Ximena and I had closed our eyes to see if we could pick up on the mysterious boy's mana, but our search only led us back to where we had departed, the mountain.

Standing in the center of the dorms, surrounded by beings of darkness was the Rabbit Pillar of Destruction and Darkness, Calamity. His hands were pressed against the ground, drawing up black blobs from it as if the abysmals were oil that had long been sealed beneath the rocks.

He raised his head and raised his hand upward. The beings of shadow surrounding him took on the shape of rabbits and darted toward us.

"Olivine and I will take care of them," Ximena said, scattering vines in various directions. "Meanwhile, retrieve the boy."

I smiled. "Thanks, Xime," I said. I held out Aventine, slashing the beings that came near me as I descended.

The boy sighed. "I warned you, didn't I?" he said, keeping his position. "Calamity Guards, destroy him."

"Wait, I want to speak to you!" I yelled, slashing the incoming rabbit abysmals. The creatures unleashed a series of punches, causing the air around us to bend strangely.

"I won't fall for your tricks again," he said, once more refusing to look up at me.

"Please! Conrad!" I yelled, putting a hand on my chest plate. "Please listen to what I got to say!"

He gasped and glanced up at me. "W-who are you?"

I reached for my helmet, but one of the creatures grabbed a hold of my arm before I could remove it.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, slashing the creatures. Their bodies rapidly healed. Even if I slashed them right in the center, there was no core to be found. Were they Umbra? "Please, recall them!"

"No. I don't trust you," he snapped. "Now go!"

I took a deep breath. "You weren't ever this way when we were kids."

He stood up. "When we were kids?"

I closed my eyes. "Yuki!" I yelled. I slashed the air, obliterating all of the umbra in a single strike.

"That weapon... that's... my brother's! Why do you have my brother's sword?" he yelled, jumping at me. "What did you do to Serra?"

I snickered and removed my helmet. "Nothing."

He backed away. "B-brother?"

He curled his hands into fists. "Is this another trick?"

"No. I really am him," I said, reaching a hand out for him.

"Hands off," a voice called out. A hand grabbed a hold of my arm. It was Aster. "Conrad is with us."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Why is he with you?"

She held out a hand for him. "Your mother and you are partially to blame."

I pulled my arm free from her grip. "That's..." I lowered my head. "True, but..."

"Brother," Conrad said, removing his visor. "Why didn't you save me?"

"I wanted to but..."

"Enough," Aster said, flying back. "My daughter showed me some of the recollections of this child. He called out to you for help, but you refused to grant it to him. Now, you pretend to be a caring brother?"

My nails dug into the leather of my armored-gloves.

"It's not like that!" I yelled as a silver aura danced around me. Sparks crackled around me until it sounded as if a hoard of birds were covering me.

Aster's smiled. "I see your energy output has doubled, but that won't be enough to beat me. Conrad, go back to the ruins for now. It seems that there's someone trying to seal the portal there."

He glanced back at me and slowly nodded his head. "Okay..." He spread out his dark-purple angel wings and flew off.

"Wait, Conrad!" I yelled, reaching a hand out for him.

"I'll go get him!" Ximena yelled. She gasped as Aster appeared in front of her and with a wave of her hand, sent her flying into the nearby forest.

"Lady Ximena!" Olivine yelled, rushing toward her protectee.

"Why you...!"

"I won't let that boy return to you," Aster said, flying higher. "It's obvious that you can't protect him."

I curled my hands into fists. "Who are you to say that? I'm no longer the person I was all those years ago!"

Aster held out her hand, forming a ball of fire. "Then prove it to me, grandson."

I gritted my teeth.

"I'm Tulia's grandchild, not yours! And I will prove it! Third-Heaven Transformation!" I screamed into the heavens. The air around me crackled with a great intensity as a large pair of black and orange wings covered me. Below that pair was a smaller one, making my wings resemble those of a butterfly. My blue hair grew longer and floated in the air as if it were being lifted by a constant gust of wind.

I had better make this count. I could likely only hold this form for as much as five minutes.

Aster smiled. "You truly are Tulia's grandson, still, your talent pales in comparison to hers. This form of yours is barely stronger than her base form when she was your age."

She threw her sphere of fire at me but I slashed it in half with the resulting air blowing away the remnants of her attack.

I raised my rust-red sword in front of me and charged at her.

She held out her hand and stopped the sword in her palm. "I sense a deep anger swelling within you. Did my words hit a soft point?" she asked, tilting her head at me.

"Shut up!" I yelled, pressing down against her. "You have nothing to do with this!"

Her long, slender fingers curled around the rust-colored blade. "Even if we aren't biologically related, I care for the child. That for me is enough reason to intervene."

This woman cared for Conrad?

"Why do you care for him?" I asked, continuing to press down on her palm.

She furrowed her brow a bit before finally responding, "Because, he reminds me of someone precious to your grandfather and me."

I gasped. "Someone precious to you?"

Aventine began to creak under the grip of her hand. "Yes. Though, there's more. That child still maintains a great innocence despite what has happened to him. I wish to protect it. If he were to return to you, it would likely aggravate him. He's looking forward, not backwards."

"I... if that's the case then why are you using him for this war? Wouldn't it have been better to have left him in the Abyss?"

"I was going to do just that after I noticed his past memories begin to stir, but he was the one who asked to come here. As the reincarnation of Hanketsu, he harbors a warrior spirit. Plus, he already spent most of his life locked up. It would be unfair for me to deprive him of his freedom."

I slid Aventine out of her hand and flew backwards. Droplets of black blood dripped to the ground.

I hated to admit it, but her points were accurate.

Aster's red eyes lingered on her bloodied palm. "If this is all that you can do, then you aren't capable of protecting your brother from the one who seeks to kill him."

I gasped. "Who are you talking about?"

"The prime minister of Kuroriku. If you hadn't noticed; he's a demon."

"I'd always suspected of him, but his aura is different than that of a demon."

She nodded. "Yes, but that's because he's a special case. If I could, I would've killed him when we met in Zionia. Sadly, it appears that only a reincarnation of Hanketsu can kill him."

"Than that means that only Conrad can..."

"Yes. Only he can kill the demon lurking among you. Reginald has granted him power, but I don't think it's enough."

"Granted him power?"

She sighed. "I've spoken too much. Since you're my husband's grandson, I'll allow you to go as long as you promise not to pursue us."

"Sorry, but I can't do that!" I yelled. "I promised to protect Zionia. I rather die than betray my people!"

"Would you do it if it meant reuniting with Conrad?" she asked, turning around.

I gulped. "Conrad..." I closed my eyes. "I..."

"No need to make that decision, kid," a voice called out.

I opened my eyes and saw my uncle flying in front of me. "Power down before you pass out. Go and get back Conrad. I'll take care of this lady here."

Aster snickered. "So, the traitor has finally decided to reappear."

Uncle shook his head and shrugged. "Traitor? Come on, now. No matter which side I went with, I would've been a traitor." He glared at her. "That's why I'm in this for my own purposes!"

"Takon did say as much. Well, I'm ready for when you are, 'son'," she said, smiling.

He brought out the same simple black sword from before.

"Uncle, that sword is..."

He grinned. "It's enough for her." He held out a wand with his other hand. "Take this. Give it to Taku when you see him."

I wanted to ask why he wouldn't do it himself, but I just took the wand from his hands. I had already wasted enough time as it was. I needed to find Conrad and bring him back to Zionia. Though, was Zionia even safe with that demon running around? A demon whom we had left partially in charge of the kingdom.

"Ugh..." I said as soon as I reverted back to normal.

I clenched my head as I began to lose altitude. My entire body tensed up. "No... not again. Why now?"

A shock-wave sent me flying down to the forest at the base of the mountain. Uncle and Aster were moving rapidly in the sky like two stars in combat.

"Conrad, I'm sorry. Your big brother is still too weak," I said, closing my eyes.

"Easy, there," a voice called out as a pair of arms wrapped around me. "You aren't weak, child. You've simply not awakened your full potential."

"Mom..." I whispered, hugging the woman tightly.

The one who had caught me snickered. "I'm not your mom. Well, I guess I am, but to your doppelganger." She sat my head down on what felt like a mossy rock. "Rest, young knight. I'll see what I can do. First, I have to stop those portals opening up."

"Portals?" I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of cracks in the fabric of space. The clash between Aster and my uncle had barely begun and they were already distorting it to this degree...

Suddenly, a giant hand emerged from one of the cracks. Was that an abysmal?

"Stay here," the woman said. "Your friend will find you and take you to someplace safe." The pink haired lady summoned a golden staff and flew into the sky.

"Queen... Saya, Please, retrieve my little brother," I said, before closing my eyes again. My body began to convulse from the sheer strain of Third-heaven. I truly was pathetic. If only I had taken my training while growing up more seriously, then I wouldn't have ended up in the mess I was in!

"Serra!" a voice called out, snapping me out of my thoughts. It was Ximena. I knew that she was drawing closer, but it was as if it were being muffled by a blanket of darkness.

"I'll heal him," another voice called out. It was Nori. Had he finished sealing the ruins? Conrad was heading there... had they missed him on their way here?

"X-Xime... Nori."

"Rest, Serra. Everything will be fine. We'll get you back to tip-top shape in no time," Xime said. I felt her hand on my forehead and the gentle mana pouring out of it.

"L...leave me. G-go to the ruins. Re-re...trieve... Con...rad, instead," I whispered before everything finally went silent.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^! Thoughts? Theories?**