Carlos tilted his head as his bluish-green eyes were drawn toward the golden aura at the tips of my fingers. No words left his lips, but the look in his eyes was enough to tell that he found it peculiar.

I clenched my fist shut and extinguished the aura.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I simply have to do it again.

I shifted as much mana as I could toward my clenched fist, just like how Setsuko had taught the four of us. A warm sensation akin to that from my battle with Hideo spread across the palm of my hand.

I opened my eyes and found only the interior of my fist covered by the aura. At least it had some improvement from my second attempt, but nothing compared to the first.

"I think I understand now," Carlos said as he leaned back against the throne.

I sighed. "That's good, mind telling me what's wrong with it then?"

"Your prana ends up leaking into your mana, causing the aura to be unstable. It's akin to attempting to start a fire in a moist forest."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "My prana?"

"Have you heard that mana and prana, while similar, are in certain ways opposing forces? Mana comes from the natural world, while prana comes from within the body and taps into the spirit."

I crossed my arms as my master's face popped to mind. "Yeah, I think that I might've heard that once."

Carlos sighed. "Let me guess, you weren't paying much attention at the time?"

I scoffed. "I had better things to do."

"Like zapping a paper plane with your magic?"

I leered at my angel. "Come to think of it, you sound a lot like my master. Why is that?"

Carlos snickered. "Angels who were born from weapons take on the aspects of their owner's precious memories. Your magic tutor must've been significant to you if I have some of his traits."

I turned aside and scratched my face. "Well, he was like the big brother I never had. In other ways, he was a bit of a father figure too."

"That's why you miss him, right?"

I snickered. "I give up. Is there no hiding anything from you?"

"We guardian angels know our protectees better than they know themselves. Anyway, we should get back to our main topic. Since prana and mana's sources are different, they tend to clash with one another. There are two ways that can be fixed. One of them is to prevent the leaking of prana as you transform into second heaven. The other is to mix the two in even amounts."

"Mixing them won't weaken the end result?"

"Not if done right. If it is done correctly, then the resulting product should be stronger than what the first method offers."

I crossed my arms. "Are you being honest?"

"We guardian angels cannot lie to you, just as we can't lie to the divine."

I smirked. "Alright, just making sure that you weren't pulling my leg. Master enjoyed tricking me from time to time."

Carlos gave me a toothy smug smile akin to my master's. "Usually, when you weren't paying attention, right?" he asked in a teasing tone.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Now, I'm not sure if I should trust everything you just said."

"I meant everything I said. You can try it out for yourself. Try to draw on both your mana and prana at once."

I raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like it defeats the purpose of keeping them from clashing with one another as they move in opposite directions."

Carlos nodded. "Indeed, but think of it as the winds of a tornado. The cold and warm air compete against each other while each contributing a different aspect of the meteorological event. Cold air moving over the warm increases its power, while the rise of warm air increases the speed."

I sighed. Hideo probably would've understood that comparison better than I was. Luckily for me, I got to observe him call forth the winds to have an idea of how that looked like.

I took a deep breath and moved my prana outward while drawing mana from my surroundings. The energy clashed midway as I said it would.

If I remember correctly, when making a tornado, Hideo would have the winds push against one another. Then have the cold and warm winds move up and down one another like threads of fabric.

An explosion of energy blasted out from under my feet, shattering the floor under my feet.

Carlos' lips raised as more waves of energy shook the throne room. Rumbling echoed all around me, thunder caused by the crackling energy around me.

"Interesting, it's like the Shield Knight's," Carlos mumbled to himself.

I snickered. It might appear to be, but my Second Heaven will become stronger than his!

My wings were soon joined by a second, although slightly smaller, pair of wings. Lightning spread throughout the room as the golden aura covered me from head to toe.

"Done!" I yelled out, smirking as I flew into the air.

Carlos smiled. "I knew you would figure it out."

I stared at my crackling aura and grinned. "Yeah, your second method actually worked. I'm certain that I'm stronger than all the other knights right now."

"See, you only needed to understand how your body functions compared to those of the others. That said, I think that your trip down the demon road might've made it more difficult than it otherwise would've been. The demonic energy you accepted from Anestarte during your battle with Tetsuya caused it to stagnate."

"Thanks for getting rid of her for me."

Carlos' smile vanished. "I didn't get rid of her permanently. Your link has yet to be severed once and for all. The Archdemon of Lust is bound to return one day." He shrugged and grinned. "But we'll be ready for that day, won't we?"

I nodded. "Yes. I'll personally destroy her."

"If only that were possible. As you know, only your ancestor, Kushina, can defeat her once and for all. If either one of us harms her, she would just respawn again in Cianio."

"I hate respawning bosses," I muttered to myself.

Carlos chuckled. "Don't we all? Though they are great for grinding experience points."

I gave him a blank look.

"What?"

"Do you play video games?"

"No, but I have seen you play. As I said, we know everything about our protectees." His smile vanished, replaced by a stern look. "I even know that Tetsuya is right about what you did."

I lowered my gaze as I reverted back to normal. "Yeah... I am. Setsuko and Onami are also right to think ill of me about my role in Piedad and Conrad's fates." I glanced up at my angel. "Once this is all over, I plan to turn myself in. I will pay for my crimes. Those whom I've hurt will get their deserved justice, even that peasant."

Carlos gave me a slight smile. "I plan to remind you, should you forget. The truth will set you free, Eii. Now, how about you awaken? Someone is worried about you."

I blinked. Who? Hideo? Wouldn't he just think that I fainted because of our battle?

I sighed. "I was hoping that we could spar, but fine. I'll wake up."

Carlos smiled. "Maybe next time."

***

I felt someone shaking me as my consciousness returned to my body.

"Why won't he wake up?" Hideo asked, his words dripping with worry.

I tried to open my eyes, but they still felt too heavy.

"Maybe he needs some tea," Kaliq's son said. "That always wakes me up!"

"You got tea here?"

"Yeah, Daddy makes it!"

"I don't need any tea," I said, finally opening my eyes. I pushed myself up and rubbed my head. My body still ached from the earlier battle. My meeting with Carlos felt surreal.

Hideo laughed. "Sorry for hitting you that hard. It seems that I don't know my own strength."

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt I would've been out for that long. I had my trial."

The kid gave me the stink eye. "Yeah, yeah. Excuses."

I leered at him. "I mean it! Carlos even taught me how to properly activate my Second Heaven form."

"Second Heaven?" Kaliq's son asked.

"You saw that emerald aura I had all around me?" Hideo said.

The kid nodded.

"Well, that was the result of Second Heaven. Though, I'm still not sure if this guy knows how to use it."

I jumped back and spread out my wings. "It's best that you two take cover."

"Why?"

"Fine, don't listen," I said, grinning as I flew higher. Once I was thirty feet in the air, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. As Carlos had shown me, I gathered mana while pushing out my prana. Thundered rumbled throughout the spacious room as the air became charged with the mixture of energies.

"Maybe we should hide!" Kaliq's son yelled.

"I'll go with you if you're scared," Hideo called out.

I opened my eyes and snickered. I spread out my two pairs of golden wings, unleashing a shockwave of energy all throughout the room. The various balconies shattered, and the pillars of the ground floor shook.

"Woah," Kaliq's son yelled as he stared up at me. "This aura... it's different from the green one."

"Well, it's gold," Hideo muttered.

"Fitting, no?" I asked as I descended.

Kaliq's son hummed. "I don't think that's it. There's something else. The aura, it's reminds me of grandpa Halim. It's divine."

"Divine, huh? You're an inquisitive kid, aren't you?" I said, laughing. "Out of all the knights, I'm the one closest to the gods, genetically speaking."

"Genetics?"

"You'll learn about it when you're older," Hideo said. He leered at me. "Anyway, you should avoid telling this guy things like that. He lets things get to his head easily."

I scoffed. "Funny, coming from you. You seemed to act all high and mighty in your Second Heaven form too."

Hideo's cheeks reddened slightly. "Well, it did feel nice to pummel you instead of it being on the receiving end."

I averted my eyes. And here I thought that the kid was finally seeing me as a friend.

I chuckled. "I still landed some solid hits on you even while in First Heaven."

Hideo smiled as his aura flashed to life again. "How about we have a rematch?"

"So soon?"

He gave me a smug smile. "What, scared you'll lose again?"

"Not at all! It just seemed that you were running low on power at the end of our last match!"

"Well, I've rested!"

I picked up my spear from the floor and twirled it. "Fine. Just don't expect that things will play out the same way."

Hideo raised his arms in front of him. "I don't, but I'll still win, or go down trying."

He sounded just like Hyosetsu during our first match. If only he were here too. I would've loved to have challenged him.

"Uh, are you sure about this?" Kaliq's kid asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask? Worried that we might wreak the place?"

"No, it's just, you're running out of energy."

I gasped and stared at my hands. The aura flickered on and off. I was burning through it at a faster rate than Hideo had his during our battle.

I took a deep breath and reverted back to First Heaven. "It seems that I still have to polish it."

Hideo sighed. "I guess I'll have to be your tutor this time."

I smiled. "Teach me well, Mr. Makkuroyama."

Hideo puffed up his chest. "Alright, class is in session! Listen closely as I hate repeating stuff!"

I tapped my ears. "Don't worry, I'm a good listener when the teacher is cute."

Hideo grumbled. "Don't call me cute or I'm ending the lesson early."

"Alright, no need to get mad. I was just half-kidding."

He continued to glare at me.

"Can we start already?" I asked.

Hideo sighed. "Okay, but no more flirty comments from you."

I snickered. "I'll hold back until the lesson is over."

**Character Section**

Note: Reference picture is fan art of Arthur from the Fate series.

Carlos - Sex: Male Age: ? Elements: Lightning, Light Species: Zionian (Guardian Angel)

Likes: The Divine, Eiichi, his fellow guardian angels. Hates: Demons

**Solar Note: Pray that you found this chapter enjoyable :). I'll love to hear your thoughts on it, so please don't hesitate to share them ^_^**