It took us only a minute to reach a large palace with a large fountain. Its waters glistened in the sun like crystal.

Seemed like a waste of a precious resource to me. Or was it recycled like the fountains Professor Hitch told us about?

"Lost in thought?" a voice called out from behind. I turned around and saw Alabaster.

I looked back at the mansion and saw that the knights had entered the house. "Yeah, got distracted by this fountain."

He sighed. "Such a waste of water."

I laughed. "That was my thought too."

"It's put to better use in a garden." He walked ahead of me as if possessed.

My eyes glanced back at the fence of the house. While it took us a minute to get here, it would take a toddler a lot longer given the cathedral was a handful of miles away.

"Eiya! Eiya!" I heard yelling. It didn't come from the other knights, but Eita.

"Eita!" I said, running over to him.

"Tetsu? So you're the one who came in."

"That was actually your brother and the other knights. Guess you haven't had any luck finding Eiya?"

He shook his head solemnly. "Not at all. I've looked pretty much everywhere other than the garden. Bora's looking around the streets to see if he got lost. We think he might've taken Capitolinus from the cathedral."

I rubbed my chin. "Likewise. Say, do you have a key to the garden?"

Eita reached into his jacket's pocket and gasped. He searched his pants but nothing. "My key's gone..."

"Let's go to the garden," I said, dashing ahead.

Eita nodded. "It's straight from here," he called out.

I smiled. "Thanks." I shadow warped ahead of him and reached a pair of opened white doors. They had the carving of a tree covered by angels at the bottom. The motif seemed more like something one would find in Makkuroyama than here.

I reached for the door, but was stopped. Alabaster grasped me by the wrist.

"Allow me to open them," he said, reaching his hand out. He pushed it open and slowly walked outside. 

The garden stood out from the white and gold I'd seen thus far. The rich green and the multitude of colorful flowers made me feel as if I wasn't in the middle of the desert. My eyes darted upward. An arch made up of glass protected the garden. On it were a system of water sprinklers. Given how high they were, they likely weren't the irrigation system. Then how was this place kept like this?

"This plant needs some water," Alabaster said, grabbing the leaf of one of the plants. It was a ginkgo tree.

"Aren't they usually hardy? Maybe it's sick," I said, glancing up at its yellowing leaves.

Alasbaster placed a against its trunk and closed his eyes. "I believe you might be right. But, I don't think it's from natural causes."

I gasped. "Then did someone poison it?"

He shook his head. "No, it's sad. It misses the keeper of this garden."

"The keeper?" I gasped. "Wait, it misses Eiji? How does it know he's gone?"

Alabaster snickered dryly. "You'll be surprised by what plants can feel. They're more sensitive to emotions than most tend to think."

"I see," I whispered. Xime did use to tell me not to whack trees with sticks when I was practicing to be the heir of Aventine. Some of my classmates had told me that I could never be a knight, much less the heir of Aventine. She told me that it didn't like my anger. I found it odd that she said it that way when the tree should've been more bothered by me whacking it.

My eyes scanned the area. "Could you ask your plant friend if it saw any kids around here?"

Alabaster nodded and closed his eyes. He gasped. "It says that it saw the keeper's sapling running around here. He was moving too fast."

"Alright, I'll go see where he might be," I said, running on ahead.

"I'll go to the gazebo. He might be over there," Alabaster said.

I nodded and continued running. Was the gazebo at the center of the garden? If so, that might've been a good place to get a sense of the garden grounds. If that failed, then the others would hopefully find the kid from the balcony.

My ears stood up as I heard sobbing. I came to a halt and looked back. It was coming from the hedges. They were shaped like the typical garden maze in video games. I didn't think that people actually organize and cut them like that.

Using my seismic sense, I found the source of the weeping; a curled up child, gripping his father's angel tool. He reminded me of when Dad had 'died'. While most of my memories from back then were blurry at best, that was one I could see clearly as if I were still living it. 

***

[Eighteen Years Ago]

Aventine made a clicking sound in my shaking hands as I hid behind Daddy's deck in his study-slash-library downstairs. It wasn't because it was, cold, though. In fact, it was warm. Nor were my hands the only part of me that was trembling.

This was Pa's favorite place besides the living room sofa where he would take his mid-day naps. Being here made me feel close to him, as if Daddy were watching over me.

"Daddy," I cried, gripping the angel tool.

"Tetsu? Tetsu! Are ya here? Come out of hidin'. Ma's worried!"

I poked my head out. Ma's worried?

"There ya are!" Taku said, smiling.

I hid back under the desk.

"Tetsu, come on out of there."

I gripped Aventine and shook my head. "Nu-uh!"

Taku sighed. "Tetsu. Now's not the time to be acting like this."

"Me want Daddy!" I said. "Me not leaving until Daddy comes!"

My brother frowned. "You know that's not possible, Tetsu. Pa... Pa's gone."

"He's not!" I cried. "Pa can't be gone! He's the coolest and the strongest!"

He reached out and grabbed my arm.

I jumped and bit his hand.

"Agh!" Taku said, wincing. I let go of him.

"S-sorry," I said, looking away.

My brother laughed. "I-it's alright. It'll be fine after I bandage it up. That said, you could make it up to me by-"

"I'm not leaving," I mumbled.

"By listening to a story."

I blinked and turned to look at him. "A story?"

He nodded. "Yup, about the Seven Hills."

My eyes widened. "Me want to hear it!"

"Okay, but this isn't a good spot."

I pouted. "Ya aren't tryin' to trick me, are ya?"

He shook his head. "No. It's just that the book is upstairs."

"Oh, okay!" I got up and followed after my big bro.

He sat down in the sofa and picked up a thin book.

So, it really wasn't a trap after all. I smiled and jumped onto the sofa.

"Long ago, there was a knight who came from the countryside. He was at first a cowardly guy, but as he saw his friends fight with all they had, he decided to do so too. The cowardly knight fought with all he had, forcing himself to fight against stronger enemies. Several of them scary-looking."

"Woah!" I exclaimed.

Taku patted my head and chuckled. "The knight defended his friends with all he had, and pushed away the knights of the evil tyrant."

"Evil tyrant goes down!" I said, jumping up and down.

"After a hard struggle, the once cowardly knight fights against the tyrant king alongside his best friend, the crown prince. The two join their powers together and cast him away from their lands. From that day on, the knight became known as brave and as the most loyal of all the knights for standing alongside the soon to be king. He and his friends were greeted with fanfare. Kids looked up to the knight and exclaimed that they wanted to grow up to be as brave as him."

"Me want that too! No, me want to be braver! And stronger!" I said, standing on the sofa cushion. I jumped off and ran off. But first, a hero needed to make sure his Ma wasn't sad. Taku hadn't lied about the story, so he probably hadn't lied about Mommy either.

***

[Present]

Since that day, I'd wanted to be a knight like Daddy. No, as the kid me said, I wanted to be stronger and braver than him. To be an inspiration for the next generations.

"It'll be alright," I said, squatting beside Eiya.

The kid looked up at me and hugged Capitolinus tighter. He looked like the spitting image of his father.

I smiled and held out my hand to him. "Let's go back with your family. They miss you. Don't make them more sad than they already are."

He looked back down at his father's necklace and then glanced up at me. "You're not after Capitolinus, are you?"

I laughed. "Of course not. I have a better angel tool!" I said, summoning my shield. "Dad made it for me!"

His eyes glistened. "So cool. Me want something like it!" He looked back down. "But Daddy's gone..."

I patted his head. "True, but you still have your mommy. She's worried sick."

He jumped up. "Mommy's sick?" The kid bolted away.

I laughed as I chased after him. "No, not literally. It's a figure of speech."

He looked back at me. "Oh... What's that?"

"It's a metaphor."

"What's a memephor?"

I laughed. "A metaphor is when something is used to explain something else. Like calling the sun a ball of fire."

He blinked. "It's not a ball of fire?"

"No, though I don't blame you for thinking that. I used to think it was too."

"Then what is it?"

"Plasma."

"What's that?"

"Eiya!" Eita yelled before I could give answering a whack.

"Hey!" I said, waving.

"Big brother! Mister said that Mommy's worried sick!" Eiya said as Eita picked him up into his arms.

Eita nodded. "Yeah, she is. Let's get you back to her or else she will get sick."

"Me don't want that!"

"I know, that's why I'm taking you back to the cathedral!" Eita said, dashing off. "Thanks for finding him, Tetsu!"

I smiled and waved. "No problem."

"Seems that you found him," Eiichi said as he flew over to me.

I nodded as I walked past him. "Sure did. I figured he had when Eita couldn't find his key. He sure let his guard down with that kid. That Eiya has the makings of a great thief."

"Regardless, T-thanks for finding him," Eiichi said, averting his gaze.

Was I hearing things right? Eiichi thanking me? Was I dreaming? No, why would I dream about this?

I scoffed. "I did it for the kid and Eita, not for you."

"I know, but still."

I turned my back to him. "Like I said before, I'll never forgive you for what you did. Not only to Rosa and me, but to my cousins. Especially Conrad. That kid didn't deserve to die like he did. However, your little brother and the others aren't at fault for your mistakes."

If I had punished the kid for that, I would've been no better than Osamu.

"Let's go. Your father's funeral's not over yet," I said. "You at least need to be present the depositing of the ashes."

Eiichi followed me quietly. It felt strange to be mad at the guy when he was like this. As if I were the villain.

"Say, are you going to be coronated as the Grand Duke of Raiyama later today?"

"Yes, but I don't feel worthy of it," he responded, sighing.

Well, couldn't say that I disagreed with that. Though, if he was honest about paying for his crimes, he wouldn't be Grand Duke for long. Not that I believed he would until it happened.

**Solar Note: Got to finish this second chapter for the 5th year anniversary ^_^. Hope that you enjoyed it! Please vote if you did and let me know your thoughts thus far.**