Saki finally let themself breathe when they stepped through the portal into the Digital World. They had been tense all day, but at long last, the pressure was starting to alleviate. Saki raked one hand backward through their hair, and the wind rustled it so that it fell right back into place. It was always nice to be able to return home after a long day of being forced to hide things and mask on Earth. 

Saki had been doing their best to push through the rest of the semester, but it was much easier said than done. They were slowly but surely losing their strength and their ability to pull themself together again, but they had to find a way to make it to the end. The weather was getting warmer, drawing Saki in closer and closer to the alluring call of graduation. After they managed to push through that final goalpost, they would be safe. They would be able to make their own path to the future, and they would finally be able to choose how they spent their time and everything that crossed their mind. 

Of course, all of that would only be true if they were able to find a way to destroy the mastermind and bring this current battle to an end. Saki liked to think they were making progress on that, though only time would be able to tell if they were seeing the truth for what it was. The mastermind was still at large, but Saki wanted to do everything they could to push through and defeat them at last. Their future was counting on it, and Saki wasn't going to let anyone who was trying to push them down steal that away from them. 

The rest of the Legendary Warriors filed into the Digital World after Saki, and the Warrior of Steel turned to face all of them. "Hey," they called out. "I think we're ready to try something else today. Are you all feeling strong enough to break the mold a little bit?"

"I'm willing to try it if that's what you're asking," Takuya replied with a shrug. He looked beyond exhausted, not that Saki was surprised to see that. Takuya had revealed recently that he had started to struggle significantly with nightmares on the heels of his encounter with the Dark Trailmon in his dreams, and it was making everything significantly harder for him. Takuya was doing an admirable job of pulling himself together to the best of his ability, but Saki could see the exhaustion wearing at the corners of his eyes. "What did you have in mind?"

"I was hoping that we would be able to try and circle up so we could reach out to the Grand Spirit again," Kana explained as she approached the rest of the group. "Saki and I were talking about it last night, and we think now might be a good time for us to try and make contact. Something is going to have to give, and we're hoping that this is going to be it."

"Why haven't we done this sooner?" Chihiro asked with a frown. "I thought we would want to try it as soon as we got the chance, but we never came back to it again. We weren't able to make contact the first time because we were interrupted by another fight happening, but we haven't even tried it since then."

"Trying it the first time took a lot of my energy, and I didn't know how long it was going to take for me to fully recover from it," Kana said. "I needed to try and recuperate before I could try and reach out to the Grand Spirit again, so I've been taking the last few weeks to get my strength back. It really drained me the first time, and I'm ready again to wind up absolutely exhausted by the weight of this. I wasn't prepared before, but I'm about as ready as I can be this time."

"If you have to stop at any point, please let us know," Koichi told her with worry in his eyes. "If you have to pull back, then we would much rather stop before you got hurt rather than waiting after. Even if it means we're not able to reach the Grand Spirit for a while longer, it'll be worth it."

"Thank you for your consideration. I really do appreciate it," Kana smiled softly. She forced herself to breathe, and Saki could see every tiny piece of dread that had come to settle into her chest over the last day since the Warrior of Steel first suggested they try it again. They were always going to have to band together so they could reach out for the Grand Spirit with Kana's power a second time. It was inevitable. That didn't make it any easier to stomach the idea that Kana was going to be putting herself on the line in the name of finding the Grand Spirit. Of course she was struggling with it; Saki would have really been shocked if Kana wasn't struggling with it. 

"If we're able to do it now, then I think we should try it," Hinoka declared. "The sooner we can reach it with our power, the sooner we can go to find it. I'm sure we'll be able to find it soon enough. We can do this."

Kana forced a smile onto her face as she nodded. "You're right... We're going to find a way to make this right. For now, we should circle up. Let's get to it. The world is counting on us."

The Legendary Warriors all fell into place together in a circle, and Saki realized that they had naturally drifted into the positions that they occupied when they were within the Grand Spirit or the Resplendent One. What better way was there for them to reach their destination of retrieving the Grand Spirit? Saki just hoped with everything they had that it would be enough. They had dealt with more than enough of this going around in circles, and they were getting tired of it. 

As they grabbed their friends' hands though, Saki couldn't shake the feelings of doubt creeping in at the corners of their mind. The first time, Saki had felt themself reach out for the Grand Spirit only to be blocked off from it at the last moment. Even though the spell to find the Grand Spirit had been interrupted, Saki doubted it would have worked even if they were able to complete the ritual. The Grand Spirit was being blocked off from the rest of the world, and it was stopping everyone from being able to locate it. 

Saki still didn't understand how something like that was possible in the first place. The Grand Spirit was supposed to have a close emotional connection to the Legendary Warriors. Even beyond the confines of feeling, the Grand Spirit was bound to them by magic. If anyone was going to be able to find it, then it should have been the Legendary Warriors... But they couldn't reach it. No one could figure out where the Grand Spirit was, and it had been missing for months. 

Every once in a while, Saki found themself thinking about just how long the Grand Spirit had been hidden for. The Legendary Warriors had only started to search for it with dedication after Alastomon's fall, but they hadn't been able to locate it since the Digital World restructured itself on the heels of Lucemon's defeat. The Grand Spirit was being hidden in more ways than Saki could ever hope to calculate, and they needed that to change. They needed something to finally shift for the better, and they could only hope that search that afternoon would finally be the thing to fix this distorted path they had been forced to follow. 

Once all of the Legendary Warriors had circled up, they began to press as much of their power out through their hands as they could stand. Saki could feel that strength bleed through their body, and when they really focused, they could sense every element of the Legendary Warriors. They may have been sectioned off into their individual elements, but Saki could still tap into a tiny bit of each of their powers because of the time they had spent together. That feeling only made Saki hold tighter at their friends, hoping that it would be enough to finally make everything fall into place. 

As the magic fully reached Kana, Saki could feel the world around them fall away. They squeezed their eyes shut as much as possible, and when they reached out for that distant power, they realized that they were getting closer to it again. Just as Kana had hoped, the Grand Spirit was out there, waiting to be found. Saki felt their optimism surge through their body, and they tried to reach out for that hope along with the Grand Spirit. Everything was the way it should have been. It had to be. 

But before Saki's fingers could fully reach the Grand Spirit, they realized they would not be able to reach it. The same blockade from before was still there, and Saki couldn't quite break through it. They imagined pushing their fingers through a thick wall made of darkness, but they couldn't do it. None of the Legendary Warriors could. Something was keeping them away from the Grand Spirit, and it was too much for them to break through. It wasn't just that the Grand Spirit had been staying hidden from them; it was that something was deliberately trying to keep it away from them. 

No. Saki couldn't let that be the end. They had to reach it. The Grand Spirit was hiding somewhere in the Digital World, and they would be able to find it if they just pushed for a little while longer. They could make it through that wall. Both the worlds of human and Digimon were relying on them, and Saki couldn't let any of them down now. They could do this. They had to. If they pushed for a few seconds more, then--

The hands on both sides of Saki pulled away, and they felt all of that power melt out of their reach. Saki jolted back to reality, their vision spinning with stars that blended sun and shadow effortlessly. Saki blinked to try and remind themself of where they were, and they glanced around at the rest of the Legendary Warriors. All of them looked every bit as pale and rattled as Saki felt, and their stomach churned at the thought. They were never going to get through to the Grand Spirit. Whatever was keeping it hidden was not just a matter of determination. If they were going to reach it, then they would have to push through something poisonous to make it to their destination. 

Just as Saki had thought the first time, there was something trying to keep them away from the Grand Spirit. There was a thick wall trying to block them from reaching their destination. It was horrific in more ways than Saki could ever hope to count, and the fact that it was sapping their strength only made it feel worse. Something about this was wrong to Saki, and they couldn't help but think about the dark beasts. They were impossible to touch, and anyone who grew close enough to feel their energy felt like they were being torn apart by it. The same seemed to be true of the force keeping the Grand Spirit hidden. 

Saki forced themself to breathe, pressing one hand against their chest. Their gaze settled on Kana, and they found that she looked somehow even worse than the rest of the group, and considering the fact that everyone else seemed like they were on the verge of collapse, that was certainly saying something. Kana was staring blankly at the ground, her breathing ragged and rattling in the back of her throat. Just like the first time, reaching out for the Grand Spirit had taken more of Kana's energy than anyone else had to endure. 

"Something... Something is keeping us away from it," Chihiro declared. "I don't know what it is, but something is trying to block us from reaching the Grand Spirit after all this time. I don't understand... Why in the world would something be fighting us on this?"

"Our suspicions from the first time were correct then... There's something trying to keep the Grand Spirit out of our reach," Hinoka murmured. "But I don't understand what it could be. It feels a lot like the same power we've seen in the dark beasts, but..."

Mayumi shook her head. "There's something about it that feels a little bit different. I don't know if it's the mastermind trying to block us from reaching it though. If the mastermind had already found the Grand Spirit, then I'm sure that they would have started waving it around in our faces by now. I don't know how the mastermind would even make it to the Digital World to find something like this in the first place since we know they're from Earth."

The air went still and quiet for a long moment, and Saki approached Kana, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Kana fell against Saki, only barely managing to stay on her feet. "Now that we have our answer, I'm going to take Kana back to her room," they declared. "We can figure out what we think is keeping the Grand Spirit away from us when I'm back. Be careful with yourselves until then, alright?"

The rest of the Legendary Warriors nodded, and Saki began to escort Kana back in the direction of the Legendary Warriors' home on Inaie. Saki was tempted to at least try to start up a conversation to distract Kana, but she was too tired to muster so much as a thanks to Saki for helping her back to her room, so they decided against it. They could talk to Kana more once she was laying down and starting to unwind from the weight of what had just happened. They would have a lot to talk about once they arrived at their destination. 

Until then, Saki knew what they would be thinking about... And they could only hope it didn't try to rip them apart in the meantime. 

~~~~~

Once Saki and Kana were gone, Takuya let out a slow breath. "So... The Grand Spirit is being kept away from us," he concluded. "And none of us can figure out why."

"It must be a deliberate effort," Haroi said. "I can't imagine that this would be a matter of coincidence. Someone is trying to keep the Grand Spirit away from us, but I don't know how they could do something like that. Who would have the power to do that? If the mastermind had the power of both Susanoomon and Lucemon, then I'm sure they would be showing us that they had the Grand Spirit, but we haven't seen anything that would imply they have that power."

"Whatever is keeping it out of our reach is incredibly strong," Yumiko frowned. "We should have a very tight connection to the Grand Spirit because we've fought inside it in the past, but we can't seem to break through it... I don't understand any of it."

"The power that is blocking us off from the Grand Spirit really reminds me of the element of Void," Koji murmured. "In a strange way, it feels almost... Familiar to me. I don't know how to describe it, but it's not from the Warriors of Void or any other time we've faced that element in a fight. It goes deeper than that. It feels like I should just... Know." 

Koichi pressed one hand to his chin, but after a few seconds of thought, he found that he had nothing to add. He shook his head. "I feel like I should recognize it. If there's some force of darkness trying to keep us from reaching the Grand Spirit, then surely that's something that I should be able to understand, but... I don't know where to start. I don't know it at all. What makes you so sure you feel like you should know it?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Koji confessed. "If I knew how to put it into words, then I would have found a way to do it ages ago. I just... I don't know. I feel like I should know that feeling from somewhere, but I can't seem to figure out where I should know it from. It feels like someone or something is trying to block me from reaching it, but I don't know what it could mean. I don't understand any of it."

Koichi hummed thoughtfully, and the rest of the group went quiet at that. There was no reason for Koji to feel like something was supposed to be familiar while the rest of them knew nothing about it. If one of the members of their team was going to know about something, then surely the rest would as well... But no matter how much the others searched their souls, they couldn't seem to find that common feeling of yearning that Koji had described. 

"I wonder if the thing that's trying to keep the Grand Spirit away from us has something to do with your element specifically," Takuya suggested slowly. "I guess we won't know for sure until we're able to reach out and figure out what it is that's trying to keep this secret from us, but..."

Koji thought about it for another few seconds before he shrugged. "That's the weird part though. It's definitely a source of darkness, but it's nothing that I have felt during our last few fights. I just... I feel like I should know it. It's not even my element. That's not light at all. I would say that it's the exact opposite... But if it's not light, then why do I know it?"

"And why don't I know anything about it?" Koichi finished for him. "If anyone is going to be able to identify something like that from the darkness, then it should be me, but I don't know where to start with any of it... I don't understand any of this, but I hope that we're able to get to the bottom of it soon."

Uncomfortable silence reigned for a long moment before Haroi let out a slow breath. "It might be a good idea for us to continue the search as much as we can. If there's really something keeping us away from the Grand Spirit, then that means we'll probably. have to find it manually. Our recent searches of the Digital World haven't been for nothing at all. It's going to give us a little bit more ground to stand on when it comes to getting to the bottom of all of this. I'm glad that we were able to try and reach out for it today, but since we haven't managed to make any true progress from it..."

"We'll have to try something else," Mayumi finished for him, and Haroi nodded. "That's fine with me. Kana is going to need the rest of the afternoon off, so we can take this chance to try and push through the rest of the Digital World. There has to be at least something out there that we can use to try and track it down."

"I wish there was a way for us to just research where it could be without the need for all this running around," Bokomon sighed. "I understand that Inaie is making this considerably easier than it otherwise would be, but all that makes me think about is how much worse this could be if we were forced to do this without outside help. The Grand Spirit shouldn't be this difficult to access." He had pulled out one of the three books the Celestial Three held about the Legendary Warriors and all the information centered around them, and he was clutching it to his chest. "If these were still the days of the previous Digital World, then..."

"Then we would be able to just read about where the Grand Spirit was found in that book," Izumi finished for him, and Bokomon nodded. "That would certainly make our jobs a lot easier, but I guess that's a bit too much to ask... Oh well. We can find a way to to track the Grand Spirit down using other methods. I'm sure we'll be able to find it soon enough."

Takuya nodded, rubbing at his eyes with a clenched fist. He was exhausted after using all that strength. Kana was the most tired of the group, but it had taken a lot of his strength too to focus on something that was being deliberately kept out of his reach. He wouldn't be able to go home and nap after all of this was over since he had homework that needed to be done that night... But he would still be looking forward to the moment where he could collapse into his bed and rest until the morning came. 

Not that there was really much rest to be found for the Legendary Warriors anymore. They had to search with every spare moment they could get their hands on. They were meant to look and look and look, waiting for the day when something finally gave way enough for them to get to the bottom of the world and its secrets. Takuya would have to fight and fight until then, and the rest of his friends would too. This was just the life they had to live now, and they needed to find a way to be alright with that. 

But Takuya didn't let himself acknowledge any of that. If he did, then he was going to lose all of his forward momentum, and he was already struggling more than enough as it was. He stood up as straight as he could and addressed the rest of his team. "Then let's get to searching. If the Grand Spirit isn't going to find itself, then we'll just have to find a way to make sure that it comes out of its hiding spot to return to us. We've got this. I'm sure of it."

The other members of the team all nodded, but Takuya could feel their uncertainty. Hope was running low, and they were stretching themselves thin in order to keep from being torn apart by their fears for the future. Takuya wasn't going to let that stop him though. They had all fought to make it this far, and he was determined to give the battle everything he had. He could do this. They all could. 

Even when the world felt like it was ending, there was still hope. They just had to believe in it. 

~~~~~

Saki eased Kana down onto her bed, and the Arbiter of Souls let out a heavy sigh as soon as she no longer had to carry her own weight. She hadn't realized just how deep her exhaustion ran until she was laying on her bed. Now, it would be difficult for her to keep her eyes open for longer than a few moments at a time. Kana was determined to try at least a little bit, but she knew it was going to take a lot more of her strength than it had any right to. 

She had known all of this was coming. Of course she had. The first attempt to reach the Grand Spirit had been interrupted because of a battle taking place on Earth, and the Legendary Warriors had to rush off in order to take care of it. Kana had expected that when she found the strength to try and reach the Grand Spirit again, she was going to end up exhausted. Still, it hit her harder than she could have imagined. She was struggling to keep herself even slightly conscious in her body. She needed to sleep for at least twelve hours, though she was anticipating now that she was going to have to rest in general for another few days after that. 

Saki hesitated after putting Kana down, seeming to be debating between going for the door to leave Kana to rest or staying for a little while longer to speak to her. Kana wasn't entirely sure of what she would prefer; she liked spending time with Saki, but she doubted she would be the best company as long as her body was on the verge of giving out on her. Kana stared up at Saki, ignoring the way her vision spun from the weight of all the energy she had been forced to expend. She would feel much better after she had taken a bit of time to breathe, but until she had that chance, she was simply going to have to take it easy. 

"Are you alright?" Saki asked, finally deciding that they wanted to stay and talk to Kana for a little while longer. "I know that was all... Intense, and it was harder on you than anyone else."

Kana nodded, though the motion was stifled by the fact that her cheek was pressed so tightly against the pillow beneath her head. "I'll be alright eventually," she assured Saki. "I just need a little bit of time to rest." Even as she spoke the words though, Kana found herself hating them. She knew that she required some time to recover from everything she had just done. How could she not need a bit of time to rest? All of that had been exhausting, and it was only going to get worse from then on if Kana wasn't careful. 

But she couldn't help hating herself for needing the rest at all. She couldn't shake the feeling that she should have been able to handle this. She was supposed to be stronger than this. She knew she could be stronger than this... Or so she was telling herself. Now that Kana was actually there, she didn't know if she believed it. If she was really stronger, then she wouldn't be bothered by all of this at all. If she was really able to handle this, then she wouldn't have been on the verge of collapsing into unconsciousness from a spell like that. She had been capable of so much more in the past. Why did it feel like everything she tried now was testing her patience and trying to make her crash into the ground?

Saki frowned, and Kana could see the disproval on their face even through the spinning of their vision. "If you were really alright, then you wouldn't have almost collapsed after that spell. I knew that this was going to happen. I should have tried to push for you to take at least slightly better care of yourself in the lead up to it. If that was going to be necessary, then we should have prepared for it better." Saki sat down on the edge of the bed beside Kana. "I'm worried about you."

Kana felt guilt rise up in the back of her throat, threatening to burst free the instant she gave it the chance. Kana forced herself to stay quiet, working the skin of her bottom lip between her teeth. She wanted to reassure Saki that everything was truly as fine as it could have been, but she knew that wasn't going to work. If she had been able to persuade Saki that she was alright, then she would have done it ages ago. Instead, she was left there on the bed of her room, thinking about how much stronger she knew she should have been. 

"I... I feel like I've been getting weaker lately," Kana murmured, and Saki looked over at her in worry and confusion. "Ever since I became human again... It feels like I'm not as strong as I used to be. I guess that makes sense. Digimon don't work the same way that humans do, and it makes sense that a lot of my power would be exclusive to my Digimon form. I just... I don't know. I feel like I should be able to do much more than I actually can. I feel so weak because I can't do anything to help everyone right now."

"You're doing a lot more for all of us than you realize," Saki countered. "But I understand what you mean. It isn't easy being human, and I can't imagine it's any easier for you with everything going on... You've been a Digimon for a long time, and now, you've been turned back into your old form." After a few seconds passed in silence, Saki began to press their hands together on their lap. "Did you even want to become a human again?"

Kana hesitated for a long moment. The answer should have been an easy yes. How could she not want to be a human again? Becoming a Digimon had happened against her will. She had been killed by Kage, and it had transformed her into a Digimon when she was reconstructed and reborn. Her becoming Miriamon had felt like a punishment, like she was paying her penance to the world she had failed... Returning to her life as Kana should have been relieving to her. It should have made her happy. She should have been overjoyed to be able to return to the way things had been before. 

But instead, Kana just felt weak. She felt like she had been much stronger when she was Miriamon. She felt like she had lost her ability to help people when she became Kana again. Ever since then, she had been trying to help with the war effort, but it was never quite enough. She couldn't find the Grand Spirit, and she couldn't figure out where Lucemon's power was either. It felt like she was failing everyone she had ever come to love. The Legendary Warriors needed her, and Kana... She had failed every single one of them when they needed her help most. What was the point of her fighting alongside a group like this when she was failing so deeply at taking care of their most basic needs? They needed someone who would be able to help them through any and all hardships, and Kana couldn't even point them in the direction they needed to go in order to find the Grand Spirit. What was her problem?

"I... I'm doing my best to handle it however I can," Kana forced herself to say in response to Saki's question. It was not the answer Saki was looking for, and it most likely didn't even come close, but it was all that Kana could bring herself to muster. She shook her head to dismiss the idea before it could sit too uncomfortably in her chest and drag her down more than it already had. "What about you? How are you feeling right now?"

The deflection caught Saki by surprise, and Kana wondered if they were thinking that this was what it was like to have their same old tricks used against them. Saki had always been the evasive sort, refusing to tell others what they were thinking for as long as they could get away with it. The Legendary Warriors had only recently been able to get through to them, and Saki still struggled with the instinct to turn and run the instant they were faced with any degree of hardship. The Warrior of Steel shook their head slowly. "I'm feeling about as fine as I can be. There's a lot going on right now, but I'm choosing to believe that we're going to be able to balance it all."

"You have something else on your mind, don't you?" Kana asked, squinting up at Saki. Her vision was still spinning, but she could see enough to be sure that Saki was worried about a lot more than they were trying to imply. "It's okay to talk about it. There's no judgement here."

Saki seemed tempted to push their resistance as far as it was willing to go, but they gave up when they realized that Kana was just concerned about them. She was tired enough as it was, and Saki wasn't going to be the cause of any more of her energy abandoning her. "I feel like I'm being stalked on Earth," they confessed. "There are soldiers everywhere at school, and they're always watching me no matter what I'm doing. I know that's true of our entire team, but it still bothers me a lot. On top of the soldiers, Botan is trying to get to me so that I'll trust him a bit more or something. I don't want to rely on him because of everything else going on right now. It's only going to make things more complicated, and the situation is complex enough as it is. I want him to just leave me be, but... It's not going to work that way, and I know it." 

Kana reached out and took Saki's hand in her own before giving it a gentle squeeze. "You just have to hold on for a little while longer," she reminded them. "Graduation is coming up, and once you've made it through high school, you can come here and live in the Digital World for as long as you would like. I'll be here to support you in the meantime. All you have to do is say the word and ask for my help."

Saki offered Kana a small smile, but she could tell they were still wary of dropping their guard entirely. It was nothing Kana took offense to though. If she had been in a position even remotely similar to the one Saki was in now, she would have been anxious all the time too. "I'm going to do my best to push through this," they declared. "It's not going to be easy, but I've made it this far."

Kana nodded, and she squeezed a bit tighter at their hand. Saki let out a slow breath, and their eyes went glassy as their mind traveled far from the island of Inaie and out into the rest of the Digital World. "I... I've been researching my parents' deaths in the spare time I can find," Saki told her, and Kana's eyes went wide. "I haven't had much time, of course, because the Digital World has to be my first priority, but I feel like I'm getting closer... Well, as close as I can be when it feels like nothing is going anywhere. The only reason I'm tempted to reach out to Botan is because I think there's a chance he's going to be able to help me with this."

"Maybe you can think about asking him for that sometime soon," Kana suggested. "I agree that relying on him for anything more in depth is a bad idea, but this... This might be something that he could help you out with."

Saki hummed. "I'll have to think about it." They pushed themself to their feet, pulling their hand away from Kana and out of her reach. "For now, you should try to get a bit of rest. I know all of this has been exhausting for you, and I don't want you to push yourself any harder than you already have. I'll be back a bit later to check on you. For now, we have a Grand Spirit to search for."

Kana offered Saki a small smile, and she watched as they walked out of the room, pulling the door shut in their wake. Kana was halfway tempted to try and stay awake for a little while longer, but as soon as Saki was gone and they could no longer distract her, she felt her eyes begin to droop. She had used a lot of her strength in the name of finding the Grand Spirit, and she was really starting to feel it now. Kana let out a slow breath, and with it, all of the tension seemed to melt out of her body. She was as safe as she could have been, and even though the search that day hadn't gone the way she would have liked, she could at least say that they were making progress. 

It may not have been much, but it was at least something, and Kana was willing to take that as her final reassurance before she drifted off into a deep slumber. 

~~~~~

To put it simply, Izumi was stressed. 

She really was doing her best to not be. She would have felt much better if she could just tell her mind to stop trying to drive her up the wall, but unfortunately, it refused to listen. She had expected as much, but it still made her upset that she was going to have to find a way to soothe herself on her own. She had started trying to calm herself by pacing across the edge of Inaie, hoping that she would be able to get as much of her energy out as possible. If she could tire out her body, then maybe she would be able to tire out her mind too. 

It was a miracle she was feeling even a little bit energetic right now. Izumi knew that the fight to find the Grand Spirit had been exhausting, and it was only going to get harder from there because someone or something was trying to keep it away from them. She should have been completely drained by the effort failing, but instead, she found herself full of anxiety that she needed to find a way to get out of her body. She knew it was the adrenaline talking, and yet, Izumi couldn't help but indulge it. She needed to get out of her own head, and this felt like the best way of doing that. 

"Izumi?"

She paused in her pacing at the sound of her name, and Izumi looked up to find Yumiko slowly approaching her. The Warrior of Wood had her hands folded in front of her body, and she wore a soft smile like she was trying to seem a bit less threatening than she actually felt. Yumiko wasn't scary in the slightest, and Izumi knew this well, but Yumiko didn't seem to believe it when she was trying to approach her friend and calm her down from the edge of what was clearly a deep fear. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Yumiko began. "The last thing I would want is to frighten you right now."

Izumi shook her head. "You're not frightening me at all." She let a few seconds pass in silence, forcing her body to stop moving even when it itched to keep pushing forward for as long as she could stand. "Is there something you need from me? Is everything alright?"

"Oh, everything is fine," Yumiko assured her with a shake of her head. "I just wanted to see if you were feeling alright. You're pacing around a lot, and I get the feeling that you're a lot more stressed out than you want to be right now, so I thought I would come and see if there was anything I could do to help reassure you."

Izumi couldn't help the light, anxious laugh that burst free of her lips at that. "Is it really so obvious that I have something else I'm worried about?" she asked even though the answer was most certainly yes. There was no way it wasn't obvious that she was worked up about something. She was fighting to not claw at her arms just to give her hands something destructive to do with all this anxiety in her chest. 

"A little bit," Yumiko admitted with a light smile. "I hope you're alright with me bringing it up. I didn't mean to intimidate you or anything, but... I wanted to be able to help you. If there's anything I can do to bring that weight off your chest, then I want to try."

Izumi nodded slowly, and she let out a slow breath, willing herself to calm down in any tiny way she could. "I... I'm worried about the situation with my father," she admitted. "He wants to move me and Masae back to Italy because he thinks it will be a bit less dangerous there than it is here... But I can't let that happen. I can't leave when there's so much on the line. I need to take care of everyone here. I can't go back to Italy even beyond that. I know I don't belong there, and I..." Izumi shook her head. "I'm not going to let him take me away."

"I wish there was something we could do to help you without having to worry about your father getting in the way," Yumiko admitted with a sigh. "I'm worried about you, and I want to be able to help, but I don't know where to start... It just bothers me that he's going around you to try and act in what he thinks is your best interest. You're going through so much, and you've made an entire new life for yourself here, but he doesn't seem to see that. I wish there was a way to fix this."

Izumi sighed and shook her head. "I wish it was that simple too, but he has no plans of letting up. If he was going to stop this, then he would have ages ago. He wants to get me and Masae out of danger, but it frustrates me that he's trying it at all. He hasn't been there for us in years. He drowned himself in work and moved our family to Italy after my mother passed away, and I was in charge of taking care of Masae. He didn't do anything to take care of us, and now... Now, he says that he wants to take care of us. He only started acting like a father recently, and it bothers me that he thinks he has a right to do that after being absent for all this time."

"He doesn't know that you're a Legendary Warrior, does he?" Yumiko asked, and Izumi shook her head. "I can sympathize in that way then... I haven't told my parents about all of this either. I've been considering it for a while, but I haven't known where to start. They weren't ever really there for me when I was going through hard times growing up, so now, I just... I don't know what to do. I don't know how I can tell them. It feels like it's too much to even think about."

"On one hand, I guess there's the chance that he's going to stop trying to push for me to leave Japan if he knows that I have to take care of the people here as a Legendary Warrior," Izumi began. "But I don't entirely know if I believe that it'll be that easy. There's a chance that he's going to try and push harder for us to leave when he realizes that I'm one of the human monsters. He just doesn't realize what all of this is going to mean, and I don't know if I'm going to be able to get through to him."

"It's hard," Yumiko nodded in understanding. "I want to be able to trust my parents, but I feel like I can't quite do it. I can't bring myself to open up to them because they haven't ever been taking care of me. I was struggling a lot with harassment at school growing up, but they never thought to step in and help me. I didn't have anyone in my corner when people were trying to pick on me for every little thing about me. They wanted me for my body rather than for my soul, and it... It hurt. My parents brushed it off when I told them about it. They thought that I was being dramatic and should have been happy to have the attention. It bothered me a lot, but I couldn't get through to them. There's not much of a point in trying to get them on my side here, and... I don't know if they would want to listen to me talk about being a Legendary Warrior either."

"You're right when you say that it's hard," Izumi sighed. "My father barely knows anything about me or Masae anymore, but he still thinks he can come in and act like he's a parent to us. If he wanted to take care of us, then he should have done it years ago, but he never did... It bothers me more than I could ever hope to say. I want to be able to connect with him, but the way that he's doing it right now isn't helping. All it's doing is putting more stress on my shoulders, and... I feel like I'm running out of time. I wanted him to let us stay until the end of the school year so that we might have the chance to stop this from happening, but... I don't know if it's going to work out that way."

Yumiko reached out and took Izumi's hand gently. "I know there's nothing I can do to just snap and make this problem go away, but... I want to do what I can to support you. If there's anything I can do that will make this weight a little bit less daunting for you, then I want to try. Please say the word if you need my help with anything."

Izumi smiled, and she squeezed tightly at Yumiko's fingers. "Thank you, Yumiko... That really means a lot. And it goes both ways. If you need anything, please reach out to me. I think we can both help each other a lot with these things. Not may members of our group get what it's like to have to hide so much from the rest of their families."

"But at least we don't have to hide anything from the people here," Yumiko pointed out, and Izumi nodded. She had a horrible feeling about everything that had happened recently, but if nothing else, Izumi was glad that the other members of the Legendary Warriors' team would be there for her. They understood the pain that she had been forced to endure recently, and they would continue to understand it for a long time to come soon. She didn't know what she would do without them, but luckily, Izumi knew she wouldn't have to think of it. So long as they were together, everything was going to be alright. 

It may not have looked like it right then, but Izumi was choosing to hold out hope. At this point, it felt like all she could ever try to do. 

~~~~~

Teruo was tired. 

He was doing his best to not acknowledge his exhaustion for as long as he could possibly get away with it. If he took even a moment to breathe and think about how much his energy was running thin, then he wasn't going to be able to get himself back up again, so he was doing everything in his power to ignore it. If he could keep himself moving toward the future, then he would be alright. He had to be. He could keep his head held high, continue the search for the truth behind the mastermind, and everything would happen the way it had always been meant to. He was sure of it. 

Even so, there was only so much Teruo could do to keep himself calm when he was struggling beneath the weight of so much. He knew he was tired, and trying to hide that truth was only going to make things harder for him later on. Teruo couldn't let it stop him though. The worlds were counting on him, and he couldn't let them down. If he let his guard down for even a second, then the mastermind could decide to swoop in and ruin everything, and Teruo couldn't allow that. The universe was in grave danger, and Teruo had to do what he could to keep it safe. 

Not for the first time and certainly not for the last, Teruo wondered what it would be like to be a Legendary Warrior. He knew there were a lot of other stressors to be found in being a Legendary Warrior and fighting for the safety of the universe, but he felt that it would be a better alternative to having to sit around and wait for something to happen all the time. He wanted to do what he could to keep the world safe, and yet, all he could really muster was the ability to look for information about a person who was intent on staying hidden from the world for as long as possible. The research into the mastermind had been stalled for a long time despite Teruo's best efforts to try and set it right. Everyone was getting frustrated by all the effort they had been forced to put into this, and yet, the world did not see fit to change their situation in the slightest.

 "Teruo!"

And then there was the matter of having to balance his other life. He wanted to be able to help people, but there was only so much Teruo could do when he was also a teenager who had a family to look after. He had to look after his younger siblings when he could find the time. Akira and Ryo were missing him desperately, and Teruo knew it well. He would have given just about anything to be able to spend all his time with them and not think about the pain of the rest of the world. Unfortunately, that was not an option, and his siblings were left waiting for him each day when he went to look more into the mastermind with the other members of the investigation team. 

Akira and Ryo ran at Teruo as soon as he stepped through the front door, and he was left to wonder just how long they had been waiting for him. Teruo staggered so he didn't fall over completely, forcing himself to return the embrace. "Hey, you two," Teruo greeted. "What are you up to? Shouldn't you be trying to get ready for bed by now?"

"We were waiting for you!" Ryo exclaimed, pouting up at his older brother. "It's been so long since we were last able to hang out with you. You're always out so late with all of your friends."

"Are we not cool enough for you anymore?" Akira asked, her eyes wide and watery. "We can be more exciting! Promise! And you'll see it if you're willing to spend a bit more time with us! Promise!"

Teruo fought the urge to bite down on his bottom lip. He wanted to spend more time with his siblings, and he knew that they wanted to spend more time with him too... But he couldn't do that right now. There was too much at stake, and if Teruo spent too much time not thinking about the investigation, then he could end up regretting it. Akira and Ryo didn't realize that he was doing all of this for them. He was trying to protect this world so that they would be able to enjoy the future for as long as possible. If he couldn't entirely keep them safe from attacking monsters, then he would do his part to at least make the burden a little easier for them to bear. 

"I wish I could spend more time with you guys too," Teruo admitted when he realized he could not say any of this. He refused to put either one of his siblings in danger by acknowledging the weight of what he had found himself caught up in, and if that meant he would have to lie through his teeth, then so be it. He would do as he had to, and he could only hope that one day, his siblings would know enough to understand and forgive him. "I've just got a lot going on with school. You know how things are. Classes have had to move a lot faster to make up for all the lost time that came with the school sbeing closed because of the monster attacks."

Akira sighed and crossed her arms with a pout. "Things haven't been the same ever since those monster attacks started... It seems like you've been busy all the time ever since they started happening."

Teruo's chest went tight. That certainly was the truth, though he had a few stronger words to say on the subject. "How about this? I can take you up to bed, and I'll read you both a story before you have to go to sleep. It might not be much, but it's a little something, and I think you'll both have fun with it."

"Okay!" Ryo took off like a bullet, running in the direction of the bathroom so he could clean off and then get ready for a few minutes of quality time with his brother. Akira and Ryo had been forced to teach themselves how to put themselves to bed because of how little time their parents were able to share with them, but their favorite outcome to any night was when Teruo was there to help them to get ready to rest. No one was able to put smiles on their faces quite like their older brother who, in their eyes, deserved much more credit for taking care of them than their parents. 

Teruo sighed after his siblings, trying to ignore the tension in his chest. He felt awful about having to neglect them for the sake of protecting the universe, and he could only hope they one day understood that he was trying to help them. Until then though, he had to make sure they were able to sleep well. If he was going to be up all night worrying about the fate of the world, then the least he could do was make sure the same did not apply to Akira and Ryo. 

They deserved better, and they didn't even know they deserved anything at all. 

~~~~~

Izumi turned the knob to the Orimoto home, pulling her key out of the lock once she had managed to slip through the gap. She could hear the sound of shouting from deeper in the house already, and her chest went tight. She knew her father was going to have quite a few harsh things to say when she saw him, but that didn't mean she was ready for it. In fact, Izumi would have said the exact opposite; she didn't want to have to be with him at all, but she knew she had no other choice. 

Masae was standing perfectly still in front of the kitchen counter, and Fuyuki was on the other side of it. "You need to be more careful. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there right now? All of us are in danger because of monster attacks, and you're out with friends for hours every day! I can't look after you if you're not here! I need to make sure you're safe, and if..." Fuyuki trailed off, and his eyes narrowed into slits when he realized Izumi had arrived. "You need to hear this too, Izumi."

The Warrior of Wind was hesitant as she walked over to stand beside her sister. She wanted to turn around and flee as far as she could go from her father and his explosive rage, but she already knew she wasn't going to get away with it. He wasn't going to let her go, and so, her only choice would be to stand in front of him, bow her head, and hope that he was willing to let up in his lecturing soon. Izumi settled into place next to Masae, and the two began to hold each other's hands around the counter. They were close enough that Fuyuki couldn't see it, and that was just the way Izumi liked it. She didn't want to have to put up with him right now, and if this was a small thing that would make it a bit more bearable, then she wanted to embrace it with all she had. 

"You're not going to spend any more time with your friends outside of this house," Fuyuki went on. "If you want to be with them, then you can bring them here instead of going over to their homes. I've had enough of you going out onto the streets when the world is in such grave danger. You're going to stay here where I can keep an eye on you both. Do I make myself clear?"

Izumi fought the urge to snap back at him and say that he had no right to control what they did or did not do. He hadn't been there for them when they needed him most, and now, he wanted to swoop in and declare that he was the one who was trying to take care of them. If he really cared, then he would have tried to do something to help them years ago when their mother passed away... But he had done nothing, and Izumi had to wonder if her father knew her at all. Given the fact that she had never told him about her position as a Legendary Warrior, she knew the answer was no. She didn't want him to know about her either. That felt like a recipe for disaster, and the kitchen was on the verge of burning down from other situations as it was. 

"Alright," Izumi agreed thickly. There had to be a way of getting around this. She was sure of it. Fuyuki was insistent on keeping an eye on his daughters, and yet, he never truly spent time with them anymore. If Izumi was able to sneak up to her room, then she would be able to lock herself inside, claim she was doing homework, and then disappear into the Digital World. She would just have to be careful to make sure her father didn't realize that she was gone. Her world would fall apart if he figured out that she was hiding from him even more than she previously had been. 

Masae was shocked by Izumi's agreement, seemingly having expected her to put up at least a little bit more of a fight. She figured out quickly though that there was no point in arguing with Fuyuki when he got like this. Masae sighed in resignation, squeezing tightly at her sister's hand as if to say that she hoped Izumi had a plan. "Okay," Masae agreed. "I'll tell my friends that they have to come over here from now on."

Fuyuki nodded. "Good. I don't want you to go anywhere other than here and school. I wish you didn't even have to go that far when the entire world is in danger, but if you have no other choice, then..." He let out a slow breath. "Consider this a compromise. If you want to stay here until the school year ends, then you'll have to stay here so that I know for sure you're safe."

Izumi hated the compromise more than she could ever hope to say. She didn't find it a compromise at all since her father hadn't ever been there for her in the ways he should have been. If he really wanted to take care of her and Masae, then he would have done something more years ago. Instead, he was claiming that he was acting in their best interests despite knowing nothing about the people they had become. He had no right to decide on anything they did, but none of that seemed to matter to him. 

Izumi didn't say any of that though. Instead, she nodded and squeezed tighter at her sister's hand. They could talk about their plan once Fuyuki was gone. Izumi wasn't going to go down without a fight, but she would certainly make it look that way to her father. "Understood."

Izumi would not let Fuyuki's strictness be the reason the worlds fell... And if that made her a horrible daughter, then it was a title she would wear with pride. 

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Another week, another chapter in the bag!

I don't really have all that much to say about this one admittedly since it kind of speaks for itself. The Grand Spirit is being deliberately hidden just as I implied a handful of chapters ago, and the Legendary Warriors can see it perfectly now. There's something else hiding the truth from their reach... But what could it be? I'm very curious about if anyone has theories on the matter since Koji of all people found it familiar while no one else did. It's going to be a great twist when it finally comes around, but until then, you'll all just have to be patient. 

We're getting closer to the end of the second arc now. This act two is pretty long, but I think it fits well given the... Nature of act three. I'm very far into outlining the third arc now, and there's a lot that needs to be addressed there. Things are falling apart in a lot of tiny ways, and I think it's thrilling. I can't wait to put all my ideas on display. 

Next time, we'll press on through act two and all of the character struggles that come with it. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this story. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!

-Digital