Serrano gasped as he eyed the one serving as temporary ruler of Amadeus.

"I was just as surprised as you. Her name is even similar," I whispered.

"She's Akari's mother, no? Lady Sabrina?" he asked.

I nodded. I knew Sabine looked familiar. But why would she resemble Akari's mother? They even felt familiar too. Hmm, tis was a mystery indeed.

A magnifying glass and a cap flew out of her white ring. This was a job for Sherkey Rosa!

"Rosa, pay attention," Father said.

I moved my magnifying glass forward and back. "But I am. Extra attention."

He chuckled. "Silly girl."

Akhzar faced us. He moved his hands a lot like those orators in the educational videos I delighted watching.

"My plan is for the Seven seas to accompany the Five Knights. At least for the preparation stage. There are a few potential allies I would like them to meet," the former Celestial King said.

"Allies? Who do you have in mind?" his mother's voice rang from the birdbath.

"Prince Qing of Sera comes to mind. He is lazy but brilliant."

That reminded me of Hideo. Well, how he used to be, according to Rene.

"Prince Qing? I think my great-granddaughter-in-law babysat him when he was little," one of the Seven Lights, Kiyoya, said.

"Why not get your family to join the fight too? Your fruit is in Xeleria," Yukari said.

He grumbled. "Did you have to phrase it like that?"

Yukari laughed. "Aww. Look at him. He's all red!"

"Save it for later, Yu. As you were saying, Cousin?"

Akhzar smiled as he looked up at his cousins. "I think Yukari has the right idea. Your family is pretty strong."

The red-haired knight of light, Kiyoya, sighed. "True, but they specialize in ambush and the like. The confrontation will likely not have much room for their talents to shine through."

He tapped his chin and smiled.

"What's with that look?"

The former Celestial King wagged his finger. "I would not be too certain. Their experience in such tactics will be beneficial." Akhzar turned his back to his cousin and chuckled. "They will be helpful in disruption. Divide the enemy, and they'll be easy to slay." He moved his finger through his neck and smirked.

"That's a great idea, Daddy!" Marina yelled, holding her arms out.

Akhzar rubbed his shoulder and laughed. "Aww. I am glad you liked it, baby girl."

I turned and smiled at Dad. "I liked your plan too, Daddy."

Dad turned away and grumbled. "No one asked you, Rosa."

I giggled. He could try, but he could not hide the slight blush on his cheeks from me.

Akhzar cleared his throat. "Anyway. The more allies we have, the better our chances."

Saya nodded. "Indeed. Sadly, the more Xelerian forces we have, the less we'll have to divert to my brother's world."

"So you are concerned about leaving Zionia unguarded," Aquarina's voice echoed from the bird bath.

"Of course. How can I not be? I've seen what a small force of those creatures can do. A large scale one led by one of their strongest will make the battle of Grand Crater pale in comparison."

I turned toward Dad again.

"I gave them the information on that battle. Not that Saya did not have her eyes on it. Remember, Akari is her niece."

That made Akari sound like a spy...

"Why did you not help us?" Serrano asked.

"Your King did not ask for it," Saya said, shaking her head. "So the only one Amadeus had to help you out was my niece, Akari. Likewise, Mizu no Kin only sent Zafir to aid you. Those two were the only ones your uncle could trust enough to have among his forces."

"Daddy, you really should've been more trusting," Rosa mumbled.

He scoffed. "You saw what being too trusting brought us."

I gulped. Right. It was my fault Dan got kidnapped. Was I making a mistake by trusting in Etsuo again? Now, Roa I did not trust at all. He made it well known he wasn't there to help us. Even though he might have been a tsundere, I did not doubt that. But as long as Etsuo was genuine, he could keep Roa from doing maximum damage. As for Dine, she seemed as trustworthy as Etsuo. Ki seemed to have gotten close to her in little time. And the destruction she had done in Kuroyuki was out of her control, as Satoru controlled her.

I bit my lip. Was said control gone, though? Satoru no longer lived, but if one of his siblings or his mother were to command Dine, would she heed them? If the answer were yes, would her being inside Kiara be beneficial or detrimental? Kiara could keep her at bay, but for how long? Well, Zafir did deal rather easily with Dine. As long as Kiara was within range of one of the knights, be it from our country or one of the others, she should be okay. Her father was strong in his own right too.

Zafir's father smiled. "But at least he's here now. That means he trusts us a little, doesn't it?"

Tabiki scoffed as he stood next to him. "Like he does. That guy is just desperate for help that he went ahead and swallowed his pride."

Father leaned on his marble throne and sighed.

"Well, not that I blame him. The situation is dire. Or rather, it will be," Akhzar said.

Tabiki sighed. "Ever the magnanimous one, aren't you? I expected you to be mad at least a little over Osamu not distributing the Five Weapons of Prophecy amongst the four nations."

"What does being mad at him do now? Plus, he did distribute three of them to the branches that are branches of our clans too."

"Indeed. He could've kept the five amongst his royals and secondary branch," Sabrina said, nodding her head.

Like I thought, she even sounded like Sabine.

Tabiki narrowed his eyes at her. "So, you've decided to speak after all. Please tell, what plan does the nation of Amadeus have?"

This guy. He reminded me of a certain duke. The only difference was Tabiki was more outgoing than Hyosetsu.

Sabrina jumped down from her throne. A pair of golden wings emerged from them. She gracefully soared over her cousin and Tabiki before spiraling to a halt before them. The pro-tempore Queen of Amadeus knelt before her younger sister, the true Queen.

"I have discussed with our kin the best course of action," she said, gazing up at her younger sister.

Saya smiled awkwardly. "Sabrina. No need to kneel before me."

She nodded before standing up.

I'd never seen Lady Sabrina be so stern. The handful of times I'd spoken with her, she seemed friendly, even if there was an air of distance. Akari said that was because of the empty hole by her father. Whoever he was, that man had to be a real jerk, hurting someone like Sabrina.

"We will guard Amadeus and the surrounding area by deploying units led by each of the individual knights. We've already set up wards to keep them at bay too. At the moment, only the capital is exposed. Kasai no Ki's plan compliments that well, providing cover in the eastern part of the continent."

"That only leaves the north, central, and southern parts exposed," Dad said. He glanced at us. "Knights, it is your job to make sure the demons don't get here by either corridor."

"Aye, aye, Your Majesty!" Kohri and I said in unison as we saluted him.

Eiko smiled. "If Eiji were here, he would've burst into laughter."

"What makes you think their aim is here, Uncle?" Serrano asked. "This place is sacred ground. The demons would burst into flames before they could even step here. Even the Archangels are sure to have a difficult time."

"True, but their allies, the Abysmals, likely can," Father said.

"Then are abysmals not weak to holy attacks but to light itself?" Saya asked.

Dad smiled. "Serrano's sitting here among us is proof of that."

"If that's the case, then that means my kids would be fine in Kasai no Ki if they decided to help on that front," Anis said, smiling.

"Basically. I thought of mentioning it earlier, but figured I would wait to see if Serrano experienced any effect with longer-term exposure."

Serrano laughed awkwardly. "Good thing it worked out, huh?"

Kohri nodded. "Else you could've gone kaboom!"

"Koh," Miyuki said, giving him the same awkward smile Serrano had.

"Say, Dad. Why do you know why I can heal fast?" I asked.

"You can?" Kohri asked, crossing his arms.

I nodded. "Suzuki would slash me with her whip sword, and they would disappear."

"Yuko has fast healing too. Wonder if it's her influence," Serrano said.

"True. Maybe it's that!"

"Fast healing, huh?" Pers said, touching his chin.

"Do you know something?" I asked.

"Your mother's from Kuroyuki no San, too, isn't she?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Well, she was. She was born into an impoverished noble house, but what does that have to do with anything? Other Kuroyuki do not have rapid healing."

Miyuki gasped. "Wait, are you implying what I think you are?"

Pers nodded.

I furrowed my brow. "What are you two talking about?"

"We might be wrong, but there is a legend back home that speaks about kids who go outside the walls being spirited away and returning with unorthodox abilities," Miyuki said. She closed her eyes. "I was such a child myself."

"Really?"

She opened her eyes slowly. "My older sister, Marina's mother, loved adventure. I ran after her to tell her not to go beyond the walls as she'll be taken by the dark goblins. In the veil of snow, one of them leaped at us and grabbed me. I do not fully recall what happened other than the sight of crystals. But those might have been figments of my dreams. When I came to, I was in my room. According to my father, some guards found me outside the city walls, wrapped in black blankets of unknown make. As soon as they touched them, the alien fabric dissolved into shadow."

Chills ran up my spine.

"Mom said she ran up to you, bawling her eyes out," Zafir said.

Miyuki sighed. "Yeah. She said she never thought she would see me again. That I had been missing for a week."

I hugged my stuffy, which had popped out of my hyper ring. "Wahh. That's so scary!" I yelled.

"Alien fabric?" Tabiki asked, staring up at us. "Could it have been the abysmals?"

"T-they don't seem like creepy kidnappers."

The Kasai no Ki king chuckled. "Is that so? One of them was experimenting on children, was he not?"

"Takeshi alone isn't proof of that," Miyuki said. "We can't judge an entire people by what one person did. Even if said people are currently at war with us."

"That man sure had a lot of skeletons in the closet," Saya said, sighing. "But if it's not the Abysmals, who or what else could it be?"

Father sighed. "There's so much we don't know yet. It could be angels of darkness, Abysmals, fae, a mad scientist, otherealm gods, or something none of us could expect."

"Otherealm gods?" I asked.

"As the name implies, gods from other realms." He looked back and forth between the various Amadeus. "Can one of you call upon Takehaya?"

"Dad?" Yukari asked, scoffing. He laughed and shrugged. "Good luck. That guy's not an easy one to call when you want him the most."

"Hello, Daddy?" Saya said, holding her phone.

Yukari stared at her, mouth agape. "Wait, he answered you? He never answers me!"

Kiyoya smiled. "Yeah, because you're a gadfly."

He grumbled.

"Can you go to Xian in a few days? There's going to be a major battle there. That monkey that whooped you centuries ago might be there too," Saya said.

"She's using his lost to Daisaru as bait?" Serra asked. "He didn't even appear when Eri tried calling upon him."

"Oh, Daisuke already asked you?" Saya smiled. "I see. Thanks a lot, Dad."

"What did the old man say?" Yukari asked.

"He's going to join. He said Uncle Tsuku might too."

I thought back to the white-haired man we had met in Kyuu Seishin. The father of Huang's nephew. He was the moon god if I wasn't mistaken.

Sabrina smiled. "That eases the worry a little."

Saya nodded. "Yeah, but we still have to put in the work. Daisaru showed us how fearsome the Darkness of Destruction can be. Worse, Margaret will be more serious. We have to be prepared for her onslaught."

"From what I saw in Abyssia, her strength lies more in defense rather than raw power," Serrano said. He furrowed his brow. "But having fought Tetsu, I know that makes her more dangerous. She will try to tire us out."

"Then we might need to call upon backup," Saya said, staring at her phone again.

"Wait, how did you connect to your Dad? Isn't he usually in Xeleria? Or is he here?" Kimura asked.

Saya shook her head. Sweat dripped from her brow. "I used magic to boost the signal to Xeleria."

"Sis, don't push yourself too hard," Yukari said, sighing. "You know what happened last time you did."

"Yeah, leave this to us," said the indigo-haired female knight.

Saya beamed at her siblings. "Thanks, Yukari, Indica. Now, how about we finish ironing out the details of our plans?"

Miyuki smiled at Dad. "I can take over if you want."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks, Miyu."

I looked down at my bear and pressed my chin on its soft head. If only I could've gotten more details on what happened to Mom. If my regeneration came from her, then was her DNA altered? If so, why didn't Setty display that sort of regenerative ability? Or maybe Mom's gift was something else, and it manifested differently in each of her daughters. Or it just skipped my sister. Or perhaps, it was the influence of Yuko at work. It wasn't like I could regenerate quickly before I met her. Though, it could've been the stress from my battle with Suzuki that triggered my latent special ability. I had not experienced anything that adrenaline-provoking prior, so it was a plausible explanation.

My magnifying glass spun in my hands. "Bear-Volson, it seems we still got a heap of unknowns in our hands and paws," I whispered into Bear-woof's ear.

**Solar: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. I wish you all a Happy New Year! My hope for this book is to finish it by the 7th anniversary of this series on Wattpad, December 15th, 2023. That leaves me with eleven months and a half to finish 79 chapters (my goal has long been to make it 105 chapters).**