*Etsuo*

I glanced at Silas as we walked toward the beach.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

"What do you care?" he asked, turning his head away. "You took Dan away."

I bit my lip. Bad idea to have asked.

"I thought he would be better off if he went with Kiara. Dan might've died of worry for her. He tried to commit suicide not long after your aunt kidnapped him."

"Don't call that woman my aunt again. She and his children are as much to blame," Silas said in a unusually calm tone. It was as if he put all of the emotions that had spilled out earlier back into their bottle.

"Alright, I won't," I said, striding forward.

My eyes widened as a hand grabbed my arm. "Did you help your cousin recruit mine?"

"Wait, thought you didn't-"

"Answer!"

I shook my head. "I honestly had no idea. I was surprised to see Reno turn on Serrano and Setsuko."

"Mei seemed to know," Kiara said.

"Roa must've told her Reno was a double spy when they came up with their rescue plan."

Kiara sighed. "If only Reno had stayed unconscious like Suzuki. Then you wouldn't have escaped."

"Who knows, Roa was on his way to rescue me. He probably would've killed you four to save me."

Kiara gulped. "He would?"

"He did kill members of Serrano's team without remorse. Even Serra, who he knew better, wouldn't have been spared. At least if it wasn't for Grandfather telling him, Satoru, Reno, and Man-kin to bring him back alive. Man-kin probably wouldn't have hurt him to begin with, but the other three were prepared."

"Reno was a rebel. He probably killed before meeting Team Setsuko in Abyssia," Kiara said, averting her gaze. "There have been stories of them killing post-civil war appointed dukes or at least attempting to. Dad was the latter."

"True, Suzuki wanted to kill Rosa, but that might've been the demon talking," I said.

"Demon? Brother didn't tell me about any people possessed by them," Marina said, eyes wide.

"Makes sense, he wasn't there either time," I said.

The smell of salt filled the air the closer we got to it. Bluish waters struck against the sandy beach. It felt weird seeing a beach that didn't lead to an endless black void.

"You okay, my monkey?" Dine asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm fine. It's just, this place made me think of when Roa and me went to the beach before the festival. We ran into Satoru there. Maybe if we had played with him, he wouldn't have done that to you."

Dine put her hands on her hips. "You think that would've made a difference? Satoru hated us to begin with. In his eyes, we're the reason Roa abandoned him."

"True."

She hugged me. "Now, stop thinking of what-ifs. Remember what we talked about when we first met up again. Thinking of how things would be if we had done something different doesn't change anything."

I averted my gaze. "I know." My cheeks reddened. "Now, can you let go of me? You're pressing Kiara's chest against me."

"What chest?" Silas asked.

She let go of me and hit Silas over the head. "Idiot, Sy!" Kiara yelled, taking back control.

Silas rubbed his head. "Why did you do that for? I wasn't telling lies."

"Honesty or lack thereof isn't the issue here, dummy!"

"Are you always this rude?" Marina asked, chuckling.

Silas scoffed. "I'm just blunt, that's it."

"There is such a thing as too much," Kiara said, poking her brother on the chest.

I turned away. Overly blunt... A smirking Roa popped to mind.

My eyes shifted to the cliffs toward our left. Gray leaved plants with what appeared to be crystals sway on one of the cliff edges. Occasionally, sea water would splash against it, spraying the air with salty water. "You three go on ahead and have your beach fun. I'm going to go grab the silver mintia."

I spread out my wings and flew over to it.

With the silver mintia, we would have a backup in case the dried variant aunt Anis gave us wasn't the right one. Once Man-kin had everything, he could start on making the cure for Roa's crystallization. Only issue would be pulling the plant out and finding a way to store it.

"Wait up!" Kiara yelled, chasing after me. "You can't get too far away. Else, Hideaki's vines with activate."

"Dine?" Wished that her eyes would change color so I could know who was talking right away.

She smiled. "Yeah, it's me. I won't let you bear the burden of saving Roa on your own."

"Nor will I," Kiara said, taking over again. "He got hurt because I wanted to go back home in the first place."

I smiled. "Thanks, you two. Uh, do you have any earth powers, Kiara?"

"No, but I can control plants. Pulling out an intact silver mintia should be child's play for me."

"You sure? It tends to have profound roots," Dine said.

"I am!"

I laughed. It really would look like she was talking to a stranger to someone who didn't know.

"What's so funny? Don't think I can do it?" Kiara asked, leering at me.

"I believe you can," I said with a slight smile.

Her pale cheeks turned deep crimson as she beamed. "Your faith isn't misplaced. You'll see."

My smile widened.

I hovered over the cliff and glanced at Kiara. "Ready?"

She nodded. "Wait, don't you have earth powers, Monkey? If you do, you can help me."

I shook my head. "No. I only have fire. It would've been helpful if I did. I would've been able to stop Mei from impaling you. Likewise, when I was escaping the collapsing rebel cavern. Carrying an unconscious Reno and Roa though that mess wouldn't have been as hard."

"You carried both of them? How? One arm each?"

"Nope." I waved my tail. "With this."

"What a strong tail."

I chuckled. "It's my strongest weapon. Anyway, don't think you can it alone after all?"

Kiara scoffed. "Nope, I sure can. I was only asking as keeping it in some soil would be better for it. I'll need to try to have the root pull out enough soil for it not to wither. If it weren't on a cliff edge, I would've used this shovel." She pulled out shovel and a bucket.

"Why do you have those?"

"I brought them at the shop earlier. Thought we could make some sand castles. But this is way more important than that."

I threw my arms and tail at her. "Thanks, Ki. For helping Dine and me. We wouldn't have made it this far without your support."

Kiara hugged me back. "It's nothing, Monkey." She let go of me and pointed her left hand at the silver mintia. The plant slowly rose. My ears perked up at the sound of cracks. The cliff edge wouldn't hold up.

"Going to need these," I said. I snatched the bucket and shovel from Kiara and raced over to it. If it fell, I could at least use them to catch it.

With my hands, I dug up the ground around the plant, and held the bucket underneath it with my tail.

"Almost done," Kiara said. "There!" The plant came undone, falling straight toward the bucket. I tilted it bit so that it wouldn't hit the handle and fall into the sea below.

It fell too fast, it was going to break as soon as it hit the bucket!

Suddenly, the plant slowed and dropped gentle into the container.

Kiara gave me a toothy smile. "You got scared, didn't you?"

I nodded. "Thought it would get ruined. I'm going to go and take this to Teresa for safe keeping. You can join the your brother and Marina."

"Looks like only one of them is having fun."

Marina chased Silas around. She launched water balls at him. Silas turned around and threw them back at her with his wind powers. Though, the strength of his gales caused most of them to burst as soon as their attacks made contact.

Marina stopped one of the deflected water bubbles. With a chuckle, she threw it to the air. It burst over Silas, causing rain to fall on him.

Silas let out a grunt and swiped his hands forward, sending sand into the air.

Marina gasped. Water gathered in front of her to form a shield. The resulting sticky sand collapsed into a giant pile.

Silas jumped and launched more volleys at her, sending her sliding back.

"Silas is really going all out," Kiara said. She chuckled. "That girl knows how to get him worked up better than me and they barely met."

"You tease Silas in normal occasions?"

"When the opportunity presents itself. He's just so fun to tease. I would help Marina out, not that she needs it."

"Then why won't you?" I asked.

"Because I'm going with you to bring that to Teresa."

"Oh. Okay." I held the pot tightly and flew on ahead.

"Etsuo!" a voice called out from below. Teresa waved at us. All of the guys around were gawking at her black bikini clad body.

Zafir glared at them, causing them to turn away. Though, it seemed he was just as popular as the females on the beach swooned as he passed.

"Teresa!" Kiara yelled, landing in front of her. "You decided to join us after all? Wait, I thought that you were making the Topia powder."

"Medbot is doing it," Teresa said, smiling. Zafir made it so that it records the process."

Zafir dashed in front of my cousin and thrust his hands forward. Before I could ask what was wrong, water spheres flew back at Marina.

"Trying a sneak attack on your big bro, Mari?" Zafir asked, smirking.

Marina sighed. "Thought I would get you or your girlfriend."

Zafir coughed. "Mari. She's not my girlfriend."

"Really? You two looked like a couple walking here."

Teresa swung her arms back. "Yeah, we're just friends. Besides, there's someone else I'm sort of interested in."

"Who?" Zafir asked, eyes wide.

Teresa blushed. "It's a bit premature to say. I'm in no rush to get into a relationship."

"It's Nico, isn't it?" Kiara said with an impish smile.

Teresa gulped. "W-what makes you think that?"

Kiara snickered. "Well, you both seemed close when I saw you two at your place."

"We did?"

Zafir scoffed. "Nico. There's something off about that guy."

Teresa narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? That he's a traitor?"

"Not necessarily, but he has a certain scent to him. Like that of a demon. It's only slight, though."

"If that were true, Taku would've said it! He can detect demons!"

"Maybe the pure bloods, but can he detect the hybrids?"

Teresa gritted her teeth. "Not that I've heard but I'm sure he's perfectly capable of it!"

Zafir glanced at Kiara and Silas. "You two have the same scent, but much more diluted."

"Wait, are you saying we're demons?" Kiara asked. "I know Silas is a brat, but he's a good kid at heart. As for me, I'm the complete opposite."

Silas grumbled. "Considering how much you enjoy teasing Hide and me, I think you might be part demon yourself."

"How can Silas and Kiara be part demon?" Teresa asked.

I sighed. "Actually, I've had a suspicion for a while now. Kiara smells a bit like Satoru."

Kiara's eyes widened. "Don't compare me to that guy! I smell way better!"

"Actually, you do," Dine said. "Ki. Who is your great grandfather?"

"My great grandpa? Well, on my mom's side mom's side it's the king consort before Orlin's dad. On her dad's side, it was a country boy called Juan. As for my dad's grandfathers, on his mom's side it was Grand Duke Zeal. As for my grandpa's dad, I have no idea. Just know he wasn't a Hide as Grandpa started that."

"A Hide?" Teresa asked.

"Yeah. You know how Dad is called Hideaki and Big Bro is Hideo? Both use the nickname Hide. Well, Hideo as a name actually originates from Hideaki. Grandpa was called Hideyoshi. He's called Hide the first. Dad's the second and so on."

"So if your brother has a son he calls a name starting with Hide, that kid will be Hide the Fourth?"

"Yup!"

Silas scoffed. "Assuming that Hide can get a girl first. He isn't exactly a ladies man."

Kiara laughed. "You aren't either, little bro."

Marina giggled.

Silas grumbled. "S-shut up. And you, why are you laughing?"

"S-sorry. It's just your dynamic. It reminds me of a comedy duo I like."

Silas turned away and scoffed. "I'm a duke's son, not some jester."

"Alright, enough fun and games. We need to figure out a way back home," Kiara said.

My eyes widened as a portal formed in front of us.

"Who could it be?" Teresa asked.

The princess stepped out of the portal alone.

"Princess! Where's Uncle Azami?" Teresa asked. "Did you retrieve him?"

She let out a sigh. "Yeah, but I had to knock him out as soon as we got home."

Teresa's eyes widened. "Why? What happened?"

"He had a panic attack. He saw your aunt Selena. She was in Abyssia with the rest of your aunts and uncles. Though, the straw that broke the camel's back was Ifrit. I'm not sure exactly what he said to him, but it caused him to grow tense. Uncle mentioned Conrad, whom Ifrit has take over the body of."

Teresa gulped. "Connie was taken over?"

"By the Archdemon of Wrath?" Marina asked, mouth wide.

Zafir furrowed his brow. "Why did one of the seven rulers of Cianio appear before your uncle? And didn't Conrad die?"

"Right, forget that you've been out of the loop," Setsuko said. "No, Conrad is very much alive. His grandfather seems to be the one who revived him. It also appears that the fox is alive."

"Y-You mean Satoru?" Kiara or Dine said, putting her hands over her mouth.

Setsuko nodded. "Your brother claims to have detected him in the dungeon. He got away, though."

I gritted my teeth. How did he survive? Even Dine who did took years to come back from that, and she didn't even remember a thing at first.

Silas grinned. "He is, huh? Then I'll be able to get my revenge."

"Wait, if he's alive, then what about Dan?" Kiara asked. "They fell together. If Dan perished after all then it was for nothing. That bastard is still alive!"

"We'll need to capture him and interrogate him to find out what became of your brother," Setsuko said. 

"The question is as to how. That guy is a kitsune, his illusion powers means that he could hide anywhere," I said.

"Hideo should be able to see through them."

"He can?" Silas asked, blinking "How?"

"He managed to awaken a new ability of Donato's. It allows him to see the undetectable."

"That's good. At least we have some tools," I said. "We also gone the stuff to cure Roa."

"About that. Satoru reduced him into a core. He tried taking him away. Luckily, your uncle managed to take him. Roa should be recovering in the abyss right now."

"Uncle Skah came to get him?" I said, smiling. It was bad that Satoru destroyed his body, but back home, Roa would be just fine. Plus, he was free. My smiled faded as I remembered Man-kin. "And my brother?"

"I'm not sure. I think he's still in captivity." The princess narrowed her eyes at me. "As are you."

I lowered my head. "Yeah, I know."

Setsuko turned her back to us. "Let's go. I'm returning you to Makkuroyama. They'll need our help rebuilding."

"Rebuilding what?" Silas asked.

"Your town. Satoru destroyed all of it with a giant glacier."

Silas and Kiara froze.

"Are the townsfolk alright," Kiara said, stepping toward her.

The princess nodded. "Yeah, according to your brother, they are."

Kiara let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."

"Yeah," Silas said. "We already have enough bad news with the horse and fox getting away." He glared at me. "We can't let this one nor his brother get away from us."

"You know that I can't go anywhere without one of you two or you father around," I said, sighing.

Kiara, no, Dine, flashed me an impish smile. Was she plotting our return home? If we took Kiara with us, the vines wouldn't activate. But, it would mean snatching her away from her home again. I simply couldn't do that. Especially not after having experienced the distress of being away from those I cared for not once, but twice.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter ^^. Was a bit late in publishing it as I had work (shift is 1 PM to 10 PM PDT). My updates will probably be coming out this late from now on (might even miss a few dates).**