*Emon*

"Kai," I said, turning around.

"Think he's fine," Kiyo said, keeping his eyes on the white demon.

"Keep your guard up, kid," Audrey said as his tail grasped my neck.

"Emon!" Kiyoshi yelled. He gritted his teeth. "Unhand him this instant!"

Audrey nodded and threw me in the same direction as he had the young prince.

I messed up. Should've gone into Second Heaven too.

My eyes widened as a giant green hand grabbed me.

"Uncle?" I said, staring at the gaseous djinn.

"Emy, are you alright?" Suzuki asked.

"Of course he is. Uncle saved him," Reno said, smiling.

I smiled at the sight of my siblings and uncle.

"You're here."

I turned my head as green bullets rained down from the heavens, striking Audrey.

"Where are these coming from?" Audrey asked, shielding himself with his broad dragon-like wings. The only opening for his defenses was for his eyes to peer out.

The demon recoiled as something blasted his face.

"Who's attacking?" he asked, flying back.

"Those bullets," Suzuki said. She looked around. "Where did Hideo go?"

I closed my eyes to see if I could sense our cousin, but there was no trace of him. "He's not here..." I said, gulping.

Kiyoshi powered down and flew over to us. "I think he is."

"Huh?" I said.

Kiyoshi crossed his arms and scoffed. "Think he went invisible and made it so that his presence was near non-existent." He furrowed his brow. "What I don't understand is how he can be firing those bullets without his presence being made apparent. His mana should at least give away the position of his weapon. Yet, I can't sense it either when he fires."

"So, Hide has better mana control than us," I said, touching my chin as the demon continued to be pelted by bullets.

"What if it's not technique but an ability of his weapon?" Reno asked.

"An ability of Donato? What makes you think that?" Suzuki asked.

My brother eyed the demon. "I fought the princess before. Her Alma has an ability which prevented her senses from being blocked. This might be the inverse."

"You mean it makes others unable to sense the user?" I asked.

Reno nodded. "I think so."

Kiyoshi stared at the bullets as they came from various directions. "It's near perfect, but it does have a weakness."

"And that's...?" my sister said.

Kiyoshi eyed Audrey. The demon grunted as he tried to anticipate where the bullets would come from next. "I rather not say here."

Suzuki nodded. "I see."

Did she understand what he was getting at? Or simply his reason for staying silent? The latter I knew, but not the former.

My eyes widened as the bullets rained down from above. Hideo's attacks were still visible. That's why he was aiming from multiple directions. They would give away his potential position. Though, there was no way to be certain of their range. Some attacks appeared to be fired from up close and others from afar.

If the bullets were still able to be seen, that meant that whatever ability or technique he was utilizing had a limited range. Or it only worked on his immediate person and the object he or his gun touched.

Audrey clenched his teeth and emitted electricity from his entire body, pushing the bullets away.

Hideo grunted.

"So, there is someone there," Audrey said, flashing a tired grin. He flew upward and rained electricity down on us all.

"Alabaster!" Reno yelled.

Uncle nodded and flew upward. With clapped his hands, forming a sphere of wind around us, but the lightning bolts ripped through it. The resulting shockwave pushed us back.

"Hideo, finish him off now!" I yelled.

A ray of green energy fired out of the air, cutting through Audrey's electrical sphere. The demon-abysmal flew up, avoiding the attack. Instead, it hit the ground, sending dust high into the stratosphere.

Clapping my hands, I blew away the dust. The hills it had struck were no more, in their place laid a four-meter deep, forty-foot wide-in-diameter crater.

"That was a close one," Audrey said, smiling painfully. "I should probably return to my son's side." He gripped his crystalized arm and formed a vortex.

"Your son?" I asked.

Audrey smiled at me. "King Tabiki."

My sister gasped. "Wait, that would make you our..."

"Your great-grandfather? Yes. We're family."

"What?" Hideo snapped, still invisible. "N-no, that can't be... First the rebels, then Tetsuya, and now you and that annoying fox?"

Audrey turned around but was shot by on the back. This time, the bullets punctured his dragon-like wings. "You aren't leaving here alive! Even if you are my great-grandfather, you're still the enemy!"

Great-grandfather winced as he descended down.

"Koukyuu," Hideo said, staring at the still open vortex. 

"Hey!" Suzuki yelled as our cousin got closer.

Hideo jumped in just before it closed.

"What's that guy thinking?" my sister asked, sighing.

"I think he's in love with the princess," Uncle said. He stared at his grandfather and raced down to grab him.

Great-grandfather stared at his grandchild. "Alabaster? You're alive?" he asked as the crystals continued to cover his body.

"Grandpa, you were a demon all this time?"

He smiled slightly. "Yeah. I'm surprised to see you... Last time I did, you were a little thing. I'm surprised you even remember me."

Uncle averted his gaze. "I'm surprised I can, since I forgot a lot of my memories. But, somehow it came back to me."

Audrey patted him on the shoulder. "Why do you look sad? I'm the villain here. You should be glad to see me like this..."

I turned to look at Kiyoshi. "Can you remove your mana from him?" I asked.

Kiyoshi furrowed his brow. "What? I know he's related to you, but he's a bad guy. Plus, he's a demon, this may be a trick to get sympathy."

"It's fine. I was ready for my time to come," Great-grandfather said, glancing at the sky. "Hopefully, I can be reunited with my dear Scarlet and our Hide in the next life."

"Grandpa!" Uncle yelled as Audrey's legs, arms, and wings cracked.

"Don't cry, Alabaster. I don't like seeing little kids sad."

Uncle closed his eyes and hugged him tightly. "Grandpa!"

Reno grabbed my arm for some reason and gave me a hug.

"Are you alright, brother?" I asked, blinking.

"Y-yeah. I just need a hug is all."

I patted him on the back. Was seeing another family member die affecting him?

My eyes watched as the white crystal shards of Great-grandfather flew into the heavens, sparkling before vanishing completely.

When he grabbed me, it didn't felt like he had the intention to kill. His aim seemed to be more to keep us away.

"Grandpa, not you too," Uncle said, gripping the remaining shards.

"Uncle," Suzuki said, flying over to him. She reached a hand out for him but pulled it back as he reverted to his humanoid form.

"W-why? Why must I love everyone I hold dear?" He gasped and looked up. "Zaki, Hide. We need to go to them."

My sister frowned. "Think that the diplomacy won't work?"

"I would hope so, but my gut is telling me it won't."

"Let's not waste more time, then," I said, heading forward.

Uncle gasped and turned around. The pink tower in the distance vanished. A storm began to blew further.

"What's going on over there?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but that's where Eita and Eiichi were sparring," Suzuki said, gulping.

Uncle hugged himself. "Eiji's sons, they appear to be up against Itou." He gritted his teeth.

"Ifrit to be exact," I said, feeling the overwhelming demonic bloodlust.

"Should we go back?" Reno asked.

"I'll go. The rest of you go and check up on Mom and the others," Suzuki said, rushing ahead.

"I'll go too!" Uncle yelled. "I want to save Eiji's sons. Plus, I have some business with Itou, or rather, Ifrit."

"I'll go to mom," Reno said.

"Wait, the distance is too great, no?" Kiyoshi asked. "Alabaster will vanish."

Reno chuckled. "Normally, yeah, but Alabaster is a djinn and even among them, he's special."

"I am?" Uncle asked.

Brother grinned. "Yeah, you were one of the Seven Hill Knights while alive. That makes you similar to the original Seven Hill angels."

Uncle scratched the back of his head and blushed a little. "I was only a knight for a little while. I didn't even get to take Aventine's trial." He flew forward. "But, I'll do what I can."

I watched as Uncle and Suzuki flew toward the direction of the storm.

"Earth Mother, please watch over them," I whispered.

"Don't worry, Emy. They'll be fine," Reno said, patting me on the back. "Let's get going. We have to prevent another family tragedy from occurring." He flew ahead of me, catching up to Kiyoshi who had left already.

I sighed. Why was our family so messy?

My eyes raised toward the heavens. Hopefully, Great-grandfather would have a chance to be reborn. As a demon, that wasn't assured. The worst among them weren't ever reborn. In fact, their souls were destroyed. But, I doubted he would get the latter treatment. Unlike his younger brother, he didn't seem all that evil.

Earth Mother, please show him mercy.

*Alabaster*

Suzuki patted me on the shoulder as we flew toward the storm.

I wiped the tears still streaming down my face. Even after all these years, it seemed that I was still a crybaby.

***

[Years Ago]

I smiled as I moved my toy truck across the long dining room table.

"Duke, please don't do that, you'll damage the table. Plus, we need to get it ready for dinner," one of the maids said, sighing.

I nodded and hugged my truck, running out of the dining room. Wished that I had a ramp or something to play with it. My frowned turned upside down as I remembered the rail of the front stairs.

I ran outside and looked around to make sure no guard was around to stop me from playing. A snicker broke out as I saw no one around.

"Vroom!" I said, running down as I moved my truck down the rail. I went up and down and back again, getting quicker with each lap.

I laughed as the wind hit my face. It felt so good to move fast.

"Wahh!" I yelled as I tripped forward. Tears formed in my eyes as I stood up. Thankfully, I had only scrapped my knees and not my head. My eyes widened as I saw my truck wasn't in my hand.

I screamed as I saw it shattered into multiple pieces on the other side of the stairs.

"T-truck!" I yelled, scooping up the plastic shards. I took several deep breaths like Mommy had taught me. Doing so usually helped me calm down, but it wasn't working this time.

I curled on the ground and cried while trying not to scream to the heavens. My grandma had given me this truck when I was Zaki's age.

"Alabaster? Where are you? Mommy said to get ready for dinner," Senbonzakura said, poking her head out of the door. "Big bro?" Zaki gasped as she saw me crying at the bottom of the stairs. "Alabaster, you're hurt."

I wiped my tears. Wanted to tell her that wasn't why I was crying, but I couldn't speak through my weeping.

"Stay here. I'll go get you some bandages!" My three-year-old sister rushed back inside, yelling that she needed some bandages quick.

"Huh, Alabaster?" a voice called out. My looked up and saw a white-haired man frowning. He reached his arms and out and pulled me up. "What's wrong? Why is my grandson sad?"

I tried to talk again, but I couldn't.

"There, there," he said, patting me on the back. I clenched his shirt and continued to cry. "Please don't cry, Ala. I don't like seeing little kids sad." He reached into the pocket of his trench coat and took out a lollipop. "Here, maybe this will cheer you up."

I wiped my tears again and grabbed the candy with my shaking hands.

Grandfather stared at the shards of plastic in my hands. "Your toy broke?"

I nodded.

He took the shards from me and closed his hand. When he opened it, my toy was as good as new.

"Wah!" I cried, this time out of joy as I took the truck back. "Truck!"

Grandfather chuckled and put me down. "Run along now."

I grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him indoors. "Food!"

He glanced over his shoulder. "Wait, your grandma, uncle, and cousin aren't here yet."

"W-wait for them inside," I said.

He sat down on the stairs and looked out. "I prefer to stay here. It feels nicer."

I sat down next to him. The wind did feel good, even when I wasn't running.

"Brother, I brought you your bandages!" Zaki yelled, waving a box of square bandages.

I smiled at her. "I'm fine. Truck fixed!"

She blinked. "Brother was crying over his broken toy, not his would?"

Grandpa stared at the my knees. They were oddly all better now.

"I-it stopped," I said, shocked.

"Woah," Zaki said, staring at them. "Did you heal them, Grandpa?"

Grandpa Audrey shook his head. "No, I didn't."

I touched my chin. How did they recover? Maybe I healed them by accident.

"D-dad!" a white-haired man dressed in a tattered suit yelled as he ran over to us. He held a boy my age in his arms. 

"Tabiki! W-what happened?" Grandpa asked, staring at his son and grandson.

Uncle hugged his son. "W-we got shot at. M-Mom... she..." He closed his eyes.

"Hey, Dad, Tabiki, you made it," a voice called out. A red-haired man stood by the door with a wide smile on his face. His orange eyes widened at the disheveled appearance of his brother and his unconscious nephew. "Tabiki, what happened to the two of you? Where's Mom?"

Tears streamed down uncle's face. "Mom is dead."

Grandfather's face turned pale.

"No," Dad said, taking a step back. "Y-you're kidding right? Mom can't be dead..."

"She is! She got killed by assassins!" Uncle yelled, hot tears in his eyes.

I hugged my truck and closed my eyes. Grandma's gone? No! That can't be!

***

['Present']

Years later, Father and Uncle learned that the ones who had killed Grandma were members of the Seven Knights. Dad told me to leave the order which had taken away Grandma, but I couldn't. Once a knight, there was no way out, but death.

That's why I couldn't fault Father, Uncle, and Zaki for the actions they took. Especially the latter two who thought I had been killed by my fellow knights. Could it have been that Grandma wasn't truly killed by the Seven Hills of the generation preceding mine?

Could it have been Ifrit who was behind that? When I'd discovered Itou for who he truly was, he told me that he would grant Father's wish. He would free me from my attachment to the Seven Knights. I knew what he meant and tried to fight back, but he was too strong for the seventeen-year-old me.

Maybe I could get the answers I sought from him, before getting my revenge.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Pardon for the two day delay. Motivation to write had been lacking until now.**