[Dungeon]

"Are you alright?" Etsuo asked as he watched Kiara open her eyes. "Do you feel any pain?"

"I'm fine," Kiara said, smiling slightly. She stared at the four-inch scar running down his chest. "That wound..."

Etsuo touched the scar and smiled. "It's fine. It's healing. My regenerative abilities are still active, though far slower than usual."

"If you like, I can heal it for you," Serrano said, smiling.

The white-haired teen smiled back. "Thanks. Though, it will look bad if you heal me. Like that guy said, it's unwise to be kind to the enemy. You saw how Roa and I took advantage of the princess's kindness."

Serrano snickered. "Kiara here told me your reasons for joining Roa and Satoru on this mission. You are one who would rather not fight, isn't that right?"

Etsuo lowered his head. Zionia might've had its number of mean people, but it also had so many kind people. The ones around his age were wildly different than the kids in his town. In a way, he could see how his uncle Skah turned out the way he did and why his aunt Selena and his late uncle decided to stay in Zionia. This world was filled with radiance.

"Yeah, it's true. Though, can you truly trust my words?" Etsuo asked, keeping his head down.

The Seven-Hill knight tilted his head. "True, you could've lied to Kiara, but why would you bring up the possibility if your attempt is to deceive?"

"How is everything coming along?" Setsuko asked as she descended the stone stairs. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw the wound on Etsuo's chest and the blood in the cell. "What happened here?"

"Naoru pushed Kiara and stabbed Etsuo. The guy tried taking control of who guards Etsuo. I sent him outside if you wish to speak with him. Though, he claims that your father gave him orders to watch over Etsuo's guards and take over should he deem them unfit."

"I'll go speak with him now," Setsuko said, turning around. "He'll learn to be respectful of others. Simply because Etsuo is a war captive doesn't give him the right to mistreat people."

"You won't be going anywhere," a voice called out.

Setsuko stepped back as a red-haired girl with an eye-patch on her forehead descended the steps. "Who are you, and how did you get inside?"

"My name is Mei Sun Wukong, and I'm here for my big brother!" she said, holding a hand out.

"Mei!" Etsuo yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Papa sent me to save you upon my request. Don't worry, big brother, I'll deal with these guards soon."

She removed the eye patch on her forehead to reveal a third eye. The eye opened and unleashed a brilliant golden aura that spread throughout the palace grounds.

Serrano stared at his hands as the light subsided. "I... I don't feel any different."

"She shut down your powers," Setsuko said as she knelt down. She transformed her ankle bracelet into its meteor hammer form.

"My powers?" Serrano tried to have shadows materialize in his hands, yet nothing happened. "You're right!"

Mei gasped. "What? How can you..."

Setsuko grinned. "The king had me stay back for one reason, and that reason is not due to my status as heir. This here weapon is called Alma," the princess said, raising her weapon's chain. "It was created with some extraordinary stones containing an angel who can feel all. Whenever one tries to mess with my senses, it allows me to override those effects. Just now, you broke the connection the others had with mana, didn't you?"

Mei jumped back. "To think there's such a weapon. So, you are the king's Plan B should his forces fall to Papa. Sadly for you, that isn't enough to defeat him. He rarely even uses that special ability anyway."

"What ability to do you speak of?" Serrano asked. He kept his grip on the black sword that Kuroshi had given him the day before his departure. With his powers gone, he only had the sword to fight back with. Did that man anticipate such a scenario? One in which transforming Aventine would be useless for him?

Mei's hands shook. "You mean, you don't know?"

Setsuko stepped forward and tossed her weapon, striking Mei with one fell swoop, knocking her out the door.

"Sis!" Etsuo yelled as he watched from his cell.

"Calm down, they won't kill her," Kiara said, holding him from behind.

Mei grimaced as black blood trickled down her arms and face. "Seems cousin Roa would've been more of a use in saving brother than me after all."

"Got you!" a voice called out. An arm wrapped around Mei, and a sharp wooden sword was placed against her neck. "Don't move."

"You think I'm afraid of that?" Mei asked as she stared back at her captor. It was Reno.

"No, but you should be afraid of me!" Setsuko said. She raised a hand into the air, causing gooey gray earth to emerge from the stones. She formed a fist but quickly opened it, signaling to Reno to let go of Mei.

Reno nodded and let go of the girl.

"Earth Swirl!" the crown princess yelled at the top of her lungs. The gray earth danced around the girl like clay in a potter's wheel. It slowly closed in around her. Whenever she tried to move, the earth followed, even if it was only an inch.

Etsuo gulped.

Serrano grinned as he leaned against the monkey prince's cell. "Princess Setsuko is far stronger than her little sister. With her level of control over mana and immunity to having her powers disabled, she is a juggernaut."

Mei lowered her head in defeat. "To think that there was someone like her. If only cousin Roa and the others were here." She chuckled as she slashed through the earth with a dark-red sword formed out of shadows that had gathered around one of her stone covered hands.

"I am not so weak as to be captured without a decent fight. You'll die first, princess!" Mei said, grinning.

Serrano stepped in and blocked her shadow sword with the black sword he had pointed at Naoru. "It would've been better to not struggle," he said, glaring at her.

"Ha! I say the same thing back to you! This war wouldn't be necessary if you would surrender! Why risk your lives for an unwinnable war?"

"Unwinnable? You sure about that?"

"Yes, for destiny has foretold that the kingdoms of light shall fall to the primordial darkness! All shall be returned to Abyssia!" Mei yelled. The teenage girl raised her foot and aimed for Serrano's side. Serrano stopped it with his hand.

"Listen, I don't wish to hit a girl, so just give up," Serrano said as he began to push her sword back.

"How very chivalrous of you," Mei said, head-butting him.

Serrano grimaced. Her head was as tough as stone, just like Tetsuya's.

"If you can't hit her, then you shouldn't have intervened and stopped an attack I could've dodged with ease," Setsuko said as she appeared behind Mei. The older princess wrapped Alma's platinum chain around the girl's neck.

"Sorry," Serrano said as he rubbed his head. "It was instinct."

Mei closed her eyes and dissolved into a puddle of goo.

"Step back!" Serrano yelled.

Setsuko didn't need his warning as she took to the air with a pair of brilliant orange wings.

"Brother!" Mei yelled as she charged for the cell.

Serrano stabbed her, but the blob-Mei was unaffected by it as she continued to move. The cut on the goo quickly healed too.

"Step aside, Serrano, kids!" Setsuko yelled as she twirled Alma.

Kiara tried to pull Etsuo away from the cell, but he wasn't budging.

"Kiara, move!" Dan yelled.

Setsuko sighed as she slowed down her weapon. "Let's see if this will work again. Earth Swirl!"

Once more, the ground around Mei twisted and turned. Mei cried as the ground wrapped around her.

"Sis!" Etsuo yelled as he held a hand out for her.

"Nice job!" Reno said as he appeared behind the princess. A grin covered his face as the wooden sword in his hands became covered in flames.

Serrano turned around and charged at him. "Move, princess!"

Setsuko sighed and aimed the second sphere of Alma at the rebel. Reno, however, blocked it with his sword. The burning wood cracked to reveal Reno's angel tool underneath.

"What's the meaning of this, Reno?" the crown princess asked.

"Thanks, Reno," Mei's voice echoed as she emerged from the earth.

Serrano turned around and stabbed Mei.

"Hey! I thought you couldn't hit girls! This is the second time you hit me!" she whined.

"You're goo, so it's easier to hit you," he said, smirking.

"What? So if I were in my angelic form, you wouldn't? You truly are a chivalrous knight," Mei complained. "This sword's blade..."

Serrano ignored her words and turned his attention back to Setsuko and Reno. "Reno. You were a spy too?"

"Yup, Master Roa recruited me since the day of our defeat. In return for helping him out, we rebels will get our wish," he said with a broad grin."Now, die, Knight of Aventine!"

Serrano gasped as Reno's djinn appeared behind him. Setsuko turned around and watched in horror as the ghostly-looking creature crushed Serrano's body.

The blue-haired young man's screams filled the hall though they were short-lived as his head went limped.

"Serra!" she screamed.

"Hey, no turning your back on the enemy!" Reno said as he rushed at her.

Setsuko flipped around and slammed Reno into the wall with Alma. Though his blade had managed to pierce her side.

"You, djinn, let Serra go, or I'll kill your master!" Setsuko managed to say through the agonizing pain. There was a fierce look in her orange-brown eyes. She honestly would do it.

Reno pushed himself up from the ground. "Let him go."

The djinn nodded and tossed Serrano deeper into the dungeon.

"Serra!" Setsuko turned toward Reno and picked him up by the collar of his shirt. "Seems Father and Naoru were partially right after all. You ex-rebels weren't to be trusted."

Reno smiled as the djinn appeared behind the princess. "Your throne belongs to us, princess."

Setsuko aimed Alma at the djinn, but her weapon went through its smoke-like body and struck the wall behind it. The creature re-materialized and picked her up.

"Let go of me!" Setsuko screamed, maintaining the defiant look in her eyes. The ground trembled with her rage. The djinn obliged and tossed her in the direction he had thrown Serrano in.

Setsuko spun around mid-air, but that failed to stop her momentum. But she did manage to send a wave of stone at them, forcing the djinn to pull Reno aside and take the brunt of her attack instead.

"Alabaster, go and hold them off. I am certain that they will be back, at least the princess," Reno commanded.

The djinn nodded and vanished.

"Reno, what are you doing? Didn't you give up?" Kiara yelled as she continued to try to pull Etsuo back.

"Give up?" Reno scoffed. "We rebels never give up! We simply accepted peace in the short-term to buy time. Time is what we needed for the right opportunity to arise. That is what Master Roa taught me that day when he came to my room with his offer. It was a high risk for him to do so. I could've revealed who he and Etsuo were. Yet, it was a wise decision."

"I knew it!" Dan yelled. "I... I knew y-you couldn't be trusted." The child stepped back and grabbed his head as Mei slithered through the cell.

Reno's smile faded. "I wish that uncle Hideaki hadn't brought you here, though I mostly wish that he hadn't stepped in."

"D-dad, where is he?" Dan said with a frightened look on his face.

"He and the others who got in our way were all taken down by Mei and me. Though don't worry, I left them within a few inches of their lives," Reno answered as he pulled Serrano's black sword up from the ground, allowing Mei to move again.

"Dan, stay still. Don't try to fight," Kiara said as she watched Mei unlock the cell with her gooey body. She let go of Etsuo and ran out of the cell as it clicked open

"Is she fleeing?" Mei asked. She was starting to revert back to her standard form.

Etsuo gasped as he saw what Kiara was aiming for. The cell across from Etsuo was unlocked. Kiara covered the opening with a vortex of wind and grabbed the crystal encased in a glass container.

"If you leave, you won't be taking this!" she yelled.

"Dine!" Etsuo cried out.

Mei gasped. "Did you just call that thing, Dine?"

Etsuo nodded. "I don't know how her core evolved, but that stone is Dine's."

Mei turned around and ripped through the wind wall with earth.

Dan let out a piercing scream as Kiara collapsed to the floor, a bloodied mess due to the various stones which had pierced her back.

"S-sister!" Dan yelled. He shook his head. "No... no... no! T-this can't be happening!"

Etsuo stared at Mei in shock. He stepped back and fell to his knees. "No..."

"To think that the enemy kidnapped Dine," Mei said with a stern look.

"You killed my sister!" Dan yelled as he charged at Mei.

Mei slapped the child. Dan rolled to the ground.

"Stop that!" Etsuo yelled. "Why did you do that! You weren't supposed to kill Kiara or hurt Dan!"

"You forgot Mommy's words, big brother? She said to kill those who one deems necessary to kill."

"It was unnecessary to kill her!" Reno yelled as he stared at his cousin's unmoving body. He stepped back and turned around. "I didn't wish for any of my family to die."

"Why, didn't you kill me instead?" Dan cried. He punched the ground. "I... I don't want to live. Not with this pain!"

"Dan," Etsuo said, reaching a hand out for him.

"D-don't get close, you monster!" he yelled. He turned toward Etsuo, who was giving him a sympathetic look. "I hate you! I hate you all!"

Etsuo lowered his head. "Dan... I'm... sorry."

Suddenly Kiara's body started to glow.

"What's going on?" Reno asked as he lowered his sword.

"I'm not sure, but let's get Dine's core and get out of here," Mei said. She took a step forward. Her mouth widened as she saw that Dine's core was sinking into Kiara's body. "What are you doing, Dine?"

Dine didn't respond.

"Sis?" Dan asked as he looked up. He began to make strange noises as darkness covered his sister's body. The deep wounds that Mei had inflicted on Kiara were rapidly healing.

Etsuo dashed into Dine's cell and picked up Kiara's body. "Dine, what are you up to?" he whispered as he kissed Kiara's forehead. "Mei, get us out of here. We're taking Kiara with us."

"What was that just now?" Mei said with a grin. "Was that for Dine or the girl?"

Etsuo blushed. "It's..."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Serrano yelled as he picked up his sword from the ground.

"The heck?" Reno said.

Serrano charged at them with sword on hand.

Mei grumbled. "I'll hold him off. Reno, get those chains off my brother! Hurry!"

Reno gasped. "Alabaster... We got no time, we have to get away right now!"

"You won't!" Serrano yelled as he brought his sword down on Mei, who guarded with her arm.

"Hey, what happened to not hurting girls?" Mei asked with a grin.

"You folks hurt Setsuko!" He glanced at Kiara and Dan. "As well as our allies!"

"How can you heal so fast?" Reno asked. "Was it Setsuko?"

"My body healed on its own," Serrano yelled as his sword began to cut through Mei's arm.

Mei let out a scream. "H...urry! Reno!"

Reno ran toward Etsuo and melted the chains. "Now, monkey boy!"

Etsuo nodded and opened a portal behind him. "Reno, grab your other cousin. We're taking him with us."

Dan looked up. "No... no!"

Reno held a hand out to him. "Sorry, cuz. Seems you have to play the role of hostage yet again."

"No!" Dan yelled at the top of his lungs as Reno grabbed hold of him.

"Let him go!" Serrano yelled as he continued to fight Mei. Mei kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing into one of the dozens of empty cells.

"Don't worry, Dan, I will treat you two like you treated me," Etsuo said with a slight smile. "I'll show you around Abyssia. I'll even introduce you to my uncle."

Dan's screaming softened. "Y-you mean it?"

Reno picked him up.

"Let me go!" he yelled.

"I do," Etsuo responded to Dan's earlier question. "Reno, let Dan go and come over here."

Reno unhanded him and ran into Dine's cell.

Serrano stood up and rushed at Mei, slicing off an arm with one swing of his sword. Though dark tendrils shot out of the stump and grabbed him.

"Let Kiara and Dan go!" he yelled as he sliced through the tendrils.

Etsuo stepped back. "Sorry, Serrano. I can't leave her here. Within Kiara is Dine."

The white-haired teen dropped his head.

"I can't leave Dine alone, not again. Plus, Kiara is my friend. I want to know if she's gonna be fine. I've never seen a core merge with another like this. My mom might know something about it."

Serrano noticed the core on Kiara's chest. It was slowly burrowing deeper and deeper into her body like some strange parasite. "That's the crystal Zafir brought back from the north. You wish to protect someone who killed thousands of innocent people?"

Etsuo closed his eyes. "I don't know why Dine did that. She was never someone violent. Someone must've forced her to. I want to find out what happened! For that, I must go. I also wish to reunite with Roa. If not for those things, then I wouldn't mind staying in this dungeon."

Tears strode down the white-haired teen's face.

"I'm so sorry. I wish that we didn't have to fight, but this is fated like my sister said. If it's not us, then way worse could come to Zionia in the future."

"Worse?" Serrano asked.

Etsuo nodded. "Our realm... it won't stop until it has destroyed everything. The Pillars are the strongest now that the Four Rulers are dying. Still, other strong people could arise in the decades ahead, fed by Abyssia's desire for the light and destruction. I don't want to see Zionia crumble! I rather have to fight myself and ensure a more honorable war than what could befall it instead!"

"So, you rather play into destiny's hands than confront it? Also, you think lying to others is honorable?" Serrano snapped.

Etsuo lowered his head. "There's no fighting what is foretold in the long run. You can merely delay it, but like death comes to a mortal, so will Abyssia's conquest come to Zionia. As for lying, it's not like you haven't lied before, right?"

Serrano looked away. "Still, that doesn't make it right. For either you or I."

"True. But, perhaps, lies are necessary to ensure peace."

"I've been taught that too, but is it true?" Serrano asked as he dropped his sword. He closed his eyes tightly. "Wouldn't lies simply destroy you in the long run too?"

"Maybe, the truth is always set free. So will one day the darkness of my homeland be set free upon this realm and the others. Farewell now, cousin."

Serrano gasped. He watched as Etsuo fell back into the portal, followed by Reno.

"Kiara!" Dan yelled, running after them.

"Dan!" Serrano yelled, reaching a hand out for him, but the boy passed him like the wind and vanished into the portal.

Mei smiled at him. "Bye, dear cousin." She let go of him and jumped several feet into the portal.

"Cousin?" Serrano asked as he looked down at his hands. The way that Mei had healed was similar to the way he had recovered from the wounds he had sustained not too long ago. "Am I... part abyssmal?"

"Serra!" Setsuko yelled as she ran at him. She swung her weapon at the portal like she did when Satoru and Roa fled the palace, but this time it didn't reach it in time before it closed.

The heiress of Kuroriku was healing her wounds, which included internal bleeding.

She looked around at the otherwise empty dungeon. Her hands curled into a pair of fists. "They won, didn't they?"

Serrano turned around and punched the wall. "Yeah. I... couldn't stop them with a simple sword! Even if I had Aventine, I probably wouldn't have been able to do much else with that girl disabling my powers."

Setsuko sighed. "Come on, we can reflect on this later. Let's go check on the others. Reno said he left them within an inch of their lives. Considering the wounds his djinn inflicted on the two of us, I don't doubt it."

Serrano nodded. "Yeah. Seems that kid wasn't bluffing when he said he was at the level of a Seven-Hill. He even managed to get you to lower you guard, a feat even I struggle with."

"Is anyone there!" Koukyuu's voice rang from upstairs.

The pair looked at each other with worry. Why was the Kasai no Ki princess back so soon? Had something happened to the others?

**Solar Note: Thoughts? Theories?**