-"Darkness comes like a thief, to murder and kill if need be."

*Yen*

Wanikiya stopped a few inches from Zelde and spun around. "I... can't do this." He shook his head. His ice swords clattered to the ground.

"Hmph. To think I thought that you had finally grown as a mage. Sadly, I was mistaken," Mr. Obi said.

The Wahkanian prince grimaced. "What good would passing the test do me if I hurt my loved ones?"

Mr. Obi scoffed. "Pah! Pathetic emotions cloud your way. A true mage need not care for others. Instead, a true wizard cares for nothing but power above all. Why else do you think that we spend years upon years honing our craft, ignoring the petty disputes held among the weak? You must know that those you fought at Nine Petal Academy weren't even our strongest students. The truly strong don't even bother looking at the rest of you."

"Is... that so?" he asked.

"That's not what strength is!" I yelled.

Wanikiya stared at me with his light blue eyes. "What is strength then?" His eyes were drooped-down.

Mr. Obi snickered. "It certainly isn't what the youngest triplet thinks it is. That child's path will lead him nowhere. His arrogance will be his downfall."

I clenched my fists and shot the man daggers. "You dare say that about Lei? When you yourself are more arrogant than he is?" I snapped as I inched toward him.

The proctor put a hand on his chest and snickered. "I can back it up. That boy has exactly what to show for it? He lost against Iah in the tournament. He lost against Ren, against Shiori, and I'm certain that he lost against many of you."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know that he lost to Ren and Shiori?"

He scoffed. "Ren told me, of course. As for Shiori, I was watching as that battle unfolded."

I took another step forward. The ground trembled as vibrations passed through my feet. "You saw how Adela, Nyima, and my brother nearly got killed and didn't step in to do a thing?"

Mr. Obi smiled. "Oh, it was enjoyable... watching that boy get what was coming to him."

Sound-waves ripped through the concrete sidewalk and shook the buildings around us. "You bastard!" I yelled as my punch collided against his arms. I threw another punch, unleashing another shock-wave upon the vicinity. "You dare call yourself a teacher?"

I dashed behind him, when an orange fox tail emerged from his back and grabbed a hold of me.

He snickered. "You're his triplet alright. Not only in looks, but also in terms of bark. You all lack bite."

I formed a knife out of wind and raised it at his tail. "I'll make you take that back!"

Another tail appeared. It coiled around my arm like a serpent that had captured its latest meal.

"You are frail," Obi said, lifting me off the ground.

"Let her go!" Hikaru yelled.

Mr. Obi threw me at him. "There you go!"

Hikaru grimaced as he pushed himself up and caught me.

"Sorry," I said, pushing myself off of him. I glanced at our proctor. "I'll be sure to hit him this time."

The man snickered as he started to fade. "You will not, for you have failed. It's time to go back..." He held out his hand. A brilliant red light encompassed all of us.

*Kun*

We continued hiking up a mountain until we came upon a fork in the road. Nahimana and I directed everyone right-ward and continued on that path until we came across a large white cathedral. It was a shrine built to honor the Zionian deities, the Earth Mother and Sky Father.

We all stepped into the marble structure. Illuminating the place was natural light pouring in through the colorful glass mosaic windows. There were eight in total. In seven of those was one of the seven angels, each a different color of the rainbow. Meanwhile, the eighth was a bleak gray. In the center laid a dark portal covered up in chains with a sphere of light raised high above it.

"This is beautiful," Sarah said, glancing at what laid beyond the golden chains. At the end of the aisle rested the sanctuary, which contained an altar to the Sky Father and Earth Mother. The male deity had his hand reaching down, while the female had hers reaching up for his. Their hands clasped the sphere of light which glowed in all of the colors of the rainbow. It truly lived up to the style of the Kurorikuians, flashy.

"Where is this portal to the Abyss?" Hal asked.

"Right here," I said, touching the golden chains. "Or at least it used to be here at one point. Seems that it was sealed years ago." I put my hands behind my head. "Well, let's get going! I've seen what I wanted to see." I stepped away and as I did, the rest of our teammates, including our proctors, came pouring in.

"What are you doing here?" Eien asked in a stern voice. It was odd seeing him like this. He usually had a joking, condescending, or even angry tone. But this time, his tone was different. It had hints of fear in it.

"We came to pay our honors to the gods of this realm," Hal said, grinning.

"It's not good to lie, especially not in front of the gods of this world, or any other," Sarah said, arms crossed. "We came here to check out the portal to the Abyss."

Eien frowned. "You don't want to see the portal. Now, let's go! This isn't a place for us."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He averted his gaze. "You must know if you knew of the dangers hidden in the ruin back home."

I nodded and stepped forward. "Yeah. I just sought to check on its condition. It is our duty to do so."

"Are you Taiyang?" Eien asked.

I shook my head. "No, but we do share a similar destiny."

"Taiyang? Isn't that Nyima's family name?" Sarah asked.

"Yes... Nyima is intertwined with this, whether she wishes to be or not. As is Adela." I closed my eyes. "Same goes for Yuzuki. My brother will undoubtedly be swallowed into this. Even if I had kept my identity a secret, those three would've swayed him to participate."

"What are you talking about?" Eien said, anger seeping through his voice. "Why do you speak as if a great disaster will befall us?"

I smiled. "I never said anything about a disaster. You remember, don't you?"

Eien closed his eyes. "Yes..." His eyes glanced at Sierra. "Her mother, she knows what befell this place years ago. As does Ms. Key, and my aunt and uncles. The same goes for Alto's brother."

"Alto's brother?" An asked, blinking at him.

"Yes," Ms. Key said, grimacing. "Including Zydeco... and a lot of others..."

"A lot of us are linked to the events of nine years ago. All of Lei's teammates are. There's a reason for why my aunt took an interest in that boy..."

Suddenly, the ground started shaking.

"What's going on?" Ivonne asked, gripping one of the chains.

"An earthquake?" Kaede said, holding onto another chain.

"No," I said with both hands pressed against the marble floor. "At least, it's not a normal one. The shadows, they've begun to bubble. Soon they will descend upon all of us like they did nearly a decade ago, and half a decade prior to that event."

Eien shook his head. "You mean that..."

"Yes," I said, closing my eyes. "This is the start of a descent of darkness." I summoned a white sphere and threw it against the ground. Once the light cleared, we were in Nine Petal Academy once more. There, too, the earth rumbled but with far more ferocity than at the shrine in Zionia.

"We're... back?" Sarah said, gasping at the sight. Soon her gasps were to be directed at something different. Something far more sinister.

**Solar Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter :3. I originally (in the previous version) added this chapter to make the plot smoother as previously it had skipped over how Yen and Kun's groups had returned to the school.**