Train of Consequences [Finished]

[Hakaisha Abbadon]

Abbadon listened to his friend and his dog talk about Shadow's girl. And when he saw Roiyaru's paw slide the picture of her his way, he picked it up and looked at it. He looked at Shadow out the corner of his eye, cursing to himself for his god damn luck.

"You do realize that Runa will not only live it down, but will laugh her ass off if she finds out your past life was in love with me, right?"

Constantly reminding Shadow that he used to be gay in a past life kinda made Abbadon feel better that he had a fox of a chick like Runa. It was one of those things that even though everyone knew the joke for a while, it would never stop being funny. And Abbadon needed a laugh in this predicament.

He looked at the picture again, leaning against the wall of his cell in his seat. "She looks like she's great in bed," Abbadon added. "But with that whole 'my business cards smell like cherry pies after what my girl did to them' thing, I wouldn't be surprised."

Abbadon started to get jealous again. He cut Shadow another look before sliding the picture back toward his cell. He closed his eyes and folded his arms, leaning against the wall in spite, mumbling under his breath.

"Lucky son of a bitch..."

[Akuma Shadow]

Shadow heard the words that the sprite said about his situation. Even though he was right, it still was up to question and he was still unsure about telling Runa. He caught a glance of Roiaryu sliding the picture over as if he was moving a bolder over to his master.

It must be hard being a creature of Chaos in this place... he thought as he heard Abbadon pick up the picture of Runa.

"You do realize that Runa will not only live it down, but will laugh her ass off if she finds out your past life was in love with me, right?" he heard his best friend say and Shadow could do nothing but laugh.

"I forgot about that tidbit of info, huh?" Shadow laughed again.

"You sound a little jealous my friend." he said softly

"You can find someone in the Devil Saints, like Maggie. You know, the girl who gave you the bike?" he asked

[Hakaisha Abbadon]

"Hey!" Abbadon said to Shadow, pointing toward his cell. "You weren't supposed to know about that bike! Stop being so god-damn nosy!"

As his hand was pointed toward him, he got a look at his black coat. He started to smirk a bit, remembering waking up in the medical ward of the Devil Saints from his little coma to find it with his sword.

"You know she gave me this coat, too?" he told Shadow. "The note she attached it to said something about it being some kind of experimental technology or something like that; I have no clue what this coat's supposed to do."

He took the time to actually think about meeting Maggie for the first time. There was definitely something there, but Abbadon didn't necessarily think that his luck would turn out good enough for them to actually have anything. So much bad shit happened to him lately; it was almost like it was expected to have nothing work out right for him.

"Maggie's cool, though," Abbadon said to a degree where he would still be heard amongst the three of them. He chuckled, resting his arm on the knee of his raised leg. "But I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. With things going as shitty as they are now, who knows when we'll get the hell out of here?"

[Kouzetsu Gin]

Gin sat quietly in the solace his office, the lights dimmed and his mind at work. The Ha-ou pondered on whether or not it was prudent to imprison Abbadon after his cooperation was given, pleased to have retrieved the sword of legendary power, but embittered at the fact the reality of Kanjin Taiyou had made its way to the forefront of his day to day thoughts, 3 of his finest troops in recuperating from grave injuries, one of them on the brink of death. Having spoken to Abbadon opened scars, scars Gin kept bandaged beneath the dressings of his calm demeanor and titles, wounds that both time and his prowess with Law magic had both failed to heal.

Everything made him question the structure of things he had fought so hard and lost so much to protect, the Great Flight of Celestials into the ranks of Tomo had taken place so long before he was born, he thought of the harrowing position that Abbadon lie in now, foolish enough to allow a friend that was deemed a murderer and villain by his nation go, and yet so innocent and lost in his idealism, he could not see the searing truth that lay before him. It was then that Gin heard a rapping upon his chamber door, looking up he motioned the door to open and the large gold adorned enclosure opened slowly to reveal Toushi, who walked inside and took a seat next to Gin, the shadowy presence of Kuro not far behind as Gin closed the door when they both were inside. The Ha-ou's connected hands lie on his stomach as her stared seemingly at nothing, turning his attention Toushi.

"I was in formed by Kuro that require something of me Gin-sama, how may I be of service to you." Toushi asked, understanding that it would have been intrusive to ask about the mindset Gin possessed at the moment, trusting in the fact that Gin trusted him more than anyone, and when the time came Gin would reveal all.

"Complications have arrived Toushi, and though it seems foolish to reflect on the past only to question the intentions of those who set the path we walk upon, I feel that the injustice served here today will gnaw at me until it is rectified. Toushi, go to the archives, study everything written about the Fall of Sanada, the uprising leading to it, as well as anything pertaining to Tsubasa at the time. Focus your search on Tsubasa's insistence to charge Sanada, and follow that up with a detailed history of Tsubasa actions, for and against the nation all they way up to her demise." Gin said, his mouth speaking the words as he remained motionless, save for his breathing.

"As you command Ha-ou, I will bring back a detailed manuscript of any and all things I review, noting the most notorious or important items." Toushi said, remaining seated for a moment before he stood. As he began to walk out Gin motioned to halt him.

"I would like you to escort an Archangel named Hakaisha Abbadon along with you, Kuro will be there to provide you with security if anything rash is to happen. Kuro, go and retrieve the prisoners from the dungeon and head for the archives.

Toushi stood in shock at Gin's second request, "Abbadon, son of the legendary Noel Hakaisha, and your father's great uncle?" Toushi spoke in awe, realizing he had spoke out of turn, he remained silent after catching himself.

"Yes, the very same. Toushi, inform him that it would better serve him if he were to catch up on all that he has missed in his time away, point him in the direction of the more general happenings but no more, he is far too idealistic to deal with some of the more macabre aspects of this nations history. That is all." Gin said, standing himself, grabbing the Sword of Darkness as he exited the room. He acknowledged a common ancestry with Abbadon, but nothing more, having felt the decision to free the captive Celestial from his unmerited bondage was merciful enough, and for now the Ha-ou was off to make sure that the Sword of Darkness was to be properly analyzed and examined before being handed back to Abbadon, it's rightful air, the seemed to hum in the hands of Gin due to his linage from its create, the Shijin Koryuu.

[Roiyaru]

After taking a few more heavy breaths, Roiyaru was able to completely release the punishment of stress that was weighted against his paw from trying to move something outside of his imprisonment of Law magic. He laid on the ground, using his front legs to rest his chin on as he listened to his master and Shadow discuss their potential love interests. Roiyaru never would have thought that the Ningenkai would effect his master to the point where he would take a romantic interest in mortal females, no matter how long he had been entrapped there.

The way Roiyaru heard his master utter his words made it seem that all hope of leaving their imprisonment was lost, and he simply could not agree with his master's current train of thought.

"You should not speak existence of the future if you have no control over it, master," Roiyaru uttered out loud. "Begging your pardon, but there is a reason why you chose the pact over past as opposed to anything else. It was because you loathed over the idea that the future was set in stone. You believed that by becoming acquainted with the past, you could use it to set your future the way you saw fit; without the intercourse of fate and destiny."

Roiyaru didn't know if what he was saying was making an impact; he just knew he had to get what he said off of his chest. But just in case he was indeed reaching his master, he decided to see if there were any other outlets to his small speech.

The sprite gazed upon Shadow in the cell across from him. He sat up, resting his fiery tail on the ground.

"Tell me, Shadow," Roiyaru started. "Before you were aware that the two of you knew each other previously, what was it that attracted you to my master when you first saw him?"

[Akuma Shadow]

When the young Knight heard the question that Roiyaru asked, it made him chuckle a bit in his mind. He too wonder that same thing when he first met Abbadon when he was in tow with Tomoyo, of all people to start with, and was told to kill him by Oracle's orders to get his life back in order. Shadow wondered why he didn't want to kill him, it may have been easy to do so, at least he thought it would be. Maybe because he kinda trust Tomoyo, even though she was the Ruler of Hell or maybe his mind told him if he killed Abbadon, he would be dead.

It was something.

He could remember that day very clear and he could notice how Abbadon looked at him that day. Abbadon may have knew as well that Shadow was not going to kill him.

"In truth," Shadow finally spoke, "I really don't know why. There was something that I saw in him that made me question killing him for my own gain, to be rid of Lust and Rage once and for all. It may have been because he kicked my ass, which we still need to have a rematch for by the way, and I liked his fighting style. Or...."

Shadow sighed deeply before starting again, staring at the sprite in his eyes.

"Or maybe it was my past life trying to reach out to him in a way. It may---no it was---Fate that has brought us here in the first place. Maybe it was time that you were to leave your imprisonment of the Sword of Darkness; for Abbadon to regain his memory and for me to know why I have those two back-seat drivers."

Shadow then laughed after a moment of silence. "Or it was just our fucking luck that we are in these cells right now while a Heaven King debates on what tools to kill us with. Maybe he just gonna let us go. Lets have ye ol Faith. It's what brought us here before...."

[Roiyaru]

Roiyaru could not have come up with a better answer at the time being. At first, he found that the aspect of fate was not a worthy enough answer to what it was that attracted Shadow to his master in the first place. Then he placed it into prospect. Everything leading to the moment of his escape from the Sword of Darkness was enacted by two common souls finding each other again after spending such time away from each other.

"Fate and faith are two different entities indeed, Akuma," Roiyaru advised the halfling. "Fate implies that we are given a path to walk down by a higher power. And faith gives us the hope of a better tomorrow. What most beings don't realize as far as the two are concerned, is that we create our own fate with the actions we take in our past. It sets up our present and eventually our future. We tend to believe that it is handed to us, when mostly we create it ourselves. And we rely on faith to brighten our own path of life that is continually under construction."

Standing up, the sprite continued to look at Shadow. "Our own actions brought us here," he told Shadow. "And it will be a combination of our actions and the actions of the Ha-ou that will predict the next chapter of our lives."

[Hakaisha Abbadon]

Listening to Shadow and his sprite talk was so damn boring. For a minute there, he was almost hoping that Gin would sentence him to death just to put him out of this misery.

Of course he was joking when he thought about it; he didn't want to get cussed out by Roiyaru about why he would think such things because he was the "only Hakaisha left." So just in case Roiyaru was in his head, he thought about it playfully. At least until he decided to joke about it out loud.

"Great," Abbadon said. "My best friend's having a religious moment, and my dog sounds like God-damn Morgan-fuckin'-Freeman!"

He looked at Shadow and pointed. "And don't give me that 'maybe it was my past life trying to reach out to him' bullshit! If I remember correctly, after I joked about you being gay after our fight, you clearly said, and I quote: 'Besides; if I was, your sure aren't my type, buddy,' end quote. Now tell me that ain't a contradiction!"

[Kouzetsu Gin]

Toushi walked down the stairwell of Gin palace, leading him a dark corridor, a set of rooms he was unfamiliar with, despite all his time spent in this palace. He could hear the conversion between two men as he stepped closer, sensing Gin's familiar magic coating every brick of the dungeon. Toushi stood in front of the cells, placing his hand on the panel to release the seal of magic on the door, a seal similar to many of the more secret places within the Archives. Stepping inside, Toushi looked down at the man Gin described as Abbadon, clearing his throat.

"Stand to your feet Hakaisha Abbadon. Kouzetsu Gin has charged me, Kanzaki Toushi with the task escorting to your place of residence, after we journey to the Celestial Archives, where you will be briefed on the current situation, as well as brought up to sped on the events that have brought us this point. The retrieval of the artifact was of the utmost importance to the Ha-ou, so he has departed to have the item inspected and repaired, after which it shall be returned to your possession. Inform your friends that we are to make haste in our departure." Toushi said, extending a hand to help Abbadon to his feet.

Looking at Abbadon, Toushi couldn't help but to wonder what circumstance would have led to Gin taking such drastic measures as to imprison a fellow upright, noticing the small mark on the left side of Abbadon's mouth, indicating a struggle of sorts. He would not question Gin, and he had total confidence that the Ha-ou would confide in him later, the task at hand having precedence over his personal queries and quandaries.

[Hakaisha Abbadon]

When Abbadon finished joking with his friend in the cell across from him, he could hear footsteps heading toward them again. He saw a man walk head toward his cell with a rather long ponytail, working the door for him to open it the same way the Ha-ou he didn't know was Ha-ou did. But instead of putting a sword to his throat or having a bulky bodyguard punch him in the face, the guy extended his hand.

He said his name was Toushi. It wasn't like he found the name weird or anything; it was just that now that he was acquainted with Gin's ways as far as introductions and leading people on were concerned, he found it odd that this guy was acting so differently.

But when he continued, he told him that he was his escort to the Celestial Archives to let him know what's been going on in Heaven since he'd been away. He even told Abbadon the real reason why Gin wanted the Sword of Darkness, calling it an artifact that had to be inspected and researched. And the fact that he said that Gin was also going to have it repaired and given back to him left him a bit more confused.

Abbadon grabbed his hand and used his leverage to stand. He stared at him, still trying to figure out why he was so different from the other angels he ran across here. And because of that, he unintentionally remembered that punch to the face the big one dished out. He rubbed the side of his face as he let go of the guy's hand.

"Toushi, eh?" he said to him. He chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to punch me, too?"

Not taking the time to see if the guy appreciated his taste in humor, Abbadon looked at Shadow's cell, and peered across at Roiyaru's now that he had the opportunity to see his sprite. He could already tell that Roiyaru was just as informed and ready as he was, so he looked Shadow's way.

"Come on, bro," he said with a stretch and a smirk. "We're going 'bye-bye'."

[Akuma Shadow]

Shadow heard the foot steps walking down the stone stairs as he sat and wait to know the identity of the feet. Was it the man in green or the dicks in the armor that brought them here. He didn't know what he was going to do, mind you, but his instincts kicked in and he was getting sick of the surprises that were popping all over the place.

But when he saw the young man with the ponytail, the young half-breed sighed a breath of relief. But he still didn't drop his small guard.

When he heard this young man say that he, Abbadon and Roiyaru were leaving, Shadow quickly jumped out of his seating spot and brushed off his clothing. He was going home.

He heard his friend say it was time to go and Shadow could do nothing but smile.

It's about time... he thought.

[Kouzetsu Gin]

"No, you will suffer no more violence, especially on my part." Toushi said plainly, having assisted Abbadon to his feet. Standing outside the cell, Toushi activated the locks on the cells and opened them all simultaneously, releasing the captives, the he set of to walking up the stairs back to the ground floor of the Ha-ou's estate. Their transportation to the archives awaited them outside of the Ha-ou's entrance doors, and Toushi stepped inside the still waiting transport, Abbadon and his comrades were not too far off in the distance.

Inside, Toushi punched in several coordinates and directions into a keypad, after which the instructions were received by the driver in the front compartment. "They will be shortly behind, after they enter we shall depart to the archives without stop, Gin has given me the charge of monitoring their activities. The one with purple hair is not a Celestial, and if need be he will be transported back to the mortal realm." Toushi said, sitting in his seat, folding his hands on his lap in wait of new entourage.

[Roiyaru]

The sprite seemed to find the random instances in which his words sprung meaning in them on the verge of instant. For as soon as he stated his proverb differentiating actions and faith, a young man by the name of Kanzaki Toushi arrived at his master's cell to escort the three of them to the Celestial Archives so that his master would become well informed on the history Heaven had underwent since their absence. He even mentioned that the Sword of Darkness would be soon returned to him after given an analysis and complete repair. Roiyaru smiled as he continued to stand tall.

Wonders never cease to amaze him.

His master was wary to his kindness. This was to be expected, of course. However, Roiyaru knew otherwise. He didn't want to risk using their connected thought pattern to tell his master that this angel was not like the one that punched them both, in the paranoia that his query would be incorrect. But indeed Toushi was truthful with his kindness as stating out loud that no violence would befall his master in his presence.

As he watched his master and the one called Toushi walk out of the cell, Roiyaru watched as he deactivated the locks to both his cage and Shadow's cell. His tail wagging as the door quickly swung open, the eager sprite immediately rushed to his master's side and showing the worry of his condition through what seemed like an endless amount of affection.

"I was so worried about you," he told his master after he calmed down a tad. He looked at the direction of the walking Toushi, then back toward his master.

"Are we to follow him?"

[Hakaisha Abbadon]

Abbadon chuckled at what Toushi said about not doing him any bodily harm. "Good to know," he said as he followed him out of his cell. "Your friend can learn a trick or two out of your book though. I swear his fists are the size of a damn full-sized watermelon!"

Continuing to rub his jaw, Abbadon watched as the angel named Toushi opened the locks to Shadow's cell and Roiyaru's cage. He noticed Roiyaru start to wag his tail as his door swung open. It made Abbadon smirk, actually. And once he saw Roiyaru immediately head his way, the archangel knelt down and grabbed his sprite in a hug as he sprinted into his arms. All he could do was laugh in happiness, rubbing and petting him like he just got home from work and he'd been waiting at the door since he left.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said playfully, "I love you too, boy."

"I was so worried about you," Roiyaru told him after he calmed down a bit.

Abbadon kept his smile, stroking his neck and resting the side of his face on Roiyaru's own. "That makes two of us," he said before kissing the top of his head. When he stood up, he noticed that the guy named Toushi was walking away.

"Are we to follow him?" he heard Roiyaru ask.

Abbadon smirked, placing his hand on his head. "Yeah," he said. "Come on," he said loud enough for Shadow to hear.

He immediately started walking, looking to his side to see Roiyaru there as always. But what he didn't see was Shadow. When he turned around, he could still see him by his cell. Abbadon chuckled.

"Well, why are you just standing there resting when we're so near the end?" he yelled playfully. "Come on!"

He and Roiyaru continued to walk out of the dungeon afterward, walking up the stairs and out the palace doors to see Toushi sitting in what looked like their ride to wherever it was they had to go to get to the archives. And frankly, he looked impressed.

"Nice," he said. "How much horsepower does it get?"

Then he thought about it, remembering that he was in Heaven now. He laughed at Toushi's way and pointed to his head. "Sorry," he said. "Living in the Mortal Realm as long as I have changes your ways of thinking."

[Akuma Shadow]

Shadow hurried toward Abbadon, Roiyaru, and one named Toushi to where they were off. It was good to finally get out of the darkness of the cell and the outside of Heaven. he knew it would be beautiful but this was beyond his belief that it was this beautiful.

Wish I brought a camera with me... he thought

He called Abbadon call out for him, twice, and all he could do was laugh at the fact that he was doing that.

Finally, he caught up with the little tour group, slowly walking to look cool at least for his bit of transparency. He looked at their ride and hear Abbadon's lame excuse for a a joke.

Idiot... he thought as he stood next to his best friend.

He heard the young man say that Shadow was going home, alone, only for the reason the he wasn't Celestial. At least he was going to see Runa and Sara again. But he wasn't too happy to see the flower shop the was it was or Devil Saint HQ.

"So I guess we make our separate ways, huh?" he questioned Abbadon.

[Roiyaru]

Hearing his master answer yes to his question was all he needed. Now knowing that their journey in Heaven was looking a bit brighter, Roiyaru accompanied his master toward the stairway leading out of the dungeon. He even stopped when his master did when he alerted Shadow to catch up.

But as he and his master reached the main levels of the palace, he noticed Shadow had caught up to the two of them, now leaving past the palace gates and entering the form of transportation that was evidently scheduled to head to the location of the Celestial Archives.

Both he and Shadow heard what Toushi told the driver, stating that there was the possibility that the knight may not be needed here in Heaven. And with his master's situation, Roiyaru wasn't sure if they would ever go back themselves. Upon hearing this, Shadow asked a remorseful question to his master. Completely positive that he did not hear the angel's words on the matter, Roiyaru decided to open their mental link to let him know

<We heard the angel Toushi state that because there was Shadow is not Celestial, he would be transported back to the Ningenkai,> Roiyaru told his master. <And from the way it seems, master, we will not be back for quite a while.>

Roiyaru formed the question to ask Toushi about the two of them ever again returning to the Ningenkai, but instead sat and decided to wait on his master to answer before deciding to satisfy his query.

[Hakaisha Abbadon]

Abbadon turned around to see Shadow board. He gave him a look that only said he heard his attempt at humor and didn't have time to laugh at it. And Abbadon would have went on, if it was actually a joke. I mean, he hadn't been back to Heaven in a long time; of course he was going to have a method of thinking from the realm that he called home for a good chunk of his life.

"So, I guess we make our separate ways, huh?" he heard Shadow say.

He looked at Shadow with a confused look. "Huh?" he said to him. "What are you talking about?"

<We heard the angel Toushi state that because there was Shadow is not Celestial, he would be transported back to the Ningenkai,> he heard Roiyaru say. <And from the way it seems, master, we will not be back for quite a while.>

Abbadon looked at Roiyaru, who had taken a seat by his right leg. "Oh," he said out loud. He stared back at Shadow and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, bro," he told him. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

[Kouzetsu Gin]

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