I slowed down as I neared the ruins that Serra and I had been teleported to when we left Abyssia yesterday. Much to my surprise, they weren't on fire like most of our surroundings were. The ruins themselves weren't the source of the portal, so what was keeping the flames at bay?

Right now would've been a nice time to have had Skah or Cio around. They could've redirected or absorbed those flames.

How had Shi managed to defeat that guy all those years ago? Despite having grown braver by the time they fought, Shi he must've been scared still. If only I had been there to have provided some emotional support.

"You've found your bunny, Mommy," a sing-song voice called out. I raised my head and saw Conrad sitting on top of a pillar. A wicked smile dotted his face.

"Itou!" I barked.

He raised his hand to his chin and leaned forward. "Itou? You know that's not the name I go by any more. Even Ifrit is no longer adequate." The demon glanced up and raised a hand toward the red sun. The smoke around us didn't only make the yellow star look red, but our surroundings were dark as if we were in the middle of an eclipse.

"I don't care what you call yourself!" I snapped. "Return my son this instant."

The demon smirked. "Aww? Why are you like that, Mommy." His placed a hand over his chest and stood up. "It's a name dear to my heart! The name you gave me, one befitting of my role."

My eyes widened.

My possessed son flashed me a toothy grin. "Yes, Mommy! It's Calamity! A perfect name for the harbinger of destruction! Soon, this whole world will look like this, alit in flames! The light of the stars will be blotted out! Even the light of the Sky Father won't light up the resulting darkness once I'm done with my rampage."

I growled. "You really think you can win against him? You're a fool!"

He nodded. "Yes, yes, Mommy. I am an idiot. I've always been! No matter what I did, it was never enough! You would rip my homework and tell me to do it again! Unlike my big brother, I was a failure! That's why you locked me up, wasn't it? It wasn't to protect me but to keep people from seeing your imperfect son!"

My head drooped down. "I'm sorry, Conrad," I whispered before charging at him.

Calamity jumped away as I slammed my tail against the pillar, shattering it.

"You say you're sorry, but you're resorting to violence yet again." A single giant black wing emerged from his back. "That's why I can't forgive you, Mommy. You don't deserve it, nor do you deserve mercy!"

I gasped as tendrils reached out of the ground and grasped me.

"I'm going to make this as painful as you made my life!" he yelled as a drop of blood slid down his left eye.

"Con... snap out of it!" I said, struggling against the shadows. They were tight, very much so. The bones of my legs felt on the verge of shattering.

Calamity smiled. "You can start by begging for mercy. Not that it would help matters. No matter how many times I told you to stop hitting me, you wouldn't do so! I cried for you not to burn Mr. Bun, yet you threw him into the fire place anyway!" More tears slid down his face. "I hate you! It's your fault that I'm a monster now!"

"Con..." I said, closing my eyes. He was right, it was my fault. I did this to him. But I wasn't going to let him remain this way. I had to save my son, somehow. Even if he did hate me, deep down. We were still family, no matter what!

I gasped as the tendrils let go of me. Much to my surprise, it wasn't Calamity who had done it, nor was it Serra who had arrived to aid me. Instead, it was Cio.

"What are you doing here?" I yelled.

Cio didn't turn to look at me, instead glaring at Calamity. "Saving your behind!" she yelled, rushing at the archdemon.

"Don't hurt him more than necessary!" I yelled as I reverted to my humanoid form. "That's still Conrad's body!"

She scoffed. "He's an abysmal, he can take a few punches and kicks!"

Calamity caught my sister's fist and smiled. "Ahh, the perpetually angry rat has appeared. You're the one I least expected to rescue my dear mommy."

Rocio scrunched her nose. "Stop talking like that, you disgust me, Ifrit!" she yelled, kicking him back.

He touched his stomach and laughed. That attack had done nothing to him.

"You should've brought your husband or father. Either would've been a more ample challenge."

Cio grabbed me by the hand. "Sis, we need to get out of here. Neither of us can defeat him."

It felt odd hearing those words from her. Rocio wasn't usually one to back away. Was it because of the recent losses?

"Running won't do you any good," Calamity said, raising a hand into the air. Darkness sprung out of the ground and grabbed both of us.

Rocio screamed as the shadows crushed her legs.

"Cio!" I yelled. My eyes shifted back to the smirking Calamity. "Let my sister go!" The tendrils tore from me stretching my arms and legs, but not enough for me to get away.

Calamity chuckled. "Yes, cry. It only makes me want to make her suffer more!"

Rocio gritted her teeth as her arms were next to be crushed.

"Stop it! Stop!"

His glared at me. "Remember Mr. Bun? What do you think I'll do, huh?"

I gulped. No...

"It's... fine," Rocio said, wincing. "This... isn't going to end me." Suddenly, the flames around us closed in.

Calamity chuckled as he held out a hand. "You forget that can I control flames!" His eyes widened as the stream of fire pushed him back. "What? But that's..."

"Hanketsu can only use fire. You're no longer Ifrit the Archdemon, so your control over fire has essentially disappeared," Rocio said, smirking.

Had she figured that out on her own?

Calamity waved his hand and made some of the embers dance around his finger tips. He smiled at us. "Not entirely true. This body has some Kasai no Ki DNA, courtesy of my great-grandpa."

Rocio clicked her tongue as she burned away the tendrils around her. She could've done so all along? Why did she scare me like that for?

I transformed back into a dog and ran over to her. "Transform into your rat form, now!" I yelled.

Cio nodded. A white rat jumped on my head. Using all of my strength, I hightailed it out of there.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I continued running. My legs were fully healed now, but they still ached badly.

"Yeah, I've fared worse while training with Daisaru."

I gasped. How seriously did they take their spars?

Cio pressed her chin against my head. My head felt oddly gooey as she did that. "You're the one I'm worried about. You might have natural talent, but you aren't a fighter. Your performance against the female knight proved that."

Maybe I should've stayed in Abyssia and trained with her and the other Pillars. But, if I had done that, Serra would've had to face his brother alone. No, that's not true. He had Setsuko and Tetsu. My oldest didn't need me as much as he used to.

"I know," I mumbled.

My eyes widened as a portal suddenly formed in front of us. It led straight to Abyssia.

"Sorry that I couldn't have been more helpful," Cio said as she passed out.

"Cio!" I yelled as I entered the portal. The vortex quickly closed behind. Once again, I found myself in her lab. Most of the mess that Margaret had caused had been cleared out. New equipment had replaced that which had been broken. Including the regeneration tub which once again contained Roa's core. Though, the gaping holes in the walls remained.

"Cio, Sel!" Skah yelled, turning around. He had been watching his son's core alongside his wife and a little girl.

"Birdie, Cio passed out," I said, wincing from my wounds. "She said it's nothing, but I'm not sure. You know how she tends to hide things from us."

"Let me check," Daiyu said, rushing over. She picked up Rocio from my forehead and sat her down gently on the table. My sister's arms and legs were still bleeding. They must've not healed completely, they were pretty severe wounds, but they should've healed by now.

"Who did this to her?" Skah asked, gulping.

I averted my eyes. "Calamity did."

"Calamity?" Daiyu asked.

I nodded. "That's what Ifrit's calling himself now that he is whole again." I sat down on the cold, hard floor of the lab. "It's a name I gave Conrad when he was little."

Daiyu's eyes widened. "I see..." She turned away. Being a mother, she probably couldn't imagine how much hatred I had for my own son. No, it wasn't toward Conrad. It wasn't all for Azami either. Instead, I projected my feelings about myself on my son. The real idiot was me.

"Are Auntie Rocio's little arms and legs going to be okay?" Skah's daughter asked, giving her dad a worried look.

"I think so. Right, Daiyu?" Skah asked, giving his wife a hopeful smile.

Daiyu picked Rocio up and handed her over to Skah. My brother watched as our sister squirmed from the pain. Sweat ran down her fur.

"It's a demonic wound, it's why the healing didn't complete," Daiyu said. Her hands glowed like jade. "But this should." She yanked her hands back and winced.

"What's wrong?" Skah asked.

Daiyu stared at her hands. "That wound truly is from a archdemon. My healing isn't enough."

My face and that of my brother's turned deathly pale. This all felt reminiscent of how Mom had died. If only my healing techniques were better, I might've been able to have saved her. Sadly, I hadn't improved since that time.

"Daddy has his golden flames, though," her kid said, giving her parents a hopeful smile.

Skah gulped. "I'm not sure if it'll work, but it's worth a try." He hugged Rocio and released radiant aureate flames. Birdie whimpered as the flames started to turn dark. Ifrit might not have been a pure demon any more, but his demonic attacks were as potent as ever.

I gasped. Wait, why did I not endure the same fate? Did he spare me? Or did he wish for me to suffer by watching Cio fight for her life?

Given how fast Daisaru said Hanketsu was in his youth, that guy should have caught up to us. He let us escape on purpose...

"Skah, let go of Cio or you're going to get hurt!" I yelled.

Daiyu rushed over to her daughter and pulled her away.

Skah continued to hold on to our sister even as he dropped to his knees. The now black flames gradually faded.

"Daddy!" his daughter yelled, grabbing his arm.

My little brother panted. He smiled weakly. "It's... alright, Sokw. Your aunt's wounds are healed."

Daiyu took Cio from his hands and leaned him against the base of the table. "That was reckless!"

Skah smiled. "At least Cio is fine now."

I ran over and licked his face. It used to make him feel a little better back when he was a little chick.

My brother laughed. "Stop that, Cio!" he said, ruffling my neck fur. "I'm fine. Cio's the one who needs a nice lick."

I turned to look at Cio. Daiyu quickly placed her on the table and backed away. She probably didn't want to get slobber on her. But I wasn't a drooly dog!

I tried to stand on my hind legs but it hurt.

"What are you doing, dummy?" Cio asked as she opened her eyes slightly. "Rest. You'll need it. Once I'm back to full strength, I'm going to give you the training of a lifetime."

I barked happily and licked her.

She leered at me. "I said to rest, not to lick me!"

Skah and I laughed as we watched the angry Cio use her front paws to wipe the saliva away. Calamity might've seen her as an angry rat, but for me she was a cute, though grumpy, mouse.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**