*Teresa*

I hummed as I finished the final touches on Tetsu's poncho. It had taken quite the damage from his multiple fights. If anything, it was surprising that it didn't end up looking worse given the power of his enemies. What could it have been made out of? At first glance and touch, it appeared to be wool, but never had I seen wool this durable. Considering Dad had it made for my little brother, it must've come from a special source.

Regardless, my little brother would be so happy to have it back. He usually wore it around his waist like school kids would wear their school blazers in the hot months. Well, as a kid, he used it as a blanket and a cape too. Wonder why Dad had it made so big. It clearly wasn't intended for three-year-old Tetsu.

Getting up, I walked over to the house that Tetsu and Serra had been working. The crown princess and my cousin stood in the middle of the empty street. The two of them held their hands outward. A vortex swirled around them. Nate ran out of it and ran over to hug Alex who stood in awe behind Setsuko and Serra at the sight. My cute, cat-loving cousin followed after Nate, but quickly ran back in. 

"Why did Layla return?" I asked as got closer.

"Maybe she forgot something," Alex said as he let go of Nate.

Nate removed his backpack and opened it up. His eyes widened. The kid slapped his face and gasped. "I forgot Eli!"

"Isn't that your elephant?" Serrano asked.

Nate nodded. "Y-yeah. I-I need to go back and get Eli."

Serra held out his hand. "Alright. Setty, let's make another portal."

Setsuko nodded.

"Halt, you two!" I said, leering at them. "You're supposed to take it easy."

Serra nodded. "Yeah, after we get Nate his plushie."

Setsuko nodded. "A kid without his plushie is a sad sight. Some even do crazy stuff like jump off of vehicles for them."

"Or put their hands into fire," Serrano added.

I laughed nervously. Were they talking about their little siblings? Knew that Rosa had jumped off of a moving car to get Bear-woof, but not that Con had put his hands into a fire for Mr. Bun.

I clenched Tetsu's poncho close to my chest. "I understand, but rest a little. Okay?"

Setsuko sighed. "Fine."

Serra gave Nate an apologetic smile. "Hold up a little, kid. We'll get you back to your friend."

Nate sniffed and began to cry his eyes out. "I-I want Eli!" He closed his eyes, turned around, and slammed into his brother. Nate opened his eyes and watched in horror as Alex went flying into a ladder with bucket of paint on it. Blue paint dripped from the older brother's hair.

"I-I'm sorry!" Nate said, hands shaking.

Alex sighed and pulled the bucket off of his head. "It's fine," he said as he took globs of paint out of his hair.

"We should get that cleaned up quick," I said. My eyes scanned our surroundings for either Zafir or Marina. With their water powers, it should've been easy to wash out.

"Here," Setsuko said as she summoned a white towel from her hyper ring.

"Thanks," Alex said, wiping his head with it.

"It's not taking off," Nate mumbled.

Alex smiled at him. "Guess my hair's the same as yours for now."

I smiled. He was a surprisingly calm kid. A lot different from his older brothers.

"What's going on here?" Eita asked as he made his way over to us with Suzuki

Suzuki sighed. "I left for a minute, and come back I see this. What trouble are my cousins stirring up now?"

"I-I accidentally hurt Alex," Nate said, lowering his head.

Suzuki eyed the dyed haired brother. "He seems to be taking it rather well."

"Not the first time I get bumped into stuff. Though, usually it's Lay who does it," Alex said, chuckling.

Eita laughed. "Seems Suzu was right, you kids do stir up trouble."

Suzuki leered at him. "I've told you not to call me that. We might be teammates, but we aren't friends."

I gasped. "You're part of Team Tetsu again?"

Suzuki looked away. "Well, if you're willing to accept me back in."

I hugged my brother's poncho. "That's his decision to make, not mine. Say, where is that guy anyway?"

"He went back home," Serrano said. "Setty opened a portal for him and Yuko. Rosa, Hyo, Kohri, Onami, Naoru, and Camila jumped right in. The one we had made together was to let Amun in. She wanted to go after Cami. Seemed worried about her twin for some reason."

"Hope Cami's fine," Nate mumbled as he stared at the spot the portal used to be.

"She will be. Mom and our sisters are on the other side. Well, minus Kiara," Alex said.

I grumbled. "Can't believe Tetsu went on ahead without me. I want to see Mom too." Did tell her that I would be back as soon as we collected the ingredients Etsuo wanted.

"You can go back with Nate," Serrano said with a slight smile.

I beamed. "That's a good idea. I can give Tetsu his poncho while I'm at it too."

Nate sniffed. "Wait for me, Eli."

I patted his head. "Don't cry, cuz. What would Eli think if she were here?"

He wiped his tears. "She probably would say the same. She's always there to cheer me up."

I grinned. The kid had quite the imagination. It reminded me of Conrad with Mr. Bun. If only I had known what he had been going through, I might've been able to help my bunny cousin too. Likewise for his older brother.

Eita took a deep breath. "My brother could probably open a portal, but that guy's too busy training."

"He's back at it again?" Setsuko asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Serrano leered at her. "Should you really be judging him?"

The princess blushed. "That guy got more injured than me!"

Eita scratched his face. "I think he let Conrad hurt him on purpose. He wasn't fighting like he usually did."

Serrano turned away. "I'm glad that he didn't hurt Conrad, but he also deserved it." He curled his hands into fists.

"Calm down," Setsuko said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"He hurt Rosa too. When you thought it was Tetsu, you wanted to maim him."

She nodded. "Yeah. I don't mind beating Eiichi into a bloody pulp, but like with Tetsu back then, we are in need of his power. So we have to hold back from delivering him his punishment until the war is done."

Serrano clicked his tongue. "More reason for us to get stronger, so that we don't have rely on traitors and perverts."

Suzuki cleared her throat.

I laughed. "Don't worry, you're not as bad as Eiichi nor Reno."

Eita nodded. "You didn't hurt a kid, nor did you kill anyone unlike them." He approached the royal cousins. "That said, Eii does seem to want to amend his ways."

Setsuko crossed her arms. "I picked up on that while in Munil, but that's not enough given what he's done."

"Indeed," Serrano said, continuing to leer at the sky.

"He's aware. I heard he plans to turn himself in after we win the war."

 I scoffed. That was the least he could do after he framed my little brother. Eiichi had made enough enemies that they could form a mob.

"Not enough punishment, but I guess that'll suffice," Serrano said, looking down at his hands. "I don't want to dirty my hands with the blood of scum like him."

Eita frowned. Did he feel bad for his brother despite everything he had done? That guy made his own bed, now he had to lay down on it.

"Is one of you Eita, Eiko, or Eiichi?" a voice called out. We all turned around to see a pink-haired little girl. In her hands was a necklace made up of rectangular segments, going back and forth between gold and lapis lazuli.

"That's my dad's angel tool," Eita said, rushing over to her. "Who are you? How did you find it?"

The little girl smiled slightly. "I'm Adela Xian, the daughter of the High Priestess of Xian. I foresaw this meeting in the flames."

She did? If so, why had she asked who Eita was? To avoid creeping him out?

"You're that little girl I met back in Xeleria," Serrano said.

"Oh, you're that boy who was in a coma most of the time."

Serrano laughed nervously. "Y-yeah."

"Adela!" a kid with bright red hair yelled as she made her way toward us.

A girl with deep green hair also followed after her.

"Oh, Eli!" Adela said, turning around.

"Why did you go running off like that? Want to make your father worry?" the green haired girl said.

"Sorry," Adela said, blushing slightly.

The pine-green-haired girl sighed. "Usually I have to chase Eli, not you."

"Eli? That's not Eli," Nate said, huffing as he crossed his arms.

I laughed. The kid went from being sad to being mad about his plushie.

"Eli, that's a cute name," Alex said, blushing.

Nate nodded. "Yup. Why I named Eli that!"

Eli turned to look at them. "You know an Eli too?"

"Y-yeah. M-my brother's plushie," Alex stuttered. He turned away.

"Wait, isn't Eli a guy?" Serrano mumbled.

Adela nodded. "Yeah. It's tradition in our clan for the boys to cross dress until they're eighteen or have their coming of age ceremony. Whichever comes first."

I sighed. "Should we tell Alex?"

Suzuki smirked. "I'm not sure, it's pretty funny. Think we should let him continue to think Eli is a girl. Want to see how long it takes him."

"That's mean," I said, sighing. Though, I was also curious how long it would take him.

Eita approached Adela. "I'll take that."

Adela nodded and handed it over to him.

Eita frowned. It hadn't transformed at all.

"Don't worry. It doesn't mean that you aren't its new chosen one," Serrano said. "It took some time for Aventine to transform for me. Likewise for Tetsu."

"You were a kid, though," Setty said. "I'm sure it's harder for a little kid to activate one of the Seven-Hill weapons than it is for a teenager."

"Well, Tetsu still stands."

Poor Tetsu struggled a lot to finally become an angel tool user. He would even be bullied for it during middle school. I still remembered how he would often come home with his clothes messed up and covered in blood stains. Most of the time, it was the blood of the other kids. At one point he said he didn't have to become an angel tool user, that all he needed were his fists. I knew the kid was lying. As did Mom and Taku. Like Mom, he had a tendency of trying to appear stronger than he actually was.

Eita held it close to his chest. "At least I have it back. Thanks, Adela. For returning this to me."

Adela smiled sadly. "You're welcome. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose a parent. Hopefully, I will never have to experience that." Her hands trembled at the thought.

My eyes teared up as I thought about Dad. Losing him was tough. While he was alive, our reunion didn't last as he was taken from us. I had to dive to those dark depths to save him.

**Solar Note: Remember to click on that star if enjoyed the chapter ^^.**