[Meanwhile- In another edge of the forest]

I leaned against a tree near a gently flowing river and crossed my arms. I stared at the light green haired girl I had found in the abyss. "Why are you here?" I asked. "Didn't I tell you to stay in Kaguya?"

She fidgeted nervously, avoiding looking straight into my deep red eyes. "I wanted to help you. I saw how hard you and the others fought to protect those in the games. That's why I wish to join you. Plus, I..."

Sighing, I moved away from her and turned around. "You aren't a fighter. You're better off leaving."

"But you only have one member besides me for your..."

I sighed again and waved. "I'll be fine with one or even on my own. Now leave."

She ran up behind me and hugged me tightly. "I don't want you to leave. I... I felt lost after you left me back in Kaguya. I, I still don't know who I am. "

"Let go of me," I said, removing her arms away from my waist. I spun around only to see tears falling on my shirt. "Hey... don't cry."

"I... I'm sorry," she said, lowering her head.

I ruffled my blond hair. Ugh, this girl turned out clingier than I thought she would. Still... I can't take her tears.

I hugged her. "I just don't wish to see you get hurt. Like you said, you don't even remember who you are or where you truly come from. You should focus on finding those answers before pursuing me."

She pressed her head against my chest and tightened her grip on my waist.

"All I can recall is that my name is Sabine, or something along those lines," she muttered. "Until I find out more, can I... can I stay with you?"

I smiled. Sensitive girl. She's rather naïve, but kind. Sort of like Rosa.

"She sure is. Doesn't she just excite you?" a voice called out.

My body tensed up. Pushing her away from me I ran into the forest.

"Eiichi!" Sabine screamed, chasing after me.

"She's calling for you, Eiichi! She desires you, Eiichi!"

Shut up!

"Oh, what's wrong Eiichi? Doesn't she excite you? You have yet to get a 'taste' of her."

Be quiet!

The voice snickered. "You know that you want it. That sweet innocent girl..."

I told you to shut up!

Invisible arms wrapped around my neck. "Don't tell me that you're becoming like that so called 'best friend' of yours. You aren't a chaste hero, you know." A hand slid down my white button up shirt. "Though you are barely much of a hero at all, my dear Eiichi. In fact, you're as much of a villain as that king of yours. The one who worships Mammon."

I crumpled to the ground. A piercing pain shocked my forehead as two golden horn-like appendages emerged from it.

"Eiichi?" my girlfriend said, stopping. Her voice shook as she continued to repeat my name. "Are you... alright?"

"Run, Sabine!" I screamed as I clenched my chest.

"Run?" Sabine inched closer. "Why? Is something the matter? Need me to..."

"I said go!" I roared, causing the nearby birds and deer to flee from me. I hugged myself and slammed my head against the ground. My back trembled as pressure built up and pushed toward the surface, unsettling my wings. My clothes were torn apart by a pair of large yellow bat-like wings.

Luckily, Sabine had already ran off before she could see.

"You shouldn't resist, darling," the voice whispered into my ear before its owner bit on it. "You're so cute!"

"Stop... I don't want to... become that thing. Not again!" I gasped for air as my body continued to be torn from within.

The voice snickered as its owner raised my head back, making me stare at those child-like eyes. They weren't like those of Yuko or Nori from before their metamorphosis. There was no hint of kindness in hers, only desire. A dark and sinister desire. "

I told you what to do. You've been training non-stop these past several months that you've lost sight of what really matters."

"What really matters is saving this world. I won't allow that peasant or the other three idiots to take my rightful place as savior of this world!"

"Ah, you mean the tall, muscular dark-skinned one? That guy is such a stud. Oh, how I wish he weren't a chaste hero. I wouldn't mind being taken by him."

"Gah!" I screamed, causing the earth to shake as my hands became covered in black fur and transformed into those of a beast.

"Want me to help you," the voice said. A pair of delicate-looking but clawed hands drew my head up. Staring down at me with those desire filled eyes of hers was a short green-haired girl. Come to think of it, she sort of looked like Sabine.

She swung her arms around my neck and pressed her lips against me. Her fangs bit into my lips, drawing out blood. "Ahh. Your blood is so delicious!" She swung her arms around my neck and continued to kiss me. "Hmm. So delicious. So... intoxicating..."

"No!" I yelled, pushing her away. I wiped my lips and glared at her.

She grunted upon landing on the hard ground. "Hmph. I guess that you are becoming like that 'best friend' of yours after all." She walked back and kneeled down as I started to revert back. "Seems that I didn't need to do much to restore your 'angelic' form. Well, then, see you later. Oh, and don't fall in love with anyone, my dear Eiichi. You know what will happen if you do." She flashed me a toothy slasher smile before fading into darkness.

I stood up and used my lance as a cane. I need to make it back... Damn, that vixen.

"Oh, who are you calling vixen?" she called out once again.

Who do you think?

"Ha. I love that hard to get attitude that you're developing, it only makes you more attractive. Darling, you know as well as I that you can't hope to escape."

"You sure about that? This lance here has helped me push you away."

"True, but even that weapon wasn't able to keep you from becoming a monster. Dear, don't forget that I harbor countless secrets of you. Secrets that would make both your best friend and the princesses hate you. Even that king would hate you. Just like you are with me, he appears to be struggling against Mammon. Alas, once everyone finds out the whole realm and beyond would hate you. Even that girl whom you saved from the dark pit will want nothing to do with you once she discovers the truth."

Clasping my lance, I raised it into the sky. "Shut it, you're so damn annoying!" I yelled. The voice finally vanished. I dropped my lance and clasped my chest. I'm sorry, Sabine. I crumpled back to the ground and everything faded to darkness.

*Sabine*

I walked out from behind the tree I was hidden behind and ran toward where Eiichi was. My boyfriend laid unconscious on the ground; his golden lance had rolled several feet away from him. Closing my eyes, I chanted, "Levitate." I wasn't sure how I knew magic, but I did.

Like a feather being taken up by a gust of wind, Eiichi moved around me. I directed him across the trees until we arrived back at the Shield Knight's house.

In front of the house were now several tents of different colors. Sitting outside of one of the tents, sipping some tea was the queen of the realm, Saya.

She glanced up from the book in her hands and bolted out of her seat as soon as she saw the state I was in. Holding out her arms, she caught Eiichi in one and me in the other. "What happened?" She tilted her head at me. "Are you okay?"

"Don't mind me," I said, taking several deep breaths. "I'm just exhausted is all. Please, take care of him."

Saya nodded and opened the tent next to us and levitated him slowly into it.

In the meantime, I sat down in the other chair opposite of the one the Celestial Queen had used. I hoped that he would be alright.

"You're just going to leave him there?" I asked.

"No worries, he simply needs to rest. You should get some too," she said, smiling. She looked me up and down. "You know, something about you reminds me of someone."

"Someone?" I asked. "Who?" Could she know who my real family is?

"My older sister, Akari's mother. You do know Akari, right?"

"Yes, I met her during my time in Xeleria. Though, I wouldn't really say that we're friends or anything like that. I'm not close to anyone other than Eiichi.

"I see. Well, Akari's mother looked exactly like you when she was your age." The queen's bright blue eyes shifted toward the tent behind her.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, shaking as she helped me take a seat on the bench opposite of where she sat.

She turned her eyes back at me. There was concern and suspicion in her eyes. "Beware of that young man, I fear that he will only bring you pain."

"Pain?"

She sat back down in her seat and nodded as she returned to her book. "Yes," she responded, adverting my eyes. "Something about him feels off, as if there's a demon lurking within him. A frightening one. A being who has sunk into the depths of sin more than any other being. An evil like that of an arch-demon."

A demon lurks within? Was that what that girl who kissed him was? She certainly had no qualms about kissing the boyfriend of another girl. Not to mention the appearance that Eiichi took was that of one who had fallen to the depths of sin. Not a fallen angel, but an outright demon.

"Is there any way to return someone who has fallen to those depths back to being a normal angel?" I asked, leaning forward.

Saya put back down her book and gave me a kind smile. "You sure love him. Seeing the way you react reminds me of the face of my sister. If I didn't know any better, I would say that you are her."

Am I related to her sister somehow?

"What's the story?" I asked, sitting up right.

"What?" She raised her book. "Well, this book is about..."

"I meant your sister's story. Did she struggle with love too?"

Saya's smile faded. "Well, you see... She fell for a boy who was a playboy. My sister went missing for months, when she returned, she was pregnant with that man's kid. None of us ever had the chance to meet this man. My father demanded to know who he was. But she only responded with 'He is no longer within reach'. My sister never seemed to have resented him, though one could tell that she pinned for him. Her daughter, Akari, grew up to be resentful of the man whom no pictures even exist of."

Leaning even more forward, I asked, "What's her name, your sisters?"

"Her name is..."

https://youtu.be/rrRrqzaBFzk

*Eiichi*

I opened my eyes and saw green light hit my eyes. It was natural light, dyed with a greenish tint by the fabric of the tent I found myself in. I raised myself out of the sleeping bag I found myself in and headed back out.

A sharp pain stopped me. My entire body ached, especially my back. It's a wonder that I hadn't noticed it right away.

"Eiichi?" Sabine yelled, barging into the tent as I flailed on the floor. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Damn... this isn't good. I got to get out of here right now. I held a hand up. "I'll be fine. It's just residual pain..." Wait, why am I here? Did she bring me here? No. It couldn't be... did she see me transform into that creature?

"Step aside," Queen Saya said, opening the tent. She summoned a bead necklace and wrapped it around the palm of her hand. The air of my lungs escaped like a balloon being sat on. Her bead infused fist had struck me on the chest, sending me crashing into the sleeping bag.

"Why did you do that for?" Sabine asked, running over to me. Saya held her back by the shoulder.

"I told you already, this young man is dangerous." The queen glanced back at me with disdain. "Honestly, I was already questioning the judgement of those who chose the wielders of the five weapons. Seeing that one of the five is this guy makes me question them only further. Tekeshi, Osamu. What was running through their heads when they made their decisions, it's something that I simply can't wrap my head around."

"Is that so?" a familiar voice called out. Standing outside of the tent were Setsuko and Serrano. Setsuko stared at the queen. "You think that we're not worthy of being the five knights foretold by the oracle, do you?"

Saya turned around and crossed her arms over her ample chest. "The five knights weren't all meant to be from the same clan. Your father and the father of the Knight of the Shield went against my orders. We were going to host a series of tournaments to determine who the five were going to be. What we wanted were people with experience and talent in battle."

"Eiichi is talented," Serrano said, glaring at her. "I know that you're our queen, and the descendant of our creators, but that doesn't give you the right to disrespect him like that. You aren't your ancestors."

I raised my head and saw the queen smirking. "Mighty words, but at least they're coming from one with a righteous heart. You, Serrano Kuroriku, would've been a better choice than this man."

"How dare you... make fun of me!" I spat out as I stood up.

"Rest, or what slumbers within you will emerge once," she said before walking past Serrano and Setsuko.

I sat back down my bed and grumbled.

Lady Saya was right. The five of us weren't meant to be the heroes. It was the seven hills who decided who the five wielders would be. I only got the spear because my mother wanted me to have a unique weapon. Serrano himself picked the peasant due to their friendship. Rosalba meanwhile was actually planned to be the owner of the sniper rifle, if not for her inheriting her mother's weapon. The king wanted the power of at least four of the weapons within his family.

King Osamu had to change his plans when only Setsuko became the owner of one of the five. He desired one of us guys to marry Rosalba, and he started to doubt whether he should have engaged Setsuko with Serrano. One of us four would've been better suited as the companion of the future queen of Kuroriku. Well, all but the peasant of course. The other nobles would never allow it, more so for the crown princess. Serrano was only acceptable for Setsuko due to his father being Azami, the twin brother of Osamu. Not to mention that he had inherited Aventine.

Though, the king wasn't willing to rush into naming one of us three guys Rosalba's fiancee. For there was the prophecy to deal with first. There was a part of it that none of the other four, except for I knew. Something my mother had shared with me. One of us five was to die in the battlefield. I sought to sway the specter of death away from me. Though in Xeleria, that prophecy came true at last. At least, until the peasant returned from the grave through unknown means.

I was unsure whether his temporary death fulfilled the prophecy or not. If it didn't, then that meant that one of us five was bound die. One of us would sacrifice themselves for the sake of the entire angelic realm.

I may not know who that one will be, but I do know that it won't be me. I will get stronger and play as much of a role as I can. But I will not attempt to play the hero like Hideo and the peasant are doing. I won't allow anyone to defeat me, not Celestial Queen Saya, not King Osamu, not the Abyss, and especially not the demons. I shall survive. I will live past this pain. I will live!

**Solar Question: Thoughts? Predictions? Theories?**