When Shintaro was four years old, his father changed his life with a single curse that Shintaro would never forget. Normally, no one would be able to remember most of their younger years, but this was a moment that Shintaro could never seem to wipe from his mind. Cami had only been two years old, and he hadn't been near Shintaro when Brethren cursed him. 

Shintaro knew that the ability to wield Dark Magic wasn't really a curse, but to him it definitely was. Not only because he had Light Magic now; but because all he had ever lived for as a kid was to be nothing like his father, the Dark Magic his father gave him was like telling Shintaro that he couldn't escape evil. 

Often times, Shintaro did feel like that. When he was eighteen, after he'd escaped from his father and met the Light mentor, he'd managed to banish his Dark Magic into the deepest parts of him, disabling its use, rendering him "magic-less". He did have magic, but he couldn't use it unless he used every ounce of his strength to call it back up within him - but he never wanted to use Dark Magic again. When he'd gained Light Magic, he hadn't realized how painful it would be for his magics to be warring within him. Thankfully, his mentor was there to help him through it and dispel his Dark Magic back to the darkest parts of him. 

But the Dark Magic had always been there, ever since he was four years old. He could never escape from the darkness within him, and there were many times that he felt haunted by the ghost of his Dark Magic, that he wasn't the Shintaro his friends knew. 

This was why he was able to empathize with Kai. The poor kid had been taken from his home and given Dark Magic when he was ten years old, which was still pretty young. He was given the symbol of evil, just as Shintaro had been. Shintaro knew the feeling of being broken inside, and there was no doubt Kai felt that way as well. He was battling against the fact that the world rendered him evil, and that he was afraid of his magic and what others thought of him.

Shintaro felt the same way. On many occasions, Shintaro was scared of even his Light Magic. But Shintaro knew that it shouldn't be the magic he was scared of, but himself. He was the wielder of the magic, the one who made the choices that led to the spells that he used. He feared that one day, his warring magics would effect his sanity and drive him crazy, which would lead to bad magical choices. There were even times Shintaro thought he already was a little insane - the times he injured and killed without a second thought. 

He never stopped to think about the backstories of the Darks he fought. He instinctively hated them when they could very well have been in the same predicament as he and Kai, given magic and forced to work under the Darks out of terror for their lives. 

Only when they were already dead or severely injured did Shintaro realize that he could have killed someone just as innocent as Kai. It haunted his dreams and affected his motives, many times being the reason he hesitated before attacking. 

And when he hesitated, loved ones died. 

So he had to get up and act now. 

Gasping against the pain swirling in his chest, Shintaro forcefully shoved himself to his feet with a grunt. The floor swayed under him, and he staggered sideways for a moment before catching himself quickly. As soon as he regained his balance, he lifted his head and turned around, his hair whirling around his shoulders. 

Everyone's focus seemed to be on him, including every Dark in the room. Nanami was on his left, rising to her feet after him with a worried and confused expression. Moon was a few yards away from him on his right, her expression bordering on anxious worry as she stared at Shintaro. Rachel was on her left, her eyebrows high in shock and worry and her mouth hanging open slightly.  Ozai and Brethren were a few paces to her left, Ozai pinning Brethren down but staring in shock and worry and confusion at Shintaro; Brethren grinning widely despite a forming bruise on his jaw. Thorn was behind them, his red eyes locked on Shintaro and his posture hunched slightly, his wings folded on his back and his face a mask. Falte and Gabriel were under him, both looking equally alarmed and bewildered and concerned. Kai was farther away from Thorn, but too was looking shocked and extremely concerned - he was being held back by a few Darks, struggling to get to Shintaro. Ruby and Zeke were to Gabriel's right, Ruby looking more concerned than shocked, and Zeke was staring at Shintaro in shock. Abby was crouched by Linda on the other wall, and Shintaro was relieved to see that Linda was sitting up with a bewildered, pained, and concerned expression. Abby herself looked on the verge of tears, looking from Linda to Shintaro in panicked worry. Even Cynthia, who was standing near Brethren to keep an eye on him, looked worried for Shintaro. 

Shintaro's attention was snapped away from his sister-in-law when Kai suddenly let out an abrupt yell. Spots danced in his vision as he turned sharply, but he blinked them away to see what had happened. 

Kai was struggling madly against the four Darks holding him, jerking sideways sharply and kicking their legs harshly. As Shintaro watched, two of them backed away from Kai, hopping on one foot with cries of angry pain. The two left, the ones that were holding each arm, were beginning to look more panicked as Kai fought against them. 

With another yell, Kai jerked sideways and swept one Dark's feet out from under him. He almost tumbled to the floor with the man, but he yanked his right arm free and spun toward the Dark that was holding his left. Angrily, he lifted his arm and rotated it backward, spinning it slightly. As he did this, the Dark's arms were twisted painfully to the right, and the woman let go with a cry of pain. 

As soon as he was free, Kai whipped around and hurried toward Shintaro with an angry and confused frown. Thankfully, no other Darks chased after him, though many of them looked at him with vengeful expressions. 

"Are you-" Kai started frantically as he rushed toward Shintaro, then he abruptly stopped speaking and walking, slamming his feet into the floor a few paces away from Shintaro. There was no doubt he was sensing the magical disturbance burning through Shintaro, because he grimaced slightly and took half a step back, his eyes darting over Shintaro quickly before settling on Shintaro's eyes. 

Shintaro inhaled deeply against the fire that was lingering in his chest, clenching his hands into tight fists beside him. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, though only a few of them knew what was really wrong with him. Most of his friends probably just figured he was in pain from the wound on his side. 

"Shintaro," Falte said slowly, almost cautiously. He was standing below Thorn with a confused and wary look, his eyes traveling up and down Shintaro before again making eye contact. Falte's brown irises flicked from one side to the other, for some reason examining both of Shintaro's eyes. 

Gabriel cut an impatient glance at Falte as if he'd been about to say something else that Gabriel was too wondering. "What in the world is wrong with your eyes?" Gabriel asked roughly, turning his gaze back to Shintaro with a hard frown. "They're white and black." His eyes darted from Shintaro's left eye to right eye.

Brethren began his low chuckle again, and Ozai immediately pressed his hand down harder on his brother's neck, forcing The Dark Lord's laughter to a choked stop. 

Nanami stepped around Shintaro, appearing in his peripheral vision with a worried but knowledgeable expression. Before Shintaro could warn her, she looked up, reached forward, and gently touched his forearm. 

And pain exploded through Shintaro as Nanami's powerful Light Magic sparked the fight in the Dark Magic within him. Gritting his teeth, Shintaro refused to collapse forward against the reignited flame that roared in his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nanami stagger back a few steps with a wince, but thankfully the impact hadn't hurt her too badly. 

Brethren's laugh drifted toward the ceiling again, but this time his brother didn't shut him up. Instead, Ozai forcefully grabbed his jaw and turned Brethren's face toward him. 

"What did you do to him?" Ozai demanded firmly, his red eyes searching Brethren's. "What did you do to him!" 

Brethren laughed louder, his gaze nowhere near Ozai's face. "I made him the Shintaro I forced him to be," he cackled, finally throwing a pointed look at Ozai. "Shintaro was never a Light, never a good man. He was and is my son, and he cannot escape that title! Do you all really think Shintaro had escaped Dark Magic when he was living with me? Shintaro has always been a Dark, always been my son, always been the evil he's tried so hard to vanquish." His voice died away into delighted, maniacal laughter. 

All eyes turned to Shintaro again, and he dreaded the moment that he would see the emotions behind their expressions. Through the hammering pain in his chest, he let himself look at each of them before replying. 

Kai's frown couldn't have gotten more harsh, though there was concern and confusion and even hurt slipping through his brown eyes. Moon's eyebrows were so high they looked like they were about to jump off her face, but there was no betrayal or hurt behind her expression. Ozai wasn't looking at Brethren anymore, but his expression didn't suggest shock or worry - he looked more sad than confused and shocked. Gabriel's frown matched Kai's, but the emotions behind it weren't as strong. Falte and Rachel wore the same face, confused and worried but mostly hurt on why he didn't tell them. Ruby and Zeke just looked pitying and confused, while Linda looked confused and angry and worried. Abby's face was by far the worst, the hurt and betrayal and confusion and shock sailing across her face digging a hole into Shintaro's heart. 

Finally, Shintaro's gaze settled on Kai, who was still standing a few feet in front of him. Slowly, Shintaro exhaled and released the tension in his fists. "It's true," he admitted painfully, and Kai's mouth snapped closed around his surprise.

Shintaro found himself frowning just as firmly as Kai, but he wasn't looking at the teenager anymore. His eyes had traveled over to his pinned father, who was still chuckling lowly to himself, his eyes on the ceiling.

Though Shintaro was in excruciating pain, his confidence was boosted. He clenched his fists again and raised his voice to carry it throughout the library so everyone in the room heard him. 

"What my father says is true, but I want you to think about this for a moment. Does this automatically make me a bad person? Have any of you known me to be as bad as the Darks who willingly work for my father? Yes, I used to live with him and obey him, but that was only because he was my father and I didn't know any better. Kai went through almost the same thing - he was given Dark Magic and commanded to obey horrible orders. He did almost everything Thorn told him to do" - Shintaro noticed with surprised curiosity that Thorn's eyes dropped away from Shintaro and his shoulders hunched even further -"and do we classify him as evil? How could we do such a thing, when Kai was just as innocent as any other child? I don't usually like to talk about myself, but how can you call me evil when that was simply the life I grew up with? I understand all of you are confused and probably even a little hurt that I didn't tell you, but I want you to step in my shoes for a minute. If you were the symbol of goodness, the one assigned to battle against evil and keep it in check, would you tell your friends that you were originally one of the bad guys? You have to understand that I hate talking about this fact. I never wanted to be a Dark, so why would I talk about something I tried to forget about?" 

He paused and let this sink into each of his friends, who were starting to look a little more assured and calm. Setting his jaw, Shintaro tilted his chin back defiantly and locked eyes with his father. 

"Just because I'm a Dark doesn't mean I can't wield Light Magic as well," he spat down at Brethren. "And as the guardian of this realm, this earth, I will not allow Darkness to reign in my world."

~

FORTY-FIRST CHAPTER!!

ONLY A FEW MORE LEFT!! 

Though I don't have an exact number...

XD It's fine, I just know that there's not MUCH LEFT AT ALL!!!

I'm so freaking happy!! It took me a while to figure out how to write this series. 

I've tried to write them in my journals and on computers since I was like, ten years old. 

None of them have ever worked out

Until these three books!!

And I'm going to finish the series in less than two years. 

That makes me so freaking happy!!??!?!

Thank you all so much, my dear, dear readers, for reading!!

I LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH!!!

P3ac3!!~~~