Hideo stopped and spun on his heels as he heard trees collapse. The sound had come from where they had met Eiji. He gasped as a dozen men wearing masks rained down from the sky. "Tsk."

He grabbed his chain and reverted it into a bow—wind mana gathered in his right index and middle fingers. The energy took on the shape of a glowing arrow.

"Seven Arrows! Make Justice Rain!" Hideo screamed, letting the arrow loose. As it neared the men, it multiplied into seven. The verdant weapons struck over half of the men near their hearts. Each of the seven landed on the floor, immobile. The teen had made sure that the tips didn't puncture through their hearts. It was best to keep them alive for interrogation.

"Wahhh!" Dan yelled, frightened by the sight of blood. His ruby eyes shifted to the remaining five mooks as they surrounded them. "B-brother! B-be ca-careful!"

Suddenly, a flash of lightning zipped past them and stuck down the closest guy down.

Hideo gasped. "The Lightning King?"

"Hya!" Eiji screamed, knocking another guy down. "You dare attack children? You aren't knights!"

"Nor are you! You're not worthy of bearing the title. No one from your generation is!" one of the other three yelled, rushing toward him. "Fiery Explosion! Final Flame!"

Hideo hugged Dan, covering him with his body, awaiting the deadly explosion, but it never came. He glanced over his shoulder slowly, prepared to see the user's charred remains. Instead, he saw Eiji glaring at the man.

"You idiot!" He had struck the man in the chest with his weapon, sending him flying back before his attack could be completed. "You're willing to throw away your life so easily?"

One of the other two yelled. "What's life if it means living in a nation who treats us worse than dust? You and the others of your generation destroyed us! It's for that reason that we'll never surrender!"

Eiji shook his head. "Damn it all, all these years, and yet the cycle continues!" He spun around, knocking the rebels unconscious. He raised his crook into the air and closed his eyes. "Oh, hear me out, Capitolinus! Seal the power of those who seek to forsake their lives!" 

Strings of golden light shot out of the crook and grabbed the man's necks, arms, and legs. The men shook around, but no matter how much he struggled, the trap wouldn't loosen. His power proved insufficient against the might of one of the Seven-Hill knights.

"W-what are you doing to them?" Dan asked uneasily.

Eiji lowered his weapon and turned to look at him. "I am preventing them from burning away their lives in their futile attempt to kill us."

Dan's mouth dropped wide open. "B-burning away their lives? Y-you mean that these men were going to—"

"Yes, it's that graphic scenario you're imagining. They've drifted far into despair. Luckily I control the angel tool of life. Those who dismiss life have fallen into depravity."

"Y-you hypocrite!" one of the ones whom Hideo had shot with his arrows grunted. "Y-you, you're a murderer!"

Eiji grimaced. "I won't deny it." He glanced down at his hands. "For the sake of peace, my generation was willing to drench their hands in blood. It was only when it was too late that we realized that our enemies were people too, not beasts. That is why I can't bring myself to take your lives, nor to see you sacrifice them. Yet, I can't allow innocent children to be hurt either."

The man looked at the ground and clenched his fists. "If only things had been different indeed."

Eiji turned toward Hideo. "I'll take these rebels to detainment, you two go and locate the princess. I trust you know how she looks?"

Hideo closed his eyes and tried to recall, but all that came to him were hazel eyes. "She has brown eyes with specks of other colors!"

The Seven-Hill Knight sighed. "Well, that's good enough. Her eye color isn't exactly common. Now, get going!"

Hideo and Dan ran off as fast as they could, creating small trails of dust behind them. While the border was made up of forested mountains, a mere few miles to the west of them and beyond was nothing but grassland with the occasional thin tree. As they were rushing through the dirt road, Hideo noticed a pair walking toward them. One of the two had the same hazel eyes that had popped into his mind.

He touched the shoulder of his little brother and directed his ruby eyes using his index finger toward the duo. "Let's go over there!" Hideo whispered to Dan.

"O-over there? I-I don't see a thing?" Dan said, squinting.

Hideo sighed. He had forgotten that Dan hadn't gotten his father's eyes like he had. His father called them the 'Eyes of the Hunter'.

The older sibling stopped as he saw the young man accompanying the princess draw his sword and point it at him despite being several meters away. He had the same quality eyes as him. Noticing he still had his bow out, he reverted it back into a chain and continued on making his way toward them.

Seeing his action, the golden-eyed, raven-haired youth lowered his blade and turned to look at the girl who seemed puzzled by his action. Hideo could see the boy's lips move. Unfortunately, he lacked the skill to read lips.

Suddenly the youth raised his sword once more. Hideo stopped in his tracks but saw that the sword wasn't directed at him. Instead, it was pointed at one of several wild bushes dotting the road around them.

"Rosalba!" the guy yelled at the top of his lungs.

The girl, Rosalba, spun around and saw one of the rebels leap at her. She delivered a swift kick to the guy's head, sending him rolling several feet away from her.

"So you really can defend yourself," said the boy accompanying the princess as Hideo got within listening distance.

Princess Rosalba scoffed. "Of course, I can! I am one of the Seven Hills for a reason." She touched the ground with one hand and smiled. "Stand back, I'm about to show you what this princess can truly do."

Roa jumped back as the ground began to quiver.

"Roar of the Earth! Lioness' Roar!" Rosalba shouted at the top of her lungs. An orange energy pulse in the shape of an oval radiated from the princess, causing the ground under foot to shatter.

"Damn!" the rebel the princess had knocked out said as he tried to get up. He had gone from being several feet away to several meters. "This cursed girl inherited her mother's bloodstained weapon!"

Rosalba let go of the ground and looked up at him. "Huh?"

The man panted and raised his hands at her. "Die!" The wave had done something strange. It was as if his ability to use mana had been disoriented. "Damn those weapons..."

Rosa watched as several others emerged from hiding, not that their hiding spots remained as Rosa's wave had shifted the bushes and trees away.

"What did you mean by bloodstained?" Rosa yelled at the man.

He gave her a wary look. "You should know, being one of the heirs and the daughter of one of those vile seven."

"Vile? My mother and the others?"

The man and the rest of the rebels collapsed into the sand before they could answer.

"Hey, princess!" the golden-eyed boy yelled, walking across the sea of boulders that had formed around her. "Didn't you come here for something?"

Rosa slapped herself. "Right, I need to find Zafir and apologize to him, as well as meet up with Eiji to deliver Donato."

"I do not know about any Zafir, but I do know where you can find Eiji," Hideo said.

The boy turned to look at him. "You were standing there all this time, but are you friend or foe?"

Hideo raised his hands. "I am a good guy, honest."

"Where's Eiji?" Rosa asked, running over to Hideo. "Did something bad happen to him?"

"No, that guy can take care of himself," Hideo said, smiling. "You know, you were incredible out there."

Rosa glanced back at the sideways pool of sand littered with unconscious rebels.

"Hahaha, thanks for the compliment, but I sort of exerted a lot of mana there." She touched her forehead.

"Hey, don't faint again," the boy said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

She smiled. "Thanks, Roa."

"If you need to rest, you can do so at our place," Hideo said, turning to look at Dan. He gasped as he saw no one there. "Dan?" His emerald eyes scanned the vast open grassland until they caught sight of a figure in the distance carrying something or someone off. Whoever it was, it was moving fast.

"Dan!" Hideo yelled, chasing after the figure. "Hey, you. Whoever you are, give me back my brother this moment!" He grabbed his chain once more and pointed it at the figure. But before he could shoot an arrow at him, the person wrapped his cloak around Dan and transformed into a crow as black as tar. The person flew away into the air. Hideo would've shot it down, but he had no idea if shooting the crow would hurt his brother.

Hideo spread his emerald wings and took to the air. He followed after it but the shadow sped up, vanishing from view. The young man flew back to the ground and collapsed into his knees. "No... Dante..."

"What happened?" Rosa asked as she and Roa caught up to him.

"Dan..." he said with empty eyes. "My brother, he was taken away by this strange person who transformed into a crow."

"What was that? Magic?" Roa asked, watching the black bird head in the direction of the mountains.

Hideo gasped. "If so, then perhaps the royal family of Kasai no Ki was behind it, they have Xelerian blood in their veins!"

"I sensed only mana being used, no prana," Rosa said, staring at the sky. "So that was clearly an angel ability."

Roa suddenly spun one-eighty degrees.

"Aye, princess," a familiar voice called.

Rosa turned around and saw who it was Roa was looking at. It was a man dressed in a black robe and wearing a mask.

"A rebel!" Hideo said. He rose from the ground and raised his bow at the stranger.

"Don't shoot!" Rosa yelled.

The boy gave her a confused look. "Huh?"

Roa stared at the man curiously. "You know this guy?"

"He's Kuroshi, the one who made Hyosetsu's Baldo and Tetsuya's Agnes. Um, since you are here, could you help us find Hideo's brother?"

"I need to find him! Maybe they're still nearby!" Hideo said, wiping away his tears. He jumped into the air and flew in the direction that he had seen the shadow move.

Rosa glanced at him and spread out her own wings.

The man chuckled upon hearing Tetsuya's name as black raven wings emerged from the slits on his robe.

"Sure, I can help a bit. Say, has the young man chosen by Serrano awakened Agnes' weapon form yet?" he asked as they flew off.

Rosa shook her head as she stared at the direction where they had last seen the mysterious crow fly off in.

"No, but he is diligently working on doing so. He's being aided by Serrano and Etsuo." She narrowed her eyes at him. "But now that you are here, please enlighten me as to why you had a child such as Yuko train Tetsuya."

Kuroshi remained silent for a while before finally saying, "I desire for the two to get closer, that is all."

Rosa raised an eyebrow at him. "Closer? For what purpose?" she asked, tilting her head at him.

"That is none of your concern, princess. Now, what's going on here? Your father told me that Eiji got caught up having to deal with rebels, is that true?"

"It appears so," Rosa said, glancing back at the spot where she had fought the rebels. Even at several feet in the air, they could still make it out.

The masked blacksmith looked over his shoulder and chuckled. "Impressive, you've gotten stronger. Still, your power pales in comparison to Sofia's when she was your age."

The princess lowered her head a bit more. "Of course it does, I can never compare to her."

Kuroshi patted her head. "I am not so sure about that. I can see a future in which you become someone as strong as her. So long as you keep at it, that is."

Rosa looked up at his mask. His long black bangs obscured his eyes. She couldn't help but wonder how he could see. Was it his foresight that allowed him to see despite the obscurities?

"You know, you are an odd one."

Rosa narrowed her eyes at him. "Not this again..."

Roa snickered. "Nice one."

Kuroshi turned his head toward Roa. "You're..."

"Sorry to interrupt your chatter, but I need to rescue my brother! Anything else you know which might help?" Hideo yelled from several meters away. He had slowed down his pace to listen in on their conversation. He had hoped that Kuroshi would have more information to offer about Dan, but it seemed he wasn't of much help.

The masked man moved his head left and right. "Right, right. That person headed off to the mountain you two went hunting on."

Hideo blinked. "How did you—"

The man snickered. "I saw it through Donato's eyes."

"Donato? I have no idea what you're talking about, but thanks!" Hideo said, rushing back in the direction of the mountain.

Kuroshi watched as the young man vanished from view. "Donato appears to have taken a liking to him."

"You could see through Donato?" Rosalba asked, looking up at him.

Kuroshi nodded. "Yes. I can see through all five weapons. Of course, some things are blurry from time to time, just like the future of their owners."

"Their futures?" Roa asked as they continued flying in the direction Hideo had rushed off to. Rosa glanced at Kuroshi's wings and then back at his. They both had very similar wings.

"Yes." Kuroshi gazed into Rosalba's hazel eyes. "You know, despite not being one of the four who have thus far been chosen to wield my creations, I can see your future as clearly as theirs."

"Y-you can?"

"Yes. That's how I know you have great potential. A potential that rivals that of Agnes' owner. Of course, there are multiple paths one can take in life, thus multiple outcomes. Whether you end up in that path or not is all up to the choices you make. The same goes for the others. Take Baldo's owner, for example, he could become a great ruler. Yet, he also can become the opposite, a man ruined by his own power and hubris. Then there's Tetsuya who can become a hero for the ages or a young man consumed by the darkness in his heart."

"D-darkness?" Rosa asked, not believing what she was hearing. The boy with the sunshine-like smile, consumed by darkness?

Kuroshi looked away. "Perhaps I should not share this with you. After all, knowing the future can be a hazard. Though, do note that those are but a small fraction of the multiple outcomes. Some of them are vastly different, while others are somewhere between the aforementioned. And of course, there's the future I see for all of the wielders, including Donato's eventual owner, an early death. Same goes for you, princess."

Rosa's lips quivered. The future was frightening, but she knew she couldn't allow it to frighten her. Her older sister had once told her that if she did, it could mean letting the bad outcomes take root.

Kuroshi raised his finger at Hideo, who had wandered off, not waiting for them to follow him. "Now, go help that boy."

The princess nodded and sped up, not waiting for the flow of time to decide her future for her.

**Solar Note: What did you think of the rebels? Think that Hideo will be able to rescue Dan? As for what Kuroshi said... think that they'll be able to prevent the eventual bad future he foresaw for the five knights and Rosalba?**