[Meanwhile- Nine Petal Academy]

I gulped.

"What's wrong?" Lady Saya asked as she turned to look at me. She eyed the half-eaten bowl of noddles in front of me. "Don't feel hungry?"

I clasped my hands together. "It's not that..." I blinked. For some reason, my eyes were tearing up. Why was that?

"Hey, are they too spicy for you?" she asked, putting a hand against my back.

Should I have been the one concerned with her? The Queen nearly died the other day and barely awakened today. I knew she was strong, but still, she should've given her own condition some more thought.

"They taste... familiar," I said.

Lady Saya giggled. "I think I understand now. They remind you of home, don't they?"

I stared into her blue eyes. Their shade also reminded me of home for some reason. The same home I had no recollection of. Just, who was I? And where did I come from? Why was I in the abyss? Would I find the answers?

Eiichi said that he would help me, but he wasn't here right now to do so.

"Were more of your memories brought into the surface?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

I smiled back. "A few, but not much. It seems that it'll take time for me to find out who I am." I lowered my eyes back to the table. "Thanks, Lady Saya, for caring for this amnesiac. Also..." I bit my lip. "I want to say sorry for the way I acted back in Zionia. You were just looking out for me, yet I acted rudely. That said, I don't believe Eiichi's as bad as you think he is."

Saya turned away. "I hope you're right, but that young man is currently being pursued by a powerful demon."

I recalled the demoness I had met back at the forest on the outskirts of Tetsuya's place. She had tried to tempt Eiichi into giving in to the demon road.

Hopefully, that demon had stopped bothering him... but the pit in my stomach told me that wasn't the case.

"I know, but I will help him. I vowed I would."

"You're a kind girl, Sabine, but don't allow others to use it against you. My older sister was hurt by someone she trusted."

I furrowed my brow. "I believe you told me that already, but worry not. I can take care of myself. I won't end up like your older sister, I promise!"

The Queen sighed. "You're so much like her, even down to your smiles." She placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "But, fine. I'll put my trust in you while guiding you however I can."

"Thanks, Queen Saya."

"Please, call me Saya."

A smile tugged on my lips. "Thank you, Saya!"

***

https://youtu.be/vVYCU2dhwIY

My red eyes slowly opened as I shook myself awake. I gasped at the sight of the floor. It was still perfectly fine, showing no signs of the cracks from my battle with Hideo. I knew that the building's damage fixed itself, but that would usually happen when no one was around.

Though, the swirls on the white floor threw me off. The central room's flooring had no such markings.

I pushed myself up and saw what looked to be a white and black throne with a wing motif.

"This place is... Dad's throne room," I said as I got on my feet. I had only been here a couple of times in the past due to having primarily lived in Kuroichi, Mom's grand duchy.

How did I get back to Raiyama?

"It appears you're confused, Eii," a female voice called out.

Shivers ran down my spine as I watched a green-haired girl with black horns emerge from behind the throne.

"Anestarte!" I said, twirling Carlos in front of me. "Why are you here?"

Anestarte giggled as her red eyes gazed at the throne. She occasionally tapped her lengthy, black nails on the surface of the throne's white side as she made her way to the front.

She stopped as soon as she stood in front of the throne. Looking over her shoulder, she gave me a smirk.

"I saw your performance against the youngest knight just now. You truly disappoint me, Eii. First, you lost against the peasant, then you lost against that brat. However, as I am a magnanimous person, I won't rub further salt on the wound. Instead, I plan to give you something in return. Something which can redeem you."

I scoffed. "Funny to hear a demon use the word 'redeem'. Whatever you're offering, I don't need it," I said, swinging Carlos in front of me. "Now, leave!"

Her eyes widened. "Ehh? You dare refuse me again?" Her lips curled into a sinister smirk. "Not that refusal is an option this time, Eii." She held out a hand. Black specks gathered around her palm and came together to form a black version of my spear. "You will become one of us."

I shook my head. "I won't! I'm an angel, not a demon!"

She swung her head back and laughed. "An angel? You truly believe that farce? You ceased being an angel years ago! Or did you forget what you tried to do to Piedad? Or, how about recently with Rosalba? If not for those cousins, then you would've gotten away with taking them both."

I gritted my teeth. "Both of them annoyed me, and Tetsuya still does, but I'm glad that they stopped me! They saved me from going over the line!"

"Oh, you went over that line when you decided to do the deed. Just because you were stopped doesn't make you any less of a monster, Eii."

I bit my lip. She was right. Even if I didn't take either by force, I still tried to do it. My thoughts, they were sin enough.

She grinned. "There! You see it now? You are just like us. Join us, Eiichi. Once you have, your power will eclipse that of the others! You will have enough power to defeat your enemies! Whether abysmal or angelic!"

I gripped my spear tightly. My hands wouldn't stop shaking as sparks flew out of them like crazy. "I..."

"Don't listen to her," a voice called out.

I looked over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of a blond-haired, white-winged angel.

"Are you my guardian?" I asked.

Anestarte chuckled. "Oh, so this is the angel form of that annoying spear. You're very handsome, Carlos! Well, of course you would be when you resemble your owner."

Carlos kept a cool face as he moved toward me. "Eiichi isn't my owner. He's my protectee. As such, I will push away all who threaten him, including you!" he said as a streak of light flew out of the palm of his hand.

The archdemoness clicked her tongue. She waved her hand, creating a powerful gust, but the spear of light continued on its path.

"Such power," she mumbled, jumping out of the way. She smirked and threw the black spear at me. "Though I won't leave empty-handed!"

Carlos rushed in front of the demonic replica and formed a small shield out of light. "No, you don't!" The wicked weapon disintegrated as soon as it struck the shield and vanished into the light as if purified.

The demoness leered at him. "That should've crushed that weak barrier. It appears my powers are weakened in this domain..."

"That's because this is the interior of the holy spear. Your power holds no sway here, vile creature!"

She gritted her teeth. "You might be handsome, but your personality is atrocious. How did someone like Eii end up with such a righteous angel as yourself?"

Carlos shrugged. "I'm not sure if 'righteous' is the right word. At the end of the day, I am just performing the task given to me." He jumped into the air and vanished.

My eyes moved toward Anestarte, who gasped as Carlos appeared in front of her. My guardian angel had thrust his spear straight into her abdomen.

"Begone, Demoness of Lust," he said, eyes cold and calculating.

Anestarte chuckled. "Your owner may harbor the blood of Kushina, but only she can defeat me. I will return and have my revenge. You will pay for your refusal, Eiichi." She stood a step back and dissolved into darkness. This time, it wasn't purified.

Carlos's blue-eyes lingered on the tip of the spear for a while, before he finally turned around. "We finally meet in person, Eiichi," he said, eyes still cold.

I smiled. "Are you truly my angel? Your personality is more like Hyosetsu's."

He put a hand on his hips and smiled slightly. "Am I?"

I laughed. "Maybe not. The guy rarely smiles outside of battle."

"Is that so? Baldo does say he has a nice smile but doesn't like to show it to others."

I blinked. "He does? Wait, you've spoken with his angel?"

"Yeah, I've spoken with all of them on occasion. Usually, whenever the five of you are in close proximity. We were made as a series of weapons, after all. In a way, you can say that the five of us are siblings. Well, maybe not Alma as she's existed before the five weapons were a thing."

"Oh, then does that make you the oldest? I mean, I am the second one to get my spear."

My guardian angel rubbed his chin. "No, I think that honor belongs to either Agnes or Baldo. Our spear was made after theirs and Alma."

"Huh, guess that your birth order is the same as ours, huh?"

Carlos smiled as he turned around. "It seems so."

"Where are you off to?"

"The question should be 'what'," he said as he bathed the throne in golden light before sitting down on it.

I smiled. "Let me guess, my trial?"

Carlos crossed his legs and smirked. "You would say that you've already passed your test by refusing that demon's 'gift'."

"Then what am I still doing here?"

He raised a hand into the air and covered in a golden aura. "We can utilize this time to better. Like Anestarte, I oversaw your battle with Hideo."

I sighed. "What? Are you going to say that you're disappointed in me too?"

"No, of course not." His lips curled up ever so slightly. "I'm proud of you for accepting your loss. The words you uttered to Hideo, about his growth, those can be said about you too. When you first took the spear into your hands, you didn't wish to lose to anyone."

I lowered my gaze and chuckled. "Ironically, I've lost against three people since then. Daisaru, Tetsuya, and now Hideo."

"Yes, but you have also defeated two of them at one point. With my help, you might just be able to do so again, and hopefully defeat the first one."

"Right, he's one of the Pillars of Darkness." I smiled. "The other two can wait. So, how can you help me?"

"By teaching you how to use second heaven. Before arriving here, you felt its aura flare-up, did you not?"

I held out my left hand and tried to remember the feeling, the static, the warmth. Tiny sparks crackled from my fingertips as they glowed yellow. While battling with Hideo, it had covered the entire hand. Why was I struggling so much with it?

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Please let me know your thoughts on it!**