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The rank stench of death overpowered them and began draining their souls. The impenetrable miasma of death surrounding the castle felt unbearable inside its walls. The stagnant air held them tightly in its grasp like a chained prison within their private tomb, as though their caskets had been closed while they continued to breathe. What was an entrance? What was an exit? The castle was more like a labyrinth that changed shape with each moment and merely followed a shifting path of winding corridors. Did the rooms housing the demons only exist in their imaginations? Were they merely stranded on a path to nowhere? These questions plagued their hearts. They had encountered three demons and each had perished. Were they weak? Had their strength been destroyed in the battle for the box? Were they unfulfilled and suffering without their sealed hopes and dreams? The world only associated the box with evil and darkness. Minako always imagined it stained red. The demons alone knew something precious had been taken from them and sealed within it. Whether or not it was a symbol of death, darkness, or evil to anyone else, it was their light of hope. And Pandora was their precious guardian.

On many occasions, it had been said that the cardinal demons were special. At its birth, each demon lost something from within, but otherwise they had little in common. The ordinary demons were small, weak creatures, easily crushed by the endless battle of mankind. Their strength came from training and dedication. They held only one strong desire, the desire to survive just one more day. Blood for blood was how the humans and demons interacted, the only way they understood. To be a cardinal demon differed greatly, for them blood for blood only existed in the minds of ruthless soldiers. Humans and demons were different commodities. Humans sprang forth from the earth while the cardinal demons were born from the sky. Cardinal demons existed in a perpetual state of limbo, never living, never dying, only waiting. What reason did they have to desire blood for blood when they had nothing to gain and nothing to lose from fighting? Their strength sprung forth from their own hearts and minds. Even in their endless destiny of waiting, they controlled it on their own. Or, at least, in their eyes they knew they answered only to God who had abandoned them.

Without God, they became their own masters and their desires went unanswered. Their light of hope had been stolen and their duty to protect had been ignored. They turned to their priestess for her guidance, in the hopes that their own precious light would rest within their hands once more and they could fulfill their true purpose. It was something they had coveted since before they could remember. More than life, more than death -- things that all demons desired in one form or another -- they wanted the box and their precious hope. Was Nick correct that they never lived a day until they met their own precious Pandora? Her bright light was like a beacon from God, always smiling upon them from the heavens. She was the key to the box, to their precious hopes. Life or death was meaningless. But more than anything, they hoped to gain their own precious reason to live beyond the box: the ability to fulfil their true purpose.

A knotted and rotting wooden gate stood before them, charred black from fire and warped from water. AJ had run ahead, but froze at the damaged door.

“AJ?” Howie stopped beside him.

“It was wrong of me…” AJ clenched his fist as his voice shook.

“You--” Kevin flanked AJ’s other side.

AJ quickly turned toward them. “How could I back down from my duty as a soldier?!” He put his hand to his head, lacing his fingers through his hair and forming a fist. “I wanted to stop fighting! I wanted to concede!” He removed his hand and slammed it against the door. “But everyone else was willing to fight with their own life!”

Howie put his hand on AJ's shoulder “There are times when everyone wants to give in and stop fighting for the things they believe are most precious, even at the risk of losing what is precious.”

AJ growled as he removed his hand from his hair. “All my life, I’d fought so hard to prove that I was more than a demon. To prove that I had dreams and hopes outside of who I was. I wanted to show everyone that I could bring them happiness!” He clenched his fist. “But all that time I was only running away! Trying to be anything, but a cardinal demon! When I should have known and I should have tried harder!”

“AJ--” Kevin started.

“Even when I said and did horrible things, she was willing to die for me! And even then, I only wanted to run away!” AJ slammed his fist into the door. “How could I be so weak!!”

The wooden door slipped on its hinges and opened inward toward the waiting, bleak room.

“Then prove you are a soldier and enter.” An airy voice called through the darkness.

The sapphire demons froze, their shoulders taut.

“Well…”

AJ swallowed hard as he felt his pulse race and the hairs stand up at the base of his neck. He held his breath as his entire body tensed. Can I answer this battle with the same determination as His Majesty and Kevin? Could I be as brave as Minako? My pride as a soldier now rests on my response.

“AJ--” Both Howie and Kevin held their hands on his shoulders.

AJ swallowed again. “This is my turn to prove my worth as a soldier. Even now, I’m scared as hell to fight, but everyone else ran forward without regrets!” His tense body began to relax and his chest seemed to inflate with confidence as he spoke. “For Minako who called me her friend, I refuse to lose!”

The three demons shared determined nods.

AJ clenched his fist tightly and walked through the rotting doors with his head held high. Though his knees shook with each step, he refused to slouch or shiver. His forever wandering eyes only stared forward, focused only upon his goal and nothing else. His shaking steps reached the center of the dimly lit room. It seemed especially dank, putrid, and rotted compared to the others, more primordial than ancient. AJ bowed his head and exhaled a shaky breath. “Well then…” He raised his head slowly, his eyes narrow. “This is my chance to prove my worth as a soldier. One will win and the other will lose in a test of will, that is the meaning behind a battle!” He clenched his fist lightly. “Strength and weakness is only a matter of confidence!”

A shadowy form appeared on the floor. “Confidence?” It let out a low laugh. “Being a soldier is merely about ruthlessness.”

AJ’s lips curved into a smirk. “Is it ruthless to hide in the shadows?”

The shadow lifted from the ground and rose. Its pale yellow boots appeared first, followed by its pale white pants and pale white tunic, tied around his waist with a pale yellow sash. Its wings flared from its back.

AJ shrank back slowly. “An ethereal figure…”

“Does that disturb you?” The figure darted forward and he wrapped his fingers around the contours of AJ’s face. “Are you afraid of death?”

A shudder went down AJ’s spine. The confidence he had worked so hard to muster faltered.

“Your silence speaks volumes.” The shadowy voice hissed against AJ’s skin. The shadow’s breath was cold, like he was dead, like he was nothing.

AJ shut his eyes as sweat poured down his face. It’s like a ghost, warm and cold all at once. Is this demon there or not there? He swallowed and blinked several times, then opened his eyes slowly. Gone! The ethereal creature had disappeared! AJ whipped his head from side to side. As he scanned the room erratically, something heavy hit his ribs and flung him back against the wall behind him. He hit the ground, then slowly pushed himself up on his forearms. Blood trickled down his chin from the corner of his mouth. He licked his lips to pull it back in, the coppery taste burning against his tongue. “Where did he--”

Kevin clenched his fist. “AJ! Be confident!”

AJ glanced toward him, his shoulders shaking.

“Stand up!”

AJ reached backward and put his hand against the wall, then pulled himself up on his weak legs. He clenched his eyes shut and growled. How could I let this demon freeze me in fright? I came into this room determined to prove my worth as a soldier, but I’m losing. In a battle won by confidence, mine is fleeting. If my heart is weak, is skill enough? He stepped forward cautiously, his knees shaking, but a second heavy blow thrust him toward the wall again. His shoulders slumped and hunched his back as his head dropped toward the ground. Where are these blasts coming from? This figure is shrouded in nothingness.

Tears streamed down his face. I’m no match for it or my companions… Even Nick can go ballistic and become strong. Even when I’m full of confidence, I’m not as strong as Nick when he’s an untamed monster... He choked back his tears. I can’t call myself a soldier while I lie on the ground... Minako… You must see me as a nuisance… A demon absorbed in his own wishes and not a soldier for his priestess... But more than I’ve let you down as a soldier, you’re probably more angry that you called me a friend and I still can’t fight for you… I’m still not quite sure of the difference between a friend and a companion or a friend and a comrade, but I know that it means you care about me deeply… How can I let you down when you care about me for more than my duty as a soldier?

“AJ!” Howie began running toward him.

Kevin clenched his fist again, then ran after Howie. “Stand up!”

AJ looked up at them, his eyes were hollow like the abyss.

Kevin forcefully pulled him up with shaking hands. His nostrils flared as he bore his fangs. “Is this the only way you know how to fight?! Aren’t you angry that you gave up so carelessly?!”

AJ choked back his tears again, as he stood limply in Kevin’s grip.

“AJ, while confidence is an important piece of mentality in a battle, more than confidence, you must stand beside your reason for fighting with valor.”

AJ blinked back his tears, his expressionless eyes fixed on Howie.

“At the end of this journey, there is something we have all been searching for desperately. And our priestess has shown that she will lay down her life for ours so that we may hold it again.” Howie smiled warmly. “If you are searching for a reason, perhaps it can be this.”

AJ blinked away the last of his tears and color slowly returned to his eyes and face. He gripped Kevin’s forearms as he steadied his shaking knees. Minako… Is it alright with you that I’m such a weak soldier? AJ shut his eyes and calm radiated from his skin. “I feel something warm...” He inhaled quickly. Now that I feel this warmth, I feel the bitter chill in this room. I couldn’t find it before, it didn’t matter if my eyes were open or closed. This ice cold entity, living and dead, something and nothing. It’s racing toward me!

AJ pushed Kevin and Howie away from him, then ran his fingers across his gold hoop. He formed a large shield with his wings, then raised his forearms over his face. There’s an icy sting against my arms. He quickly opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of the pale figure, but it disappeared just as quickly. AJ exhaled the breath he had been holding, glanced at Howie and Kevin behind him, then examined his arms. Large gashes had formed across them. He turned toward Howie and Kevin. “Let’s start looking for a possible exit. I will try my best for you, but be ready to fight back if you feel a chill...”

Howie and Kevin nodded determinedly.

He turned back to the center of the room and clenched his fist. They’re alive! Minako must have felt me calling her and gave me that warmth! He smiled, then exhaled. I have to be ready... He felt the cloak of cold drawing toward him and raised both hands to his large golden hoops. As he gripped them, a light ringing resounded around him as a small sapphire glow surrounded him. He disappeared into a puff of smoke that disappeared just as quickly. AJ reappeared with his wings outstretched. His fangs protruded farther from his lips and his claws seemed sharper. His brown irises were tinted in a sapphire color and shined like his gold hoops.

Across the room, Howie and Kevin turned from the wall and floor they had been examining.
As he kneeled over the floor, Kevin leaned back on his heels while knocking lightly. “This is--”

Howie smiled as he leaned against the wall and knocked. “AJ’s true power.”

AJ held his hands close to his heart as his wings flapped quickly and he lightly tapped his foot on the ground. One, two, three, jump! He launched from the ground just as the gust of cold air neared him. He landed a few feet away. His eyes were wide with determination. It’s coming! One, two, three, jump! The cold brushed beneath him, but did not touch him. He and the pale demon followed this continual pattern across the room as AJ led it away from Howie and Kevin and until AJ was backed against the opposite wall.

AJ shut his eyes and pulled on one of his gold hoops. Smoke billowed around his arm, and it reemerged as a sword that he thrust in the direction of the bitter cold. A few drops of bright red blood spilled from the empty air and on to his illusionary sword. As the blood spilled, a patch of flesh briefly appeared in the air. AJ thrust toward the same spot once more, but the flesh and bitter chill vanished. AJ clenched his free fist as smoke billowed around his arm again and it reverted to its normal state. AJ scanned the room again, searching for the cold. Where is it? He leaped from the ground then began drifting back down in the center of the room. Once he landed, the ground began to rattle.

“Earthquake?” Kevin gripped the wall and scanned the room as he stood.

As the ground rattled and shook, small cracks began appearing near AJ’s feet. He stepped back, then whipped his head toward Howie and Kevin. He motioned upward, then leaped from the ground.

Howie and Kevin stared at each other, then clapped the other’s shoulder. They shut their eyes and glowed with the intense sapphire light. Once Howie’s wings reemerged, they also shot toward the ceiling.

AJ glided over to their side of the room moments before a tower of bright blue light shot from the ground and filled the room with a sapphire haze as it exploded through the roof. It cracked against the miasma surrounding the castle, sending electric sparks back down to the crumbling ground below them. This blue pillar? Where did it come from?! Is it another demon or the others?

The room continued to shake as a large object jumped through the pit in the ground and landed at the edge of the room where the ground still had damage, but remained fairly intact. Are we being attacked?! AJ swooped down toward it through the flaring and flashing light. It’s a stone demon. AJ hesitantly reached out his hand and touched its face. It’s not one of the ones we already fought… It feels similar to the one in this room, but different... He pulled his hand back and stared at the flaring sapphire light. Before it appeared here, were Minako, Nick, and Brian fighting this demon directly below us?! I have to keep this pale demon from attacking them! He brushed his fingers against his hoop and disappeared into his smoke and the bursting light.

When the light cleared, AJ’s smoke was gone and two statues rattled at the edge of the room. The pale demon emerged from the emptiness and swooped toward them. It landed and touched the face of one of the statues.

“Another…” Its glowing yellow eyes seemed to droop with concern. “But two others?” His eyes seared and flared. “Shapeshifter! How dare you copy my fallen comrade!” His eyes sparked and burst with an intense yellow glow as he spread his hands, revealing a black orb that crackled with topaz light. He hurtled it at the statues.

At that same moment, AJ’s illusionary statue flickered back into AJ’s true form. AJ pulled his gold hoop from his ear and pulled until it enlarged to form a shimmering golden mirror. He held it close to his face and it swallowed the blast whole. AJ shut his eyes and hid his face as he shook the mirror. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to destroy other demons… But I can’t let you hurt them! This has to end here!”

The orb reappeared from within the mirror and shot back at the demon, piercing his heart as it knocked him against the ground. His body flickered as his topaz glow subsided. For a moment, his body vanished, then reappeared as a statue.

AJ’s smoke surrounded him, then dissipated and he reappeared without the glowing blue irises. He clenched his fists. “Comrades killing comrades! Statue after statue! Is this the existence of all cardinal demons?!” His fists shook as his body tensed. “Blood for blood?! I thought we cared about more than compensation!”

Howie and Kevin landed on the ground next to AJ, then Howie clapped his hand against AJ’s shoulder.

“Death is a blessing and a curse, especially in this castle. Those who wish to live are driven mad with worry, anger, and fright. Those who wish to die are denied their right to an end of suffering.” Howie shut his eyes as a grimace crossed his face. “The other cardinal demons were robbed of their eternal death, in favor of an endless existence removed from life and death.”

“More than anything else, it seems all cardinal demons have been wishing to get to the box and live once it’s unsealed.” Kevin crossed his arms. “Will we even have that possibility with our victory?”

“All this time…” AJ’s fists continued to shake. “We all thought we were living our true lives, the path we carved out for ourselves, but… We were always supposed to live this way, weren’t we? Before anything else, we’re cardinal demons! Does that mean we only get to die?!” AJ bit back the tears forming in his eyes.

The silence hung between them like the shroud around their future. Howie finally broke the silence. “Our priestess is the goddess of our destiny, therefore, it must be Pandora’s decision whether we live or die.” He patted AJ’s shoulder. “Pandora who calls us friends must want us to live. Let us continue forward and continue hoping to reconvene with them.”

“She’s alive! She told me!” AJ’s fists stopped shaking.
Howie and Kevin gaped at him as Howie removed his hand from AJ’s shoulder.

AJ ran his fingers over one of his earrings. “When I was weak, and thought I couldn’t go on, I asked her if she minded if I was a weak soldier. Then I was filled with her warmth, like she believed in me… So I know she’s alive!” He put his hand to his heart and gripped his tunic. “And that bright sapphire light that burst through the floor had to have been Nick or Brian’s powers!”

Kevin swallowed and clenched his fists beneath his crossed arms. “Then we have to keep moving! We have to get to them!”

The room began to rattle again. The ground below them cracked and the ceiling above them began dropping fragments of the roof, the walls seemed to crumble around them. The three demons shot into the air again.

Howie glanced back at them, as he began gliding across the room. “We must find the exit!”

In the endless maze of shattering darkness, they dodged the falling fragments, searching endlessly for the exit. There was no escape in sight. Howie glanced above him to see a large stone falling toward him and quickly pulled his sword from its scabbard. It flashed with an intense burst of light and pushed the stone away, but the force of the explosion flung Howie into the shadowy abyss below them.

“Howie!” Kevin changed direction and shot after him.

AJ glanced at several other rocks crumbling from the ceiling, then followed Kevin into the dark catacombs. Even though it was impenetrable darkness, even though it drew them closer to death, they had to go forward, because their priestess and companions were alive. Her light and their bond could become their candle and shield.