SOLARIA WAS ON THE BALCONY OUTSIDE OF THEIR STUDY, looking at the orange-tinted sky before them. He allowed the soft breeze of the wind to hit his face while he basked in the nice weather.
It was afternoon on Tigoris and the white-haired God entity had a break from his studies for right now. Don't get the ruler of the planet wrong, he did like his job with helping make sure Tigoris was running well. But it can be stressful with all the responsibilities he had.
"Mx. Solaria!"
Well, at least he was able to get a few minutes of relaxation in. The white-haired entity turned around, seeing Kiyo there.
"Hello, Kiyo. Any updates on the task that happened today?"
"Yes." Kiyo nodded, stepping forward. "...Actually, a lot. We found Kage unexpectedly at an arena in Suichō. A possessor flame by th' name of Noori took over her an' it caused a lot of problems." he also filled Solaria in on the Primum situation, Ryōgaku, the arena's fall, and the result of the possession.
Solaria's hues broadened and he had to take a moment to sit down. They rested a hand on their head and soughed. He did not expect this to happen. "...Well, good news is that we know is that Kage's safe and sound and the arena's gone. However, the other parts sound very concerning. The Primum, the ram entity having gotten possessed and same with Kage. Aren't possessor flames derived from Darkurus?"
"Ah think so. Aren't they also derived from th' dark flames from years ago?" Kiyo voiced, trying his best to recall.
"They are. You said that Ryōgaku worked there and was forced out of the top floor, right? Because he was trying to get to the truth?"
Kiyo nearly forgot that he mentioned that. "Yeah. An' I wasn't there 'ta hear if Kage said anythin' on where she had been...but since we're talkin' about these flames. I have a good idea on what the place was."
"Darkurus!" Solaria's voice seemed to merge with a new one that had just come in. This caused him and Kiyo to turn, noticing a petite blond at the door.
The golden retriever entity had purple hues and lavender dot markings underneath her hues. She sported dark skin with vitilgo and her outfit was a fancy lavender suit with a white shawl above it, designed to look like folded wings. Her ears twitched when she noticed that Kiyo and Solaria were there.
"Oh! I'm sorry—" the woman nearly bumped into Ryōgaku, who recently came in after her. "I didn't know you were here, Kiyo."
"It's alright, mo ghràdh." Kiyo smiled and walked over, squeezing her hand. He looked happy to be seeing his girlfriend again. "I was just fillin' Solaria in on what happened today."
The blond smiled and squeezed his hand in return. "That's good. My older sibling told me you were with Kage, Fiona, Tina, and a teen named Sakari."
"That's right. Sakari is th' teen that Ah was assigned 'ta protect. Solara might have informed ye."
"Yeah, he did. How's that going?" she voiced.
"Fairly okay, Shisetsu. She's been shaken up by what happened today, so she was given a break."
"Yeah, Ry informed me." Shisetsu looked at her older sibling, who nodded and gave Kiyo and Solaria a small wave. "That must have been traumatizing for them."
"It was." Kiyo nodded. "But I hope that they will be alright after all this." the dark-haired dog entity hadn't known Sakari for long, but it was clear that he cared.
Shisetsu nodded. "Mhm. Ry told me about the Darkurus thing...and they said that he had been told before he left on what happened to Kage. This was after Sakari left." she recalled to her best ability on what happened. Aerial had run it down for Ryōgaku, as Shisetsu revealed afterwards.
"So...the demons had been able to change two of her elements completely? And also steal powers from entities for their own?" Solaria's face seemed to turn ghostly and they ran their hands through their white hair. This news clearly distraught him. "This isn't good. Acacius has to be behind this, same with the nicks that Kage tried to find out about."
"Exactly. He's doing something and even though a theory has been put in place, it won't be proven right away. We will have to dig deeper into this." Ryōgaku agreed, nodding their head. "I can try helping out when I can but I think that I might have to take some time off as well."
"And that's perfectly okay." Shisetsu comforted her sibling. "You've been through a lot." she rested a hand on their shoulder.
The blond ram entity nodded and soughed, waving to the others. They were going to get some rest.
Kiyo looked back at Solaria, who had been silent this whole time. "Mx. Solaria? Everythin' okay?"
Solaria looked up and the protector and his girlfriend could see tears rolling down his hues. "N-No. I'm actually very worried...about all this. Finding out this information has confirmed the fears I've been having ever since that deal years ago. Acacius had made that deal to mess with us and he doesn't care if we get back in time. So he's trying to hurt entities that he's captured to achieve his plan."
Kiyo's hues broadened. "Which means...?"
"Which means that if we don't, then he is going to stay to his word and get rid of all of us. For good. So we need to up our game and try to prepare for whatever comes our way." Solaria stood up, their sadness mixed with anger and resolve. "We need to get the other entities back as soon as we can so we can finally beat Acacius' ass."
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Two days later
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"Sakari? Are you alright?"
The brown-skinned teen's hues opened and blinked back to reality. Sakari hadn't realized that their face had faceplanted their book in the middle of a lecture. They looked up to see Mrs. Nozomi there with a concerned look on her features.
"I-I'm fine...I just had a bad weekend." she felt bad for lying, but she didn't want to worry her teacher.
"Okay. It's just that I hadn't expected you to fall asleep. If you ever need to take a break, just let me know." the purple-haired woman gave her student a soft smile and went back to her desk. Sakari could hear her picking back up on the chapter about the Seishin sisters.
The teen rubbed at their hues and yawned, flipping to the page that Mrs. Nozomi had told the class to flip to. Leiko looked over at Sakari and rolled her hues.
Class eventually ended after the chapter was finished and Sakari set on her way to her math class.
"It's not like you to slack off like that, blonde streaks." the green-haired girl spoke up, causing Sakari to turn around.
"I wasn't slacking off. I did have a bad weekend. That happens to us sometimes." Sakari wasn't usually this annoyed at Leiko, but she just wanted to get through the day right now.
"Yeah but you're the star student of the class, newbie." Leiko glared at her. "Star students don't slack off."
"...Look." Sakari rested a hand on their forehead, exasperated. "Can you just leave me alone? I need to get to class. And when did you start caring?"
"I never did. I just don't like you." Leiko glared once more, pushing Sakari's shoulder after she walked off.
Sakari's mouth opened and they just stared at the greenette. Shisui, who had been on his way to to his class, saw what went down.
"Hey, are you alright, Sakari?" he voiced, causing Sakari to look at him.
"Oh- I'm fine. I just didn't expect Leiko to be like that." she voiced, flustered slightly at Shisui's hand rested on their shoulder. "She didn't have to be so rude over me being tired."
"Yeah I agree." the dark blue-haired girl looked at the direction of where Leiko had gone. He soughed and looked back at Sakari. "Try to get some rest later, okay? I hope the rest of your day goes well."
"Thanks, Shisui. I really appreciate it." Sakari smiled and Shisui returned it, prior to his walking off. Sakari watched him go before heading to her math class.
She realized that her flustered feeling increased a bit while she walked. She was wondering why that was happening, prior to looking back and seeing Shisui turn a corner. Perhaps the feeling had increased due to Shisui's caring for their well being?
Sakari rested a hand on their chest and focused on opening the door to her math class. She was sure that this might be a small crush, probably, but she felt like it might develop into a serious one.
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Classes eventually ended for the day and once Sakari got home, she rested on the couch. She did have a bit of trouble, but eventually got around an hour of sleep.
She got woken up by a door closing, seeing Aiwami with the laundry. "Sakari? You alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine. I've had a long day but I'll be good. Sorry for passing out on the couch." she soughed, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Does this have to do with what happened on Saturday?" Aiwami had been informed by her child on what happened.
"It does, actually, but I think I'll be okay. And I also...I also have realized something else." Sakari ran a hand through their hair.
"What is it?" Aiwami sat down, putting the laundry on the floor.
"Well, I've realized that I'm starting to fall for Shisui. I feel like it might be a small crush, but I don't know...I've only known him for a couple days." Sakari flapped their hands as a way to help calm themselves down. " I haven't gotten feelings for a girl before like this, even if I have dated girls in the past. This one feels more real to me and I don't know why."
Aiwami let that sink in. "It could be because you're forming a friendship with him. Because of this friendship, you're starting to feel romantic feelings and that's completely alright. I've always supported you, especially when you came out as nonbinary to me. So I will support you on this as well."
This brought a smile to Sakari's lips. "Thanks, Mom. That means a lot. You don't mind if I rest upstairs?"
"I don't mind at all." Aiwami smiled, getting up to take hold of the laundry basket again.
Sakari gave Aiwami a quick hug before heading upstairs. She had left her book here at home since she had forgotten, so they took some time to read through it. Also to help her fall asleep.
The class had gotten to the powers before talking about the Seishin sisters. Sakari decided to read up on Shiro to see what was on her. All she saw was the silhouette and that Shiro was a Fighting type. She flipped to another page, but felt her eyes begin to close.
She wasn't able to read anything else since she fell asleep with the book on their face.
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"JES—"
The next day, Sakari had fallen off the bed after rolling off of it. She hadn't realized that she had slept right through dinner last night, but they were sure that their mom understood.
Their book had fallen down, still on the page that she left off of yesterday. She picked it up, prior to taking in the silhouette. This didn't seem to be a mythical entity...or it could be, but she didn't recall this being in the book before.
Sakari made her way downstairs, book underneath her arm.
Aiwami was making breakfast when she saw her child making their way down the stairs. "Oh, Sakari! Good morning. It looks like you slept through dinner." her tone was of concern, but you could tell she was relieved at seeing Sakari more awake.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry..." Sakari groaned, resting their free hand on their forehead. "But I am feeling more awake and—" her stomach grumbled. "And of course, hungry."
Aiwami smiled softly and finished cooking breakfast. It was a recipe that Ren had made earlier on and taught his wife — tamagoyaki with bacon-wrapped plantains. This also became a favorite of the Hinagu family as well.
When Sakari's hues rested on the food, their eyes gleamed and they made their way over. She thanked her mom and began eating, leaving her book in her lap.
"So are you feeling better?" Aiwami wondered, joining Sakari at the table with her own plate.
"I am. A lot better actually. I did come across a weird page on my book, though." Sakari took a moment to eat a couple pieces of her food before swallowing and continuing. "I'm probably going to bring it up with Kiyo later."
"That sounds good and a weird page?"
"Yeah...I don't know, I could be seeing things." she soughed, taking a couple sips of her milk. Aiwami had set it aside after the meal was put down.
"Alright. Where did Kiyo go?"
"Oh, he went back to Solaria on updates. I hope that went alright." Sakari mused.
The two continued eating before Sakari got up and went to wash their dish. She got ready for the day and said her goodbyes to her mother, taking her book with her this time.
Hopefully today will be better.
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A frustrated man stood in front of the glass that was dividing him and Kurorai. With his powers, he had been able to bring back the android. If he hadn't in time, then all his hard work would've been for nothing.
Kurorai had most of her body restored, but her right eye was cracked beyond repair. The redhead had been able to give her a new light core, but it took a lot of money out of his own pockets to do it. She could see the man's crimson hues on hers as she sat in her room.
"Kuroma...I can go back out. You can trust me!" the android pleaded.
"I know I can, but I think I sent you out too early. This boss of mine tried to rush things and I had no say." Kuroma was pacing back and forth. "So you will be out of this task until I have you train more and get to your best potential."
Kurorai was about to argue, but thought better of it. "...Alright. Then what's going to happen? This Acacius demon you mentioned earlier wants this chosen human to not thwart with his plans. Sakari, I think their name was."
"That's true." The redhead nodded, brushing some of his long hair out of his face. "That's why he sent me an entity."
The android sputtered. "Entity? An entity is on Acacius' side?!"
Man, it seemed that entities got used as a bad word still.
"Yes. It's a long story but Nishoku has offered to step in. Acacius sent her right from Darkurus. Nishoku?"
After the redhead turned, a tall woman with raven dark hair and pale skin made her way into the room. Freckles adorned her face, along with havelock blue strands of hair and wolf ears that matched in color. She wore a black t-shirt with a crimson overshirt, with black jeans and heels to finish it off.
"Yes?" was the word that came out of her mouth. Kurorai could see the contrasted markings above the wolf entity's hues and the android got up. This was her brief replacement?
"You'll be sent to find Sakari. Make sure that your mission doesn't fail."
"Sakari is that one chosen human, right? I overheard you talking about them."
"Yes, now go." Kuroma voiced and Nishoku made a rift, disappearing after the rift closed.
Silence drifted through the place and Kurorai looked at Kuroma. "How was she able to join with Acacius?"
"That I don't know. Acacius likes to be discreet. But let's just hope this goes well." Kuroma voiced, rubbing his hand together to help calm down his anxiety.
He also hoped Acacius wouldn't get on his case again, either.
--
NOTES:
mo ghràdh = "my love" in Scottish Gaelic.
Shisetsu is Ryōgaku's sister. She's transgender and her powers are Psychic/Witchcraft. For entities, witchcraft is a very rare element. It's more common for a species that will be revealed in the fourth book.
Sakari is a lesbian and as this chapter states, she has dated girls in the past. She hasn't really felt an attraction to boys throughout their life.
Sakari has been called "daughter" earlier on in the book, but it's been changed to where "teen" or "child" is used now due to further research.
Nishoku's hues are a neon orange and dusty blue by the way.
Nishoku's concept: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/809111443537526804/812372365345423391/unknown.png