*Takeshi*

Osamu's mother led us into a corridor beneath the stairs. It was painted a deep green color with gold trimming along its edges. Gold leaf decorated each corner. I'd always suspected that the chamber would be on the second floor, not the first. Why had King Orlin built it like this? To throw would-be enemies off with the unexpected layout?

At the end of the hall were several doors. One led outside to the patio overlooking the gardens according to the queen; another went to the king's office. And the middle door led to the throne room. 

Osamu's mother walked over to the large golden double doors and placed her palm on the surface. With a loud clack, the doors swung open. Light poured out from within. The air smelled fresh and clean. The chamber itself was made of predominantly black marble. Tall amethyst pillars filled with reliefs of angels lined the path from the front entrance to the end of the room. At the end rested a platinum throne. A long-haired brunet man reclined his back against it, his eyes closed. Despite sitting down, the guy managed to match my height, and I wasn't short by any means.

I jumped as a pair of piercing hazel eyes stared back at me. The man on the throne laughed.

"Did I scare you? Pardon if I did. I was taking a brief nap while I waited for my son to come back. He took longer than I had expected," the man said, leaning his chin against the pommel of an amethyst broadsword. 

Osamu bowed his head. "Apologies, Your Majesty. I was delayed by a rowdy man. I promise that I will be here faster next time."

His Majesty sighed. "Osamu, no need to talk like that to your old man." He smiled as he looked into my golden eyes. "So you're my cousin's child, Takeshi."

"Cousin?" I said, eyes wide. "You're cousins with Ma?"

His Majesty gave me a gentle nod. "Indeed. We are both grandchildren of the most recent reincarnation of Hanketsu and Valentia. My father was the eldest while I was the eldest of his children. Thus I became King while my aunt was cast into the second branch, just like her father's line was centuries prior."

I tilted my head. "Uh, not sure if I understand."

"He's talking about the clan branches. Are you not aware of how this clan functions despite belonging to it?" Osamu asked, shaking his head at me as if I were some idiot.

I ruffled my hair and snickered. "No... Wait, your mother said that we were meeting your father..." My eyes shifted between Osamu and King Orlin. "Wait, you're the prince?"

Osamu sighed. "You're barely figuring that out now? You aren't only a coward but slow on the uptake."

"Who are ya calling a coward and slow?" I shouted, letting my accent drip out.

The prince averted his eyes and snickered. "You really are brave, speaking like that to the crown prince in front of the king himself."

The king nodded as a large grin dotted his face. "Aye. Reminds me a lot of her. That cousin of mine was always pushing me around. People even claimed that she was more likely to become the next monarch than I."

Osamu stared at his father blankly. "If anyone, he sounds more like you than his mother."

I guess I should take being compared to the king as a compliment?

King Orlin tilted his head. "True, I guess that you could say that." He smiled. "I guess that you're the one closer to Tulia."

True. His tone is a lot like Ma's. Including the stoic tone when not laughing and their beautiful features. Now, I'm wondering if perhaps we got switched...

"No, you most definitely aren't the prince," Osamu said, poking my head.

How the heck did he know what I was thinking? Can this guy read minds?

"Yeah, you have your father's aura too," the king said. "So, how is he?"

"My dad? I don't know..." I said, scratching my neck. "He's probably working like usual." He rarely comes home nowadays... Truth be told, it has been ages since I've last seen Pa.

Osamu's mother walked over to her husband and touched his shoulders lightly. "Dear, I know that he is family, but you should move on to why you summoned him here in the first place."

"Ah, right. Thanks for keeping me on track, dear. Takeshi Kuroriku. I called you here today to serve as one of my Seven-Hills. As you know, they are knights of immense power and talent. While you are still a teen, you have already shown an unusual talent for using shadows."

"Shadows?" Osamu blurted out.

I held out my right hand and created a sphere of pure darkness, absorbing the light in the room. "See. Or rather, don't see. Oww!" Something, or rather someone, had hit me. He turned around and saw that it was Osamu.

"Enough with the lame pun. Return the light!" Osamu snapped.

Guess he doesn't have excellent night vision.

"Okay, okay," I said, backing away. You're pretty hands-on violent for a noble." I disintegrated my sphere, returning the light to the room.

"That's... incredible," the queen said, her mouth agape. "The electricity didn't seem to flicker out like normal."

"Indeed. It was more as if the light itself was drained from the electricity."

"Pretty much that is what it is," I said, smiling shyly.

"Hmm, perhaps I did underestimate you," Osamu said, ruffling my hair as if he were my friend. "Father, will you perform the Seven Hill ceremony here?"

The king stepped closer. "Yes. I shall. Takeshi, hold out your earring and close your eyes. You will find yourself on a different level of reality. You must take care of that part of the ceremony on your own. I trust that you will make your mother proud."

I nodded and clasped both hands over my earring as if in prayer. Closing my eyes, I found myself in the center of a plain filled with flowers. The sweet scent of oranges filled the air despite no orange trees in sight.

"Ah, a visitor," said a girl. She had her legs crossed and wore a white unbuttoned long coat. Leather armor covered her torso and chest. In her hands was a glimmering sword. "I didn't think I would get one so soon after that guy croaked on the battlefield."

"Uh, who are you?" I asked.

She stared at me blankly. "Did those foolish descendants of mine not tell you anything? The angel tool you wield is the one which houses me." She raised her sword up at me. "Now, prove that you're worthy of wielding my power." She closed her eyes and turned her sword so that the edge pointed at me. "Oh, great power from on high, may you smile upon the victor of this match." She opened her eyes and appeared behind me. Flowers danced in the air as she came in for the kill.

I raised my bare hands. "Hey! First, mind explaining why you're fighting me?"

The raven-haired woman grinned. "You have the appearance of a coward, but you're surprisingly brave."

Not you too!

"Though I guess that's to be expected from one of my descendants." She jumped back. "I guess that it would be dishonorable to continue to attack you without giving you a proper explanation. As I said, I am the spirit with Aventine. If you wish to wield its weapon form, you must first make me your guardian angel. Now, come and show me that the blood of Valentia and Hanketsu courses through your very veins!"

I raised my hand out and formed a dark sphere, absorbing all of the light in the strange realm within Aventine.

"Wow," Aventine said. "Impressive. I've never seen control of darkness of this caliber from my previous wielders when they were your age. It might even surpass that of my father if polished."

"Your father?" I said as I snuck around in the darkness.

"Yeah, the very angel of darkness himself, Hanketsu. His children all inhabit one of the Seven-Hill weapons."

So she is a direct ancestor of mine.

"Though you appear to lack self-preservation!" she screamed as a fist collided with my stomach. My back hit the floor, and my sphere of darkness rolled out of my hand. "Ploys like that have no effect on one descended from the angel of darkness. You should know that very well, being able to see in the pitch-black night you just created."

I stood up and sent my sphere flying at her. She dodged it with ease.

Great, how am I expected to defeat one of the daughters of Hanketsu? All seven children were legendary in their own right!

"Gah," I shrieked as Aventine's blade gashed my shoulder. "Damn." I squatted down and removed my shoes, an old pair of black sneakers which had clearly outlived their life expectancy.

Aventine grinned as she drew closer. "I'm only using my first stage, and yet you can't even lay a decent hit on me."

I held my shoulder and raised my left hand toward her. "Gather before me veil of the heavens. Level 2: Sacred Darkness Arrows!"

Seven purple arrows shot out of my hand and locked onto Aventine. She dodged them swiftly and gracefully but the arrows continued to follow.

She glanced at me and grinned. "Not bad." She stretched both hands out, forming a barrier of shadow. The arrows dissolved into the dark sphere.

I grinned. "All according to plan." If only that pretty boy of a prince were here to see how smart I can be.

"Oh rise from the depths arrows of holy shadow! Level 2—Resurrection: Sacred Darkness Arrows!"

Aventine gasped and jumped out of the barrier but not before three arrows stabbed her in the arms. "Impressive," she said, landing on top of a giant boulder. She plucked out the arrows and raised her hands into the air. "I didn't expect you to be able to do a resurrection attack."

In our realm, there were seven levels of angelic attack. The level of an attack is determined by various aspects. One of those is the percentage of mana that an attack drains from an average angel. Normally level 1 attacks drained up to 1 percent of an average angel's mana. While level 2 drained 4 percent. Level 3 drained 9 percent. The strongest ones, level seven drained 49 percent meaning that one could only use two if they were an average angel. And pushing one's mana to such a low level was dangerous. Not to mention that level 7 attacks were incredibly difficult to learn and master. Only an angel who could achieve the Seventh Heaven stage could use them. Or so I've heard. No one in the modern age had been able to activate it, not even my Ma.

Then there were 'resurrection attacks'. Such attacks were the recreation of the previous and used up half of the mana of the original, but they were difficult to perform. One needed to time the destruction of their attack before being able to recreate it. Even being off by a single second could throw things off. So only an angel in tune with nature could use them at a constant basis.

"Your mastery of shadow is great," Aventine said, chuckling. "Using what I inherited from my father would be useless. Oh great Earth Mother, hear my pleas... Level 1— Earth's Shackles."

The ground dissolved into liquid and snaked its way up my legs.

"Ah," I cried out. "Level 2— Dark blade!" A pitch-black sword with a feathered texture appeared in my left hand. With a single wave, I slashed the stuff off of me. The earth returned to liquid form but continued to crawl its way up.

Aventine turned her back toward me. "Escape from this and I'll accept to serve as your angel."

I grinned. "Deal!" I closed my eyes and drew mana from my surroundings.

"Such a talented child..." Aventine said, reclining her chin against her interlocked hands.

"Level 3— Dark Swirl!" The earth around me shattered with ease and was swept away into the wind. And by earth, I mean including that underneath my feet. I opened my eyes and saw Aventine laughing.

"You did it!" She raised her sword. "Now stay still, and I'll finish this." She vanished only to reappear in front of me. She had stabbed me with her blade before I could even process what had happened. I let out a bone-chilling scream. Aventine laughed. "Nice job, kid. Now, sleep tight."

She pulled her sword away. I dropped to the ground as soon as she had moved away. Everything seemed to ripple around me as if space-time were on the brink of failure. Then everything faded into shadow.

*Character Section*

Orlin Kuroriku-- AKA: Scion of the Shadowy Hill Sex: Male Age: 37

**Solar Note: What do you think of King Orlin?**