Serra looked over his shoulder. "Something you need?"

"No, but you seem like you need a talk. Why are you out of it? Is it because of your dad?"

"Brother's stressed because of Daddy?" Conrad asked, glancing up at his brother.

He looked away and sat down on the couch. "I won't deny that I feel uneasy around him, but it's not Dad's fault."

"It's not? Then are you feeling sick?" I asked, putting a hand on his forehead.

Serra smiled and moved my hand away. "What's with you? You're acting like Tere and Taku."

"Serra, are you alright?" Teresa asked, running toward us. Taku followed behind her.

He sighed. "Not you two too..."

Yuko giggled. "That rhymed!"

Tere put her hands on her hips and sighed. "You can't actually expect us to ignore it, can you? Plus, it's not healthy to let bad feelings fester."

Sis had a point. I'd done some of that recently...

Conrad put a hand on his brother's arm. "Big bro, listen to her."

Serra sighed and looked down. "I want to go say my farewell to Sir Eiji, but I don't want to run into Eiichi." He clenched his hands into fists and closed his eyes. "If I do, I feel like I'll punch that guy, making a scene at an inappropriate place and time."

"But you're usually self-controlled," Taku said.

He shook his head. "I'm not as good at it as you might think."

I rubbed my cheek, recalling one of the punches he had given me. It hurt just thinking about it. I didn't even want to remember the feeling of being impaled by his earth spikes.

"Yeah, it might be best that you stay in that case," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Think you're right. I don't want to detract from the funeral."

Conrad patted his brother's head. "That's alright. We can play more board games!"

"Board games? That explains all the pieces on the ground when I came in," Xime said. She'd been stand at the side all of this time.

Con pouted. "We were going to continue the game today, but clumsy Bro knocked them out of the table."

Serra sighed. "I already said sorry."

His brother smiled. "It's fine. We get another chance to play since you're staying."

My cousin smiled. "Yeah."

Ximena smiled. "I'll join you too!"

"You're not going?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know Eiji like you guys do. Plus, I'm going to go watch the clinic for my grandpa later. He's going to the funeral."

He is? Did granduncle know Eiji? Or maybe it was his parents whom he knew. Assuming they were alive, he might've been going to give his condolences.

"Oh, we can have our game at the clinic!" Conrad said. "I learned a lot about herbs from..." He glanced at Yuko. "Ya have Azar's knife, don't ya?"

Yuko brought out her golden pen-like knife and held it out to him. "Oh, right. Yuko meant to return it."

He smiled and took it. The pen glowed red as soon as he had. Conrad hugged the retracted pen-knife. "You're still tired, huh? Sorry for what I did back at the mountains." Tears dripped down his eyes. "My darkness hurt you, didn't it?"

The glow coming out of the pen expanded, covering him.

"It's warm," Serrano said, smiling as the edge of the crimson light touched him. 

"Let's go, everyone already went ahead of us," Setsuko said as she appeared behind me and Yuko. Her sister and maternal cousins stood next to her. As did Piggy and Onami.

I turned around to see a portal. 

"Bye, Koh-Koh! Rosa-Rosa! Yu-yu!" Plu yelled, waving. She and Yuko had hit it off last night. Made sense, given Yuko was the doppelganger of her best friend. Though, I didn't quite see Plum having an easy time befriending Ocarina.

"You're leaving already?" Conrad asked, looking up.

"Yeah, Dad said that the funeral procession will start soon," Rosa said.

"I see. I'll be staying here with Conrad, Xime, Onami, and my aunts," Serra said.

Setsuko turned away. "If that's the choice you made, I'll respect it. Think that Eiko and the others will understand," the princess said as she walked past the others.

Plum held out her hands in front of me. "Wait, Tetsu, you need to look the part," she said before changing my clothes into a funeral suit.

"So, Dad's not the only one who knows this trick," I said, looking at my clothes.

She smiled. "Brother taught me."

Dad did? So, she knew that Dad was alive too... Who else was aware?

Yuko tugged on my arm. "Master, we got to hurry."

I nodded. The two of us followed the princesses and their cousins into the vortex. Hopefully Serra, Con, and Mom would be alright without us. Luckily, Xime was there to care for them.

A wave of heat struck us the moment we stepped over to the other side.

"So this is the desert," I said, narrowing my eyes as I looked up at the cloudless sky. It was as dry as the north.

Hyosetsu winced. "Should've brought an parasol," he mumbled.

"Yeah, your skin's going to burn in this heat without an umbrella," Kohri said.

The older brother rolled his eyes. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Sherkey."

"Hyo, be nice," a voice called out. Lady Miyuki walked to us, but despite her words, she had a smile on her face. Her eyes scanned our ground and widened as soon as they came to stop. "Wait, Serrano isn't with you?"

"He thought it would be best not to come," Setsuko said. Had she overheard us? Or did she know my cousin that well?

"I see. Follow me. Your father and the others went on ahead already to the cathedral. They're hosting a requiem for Eiji there."

"Requiem? Yuko thinks Nori mentioned one of those before," Yuko said, tilting her head.

"It's a mass for the deceased," Uncle Azami said as he turned the corner of the building. He eyed the crowd. "Seems that Serra didn't come after all."

"Yeah, but at least there's someone else to look after Conrad," Setsuko said, holding her hand out in front of her for emphasis.

Azami smiled slightly. "True."

"What's bothering Serra?" my aunt Selena whispered as she showed herself.

"You came too?" Teresa asked.

She lowered her head. "Yeah, I figured I would do so in my brother's place since he's stuck in the abyss. I never really got along with Eiko, but Eiji wasn't all bad."

My sister smiled. "I see. The three of us came for the same reason, except in Mom's place."

Aunt Selena averted her gaze. "Right. Azami told me about her situation. Hopefully after the war ends, my brother can return to you."

"Wait, so he's being held prisoner?" I asked.

She scratched her right eyebrow. "Sorta. All I know is that Pa fears he'll die if he takes part in the war's conclusion. No, rather, he foresaw it." She turned away. "Just like how I foresaw a boy who resembles Conrad destroying the world."

My siblings and I gasped.

"Right, Kuroga... I mean, Sir Takeshi can see the future too. He told me about it in Makkuroyama when Dan was taken the first time. It was how he knew where Dan was taken to," Rosa said. She looked away. "But Skah said that those who are chosen will fight in the war's conclusion, regardless of what they do to avoid it. As the Cat Pillar, wouldn't that mean that Takeshi has no choice?"

Dad, had he seen a future without Ma? Was that why he was so adamant to prevent her death?

Selena took a deep breath. "That's true. The future isn't so easily changed once one has already embarked down a path."

A path, huh? Reminds me of those games where one's choices can lead to different outcomes. But, what path are we currently walking on? The good ending, the bad ending, or the neutral ending? No, reality isn't that simple. Plus, those terms vary from person to person. For Hideo and Eiichi, we've already arrived at a bad ending.

"I'll break it down! This path that we're on and carve out my own," I said, forming a fist. "I'll bring that foolish father of mine back alive, save Ma, and keep Conrad from being taken over again."

Hyosetsu snickered. "There he goes again, speaking like a hero," he mumbled.

"I probably should've cleared this up last night, but I'm no hero. I'm nothing more than a selfish and petty guy."

Selena smiled. "Skah said that the princess said something similar. Did part of you rubbed off on her like what happened with my son?"

Rosa pouted. "No. We're just similar."

I snickered. "Except she's more childish!"

"Though, I'm younger than you..."

Miyuki giggled. "Enough arguing children, let's get on the move else we'll end up interrupting the mass."

Rosa and I nodded and followed after Lady Miyuki and Conrad's parents.

She led us straight to a white stone cathedral with multiple arches whose pillars were decorated in gold. Even the onion-shaped domes were golden.

"Fancy. Makes our church look like a literal hut," Teresa said, looking up.

"Tere. The appearance of a place doesn't determine it's worth. Especially in the spiritual sense. Just because a church is beautiful, it's worthless if its members spirits are rotten," Takuya said, shaking his head.

"Sounds like something Nori would say!" Yuko said, smiling. She lowered her head. "Yuko wishes Nori were here to see this place. Knowing Nori, he might even want to speak in the priest's place."

"He'll come back stronger, with the power to protect his dream," I said, glancing up at the white ceiling. It was so clean. Had Eiko had them clean it or did the custodians of this place truly care for it? And if they did, was it because of their profession or their religious sentiments? Or perhaps it was a mix of the two.

As Azami reached for one of the doors, the other one opened.

"Miyuki, have you seen my little boy?" Eiko said, adjusting her hat. "I can't find him. Ei-ei and Eiichi are looking throughout the cathedral, but he's not there. To make matters worse, Capitolinus is missing."

Tere and Taku exchanged glances before looking at me. My eyes widened as I realized what they were looking at me like that.

"A kid and Capitolinus both happen to be missing, huh? Do you know what areas Eiji loved to frequent that your son knows about?" Hyosetsu, Setsuko, and I asked in unison.

"Wait, you're thinking the same thing as me?" Setsuko asked, looking at me and Hyo.

"It seems like it," Hyosetsu said. 

I kept my eyes on Eiko as she looked down pensively. "Places that Eiji loved to visit..." She looked up. "I can think of two!"

"One of those is the center of the garden," Alabaster said as he stepped out of the cathedral. He was dressed completely in black and followed by Hideo and Reno.

"You guys are here?" Teresa said.

Reno narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't want us here?"

Teresa shook her head. "Ahh! I didn't mean it that way."

Alabaster smiled. "Of course I would be here, I wouldn't miss the funeral of my b..." He stopped himself and looked at Eiko. "The other would be the balcony overlooking the garden, no?"

Eiko smiled. "You sure knew Eiji well." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Makes me a little jealous." The Grand Duchess of Kuroichi bit her lip. "N-not like I care about what he liked."

Miyuki sighed. "Guy's dead and you still can't admit your feelings."

Eiichi's mom lowered her head and covered her eyes. "I-I wished I'd taken the time to learn more... more about him."

The Grand Duchess of Kuroyuki hugged her and patted her back. "I understand, Eiko."

"Do you know how to get to the garden?" Hyosetsu asked, looking at Alabaster.

"It's been decades since I'd last been here, but assuming that they didn't change the layout, I do," Hideo's uncle said.

"That garden was special to Father, so not just anyone can enter," Eiichi said as he exited the cathedral. It was a shock that the guy didn't burst into flames just being here.

"True. Eiya couldn't go there without a key. So he has to be at the balcony if your guess is right," Eiko said, interlacing her fingers.

"Let's go," Setsuko said, dashing off. The rest of us followed after her.

**Solar Note: Happy Anniversary! Today marks five years since I published the first chapter of the first version of the first book, Rise of a Guardian Angel :). To mark it, I decided to publish at LEAST five chapters between the 1st and the 15th. I might be able to publish one more today as I already have 79 started. Wish me luck!**