Fighting Spirit (The Final Barrier)

Know Your Roots

"So, who was that Michael guy," Kevin asked. Gabriel kept his gaze ahead

"Well, he's my brother....adopted brother anyway," he said "After my pops passed my mom decided I should have a brother and adopted Michael not too long after. He was a good kid, we got along fine but; something was off about him" Gabriel's eyes got clouded with emotion. Kevin scratched his head

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to bro," he said, Gabriel sighed

"Nah, it's about time I spoke up about this. Michael always had these schemes he would involve me in, at first they were fun but; as we got older they were just cruel or dangerous. Though mom never got angry with him, she only gave him more attention and love. He hated that, all he wanted was for her to yell at him but; she believed that wasn't the way to raise a child" Gabriel sighed again "Unfortunately that pushed Michael to do something that I think about to this day, one day he set the house on fire" Kevin's eyes widened.

"The whole house?" he asked him, Gabriel nodded

"When I smelled smoke he was gone, so I found where the fire was and tried to put it out" Gabriel stopped again to gather himself. His head began to steam but stopped just as quickly as it began "I was surrounded by fire before I could do anything, I yelled for my mother and she ran downstairs quickly and grabbed me. She got me outside safely but couldn't find Michael, she told me to rest in the front yard while she looked for him inside.........By the time she ran back inside the house...the roof collapsed on top of her..." Gabriel's voice trailed off and he clenched his fists "She died trying to find that asshole, and to make matters worse he blamed the fire on me when the cops and firefighters showed up. I was blamed for it all, and I couldn't defend myself because I was too busy crying about my mother. We went back to the orphanage Michael came from and people lectured me about responsibility and hated me, Michael laughed in the background. I endured all of that until I moved out to go to college, I vowed to never talk to him again; he was dead to me......Now I find out he's a demon....It makes sense really" Gabriel chuckled "Ironic in a way" Kevin put his arm on Gabriel's shoulder

"Fuck that guy, together we can beat him and give you peace of mind," he said. Gabriel smiled and the two continued their flight. After a few pitstops so Kevin could gather himself the two made it back home to see the destruction in the backyard. Kevin raised an eyebrow when he landed

"Just what the fuck happened here?" he asked, Gabriel, summoned his sword

"I don't know but, I'll be damned if we don't find out" Kevin entered his awakening and followed behind him, the two seemed to relax a bit when they felt five spirits in the house. Unfortunately, the energy surrounding the house still seemed bad. When Gabriel and Kevin entered the house they saw Alex, Adrian, Ramona, and Sapphire sitting around someone on the floor with grim expressions. It was almost like someone had already died, Kevin glanced past Gabriel to see who was in the middle of them all on the floor. Injured and unconscious Saiken laid on the floor, his slender body had bloody bandages and dark bruises that ran down his torso. As he breathed his body would tremble a bit as if he struggled with it, Gabriel made his sword disappear and slowly walked into the living.

"What the fuck happened to him?" he asked, Kevin, powered down and got on his knees to look at Saiken a bit closer. Adrian sighed

"Ennui from earlier was killed in town by a demon" Kevin and Gabriel exchanged glances I knew these guys meant business but, losing one of ours so early.....Dammit. Kevin thought. Gabriel nodded

"What else?" Adrian looked at Saiken then continued

"Saiken found her body but, another spirit named Judah thought Saiken killed her. The two of them fought and Saiken barely escaped with his life. To make matters worse, the evil spirit residing in his sword took control and Aurora battled him. For some reason she was drunk with power and tried to kill him after she drained him of his evil energy" he said, Kevin and Gabriel exchanged glances again