*Mayu*

"Today we get payback for what you did to us last year and for what you did this year" Renshu yelled as he lashed out on me.

I jabbbed Renshu on the side with the red hilt of my sword.

Renshu glared at me. In his eyes was the same deep hatred from several months ago.

"Sorry, I know I messed up," I said as I avoided their attacks. "But I will make up for it, I promise!"

"How?" Renshu snapped. "It's your fault that multiple people died! You actions lead to the reappearance of those shadowy creatures in this world!"

I lowered her sword. He was right... it was my fault... My actions lead to the destruction of those ruins... and that unleashed those creatures. The same ones that took Lucette away and killed thousands more throughout the region.

"You know what those creature are? They're abyssmals! Beings from the Realm of Darkness which according to ancient prophecy will one day destroy this dimension and the others! You could very well have doomed us all!"

"Renshu, Ona, Orichalcum, calm down," a girl with long black hair said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Renshu and the others stopped attacking me and began charging up their next attacks.

"Let them take out his anger, Xi Changying," a tall young man wearing long blue-robes said. "It's rather interesting to see this side of him. Plus, he's right. This woman's action nearly lead to our ruin. No, it's too soon to say if we have averted the worse."

"Huh?" I asked, raising my head.

"Several of them are said to have escaped. If even a single one is allowed to roam in the wild then it could turn into a tragedy. Those creatures have three methods of reproduction, one of which is asexual. Together with their ability to fuse, even the weakest can turn deadly given enough time."

I gulped. "No..."

"That's why I'll find all of those remaining ones," Boukyaku shouted as a fire dragon came our way. "I'll fix the mistake Mayu, my cousin, and the others made."

The Xianian smiled and put his hand forward, stopping the flames with his left hand. "You think you can do that?" he asked as his right hand glowed. "Then, show me by defeat me here and now, Prince!"

Boukyaku moved aside as his fire dragon was sent back at him.

"Don't think I'll go easy on the man whose mother ordered the capture of our young priestess," the guy said, summoning a long,transluscent sword.

"What?" both of us said.

I gagged. Blood dripped down my abdomen.

"You dare mock us yet again by ignoring us," Renshu said, looking down at me. He kicked me in the face, sending me rolling into the dried up lake bed.

"Mayu!" Boukyaku yelled. He walked over to the edge of the lake bed and grabbed a hold of my arm. "You okay."

I let out a gurgling sound over the blood in my mouth. The robed Xianian guy was standing right behind him. "Bou..."

Boukyaku turned around only to be kicked in the back by the guy. The two of us rolled down the loamy clay crater, our head bumping into rocks. Most of them small, but the further we went down, the larger they became.

I hugged my ex-boyfriend tightly and covered the two of us in a cocoon of vines and attempted to slow down our descent.

The translucent sword flew over and slashed the vines.

"Bou..." I said, as the sword flew up. I reached my hand out and yanked the sword down. I threw it as far away as I could.

Boukyaku and I winced as the lake shook violently. Multiple clumps of dirt rose all around us. Standing next to the Xianian was Iah.

"It was nice getting to fight you," Iah said, smiling.

I glanced up and watched as Adela knocked Arima down from the sky.

Boukyaku clenched his teeth tightly. Nine tails emerged from his back and stabbed the crumbling ground, heating it up to ceramics.

"H-hey, careful," I said, raising my feet. I had managed to heal the internal damage that I had sustained from Renshu's attacks.

The prince smiled. "Just continued to hold on tightly, okay?"

I buried my face against his chest. "O-okay."

The prince of Mina rose more of the loamy soil and had it covered us. Boukyaku heated it up, turning it into chunks of pottery.

My prince stretched his tails outward and unleashed red flames on Iah.

Our rival's heir dodged the flames and snapped his fingers. A torrent of wet soil flew upward.

Boukyaku held me with one arm and fired a blast of flame at the ground, turning into a giant pillar of earthenware.

"Great, I was hoping that you would give me a challenge," Iah said as he glided over to us. "Lóng zhī tǔxī!" He took a deep breath and unleashed a yellow smoke-like vapor from his mouth.

Boukyaku spun his tails around, whipping up a fierce gust to blow away the strange smoke.

"Be careful, if even a little of that stuff touches you then you'll be immobilized or intoxicated," I said. I held my hand out and formed a green energy sphere. "Midori no Kyuu!" I shouted.

Iah flapped his large, yellow wings, sending the smoke and my attack back at us.

Boukyaku shielded me with his tails. He gasped. His tails stopped moving. The paralysis effect of Iah's spell had taken effect.

I closed my hands and covered him in a green glow, pulling away the energy of Iah.

Boukyaku moved his tails slightly. Something had struck them. It was most likely Iah. The hits became more intense as we began to shake. My prince couldn't hold off for long.

"Just a little more."

"Oh no you don't!" Iah yelled. I took another deep breath.

I formed a sword made up of rosewood and stabbed him in the chest but the sword snapped upon touching his chest.

"What?"

Iah grinned and pulled the coller of his shirt down, revealing it was covered in scale. He blew the yellow smoke on me.

I screamed. My body felt like it was fire. That spell of Iah's had different effects. Sometimes it paralyzed one, sometimes it poisoned them, other times it burned a person.

I rolled on the ground as my skin turned red.

Iah smiled as we hit the ground. "That was too easy! Uncle Huang was right, this technique really is a deadly one."

My hands twitched. I couldn't let it end here. To fall like this. A pathetic ending... "Ugh. No!" I yelled, pushing myself up. "We won't lose to... to Mina!"

Iah put a hand on his hips and sighed. "Really? You're not going to surrender?" He dashed forward and flicked me on the forehead.

I screamed as I was flung into the pond of water at the bottom of the ruined lake bed.

"Water..." I snickered as the effect of the smoke vanished. "You idiot! Water makes us wood users stronger! Plus, it's the one weakness of that technique of yours!"

"Right..." Iah said, stepping in front of Boukyaku. "But your struggle is a futile one!"

I raised my arms up as he dashed toward me. My arms blocked his punch.

He stared at the scales surrounding my body.

"You forgot that you aren't the only one who can cover their body is sturdy scales?" I asked, grinning.

I punched him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back. A set of tails grabbed him from behind.

"Hey, remember me?" Boukyaku asked, grinning as his tails coiled around Iah as if they were serpents. Iah let out a howl. Steam emerged from his body as my ex-boyfriend's tails grew hotter.

I dusted myself up and called my wand back to my hands. It transformed back into its katana form as soon as it reached me. Next, I pressed the edge against the Minan crown prince's neck.

Iah glared back at me.

I smiled. "I expected you to show fear. You are a brave on, Iah. Within you burns the spirit of your ancestors. The desire to stand up against us of the Kyuu Hyaku clan. All that despite wishing to move on from the past."

Iah averted his eyes. "It isn't easy."

"Indeed. It's not," I said, sighing. "I'll admit, part of the hate I felt toward you and the others still lingers. I know it's wrong to think like this, but... it's how I grew up. I can only imagine how Shiori and the others who were sterner than me feel."

"That weasel tried to kill my friends. If he were the one before me, I would beat him within an inch of his life!" the heir said, glaring at me.

Boukyaku sighed and said, "Can't blame you. I'm embarrassed to call him family."

"Indeed, it is hard to forgive you," Adela said as she floated down from the sky. "Anyway, Iah. We've collected the required stones. Though it appears that the stone colors don't quiet match up well."

"What?" I asked.

"Uan has a blue-green one. Sefa was the only one who had the ones Xian needed. So it seems that the rumor about extra gems appearing once a certain number of teams have moved on is true," Adela said as she turned over to look at her peers as they picked up the stones. "Farewell."

"What, you're leaving us?" Iah said.

Adela snickered. "Not yet," She stabbed Boukyaku's tail, forcing him to let go of Iah. She got close to him and pulled out our red gem from his pocket. "Here you go, Iah! Don't say we didn't help you!"

Iah smiled as Adela and her team vanished. "Thanks, Adela!" he said as he took to the air. "Guys, we got to go search for a white gem!"

Boukyaku flew up to Iah and tried to swat him out of the air with his tails but our arch rival's heir dodged.

"Sorry, but we're done with you," Iah said, chuckling. "Try to make it to the next part if you want to fight us!"

I fell to my knees. "We were defeated..." I glanced up. "Wait, what stones do the other teams have?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Uan has a blue-green one and Sefa should only have a red one left, but that's useless to us."

"So Adela spared them..."

"Let's make haste and take them," he said, running up the lake bed.

Sefa and Uan's teams were all knocked unconscious.

I ran over to Aban. In his right hand was the red stone.

"Hey, is this right? Aren't they our allies?" I asked.

Boukyaku stopped as he was about to grab Xue's blue-green gem. "True... but considering the situation, the three of us will have to turn on each other. Mina will soon find their last gem."

"I see," I said, taking the gem from Aban's palm.

Suddenly, we all began to glow.

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked. "We only gone four stones, so why are we being warped?"

"It's because there's only two possible teams that can advance now. Those being our rivals and us," Boukyaku said, smiling.

I smiled back. "So the five are Wahkan, Aief, Xian, Mina, and us."

He sat down on the ground and nodded. "Yup!"

I turned away. It was nice to see Boukyaku smiling again after what happened with Lucette... but I was undeserving of it. Renshu and that Xianian guy were right... I carried on my shoulders the responsibility of what happened. Of the loss of thousands lives, one of which was the girl Boukyaku loved...

"Mayu, are you thinking about what those guys said?" Boukyaku called out as we returned to the starting point of this event.

I walked over to the wired fence and stared up at the mountain jotting toward the sky. It was surreal to think that we were there a few seconds ago...

"Yeah..." I said, pressing my head against the fence. "I need to atone for my sins... somehow..." A gasp escaped my lips as I felt hands on my shoulders.

Boukyaku sighed. "I'll admit, I haven't gotten over what happened. Part of me still wishes to blame you."

I turned away. "I don't fault you for it. I don't expect you to forgive me..."

He patted my head. "But seeing you beat yourself up makes me angrier. If you truly wish to make amends then keep you head up. Help me destroy them, those creatures which desire to destroy our world. Help me find and kill every single last one of them."

I turned around and saw a familiar aura in his eyes. My heart ached looking into them. I knew him to be a cheerful soul, one who was kind and hardworking. He... was the opposite of me. But now, now he had the same eyes as me after my mother had died. Eyes filled with hatred.

"Boukyaku... don't walk down this path," I said, taking a hold of his hands.

He gasped. "You're saying that you won't help me?"

"I will help, but don't let the hate wash over your heart. Don't become like me!" I yelled, shaking my head.

He pulled his hands away and placed one over his heart. "It is ugly, this sensation. Yet so is knowing that Lucette is gone."

"Lucette is strong," a voice called out. "Like I told you before, she might still be alive."

Boukyaku gasped as he turned to look at the new arrival. "Auntie Koukyuu. What are you doing here?"

She glanced at the handsome black haired man accompanying her. It was Hideo, one of the five knights I met as a child. "This man right here knows how it feels to lose a love one to the abyss."

Hideo nodded. "It's like one's world shatters. Even after all these years, the pain hasn't washed away." He clenched his hands into fists. "I promised my little brother that I would save him from that place. Even if all I can find is his soul, that's enough for me. I don't want him to linger in that dark void for even another second."

"Right... I remember," I said, furrowing my brow. "It was that guy who joined our team in the Mahoulympics nearly eight years ago. Say, have you found a way to return to that world?"

"No, I'm still working on it. Though I do need help. I heard from your aunt that you've become a brilliant young man."

"He has," I said, nudging my ex forward.

Boukyaku blushed. "Uh, I guess. I tend to get good grades."

"Do you know anything about physics and wormholes?" Hideo asked.

"Yeah, I used to read up on them when I was a kid." He ruffled his fluffy white hair. "I've been interested in the topic since I heard stories of how my granddad met my grandmother."

"Really?" Hideo asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Though part of it is because he's a nerd too," I whispered.

The prince grumbled. "You sound like Eien..."

"Hey, it's true. You are a nerd," Eien said as he walked over. He stared at our unconscious companions. "Seems that our opponents did quite the number on them."

"Hey, Eien! You sure have grown," Hideo said.

Eien glanced over at him and grinned. "Same goes to you, sir."

Hideo grumbled. "You were a lot cuter back then too."

Eien smiled. "I was, wasn't I! Say, how are the other four knights doing?"

The knight's face paled.

"Hmm?" Eien said.

"Ei, it's best not to ask about that... It's a sensitive subject," Koukyuu said.

"What happened?" my brother asked.

"It's... a long story," Hideo said, closing his eyes.

"Knights..." I gasped. "Wait, I remember! You're friends with those people who descended on a dragon out of a hole in the sky!"

"You know about them?" the knight asked.

I scratched my face. "Uh... well... my mother sort of tried to apprehend them."

"Oh, so that scary woman was your mom! Say, how is she?"

I lowered my head. "She... she died... years ago. She was killed while we were out shopping."

"I... see. It must've been tough to lose a parent so young. Some of my companions also lost parents when they were kids."

"Y-yeah, it was," I said, averting my eyes.

"Uh, perhaps it'll be best if we continue the subject we were on someplace else," Boukyaku said, placing his hands on my shoulders again. "Eien, think you could take Mayu and the others back to the hotel?"

"You want me to take all of them back?" Eien snapped. He pointed to his bandages. "Did you forget that your beloved little brother is injured?"

Hideo chuckled. "He's right. You should be the one helping them out instead. We can take about this another time." He smiled at Eien. "Come to think about it... you're about the age that Dante and I were..."

Dante... was he the one he had lost to the abyss? Was it even possible for a person to survive for that long in that dark world? I certainly hoped so.

I stepped forward. "Can I attend that meeting? I'll like to help rescue Lucette and your brother. I know it won't wash away my sins, but at least it's something."

Boukyaku smiled and mouthed, 'Thank you, Mayu.'

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