected to her."

"What kind of gruesome event?" Zen questioned, feeling uneasy.

"That I cannot say. But, do not anger my true lady."

"..." The gang was silent and they had acknowledged that Kuroiryuu had no malice intentions as Hanayuki was still stuck in her trance.

"What about Hanayuki? Why is she like that?" Mitsuhide brought up.

"Mistress Hanayuki is stuck in a trance of her past. She is unaware of her real surroundings here and believes to be physically taken back into the past to her most dreadful days."

"Is there anything we can do to help Hanayuki? We're gonna need her help later and I'm worried about her condition of being stuck in a trance." Obi stated.

"There is nothing you can do, but herself. She has to acknowledge that she is in a trance without the fear taking over her body and actions."

The gang felt disappointed and guilty of their actions that may have caused her anxiety to pass the exceeding bar.

"... Kuroiryuu." Ryu called out quietly.

"What is it boy?" He questioned.

"... The real Kiroyuki... Is her name Akuma?" Those who looked into Ryu's aquarium eyes can see his anxious yet blank orbs of crystal-like gems.

"I suppose Rosso had accidentally said her name. That fool... You are indeed correct. The original owner of the body is Princess Akuma."

Silence grew upon them as they processed the name into their memories and brain.

"How bad was the gruesome event to the point where she hidden away in slumber?" Ryu questioned.

"Extremely terrible." He replied.

"Why weren't you and the other sacred warriors mentioned to us? Kiroyuki would have still known all four of you guys even if she changed."

"Incorrect. Since the transplant, us warriors were hidden away and to stay as far away from the replacement." Kuroiryuu continued to calmly answer.

"Wouldn't you've happy if your real lady would just remain? It seems like you don't care for the Kiroyuki we know."

"... Incorrect." Kuroiryuu's stare hardened. "I care for my real lady and princess, but to see her being manipulated by a fool who claims to love her and to see her slowly destructing wretches my heart. But, it is still wrong for the replacement to die from lies untold. I hold a strong soft spot for both souls nonetheless. They are two souls who will now and shall complete each other as one."

".. Wow... I never knew how chaotic this turned out to be..." Zen said, troubled by all the information he was exposed to.

"If you all wish to turn back and leave this war, I will not stop you." The gang was about to retort back, but was interrupted instead. "But, if you wish to save both souls, you must know that walking the same path as her will lead to problematic situations. Her curse is not just one, but many and almost every curse that lies within our country's history."

"I don't care. I love Kiroyuki the way she is and I'll learn more about Akuma. I will save both of them." Ryu's aquarium eyes glowed with determination and life.

"Hmph. I trust your words then... Ryu." Slowly picking up the still sleeping mistress, she was held bridal style.

"Wait! Where are you taking her!?" Obi questioned, nervous.

"I won't do her harm. I will take her to the others warriors since one carries the best healing magic... Don't worry. This won't be the last of seeing her." Kuroiryuu disappeared into the shadows without notice, leaving everyone speechless.

"Hey squirt... You doing alright?" Obi asked, regaining composure.

"Yeah. I'm alright, but Kiroyuki and Akuma aren't. We should hurry. We spent too much time here."

"Yeah. Let's go master!"

"Right!"
-----

"... They're coming Kir- Akuma." Neil stuttered, nervously.

"I know... Just give me awhile to prepare. Stall and kill them for me if you must... Just save that boy with the aquarium eyes." Kiroyuki emotionlessly said.

"Why?" Neil questioned, suspicious.

"I want to question him. That is all." Kiroyuki gave no further comment and focused on her strength only.

Neil internally sighed, not wanting to interrupt Akuma with unnecessary words to distract her.

Looking over the edge of the enormous tower they were on, he saw the abnormal amount of corpses laying on top of each other. His eyes couldn't believe that men were still fighting.

"!" Neil jolted slightly, eyes widening in shock. "Reinforcements!? No wonder the battle has still been going on for so long!" Neil exclaimed, forgetting his silence. He slapped his mouth with his left hand and slowly turned to Akuma.

"..." Silence. "... Is that so... No wonder I sense some odd source of presence near the eastern side. Hyoushou soldiers should be able to handle it though..."

Akuma have no worry towards the thought of the reinforcements. She didn't care. She just wants to hear the cries and blood splatters of everyone.

'If only I could of taken her away that night... If only then everything would have been successful and the promise would have become true without a hitch...' Neil thought.

Neil felt empty... Empty... Empty... Empty! He loves this girl who stands with him, but will she still stand with him after knowing all of his sins? But haven't they both committed so many crimes? Would that be fine to live together with their crimes and sins? But which girl does he claim to love? Is it really love or desire of serving someone with the great source of magic?

'Fools, fools, fools... You only want to save Kiroyuki! Why don't you think about me? I'm the original owner of this body. I was born into this body first... But... I guess no one would want to be acquainted with this murderer and psychopath... Everyone prefers sweet and kind girls! How sickening...'

"Sometimes I need a hero to be saved too..."

A/N
HELLLOOO! Sorry for the late updateee! School is keeping me busy and it's terrible! My math teacher sucks at explaining and so I have to use my free time/ writing time to research the lesson without a 100% accurate learning ;-;! It's frustrating! Why is it that world geography teachers can't be math teachers too TwT

Anyways, thank you for reading and please like and comment! I would love some reactions and feedback from you all!

I've also been trying to write some new stories, but I also have to deal with my other current stories too! This is just a heads up to look out for the future!

Also, can you guys do me a favor and comment down what you guys think might have happened in the past to transplant a different soul into Akuma's body? I would love to see what you guys think!

Um, I think that's all for the news so have a lovely night/ day!

(Wish me luck on my math quiz T_____T He didn't even teach us TwT)

9/17/17