'NO! MILORD, DON'T!!! I DON'T WANT TO!!!! PLEASE DON'T KILL THEM!!!' Oniru said from inside his sword form.
"SHUT UP, SERVANT!!!!" Akihiko said as he lashed towards Honsei. Honsei dodged him again.
"Damn! These clothes are getting in my way!!" Akihiko said as he threw away the upper kimono covering.
Then, he jumped towards Honsei. Honsei covered his face with his hand but Akihiko pierced his sword right through Honsei's hand. Magic energy flowed from Honsei's hand.
"Any last wishes, Demigod?" Akihiko said.
"Tsk!" Honsei pushed Akihiko aside and ran in a different direction.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Akihiko said as he threw the sword towards Honsei and pierced his thigh. He fell on the ground as blood oozed out of his wound and his sword landed beside him.
Akihiko moved towards him as the storm got stronger. The rain fell harder as clouds rumbled.
Then, Akihiko moved towards Honsei and pulled out the sword from his thigh.
"AHHH!" Honsei shouted in pain.
"'The Demigod of Matchmaking huh? Such stupid things..." Akihiko said as he raised his sword.
"WAIT! M-MILORD!" Oniru said.
"DO NOT EXIST!" Akihiko shouted and attacked Honsei. Honsei closed his eyes as if he knew, that it was the last moment of his life.
"MILORD!!! NO!!!!" Serenity shouted as she shielded Honsei in her sword form.
"SERENITY! GET AWAY! YOU'LL-" Oniru shouted but it was too late. As soon as Oniru and Serene collided, Serenity broke into pieces.
Oniru could see her human form break into pieces and fall on the ground. She said "Oniru,...you're as sharp as always....that goes for an elite star. I'm so stupid, how could I ever...forget about something like this.…But, it feels so good ...to die....for your...master."
"KANAE!!!" Honsei shouted as he picked up the pieces of the broken sword in his hands. Oniru returned to his human form and rushed towards Serenity.
"Oniru." he heard as lord Honsei continued weeping.
"It's okay, only you can hear me, being a fellow star spirit yourself." Serenity said in his head. "I just want to say that, for my entire life I've lived on the Earth, you and lord Honsei are the best people I've met and...
I love you."
Upon hearing this, Oniru slowly sat on the ground as memories of Kanae flowed through his mind and the blank space was slowly filled with white smoke.
"Oniru, let's leave." Akihiko said as Oniru sat on the ground and tears flowed down his cheek.
"I don't have time to see you sit and weep. You can go back to the mansion and do that all day. Now come!" Akihiko said.
Oniru didn't say a word. He just sat there as the smoke entirely covered all of them.
"ONIRU!" Akihiko shouted "Take me out of here! It's an order!"
As soon as he said this, a golden colored collar appeared on Oniru's neck and disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
Oniru got up and waved his hands towards the sky. They were back to the real world.
"I'm tired! Come, fly me to the mansion! Hurry up!!!" Akihiko said.
Oniru did as said. The sky was clear now as the dawn rays hit his black wings, his eyes said a language which could not be understood by just anyone.
That night, it was the first time in his life that Oniru had gone to bed with a heavy heart and tears in his eyes. His long eyelashes were soaked with tears and his mind was filled with memories of his first love.
After many months, when Oniru was better from that trauma, he decided to pay one last visit to lord Honsei before he went to Heaven with Akihiko for his gatekeeper crowning ceremony.
Oniru slowly moved towards Lord Honsei's mansion. He climbed on the branches of a tree to camouflage himself.
"You will fall from there." He heard someone say. He looked down and saw Lord Honsei, standing with a cup of tea and a bright smile on his face.
Oniru was shocked that Lord Honsei noticed him even after his frantic efforts of hiding. He jumped down from the tree and stood in front of Lord Honsei.
"So... what brings you here, Oniru?" Lord Honsei said with a smile.
"I..." Oniru said as he looked at the ground "I'm sorry, because of me... you lost someone precious to you."
".....Rise up, Oniru." Lord Honsei said.
Oniru looked at Lord Honsei. Lord Honsei held Oniru's face and said "Let me see your beautiful face...Ah....so this is the person who Kanae loved... so beautiful."
"Honsei sama....aren't you...angry?" Oniru said.
"Oniru, life and death is a cycle. Even stars can die. Everything that has a beginning has an ending. And for one loss, you cannot suffer forever. You should know when to let go."
"...Didn't you love your star spirit?" Oniru said.
"Love is a very strong word, you know. It means that if you have to choose between your love and your life, then you're ready to sacrifice yourself and that is exactly....what my star spirit did for me. And as long as she is in my memories...she will live eternally."
"....It's so stupid." Oniru said with a wry smile. "Everyone is so stupid. We all desperately search for love when we know it's gonna hurt us later....I will never love again...No, let me correct myself...I can never love again."
"Oniru, I-"
"Thank you for everything, Honsei sama. I hope... that at least you can love someone again." Oniru said as he drew out his wings and flew away towards the infinite sky.
He never saw Lord Honsei after that because then he lived at purgatory- a place of purging, where the gatekeepers were supposed to live and rule.
After Akihiko was crowned by the angels, he took the throne of the gatekeeper. As custom says, in the ceremony, each new gatekeeper is asked to make one wish- One thing they want to change about the Demigod world, to this, Akihiko replied-
"From this day… any star spirit that is killed in the parade will be completely forgotten by everyone who once knew them. They will completely vanish from the human world…. forever."
-To be continued