"When will he wake up?" I asked, staring at the slumbering Tetsu. He hadn't woken up at all. What felt like a month in this world had passed since he had fallen asleep.

Hideo initially thought he was dead when he wouldn't awaken, no matter how much he shook the shield knight.

Tetsu had worried about Serra before falling asleep, but now I felt that Serra was the one worried about him.

"Maybe his test to awaken his guardian angel is taking longer than usual," Hyosetsu said as he leaned against the wall.

Hideo chuckled. "He wishes he were like me!"

I sighed. "Could be that Tetsu's angel gave him a harder test than what yours gave you."

"What was your test anyway, pipsqueak?" Eiichi asked.

"Don't call me that!" Hideo snapped. He pouted and turned away. "As for the test, it was a riddle."

Eiichi chuckled. "A riddle? That's easy!"

Hideo glared at him. "It wasn't a normal riddle! Now stop laughing, or I'll summon Dan!"

Hyosetsu, Eiichi, and I gasped in unison. "Dan?" I asked.

"Oh, not my brother. My angel's name is Daniel. Though, I am the one who gave him that name."

"Is he cute?" Eiichi asked with a smile.

"Of course, he looks like Dante!" Hideo leered at the perv and scrunched his nose. "Maybe I shouldn't show him to you."

Eiichi scratched his cheek. "Huh, just realized I never did get to talk to the kid."

Hideo scoffed. "I'm glad you didn't. You would've scared him with your creepiness."

"You make it sound like I'm a ghoul!"

"You know what I meant!"

I sighed and shook my head. "If you two have the energy to spare, then please go and train some more. Otherwise, shut up and go to bed."

Hideo crossed his arms. "Let's go train, Eiichi."

Eiichi gasped. "What?"

The shorty leered at the perv. "You didn't hear me?"

Eiichi flashed in front of Hideo and put his right hand on the kid's head. "Are you sick?"

"No, I am not sick! Now let go of my forehead, perv!" he yelled, slapping his hand away.

"Sorry. It's just odd to hear you say those words. Even now that you've started taking it more seriously."

Hideo grumbled and yanked him by the arm. "Let's go!"

"Alright, I'm coming. No need to get your panties in a wad!"

"I don't have my panties in a wad!"

Hyosetsu sighed. "Finally, they're gone." He glanced at Tetsuya. "Wonder what trials his angel is putting him through. Considering the time that's gone by, it better be worth it."

I smiled. "I think it will." Turning toward the door, I walked off. "Let's go and practice some more. We don't want to be left behind by Hideo and the perv."

"Right."

Suddenly, the doorway in front of me began to distort.

"Hey!" Hyosetsu yelled as he grabbed me by my arms. "Are you alright?"

I opened my lips, but I couldn't utter a single word until everything faded to black. When I finally came through, I found myself in a pile of ruins. The area around me appeared to be the remnants of some kind of outdoor circular temple.

https://youtu.be/jH1QLtYRLIo

In the center laid a shattered black building. The sky above meanwhile was dark orange, reminding me of Aventine's rust-colored blade.

"Where am I?" I asked, glancing around. Only a warm wind responded as it blew past me. I pushed myself off the rubble and approached the central building.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" I asked as I walked toward the black ruins. A gasp escaped my lips as I found myself face to face with a statue. It was a tall, handsome-looking man with long hair. Something about him reminded me of the sculptures of my late grandpa Orlin. "Why is this here?"

The sound of cracking stone rang out of the statue as soon as I took another step. Oranges beams of light flew out of the shattering angel statue.

I turned away, shielding myself from the light.

A grunt came out from behind me.

I turned and saw the stone man kneeled on the floor. For some reason, his once perfect armor had dissolved. Only part of the cloth underneath it remained.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I knelt beside him.

He glanced up at me. A gasp escaped his lips as his amber eyes widened. "Mother-in-law, is that you?"

I stood there in awe. "Mother-in-law? Do I look like I can be a mother-in-law? I don't even have a kid!" I yelled as my face reddened.

He rubbed his head. "Oh, sorry. For a moment there, I thought you were Valencia."

I blinked. "Huh? Valencia? The Angel of Earth?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Is there anyone else with that name?"

"Not that I know, but if she's your mother-in-law then... who is your wife?"

I kept his head down. "Aventine." He jumped to his feet. "Oh, no! I told her that I would be back! Today's our son's birthday. She's going to be so mad at-" His eyes widened as soon as he saw the ruins. "What happened here?"

"I'm not sure," I said, glancing back at them. "I'm not sure how I got here in the first place."

He took a step forward. "Say, young lady. You're from Zionia, right? Who is on the throne of Kuroriku?"

"My dad, King Osamu."

"Osamu? Who is he?" he asked, glancing at me with fear in his eyes. Not that I blamed him. If it was the birthday of one of his sons, then that meant he had been a statue for thousands of years.

"As I said, he's my dad and the current king." I stood up. "I'm Setsuko Kuroriku. I'm a distant descendant of yours."

"What? My descendant?"

I gulped. "Yes. I'm sorry to inform you, but thousands of years have passed in our world."

"Thousands?"

I nodded. "Your wife and children, they're dead."

"What? NO? That isn't true!" he yelled, stepping back. "They aren't dead! They can't be!"

I scratched my face. "Well, more accurately, your wife is the guardian angel of my fiancé."

Those words seemed to calm him down a little as he came to a stop. "A guardian angel, huh?" He closed his eyes. "But our children, what became of them?"

"Several of them became famous people. Your oldest son became the king consort of Kuroriku when he married Queen Latrice."

"What? Alvaro married Latrice? But Latrice dislikes him, well, she did."

I flinched as I recalled my similar feelings toward Serrano. "Well, things change over the years. Say, what is your name?"

"Huh? Don't you know my name?"

I scratched my head. "I'm afraid not. Aventine's husband has tended to be a mystery. Not much is known of the spouses of the other seven-hills either, minus Queen consort Elia."

He sighed. "I figured that might happen."

"Are you a human, or a Kasai no Ki?"

"I'm a Kasai no Ki. Though, I'm nowhere as strong as my siblings, the ones you probably know as the Seven Flames."

"Interesting. I knew there was speculation that Aventine's husband was a Kasai no Ki, but I always assumed it was one of the Seven Flames."

He frowned. "I guess no one remembers that my parents had eight children, huh?"

I shook my head. "Unfortunately, no."

My ancestor grumbled. "How annoying."

I smiled. "So, I've introduced myself, think it's time you do the same."

He smiled back. "Me? I'm Heliantheae Kasai no Ki, but my family and friends call me Zini. Or at least they did..."

"Zini, that's a cute nickname!"

He sighed. "Mom gave it to me for that same reason. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it."

I chuckled. He sure was a lot like Serra. Hmm, maybe that's why Aventine picked him as her chosen. He reminded her of her husband.

I spun around, taking another quick look at the ruins. "Why are you here?"

"I was given this mission by my grandfather. I was to show the ancestors of humanity in this world to this location." He narrowed his eyes at the ruins. "Though, this place doesn't feel like that spot." He sighed. "I'm guessing that someone moved the core of my angel tool at some point."

"An angel tool?"

He nodded. "Alma, come out and say hi to my great-great-something-grand-kid."

Suddenly a white-haired angel appeared behind me. A silver dress which shimmered like the stars in the countryside draped her body."

"I have met her. Though, this is her first time meeting me like this," the angel said with a kind smile.

"Alma is your angel? But she's supposed to be my guardian."

Alma took a deep breath. "That Takeshi did something he shouldn't have when he used the core of the old angel tool bearing my name. That said, he did both Zini and me a favor."

My ancestor blushed as soon as she used his nickname. "Can't you call me Helian?"

"Nope, too used to Zini."

He grumbled. "I think you just enjoy making fun of me."

I snickered. Never did I think an ancestor of mine would behave like this. Especially not the husband of the great general, Aventine. Nor did I expect my angel to behave this way.

"Alma, did you bring me here to test me?" I asked as I crossed my arms together.

"Yes," Alma said as she glanced up at the rust-colored sky.

Zini sighed. "Aventine," he mumbled. He gasped and turned to look at Alma and me. "Wait, you said that someone used the core to make her angel tool? Then what is this place?"

"This is the interior of the recreated Alma," my guardian angel explained. "As for why I had it take on this appearance, I wanted to show the heir of Kuroriku how her home could look should she allow the abysmals to ravage it."

I gulped. "Did those creatures come here?"

"They did. The Abyssians' actions destabilized this universe. Ultimately, the Sky Father managed to fend them off and bring the people of it into protection. However, their way of life is different than what they knew. They must now live indoors as this world's outdoors became filled with the miasma of those beings."

I gulped. "How long ago was this?"

"About a hundred in this world's time. A great battle took place. The archon of light and the Archon of Darkness were the ones who fought. After that, the Archons returned to sleep."

"So the Sky Father fought this 'Archon of Darkness'?"

"Not exactly. It was his mother who did so. This world is in this state as the Sky Father continues to slumber. Yet, the power he left behind is strong enough to render protection to its people, even if not precisely as desired."

"His mother?" Come to think of it, that boy, Lei, had mentioned something about her while we were in Xeleria for the games.

"Yes, the Origin of Light, also known as the Archon of Light. Her name is unknown to all but herself. It is she who brought forth the Corona, the gods of the multiple universes beyond the Abyss. Either way, the fate of the world this place can still be remedied. It's the fate of Zionia that we should worry about. When the Archons fought here, they weren't at full power. The next time they meet, that might not be the case."

I gulped.

"But, we shall prevent his return by stopping his chosen ones." The ruins around us dissolved and turned into a black platform. Orange sky still draped this new scenery.

I grinned. "A fight, huh? Here I was thinking you were going to give me a riddle."

Alma laughed. "I thought about it, but I know this is more of your style. Let's go, Zini!"

"Huh? I'm fighting too?"

"Yes. We are a pair. You are Setsuko's guardian angel as well."

I have two angels for the price of one? How lucky of me.

Zini held out his hand as Alma transformed into a massive battle-ax. "I got it! You better be ready, Princess Setsuko!"

I snickered. So Alma used to be an ax. "Oh, I was born ready!" I yelled as I transformed my ankle bracelet into my version of Alma.

"Meteor-Hammers, huh? Interesting." He chuckled. "This is going to be fun!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter :). Thoughts? Any theories/predictions? Whatever it is, I'll like to hear it ^_^**