I opened my eyes and saw Setsuko wasn't there. I turned to look at Yuko and Ximena's bed. Those two were still asleep. I was glad that they were. While I did want space, I was also afraid of being left alone. It was strange. Like I didn't know what was better or worse... to be alone or to be around others.

I pushed myself out of my bed and changed into a pair of jeans and a frilly dress shirt.

"Rosa?" Yuko called out, rubbing her beady eyes. "Where are you off to?"

"I was going to look for Setty, but considering I don't know this place... Uh..."

Ximena chuckled. "You'll end up lost like when we met if you do."

I snickered as I thought back to that time. Even though I was lost then, I wish I could go back to that time. Though I do wonder what I would do if I had the chance. Would I allow Tetsu to show me around and have events unfold like they have now? Or would I have avoided him all together? Saving the two of us from our current problems in the process.

But if I did that... would I still be alive? I might've lost my life to those rebels in the cavern in Makkuroyama. Though perhaps that would've been better...

"Princess is sad?" Yuko asked, tilting her head at me as she got up.

I averted my gaze. "Just reminiscing."

"Of how you met Yuko's master?"

I lowered my head and hugged myself. "Y-yes."

Yuko opened her mouth to say something but the door suddenly swung open. It was my sister. In her hands were brown bags. "Hey!" she called out. "You're all up early. It's not barely six."

"You're one to talk," Ximena said, scoffing.

Sister laughed. "Oh, this is my usual time to wake up. But for Rosa here it is awfully early. She usually wakes up at ten."

I puffed my cheeks. "Hey, I woke up early during training!"

"Oh right, I forgot about that."

"So, what's in the bags? Food?" Ximena asked.

"Yeah, I got us some yogurts and flaxseed."

"Flaxseed?" Yuko said, mouth wide. "Isn't that for birds?"

Setsuko shook her head. "No. We can eat them too. You should try some, it's good for you."

"Woah?" Yuko said, running up to my sister. "Really? Yuko needs to be healthier. Yuko doesn't want to faint again and worry Master."

Did I worry Tetsu too by fainting? I keep burdening him even though I had resolved myself not to do so anymore. Even though I had built distance between us yet again...

"Hey, sis. Can we go do some sight-seeing?" I blurted out as I formed an ice crystal in my hand. I shaped the ice into a miniature version of bear-woof, which caused Yuko's eyes to glimmer.

"So cute," Yuko said.

I smiled and held it out to her. "Want it?"

Yuko averted her eyes. "Is it fine?"

"Of course, I would not be offering it to you if it was not."

Yuko snatched it from my hands. "So nice and cool," she said, rubbing it against her face.

"Put it in a fridge to keep it from melting," Setsuko said.

"Here, I'll go and put it away," Ximena said.

"Thanks!" Yuko said.

"So, you want to go some place right now?" Setsuko asked, returning to our original conversation. "I guess, if you're feeling up to it. I know, we can go to the museum! I've been wanting to see and learn more of this nation's culture and history."

"Sounds good," I said. In reality I didn't care where we went. I simply wanted to do something to get my mind off of what happened, even if it was only for a bit. I tried ice sculpting, but it wasn't working.

Yuko glanced back at us. "Yuko would like to go too, but Master, Kohri, and Yuko are going off somewhere later."

"Is that so?" Setsuko asked. "Wonder why neither of those two mentioned it."

"Well, they did seem as if they wanted to rest. Not to mention, we teased Tetsu so much that he fled," Ximena said.

Setsuko chuckled. "So much for Serra and him being brave knights, can't even take a light tease."

"Princess Setsuko sounds like Master's Papa," Yuko said, giving her a deadpan look.

"Wait, how would you know that?" Ximena asked. "Tekeshi died before you were even born."

Yuko glanced around the room. She was making sure to avoid eye contact with the three of us.

"Is there something we should know?" Setsuko asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Yuko snatched the bag from her and ran over to the fridge in front of her bed where Ximena had place the ice sculpture in. "Yuko better put these in the mini fridge. They may go bad."

"Do you have a connection to Tetsu's dad?" Ximena asked, not letting it slide.

Yuko glanced over her shoulder, her ears drooped down. "Sorta. Yuko's parents knew him."

"I see. Mine did too. In fact, he's my mother's cousin," Ximena said.

"So Tetsu and Serra are your second cousins?" I asked.

Ximena chuckled and nodded. "I guess they are. Barely think of them that way despite being like family."

"I see," Setsuko said, turning around. She seemed mad about something.

"Are you jealous still?" I whispered.

She opened the door and ran off.

I chased out after her. "Hey, wait for me! Setty! Why do Serra and you do this to me?" I grin lightly. "Hey, I guess that's what makes you two a great couple, eh?"

"S-shut up!" she yelled, her face bright red.

I giggled. Seemed that she was as delicate to teasing as Tetsu and me.

***

[National Museum of Kyuu Seishin]

Setsuko looked around at the various robes worn throughout the history of this kingdom. Meanwhile, I looked at the various magical artifacts around. The glass cases they were behind had to be rather tough or backed up with strong security spells. Or perhaps they were the replicas as surely someone would've wanted to steal them by now.

Wonder if I should ask someone.

I glanced around and noticed a passing guard. "Hey, uh, do you know what kind of security this has?"

The guard narrowed his eyes at me.

I laughed nervously. That was probably a stupid question to ask. He likely thought that I was plotting a robbery.

"You, there's something about you that's off."

I gasped. What does he mean? Wait, did he notice that I'm a Xelerian?

He clicked his tongue. "You're one of those angels that Lady Katsura is hosting, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah," I decided to admit.

"Hmph, you're lucky that she is, else I would throw you out in the street." He turned away and started walk away. "Honestly, what is the queen thinking, inviting those monsters? Did they brainwash her or something? Must be that husband of hers."

"Monsters?" I whispered, looking down. Satoru's words echoed in my head. I shook my head. I wasn't a monster!

"Easy there, your powers are leaking," a familiar voice called out to me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I glanced down and noticed a ring of crystals around me. I had to get my emotions under control...

"Kuroshi?" Setsuko said as she walked over to us. "Where have you been?"

"I've been talking with Kohri. He's gathered the necessary ingredient to restore Tetsuya's Agnes into its pristine state. Though we are planning to undergo a journey in Wynaga to search for a dragon to increase its power. We'll need use of such power if we are to defeat Daisaru and the other Pillars."

My sister tilted her head. "I see."

He chuckled. "If you desire for me to upgrade Alma, I plan to do so too. Though it'll have to wait for now. Agnes in it's shattered state is our priority."

"Why are you telling us this? Sounds like more than a mere memo," I said, giving him a questioning look. I might've taken his words lightly in the past, but after hearing he had enslaved Yuko and Nori, I couldn't trust him..

"I want you, Rosa, to accompany us."

"Me?" I asked, taking a step back.

"I know that you don't trust Tetsu, but trust me when I say that he's a good kid. He might have his issues, but at the end of the day, he's someone who will side with what is true and right. That guy is crazy for you, even though you only knew each other for a few days."

I felt my heart sink to my stomach. I scoffed. "How can I trust someone like you?" I said, running on ahead. Though to be fair, it wasn't only Kuroshi who I couldn't trust. I struggled to trust most men after what happened. I could only trust in two completely.

"Rosa! Hey! Wait up!" Setsuko yelled. "You're going to get lost."

I came to a halt once we were some distance from Kuroshi.

"Rosa. You don't have to go with Tetsuya and the others if you don't want to. If you want, I can go with them in your place."

I recalled Kuroshi's words in Makkuroyama, right after Dan was kidnapped by his aunt. He had told me that I would serve an important role in the faith of the five knights. Yet, it appeared that I was running away, fleeing from the path the Sky Father had chosen for me.

"You have no path. Your god has abandoned you, Rosa. He deserted you. I would too, considering what you did. You are beyond mercy," Satoru's voice echoed in my head.

I felt like screaming, but stopped myself. If I exploded here, I could end up hurting those around me.

I came to a halt and pressed my hands against the crystalline glass of a dome covering a sphere of radiant blue energy in one of the museum displays.

Why does Satoru's voice keep haunting me? He's not even here. I... I couldn't possibly have done something like that to Tetsu. I couldn't...

I held back a cry.

I couldn't! There's no way that I could! I'm not... a monster. I love Tetsu too much to hurt him like that.

I chuckled.

What about his love for you, Rosa? You doubted it and hurt him. Yet... why is it that these memories are in my head? Foggy memories of our bodies interlocked. Are they lies? Illusions of that fox?

I glanced back up at the sphere. It's energy, it was as if it was pulsating, calling out to me.

"This thing, it's radiating so much energy," I whispered to myself. "So pretty, it's like a miniature blue star. Power... power to protect oneself. If only I had it. This power, could it be possible to travel through time with magic?"

"Back in time?" called out a guy.

I turned around. It was the only other man besides my father whom I could trust. "Kohri, did you come to fetch me? Are today's games about to start?" I asked, wiping away my tears.

"No, you still got time to sight see." He glanced at the blue sphere as he ate what appeared to be octopus balls. "You wish to go back and undo that tragedy, don't you?"

I pressed my head against the glass. "Yeah, to prevent what's happened to me. Even if changing the past might not impact the present me, at least there'll be a Rosalba in another timeline who can escape this tragedy I had to endure. Though I do hope that changing the past would impact me. Or at least to find out what truly did happen between Tetsu and me."

"Who knows, no one that anyone is aware of has traveled through the echoes of time. At least not days' worth."

I closed my hazel eyes. "Still, it would be nice to give it a shot. Do you really not know who it was?"

The heir of Kuroyuki no San closed his icy blue eyes. "I wish that I did. Every one of them appear to be telling the truth when I bought up the subject."

I lowered my head. "So, you think that there's still a chance that it could be either Tetsuya or Hyosetsu?"

His eyes moved toward the sphere. "I hate to doubt either of them, but yeah. However, if you ask me, I'll say that the most likely culprit is the one who knows the castle best."

"Knows the castle best? That would be... Eiichi." I gasped as I recalled how angry he had seemed when I took Tetsuya's hand. "I need to talk to my father!"

Kohri backed away. "What for?"

"I need to know if Eiichi was truly speaking to him like he has claimed. If he wasn't then... his alibi will shatter into tiny shards. I need to contact Father as soon as I can."

Can't believe that I forgot to ask him about it when I had the chance. Oh Rosalba, you idiot!

"I'll help you out however I can," he said, smiling.

I smiled back. "Hey, Kohri. Tell me, don't you have something that you wish that you could change?"

"Yeah, of course I do," he said in a solemn tone as his head dropped. "You know what it is."

I lowered my head. Damn, how can I be so insensitive?

"Sorry... I didn't mean to bring that up."

"I too wish that we could've done something."

Suddenly the entire building trembled, sending us falling into the red carpeted floor.

"What's going on?" I asked, gazing back.

"I'm not sure but I sense something in the direction of the island we arrived on!" Setsuko said as she rushed toward us. "Kohri, hurry up and return to where Tetsu and the others are. This might be an abyssmal trying to break through this universe's barrier."

"Hey, lay down!" Kohri shouted as the earth continued to tremble.

I slammed my hands against the floor, stabilizing the ground somewhat. "Let's get out of here! I'll stop any debris that might fall on us."

"Allow me to help," Setsuko said as she placed her hands on a wall. Orange mana covered the area around us, reinforcing the stone structure.

"Is everyone alright?" Kohri asked as he watched people running off.

I closed my eyes. I sensed people deeper in the building running toward the nearest exit in a hurry. There were even a few who vanished right away. My guess was that they were teleporting out.

"Yeah, no one appears to be left behind."

Kohri sighed. "Thank goodness."

"But, it doesn't appear to be a normal earthquake. The source of the shaking, it's from the heaven's."

"Let's go see what's going on," Setsuko said. We ran out of the room and headed for the closest window. The dawn was devoid of all light, even this world's moon's could no longer be seen.

"Is it an eclipse?" I had heard that one of this world's moon was so big that it would blotch its star out completely, leaving behind a barely noticeable corona.

Suddenly, red spheres appeared in the sky before quickly vanishing.

"Is that lightning?" I asked.

"I've heard of strange phenomena during earthquakes before, but I don't think that's one of those," my sister said as she made her way toward the exit.

The shaking had died off, giving the impression that it was a normal earthquake. Were Tetsu and the others safe, though?

Suddenly the rising sun returned as if a blanket of darkness had been removed from this world's star.

"What was that?" multiple people questioned.

"Who knows, maybe they're trying out something for today's entertainment," someone suggested.

"Are you alright, Rosa?" Setsuko asked, offering me a hand.

"Yeah, thanks," I said.

"Seems that we better quicken our pace. Soon this world might find itself in a situation not all that different than our own," Kuroshi said appearing behind us. His gaze was on me. "Make your decision soon, princess. Kohri and Yuko will be coming with us too, so just stay close to them if you feel uneasy with either Tetsuya or Hyosetsu."

"I..." I said, but my voice croaked. I... I couldn't say it.

Stay focus on the issue on hand. You can't help anybody if you allow your issues to consume you. Be strong, come on, you can do this.

"Ha. You're a lot like your mother," a voice echoed in my head.

I stopped and looked around. It wasn't Satoru this time, but someone else.

What? Who is there?

There was nothing but the sound of our footsteps as we walked outside of the museum.

Did I... imagine it? Wait, what did I just tell myself before? I'm already letting myself be distracted again. Focus, focus! You're a knight. You need to start acting like one! You're not a little girl anymore!

"Wait!" I yelled, running after Kuroshi who had ignored me and walked ahead of us.

"Yes?" he asked. He didn't even turn back to look at me.

 "I, I've made my decision!" I said, a stern look on my face.

"And that decision is?"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3. In 5 days is the 2nd year anniversary of my publication of RoaGA version 1 (back then it was Lot5K while the series' name was Legend of the Seven Angels). I plan to do something special to celebrate. I hope to publish a special book later today with stuff for Q&A I hope to write for the 15th.**