*Lei*

I flew toward the the duo and threw one of my knives into the air.

The malicious Takeshi side-glanced it briefly. He intensified his mana, but I activated the blue barrier. Sadly, the energy quickly proved too much, blowing away my butterfly knife.

I smirked. But my real objective was that split second!

He gasped as my golden aura covered lion bit his arm.

"A lion, huh? Osamu would like this one," he said, smiling at it.

Mr. Cat nodded. "Yeah, he would."

Osamu? Why did that name sound familiar? Had I met him before? Wait, that the name of Setsuko's father! So, he had a fondness for lions. Lucky me!

"Good, you've stopped fighting yourself," I said, taking a deep breath. "Shizhi, let go of him!"

My lion did as I said and fell back down to the watery floor.

The mean one flew back and glanced at me. "Your objective wasn't to defeat me?"

"Well, if possible, I would take it. But I didn't have high hopes for that, so a diplomatic approach is better."

He laughed. "You're an odd one. Not that I'm one to talk." He waved his hand at me. Mr. Cat deflected the attack away.

Seemed I was mistaken about it ending peacefully.

"Why are you attacking him? He even had his lion let go of you as a gesture of good will!" Mr. Cat said, growling at his evil self.

"I appreciate it, but I you should know by now that I'll go to any lengths to return to our family! Obviously, you aren't willing to go that far, given your placid nature." He kicked Mr. Cat in the stomach, sending him clashing into the shadowy floor. A powerful shockwave reverberated multiple times across the enclosed space.

"Mr. Cat!"

"Such kindness only holds me back," he whispered before turning toward me.

I gritted my teeth and warped to the where my knife had fallen. The continuous aftershocks made it hard to walk. "Takeshi! Are you okay!"

"I'm okay," he said, laughing it off as Shizhi helped him up.

I gasped as blast flew at him and my lion! "Dodge!"

Mr. Cat jumped to his feet and formed a barrier around us. It reminded me of when his son saved me from the blob abysmals years ago. 

I held up my knives upward and formed a blue barrier around his as it began to bend. 

The only difference this time is I'm not a weak kid.

"Thanks," Takeshi said, smiling at me.

"A small boost won't save you!"

Shizhi ran out of the barrier and roared toward the malicious Takeshi.

He grunted as he was pushed back a little. The blast of energy flew upward, deflected by my shield. He moved aside, but not before the blast blew away one of his arms. 

"Yeah! We got a hit on him!" I yelled, fist bumping the air.

Dark tendrils flowed out of the stump and melded together to form tissue and skin. Only this time, he had claws instead of nails.

"Nice try, kid, other me," he said, smirking before forming another blast.

I bit my lip. I'd spoken too soon.

"Wait!" my lion yelled.

"Hmm?" the dark Takeshi asked, tilting his head at Shizhi. "Is this the part where someone begins begging for mercy? Because if so, you should probably know that I'm not the merciful type."

"I would do no such thing! It's about what you said earlier?"

He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what are you referring to?" He snickered. "I have said several things, so that only narrows it down so much!"

"You said you wanted to return to your family, correct? If you continue fighting like this, your core will disintegrate and so will Lei alongside with it! You'll have no means of returning!"

The mean Takeshi stared at him for a while in silence. "I have returned from the brink more than once already. Who is to say that I won't survive it?"

Was he for real? Then again, he somehow survived getting his core cracked by me.

"Even if so, we won't return right away!" the good Takeshi said.

He furrowed his brows and turned his attention back to my lion. "Well, what do you have in mind? Surely, that's not the entire pitch, right?"

"You're not the only one interested in separating and regaining your own body. Lei's starting to feel the effects of having the core within him for an extended period of time. While the symptoms can be abated for now, who knows how long that'll last."

"So, you're proposing a win-win scenario?"

Shizhi nodded. "That's correct. Lei's still a student, but he might eventually find a way to separate you."

He turned his golden eyes toward me again. "Hmm. I think that Adela and her clan might be more useful in rending us apart."

Had he meet Adela in person too? Or did he say that based on what I've seen?

"And she would gladly help you if it's to save her soulmate!"

My cheeks flushed. S-soulmate?

He snickered. "True. Her dedication toward him rivals mine."

I didn't like the sound of that. Although, I had seen how scary Adela could get. If he were to kill me, she probably would hunt him down to the ends of the multiverse to avenge me. Assuming she survived the core explosion.

"Is cultivation really the key to splitting us? Won't it merge us?" I asked.

"Normally, yes. But it can also be used to split things," he said, staring his hands. "I've done it before myself with herbs and animal parts. The refining process requires one to split away energies and physical components. Usually, if the byproduct is unneeded it can be burned away or allowed to dissolve into the air. But if both aspects are to be preserved, one carefully splits them apart. Like how one separates egg whites from their yolk. It's how I made Baldo, by preserving the dragon's spirit and raw energy, while taking its body to use as material. Refusing both in that omelet of a sword. However, I'd never done that with people. Let alone fused ones like my niece-in-law and Dine, or us."

"Guy sure has a way with words, huh?" Shizhi said, lowering his head.

Taking the body to make something but preserving the spirit to later give it new form? That sounded similar to Vandavalian magic! 

"You've figured something?" Mr. Cat asked, smiling.

"The description just now reminded me of the magic on Aurelius's continent."

Both Takeshis smiled. "The Vandavalians were the inspiration behind it," they said in unison.

"Wonder if learning their secrets might help," I mumbled.

"They're a closely guarded secret. I had to devise my own crude method to do so," the dark side said.

Mr. Cat nodded. "It might've failed if it wasn't an angel tool."

"I see. Well, what we need is to do a physical split, right?" I said.

"Yeah. But like I said, I've never done that with a person. At least one that's alive," the dark half said.

Did that mean he killed people? Wait, he could've easily meant donated cadavers. Although, given what he said about willing to do whatever it took to reach his goals, maybe he was that evil.

"We'll figure something out. If anyone can help us, it'll be the Xian," Takeshi said. "That said, given their views on our kind, they might shatter the core."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that doesn't happen," I said, pressing my closed right fist over my heart.

The mean half flew down and smirked. "You remind me a little of the Crown Princess and my brat. In that case, I'll hold off from forcefully taking you over. At least for the time being. But do be mindful, I am not a patient cat."

"I'll try to speed things up. I'm also eager to not be a host."

He smiled. "In that case, I'll let you wake up," the mean one said. "Seems your friends are getting impatient themselves."

"Wait! There's something I need you to tell Nat! His older brother, Dan. He's-"

I gasped for air as I woke up. Kun, Ny, Nahimana, and Adela stood by my bed, holding several white beads.

"Finally!" Kun said with a tired smile.

"Don't scare us like that, you idiot!" Nyima said, lightly punching my shoulder.

"Are you alright? You were releasing a lot of energy a moment ago, but then suddenly stopped," Adela said, leaning forward.

"That being tried to take over again, didn't it?" Nahimana asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

I nodded. "Well, half of him did. Seems the abysmal within him has two personalities."

"Two personalities? So the guy has mental issues?" Nyima asked.

"Seems like it. I did get a few clues on how to split us up, though!" I said, grinning.

"Such as?" Nahimana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He said that we could use cultivation to split us up. The kind that splits two things."

"Can you do that?" Nyima asked, glancing at Adela.

Adela took a deep breath. "Yes, but I've never tried to split a living being from an object inside of them before. I'm not sure it's even possible."

"Not to mention, an abysmal core is no simple object," Nahimana said, furrowing her brow.

"That's true, but at least we have some options on the table," Kun said.

Nahi turned toward him. "But there's no guinea pig to test them on. Will you risk your brother's life on something you don't know will work?"

"She has a point," Nyima said.

I frowned.

Adela grabbed my hand. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to split you."

My cheeks reddened.

Taiyi flung out of her head and landed on me, chirping.

"Aww, are you happy to see me up? Sorry if I scared you earlier," I said, patting her head.

"Aww," Kun cooed.

Nyima turned away. Her cheeks were pink. "Well, now that you're awake, we should join the others. Nat went to get another round of hamburgers just for us, but even those might be cold by now."

I rubbed my head.

"What's wrong?" Adela asked.

"Mr. Cat wanted to tell me something about his older brother, but I couldn't hear what it was."

Nyima stopped. "You mean, Dan?"

I nodded.

"Did you just say Dan? Like my big brother Dan? Or Jude's?" Nat said as he walked in with a bag of hamburgers.

I turned away. "Yours."

He dropped the bag of hamburgers. And rushed at me. "Did that abysmal tell you something?" he asked, putting his hands on my shoulder.

"Yeah. Your uncle tried to."

He gasped. "Did you just say my uncle? So that abysmal is Uncle Shi." He shook me. "Well, what did he say!"

"Hey, don't shake him like that!" Kun said, gripping the bag in his arms. He had managed to save the food before it hit the ground.

"That's the thing. I was woke up before I could hear a thing."

He shook me some more. "Then talk to him some more!"

"I don't know how! He only talks to me from time to time!"

"What do you mean you don't know how?"

"Stop it!" Nyima said, grabbing him by the arms. She gave Nat one of the harshest glares I'd ever seen.

"Unhand me!" Nat pulled his arms free from her. "Just because you won't help us get my brother back, that doesn't mean Lei won't either!"

"I wish I could help," I mumbled, rubbing my head.

He gritted his teeth and turned around. "Then I'll think of how to make you talk to him again."

Nyima sighed as Nat stomped away. "That attitude of his brings back bad memories."

Was she referring to Hideo or Iah?

"I'll go talk to him," Kun said before handing the bag over to Nahimana.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Nahimana asked. "Some alone time might do him good."

Kun paused for a bit before running on ahead.

Nahi sighed. "Hope you're making the right decision."

Adela lowered her head. "If only we'd known."

"But we didn't," Nyima said, sighing as she walked over to Nahi. She grabbed herself a burger. "What's done is done. We can only move forward from here."

I patted Ada's head. "It's alright. You didn't know. If our roles were upside down, I would've done the same thing too."

She gave me a weak smile. "I will save you and Takeshi. I promise." Taiyi chirped, making her laugh. "Taiyi will too!"

"T-thanks!" My cheeks flushed as Shizhi's words came to mind. Were she and I really meant to be together in this life time too?

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