"Dad," I said, staring at him. Only an hour or so had passed since the fight with Daisaru ended, but it felt like an eternity. I just wanted my dad to wake up. At least Setty was getting some rest. I didn't want her to tire herself further. She hadn't gotten a moment's rest since she arrived in this realm. Well, possibly even longer than that as she had been training.

I sat my head on the bed and held Dad's hand. It was cold to the touch.

"Please wake up soon, Daddy," I whispered as I closed my eyes.

"Rosa," a voice called out. I sat up. It wasn't Dad's voice, but that of a woman. I glanced around the room. No one else was there. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Sorry, but I won't do that. Not yet, at least. I do wonder what kind of despair your father will be in once you're dead."

"Dead?" I asked. I spun around, expecting someone to appear, but there was no one there either—just my dad. Dad's eyelids twitched, and his hands began to move.

"Dad!" I yelled, hugging him. "You're awake!"

My eyes widened as a hand wrapped around my neck, putting pressure on it. "Dad? What are you do-" Shivers ran down my spine as I saw my dad's hazel eyes had become devoid of their greens and blues. They reminded me of Dan and Suzuki's when they were turned into demons.

He didn't even bat an eye at my words. Was the voice I heard earlier from a demon? Was she the one controlling him?

"D... Dad!" I said, tears streaming down my eyes, and he strengthened his grip on it. My ruby bracelet transformed into its weapon form. I didn't wish to hurt him, but I couldn't let him kill me. "I'm sorry for doing this, Dad." The drones floating above me fired off weak lasers at his hands, but he continued to cling on to me. He didn't even flinch. Could he feel no pain?

I fired off more substantial beams, knocking his hand away with sheer force.

"Sorry again, Daddy. I promise that I'll heal those wounds later," I said, jumping back. I moved the drones in front of me. "Once I've freed you from possession."

Four of the drones spread out and formed a forcefield around Daddy. He punched the cage, but doing so sent him flying to the ground.

He stared at the drones. "So..."

My eyes widened. Was he reacting to them? Was it because of my mom?

"Dad fight the demon's control!" I yelled.

He gripped his head and shook his head in pain. His head swung back as he let out a piercing scream.

"Daddy!" I yelled. I wanted to lower the barrier, but doing so would've put me in danger. "Please hold on." I turned around. "I'm going to go grab Takuya! He might know what to do!"

Hopefully, Nori arrived. He would also be a big help. After all, he did purify Suzuki. Xime might be able to help too.

I ran out of the room, entering a long and wide corridor. Due to the carpet's color bouncing off on the white walls, the hall had a red glow.

"If I remember correctly, Takuya's room is this way!" I said, turning left. My face smacked into something hard. "Ow. Who put up a wall?"

"You really aren't looking where you're going, are you?"

I glanced up and saw that it was Hyosetsu. My head had hit his chest. I didn't notice due to being angry at Tetsu, but he looked different. His body was more muscular. Guess that he had worked out during his time in Munil. Or perhaps it was a byproduct of his training rather than the passage of time. Tetsu also seemed to have gained more muscle, but not as much as lanky Hyo.

Hyosetsu flicked me on the forehead. "Stop staring," he said, glaring at me. His face was slightly red. He averted his gaze as soon as he noticed me staring at his face.

"Sorry," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Do you know where I can find Takuya? And have Nori and Ximena arrived?"

His scowl lessened. "Why are you looking for them?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Dad's room. "I need their help getting rid of a demon."

Hyosetsu gasped and walked around me. He opened the door and saw my dad trying to break through the barrier. "How did this happen? When did he wake up?"

"I don't think he has. His body appears to be animated by a demon. I heard her voice before he tried to choke me."

Hyosetsu's arms tensed up. "I see." He stepped back and closed the room. "Go get Takuya. I saw him in the library before coming here."

I smiled. He probably was reading books there himself after helping lock up the Ziz.

"Thanks, Hyo!"

He covered his face with his hands. "Don't call me that," he mumbled.

I would've liked to tease him about his nickname, but I had to get going. Dad was my first priority.

Hyo hadn't said a thing about Nori and Ximena. Had they not arrived yet, or did something terrible happen to them? Tetsu, Serra, Yuko, Maki, and Onami hadn't been heard from either.

"Kohri went to look for his girlfriend and the others," Hyosetsu said, walking behind me.

I jumped a little. "Weren't you going to go do your own thing?"

"I already did," he said.

I blinked. "And that was?"

"I encased the king in a barrier of ice to be safe."

Felt terrible for Dad, but that probably was for the best. My barrier was sturdy, but I wasn't sure what would happen when I was away from it. I'd never tried to maintain the pyramid from a long distance when not focused on it.

My lips curled up a little. "Thanks again."

He crossed his hands over his chest and looked down. "Don't mention it. He is the king. As a knight, it's my duty to assist him."

I smiled. He didn't sound very interested in knightly duties when the Knights of Prophecy first gathered in the throne room. It was a good thing that Hideo and he were taking it more seriously. Hopefully, so was Eiichi.

Eiichi, I still needed to find out if he really was the one who tried to take advantage of me. My hands shook as I remembered being hit by a shield. The attacker had disguised himself as Tetsuya to trick me.

"You alright?" Hyosetsu asked, staring at my hands.

I swung them behind my back and forced a smile. "Huh? Well, apart from my dad being turned into a demon, I'm fine."

He furrowed his brow. "No need for sarcasm."

Did it come off like that? I hadn't meant to be sarcastic.

The sound of a vibrating phone snapped me out of my thoughts. Hyosetsu reached into the pocket of his coat and took out a blue flip phone.

"It's Kohri," Hyosetsu said.

"Did you get that here?" I asked, remembering how at the games, the Xelerians only had those kinds of phones. This realm was a decade or two behind ours in terms of technology.

He huffed. "No, this is my phone from home."

"What? You have such an old phone!"

He rolled his eyes. "So what? It's still as handy as a smartphone when it comes to its main task."

"How can you get service here? We're in another world and a densely forested part of it at that."

He clicked buttons on his phone. "Easy, I bought a service. The princess of this country helped me out with that. They have cell towers disguised as trees as to not stick out."

"Grace helped you?" She had also helped Setty and me with getting my dad treated.

"Yes. She has a good head on her shoulders." He glanced at me and smiled impishly. "I think that you can learn a lot from her."

I puffed my cheeks. His physique and attitude toward being a knight might've changed, but he was still the same jerk as always.

"What did Kohri text say?" Or at least I assumed it was a text as he never answered it.

"He said that he's with his girlfriend. She's accompanied by Nori and the two Kasai no Ki girls." He must've meant Ximena and Akane. "They're heading here right now."

"What about the other four?" I asked.

"Ximena told him that they got intercepted by demons shortly after we departed. That was why they had fallen behind us. Tetsuya and Yuko told them to go ahead, but then another demon appeared, so Maki and Serrano stayed behind."

So, those surges in energy I felt really did belong to Maki, Serra, and Tetsu.

"More demons." I glanced up at his stoic face. "Think that they're in league with the abysmals?"

"Who knows," he said, closing his phone.

"Well, it seems that they're attacking at the same time. But, it's more of a parallel operation than a coordinated one."

Hyosetsu laughed. "Indeed. Well, if the two are working together, then we have a lot of problems ahead. If they aren't, then we might benefit from it."

I scratched my face. "You're thinking about pitting them against one another, right?"

He smiled. "Did you get smarter while I was away?"

I delivered a double punch to his arm. "I wasn't stupid, to begin with, jerk!"

"Alright, alright. Calm down. We're here."

I glanced at what he was staring at. Following his gaze, I reached two large wide-open doors. Beyond the entrance was a world filled with books.

"Amazing!" I said, running ahead.

"It is, isn't it?" Hyosetsu said. He had a surprisingly kind smile.

I giggled. "I forget that you're a bookworm like me."

He grumbled. "We're cousins, but we're nothing alike."

I puffed my cheeks. Why was he more annoyed at the comparison than at being called a bookworm?!

"Hey!" Eri said, walking over to us. Ocarina followed close behind. "Forgot something?"

"No. I'm escorting the princess here. She's looking for Takuya. Have you seen him?"

"Yeah." Eri turned around. "Hey, Takuya! Your future sister-in-law is looking for you!"

My face heated up. Why did he have to refer to me like that?

"Rosa's looking for me?" Takuya asked, walking over to the rail.

"Seems like he understood it," Ocarina said, chuckling.

Hyosetsu rolled his eyes and turned around.

"Where are you going?" I whispered.

He rubbed the side of his neck. "To go shower like I'd originally planned to."

So, he did have something that he was going to do before we ran into each other. Why did he decide to escort me here then? I would've been fine. Even if I'd lost my way, I could've used my seismic sense to find this place. It was easier when there weren't that many people around.

Come to of it, he hadn't told me what he wanted to back in Wynaga. Had he forgotten?

"Okay," I said. "Thanks for all of the help, Hyo."

He raised the hoodie of his coat over his head and ran off.

"How can I help you?" Takuya asked as he descended the last steps.

"Can you come with me? I'll explain on the way there." I had wasted too much time bantering with Hyosetsu on the way here.

"Sure," Takuya said, running over to me.

I rushed ahead. Hopefully, Hyosetsu's ice and my barrier had restrained Dad long enough.

"My dad seems to have been taken over by a demon," I said.

Takuya tensed up. "I can't purify him. My school focused primarily on sealing and killing demons. I wish that I knew how to purify him. If I did, then I might've been able to save him." I noticed he had downcast eyes.

"We can still save him!" I said. "Even if it's just restraining him, you'll be a great help."

"Why not ask the priestesses? They might know purification techniques."

"Good idea!"

"You really should've thought about it earlier yourself," a voice called out from behind. I turned around and saw Hyosetsu, who was being followed by Grace.

"Weren't you going to shower?" I asked.

He sighed. "I can't shower in peace while you're getting into trouble."

I glared at him. Was I nothing more than a hot mess to him?

I remained quiet the rest of the way to not waste any more time. When we arrived, we found Dad slicing the ice barrier.

Hyosetsu stepped in front of me and drew out a katana with a black blade and a white diamond hilt.

He dashed toward Dad and slammed the side of his sword against his chest, throwing him into the bed.

"Hey, go easy on him!" I yelled.

"Sorry, but his bloodlust is dangerous," he said, leering at Dad.

"Let me handle this," Takuya said, stepping forward. He dashed toward Dad as he was standing up. "Get a hold of yourself."

Dad tried slashing his arm, but Takuya pulled it away and punched Dad in the shoulder, flinging him back into the bed.

"He lacks his usual defenses," Hyosetsu said.

I nodded. "Dad wasn't so easy to throw around like this. But it was a good thing that he couldn't use his full power."

Takuya grabbed Dad by the forehead and slammed his head against the pillow. He gasped. "The demon controlling is..." He mumbled whatever followed.

"Speak up," Hyosetsu yelled.

Takuya gritted his teeth. "It's Arch Demon Mammon!"

My eyes widened. One of the archdemons was controlling Dad? Why? For the fun of it? Or did they have another motive? But why would they reveal their card now? Wait, could it be that he had been resisting her all this time? 

I lowered my head. His mind on the brink of oblivion must be making it easier for her to possess him. We need to find a way to draw his mind back to the surface. But how? Setsuko already tried to do that with Alma and failed. Think only Dad can save himself from this situation. No, I shouldn't give up yet.

I stepped forward. "Daddy, please return. Don't linger in that void any longer," I said, staring right into his blank eyes. He stopped struggling. I smiled and stretched out my arms toward him, ready to hug him. "That's right, keep at it. You're doing a good job."

Blood streaked his face as his arms trembled violently. His eyes were bleeding. He grunted and lurched at me.

"Hey, don't stand around!" Hyosetsu said, blocking Dad's claws with his katana. "Everyone, get ready to restrain him!"

"On it," Takuya said as rocks grabbed Dad's feet.

I lowered my head. Why couldn't I reach Daddy? Was the demon making it harder for his conscious to reach the surface? Or was his will to live weaker than I thought?

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter ^^. Feel free to comment. Like always, I love reading what you've got to say.**