[Outside the palace- A few moments earlier]

The gray cloaked figure stopped his advancement toward Kuroshi and the others. He turned his golden eyes northward as the ground had barely begun to shake.

"He's coming," he whispered.

Kuroshi glanced the direction he was looking at. The sky glowed in the colors of the rainbow even though it was broad daylight.

"Aurora, this far south?" Koukyuu asked.

"This aura... It's..." Kuroshi said. He gasped, and his eyes widened. "No, not him!"

"Is it an abyssmal?" Hideaki asked as he hugged Dan.

"Yes. A dangerous one," Kuroshi said, furrowing his brow.

"Dad, so it's almost time," Etsuo whispered.

Hideo raised his rifle at Etsuo. "Wait, did you just say 'Dad'? What do you mean? Was the king right about you?"

Kuroshi spun around and grabbed Etsuo by the collar of his shirt. "So you were who I thought you were. You're Daisaru's child!"

"How... do... you know him," Etsuo asked as he clenched Kuroshi's arm. He tried to push Kuroshi's arm away, but the man's grip was too firm for him.

"Let go of him!" Roa yelled as he unleashed black electricity from his hands.

Hideaki blew away the lightning with a shield of wind, grabbed Roa by the neck, and slammed him to the ground. "Sorry for doing this," the young Duke said. "I know that you helped us save Dan. And for that, I'm grateful, but if you are an enemy, then I won't hesitate to capture you."

"Shut up!" Roa growled as his hands crackled with sparks.

Hideaki tried to say something, but nothing came out. He touched his throat. Still, no sound came out.

"Dad!" Dan said, running toward his father.

Koukyuu grabbed him by the arm and shook her head. "Don't. It's dangerous. Stand close to me," the Kasai no Ki princess said, backing away as the shaking of the earth started to come to an end.

"Let go of Etsuo!" Roa yelled as darkness began to cover him.

Etsuo closed his eyes and dissolved into a pile of goo.

Kiara screamed. "He melted!"

"I'm fine," Etsuo's voice echoed out of the goo.

"What... what are you?" Hideo asked as he pointed his gun at him. He shot at him, but the bullets exploded as they made contact with the heat being radiated from the now goo Etsuo.

"Obviously he's an abyssmal," the cloaked young man said as he appeared behind Hideaki's kids and the Kasai no Ki princess and threw a dark sphere over at the palace gates. Four tails sprung out of the young man's cloak and stabbed the four of them before they could even move.

"Kiara!" Etsuo yelled as he began to turn back to his usual form. He cupped both hands over his mouth. "No... why?"

"Get out of here, Etsuo!" Roa yelled.

Hideaki's eyes widened at the sight of his kids laying on the ground with deep wounds. He curled his hands together and let out a scream. Golden flames covered him. Roa screamed in pain as the fire caught him. The duke threw Roa aside. The black-haired teen quickly began to spin in the ground, but the flames wouldn't stop.

"Roa!" Etsuo yelled. He stepped back, tears streaming down his face.

He glanced up at Hideaki, who had transformed his golden sun-shaped necklace into a staff. The duke pointed the weapon at the cloaked youth. The monkey boy jumped into the air as the duke of Makkuroyama thrust his staff forward, allowing him to avoid being impaled by one of the staff's seven sharp points. The monkey boy landed on the tip of the staff with one foot.

Kuroshi whistled. "Impressive. Your mom has taught you well!"

"Thanks," Etsuo said as he jumped into a tree as Hideaki yanked his staff back.

"Now isn't the time to admire their skills, Kuroshi. Hurry up and heal my kids and Princess Koukyuu! They're still alive, but barely."

"Is that all you Zionian's have?" the stranger asked, snickering. He admired the crimson blood dripping off of his gray tails. "I expected more. Seems that we might not have any need for Master Daisaru after all."

"Like this is all we got!" Kuroshi said as he threw dust into the air, clouding up the fox boy's glasses. He tackled the cloaked young man to the ground, shattering the cobblestones into dust in the process.

"Not bad! But I can do better!" the young man said, chuckling. He removed his glasses and stared at Kuroshi. The latter prepared to strike him by stabbing him in the chest with an earth arrow he had formed out of the dust around them. "Go blind!"

Kuroshi gasped as his vision began to fade. His hair rose as he felt a tail strike his side. He moved away from the fox boy and rolled on the ground. He clenched his side and winced. If not for his regenerative abilities, he would be dead. He stared at the four unconscious kids on the side. They were like blurry dots, or at least they were until everything went blank.

The young man chuckled. "I sense that you're stronger than this, but something is affecting your power, isn't it? It's... as if your power is divided into two." He raised his tails over Kuroshi. "No matter. You'll die here!"

Kuroshi turned around and stopped the four tails with his bare hands. He might not have been able to see, but he could still sense him. "I can still defeat you with this strength alone, kitsune!"

"Hmph, I'll love to see you try!" the teen said as he yanked the tips of his tails free from the Kurorikuian blacksmith. He jumped back several feet away and grinned. Five more gray fox tails emerged from beneath the cloak and waved around him as a dark aura covered him. He glanced over at the still spinning Roa. "Get up, Roa. Help us take over this palace, you liar."

Etsuo clenched his hands into fists as Roa continued to scream. He had to make a decision then and there. To fight or not.

"Satoru! Grab the four! I'll grab Roa!" Etsuo yelled as he jumped up from the tree he was perched in.

"Ohhh, hostages, eh? Good idea!" Satoru said as he yanked Hideo and the others off the ground with his tails. "Though these four don't seem like they've got much time left to live. I'll give them two, maybe three minutes max."

"I'll heal them!" Etsuo said as he jumped down from one of the trees, passing by Hideaki.

Hideaki swung around and cut Etsuo's cheek before he could land next to Roa.

Etsuo could read his lips. He was telling him, 'You befriended Kiara and the others for this, didn't you?'

Etsuo lowered his head. "Sorry," he said as he grabbed the staff with both his hands. Hideaki unleashed a torrent of flames on him, but they didn't affect him at all. The monkey boy gave the duke a solemn smile. "For your information, flames don't work on me."

Hideaki let go of the staff and kicked Etsuo through a row of wisteria trees. Blades of wind formed around the duke's hands. "Kuroshi, hurry up and heal my children and the Kasai no Ki princess. Don't allow that fox to kidnap them. I'll take care of retrieving that white-haired one. For now, the black-haired one is no issue for us," Hideaki said, the effects of whatever caused him to lose his voice now gone.

"Hey, wait!" Kuroshi yelled, but it was too late. Kuroshi grumbled. "Does he really think that I can protect these four in this state?"

"No...no need to protect me," Koukyuu said as she rose from the floor. Her hand was over her wound, which thankfully was a spot she could reach with ease. Her magic was healing it slowly but surely. She turned and glared at Satoru. "So... you were the Zettai they were referring to. Hmph, your prana is familiar. Reminds me of a certain...teacher of mine."

Satoru chuckled. "Oh, really? Wonder if it's my old man. Mother did say that he was a teacher at some school in the Realm of Magic."

Koukyuu gasped as she looked up into his cold eyes. "Your... father? Could it be..." Her eyes widened. "That guy has a son?"

Satoru sighed. "Not surprised that he doesn't speak of me," he said, putting a hand on his hips as he walked over to her. He knelt down and put a hand on her chin, raising it so that their gazes locked. "Now, stay still and come with us. I promise we won't hurt you and the others if you do."

"Damn, why at a time like this? Splitting up was probably one of my worst ideas," Kuroshi said, wincing as his wounds failed to heal. "Anis, hurry up and come already!"

"Begone!" Satoru said as he slapped Kuroshi with one of his tails, sending him rolling away. He turned his gaze back on Koukyuu and the Makkuroyama children. "Bye. I'll leave Etsuo the task of saving Roa."

"You bastard..." Hideo said as he opened his eyes. "Who... do you think you are? Hurting... my family... I'm gonna kill you!" A blast of wind shot out of the youngest knight's mouth, but Satoru deflected it with his bare arm.

"Hmm, so you're alive too. How?" Satoru said, tilting his head.

Koukyuu smiled as a white fox tail appeared from the ground and wrapped itself around Hideo. Satoru traced his tail back over to Koukyuu.

"Wouldn't you love to know?" she asked, giving him a sly grin.

She rushed toward the fox boy and slapped him with another of her tails.

"Woah, nice hit," Satoru said, rubbing his cheek. "You're amazing, Princess! No wonder Roa showed interest in you! Then again, I should expect something from one who is likely my father's pupil."

"Say good night!" a voice called out. He turned his head and saw Kuroshi. Within the masked man's hands was a black bow. He had launched a purple arrow at him.

Satoru gasped and moved his head to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow. He chuckled. "Close, but not close enough! Maybe if you hadn't said anything, you would've hit me!"

"Who said that I was aiming for you?" Kuroshi said as tendrils of darkness extended out of the tips of his fingers and grabbed hold of the still unconscious Kiara and Dan. Their wounds weren't nearly as healed as Hideo's and Koukyuu's.

Satoru growled. "So it was a distraction, nice trick, but you won't take my prey from me!" A veil of blue energy covered the young man. The mass of energy was followed by a shock wave that sent Kuroshi and everyone else in the vicinity flying away. The entire garden and palace were covered in a six-inch layer of ice.

Everyone, except for Roa, who was freed from the flames, was frozen on the spot.

Roa gasped. He was but a blob of darkness. "T-thanks. Had that continued, those flames might've reached my core," the raven-haired teen mumbled as he began to regenerate.

Satoru scoffed. "I wasn't aiming to save you, but this is a good development for us. Now we only need to rescue Etsuo. Though, perhaps leaving that weakling behind would be our best course of action."

Roa tackled Satoru to the floor.

"Hey!" Satoru yelled. Though he soon saw why Roa had pushed him. Balls of flame had been flung at him. Standing up from the ice was none other than the Kasai no Ki princess, Koukyuu.

"No way," Satoru said, eyes wide. "What are you? Why didn't my ice affect you?"

"You're freaked out by me?" Koukyuu asked as she dusted off the ice off of her white coat. "Look at me, and you'll see why." She raised a hand and grasped the cold air around her, forming a spear of ice as red wings sprout out of her back. "As for what I am... well, people back in Kyuu Seishin, they call me a 'mutt'."

*Character Section*

Koukyuu Zettai Kasai no Ki- Sex: Female Age: 17 Titles: The Angelic Fox Princess

**Solar Note: What do you think the fate of the Makkuroyama children will be? What about Tetsuya, will he be able to fend off the darkness? Also, what do you think is wrong with Kuroshi that he can't fight as well as he should?**