CHAPTER 5, THE DEMON LORD'S CURSE

Haru had left the Games to retrieve a piece of the Zodiacs. Hopefully we can win this match. He is always pushing himself, that little trouble maker. "Neph, you better win!!" Dia shouted at me.

I smiled her direction and prepared myself. My enemy is from Silver Silhouette. "Yo, long time no see, Rex." I greeted my old friend, he has black hair tied down his back, with brown eyes and white skin.

"You have thirty minutes to incapacitate your opponent. The whole arena is the battleground." Geo blasted over the speakers. "Begin!!"

"Dainsleif." I summoned Dainsleif to my hand. I'm ending this quickly.

"I won't lose easily." He said and drew his sword.

Our swords crossed in the air as we fought. Fast and agile, I wouldn't expect less from a student of the Sword King. But unlike him, I've spent the past three years in status, bathing in magic. I've grown rather capable. I summoned Excalibur to my hand. It was a fine blade with a beautiful hilt. I slashed away at hit as he tried to block but I easily overpowered him and cut his blade in half. "Winner, contestant Nephrite." Geo blasted over the speakers.

I bowed my head and returned to the viewing area for us fighters. The ones fighting next were Phantom Gem and Happy Phantasy. The match was rather quick, the one from Phantom Gem admitted defeat immediately before the guy from Happy Phantasy could fight. "Anyone buy that?" I asked.

"Not one bit." Storm answered. "Be on guard."

These people are giving me the creeps and I don't like them one bit. Whatever their scheming, I can feel it in my bones, their up to no good.

The matches went by quickly that day, not much excitement.

Haru's POV

When I had returned the games had already ended, everyone was socializing but something was bothering me. The members of Phantom Gem, they made an appearance this time. "Where were you?" Clover asked me as we were eating.

"I... I had things to take care of." I told him, details about the Zodiac are kept under wraps for now.

"Hey, did you hear, there has been rumors of demons, not the good kind comming by lately." Sky said and I almost spilled my drink. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but more importantly where were they seen?" I asked her and everyone stared at me.

"I never said anything about them being seen." She answered. A slip of tongue! Damn! Better keep what I know under wraps for now. "Anyways, they have been saying that demons have been appearing outside the city lately."

"What even are these evil demons?" The man from Sacred Sword who talked to Storm yesterday, asked. He is named Xenon apparently. "I've never heard of them before."

"That's because they shouldn't be around anymore. During the Heroes' era, they were sealed away." Zero said. "It really worrying, even my father doesn't know what to do. Ryu, do you know what to do? You are related to the Hero after all."

"Haru, don't you know?" Ryu asked me. "You're from the main family so you should know more about them than me."

"You've fought with a Demon Lord before haven't you?" Sirius asked me.

"I really don't know, they should've been sealed away but... I don't get it." I answered him and just then I recalled something. "Ella, you said your father had disposed of the fragments of the Star Gate right?"

"About that, they were taken by the Researchers of Lost Wisdom, a research group owned by the nation." She answered. "Why, is something wrong?"

"That's bad!!" Lita and I exclaimed.

"You don't think they tried to recreate it do you?" I asked her.

"It's possible, but to do so they would be walking into dangerous ground. The Star Gate is made from material from another world." Lita answered me. "That Gate connects countless eras and worlds, if they actually opened it, they might've freed the Demon Lords sealed within."

"That's real bad." I said. "I'm a little worried."

"What should we do?" Ella asked.

"I'm curious about those Researchers of Lost Wisdom." Storm said. "What are they really?"

"They're a group researchers, they are part of the kingdom's researchers. They specialize in things unknown to us or from a bygone era." Zero answered.

"Then they would likely try to reconstruct the Gate. That Gate should never be opened by anyone other than a Hero's descendant." Lita said.

"Why is that?" Clover asked.

"The Gate is made from material from another world. It opens to the one who bears blood of another world." Lita answered. "Therefore, only someone who is a pure blooded Hero can open it. Haru is an example of them. His great great grandfather was a Hero from another world while his great great grandmother was a half elf."

"Haru, what race do you actually belong to?" Sky asked me.

"Haru is what you would call a mix blood." Lita explained. "He carries genes from each clan, demonkin, human, fairy, all sorts of them."

"But he looks more human though." Rain said.

"Well it's due to the countess clan bloods in me. They seem to mix and cause a contradiction causing me to look human." I answered him. "But I can make myself and my magical power look like one race though."

"He's right. Your magical power is similar to us fairies now." Sirius said as I revealed my wings to them. "That means, your children will also have a bit of clan blood in them right?"

"Yeah. It goes down the family tree." Ryu said. "As you can see, the one that stood out most in me was dragonkin blood. Both my parents and grandparents were human but since we share a family lineage some dragonkin blood is mixed in me."

"Wait, if you two share the same blood, doesn't that give you the right to open the Gate?" Queen asked.

"Not quite, I belong to a sub family, in other words I'm not directly related to the Hero. One of my ancestors was related to someone who married the Hero." Ryu elaborated. "That's why I carry a different name, Haru is the last one who bears the Tsuki lastname."

"I see... does that mean there are more branches of the Tsuki Family?" Silver asked.

"There are but the main family has always been Haru's. There are lots of family members, some live on different continents." Ryu answered. "In reality Haru is actuall-"

"Keep that under wraps for now." I said to him with a smile.

Later that night, I left for a bit to watch the stars. While there, I felt rather worried about those Researchers of Lost Wisdom and Phantom Gem. "Tsubaki-san, Tsubaki-san." I contacted here via the small crystal ball they gave me. It's the size of a marble.

"Haru-sama? How may we help?" The one who answered wasn't Tsubaki-san, it was Hime-san. She had her golden hair tied up in a braid down her back, with her blue eyes and white skin visible.

"I need a group of Tsukikage members to investigate the Researchers of Lost Wisdom. As well as Phantom Gem." I told her. "And find out what happened to the Star Gate fragments."

"Understood." She said and cut the connection.

"What're you up to?" Lita asked me as she hugged me from behind.

"Nothing much. Lita, do you know how to break the Seal of Two Souls?" I asked her.

"I don't, sorry." She answered. "That seal, it is very special, only when the two who are bound by it release the seal does it break. "

"I see. Thanks anyway." I told her and looked at the stars in the sky.

In the dimly lit room, I stared at the nothingness. I want to see my brother, but the truth about us has yet to be known. The seal that binds him to this world, the seal of the halves of Haru. While thinkings of the truth behind my existence I fell asleep and the next morning I was awoken by Tsubaki-san. "Did you find anything?" I asked him yawning.

"Yes. Firstly, the fragments are indeed in the hands of the Researchers of Lost Wisdom. They have reconstructed the Gate nearly all the way through." He told me. "The Phantom Gem and them seem to have a connection but it is unknown as of now. There also seems to be a connection between them and the Games as well as the Demon Lord."

"Please continue to research them." I told him. "I'm worried about the Gate."

"Understood." He answered and fell back into the shadows of the darkness.

While I sat in my room, Storm knocked at my door so I opened it and he pulled me out to breakfast. "What's the rush?" I asked him.

"No reason." He answered as we sat down. "Yesterday, where were you?"

"The Library." Yuri answered as she popped out of nowhere, with her was Ray. "Docking of the Library and Arena has finally been completed, all systems are fine."

"That's fine." I answered her and sighed. "Ray, do you know where the Warehouse is?"

"I don't." He answered.

"Thought so." I said with a sigh. Seal of the Two Souls, the Star Gate, Phantom Gem, Haruka, there's too much on my plate. "I'm going out for some fresh air."

"Don't overdo it." Storm told me pattibg my shoulder. "You can always turn to us for help."

"Thanks." I answered.

I went outside and there was a boy in a hood with four guys behind him comming my direction. "Is Ella here?" He asked.

"Depends on who is asking." I answered him.

"First prince, Lux." He answered and I felt no lies so I let him in.

"Ella, someone's looking for you." I called out to her closing the door.

"Who is-!! Lux?!" She exclaimed and came running to the boy. "What is my little cousin doing here?"

"I need your help." He said as he took of his hood. He had golden hair with sapphire blue eyes and white skin. "There's something going on."

"What is it?" I asked.

"A Demon Lord, it was spotted near the vicinity." A girl said as she took off her cloak, she had sapphire blue hair, emerald green eyes with hints of gold and white skin. "A high ranked one, it would appear and disappear instantly."

"Where was it spotted and what did it look like?" Lita asked him. "You are the first princess correct?"

"Yes, I'm Lucia." She answered.

"It had the head of the goat and a large build, it had hooved feet and furry hands that were human like." He answered her. "Uncle told me to talk to you about it. He said that this guild had fought with a Demon Lord before. Father wanted to know how you killed the Demon Lord."

"The one who killed it was Haru." Master answered. "You aren't thinking of fighting it I hope."

"We aren't sure anymore." He answered. "It suddenly appeared out of nowhere a few days ago, it appeared in the throne demanding we offered him the crown but my father refused and he placed a curse on me, on the end of the festival, if my father doesn't give him the throne I'll die."

"The king has even released a letter saying that anyone who can kill it will be given a reward." One the men in the cloaks said. He was dressed in knight's armor, with white hair, amber eyes and brown skin.

"Lita, can you do something about the curse?" I asked her.

"I can't exercise my full power on the ground." She said.

"Then we have no choice but to kill the Demon Lord." I said.

"The Game are about to start." Dia said worried. "We'll head over there, you guys deal with this."

"No. We must return now." He said. "We'll be among the people watching the Games today after all."

"Ett~o, Haru-san, please give it your all. I'm cheering for your guild." Lucia-sama said with a smile and I nodded my head. Is it me or are her eyes shining as they took my hand?

A new problem is added to our list, for now I'll focus on killing the Demon Lord.