*Sowk*

Soon after returning to the hotel, I gave Rhys some tea to calm down his nerves. Tahoma scolded him, but he couldn't finish, seeing Rhys' face of regret and fear was too much for him.

Aya, Orion, and I reported what had happened with the members of H.E.H.'s team. Hopefully something could be done about it, for Rhys' sake as well others. They had already gotten away with too much.

Rhys sat on the couch of the suite I shared with the girls. They were still out, likely in the hospital. The half empty cup in his hand trembled.

I wrapped a blanket over shoulders and took a seat beside him. "It's fine now, you're safe and sound."

His eyes shifted toward the window. "Am I?" he asked.

Shadows wrapped around the window. "There! That should warn us if anyone tries to break in."

He stared at the now blotted out window with unease.

I sighed and summoned a little chic plush. It'd been with me for as long as I could remember. Think it was my dad who had given it to me.

Rhys snatched it from my hands and smiled. "Tortorchi!" he yelled, hugging it.

"H-how do you know its name?" I asked.

He glance up at me with those big blue eyes of his and blinked. "Looks like one," he said, smiling.

Did he mean it looked like that would be its name or was tortorchi a thing I didn't know about?

My eyes lingered on the kid. He reminded me a bit of someone. Think it was my dad... Papa... Why didn't you return for me? Did something bad happen to you and the others?

My arms wrapped around Rhys.

"Hmm?" he said. "Are you scared too?"

My arms slowly loosened their hold on him. "No, it's... I felt a sudden urge to hug something."

He smiled. "It's fine to hug me!" His arms wrapped around me.

This warmth, it felt... so familiar.

***

White mist surrounded me. I stood in what looked like a void. Rhys was nowhere to be seen.

"Is this a dream?" I asked. Seemed I was more tired than I had thought. Suddenly, a black haired teen appeared in front of me.

"Stay here, Sowk. I'll come back for you once this is over," he said, smiling slightly.

"B-brother..." He dissolves into black mist. "Brother! Come back!" I yelled, running toward the mist. "Brother..." I fell to my knees and punched the white floor. "Why didn't you return? Big brother?"

A hand patted my head.

"Are you crying?" a voice called out. It sounded like Papa...

My eyes darted up but there was nothing. "Papa?" I asked, glancing around. "Papa? Papa? Where are you? Papa!"

***

"Wake up, Sowk, wake up," a voice called out.

"P-Papa?" I asked.

I opened my eyes and saw Rhys staring at me with concern.

"Rhys..."

"You okay? Sounded as if you were having a nightmare," he said, furrowing his brow. "You were even crying."

My cheeks, they were moist. That dream... it felt so real.

The door of the room opened, causing Rhys to jump.

"Don't get scared, it's only us," Ayawamat said, entering the living room. In his hands were large bags filled with takeout.

Accompanying him was the rest of our national team.

"Time to chow down!" the twins yelled, snatching the bags in Ayawamat's hands and running to the kitchen.

"Hey! Wait! You'll mess up everyone's order!" Nahimana yelled at them, chasing them.

Rhys snickered as he stood up from the couch.

"Rhys, are you alright?" Kun asked, running over to him. "Aya told us that you got attacked by H.E.H.!"

"I'm still a little shaken up, but I'm feeling better thanks to Sowk," Rhys said, smiling.

"That's good to hear," Lei said, grinning. His turquoise eyes darted to Tortorchi. "Hey, that's a cute..." He stopped. His body tilted back and forth. The coffee table nearly stabbed his right leg but Kun held him back.

"Lei, hold on. Are you alright?" Kun asked.

"Did you exhaust yourself?" Yen asked, grabbing a hold of her brother's left arm.

"I... must've drained myself more than I thought," Lei mumbled, keeping his eyes closed. "I... feel sleepy... very sleepy."

"Well, you did wake up early for once," she said, snickering. "Go to sleep, we'll save you some honey chicken for tomorrow."

"O-okay," Lei said. The guy could barely stand on his own. It was a long day... for all of us. Hoped the next few days would be less stressing.

***

"Ugh," I said, rubbing my eyes. That same dream again... was it trying to tell me something?

"Feeling okay?"

I pushed myself up and saw Ayawamat standing by the doorway.

"What are you doing in a lady's room?"

He chuckled as he glanced at the various articles of clothing on the floor. "What lady? I only see a slob."

"Shut up, jerk!" I yelled, throwing my pillow at his face.

He laughed and threw it back into my arms. "Anyway, it's time for the final round of the tournament event."

I pouted. "No need to tell me that... I know already."

"You seem upset," he said, turning around. "You okay?"

"Of course I'm upset with you!"

"I... heard crying."

My hand darted to my face. Just like last night, my face was moist. It had to have been because of that dream...

"Don't concern yourself with it. There's nothing you can do either way."

He sighed. "So it's that dream again... isn't it?"

I gulped. "Y-yeah..." My arms constricted the pillow. "Seems I've yet to move on after all."

"I figured as much. Well, all you can do is stand up and live another day. It's all we can do."

The pillow muffled my giggle. "Had no idea you were practicing to be an inspirational coach."

His face reddened. "I'm not! Hmph, not even sure why I waste my time..."

"Thanks, Aya. Nyima's right, you do have a heart of gold."

"Uh... I'll be going now," he said, walking away.

A jerk with a heart of gold... just like my big brother...

***

"Who is our opponent?" I asked as we arrived at the hotel lobby.

"They didn't say," Nyima said, slipping her hands into the pockets of her denim coat. She took out her blue phone and looked through her messages. "Still nothing. Guess they'll announce it there."

Would H.E.H. even be allowed to participate after what they attempted with Rhys? Why did they even want him? They said he was an abysmal...

"Hope they expel H.E.H., those jerks have done enough damage already," Yen said, her hands curled into fists.

"If not then we'll just defeat them," Kun said, staring back at the hotel.

"Thinking about Sarah?" Lei asked, his eyes on the Hotel's blue minaret.

The older triplet brother blushed. "I want to get revenge for her, but if they're disqualified then there would be no way of obtaining it."

"It'll be better for them to receive real justice rather than the vigilante kind," Wanikiya said.

The lanky white haired boy lowered his head. "I know..."

***

My entire team walked to the middle to await who we were going to be up against. If it was against Xian then Aya would be participating. He wanted a rematch with Adela. I imagined that Nyima and Lei would like to face her too.

If it was Tora then it would be a combination of the Hoshi clan members and the Mikoto siblings.

But if H.E.H. then it would be the Lan triplets. Considering they were after Lei, that wasn't a good idea. Then again, perhaps it was best to face them head on rather than to cower in fear.

Though H.E.H. were the only team yet to arrive. Had they disqualified them?

A blue haired man in a pristine white suit emerged from one of the tunnels. His loosely worn sapphire scarf flailed around with the wind as he made his way toward the center of the arena.

He was the same guy who was at the entrance survival event.

"Welcome everyone! I am sorry to say, but one of our four contestants is unable to participate," he said, his voice booming despite having no microphone on hand. "I would like to state why, but it's pending investigation. Just know that that they are fine."

The stadium exploded into murmurs.

"So we won't be facing them," Kun said, closing his eyes.

The man glanced at him. "It's for the best," he whispered.

"So who are we facing?" Yuzuki asked.

"It'll be a three way," the man responded, his voice echoing throughout again.

"Wait, come again?" Adela said, stepping forward.

"Oh, this is going to be interesting," the pink haired Toran girl said, chuckling.

"You'll each choose two representatives. Whichever pair survives wins. The first to be eliminated will be the third place winner, while the second eliminated will be the second place winner."

"Makes sense," Adela's brother said, nodding his head. He smiled at Lei.

"So, who will be the participants?" the man in the white suit asked.

"M-"

"It'll be Lady Adela and I," a tall, handsome young man with long black hair said.

"Hey, I was going to volunteer!" Adela's brother yelled.

"Pardon, Sir Elliot, but you already had you fun. It's time I get to have some of my own."

The muscular young man pouted. "Fine, fine!"

"What about Wahkan and Tora?" the man asked, glancing at us.

"It will be me," Ayawamat said, stepping forward.

"I wanted to fight Adela," Lei said, glaring at him.

"You can be the 2nd one," Zelde suggested.

"No way!" Lei and Aya yelled. "Like I would partner up with this guy!"

A sigh escaped my lips. "Alright, in that case, how about I..."

"I'll pair up with Ayawamat," Nyima said, taking a step forward. "I can neutralize the Torans' time and space magic."

"Huh? If you can do that then why didn't you try it during the survival test?" I asked, glaring at her.

"Simple, I didn't want to knock down our strongest members."

Astra, who rode on her father's shoulders, snickered. "Papa is strong!" she said.

"He sure is!" Orion said, grinning.

"I'm not," Sirius said, blushing.

Stella sighed. "How modest of you."

"Why are you sounding sarcastic? I really am not!" he yelled.

His wife snickered, prompting him to become as red as his daughter's raspberry hair.

"Then why not have the two of them battle?" I asked.

"We got other events to do later today," Sirius said, holding his daughter's tiny hands.

"I see, then it falls to Aya and Nyima," I said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," the water mage said, smiling.

"Alright, now to see who Tora will pick and to prepare the battlefield," the man said, turning his attention away.

"At least Adela gets a rematch against you," Lei said, grinning at Nyima as he swung his hands behind his head.

She narrowed her blue eyes at him. "Who are you cheering for?"

"Huh?" His head tilted right-ward. "You of course, you're my teammate."

"You have no qualms about seeing your friends fight?" I asked.

He grinned. "Not in this context, I don't! It'll be fun to see how Ny and Aya handle Adela and her teammate. Not to mention Tora."

"Oh right, Sowk, are you a Hoshi too?" Sirius asked.

"Huh?"

"You weren't affected by the Toran's magic during our time in the forest. The only ones I know who can resist temporal and special magic are the Hoshi, the Taiyang, and the abysmals."

"Abysmals? How do you know that they aren't affected by it?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

He lowered his head.

"Papa?" Astra asked, patting her father's head.

"I... I fought one... It was during this same event. That abysmal was ruthless."

He pulled out a silver pocket watch from his jeans. His blue eyes lingered on it for awhile.

"No matter how desperately I tried, my powers wouldn't work on him. Yet, they worked on the audience. At first, I didn't know why that was. It was only until recently that I learned he was one of those beings."

"Who told you?" Lei asked.

"A man called Hideo did. It appears that creature took someone precious to him." He glanced up at his daughter. His eyes were watery. "I would never forget that moment of helplessness for as long as I live..."

Stella put her hand on his arm. "Sirius, don't. It's best to bury those memories."

"Papa," Astra said, snuggling her father.

Papa... The image of the shoulders of a man in a white cloak popped to my head. We were watching the sunset on a beach. The man laughed as I hugged him. Though I couldn't see his face, I was sure his smile was beautiful.

I shook my head. No, now wasn't the time to think about that!

Sirius glanced up at his daughter as his lips swung upward. "Though I did learn that even in the deepest darkness, there is still light."

"The light, it's a fragile thing," Nyima said, lowering her head.

"Indeed it is," Adela said as she stared at the battlefield. It was transformed into a serious of floating crystalline panels. "But that's why it's precious.

"Precious?" I said, closing my eyes. I lost it... that precious light...

A flicker of pain spread across my head. My eyes popped open. Standing in front of me with his usual scowl was Aya.

"Why are you suddenly getting all gloomy again?" he snapped. "Don't think about those things. Like I said, live and you'll find something special."

My cheeks warmed up.

"He's right," Sirius said, smiling. "I too found that light. You just need to keep on searching."

Rhys glanced up at me. "I'm going to search for it, that light! Maybe I can find some for you too!"

I smiled and patted his head. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"There, much better! Well, time to go fight," Ayawamat said, turning around.

"Go kick some butt!" I yelled.

He chuckled. "Oh, I plan to!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :). Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**