Leon!

  Voices whispered to Leon as he ran through the darkness. His eyes burned. Blood drenched his clothes from the wound in his chest. Katie's voice cried out to him over and over again. She sounded so desperate. The pain he could sense from her jabbed his heart every step away he took. He wanted to turn back. One step toward her and Diablos would have him sprinting to kill her.

  Where are you going? Leon...

  Leon!

  Come back, please!

  Dark shadows of people passed him in herds. They parted whenever he pushed through. Their eyes followed everywhere. I just have to regain control of myself... I need to fight it!

  Leon's movements were awkward as every second he struggled to maintain control of his mind. He didn't know how he was resisting. It felt like his mind was fighting against itself. Like his body willed itself to move, and he fought against it. It wasn't long before this darkness was filled by more of the temple's fog. Shadows and whispers jumped out at him at every turn. His boots splashed against the flooded room. "Leon!" Katie's voice cried out from afar.

  It sounded like she was miles and miles away. "Katie! Stay away! I can't-" He tried to respond when his vision blurred, and he fell to his knees. Get out of my head, Diablos!

  Return at once! We must destroy her! Diablos commanded him.

  Shut up! Leon snapped.

  A shadow of himself appeared, blocking his tracks. Diablos's eyes shined violently. You insolent fool! She will kill us both if we don't finish her off!

  Leon pushed through Diablos's shadow. It followed. Just what the hell are you? Why are you inside my body?

  As if I would know. I was moments away from destroying the insipid angel when the world disappeared! None of that matters. You have no means of destroying me without destroying yourself! You're just a pathetic, hypocritical human like the rest. Just submit!

  Never!

  "Enough," said a cold woman's voice behind him.

  When Leon turned to look, his eyes widened. YOU! I remember you, girl! Diablos roared.

  (Concept of Iris in the ruin)

  It was Iris. The dark made it hard to make out her expressions, but she was indistinguishable.

  Leon grabbed his arm before he lunged at Iris.. "What... are you doing here, Iris? How did you find me?" he stammered, his body moments from losing control at any second. For some reason, Diablos's anger was growing even fiercer at the sight of her.

  The fog dissipated enough to reveal her face. Her violet eyes were shining as she grimaced. The area around them was dark with stone tiles around them. "Looking for you obviously. You just had to fall in love with Jalaiya's host, didn't you? Forcing me into using this power again so soon... If it weren't for the two childish souls I sealed within you two awakening, I'd have never found you."

  Two? She sealed Jalaiya in Katie? What is she talking about? Leon's eyes widened. His heart sank. "It... it was you?"

  "Well, in her case she simply inherited the soul from an ancestor... not that it matters now."

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  I'll destroy you! Diablos shrieked, Leon's entire body trembling with the urge to rip her apart.

  Purple mist rose from her fingertips. Leon's body was crushed by a hidden force, slowly levitating in front of her. "Yes, yes, good to see you as well Diablos," Iris responded, sweat pouring down her forehead. "I take it you're not a fan of being sealed in my brother? Tough luck... It's what you get for almost destroying the world for your petty squabble."

  Damn you, you insolent girl! This has nothing to do with the world! Diablos snapped, embers rising around Leon's arms.

  "Wait! What are you-" Leon choked, looking at her.

  Iris shook her head silently. "I don't have time for your bullshit. Just go back to sleep!"

  Her palm smashed into Leon's chin. His neck snapped back as he blacked out instantly. She freed her hold of him and caught him. Iris gently placed him down and cracked his neck back into place.

  "I hate this job..." Iris muttered, carrying Leon over her shoulder. Without another word, she wandered out of the fog. It wasn't long before she reached the canal they'd entered from.

  Iris sat in front of the waters, Leon laid against her lap. She watched him sleep. What a mess this is.... I can't kill Jalaiya's host. Gaia wanted her to be saved just as much as Diablos. That girl is more trouble than she's worth. She just had to take him to the Ruin of Memory. It's a miracle he didn't remember those angels yet... but, just in case. I'd better be sure. I'll erase any memory of them or that wretched Katie.

  Eerie silence filled the distant void. Iris ignored the whispers that plagued them. Her palm pressed against Leon's forehead. Golden dust burst from it when he snatched her wrist away. "Wha-" Iris gasped.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Leon said, his eyes shooting open.

  Iris pried her arm out of his grip. "Don't be angry. I just spent the last three days looking for-"

  His eyes narrowed. "So you knew... about Katie and Diablos. You knew about this place." Every word was accusing. She knew this fury had nothing to do with Diablos. A rage she waited patiently for every day.

  Iris sighed. "You'll forgive me one day Leon... Please understand-"

  Leon sprang to his feet, smacking her hand away. "Understand what? That my life living with humans is meaningless? What exactly do I need to forgive? I'll ask again, what are you doing?"

  The waters behind him rippled violently. Shadows within the room creeped up his skin. How is he drawing so much power so quickly? Iris's eyes widened, standing.

  "Calm down. If you let your darkness consume you, it will affect your personality for the worst. We lived with humans so that you could understand right or wrong. You can't care for a world you've never lived in personally. You still haven't restored the balance in your soul. Not after what Death forced you to do," Iris said, taking a step forward. "I need to erase your memories of all of this. At least until you're ready."

  Leon shook his head wildly. His heels were cornered by the canal behind him. Stepping back would mean falling in. He scowled as his skin prickled uncomfortably from the shadows. Like spiders dancing all over him.

  "I don't understand what you're saying," he said quietly, grasping his head. He breathed heavily in his attempts to calm down. Shocks ran through his head, and he kneeled.

  Images of the dead angels flooded his vision. He fell to his knees as they ran a shock through his body. "These wouldn't be the first memories you removed, would they?" he asked coldly.

  Iris avoided his gaze as she bawled her hands into fists. Then she sighed, placing a hand against her chest. "I did what I had to. You would've gone insane if I let those memories run rampant. The amount of pain that did to you... to the world.... You were manipulated into doing something that should've never happened. Gaia put us to sleep because she wanted us to have a normal life. To give us a reason to live before the end. The truth is I don't have much time left, Leon."

  His eyes widened as he looked at her face. She was on the verge of tears, her entire body trembling. This wasn't the Iris he was used to seeing. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, rising. She sobbed and he grasped her shoulders. "Come on! Talk to me!"

  Iris looked at him closely. He'd never realized how sad she looked. Maybe in some way, she felt just as isolated as he had all those years. He just wasn't mentally around enough to notice. "You aren't the only ones with something dark sealed inside of you... He is who you were created to destroy. You're the only means of an end to a cycle of overwhelming darkness. But now isn't the time for us to fight... It is the time to cherish the life we were given before it is taken away," she said softly, placing her palm against his forehead again. "I wanted to tell you how I felt a long time ago... This cruise was supposed to be my chance. I didn't think you'd fall in love with someone else in your sleep."

  He grabbed her wrist, but he didn't smack it away this time. "I'm sorry, Iris... It was never my intention to hurt you. ...Please don't do this... Let's just go back home. I don't want to forget. She's hurt. She needs my help," Leon said, his voice cracking. "At least let me apologize. I want to say I'm sorry."

  Iris shook her head. "You know the moment you see her you will rebel. She is the one who makes you happy... not your friends. Not our parents. Not me. Her." The last word came spitefully as golden dust burst from her palm.

  "That might've been true before... but I changed. The world finally started to have color for me. I would laugh and smile with all of you in ways I never even imagined were possible. She created that world for me... You really expect me to just throw that away willingly?" Leon said, his voice fading as his eyes grew droopy.

  He didn't fight physically. He closed his eyes. Green eyes. Brown hair. Wings. Those thoughts spiraled in his mind. Anything that would help him remember. Tears fell down his cheeks as each and every memory ran and faded to dust in his mind.

  Iris caught him by the shoulders as he drifted to a deep sleep. Her eyebrows furrowed, sinking to the floor with him wrapped tightly in her arms. "Curse you... Katie Rose," she cried silently.