*Kiara*

I sat in my bed and stared up at the ceiling-window. The once clear sky was now cloudy. I couldn't tell if it was a sign that it was going to rain or if the weather was about to clear up.

"Kiara; are Roa, Etsuo, and the others okay?" Dine's voice echoed in my head.

"Wish to see them?" I asked, mentally.

"Yeah. I'm worried, especially about Roa."

"Say, do you like Roa?"

A warmth filled my chest. "Of course, I do. I like Etsuo too."

I laughed. "I meant romantically. Wait, do you abysmals have the same notion of romance as we do?"

"I'm not familiar with the Zionian notion of it to say, but I did mean romantically?"

I stood up. "What? You like both of them?"

The warmth intensified.

"They're both great guys."

I placed a hand over my chest. "Hmm, I can see why you probably like Etsuo, but Roa? Based on the interactions I've had with him, he's a jerk."

"Don't blame you for thinking that. However, behind that side of him lies one that is filled with kindness and warmth. You'll know what I mean when you see it."

I grumbled. I doubted that I would. Such a side seemed reserved only for his family and friends. Not that I wished to befriend the guy.

"I know that's not the case," Dine said, slightly snickering.

"Hmph. What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're lying to yourself. I can tell that you do want to be his friend. There's nothing you can hide from me, Kiara."

I gulped. That was very creepy...

"Sorry. Perhaps, I should respect your privacy a bit more. That being said, I know that you like Etsuo too."

My face blushed. "I don't."

"Hmm, that wasn't a lie... Could it be..."

"What? Say it. You're scaring me."

She chuckled. "Don't be. There's nothing wrong with you. Though, it does seem that you don't even know your own feelings."

"Hey, didn't you just say that you would respect my privacy?"

"I said that I 'should', not that I 'would'."

I plopped my head into my bed. "You know, Roa and you really do seem ideal for each other."

She giggled. "Thanks for noticing!"

"Say, why don't you seem jealous that I might like Etsuo?" I asked, sitting back up.

"Why would I when we share a body?"

"I guess that's... " I stopped myself as soon as I realized what she was implying. "H-hey, what are you saying?"

Her laughter echoed in my head again. "You know what I mean."

"Dine, don't think of such stuff!" I yelled, covering my face with one of my pillows.

"You're the one thinking it, not me. Anyway, think that we can go see the boys?"

I clenched the pillow in my hands. "I'm not sure if Dad will let us after what happened last time..." I shouldn't have done what I did back then. By trying to befriend Etsuo, I doomed my brother.

Warmth spread across my chest as I remained silent. It was different from when Dine was embarrassed. Could it be that she was trying to cheer me up?

I smiled. "Thanks, Dine. You're a pal."

I pushed myself off of the bed and strode toward the door. Dine was willing to cheer me up, so the least I could do was to see if I could alleviate her worries. Not that I wasn't worried as well. Etsuo might've been an enemy combatant, but he was still my friend.

As soon as I arrived at the stairs, I saw Silas sitting down with his black hood over his head. He was staring at what appeared to be a pack of cards.

"Hey, Sy, what is it you got there?" I asked, smiling.

He rapidly hid what was in his hands under the pockets of his coat. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" he snapped.

"Didn't mean to. I actually was walking normally. Say, weren't those Spirit Cards?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

His face flushed. "No. Why would I buy them? I'm not into silly cards games," he said, averting his gaze.

I flicked him on the side of the head and sighed. "Didn't I tell you to be more honest with yourself? It's fine if you like playing card games."

He lowered his eyes and took out an open pack of cards. It was a twin-themed deck.

I took the cards from him and shifted through them. "Did you get these for Dan?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I got them in preparation for his birthday."

His birthday... in just a few weeks, he would've turned sixteen.

"Though, I didn't buy them to give them to him. I bought them to help me fulfill his dream in his place."

"You plan to become Spirit King?" I asked, mouth wide open.

He turned to look at me. His eyes, while moist, were stern. "Yes. I'll live out his dream. However, should we save him from that world, I'll just give him the deck I built. Hopefully, it'll help him out."

I smiled and patted his head.

"He's just like Roa!" Dine said as she took possession of my voice.

Silas blushed and pulled away. "Stop that. And don't compare me to that guy, abysmal! When are you going to leave my sister's body?"

Dine raised my hand toward my lips. "I... can't."

Silas stood up and snatched his cards back. "What do you mean that you can't?"

"If I do, she'll die."

I'll die?

"Yeah, you will. I'm too weak to restore your body to the point in which you can survive without me."

"Lies!" Silas yelled. "You plan on using my sister as a hostage still, don't you?"

"Use your brain kid. If that was my intention, I wouldn't have brought her back to begin with."

He nodded. "Valid point, but as they say, 'beware an enemy acting as a friend bearing gifts'."

Dine sighed. "I'll prove it with actions, not words. Now, where is your father? Kiara and I need to ask him something."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "May I know what this something is?"

"You sure are a skeptic."

"Hmph. I prefer being skeptical than overly trusting just to end up getting burnt."

"It's fine to be doubtful, but you appear to be overdoing it," I said, putting a hand on his shoulders.

"Are you my sister or Dine?" he asked, giving me an uneasy look.

I flicked him on the forehead. "I'm your sister, silly! Now, let's go find Dad. I want to ask him if we can see the prisoners."

He grumbled. "You just want to see that monkey boyfriend of yours, huh?"

My face warmed up. "I don't! And he's not my boyfriend, he's just a friend, alright?"

He shrugged. "Whatever. Come, I'll show you where Father is."

***

Silas led me down to the basement of our estate. In actuality, the basement consisted of multiple rooms, each with their own unique attributes. For example, one resembled the peak of a treacherous snowy mountain, while another resembled a normal fighting arena except it had no gravity that all. I had only ever been to the basement rooms a handful of times; usually to try out skateboarding tricks. My favorite definitely was the zero-g one.

"Is Dad training?" I asked, looking around at the rooms.

"Of course, he is," Silas said. "He wants to get stronger in preparation for the arrival of those creatures. The full-out war has yet to manifest itself, but it will eventually." He clenched his hands into fists. "I must also become stronger."

Maybe I should do some training of my own too, instead of loitering in my room.

"Here we are. Father said he would be here," he said, stopping in front of a red door. A wave of hot air hit us as soon as he pushed the door open.

Our dad dashed across a molten field as a lioness made up of stone charged at him. The one controlling the lion was none other than Mom!

"How nice of you to join us," Dad said as he spun around. He swung his staff over the neck of the lioness. The stone let out steam as the tips of the staff melted the stone down until it cut through the female lion like a literal hot knife through butter.

"Not so fast," Mom said, smiling as she raised her hand from where she sat. "Stone Roar!"

Dad gasped as spikes jolted out of the stump of the stone statue. He ducked and grimaced as some of the stone tips punctured his clothes and skin.

"Woah, Mommy got Daddy!" Dossie said as she kicked her legs in the air.

Mom hugged her and snickered. "Thanks, little one."

"Mom really isn't going easy on him, is she?" I asked.

Silas smiled. "Of course, she's not."

"She got me good this time," Dad said, covering his arm as the lioness approached him.

He spun his staff and slammed the metal rod against the spikes, shattering them and the rest of the front-half of the lioness' body.

"Not bad, Hide," Mom said, grinning. "Dance of the Lioness!"

Hot stones broke free from the ground and spun around him, creating a vortex of stone.

He grunted as a stone hit him from behind. Another came at him from the side.

"She's brutal," I said, staring at our mom.

"Dad told you to go all out, didn't he?" Silas asked.

Mom nodded. "Yeah, he did. That's why I'm giving it my all."

"Isn't this too much?" I asked. Dark spots had started to form on father's forearms as he tried to block the stones or in some cases, swat them away with his staff.

He gasped as a rock knocked his angel tool out of his hands, sending it flying into a pile of molten rock.

He let out a grunt and unleashed a wave of vines in all directions, shattering all of the stones at once.

"How did he..." I began.

"He was focusing his energy inward, waiting for the right time to unleash it in the form of that attack," Dine said, taking over my body.

"That's right. Say, are you Dine?" Mom asked, looking back at me.

She nodded my head. "Yes, I'm the abysmal, Dine."

"Why are you in control of Kiara?" Dad asked, approaching us. A green glow covered his arms, closing the bruises and cuts he had sustained. Though, he had his red eyes narrowed at me, well at Dine.

"I let Dine speak when she wants," I responded for Dine. Though, sometimes she does take over without warning.

"That's not a good idea," Silas said, sighing.

"Dine seems nice, though," Dossie said, staring up at me.

"If you say so. I still think it's an act like what that monkey boy tried on the princess." He smiled at Dad. "So, how about another sparring partner, Pops?"

Dad smiled. "Sounds good."

"Why isn't aunt Zaki here? Isn't she the one you'd been sparring with these days?"

"Yeah, but she left with her son and another Seven Flame."

"You mean Reno?"

"She did leave with Reno as well as Suzuki, but I mean her other son."

"She has another son?"

"He seems to be around Silas' age," Mom responded.

"My age? Is he strong?" Silas asked.

"He is one of the Seven Flames, so I imagine he is," Dad said, laughing.

"He is?" my brother and I said in unison.

"Cousin seems mysterious," Dossie said, putting a hand on her mouth.

"Hmm, how?" I asked.

"Bet he's with the rebels."

Dad grumbled. "Why are Hideo and you so suspicious? You could afford to be a little more trusting."

"I'll never trust those who took Dan away, never!" he said, glaring at him.

"Aha, you do care for Dan!" Dossie said, pointing at him.

Silas averted his gaze. His act had finally cracked in front of the others. "Yeah, well, even if he did get on my nerves, he's still my brother."

I approached him from behind and pulled his cheeks. "Stop that, Sy!"

"Yoo stahp zat!" he muttered, grabbing my hands.

I snickered. "Not until you're honest."

Mom laughed. "Dan will be happy to see that you do care."

Sy let go of my hand and stared at the molten rock in the center of the battlefield. His golden eyes turned pale.

"Don't worry, we'll find him," I said, letting go of him.

Sy nodded and ran toward the center of the battlefield. "Let's begin, Dad!" he yelled, waving at him. "I want to hurry up and get stronger! I don't want to lose to Hideo!"

Dad smiled. "Okay!"

"That kid really is something," Mom said, sighing.

I nodded. "Guess that's just the way he deals with hardship. He's going to have to find a healthier coping method, though."

"I didn't do a good job at coping either," Mom said as she continued to hug Dossie. "I almost went mad during the funeral. I'm sorry that you all had to see that."

I sat down next to her. "At least, you're better now, Mommy," I said, hugging her arm.

She smiled. "Thanks, Ki. Say, is there something you wanted? Or did you come here to train too."

My face reddened. "I came to ask Dad about seeing Etsuo and Roa. Dine is worried about them."

"Is Ki also worried?" Dossie asked.

"Uh, a little," I said, looking downward.

Mom laughed. "Seems that Sy isn't the only one who's not honest here. Come, I'll take you to see them."

"Huh?"

"What, do you not want to see them anymore?"

"It's not that, but... will Dad be alright with it?" I asked, glancing at the boys. Sy launched a flaming arrow at Dad who simply caught it in his arms and dissolved it into embers.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine with it. He did let his sister visit her children after all, so why not you?" Mom asked as she walked out of the room with Dossie in tow.

"Mom, are you still mad at aunt Zaki?" I asked.

"I won't say that I've completely forgiven her for what she did, but I'm not as angry as I was when I found out."

"Auntie said that she'll retrieve Dan before she left," Dossie responded.

"I hope she does."

"As do I," I said, crossing my hands together.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter ^_^. Thoughts? Theories?**