*Alto*

"Are you ready to go?" Aban asked, poking his head into my room.

"Yeah," I said as I finished adjusting my blue tie.

Aban grinned. "Why are you trying to look all prim and proper?"

"My brother said several nobles were going to attend, so I wanted to look proper."

"Ehh? I didn't think that you would be the type to want to impress noblemen. I guess I misjudged you."

"It's not that, I just don't want to stick out like a sore thumb."

Aban put his hands behind his head and snickered. "Well, if they're friends of Zydeco, perhaps they're laid back. Either way, you're looking spiffy. Unless if they're super stuck up, I don't think things will go badly."

I smiled. "Thanks, Aban." I stared at his ripped jeans and simple white T. "Though I think you should put on something nicer."

Aban grumbled. "This is the best I have."

"You should've used the money that the president gave us to buy yourself something nice." We all turned to see Onyx walking down the hall. Unlike his brother, he was dressed in a nice white suit with a red-bow.

"What in the... how did you learn to dress yourself like that?" his big brother asked, stepping out of my room.

Onyx raised his nose and laughed.

"It was actually me who helped him," Arima said, poking her head through the corner of the hall. She wore a long purple gown.

Aban and I stared at her in amazement.

"Shut your mouths, you bozos. You're drooling," Onyx said, grinning.

Aban shook his head as if he had just snapped out of hypnosis. "You're just saying that because you're young."

His younger brother leered at him. "Hey, I'm not ten!"

Arima snickered. "Onyx actually reacted the same way," she said, patting the thirteen-year-old's head.

Onyx's face turned as red as a tomato.

"Hey, don't tell me you have a crush on Arima!" Aban said.

"Huh, n-no!" he said, moving Arima's hand away from his head. "I'm going to wait for in the living room. Now hurry up and get changed before you embarrass me." He ran off as if the hotel were on fire.

"Tsk, this brat... no respect whatsoever."

Arima and I snickered.

"He's not too different from his big brother in that regard," I said, covering my smile.

"Haha, very funny! Though he has the same taste in women as you, older."

"Older?" I asked.

He grinned. "Don't lie. I saw the way you looked at Ms. Key. You like her, don't you? Was it because she saved you?"

"Saved me? She saved you from me!"

Aban rolled his eyes. "Whatever. My point still stands. You have the hots for her, don't you?"

My face reddened. "I... I'm too young for her... Plus she's my teacher. That would be weird."

"Maybe for now, but when you get older, thing might change. That is, if she's single."

"Come on, stop teasing Alto on who he likes," Arima said, marching over to Aban. She took him by the hand and pulled him into the room he had been using.

"What are you doing?" Aban asked, flailing his free arm around.

"I'm going to have you change. Alto, help me out, will you?"

"Sure!"

"No, I don't want to wear a suit!" he protested.

Arima and I grinned.

Aban gulped.

***

Aban grumbled as he adjusted his red tie. "I feel like a fish out of water wearing this."

"You look nice though," Arima said, looking him up and down. "Very handsome."

His face turned as deep red as his brother's. "R-really?"

She nodded.

I laughed. "Yeah, you look like some rich guy's kid."

He grumbled. "But was it a good idea to waste all this money on clothes?"

"I actually got them for cheap," Arima said, snickering. "The textiles here are among the best in the world that that even the small shops sell high quality products which would normally cost a fortune back home."

"Surprised no one ripped you off," he said.

"Well, I did go with Sonata. She was the one who provided me with your measurements, based on the entrance exam but adjusted slightly to take into account half a year of growth."

"Isn't giving out that information unethical?" I asked.

"She didn't tell me, she provided them to the seamstress directly."

I smiled. "Ahh, I see."

"Well, let's get going guys," she said.

"Say, is Ulissis back?" Aban asked.

"He said he had something to do," Arima said, sighing. "He already changed though. He said he would meet us there."

"What about the girls?" Aban asked.

"They went on ahead too with Ulissis too," Arima said.

"How does he know where it's going to be?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I hadn't told him what room it was going to take place in.

"Not... sure. I think one of his relatives knows the host."

"I see. Well, let's get going or we might be late. Plus Onyx might become impatient."

Aban snickered. "Yeah, that kid sure can be a hassle when you make him wait."

"Then let's not keep him waiting any longer," Arima said.

***

Together with Onyx, the three of us went over to another part of the hotel which had been rented out by my brother's friend.

"Wow, you sure are dressed up," Nyima said as we approached the door. She was dressed in a rather plainly, but still beautiful white skirt and blue blouse.

"Nyima!" a voice called out from the other side of the door. A little girl with green hair jumped out and tackled her. "I knew we would see each other again!"

"Ryomi? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"You know the kid?" Aban asked.

"I'm Ryomi," the girl said, grinning. She looked to be about the same age as my niece, Melody.

"She's the kid I was paired up with during the Novum Maga Secundum exam," Nyima explained.

Ryomi looked up at her. "Oh right, did you pass?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I did."

"Hey!" a voice called out. We turned to see Sirius with his wife and daughter.

"Hello!" Ryomi said, waving at Astra. "My name is Ryomi! What's yours?"

"Astra," the raspberry-haired five-year-old said.

The green-haired girl smiled. "Astra, that's a pretty name!"

"Found you," another voice called out from the other side. Emerging from the room was another little girl. This time one with orange-brown hair. She wore a black dress.

Ryomi jumped. "Sierra..." She pouted. "I shouldn't have come out of my hiding spot."

"Now to find Ryuusei and Kaede! Come on, help me!" Sierra said before she rushed back in.

"I'll help you too," Nyima said. "Astra, want to help too?"

Sirius smiled at his daughter. "Do you, kiddo?"

She nodded.

"Alright, go and play. Make new friends!"

Astra smiled. "Okay!" she said, running after Nyima and the two other little girls.

I stepped into the room and looked around for any signs of Ulissis, but he was nowhere to be seen...

"Looking for someone?" a little boy donning a fox mask asked from within a table.

I knelt down to his eye level. "Yeah. Have you seen a lanky guy with red hair called Ulissis?"

"No, I haven't."

"Ha, found you!" a little girl yelled, running over. It was another green-haired one, but this one had green eyes unlike Ryomi's red, plus her hair was longer.

The boy was gone by the time she arrived. "Huh? Hey, no fair! That's cheating! Come back here!"

Who was that strange kid? If it weren't for the little girl, I would've thought he was a spirit based on how easily he vanished into thin air...

"That kid must be a cousin of Boukyaku," Arima said, smiling. She stared at the kids running around, looking for the others who continued to hide.

"Where is Uli, though?" Aban asked. "He should be here by now..."

Arima frowned. "Hope he didn't ran into trouble..."

"Looking for me?"

We all jumped and spun around to see Ulissis standing by the door. In his hands he had a white box resembling a miniature cooler.

"What's in that, beer?" Aban asked. He winced as Arima's hand hit him over the head.

"You idiot! Ulissis isn't like you!" Arima said.

Aban scoffed. "I doubt he's as innocent as he looks."

"It's ice cream," he said, opening the box. It was partially melted. "Though I sort of got distracted on the way back."

"Distracted? By what?" Onyx asked.

"Ice cream!" a little kid said, running over. He had sea-foam green hair.

"Here you go, Zafi. Your favorite!" Ulissis said, handing an ice pop over to him. "Here's the siblings' too."

"Yay. T-thanks mister!" he said before turning around.

How did he know the kid?

"So many green-heads today," Aban said, snickering.

"Yeah... ran into one on the way here," Ulissis said, sighing.

"Who? Wait, don't tell me it was Aida," Arima said.

Ulissis averted his gaze.

"It was her? She didn't try to hurt you, did she?"

"No. Though it seemed she was hurt, emotionally at least."

"Who cares about that witch," Aban said, crossing his hands over his chest.

Ulissis remained silent.

If the phrase 'kind to a fault' were in a dictionary, Ulissis picture would be right next to it.

"You shouldn't get too close to her. She's dangerous. You're lucky that you got out of that encounter unharmed," Arima said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps..."

"Well, let's enjoy the party!" I said, running over to the dance floor. Though no one was dancing. Rather they were talking while eating what looked like curry.

"Curry?" Aban asked, confused. "I thought that host was a noble."

"Well, they mustn't be all that rich if they're serving food more commonly eaten by us 'plebeians'," his younger brother said.

"Uh..." a black haired guy with emerald eyes said as he and Koukyuu made their way to us.

Koukyuu snickered. She had on a tight fitting red dress. A fluffy white scarf adorned her neck.

"Don't laugh," he snapped, leering at Koukyuu.

"Mr. Makkuroyama. Here's the ice cream you asked for. I already gave Zafi his and those of his siblings."

"Thanks, Ulissis. Sorry about sending you off to ran an errand."

"No worries. I'm just glad to be of some use," he said, smiling.

He smiled. "You're so different from your grandfather and father."

"My grandfather, huh?" he said, looking down at the aquamarine floor.

"You haven't met him?"

Ulissis shook his head. "N-no... dad won't let me."

Hideo sighed. "I see. Well, I can't blame him for holding a grudge."

Ulissis nodded. "Yeah... but I still want to meet him. Heard my aunt is trying to get close to him, so maybe one day my dad will do so too."

He smiled. "You're a kind kid. Reminds me of a certain red-head I once knew. Say, do you wish to become a priest?"

He tilted his head. "A priest? I'd never given it much thought. Uh, I was considering becoming a firefighter, but to be honest... I'm not all that sure what I want to do."

"You're still young, you got a long time to decide," Koukyuu said, smiling.

"Originally I wanted to study something military related myself, but now I'm a researcher in wormholes."

"You're a scientist?" Arima asked.

He nodded. "Yeah!"

"Are you famous?" Onyx asked.

"I'm not sure if you can say that... more like infamous..."

"Infamous?" we all asked in unison.

He snickered. "I rather not talk about it. Anyway, enjoy the party. We got a lot of curry. Various kinds too! Though several of our guests have eaten most of the carrot one..."

I could guess who one of those guests was...

"Thanks!" Onyx said, running off to go get himself a plate at one of the many tables.

"Wait for me!" Aban yelled, chasing after his little brother.

Hideo smiled. "Brothers?"

"Yeah. Onyx sometimes acts like the older one, though," I said. "Or at least tries to."

He laughed. "Sounds like one of my brothers. I would introduce you to him, but he's currently talking to his girlfriend."

"I've told you, she's not my girlfriend!" a voice called out from the other side of the room. It belonged to a brown haired youth around Sirius' age.

"Hey, don't deny it so forcefully or people won't believe you!" Koukyuu yelled back.

He grumbled and turned away.

"Speaking of dating, are you two an item?" Nyima asked, walking up to them. As expected, in her hands was a plate filled with carrot curry.

"We're not!" the two yelled in unison.

I turned away and took another look at the guests. There were some people who I didn't know, but all of my friends from school were here except for Vermeil.

She was still with the Aiefians in the hospital, looking over An. He... had yet to awaken. Yanyu had begun to the paper work to transfer him to an institution of health in Xian's capital. If anyone could help them, it was the nation known for its healers.

However, I couldn't see my brother at all. I did spot my niece and nephew running around with some of the other kids.

"Hey, have you seen my brother?" I asked, glancing back at Hideo and Koukyuu.

"I think he went to the balco-"

Koukyuu cupped his mouth.

"Huh?" I asked, confused by my teacher's actions.

Hideo pulled her hand away. "Why did you do that?" he snapped.

She glared at him. "You know why!"

"Oh, is it because he's with..."

"I got it, the balconey," I said, running over to the other side of the room.

"Wait!" Koukyuu yelled.

"Let him go," Hideo said, grabbing her arm. "It's silly that you're keeping it a secret from family and friends."

What was he talking about? Ah, was my brother with his wife?

I quickened my pace and opened the door. My brother stood at the edge of the balconey, staring up the starry sky.

"They're so beautiful," the woman standing next to him said as she leaned her head against his shoulders.

That voice...

"Ms. Key?" I asked, stepping forward.

"Huh? Oh, hey Alto," she said, smiling. She glanced at my brother and stepped aside from him. "Uhh. I can explain. You see..."

"You're my brother's wife?"

"Uh... yeah. My full name is Sonata Key Opus. I'm you sister-in-law."

A strange feeling bubbled up in my chest. "Wait, but you're a teacher. Brother said his wife was someone who couldn't reveal she had a family."

Ms. Key sighed. "It's... more complicated than that."

"We'll explain it once we get home," brother said, smiling. "Just, promise us that you would keep this a secret."

My sister-in-law lowered her head. "If not the kids might be at risk."

"At risk? Of what? Angry students?" I asked, my voice higher than it should've been.

"Alto, what's wrong?" a voice called out. Sonata and my brother's eyes widened.

I turned around and opened the door, but slammed it before Arima could see anything.

"Huh, is everything fine?" she asked. "So, who is your sister-in-law?"

"It's... no one special," I said, walking away.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" she asked, chasing after me. "Alto? What happened? Why do you seem mad?"

"I'm not mad..." It was hard to explain, but it was more like sadness and hunger combined. Like a pit in the stomach. I felt like hiding in my room and not coming out...

"Hyah!"

My eyes widened as a spoonful of curry hit my taste buds. "Have some curry to lessen that anger!" Aban said, grinning at me.

"Hey, he might choke!" Arima yelled.

He rolled his eyes at Arima. "Stop being such a mom."

"I'm not being a 'mom'!"

He scoffed. "Yeah, and I'm the Magus Maximus."

Arima leered at him.

I pulled the spoon away from my mouth and laughed.

"It's not funny!" Arima yelled.

Aban snickered. "There, you're smiling again! Come on bud, let's enjoy the night while it's still young!"

I nodded, hoping that the empty feeling in my stomach could be kept away.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :). Next up are the finale and the epilogue ;)**