AKARI

Nikolai let us inside and invited us to sit in his dining room with his daughter Margaret while he began to make us some tea.

"So, what brings you to visit so early?" Nikolai asks as he stands with his back to us, his front facing the charcoal colored stove as he boils water in the red, tan, and gold colored teapot while we sit at his circular tan dinner table, some of us having to stand due to there not being enough seats.

"About that," Nikita starts, guilt flickering across her face at the notion of her not being around very often, "I need your help...Nikolai. In order for them to reach Valentine, they need protections to shield them from his touch."

"I already guided your companion who came through here a few days ago. When I did so, I ran out of my potion supply. It would take me a few hours to produce more, perhaps an entire day to produce enough for all of you," Nikolai says. "And, what do you mean by them? You make it sound as if you aren't going with them."

"Actually," Nikita clears her throat, gaining knowing glances from all of us, minus Nikolai and also Margaret, who is sitting on Darius's lap, "I'm not."

"Oh?" Nikolai glances over his shoulder in surprise and raises his eyebrows, his eyes inquisitive and gleaming with hidden hope.

"I've decided that I'm not going anywhere else ever again. I'm staying here, with you and my daughter," Nikita says, her expression turning somewhat sheepish. "That is...if you'll have me. I don't quite feel like I'd deserve it."

"Of course," Nikolai smiles softly at his wife. "I told you before you left that I knew you were fulfilling a purpose nobody else could do, and if you didn't do it, nobody else would. We made this sacrifice for the greater good, but...a selfish part of me can't help but be happy that you've chosen to come back instead."

"Mommy's coming back?" Margaret glances off to the right to look at Nikita, who smiles softly and moves to kneel down in front of her daughter.

"Yeah," Nikita smiles and ruffles her daughter's hair. "Mommy's never going anywhere again. I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, Pumpkin."

"What sort of potions did you need to help Merrick?" Miroslava asks.

"He needed one to get passed the barrier just beyond the house," Nikolai says.

"Ah, yes," Miroslava sighs. "The barrier."

"Barrier?" I furrow my eyebrows. "What barrier?"

"My brother has a barrier that guards our home," Miroslava explains. "As a family, Valentine, Mariposa, our parents, and I lived separately from the rest of the world in a place that many weren't allowed to reach, much like a safe haven. Our parents, though, weren't your typical parents. They weren't around most of the time to raise us because they had to help shape the world they helped create. They were an instrumental part in helping us and The Oracle bring the Sins and Virtues to life. So, we had to raise ourselves, together. The barrier that once surrounded our home used to only keep everyone out. The original barrier set by our parents fell when the man who killed Mariposa managed to sneak in. After Mariposa's death, Valentine made a new barrier that let people through if they were worthy, and if they weren't worthy...they would vanish forever."

"How...comforting," Evory shudders.

"Wait, your brother?" Nikolai's eyebrows raise as he glances sharply over at Miroslava. "You're...Miroslava Constance?"

"That would be me," Miroslava muses. "Last time I checked, anyway."

"Right," Nikolai runs a hand through his hair, his eyes flickering across all of our faces before they land back on Nikita's. "Okay. If you help me, I may be able to get the proper amount of potions within six hours. After all, you're the alchemist between the two of us."

"Right," Nikita nods. "Of course. I'd be happy to help."

"Well," Nikolai grins just as the teapot begins to whirr as the water boils, "let's get started then."

***

Nikolai and Nikita managed to whip up the potions in a matter of four hours before they explained to us that the potions will wear off in two hours once we use them, so we'll have to use our time sparingly. Afterward, they sent us on our way and wished us luck as they waved from the front porch, Nikolai with his arm around Nikita's waist and Margaret between them, smiling happily at her newfound friends as she waved enthusiastically with one hand and held her teddy bear in the other.

"The potions won't protect you from Azuma though, so be careful," Nikolai warned as he gave the potions to Miroslava.

"Who exactly is Azuma, Miroslava?" I ask as we stand outside the red glowing barrier that lies just within the forest.

"Someone I'd very much like to not run into," Miroslava sighs. "Come on, let's go."

Miroslava walks through the barrier and the rest of us glance at each other warily before we follow suit. My eyes widen in surprise when after passing through the barrier it seems as if we've entered another world completely. Instead of being surrounded by forest, we're standing on a pathway that goes through endless rolling hills, meadows all around us and a few trees occasionally sprinkled around. The sky above us is full of clouds and is tinged a soft pink with orange nearing the ground.

"What is this place?" Sander asks, looking around with an awestruck expression.

"Welcome to Auriel," Miroslava says. "The home of the Chronos. On the surface, it's beautiful, but it's home to much more tragedies."

"I see..." Evory frowns in thought as she glances around, feeling sympathy for Miroslava.

As we walk through Auriel, I notice that there seems to be no civilization in sight, which makes me wonder where and how they lived. Upon traveling for about twenty minutes, the fields and meadows turn more into a forest, the pathway narrowing.

"My brother is about another thirty minutes through here. If we hurry, we should have enough time to deal with him and return," Miroslava says.

"Hey, Akari?" Kaito starts, gaining my attention as we walk side by side.

"Yeah?" I hum, glancing over at him.

"Do you think they were okay growing up?" Kaito asks. "I mean, they only had each other. They were forced to grow up faster than they had to and they had heavy responsibilities placed upon their shoulders from childhood. Do you think that maybe that's why they are the way they are?"

"And what way exactly are they?" I raise a brow, knowing exactly what he means though.

"Isolated," Kaito says after a few moments, watching Miroslava's back as she walks down the pathway ahead of us. "Lonely. Whenever I look at Miroslava, I don't see a cunning and lethal hunter. I mean, I do, but that's not all I see. I think she's someone who's been through a lot and she doesn't want to show it, but that shows in itself."

"Yeah..." I breathe out in agreement, thinking of the stories we were told as children about the Chronos.

One of the stories about the Chronos children depicted Miroslava training in a dojo when she was a young teenager, just after Mariposa's death. It was pouring outside and Miroslava was practicing when Valentine came into the dojo and coldly informed them of their parents' death. Miroslava held her composure in front of her brother until he commented on her abilities and told her she wasn't trying hard enough, when in reality she had been bearing the burden of her sister's death on her shoulders and trying her hardest to train every hour of every day to become stronger to never let anyone she loved get hurt or die on her again. The story was supposed to be a lesson that was told to us, similar to most of the other Chronos stories, but now I wonder just how many of those supposed stories were actually true. It makes me feel bad for Miroslava and her family. So much pain all the time, so many burdens...

"Hey, why'd we stop?" Kaito furrows his eyebrows and I snap out of my thoughts to realize that Miroslava has stopped and is now glancing around the sky with a grimace.

"Because...we're not the only ones here," Miroslava says as she looks around, slowly raising her chain scythe.

"Evory?" Darius calls out questioningly and we all look over to see him glowing with a faint red light as he examines his hands. "I think...something's wrong here."

"Darius!" Evory shouts and reaches for him as she rushes forwards, her right hand outstretched as Darius watches her with sad eyes and reaches for her outstretched hand, their fingertips brushing just as he glows red and fades into nothing, burning away like embers in the wind.

"What the hell?!" Sander shouts and watches as Darius disappears while Miroslava races over to Sander, Evory glowing red and disappearing just seconds later, scattering like ashes.

I gasp as I watch the scene before me and glance around in disbelief and panic.

"Akari!" Kaito shouts and turns towards me and I glance down to notice myself beginning to glow red as I slowly hold up my hands to examine them.

Kaito grabs ahold of my shoulders and my eyes widen as the red begins to fade away from me and goes to him as he uses his abilities on me.

"Kaito, no!" I shout.

"Not you," Kaito breathes out, his red eyes seemingly more red than ever and brazenly honest, "anyone but you. I don't know what the hell's happening, but I can't— I can't lose you."

"Kaito!" I cry out and go to wrap my arms around him to pull him tightly to me, but my arms pass through air as he vanishes and I stumble forwards, tears streaming down my face as I cry out in agony.

"What the hell just happened?!" Sander shouts in disbelief as Miroslava keeps her hand rested on his shoulder, her eyes narrowed at the sky and a faint red aura emitting from her and Sander.

"Aww, now that's no fun, Miroslava," a feminine voice chuckles from above.

Suddenly, a woman with yin and yang colored skin, lavender eyes, and long and wavy twilight blue hair appears, the woman floating in a black one piece bathing suit with the sides cut out in designs and a lavender translucent sash that flows down to her calves on either side of her tied around her waist.

"Hello, Azuma. Still unable to have a fashion sense, I see," Miroslava sneers.

"Who the hell is she?!" Sander shouts and I stare in disbelief.

"Azuma is my brother's guardian—" Miroslava starts.

"—Lover—" Azuma interjects.

"—Guardian," Miroslava narrows her eyes once more. "She's the princess of the nightmare creatures and she guides them through death."

"The nightmare creatures have a ruler?" Sander furrows his eyebrows.

"Duh," Azuma rolls her eyes. "Where do you think we came from? We had our own realm, just as you have yours. When Wrath accidentally opened the gateway between our realms, most of the ones that came flooding through were vicious creatures who didn't belong even in our realm. Don't they teach you children anything in Aria anymore?"

"So, you're a living being made from nightmare essence and you're not a creature?" Sander asks.

"Uh huh," Azuma raises a brow. "It's not like I'm the only one, you know. What's so hard to believe about it? You Sins and Virtues are personifications brought to life in the eyes normal humans, but to you you're just normal everyday beings with abilities. I'm simply a being of a different kind, just like you."

"It's just that...we've never successfully seen anyone have nightmare essence in them and it not eventually kill them over time or immediately," Sander frowns, and I frown as well, thinking of Reverence.

"Geez," Azuma sighs. "Because your biological composition isn't meant for that. What would happen if a normal human stole your abilities somehow? It would wear them out eventually."

"Perhaps we should keep from straying from the main point here," Miroslava sighs. "Azuma, what did you do to the others?"

"I simply nullified their potions' abilities," Azuma grins. "What kind of guardian would I be if I didn't send away our trespassers?"

"You what?!" I snap. "What happened to them?!"

"Give us back our friends!" Sander shouts angrily in agreement, pointing his naginata at Azuma.

"Geez, stop pointing that thing at me," Azuma rolls her eyes. "Because Miroslava is with you, I suppose I'll take you to Valentine. Be glad, because if she hadn't, you all would've vanished. Well...except for maybe the blonde one. That brunette really saved you there. You might want to thank him, that is, if you ever see him again."

Azuma bursts into giggles as I glare daggers at her before she flies off, motioning for the three of us to follow after her.

Somehow, I feel like our patience with our guide may run thin before we even reach our destination.