Chapter 19: The Association (Part 2)

"The chances of them even being here is slim." Luna said with a dull face.

"Unfortunately this is the only chance to attempt to get close to them right now." Lazarus walked up the quartz stairs, leading to the door of the Association.

Lazarus opened the door without even checking if anybody was there, confidently. The first thing they saw when they walked through the door was a grand statue of a demon with large bat wings and a large sword that was stuck in the ground.

"Were these demon statues here before the infiltration?" Lazarus said skimming his finger against the statue.

"Yes, they loved putting up statues of demons that they've slain." Luna said.

"Ah, so it's more of a trophy." Lazarus said.

"Essentially." Luna said.

Both of them were under an arch, and hanging on the arch were two red banners in an outline of a shield, they both contained a symbol on them. The symbol was a dragon with four heads, two of the heads were trying to kill each other, and the other two were looking away.

"What a weird symbol." Lazarus pointed at the humongous banners.

"It represents two different things, the dragon itself represents a community, and the two heads that are fighting represent the division between the community itself, and the two heads that are looking away are the greedy governments that ignore the community." Luna said.

"Wow, I didn't know it got that deep." Lazarus said.

"The Association uses this as an example of what not to be, they promise to never let their community get to that level. And they've kept that promise ever since the Battle of Soul a thousand years ago." Luna said.

An old man with a long white beard walked out into the hall in front of them. He was wearing a white cloth robe and had his hood up, he walked slowly toward them with a cane, groaning as he moved.

"Precisely, young woman." the old man said.

Luna and Lazarus turned their heads, and they both flinched.

"Huh!?" they said.

"Young woman, you know our history well. Please, tell me your name." he said.

"M-My name's Luna!" She attempted to help him walk.

"I don't need help, haha, how do you know our history so well?" he could barely stand up straight and his legs were shaking.

"Well, I am a first-floor defender, sir." she put her hands behind her back.

"First-floor defender? Oh, my! You are a brave one." the old man then took a seat on a nearby bench.

"A-aha, it's nothing." Luna blushed.

"And who are you old man?" Lazarus was trying to see under his hood.

"I don't want to reveal myself, young man. But I will tell you I am close with the Association, and I'm glad that heroes like you showed up." he said.

"Close with the Association? Then can you please explain what's happening?" Lazarus took a seat next to him.

The old man sighed and looked down.

"The head of the Association, Soul. He was trapped and is now stuck in the Demon Realm. Without him it's hard for the rest to continue." he said.

"The Demon Realm? That's where Leon is! Is that where the infiltrators are?" Lazarus said jumping up out of his seat.

"Leon? I thought he was dead!" the old man shouted.

"Hold on, you know Leon!?" Lazarus said.

"Yes, he was part of the Charitables. I-I don't think he knows what happened to them." he said.

"What happened to his team?" Lazarus questioned.

"His team, they all were wiped during the infiltration. They all tried their best, and died defending what they loved." the old man said.

"There needs to be a stop to this, even people on earth are dying left and right due to them. Give me your knowledge old man, please." Lazarus stared deep off into the long hallway.

"I want to give you all of my memories." the old man said as he touched his head.

"Memories, what do you mean?" Lazarus was taken aback.

"In the Soul Realm, the diamonds on people's foreheads contain their memories. You're able to take them out, and give people your memories. I don't see myself as useful anymore, I much rather give you all the knowledge I contain." the old man said.

"W-What? Will you die if I take it?" Lazarus questioned.

"No, I simply will be in an unconscious state. It's okay though, I won't be able to do much right now, take it. Demolish the Demon Realm." he said.

Lazarus was hesitant and didn't know what to do. He knew that if he did take it, it would definitely aid in demolishing the Demon Realm. But he felt bad for the old man.

"Are you sure about this?" Lazarus attempted to look at his face.

"Yes, I am one hundred percent sure. When you put the 'Memory Diamond' on your forehead, it will feel weird. Many memories will flash in your head at the same time, you will feel like you couldn't comprehend it all. But all of my knowledge will be within your conscious." the old man said.

"Okay, I understand. Before we do this I want to thank you for trusting me with your knowledge." Lazarus said.

"I saw what you did out there with Soul's infiltrator, you are brave. I didn't even need to see that to sense your heroic spirit. I don't doubt you at all." he said.

"Thank you, sir. How do we proceed?" Lazarus smiled.

"I will take my diamond off, take it out of my hand, and put it on your forehead." said the old man.

"Okay, then what?" Lazarus said.

"Then put my unconscious body outside, hide it in some flora. I'll be alright." the old man said.

The old man didn't give Lazarus a chance to think, he took the diamond out of his head, under his hood. And his hand, holding the diamond, flopped down as he went unconscious. Lazarus quickly grabbed it from his hand while Luna made sure the old man didn't fall forward.

"I got it!" Lazarus said.

"Go for it!" Luna said.

Lazarus held the diamond to his forehead, it stuck on as if there was glue on it. It glowed and blinded Lazarus, he fell to the ground as memories flooded his brain. He saw quick instances of different memories the old man had, he saw the moments he had with his kids, the many battles he had been through, and ancient power techniques, but he couldn't process it all. Lazarus was groaning and spinning around on the floor.

"Lazarus!?" Luna said as she held his head up.

Lazarus was groaning and unresponsive. His brain felt as if it was expanding, his eyes were burning, and he couldn't stand up. As the memories were flooding through his mind, he saw himself flying high up into the air in a black void, he was flying up toward a glowing orb of light. He saw millions of memories in form of holograms surround him as he went toward this glowing orb of light. As he reached the top and entered the light, he woke up. He jumped right up and grabbed Luna's hand, breathing heavily and sweating.

"That was... so intense." he said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"I saw you groaning and moving all around." she said, as she rubbed his hand.

"I can barely remember what happened, it was like a dream." he said.

"What can you remember?" Luna questioned.

"I saw all of his memories flash within seconds, I can't really recall them though." he responded.

"Do you feel any different?" She said.

"My head, it feels a lot lighter." He said.

"Wahaha and here I thought you'd get wiser." Luna said with a smug.

"I thought so too, hahaha." Lazarus said rubbing his head.

Suddenly they both heard glass breaking.

"Did you hear that?" Lazarus looked around.

"Yeah, it seems like it came from down the hallway." she said.

Within the hallway there were many rooms, the two of them were creeping into the hallway peeping into each room. The rooms were silent, nobody was to be seen. The Headquarters turned from inviting, to eerie within a second.

"None of the windows-"

"Shhhh." Lazarus interrupted Luna.

Lazarus saw a shadow in the room to his right, he quickly peeked his head in.

"I saw something in here." He whispered.

Luna quickly hurried behind Lazarus and peeked over his shoulders.

"I don't see anything?" Luna said.

"I could've sworn-"

Lazarus was interrupted by a sound, it sounded as if there was walking above them. Lazarus looked up, but again nothing was there.

"You heard that too right?" Lazarus said.

"Yeah, it sounded as if someone was walking." She replied.

Lazarus slowly entered the room, he was very aware of his surroundings, looking in all directions. Luna followed behind. He noticed broken glass on the floor.

"This is the room the noise came from. Look!" Lazarus picked up a shard of glass.

"But how could've it possibly been broken? Lazarus keep guard, someone is here." Luna said grabbing her dagger.

Lazarus turned around, and Luna went missing. He was looking around profusely, but couldn't find her, he tried to call out.

"Luna!" he shouted.

The room was quiet, all he can hear was his echo in the hallway. He again heard footsteps and drew his sword.

"Whoever is here, show yourself!" he shouted with flames in his eyes.

He knew that he couldn't get himself upset or it'd hinder his fighting ability, he took a deep breath in and out. And he followed the footsteps he was hearing, it was coming from the back of the room.

"All that it here is this desk, and a mirror." he muttered to himself.

But he once again felt as if he saw something at the corner of his eye, and turned back to the mirror, he was taken aback, it was Luna she was being held hostage by a creature, he was wearing a bag over his head, with horns sticking out of it and a suit and tie.

"Luna!" he shouted.