Tetsuya, Setsuko, and I ran into a room around the size of an average high school gymnasium. In the center of the room were black lines marking a battlefield.

"Yes, I won!" Tetsuya said, raising a fist toward the ceiling. He glanced at Setsuko and me as we walked past him. "Though, only narrowly."

"You're really fast for a guy with a shield as a weapon," Setsuko said. Neither she, nor he, had broken a sweat unlike me.

Seems I've gotten out of shape after all...

"So, what now?" I asked, leaning against the entrance.

The princess transformed her ankle bracelet into its meteor form. "I want us to try using the G.E.A.R. that Takeshi gave us before departing to Tetsu's place."

Tetsuya transformed his gold-silver bracelet into its 'Twilight Shield' form and smiled. "Be careful, though. Alma and Baldo will become really heavy."

I unsheathed Baldo. My eyes lingered on the black blade my Father had helped forge before his death. "We're well aware," I said. "We saw what happened to Eiichi back in Kaguya."

"Wonder how his training with Hideo is coming along," Setsuko said, staring at her weapon too. "Hopefully, they aren't arguing."

"Hideo seems to be the one out of us four whom that pervert gets along with the best," I said, taking out the orange box that Takeshi had given me.

"Hope Hideo isn't badly influenced by him," the princess said as she took out her own G.E.A.R.

I placed mine over Baldo and moved my now freed hand to the hilt. A bright blue light radiated outward from the broad sword. In an instant, the sword quadrupled in weight. Once the light died down, it revealed a blue and purple sword with a blade three times as wide as its original form.

I stared at the sheath. It had changed into the same size as the sword itself and gone from being black with a blue dragon design to being dark blue with a purple dragon.

"That thing is probably heavier than that sword Prince Ryonoko uses," Tetsuya said, watching as I struggled to raise it.

"So ineffectual. What was your father thinking?" I asked, shaking my head. Putting all of my strength into it, I raised the sword and sheathed the massive thing. "I should probably strap it to my back."

"For a lanky guy, you're pretty strong," Tetsuya said, laughing.

"Are you making fun of me?" I asked, side-eyeing him.

"No. I meant it as a compliment."

"Well, you're as bad as my brother when it comes to giving them then."

He laughed. "Serra sometimes says the same thing!"

I sighed. "You're a weird one. Why are you acting so carefree all of a sudden? Not too long ago, you were acting melancholic. Are you forcing yourself to be 'happy'? If so then stop."

"I must agree," Setsuko said, furrowing her brow at him. "If it's false joy then put a stop to it. It's dangerous to pretend one is well when they're not."

Tetsuya lowered his head. "I know..." He looked up and smiled slightly. "Though I am truly somewhat glad. Being away from home helps take my mind off of things. Plus, I feel like I've grown during our stay here. It won't be long until I can reclaim what was lost!"

"Hmph. How optimistic of you. Here I thought you had become a cynic," I said, letting out a sigh from my nostrils.

Setsuko chuckled. "I guess it's true what Serra said. Even when you're sad or mad, you bounce back. It's truly admirable." Her eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" we asked in unison.

She laughed. "Just realized something. It's nothing to worry about."

Tetsuya swung his hands behind his head and moved it side to side. "Is that so? You aren't hiding something from us, are you? If so, it's best to spill it."

"I'm serious," she said. Her eyes returned to Alma. She tapped the box Takeshi had given her against the weapon, causing an orange light to engulf it.

Tetsuya and I covered our eyes with our arms as the light's warmth spread over us.

"You may open your eyes now," Setsuko said.

I slowly removed my arms from my eyes. Alma had become a pair of maces with spiked platinum-colored flanges. The center of each mace consisted of a black sphere which the flanges connected to. A power reminiscent of a guardian angel radiated from the mace's core.

"A mace, huh? Those don't look too heavy, though," Tetsuya said.

Setsuko snickered. "Oh, but they are. Wish to give it a try?" she asked, offering us each one part of Alma.

The shield knight grinned. "Sure!"

"Alma, let these two hold you," the crown princess whispered. "Alright, take one!"

Both of us took one, but I was pulled down by its weight.

"Wow..." Tetsuya said, eyes wide as he stared at his half of Alma. He let out a laugh. "Amazing! This is twice as heavy as Twilight Agnes despite being smaller!"

I let out a slight grunt and pulled the part of Alma given to me.

"Be careful, don't want you to hurt yourself," my cousin said, taking a hold of Alma.

I turned away from her. "I could have lifted it if you gave me more time. I'm not the weak kid you used to play with."

She snickered. "Come on, don't be so proud. Brute strength was never your forte to begin with."

Like that will salvage my pride...

"You're pretty strong yourself to be able to lift it," Tetsuya said, handing her back the mace he was given.

She smiled. "You can say that," she said, swinging Alma around as if it weighed close to nothing. "Since I was little, I would lift heavy stuff such as boulders."

"Really? Me too!" Tetsuya said.

I unsheathed my newly transformed Baldo and began swinging it around. Up and downward swings weren't all that hard to do, but side to side slashes turned into curved swings.

Perhaps, I should stick to vertical swings to get my body used to the weight.

The shield knight chuckled. "Seems you're going to have to work out."

"Hmph. You seem to be enjoying watching me struggle."

He laughed. "Not going to deny it! It's interesting to see the genius jerk struggle."

A snicker escaped my lips. "You think I'm a genius? You couldn't be further from the truth," I said, raising Baldo once more. "On the contrary, I am nowhere near being the genius my brother is."

My cousin nodded. "Hyo got this far through hard work alone."

Tetsuya gasped. "So, he's like Serrano..."

"Right. People see him as a genius as well, not having seen all the work he put into getting to where he is now. Though, it doesn't help that both of them trained in secret."

I didn't have anyone to spar with other than Kohri to begin with. Mother was often too busy. Before he departed, I would often train with Father. Setsuko too, but after Father died, I didn't see much of her.

The crown princess eyed Baldo. "How about taking a few more vertical practice swings? They'll help you adjust to the weight."

"That's what I was thinking," I said, smirking as I swung it down once more.

Tetsuya raised his shield. "Attack me!" he said, grinning.

I rushed at him and swung Baldo down on Agnes, sending the shield knight a few inches back.

"Not bad, was sure that would've sent you back more."

He snickered. "Did you not watch my battle against Eiichi? I'm not the same weakling I was when we met," he said, adjusting his shield.

"Allow me to join too," Setsuko said, raising one of her maces at the shield.

He grinned. "Sure. Come at me with all you've gone!"

I chuckled. "You'll regret saying that."

***

[Several Munil Hours Later]

Tetsuya dropped to the floor. "That was more exhausting than I had expected," he said, leaning his back against the wall.

"Told... you... that... you... would... regret... it," I said, catching my breath. I pressed my back against the same wall. My eyes shifted over to Baldo which laid next to my right. I would need to come up with a new sword style to accommodate its new form. It had taken a while to get used to using Baldo when I had first gotten it. Prior, my fighting style involved using two katanas at once.

It was a good idea to have various fighting styles, but at the same time, I missed my old style. I didn't understand why Father had made Baldo a broadsword to begin with when he knew I liked using a katana. Hmm, perhaps it was to get me out of my comfort zone.

Oh, well. It was useless trying to figure that out now. At this point, I could only hope that Baldo would one day gain a katana or even a rapier form.

"Say, do either of you know how to call forth your angels?" Tetsuya asked.

"Uh, I don't think any of us do," Setsuko responded.

"I used to for my old weapons," I responded. That was another loss of having taken up Baldo.

The shield knight stared at his shield and sighed. "I was hoping to call upon it."

"Well, Serrano hasn't been able to call upon Aventine's angel either," Setsuko said.

Tetsuya nodded. "Right... and Rosa barely got her angel tool to transform into its weapon form..."

"Kohri is in the same boat as Serrano and us," I said, closing my eyes. My hand moved over to Baldo's hilt.

Angel within Baldo, come forth! Your protectee beckons you!

I felt something begin to stir within the sword, but it quickly died down. Seemed I would need for it to make contact. Usually, that was in the form of a dream.

"No luck?" Setsuko asked, furrowing her brow.

I grimaced. I had been trying to call upon it not long after I had obtained it. In fact, it was during one of those attempts that I managed to get into the spirit of the dragon used to make Baldo.

"I got a signal," I responded.

She gasped. "You did?"

"Signal? What did it say?" Tetsuya asked.

"I tried to call it forth the way I originally summoned the angels within my old tools. Baldo's angel gave off some energy. It was as if it was trying to tell me something."

Setsuko smiled. "That's a step forward. Our chances of victory will increase if we call upon them."

"Wonder what kind of angel I have," Tetsuya said, glancing up at the ceiling. He gasped. "Wait, Kohri once told me that the angel that manifests will be our own angelic power."

"True," Setsuko said. "The angel is formed from our own power."

"Some of its attributes will come from us, both others it will have developed independently. Those independent attributes are likely the result of the proto-personality from their initial creation," I explained, recounting what Father had once told me. "Once we accepted the weapons and they accepted us back, the guardian angel within was given new life."

Tetsuya's gaze returned to Agnes. "I see. Wonder if it even likes me... I broke it once already."

"I'm sure it does," Setsuko said, tapping his shoulder. "The one I have doubts about is Eiichi's. He made contact with demons. Angel tools don't like that."

"It hasn't dumped the guy yet, so I wouldn't worry too much," I said. At least, not yet... It all depended on whether he continued down the Demon Road or not. We would have a big issue on our hands if the corruption consumed Carlos completely...

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed today's 'episode'! If you did, give it a 'vote' to show your love <3! Thoughts on the chapter?**