My face flushed. "M-my conception?" It wouldn't have been weird if he were a guardian angel like those of the four male Knights of Prophecy, but he wasn't born from a part of my soul! Then again, he was my mom's angel since before she even married Daddy.

He coughed as his face flushed. "I try to tune such things out, but your parents were obnoxiously loud. Did you know that your sister got her name because she was conceived on a piano?"

My eyes widened. "What? Yikes, Mommy and Daddy were freaky... Guess it's true what they say about the quiet ones given Dad is one..." I narrowed my eyes at Caelio.

"I-I wasn't like that with my wife, okay?"

I fired off my beams at him. "Not that! If you are aware of what your wielders are doing, wouldn't you have known about who attacked me? Why didn't you appear to tell me?" Or protect me as was your job...

He scratched his head as my attacks flew around him, deflected by his barrier. My angel sighed as his drones charged up as well. "Normally, I would've known, but powerful magic was at work, preventing me from looking out. Even things that I could hear were muffled."

I gritted my teeth. Eiichi, what a waste of talent, using his magic for such things! Who else could he have attacked with it besides me and Piedad?

"Now, enough talk," Caelio said, appearing behind me.

I turned around and caught his elbow, but was still thrown back by sheer force. My eyes widened as a pair of arms caught me.

"Got you!" Shin-ae said, smiling.

A giant blast of light struck Caelio from above.

"Seems that you four alone weren't enough after all," Koraline said, smiling. In her hands was a wooden staff with a crimson orb in the center.

"So you've decided to join after all!" Caelio said, rushing at Koraline.

"Ignis Draco Maxima!" Koraline said calmly. But before the magic could manifest, Caelio slammed his arm into her stomach, pulling her along with him. He thrust his arm forward, throwing him toward where Yuko and Ocarina had fallen.

"Yikes! That guy's a beast!" Shin-ae said.

Caelio turned to look at us and smirked. "Funny hearing that from a lizard-lady."

Shin-ae clicked her tongue. "And rude too! For your information, I can't turn into one like Akira can!" She smiled as a blue sphere appeared in her hand. "But, I do have an 'overgrown lizard' as you call them."

Caelio appeared in front of her and slapped the ball out of her hand. Shin-ae chuckled and threw a punch at his stomach, flicking him into a nearby lake.

Wow, I'd forgotten how scary strong the Wynagans were. No wonder they nearly conquered Xeleria and Zionia...

"What was that? There was a bit of a gale in that punch."

Shin-ae flipped her hair back and chuckled. "Excel. It's a punch that packs the power of a twister, literally."

I glanced at unconscious Koraline. My eyes widened as a fire dragon rose from the staff on the ground and struck the lake, evaporating all of the water.

"So, she had it lay dormant, waiting for the right time to strike, smart," Shin-ae said, smiling.

"it's not over," I said, pointing to the lake. Caelio had emerged from the now dry lake. He sighed and held his hand out. All seven of his drones flew over to him, linking together to form a sword.

With a single wave of it, a yellow slash of energy flew out and struck Shin-ae before either one of us could react.

Shin-ae grasped her chest. Blood dyed her clothes instantly.

"Shin-ae!"

"Juyong, take Rosa away from here. She falls and this trial is over," she said.

Before I could ask who she was talking to, a multicolored dragon grabbed me and flew into the air. Was this the dragon that she had wanted to summon forth. The fur running down its spine was so soft!

"Argh, why am I focusing on such things right now? I need to hurry up and think of how to take that guy down!"

"Why must you think aloud?" Caelio said as he flew parallel to us. He smirked at the face of horror I was making. "You did well, Rosa. Better than if you had decided to use your ascended form. Alas, even with the help of your doppelgangers, you're not ready yet."

I snickered. "We'll see about that!"

Caelio gasped and dodged the incoming beams from behind him. I'd drawn the drones that Yuko and Ocarina had borrowed back over to me.

"Like I said, persistent, but you won't win," he said, appearing in front of me.

"Out of our way!" Juyong yelled, shooting a white fire which at times became rainbow colored.

Caelio formed a shield and fired lasers of his own at us. I formed my own shield and sent them back at him but they rebounded back to me. The blasts bounced back and forth like one of Dad's tennis matches from when he was my age.

I looked down. Ocarina and Yuko continued to lay on the ground. The only ones still standing were the two who had yet to enter the fray. Feng said that his wife wasn't much of a fighter, so I didn't expect her to help unless things got really bad.

The short blond girl closed her eyes, transforming into a white sphere. The orb flew into Harmonica's chest, causing white wings to sprout behind the taller woman's back and transform her plain skirt, shirt, and apron into a frilly purple dress. Harmonica's purple hair also gained blond highlights near the bottom reminiscent of my sister's ombre.

"Sis?" Ocarina said as she looked up.

Harmonica opened her eyes and held out her hands. "Listen to my song! Push against the gales that prevent you from moving forward. Oh, we wish to see that future on the other side! Take that step and change the future! Proceed onward, not looking back."

"Yuko feels energized," Yuko said, staring at her arms. As did I!

Ocarina chuckled. "I've never seen sound magic like this, but given that she's my sister, I shouldn't even be surprised."

Yuko narrowed her eyes at her. "Not to be rude, but isn't that a bit conceited? Though, Yuko's big sis is also impressive!"

I laughed. Yuko sounded like me there! Not that either of their sisters could beat Setty! She was the coolest, strongest, and nicest big sister there was!

Caelio put a hand on his hips as he landed on the ground. He scoffed. "That's some powerful support magic right there, but you're merely delaying the inevitable."

"You're sure?" Harmonica asked, raising a hand up.

My angel gasped as the space around him distorted and grasped him. "What? Dream magic?"

She grinned. "It's Harmonica's skill," she said. It must've been Eina talking. That, or Harmonica had taken up Yuko's style of speech.

Caelio eyed Ocarina. "It appears that each of you have a set of talents."

"You got that right!" Koraline yelled as flames struck Caelio.

"You got him!" Akira said as we converged on him.

I gasped. There was an uptick of energy from within the flames.

"Back away, everyone!" Koraline yelled, jumping back.

I remained in the air and moved my drones to the girls, forming a barrier around them. The flames exploded outward, revealing a swirling white aura, not too different from that of my Second Heaven form.

My eyes widened as a pair of large white rings with what appeared to be eyes spun around him. They reminded me of Daddy's guardian angels, each consisting of multiple rings dotted with eyes spinning around a large eyeball of energy.

He rose to the air and shot beams of energy out of the eyes on his rings, tearing the once scenic prairie up even further.

"Rosa!" Ocarina yelled as the beams bounced off of the barrier I'd made.

I smiled as Shin-ae's dragon flew around, avoiding Caelio's beam spam.

"What are you doing? Fly away from him, not toward him!"

I smirked. "I've ran long enough," I said, covering the dragon and myself in makeshift crystal armor.

"Your crystals have become stronger, but one hit and you're out," Caelio said, spinning his rings around.

My eyes widened as the entire area became one large sphere of energy.

"Princess!" Yuko screamed.

"W-we're fine," Shin-ae's dragon said as it stared at the small enclosure we were in.

I patted her armored head. "Yeah, I managed to push the energy away on time."

"Huh? You did it? But I thought that you needed your drones to do it."

I snickered. "I do need my angel tool, but it doesn't necessarily have to be next to me to push energy away."

"Woah!"

Good thing that it worked. I hadn't done something to this scale.

I gulped as the walls of the enclosure crackled, pushing the white aura closer to us. "Figures he would be aware of it."

"Not bad, Rosa," Caelio said, entering the closure. He smirked as we inched away from him. "Lost your courage, have you?"

I slapped myself. "No, not at all!"

He shrugged. "Such bravado, but no need to pretend to be your sister. You are not her, and that is alright."

I snickered. "I claim that because I am not solitary!"

Caelio turned around and blocked a blast of water and fire as it punctured through the sphere of light.

Koraline and Ocarina smiled as they held their interlinked hands out as if performing a unity spell.

Yuko jumped above them and unleashed a blast of green energy of her own.

Caelio grabbed the prana with his hand and flung it over his back.

I ducked as Yuko's redirected attack turned into a razor wind. If I hadn't dodged, my head would've been chopped off clean.

The tanuki grabbed Ocarina and Koraline's hands. A swirl of red, yellow, green, and blue energy swirled around them.

Caelio gasped.

"Not so fast!" I yelled, throwing crystal spikes at him. Had to buy the mages time for their unity spell.

He moved his hand up, shifting the center of the energy sphere. I gritted my teeth as I was pushed away from the others while Caelio vanished into the white mana.

I huffed. If only I could've used my Second Heaven form, but something about the air made me not want to do that. Our battle was already supercharging it. And while we were in the Dream Realm, something didn't seem right. It almost felt as if my angel tool were reaching its limits.

"Relax, princess. Shin-Ae and Akira are buying the trio the time they need," Shin-Ae's dragon said as she flew us toward the hole that Ocarina and Koraline had made.

I smiled. "Great! Let's hurry and back them up!" The sooner this fight was over, the better.

When we emerged from the sphere, I saw dragon-form Akira dash at Caelio, ramming past his barrier. But that wasn't the shocking thing. No, it was that she could fly despite being the size of a tank!

Caelio gritted his teeth as he pushed pushed back against her. He elbowed her in the forehead, flinging her toward the ground.

Akira spun around like a giant top, creating a massive hole on the ground and raising debris to where we were.

Dust. Instead of turning it into rock, I'll compress it and use my earth and ice prana to create a crystal prison.

"Crystal Rose Pollen Storm!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, surrounding Caelio in shimmering white dust. Caelio swatted it away, but he couldn't stop the forming and reformation of crystalline strands.

"Rosa, Juyong, you're alright!" Shin-Ae said, smiling as she flew through the air on a pair of dragon wings.

"Wait, I thought that you said that you couldn't transform into a dragon," I said, gawking.

She rolled her eyes. "I said that I couldn't turn completely into one like Akira can. We Seok share a common ancestor with the Sumeragi after all."

I rubbed the back of my head and laughed awkwardly. "Oh, right, I do recall you saying that."

She smirked and turned her attention back to Caelio. My guardian angel snapped a straight line of crystals using his 'drone-sword'. He glanced up at me. His eyes seemed to have a playful glimmer to them, akin to Hyosetsu's whenever he teased me.

"Temporal Blast!" Shin-Ae yelled, holding a hand out. Her dragon opened her mouth and fired off a blast of blue energy, striking Caelio head on.

Caelio turned around and noticed he was back within the crystal prison, complete with its crystalline silk-like threads and all.

"So, an attack that can send one a few minutes back in time," he said, closing his eyes. He moved his fingers, bringing the giant mana sphere toward us.

"Run for it!" I yelled.

Shin-Ae nodded and jumped on her dragon's back. The three of us high tailed it, flying straight down to where Akira had fallen.

Much to our surprise, she was back up, as good as new. Harmonica-Eina continued to sing their song while the girls charged their spell.

Yuko appeared to be struggling somewhat to stabilize her portion of the spell.

"It needs four people," Shin-Ae said.

I blinked. "How do you know that?"

She snickered. "My husband taught me about this spell, the fusion of the four elements to create the energy of life. An energy akin to that your angel is using."

"Indeed!" Caelio said as he flew over head with his index finger in the sky. The sphere of energy was directly above us! "Now, say your prayers!"

I gritted my teeth. We couldn't hope to avoid it. "Everyone, come over to me!" I said, spreading the seven drones. "Oh, gather around me and protect us, Heaven's Shield!"

Caelio scoffed and threw the sphere at us. The ground outside of the barrier was evaporated away. Even the piece we stood on collapsed as the ground outside of the barrier snapped like a super thin piece of ice.

Harmonica-Eina, Akira, Shin-ae, and I all rushed to the top and held the barrier up so that we wouldn't end up getting crushed. I could've kept the drones afloat like I usually did, but I wanted to have them give all of their attention to the barrier.

Shin-ae laughed. "You know, it's odd, I don't feel tired at all."

I glanced at Harmonica-Eina as they kept singing. That was some real dedication.

"Yeah, that song is something special," Akira said, smiling. "If not for it, we would all still be on the ground."

I nodded. The only one left standing would've been me, but I wouldn't have lasted this long without Harmonica-Eina's singing.

"Continue forth, Heaven's Shield!" Harmonica-Eina yelled, slamming her hands against the barrier.

My eyes widened as the barrier rose into the air, pushing back against the energy sphere. 

"Look out!" Akira said, letting go of the barrier.

I gritted my teeth and fired beams at the moving circles, but that just caused them to swing around the opposite direction.

Harmonica and Shin-ae also let go of my shield, while I used the drones to gain some distance. The rings were moving toward us, so Caelio had to know that we had survived the attack. Then again, he could've been all knowing within this space for all I knew.

I tried to focus the energy into the drones to strengthen the barrier, but it barely budged in the first place. How much training did I have to do to achieve such control? All of my life? Or perhaps, never.

Akira took a deep breath and a shot a stream of ki toward the energy as it wrapped around us, like the mouth of a flytrap. Sadly, that didn't do a thing.

My ears twitched as Harmonica-Eina stopped singing. The angelic mage fusion raised her hands into their air and warped us out of there.

"You could've done that sooner!" Koraline yelled as she, Yuko, and Ocarina continued preparing their spell.

She panted. "I didn't want to as the space here is at its limit. If it collapses, we could be stuck here forever."

Koraline gulped. "No, I can't let Jason be raised by that man!"

Was she that worried that he would lead their son astray? The more she spoke of him, the more curious I became to meet the guy. For all I knew, he could've been a two-timer like Tetsu!

"Don't worry, we'll finish this," Ocarina said, smiling.

Yuko grumbled as he knees buckled.

"Hey!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulder to keep her from falling back.

"T-thanks, Rosa," she said, feverish. Could her illness have been acting up? No, it couldn't have been. In this world, we're spirits, so our physical ills shouldn't have had a role. Unless, the genetic illness extended to a spiritual weakness. All things considered, it was likely as Shin-ae said, Yuko covering the role of two people in this spell meant for four was draining her.

"Hold on Yuko," Ocarina said as she increased her share of wind mana. If not for her vast reserves, she probably would've been in the same state as our furry-eared friend.

"The flow of earth mana instead enough, Ocarina, take over completely. Yuko, focus on earth prana outflow! We can't let all of our work go to waste," Koraline yelled, gritting her teeth.

Harmona-Eina took a deep breath and started to sing again.

Yuko smiled. "Yuko's energy is coming back!"

"Good, but a little too late," Caelio said as he fired a beam at us.

"No, you don't!" I yelled, reinforcing the barrier. The blast flew into the sky before raining down as multi-colored droplets. The mana must've split up into its seven components. Setty told me how she learned from Halim that Caelio could use all seven mana types. Though, I had sort of figured when I took over Maki's fire attacks.

"It's almost ready, we just need a bit more stabilization!" Koraline yelled.

Caelio dashed at the barrier and slammed his arm against it, causing cracks to form. He stabbed the cracks with his drone-swords, snapping the barrier as if it were made of plexiglass.

All of us quickly turned to the three girls and contributed our own energy, with me turning it into earth prana to make up for the deficit.

"Vita Lupus!" all of us shouted at once as Caelio stepped into the barrier.

Caelio's eyes widened as a silver wolf with fur that glistened in the seven colors of the rainbow rushed at him. He flew back, but the wolf quickly appeared behind him and bit down on his shoulder. My angel fell to his knees and let out a muffled scream. Energy flowed out of him and into the wolf's fangs. The experience of having his own energy drained must've been a novel one for him.

"Nice job, Rosalba, Yuko, everyone else," Caelio said, looking up at us with a weak smile. "You've passed. Now, get this thing off of me." He winced as it continued to bite down on him.

Koraline scoffed as she dispelled the wolf. "We have names too, you know!"

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Koraline, Shin-Ae, Akira, Ocarina, Harmonica, Eina, and Yuko. I couldn't have done it without you!"

The blond mage turned away, blushing slightly. "I did it to get home, not to help you."

I laughed. "You really are Ocarina's doppelganger."

Yuko giggled and nodded.

Ocarina scoffed. "She's yours too!"

Koraline huffed. "Why are you making that sound like a bad thing?"

Akira giggled.

"Alright, alright, enough arguing!" Shin-ae said, stepping between us. Her eyes darted toward the crackling sky. Cracks had formed in it, akin to when the demon portal had appeared in Zionia. "We should get going now."

I nodded. If only the space around us weren't unstable, I would've asked them to stay a bit longer so that we could train. Yuko and I would have learned a lot, I was certain. If anything, this trial taught me how right Setty was, I still had a lot of growing to do. I had allowed myself to become dependent on rage mode, Second Heaven, and even my drones.

Caelio smiled. "Alright, I'll send you back now."

Eina split from Harmonica and jumped at me, giving me a tight squeeze.

'Tell my big sis and bro that I'm fine. That I have three wonderful rugrats of my own now,' Eina's voice echoed in my head. It was small, but firm.

I patted her head and smiled. "Sure, I'll tell them that!"

Caelio smiled and clapped his hands. All of us glowed bright gold as we disintegrated.

"Finally, I can go pick up Jason now," Koraline said, sighing.

Harmonica smiled. "I admire your dedication as a mother."

Her face flushed. "W-well, you're probably a good mom too, being my doppleganger and all."

She looked down. "I sure hope so. Though, I feel that I could do more for my little Lei. He's probably worried sick about me right now." Her face paled. "Oh, no, what if he has an asthma attack right now?" She took a deep breath. No, Yen is with him. She'll make sure he takes his medicine."

Wonder if I'll be that worried about my little bun once he's out of the oven. Hopefully, he was a good kid like his uncle Taku.

"It was nice meeting you girls," Akira said, waving.

"Likewise!" Shin-ae said.

Ocarina turned to look at me. "That reminds me, come to Xeleria as soon as you can. Eri thinks something bigger than Daisaru's attack is about to come soon."

I nodded. "Sure!"

She turned to look back at Harmonica. "Sis, I'll meet you back in Xeleria one day, so please wait."

Harmonica smiled as Eina ran back over to her. "Sure. I'm sure that the kids would love to meet their aunt."

Ocarina giggled. "Eri already introduced me to the triplets during the games. I can see why you're so worried about them."

The older sister sighed. "Yeah, they can be a troublesome bunch."

Eina raised a hand to her mouth, making a giggling expression. Akari and her used to be the same way. Good thing Yen was similar to her big brother. She was sure to keep the other two from getting into too much trouble.

"See you soon!" Yuko and I said, smiling.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the ending to Fated Holy War! Will publish the Epilogue later today with some details on book five!**