[Xeleria]

My eyes lingered on uncle Osamu and uncle Tekeshi as cherry blossom petals danced around us.

"W-what?" I asked, stepping back. "The Prime Minister saw my brother with Aster? H-how? I... remember burying him. You were there uncle! As were Setsuko, Rosalba, and Kohri!"

The king nodded. "Yes, we were. I'm not sure what's going on, but it's worth looking into. If you do meet the person whom he saw, don't let your emotions control you. It could be a trap."

Tears stained my cheeks. Who would know about my brother other than us? I didn't recall ever telling Etsuo and Roa about him... Wait... my grandfather... Did he know?

There were several times in which mom could be heard talking to her dad. When I was a kid, she would sometimes pass me the phone so that I could talk to him. Wait, that had to be why his voice was familiar...

Did he seek to use my brother's image to sneak into the palace? I couldn't recall if Conrad and I had met him in person for him to even know how he looked...

A hand touched my shoulder. It was uncle Tekeshi.

"Don't worry, Serra. We'll get to the bottom of it. For now, we have to focus on preparing for the next attack."

"Indeed," King Osamu said. "We aren't sure when they'll attack next. I'll be arranging the preparations to Xian."

"We need to secure the Ziz," Tekeshi said. "That's what they're after. Anyway, let's join the others. We don't have time to waste."

The king chuckled. "Well, that's hilarious coming from you."

Tekeshi smiled. "I know when to be serious." He glanced back at me. "Let's go, Serra. I got a lot to show you. You still haven't mastered Aventine."

He was right... I hadn't. I needed to get stronger in order to protect Tetsu, Xime, Setty, Rosa, and the others. I couldn't have a repeat of what happened in the abyss. Plus, if Conrad truly were in their possession, I would require all the power I could get in order to save him.

***

The three of us went inside Nine Petal Academy's palace. The others stood by the staircase.

"What's the holdup?" Tekeshi asked, glancing up at the stairs.

"So, these are our Zionian 'allies'," a voice called out. Descending down the stairs was a short, bulky man who frankly looked a lot like an ogre.

"Yes," Koukyuu responded, stepping forward.

The man scoffed. "What do you think allying with angels will get us? They will back stab us when they have a chance!"

Koukyuu narrowed her eyes at him. "Mr. Obi, do not forget that I am an angel as well. So do guard your tone."

He grumbled. "I am merely looking out for the interests of my people. Also, aren't several of them of the clan that tried to wipe yours out?"

"Indeed," our King said, making his presence known. "We did try to destroy them, even as recently as my father's reign."

Mr. Obi scowled. "What a shameless man."

"Mr. Obi, he's their king. It's best that you keep your mouth shut," Koukyuu said, shooting him a death glare.

"Their king? You want to respect the ruler of the ones who ruined your family?"

"Mr. Obi, do as my little sister said," a white-haired young man said, walking up the stairs. "Or would you prefer I have you punished for disobedience?"

He scoffed. "You aren't even a true member of the royal family! Your sister-in-law is the queen!"

Maki smiled. "Then I'll simply have to tell her then. I mean, she is the one who sent my siblings and I to get allies. Now, if you decide to remain stuck in the past, that's up to you."

Mr. Obi lurched at him but Maki dodged.

"You've grown old, Mr. Obi," Maki said, snickering. "Perhaps it's time you consider retiring."

"Shut up! Show some respect to your elders, you mutt!" he growled as he went for a low kick but it only passed through air.

Mr. Obi gasped. A flaming projectile nearly stuck the ogre of a man.

"Watch it," Maki said, pointing a chakram against the man's neck. His blue eyes were devoid of warmth. "Never say that word again in my presence or I won't miss next time."

The projectile from earlier came flying back, once again, almost hitting the ogre.

He leaned in closer, whispering into his ear, "Got it?"

Mr. Obi remained frozen like a statue.

Maki turned around. "Sorry you all had to see that. Koukyuu, please escort us to the training facilities here."

His sister simply nodded and walked on ahead.

"Let's go," he said, waving at us to follow.

"Maki, wait!" Akane yelled, chasing after him.

Zyuuni grabbed a hold of Akane and pulled her aside as Mr. Obi summoned a humongous axe.

Akane gulped.

"What do you think you're doing?" Zyuuni snapped! "You could've killed her!"

Mr. Obi grumbled. "Shut up, Prince Zyuuni. This doesn't concern you. I will not be mocked by one younger than I."

A flaming chakram struck the man's axe. Maki flew at him at such incredible speed that he seemed like a blur.

Mr. Obi was thrown to the ground before we knew it.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you? I told you before to not mess with Akane!" he said, pressing the edge of his chakram into his neck.

Nori and Yuko closed their eyes in horror. The rest of us just stood there in shock as Mr. Obi's screams pierced the air.

"Maki! Don't!" Akane yelled.

"He tried to hurt you!" Maki yelled.

Zyuuni let go of Akane and stepped toward him. "Let go of him. You're scaring everyone else. We need him to train Yuko, Xime, and Nori, remember?"

Yuko and Nori gasped.

I narrowed my eyes at the screaming man. He was going to teach Xime? While Yuko and Nori were 'pure' Xelerians, Ximena was part angel... A guy like him couldn't possibly teach her.

Maki's chakram lingered but it didn't move deeper. His eyes were locked on the trickling blood.

"M-Maki?" Akane said, looking up. Tears streaked her face. "Please, let go of him. I'm fine. That's all that matters."

Zyuuni sighed as he placed his hand over Maki's. "Relax, Maki. You heard the miss."

Maki pulled his weapon back a bit.

"I know his words brought back bad memories too, but don't let them get to you. You're stronger than this, Maki."

Koukyuu walked over and placed a hand on his back. "He's right. Drop it, brother."

Maki closed his eyes. His weapons dissolved into thin air.

"Maki..." Akane said.

Maki looked away. "Sorry, Aka. I showed my uncool side again." He gasped as her arms wrapped around him.

"You idiot!" she cried.

"Huh?" Maki asked, confusion in his eyes.

Zyuuni laughed. "Seems she was more worried about what would happen to you than what would happen to this..."

The prince of Xeleria dashed in front of them. His hands grabbing hold of the pole of Mr. Obi's axe.

"Hey, don't push your luck," Zyuuni said, smiling. His smile gradually faded. "Or else, I'll be the one who'll take your life. Got it? Mr. Obi?"

The teacher clenched his bleeding neck. "I-I let this pass for now."

Uncle Tekeshi sighed. "That sure was scary. Thought someone would lose their head for a moment," he said, grinning at the trembling man.

"Tekeshi, don't ruffle him up further," Uncle Osamu said, sighing. "We've wasted enough time thanks to this worthless excuse of a teacher."

Mr. Obi shivered as the king of Kuroriku flashed him a death glare.

He stood up right away. There was a familiar look in the man's eyes. This man was dangerous.

I followed the others upstairs and glanced at the man as he continued to wait for all of us to file in.

"So, you'll be teaching Xime and the others, huh?" I asked, staring right into his red eyes. "Try not to insult her the way you did with Maki or try to hurt her like you did with Akane. Or else, you might face a repeat of what happened just now should I hear of it."

Mr. Obi scowled at me. "Who are you to speak to me in such a way?"

"I'm Serrano Kuroriku."

The man gasped. "Serrano? Then the one who nearly killed Satoru is..."

I inched forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "How do you know that? Come to think about it, you were the one who took him away after he tried to kill Sirius. Supposedly to a cell. Don't tell me that was a lie..."

I dropped the man to the floor. "Are you that fox's father? Or an ally of theirs?"

Mr. Obi stood up. "I have no reason to explain myself to the likes of you! If you want to know, ask Koukyuu! I already told her!"

Koukyuu had already told us what he said, but that story seemed filled with holes. If my assumptions were right, this man was indirectly responsible for the death of Dan.

"Well then, sleep with one eye open until I'm gone," I said, turning around. "Also, I advise you to stop making enemies. One day one won't be as nice as us."

I glanced up and saw that Ximena had fallen behind the others.

"Everything alright, Xime?" I asked as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Was waiting for you. You didn't have to ruffle him up further." She sighed. "Seeing Maki react like that reminded me of the time you almost beat up Eita."

That felt like an eternity ago...

I glanced up at the white-stone ceiling. "Well, yeah. Someone close to him got threatened. That's why I reacted the same way when I heard that Eita had offended you and when I thought Tetsu had taken advantage of Rosa."

Ximena glanced back at the struggling Mr. Obi. "You shouldn't. There's a proper way to do things. Threats don't solve anything," she said, walking on ahead.

Was... she mad at me?

"Xime, wait up!" I yelled, running after her. Great, first Setty, then Tetsu, and now Xime...

"Hey, what happened?" Rosa asked as she waited for me.

"Seems I've angered her... Seems all I know to do is to make those around me mad..."

The second princess smiled. "Well, Setty and Tetsu got over it, didn't they?"

"I... think so..." Or at least I would like to believe so.

"Well, Xime likely will too."

I smiled. "That's awfully positive of you."

She laughed. "But it's the truth," she said, running on ahead to join the others.

Tetsu's words shortly before departing to the Axis Mundi echoed in my head. I needed to ask the king about whether or not he had talked with Eiichi around the time the rape attempt occurred. Once I learned that, we could begin to build the case to prove Tetsu's innocence. That was how I would make it up to him, for having doubted him and brought him to the brink of death. Death... I kept bringing him up to its gates...

I even failed to save my little brother... I only brought death and pain to those around me...

"Don't blame yourself," Setsuko's voice echoed in my head.

I clenched my shirt. How could I get this feeling out of my chest? This burden? I pushed it away again and again, but it kept on returning. Was there no salvation from the specter of guilt?

Someone... please... save me... Sky Father, if you're still listening, please rescue me from this abyss once and for all!

"Serra," a voice called out.

I glanced up and saw it was Tekeshi. "I know what you're going through. However, we have to be strong. Our loved ones are relying on it. Trillions of lives are relying on it. We got not only Zionia on our shoulders now, but also Xeleria, and perhaps even Wynaga. We can't stand still and feel pity for ourselves."

"I... know," I said, averting my eyes.

He put his hands on my shoulders. "Look into my eyes, Serra. We have to stop avoiding the truth. Because of our actions, we've hurt people important to us. It would be easy to give up now... but..." He snickered. "I'm not doing a good job at this, am I?" He grumbled. "I'm not exactly the best motivational speaker... it's a lot easier to trick people into being motivated."

I smiled, looking straight at his golden eyes. "You definitely aren't!"

He lowered his head. "Well, good thing I didn't pick that as my career, eh?"

"Yeah. No one would've hired you. But, I think you could've had a fruitful life as a comedian," I said, walking past him. "Hmm, maybe Tetsu could too. He's sort of funny!"

"Nah, he's too serious. He's only funny to you," Tekeshi said, shrugging as he followed after me.

"Not true. Tere and Rosa find him funny. Tetsu's mostly serious when it comes to being a knight. Otherwise, he tends to be a rather laidback guy." The opposite of me... A chuckle escaped my lips. "I truly wonder how the two of us became best friends to begin with..."

"Well, you know what they say about opposites. You two complement each other. Like the sun and the moon."

I smiled. "Thanks, uncle."

"Huh, what for?"

"For cheering me up, but also for bringing Tetsu and me together." I touched my crystal earring. "Without this, we probably wouldn't have been friends. Though... I do wish that it had come to my hands through other circumstances."

Uncle smiled slightly. "As do I. But everything happens for a reason."

"Taku likes saying that," I said.

He laughed. "I guess those words stuck!"

"They sure did."

His smile grew wider. "I hope that one day... I can talk to Tetsu like this."

I wasn't sure what to say. I wanted to say that he'd eventually come around, but Tetsu's grudge toward his dad was strong. It certainly wouldn't disappear in a day.

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