We made our way back to the forest in no time.

"Are we returning to the tent, Master?" Yuko asked as she looked around at the great pines.

"No, the path to the temple is through this way if I recall correctly," I said as I too looked around. Though, in my case, it was to make sure I was going the right way.

Serrano had explained this path to me the night before the squads of Eiichi, Hyosetsu, Hideo, and my own began their march north. It was the same place he and the others had gone to the day that we discovered that Etsuo and Roa were traitors. 

We continued walking until we came upon a fork in the dusty road. I glanced at the Mount Wahaya. It was smallest mountain in the range before our eyes.

Though it was the smallest, it was said to be the most important site in our clan. It was said to be the location where the Seven Archangels were said to have shaped the world as their father had ordered them to. To commemorate that moment, the descendants of the founders of Kuroriku had a temple built on the legendary spot in honor of the divine couple.

Apparently the temple contained a gateway to Abyssia.  

I directed Yuko right-ward. As we continued to hike up the mountain, the land rose gently as if we were climbing up a hill.

"So, do you know how to fight?" I asked, breaking the ice.

Yuko nodded shyly. "Y-yeah... though Yuko doesn't like to..." She gulped. "That mean man forced Yuko and Nori to fight for him."

Nori? Who is that? I returned my eyes to the now rocky path. "Sadly, you will have to."

She nodded her head. "Yuko will try her best. Though, she doesn't know how much help she can be. Yuko's no longer under that man's trance."

Trance? Did he use the contract on her? Wait, was the contract merely a transferring of control? I curled my hands into fists. That man... Was it a good idea to resort to him for help?

"Yuko just wants to find her friend."

I sighed. "You'll have to wait until our task is done, or we come across your friend by chance."

Yuko closed her eyes. "Okay."

***

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the end of the road either. Like the legends spoke of, on top of the Mount Wahaya was a white cathedral-style temple.

I glanced behind me and held my hand out to Yuko. 

"Hold my hand," I said.

She grabbed my hand and we walked inside the snow-white marble structure.

Illuminating the place was natural light pouring in through the colorful glass mosaic windows. There were eight in total. Depicted on each one was one of the seven angels. Meanwhile, the eighth was a bleak gray. Gray... if I had to choose a color that matched my mood, it would be that one. That color reminded me of that fox's words as well. Looking back at it, it almost seemed as if he knew something like this would happen.

Meanwhile, at the end of the aisle rested the sanctuary which contained an altar to the Sky Father and Earth Mother. The statue of the male deity had his hand reaching down, while the female's statue reached up. Their outreached hands clasped the golden sphere which laid in front of them.

According to Takuya, that sphere represented their love for the other. I had always assumed that it was simply the universe that they had created. Though if I told Taku that, I was sure he would say those two are one and the same. Hmph, was this world really created by love? If so then their love mustn't have been pure, for how else could a world as cruel as this one exist?

I shook my head and took another step forward.

Resting in front of the divine couple, in the center of the sanctuary, was a swirling mass of darkness. Meanwhile, over the darkness was a sphere of light.

"This is where the the Abyss is?" Yuko asked, eyes wide. She glanced at the altar. "Why is this in such a holy place?"

"No idea as to why," I said.

I could only guess that it was that it was to 'guard' the portal. Though I guessed that I needed to at least give thanks to them for doing so. Their protection was what prevented those dark beings from taking over this world.

"Get ready to jump."

The girl started shaking and gripped my hand.

"Don't be afraid," I said, trying to soothe her. Though my voice came out as robotic. "I'll protect you."

She slowly nodded, still afraid. Her eyes rose toward the altar once more as her lips whispered what seemed like a prayer.

How silly, they won't listen to your words.

"Ready?" I questioned, taking a step forward.

She nodded.

"Alright... three, two, one...Go!" We leaped into the vortex, unaware of what was to come. If only I had known, then perhaps even I would've made a silent prayer of my own.

***

Falling into the abyss was like falling from the sky and diving into an ocean at night...all at the same time.

We continued to fall until our feet struck a piece of a floating island made out of pitch black stone. Several single-eyed creatures latched the ground looked up at us and opened up mouths where there shouldn't be any.

I transformed my bracelet into its shield form. "Get ready to fight." I paused, I had forgotten to buy her a weapon and my shield only did little damage.

The girl held in her hands what looked like a pen and raised it slowly. She was trembling as the creatures inched closer. She then suddenly sprung up a long blade.

Where did she get that knife?

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to ask questions. "Attack them!" I screamed, which in turn triggered the creatures to attack us.

She raised her arms and closed her eyes. I ran over to her and shielded her. "What's wrong? Fight, damn it! You're going to get us killed!"

"Yuko... Yuko's scared."

"Snap out of it and do something!" Blobs went around my shield and attacked us left and right. Thankfully they weren't very strong. I slammed my shield against several of them. They bounced like basketballs and came back down with a vengeance.

I raised rocks up and sliced through a couple of them with ease, but that caused the little space Yuko and I had to stand on to dwindle greatly. The entire structure felt unstable, that I feared taking stones from its center could cause it to collapse. I could fly but Yuko would plummet to the bottom if I wasn't careful. And I surely couldn't fight while holding her. If only I had Principe around, but he had stayed back with my mom and sister.

The blobs I took down regenerated and gather around a single spot. I had failed to puncture their cores. If only I were better at making earth constructs. I really should've asked Rosa for some tips when I had the chance.

I raised a hand in front of Yuko to protect her. "Stand back!" I said, even though it wasn't needed. The girl was too terrified to move.

I reached into my back pocket and took out a couple of arrow-heads I had manually shaped other day and threw them at the creatures. Though, they failed to puncture through its gelatinous body. I raised them out using my earth powers and tried again, but the stones shattered as the creatures fused into a dark red, multi-eyed dog-like beast with scaly skin.

Seems that my mana attacks are too weak to work against it. Then I'll need to rely on my best weapon.

The monstrosity leaped at my shield. I blocked it and punched the creature's soft underbelly with my left fist, throwing it back. Though, the force of the pounce nearly caused me to trip back. I felt the vastness of the abysmal space against my back. Behind me was the edge of the cliff and rocks were falling down into the fluid-like world, but not before creating ripples— like pebbles hitting the surface of a lake.

Yuko raised her knife and charged at the beast as it got up. "Yuko won't let you push her master off of the cliff!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She jumped up cut off one of its legs. The beast stopped attacking me and turned its attention towards the girl. It twisted around and swiped at her with its sharp crimson claws. Yuko was swift enough to dodge the claw, but she found herself with her back against a hill.

The dog pounced on her, biting her sword arm. Its fangs ripped through the thin armor.

Yuko cried out in agony as the creature dove its fangs deeper, well into her skin.

I was a little dazed from battling it but I couldn't take time off. I jumped on top of it and slammed my shield against its multi-eyed forehead repeatedly.

"Let go of her! It's me you should attack!" I yelled.

The girl managed to move her knife just enough to stab it into the side of the creature's jaws. The beast released her and flailed around with the knife still stuck in its gaping otherworldly mouth.

Darkness was pouring out of the wound like blood into water. It growled so loudly that I feared that backup could arrive. After a while, the beast finally stopped screeching and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Its entire body dissolved; leaving behind only Yuko's knife, a red core, and the fangs which remained etched on Yuko's skin.

Yuko immediately proceeded to remove the fangs, though each one resulted in a loud yelp.

While she did that, I squatted to picked up the penknife and red core. I raised the knife toward the only source of light; the sphere. It's long, thin bronze blade was more reminiscent of a wand than a knife. Wait, did she get it from her parents? She was a mage after all...

I shook my head and dove the knife into the core which was beginning to release a dark miasma. The core shattered, unleashing a plume of ink-like shadows into the dark sea around us.

"Thanks," the girl said as she took in deep breathes. She had her back against the rock wall. Her blood was flowing out similar to the beast, but it was crimson instead of shadow.

It's strange. How was it that we can breath in such a watery realm?

The water was like air... Though there was some difficulty caused by breathing in too much of the stuff. It caused one to start to feel dazed for one. Though it seemed I was handling it better than Yuko was. My guess was it was due to her illness.

I put down the knife next to Yuko and took out some herbs I had collected early the other day. I mixed them around mentally like my mother had taught me. It was then that my shield began glowing bright purple. The herbs floating around were drawn into the center of the shield by the alien light.

I remember reading about the process, it was the act of cultivation. Xianians were said to be experts at potion making. They would blend herbs and various other ingredients into cauldrons, the result would be a superior potion than one could make using a bowl or nothing at all. Though who could've guessed that something made out of a tree from there could do the same?

The dragon orb, in this case, served as the cauldron. I took advantage of it and moved the items within around like how the books had shown. The shield unleashed an even stronger light. My own fatigue began to vanish while Yuko's wound disappeared.

The girl coughed a little.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked, pushing her long hair away from her face.

She grabbed her knife from me.

"Yuko's... fine." She glared at the shadows around us ferociously, as if something primal within her had been unleashed. "Let's continue."

A gasp escaped my lips. "You want to continue?"

"Master needs power, that why Master bought Yuko, isn't it? Yuko must fight in order to live on."

I smiled a little and grabbed her hand, pulling her off of the ground. Her bite marks truly were gone. Those Xianians truly were something. If only Yuko had been one of them instead of a Kyuu-Hyakuian.

Stepping forward, I put away the cracked core and fangs into my coin bag. Perhaps they could serve as research material on those creatures. Especially the fangs which hadn't vanished like the rest of the creature's body had.

"Let's continue then," I said, drawing my shield closer to my chest.

It was at that moment that even more blobs began to gather around us. I raised my shield forward. "Be careful, don't allow them to unite like last time."

"Right," she said, nodding. She was still shaking like before. Yet, despite her lingering fears, she slashed the blobs with ease. The more she slashed at the blobs the more precise her cuts were. I had bought myself a quick learner.

Seeing her like that brought to mind a blurry memory. In it, Yuko was sparring with me and while I told her to rest she wouldn't stop. She wanted me to awaken Agnes which at the time I couldn't do.

I made the right choice, it seems. With her, I should be able to make some progress in whatever our mission in this realm is.

After taking down some more blobs we began to descend down the spiral island seeking out more. It was then that Yuko had begun to cough louder.

"Are you alright?" I questioned. "If you're tired you should say so."

She tried to speak but nothing came out. My eyes widened as the other part of that blurry memory came forth. Yuko had almost died, and she would've if not for Rosalba giving her some of her life.

I quickly grabbed her hand and raised Agnes toward the light. In an instant, we were warped back to the temple. It was a good thing that Serrano had showed me how to do so on that night he told me about temple.

I ran out the building and lifted her into my arms and took to the air. I hadn't noticed it while inside, but the sun was now blotched by thick dark clouds, giving the place an ominous sensation.

It was as if the heavens were warning me that something bad was about to happen. To make matters worse, we were a distance away from the city. I needed to find that strange man and ask what exactly her illness was.

She started to cough out blood as we descended down the mountain.

No! I can't let her die...she's the best hope I got at surviving this ordeal.

"Hold on," I said, emotion seeping out of nowhere. I sped up to speeds I hadn't thought I was capable of. Though doing so resulted in sharp back pain. However, I shrugged it off. There was only one concern for me. I had to save her, the key to my freedom.

Yuko touched my face. "Master...you're in pain." She touched my cheeks, they were wet.

I had started crying? Even prior to meeting Rosalba and getting into this mess I didn't cry often, not even as an infant. And most of those times I did cry were during the anniversary of my pa's death.

It was only in recent days that I had cried for other reasons... but I had surely thought that my tears had ran dried out by now after these last few days of crying myself to sleep.

***

Once we had made it back to camp I sat her down inside the tent. It didn't seem like we would've made it back to the city in time...and there was always the chance that they would have refused us service due to my infamy and her status...they might have even ended up seeing the seal on her and taken her away. Not to mention that people from other realms had become feared following the First Inter-dimensional war, despite our universe's current queen trying to do everything to end such mistreatment.

Then there was Rosa, she had saved Yuko before, but would she do the same now? Then there was the issue of getting Yuko to her. I didn't see how the guards would allow me to set foot inside, less so to see her.

I ran outside and gathered some more herbs. I searched for ones that could cure colds and fevers. Ones that could cure internal bleeding. I wasn't sure what she had so I had to try everything I could think of. Though that itself could've killed her...

Once I'd gathered all of the herbs. I attempted mixing them into separate medicines at once when suddenly my shield absorbed all of the ingredients again. This time the thing didn't glow.

I waited for some time, just in case., but there was nothing.

"You stupid thing, I need those!" I screamed, banging my fists against it. "What do you think you're doing? Spit them out!"

The shield began glowing bright purple. A bottle of purple medicine emerged from the core and the glow died down.

I ran inside the tent, Yuko was bleeding even more and her breathing had died down a lot. I opened her mouth with my left thumb and index fingers and poured the medicine slowly. Her mouth was covered in a lot of blood, just like that previous time. I wasn't sure if the potion would even go down effectively.

It would've been easier to give her the medicine if I had injection needles. I grabbed a clean rag from my backpack and wiped the blood from her mouth and poured the entire flask in at once. She coughed a little as it went down but it seemed to have worked.

It would take time for the medicine to take effect, I had to make sure she was breathing until then. I grabbed another rag and poured some water from my canteen over it. I applied the rag over her head to cool her down. It was then that a hand grabbed me.

Yuko opened one eye and tried to smile. "Mas...ter." She coughed up even more blood.

I looked away...looking at her brought back bad memories...sad memories. Memories of Rosa.

I closed my eyes tightly. I needed help...but there was no one who could...the only one who could was him...

I bowed my head. I had stopped believing in a benevolent god ever since both my pa died... and my experience these past few days didn't do anything to help me believe again. Though the only thing I could do, at that moment with a dying Yuko, was to pray...

"Oh great divine one, the one who together with the Earth Mother created this universe, I plea to thee to assist me in my time of need," I whispered. "He who created the Seven Legendary Angels, he who created my ancestor, help this girl, breathe life into her anew." I kept repeating the prayer for some time until I tired of doing so.

I opened my eyes. Yuko was still in the same pain as before.

I snickered. Did I honestly expect a miracle to suddenly happen? It didn't happen all those years ago, and he wasn't there when I was all alone...

My eyes widened as Yuko stopped moving, not even cries of agony emerged from her lips. She... was gone.

"Yuko!" I cried out. "Yuko! Come on, open your eyes!"

There was no response, just the sound of rain hitting the tent.

"Yuko..." I cried out. I put my head against the floor and let out a cry. A cry I had been meaning to release for awhile now.

I raised my head toward the heavens.

"Where are you oh great divine one?" I screamed with all the force I could as darkness swarmed around me. "You must be sitting loftily in your throne, not lifting a finger at all...of course this rotten world wouldn't be so rotten if your wife and you did something about it!"

It was at that moment that a sort of miracle did happen. A brilliant violet light came out from my underneath my breastplate. It was then that the world around me transformed into a sea of shadows.

**Solar Note: What do you will become of Tetsuya now?**