After the meeting between the Pillars of Darkness, I headed back to my pod in Aster's lab. She had offered me a bed, but I'd grown accustomed to my pod. It was comfortable in there and felt safe, like a cocoon.

"Are you okay, Nightshade?" Aster asked as she stood by the doorway. "Did you prefer going with your brother?"

I laid a hand on the white glass of the pod.

I stared at the red-eyes in my reflection. "I'm not sure." I put my other hand over my purple core. I couldn't decide, so I just fled. I guess that in the end I did decide, after all.

She took a deep breath. "I see. Well, how about we open up your pod so that you can get some rest? Maybe that'll help you feel better," she said as she stepped into the room.

I turned around slightly and smiled. "Thanks, grandma."

Aster gasped but then quickly smiled. "No problem, little one."

She clicked the buttons on the panel and opened up the pod.

I glanced around at the other pods. No one else had awakened but me.

"Uh, what happened to that man, the one who was with Serra."

"You mean your uncle Takeshi? Your grandfather put him on time out. He should no longer be an issue to us. Our biggest obstacle right now are the Sekai Hashira."

My uncle Takeshi? I could faintly recall that he had died before I was even born... but then again, I had also died at one point and here I was.

I let go of my core and rubbed my head. How had I died?

The pod sliding open snapped me out of my thoughts.

I sat my back against the pod.

"Rest well, grandson," Aster said before closing the pod.

I smiled. "You too, grandma. You look like you could use it," I said before the pod fully closed.

Aster swept her hair behind her ear and nodded. She turned her back and walked toward the door.

As soon as she was gone, I closed my heavy eyes. I hadn't felt this exhausted since I was on the train en route to meet up with Mei and Mai.

I gasped as some kind of energy suddenly struck my core. I tried to open my eyes to see what had hit me, but they wouldn't budge.

***

I found myself in the same dark place as before, back when I met the 'other me'. My red eyes scanned the cascade of darkness.

"Looking for me?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" I spun around and saw my reflection flying in the sky. He had his single black wing spread out. "Why am I here? Are you the cause of that strange sensation?"

"What's with the 'you'? You and I are the same, remember?" he asked as he landed. He snickered. "Though, we are also different."

A swirl of black feathers and purple energy surrounded the other me until in front of me stood a tall, purple haired man dressed in lilac robes.

I gripped my head. He looked... familiar, but where had I seen him?

"Who are you?" I asked, keeping one eye open.

He held out his hand and in it appeared a purple daisy. "Here, take this flower. Your memories will connect."

I stared at it for a while. "Connect with whose? Yours?"

He smiled. "I rather not share those with you just yet. I mean your shattered memories, as well as with those of the one seeking you."

The one seeking me? Did he mean my brother?

"You know Serra?" I asked. "How is he?"

A sadness filled his eyes. "He's not exactly in the best state right now."

I lowered my head. Maybe I should've gone with him... but I also owed my grandparents a great favor. Serra himself always used to say that a knight pays his dues.

"I know that you're confused about what steps to take going forward. I won't tell you which path to take."

I stepped closer to him. It kind of would be nice if he did. I took a deep breath and took the flower from him.

"This will help me recover my memories?" I asked. I stared at the tiny flower whose petals seemed like they could fall down if I so much as touch them.

He nodded. "Yes. Well, some of them anyway." His violet eyes shifted toward the black sky. "Your memories were sealed by someone. I can only assume it was done by one of your grandfather's allies."

"Do you think they did it to protect me from the past?" I asked.

Hanketsu remained silent until he finally said, "I'm not sure. You would need to ask them that once you've awakened."

I stared back down at the flower and sighed. "How does this work?"

He snickered. "Give it a sniff."

A sniff?

My body (or spirit I guess?) became heavy all of a sudden.

***

[Years Ago]

Azar escorted me to the edge of the Capital. It was a bustling city with people coming and going from nearly every direction, just like my big brother told me it was. The street we were in lacked big vehicles like cars, instead people rode bikes or walked. There were even a few who flew using their angel wings! Or who were carried by their guardian angel.

"Woah, so this is Kaguya," I said, glancing around at the glass sky scrapers. "So cool!"

Azar giggled and grabbed my hand. "We can do some sightseeing later. Let's go find your big brother. He might be able to help us find that person you're looking for."

I beamed. "Yeah!"

"Hey there!" someone shouted. I turned around and saw a man in a blue uniform run over to us.

I gulped. Damn, did Ma call the cops?

"You people can't be here," the guy shouted, shaking his baton at us.

"Oh, why not?" Azar asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The guard looked her up and down and backed away before swinging his baton in front of him. "Those features...you're... you're a Kasai no Ki. Identify yourself!" he yelled.

Azar remained silent.

"She's Azar, and I'm Calamity," I responded.

"Azar?" He took out a black device from his back pants-pocket and began clicking away at it. He grew quiet. "I don't see an Azar here. You do know that a Kasai no Ki needs to get registration to enter the capital, right?"

"I didn't know that," I mumbled. "Uh, how does one get one?"

"She'll need to come with me," he said, reaching his hand out for Azar.

Azar shot him a dirty look and slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me!"

The man stepped back and took a deep breath. "You're awfully guarded, kid. Do you have something to hide?"

"No, but I can't waste any time with that process of yours. I got someone to help," she said, yanking me forward. "Let's get out of here, Calamity!"

The man transformed his baton into a mace and swung it down at us, shattering the once perfectly paved sidewalk.

"Calamity, stay back!" Azar yelled as she let go of me. She spun around and formed a wall of wood in front of me, preventing any of the debris from reaching me.

"Wh... what's going on here?" I asked as I stared at the shattered street.

"You two are to come with me!" the man said as he raised his baton again. He kept his gaze on Azar. "To think that the Kasai no Ki would resort to using children as spies."

Azar shook her head. "You're mistaken! We are not spies. We are only here to search for someone. Once we have found her then we'll leave."

"Nonsense, I won't be fooled by your words!" He ran up to Azar and struck her with the mace, causing her to fly toward the wooden barricade she had made for me.

I jumped over the barricade and grabbed her but the force sent me flying back as well. Lucky for me, the barricade itself stopped us from being thrown back any further, plus it somehow managed to soften the impact.

"Azar, you okay?" I yelled, trying not to move her in case she was suffering from internal bleeding. Not that I was sure if she could still bleed, being a guardian angel and all.

Azar grimaced. "If only I had more energy..."

She had helped fly me all the way here after I freed her from her grave. Yet, I've led her into trouble.

I glanced up at the cop. "Why, why are you doing this?" I cried.

"You're one of us, aren't you? Tell me, why are you with this Kasai no Ki scum?"

"She's not scum! She's my friend!" I yelled, shaking my head at him.

Why is he doing this?

I hugged Azar and pressed my face against her left arm.

"Please, spare us!" I yelled, looking back at him.

"Spare you? Like how her people spared my best friend? As if!"

"Calamity, run," Azar said as she caressed my face. "There is no reasoning with someone like this guy."

She closed her eyes and vanished into a cloud of pink petals. What replaced her was something which resembled a golden pen.

"Azar!" I yelled. I bit my dry lips.

My breath grew heavy as I took a hold of the ballpoint pen. Tears, something which I had thought I was no longer physically capable of producing, ran down my face.

"Azar! Where are you? Azar! Come back! Please!"

The ground around me shattered into rubble.

"What power..." the cop said.

I rose to my feet and held a hand toward the guard. "You, what did you do to her!"

The guard took another step back. "Who... or rather what are you?" he asked, pointing at the single black wing behind me as tendrils of darkness swelled around me.

"My name is Calamity," I said, raising my right hand as I clenched the pen. "Now, leave or I'll... I'll... I'll kill you!"

The cop turned tail and ran. He pulled out a walkie-talkie and yelled something which sounded like, "There's a kid here in D Street who has an unusual amount of mana equivalent to those of the older Seven Hill Knights. He was with a Kasai no Ki who hasn't been registered into the databank. I believe she is a spy. I'm requesting immediate back up!"

I smiled slightly and fell to my knees. The giant dark aura around me vanished. Onlookers kept their distance from me, unsure if I would try to do anything else.

"Hey, move aside!" a man yelled, pushing through the crowd that had gathered at a distance. There was something about his voice that was familiar, but I couldn't recall who it belonged to. Maybe I'd heard it on the radio.

"Conrad!"

Conrad? Who is that?

"Conrad!" the man yelled again as arms wrapped around me. "You're him, aren't you? Damn that rotten cop. He didn't need to hurt that girl to this extent. I'm sorry kid, I should've stepped in sooner."

I glanced at the man with disheveled hair and torn clothes. His long white haired covered most of his eyes, but from I could see, they were bluish. A slight smell of alcohol wafted the air around him.

"Who... who is Conrad?" I asked with what was left of my strength. The tall white-buildings around us seemed to distort into waves of light.

The man picked me up from the ground and spun around. "Hold on, son. I'll take you to your brother's apartment."

Did he just call me 'son'?

"Hey, hold up there!" yelled a voice. The voice's owner sounded young, probably not much older than me. A red-haired teen descended from the sky. "Halt I say!"

"Who are you?" the man asked, holding me away from the new arrival.

"I'm Kohri Kuroyuki no San, by the power granted to me by King Osamu as one of the Seven-Hill Knights, I hereby ask you to stop. Hand over the young man, we must interrogate him!"

Backup arrived fast... Wait, did he just say he's a Seven-Hill? Big bro is one too...

"Ahh, Kohri? I remember you!"

Kohri gasped. "You do?"

"Yeah, you're Miyuki's kid. Anyway, please, let me go," the man cried, clutching me tightly. "This child, he's my son!"

"Sorry but I can't allow that...Wait, you look kind of familiar." He gasped. "I got it! You're Serrano's dad!" Kohri yelled.

So, he does know big brother. Wait... this man, he's my real dad... But this name... was Conrad my original name?

"Hey, Conrad! Hey, hold on! Conrad!" Papa yelled, or at least I assumed he was yelling. To be honest, his voice had become nothing more than a whisper as the rest of my senses faded. "Con—" That was when I passed out.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^. Please let me know if you noticed any formatting issues. WP kinda messed up with the format when I pasted it from G-doc, so I had to fix it here.**