[Munil]

Each complete day in Zionia and Xeleria felt like four months in this world. That was how slow time went by here. Meaning that once our training was over, it would be as if we had been training for an entire year.

"Hey, princess!" Tetsu said as he walked into the dining room. His white hair was starting to turn brown once again. Except the red-highlights he always had remained.

"Say, what kind of hair-dye do you use?" I asked, staring at the tips.

"Hair-dye?" he asked, pulling a seat across from me.

I had told him and the others to gather in this room. It was small, having only a single stone table with five chairs around it. Though I had taken to decorating it with a vase of silver flowers that the residents of this world were nice enough to provide us with.

"Yeah, those slightly reddish tips," I said, pulling on a strand of hair.

He laughed. "It's not hair-dye. It's my natural hair."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Serra himself has silverish tips. Come to think about it, Roa had blueish tips, so I guess it runs in the family."

My eyes widened as I realized he was right. "That's true. I noticed them but assumed it was dye too." I glanced at the strand of hair in my hands. "I tend to use ombre for mine. Though, it has faded now."

"Your hair is nice," he said, smiling.

My face reddened slightly. "T...thanks. I had never really been one for makeup and that kind of stuff, but taking care of my hair is a different case."

Tetsu put a white stone on the table that Halim had given us.

"Hmm? Thinking of calling someone?" I asked.

"Yeah, but now might not be the right time. Plus, we only get one use per Xelerian day."

"Well, if my calculations are correct, that day will be coming to an end soon," Hyosetsu said as he walked into the room. "Though for us it will still feel like days."

Tetsu tapped his hand against the table. "That's right..."

"Have you decided who to call?" I asked, leaning forward.

"I was thinking of calling Rosa for this first one, then use the other two for Serra and Yuko. Though I also want to call Yuko and Serra... Feels like I haven't seen them in months. Plus, I'm not sure if..." His golden eyes drifted toward the marble table, "Takeshi has given the stones to them yet."

"I see," I said. "If you do call her, ask her how she's doing for me. In turn, I'll call Serra."

"Deal! In turn, tell Serra that I'll like a rematch once we return," Tetsu said, grinning.

I snickered. "Okay."

"I could call Rosa as well," Hyosetsu said, pulling up a seat of his own.

"What about your mother?" I asked.

"Well, if he plans to call the princess then I can call her this time to see how things are coming along back home. Currently, she and the other veteran Seven-Hills and the other nations' Orders of Seven are Zionia's main line of defense."

"You're worried they're mount an offensive?" I asked, crossing my fingers together.

"It's best to be prepared."

I smiled. "True. We might be forced to return to Zionia if something does happen."

"Some of our old team members stayed back too. If anything does happen, they'll buy us some time," Tetsuya said.

Hyosetsu sighed. "Yes, but I doubt my team will do much to help."

"Hey, have some confidence in them," Tetsu said.

"Morning everyone," Eiichi said as he walked in with a drowsy Hideo.

"Is it morning? I can't tell anymore," Hideo mumbled as he walked toward the table half-asleep.

This world had no notion of day or night, lacking all kinds of celestial bodies. Even where we stood wasn't a planet but instead a simple plane of existence. Where the light of this world came from was mystery of its own...

In any case, we tried our best to form a makeshift twenty-four hour day.

"Good, looks like you're all here," Halim said as he walked in. In his hand was a folder.

"Why does it feel like we're back in school?" Tetsuya asked, staring at the folder.

Halim snickered. "School, huh? You know, one of my sons is actually a teacher at that place the others went to."

"Why would a prince become a teacher?" Eiichi asked. "Actually, who in their right mind would want to become one?"

Tetsuya cleared his throat.

"What?"

The dark-skinned knight leered at the blond. "I want to be a teacher."

"Really? Of what? Teaching how to till soil?" Eiichi asked, snickering as he sat down beside Hyosetsu.

"Literature," Tetsu answered, crossing his arms.

"Literature?" He laughed.

"What's so funny?"

He chuckled some more. "Isn't that too high class for someone of your upbringing?"

Tetsuya stood up but before he could say anything, Halim placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. Calm down, Tetsuya." His cyan eyes shifted to Hideo. "And you, wake up. You had time to sleep."

Hideo raised a hand from the table. "Five more minutes..." he mumbled.

Halim sighed. "I can see why Tekeshi said that you five can be a bit of hassle..."

I sighed. "Indeed. I guess it was fortunate that we managed to avoid getting on each other's throats for a long as we did."

"Meditating didn't require us to work together," Hyosetsu said, raising a crystal glass to his lips. In it was blue-raspberry juice. Halim had brought us enough food and beverages to last us until our time in this world was up.

"Actually, I'm here to talk about that," Halim said, smiling. He stared at the folder in his hands. "I'm going to separate you into groups for this next month of training."

"Hey, you aren't going to pair me up with that guy, are you?" Eiichi and Tetsuya asked at the same time, pointing at the other.

He snickered. "No. I'm not stupid. Tetsuya, you'll be with Setsuko... and Hyosetsu."

Hyosetsu narrowed his eyes at the shield knight. "Can't I be alone?" he asked, averting his gaze.

Halim shook his head. "Nope. Like I said before, I want you five to start to work together. This is only a small step toward achieving that goal."

"Wait, so I'm with Hideo?" Eiichi asked, pointing at the sleeping kid.

Hideo raised his head. "Huh? What are you talking about?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Seems that we're going to be a pair," Eiichi said, grinning at him.

"Huh?" he asked, sitting up.

"I'm breaking you up into smaller groups. Tetsuya, Hyosetsu, and Setsuko will be in one and the two of you will be in another," Halim explained.

I leered at Eiichi. "Is it alright to leave Hideo alone with this pervert?"

Hideo glanced at his partner. "Well, he did help me with my training back in the peasant's place. Actually, more like he tried to. I passed out before we could get any done."

Eiichi pulled something out of his hyper-space ring and offered it to him. "Here's the pill I made that day. Use it whenever you run out of energy."

The young knight picked up the golden pill and raised it toward the ceiling. "Huh, so how does this work? Do I just eat it?"

The blond nodded. "Yes. It'll give you a burst of prana."

"But I don't use prana," Hideo said, scratching his head.

"Prana is merely mana from the soul. An unlimited energy. Unfortunately, there's only so much a person's body can take," Eiichi said, shrugging. He grinned. "Of course, I got a ton of it."

"That explains why you weren't as tired when you used up all your mana," I said, tapping the table.

"But, where would I store the prana? Don't mages have an organ to do that?"

"You can store it in Donato," he said, pointing at the short knight's necklace. "Or you can also load it into the gun directly."

Hideo stared at his necklace. "Wait, that's possible?"

I nodded. "Yes, based on the analysis I ran. That reminds me, I noticed something unusual when analyzing it, prior to Tekeshi's repairs."

"Huh? Unusual?" Tetsuya asked, leaning forward.

Hideo gulped. "It's not something bad, is it?"

I took a deep breath. "I wouldn't say it is."

"What did you find?" Hyosetsu asked, furrowing his brow.

I reached into my coat pocket and took out a metal device. "I keep the records of my analysis here," I said, tapping the blue gem on top of the silver-dome machine. A blue hologram appeared with images of all five weapons circling over the dome. I tapped on Donato. A 3D diagram of the gun appeared with a list of skills and attributes.

On it was a compartment to put bullets in. It was also the center where the wielder's energy gathered to form an energy bullet.

"I thought that it worked only with energy," Hideo said, gawking.

"Father and Tekeshi probably omitted that fact as they didn't want you to become dependent on loading bullets," I responded.

Tetsuya grumbled. "Those two sure love to hide a lot of things."

"That's not the weird part," I said, swiping the hologram to switch to another screen. It showed Donato and a black silhouette resembling it. "When looking at skills and attributes deeper, I find this. Its marked as unknown."

"Unknown?" Hideo asked, eyes widening.

"Wait, this must be an evolution of Donato," Eiichi said, grinning.

"An angel tool evolution... I've heard of it before. But, why would it be unknown? Do the other angel tools show the same thing?"

"No, well, except for Tetsuya's."

"Huh? Mine?" Tetsu asked, glancing at his bracelet.

"Yes, it showed normal Agnes, then a shield resembling..." I looked down. "Resembling the markings on the walls of Rosa's room."

Tetsu averted his gaze. "That's the heart-shaped shield. I activated it in my second battle against Satoru."

Hideo reacted similarly to Tetsuya upon the mention of Satoru.

Hyosetsu leered at the shield knight. "I see."

"Though there's also another. A strange looking shape, as if flames."

"That's... the Shield of Wrath," Tetsu said, raising his head.

It was Eiichi's turn to look away. "That's the shield you used against me at the end of our rematch..."

Tetsuya nodded. "Yes. A shield born out of the hatred birthed by your actions," he said, bitterness dripping with every word.

"My actions? I think you mean yours," the spear knight said, scoffing.

"Stop denying it! The words of that demoness were enough to prove you were the one who did it!" Tetsuya yelled, slamming his hand against the table. Cracks spread throughout the white marble.

He was right... that Arch-demon's words toward me implied that Eiichi was the one who attacked my sister.

My hands clenched into fists. I took several deep breaths and slowly backed away from the table. I tried not to look at Eiichi. I didn't want to lash out on him at this moment. Yet, a rage continued to bubble within me as I recalled Rosa's pain. Not to mention, Serrano's confusion and frustration upon believing that his best friend had taken advantage of sweet Rosa. Then there was the hurt Tetsuya himself endured upon the world turning its back on him for a crime he didn't commit.

"I know how you feel, but you should calm down, Tetsuya," I said, taking another deep breath.

His eyes remained locked on Eiichi. "I won't rest until you've paid for what you've done, Eiichi Raiyama Kuroichi! Mark my word, you're going to regret being born," he said as darkness surrounded him.

"Tetsuya," Halim said, putting both hands on his shoulders. "Listen to the princess. Relax. Getting upset at this time won't help. Remember your mission. You must put aside your personal issues for the sake of–"

"I know," he said, tapping the angel's hand. "Let's go, Setsuko, Hyosetsu. We must continue our training."

"I'll be there in a bit," I said. I glanced back at Hideo. "Later, let me analyze Donato again. We might be able to find out what that silhouette was."

Hopefully, it wasn't Donato's equivalent of Agnes' Shield of Wrath.

Hideo nodded. His eyes were nearly blank, as if he weren't completely here. Eiichi also remained oddly quiet.

"Let's go. We mustn't waste time," Hyosetsu said, standing up from his seat. Seemed that he was the only one among us with a clear eye on the mission. I sort of envied his calm demeanor even though it was sometimes just a facade.

"Alright..." I said, following after him.

"Don't let things get to you," he said, glancing back at me. "You're our leader now. It's up to you to help bring this group together."

I chuckled slightly. "Way to lay on the pressure," I whispered as we walked out of the room.

"Pardon, I didn't mean it like that," he said. I stared at his hands. They were curled into fists too. In fact, blood was dripping from them.

I smiled. "You care about Rosa, don't you?"

He didn't respond, continuing on his way.

I sighed. Rosa, Serra... I hoped that everything was going well with their group. Or at least, better than our tense situation over here.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter:3. Thoughts? Theories/predictions?**