I reclined my back against the stone wall of the dungeon as my feet grew exhausted from hours of standing up.

"How about you take a break?" the monkey boy asked, grinning at me from his cell.

I smiled slightly. "Nice try, monkey boy, but I'm not moving from this post. I've slept here these past few days, and I will sleep here tonight as well."

"You didn't even sleep overnight."

"I didn't feel tired," I said, closing my eyes somewhat. "Now, be quiet. You talk too much."

He puffed his cheeks. "Yeah, well, you're no fun to talk to anyway!" he said before walking back to his bed. He stared at his cousin.

Roa had fallen asleep and not woken up since he passed out from the pain. Though, maybe that was best for him. At least he seemed more relaxed.

"Hey," a voice called out.

I looked up and saw a girl in a purple dress. She was Camila, the only Makkuroyama who had stayed behind In her hands was a plate with three sandwiches.

"I brought you some food," she said, offering me the plate.

"I'm not hungry," I said, turning away.

"But I am!" Man-kin said, jumping out of his bed and sprinting over to grab one.

"Here you g-"

I snatched the plate of sandwiches from Camila and kept it away from the monkey.

"Hey! I thought that you weren't hungry!"

"Not right now, but later I'll be." I picked one up and held it out to him. "Here's yours."

"Only one? At least give me two. I'm a growing boy!"

I pulled the sandwich away slightly. "If you're going to complain, then you won't be getting any."

"Okay, okay. I'll have one, Mr. stingy," he said as he reached it and took it from me.

"I-I ac-actually brought one for everyone," Camila said, lowering her head.

I stared at the remaining two sandwiches on the plate.

"I don't think that Roa will be able to eat for a while," Man-kin said, glancing at his cousin. He lowered his eyes toward his now half-eaten sandwich. "Hope that Etsuo has found the ingredients needed for the cure."

"I-I'm sure they will," Camila said, nodding.

The cure. The Makkuroyamas are trying too hard to help the enemy. Reno and his sister had already turned against us once. For the rest of their family to do so wouldn't be unexpected. After all, the Kasai no Ki and their descendants aren't to be trusted. I must continue to keep an eye on them.

"Well, I-I better get going," she said, turning around and rushing off.

"That girl is a lot like her big brother," Man-kin said as he watched her run.

"You mean Dante? As she's nothing like Hideo nor Silas based on what I've seen," I said.

The monkey boy kept his eyes down. "Yeah."

I sighed and put the plate of sandwiches to the side. "Here, you can have these."

"You're giving them to me? Why? Are you secretly a nice person?"

"This has nothing to do with niceness. I'm simply not hungry is all. But if you don't want them, then I'll take them back."

"No, I do want them!" he yelled, leaping out of his bed and landing next to the cell bars. The reached his hands out and picked up the two sandwiches. "Time to chow down!"

I turned away and closed my eyes. He and his brother sure were laidback. Could he be buying time to escape? Though no one has come here to save them. But how long would it take for them to figure it out? Especially with Etsuo allowed to roam semi-free.

I crossed my arms over my chest.

Perhaps, I should relocate them, but that also has its risks.

I opened my eyes, pushed myself up, and strode over to the stairs.

"Huh? You're leaving?" Man-kin asked.

"Yes. But don't worry. Someone else will take over."

I told the king that I would ensure that they don't escape, even if it came at the cost of my life. But to be able to handle the pillars, I need to be at peak performance.

I looked up and opened the door out of the dungeon. Running over to me was Eita.

"Oh, Naoru! Sorry, I'm late for my shift. I was out training," the second son of Eiji and Eiko said.

I glanced at my worn-down leather wristwatch and realized that he was, in fact, five minutes late. "Well, at least you're spending your time doing something which will help the cause. That said, I hope that you have enough energy left should the need arise."

He smiled slightly. "I made sure of that."

"If you say so. I should return in an hour or two."

"Uh, don't you think that you should take a longer break than that? You stayed up all night. Have you even had the chance to eat?"

"Camila brought me some sandwiches," I said, walking past him.

"Did you eat them?" he asked, turning to look at me.

"Worry about keeping the two prisoners from escaping. I can take care of myself."

"Alright. Don't get all prickly. Seriously, why do I always get paired up with you serious types?" he said, mumbling the last part as he entered the dungeon.

We need to find sterner guards next time.

"Naoru, you should rest more if you wish to be ready to the enemy," my djinn's voice echoed in my head.

I can't lower my guard in this place. The enemy could appear here when least expected as they did in the palace. There could even be traitors in our midst.

"Naoru, you shouldn't put the entire weight of this mission on your shoulders. Trust your comrades a little."

How can I when those in the palace allowed the enemy to flee last time? We can't have a repeat of that. It could cost their lives this time.

My djinn snickered.

What's so funny?

"You're a strange one, Nao. You act as if you don't care about anyone nor anything except the mission. Yet, the truth couldn't be more different."

You know why I can't bring myself to care outright.

"Is it because of that tanuki girl?"

I walked over to the stairs leading up to the bedrooms and took a seat.

"Naoru? Are you alright?"

I leaned against the rail and closed my eyes.

Be quiet and let me sleep.

"Sleep? On the stairs?"

Her voice grew distant even though it resided in my head as I started to lose the sense of everything around me. It felt good to let sleep take hold of me for once.

***

[Years Ago]

I felt an unbearable heat against my back. When I opened my eyes, I saw I was in the middle of the desert.

"Onami?" I said, looking down at the girl whose back I was riding on. She was the same size as me, but her big fluffy tail helped her be able to carry me.

"Nao, you're awake," Onami said, glancing back at me. Even though she smiled, I could tell that she was in pain.

"Let me down," I said.

"Are you sure? Onami can carry you a bit further," she said.

"I'm sure," I said. She put me down, but I soon regretted it as I fell on my butt. My legs felt as if they had been turned into wet clay.

Onami sighed. "This is why Onami asked."

I kept my head low. My face had become hotter than the sun against my back. "I guess that I overestimated myself." I crossed my legs and rubbed my throbbing forehead.

"Did you hurt your head too?" she asked, kneeling beside me. She glanced around. "Though, I didn't see you get hit by anything."

I shook my head. "No. I didn't hit it, but it hurts really bad."

She frowned. "It has to be a side effect of the elixir."

I gasped as memories rushed into my head—dark memories of how I killed the kidnappers in cold-blood. If I had any food in me, I would've puked it right out.

"Nao!" Onami said, grabbing ahold of my shoulders.

My body had started to convulse. "I-I'm fine," I managed to force out.

"You're not!" She furrowed her brow. "This is all my fault. I should never have allowed you to drink the elixir."

I smiled weakly. "I'm just shaken up is all. It feels like a bad dream." Tears began to slide down my face as I tried to push away the memories. I pushed myself off the ground and wiped away my tears with the sleeve of my shirt. "Let's get going."

Onami stood up to her full height and sighed. "Okay, but if you're feeling tired, then tell me. I'll carry you with my tail."

"Thanks, but I think that I should carry you instead. You seem about as exhausted as me."

"If we're both exhausted, then we shouldn't carry the other," Onami said, laughing.

"True," I said, looking up the clear blue sky. I knew that the desert was a harsh place, but actually experiencing it was entirely different than reading about it. "Let's try to find a place that sells drinks. I got some spare change."

"Money, huh? I've never actually seen it."

I reached into my pocket as we started walking again. "This is money," I said, taking out a few bronze coins.

"So shiny," Onami said. She giggled. "Bet that Nori would love it."

"Who's Nori?"

"He's my little sister's best friend."

"Is he a tanuki too?"

"No, he's a nekomata."

"Woah, no wonder he likes shiny things," I said, recalling my pet cat. Nyako love to get her paws on shiny objects. She would even fight crows for them.

I sighed. I missed Nyako and Mom. Hopefully, they were alright. Dad was to return, so he likely kept them calm.

Onami suddenly gasped, causing me to raise my head. She pointed at a town in the distance, surrounded by various kinds of palms.

"We made it," she said, sighing in relief.

"Wait, it could be a mirage," I said.

"Don't worry. It's not. I can tell thanks to my eyes."

"You can?"

"Yeah, they have the power to create illusions. As such, they can also see through them."

"Interesting."

She grabbed ahold of my hand and pulled me forward. "Come on, let's go!"

The two of us ran the rest of the way to the oasis town, but we soon regretted it as we were both on the brink of collapse by the time we arrived at the entrance.

I glanced up at the mud-brick houses. The town was small, but it had a very homely vibe to it.

"Should we report to the police?" Onami asked.

"I think so, but do they even have a police station here?" I asked as my eye scanned the place. It seemed to mostly consist of houses.

"It's probably on the other side of town." She grabbed her stomach and stopped.

"Are you alright?" I asked, grabbing her by the arm.

"I'm... hungry," she said, leaning against my shoulder.

I smiled as her stomach grumbled. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious like dehydration.

"Let's go and find a restaurant before we head to the police station."

"No. Let's go to the police first. I made the mistake of not going to them first when I escape with my sister." She lowered her eyes. "Yuko... wonder how she's doing now."

I patted her back. "We'll find her as soon as we return to Kaguya."

Onami nodded as we walked deeper into the town, unsure whether we would even be able to find a way back home.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^. Today marks not only my birthday, but also the 1-year anniversary of this book's publication. In that time it's managed to get over 5.3K reads, over 2.3K comments, and over 850 votes. I pray that by time next year it has more than doubled those numbers :). I aim to finish this book exactly 4 months from now.**