"So Dan might still be alive?" Mom asked, grinning. "How do we save him?"
Kiara closed her eyes. "I'll have Dine tell you. She can explain things better than I can."
"Huh? Dine?" asked Zafir who had accompanied Rosalba and the others here. "That monster?"
"I'm not a monster, sir knight," Kiara said, opening her eyes. Though they were red rather than their usual brown color. Her voice didn't even sound like Kiara.
I stepped back. "What is going on here?" I snapped.
"Dine was absorbed into Kiara," Serrano said, stepping forward. "That was why Etsuo took her to the abyss."
I glared at her. "So you're the one at fault for what happened!" I yelled.
"Calm down," Serrano said, holding me back. "Let her speak."
"If I hadn't done so then you would've buried Kiara weeks ago!" Dine yelled.
"Huh?" I asked.
"I saved her from the wounds inflicted on her by Mei. We abyssmals as you know can rejuvenate. Kiara's wound closed once I entered her body. She inherited my abyssmal abilities."
"That's true. I saw it with my own eyes," Serrano said as he slowly let go of my shoulders.
"Thank you!" Mom blurted out, bowing. "Thank you for saving my daughter."
I lowered my eyes. "T-thanks," I mumbled under my breath.
Ki... Dine smiled. "You're welcome. To be honest, I also did it to save myself. Zafir had weakened me to the point in which I was barely holding on. Being in my core form in this world for days didn't help. It was awful."
Zafir looked away. "It was?"
Dine chuckled. "Worry not, I don't hold ill will toward you. In fact, I owe you. For having stopped me."
"So you are that creature which rampaged throughout my lands," Hyosetsu said, giving her a cold stare, well colder than his usual gaze was.
She lowered her head. "Yes. I did so under Satoru's orders. I didn't recall who I was. You see, when I was a kid, I ended up within the same pit that Dan and Satoru did. In fact, it was Satoru himself who was at fault for that. He tricked Etsuo and me into going there, to that pit."
"What is that pit?" Tetsuya asked. "Etsuo said something about it being sacred."
"It's where the Ancient One dwells. He who existed before time and before those who created time. He is the father of all there was, is, and will be."
"So he's a god?" Ximena asked.
"Yes. He is. Though he was betrayed by someone he cared deeply. As a result, he was wounded. He desires revenge, though he isn't in a state to do so. One day he'll reawaken, but for that he needs life energy."
The peasant and Yuko gasped.
"What that mean guy said back in Xeleria..." Yuko said, staring at the peasant.
Tetsuya clenched his rosary. "Right, Talon told you that he and the other abyssmals are gathering life energy and how doing so is a 'grand honor'. So, was the one who Hanketsu spoke about... the god of the abyss?"
"Huh?"
"I died," Tetsu said, closing his eyes. "I only managed to come back thanks to Hanketsu's help. He helped me flee from a dark pit with waterfalls of black and purple muk resembling black wisps. But before I came back to the world of the living, he said that by doing so someone would suffer. Was he talking about your god?"
"I'm not sure. Master Reginald however did try to locate Dan from the pit."
"Grandfather did?" Serrano asked.
Tetsuya crossed his arms and grumbled. "I don't think I'll be calling that guy 'grandpa' any time soon."
"Why would an abyssmal do that?" I asked, confused.
Dine chuckled and turned around. "We aren't evil as some of you might think. One would think that you who descend from the angel of darkness would understand that. That isn't to say that there aren't evil abyssmals. There certainly are, as Satoru so well demonstrated. Most of us through are primal, and our primal desire is to swallow the light." She stretched her hand out. "It is what they need, to survive."
"Beings that live off of light?" Serrano asked.
"Woah, now I know why I felt so weak on cloudy days," Tetsuya said, nodding.
Dine grinned. "I wish that was the only effect the dying light in our world is having."
"So this world is due to scarcity, how ordinary," Hyosetsu said, chuckling. "However, if we allow you into our world then you'll surely destroy it."
She nodded. "Indeed. That is the fate of my people. A tragic one, not only for us, but for those of the worlds we conquer."
"Fate?" Tetsuya asked. He shook his head. "I refuse it!"
"Then you side against your father's patrilineage?" Dine asked.
The peasant remained quiet for awhile. "I rather there be a happy outcome for both sides."
Dine sighed. "As do I, but that can't be. One day, we will destroy each other. Zionia will one day cease to be. Heaven shall be destroyed. Its light taken for ourselves. Destiny isn't something people can change. It is written."
"Is it?" Rosalba asked. "Kuroshi said that there are multiple outcomes, different futures. Must we adhere to the one you speak of?"
She sighed. "You'll be foolish to try. While I am unsure about his thought process, I am certain that man is desperate to change the future, because he knows all paths eventually lead to the same dead-end."
"What are you saying?" Ximena asked. "That all futures lead to destruction at the hands of Abyssia."
"Correct! And no matter how many of us you take down, there are always more. Its best if you give up now. Your struggle is in vain. We have already won."
Tetsuya shook his head. "Our future is our own to shape!"
"Enough," I yelled. "Get back to what truly matters! How can I save my brother?"
Dine smiled. "So the lives of a few matter more than that of many to you."
I gasped.
Dine giggled. "It's fine. I'm the same way. As to how you save Dan, for that you'll need to brave the darkest depths of the abyss. Darkness greater than any you've experienced thus far. An energy so intense that you'll be driven into madness."
I backed away. "Wait, if Dan is there then..."
Dine nodded. "If Dan is still alive then he'll likely end up the way I did. Losing his sense of self, or worse. He could become more of a monster than I. The one thing keeping Dan alive is likely..." She stared at the black casket. "Because of..." She clenched her head and fell to her knees.
"Kiara!" Mom shouted.
"I'm Dine," she said, grimacing. "I... I can't remember... its name. But I know someone who was close to Omatsu and me is protecting him, wherever he is."
"Someone is protecting Dan?" Silas asked.
"The darkest depths, huh?" Mom asked, sighing as she fell to her knees. "I already feel as if I'm falling into them. The madness of having lost Dan, it's agonizing."
"Losing a child is hard for a mother," Serrano said, walking over to her. He knelt down and smiled at her. "I promise you that I'll save him your son. I don't wish to see another mother lose herself, because I was unable to protect her child. I was the one who was supposed to protect him. Yet, I failed."
Mom smiled. "Thanks." She chuckled. She tilted her head at him. "You know, you sorta look a bit like my cousin, Azami."
Serrano stood up completely. "Please do not compare me to that man," he said, clenching his hands into fists. His body was shaking like crazy, as if he were desperately trying to contain himself.
Tetsuya ran over to him and ruffled his cousin's hair. "Yeah, and I'll help Serra save him! The two of us did help save Dan before."
"Though I only teleported you here," Serrano mumbled, his head down. "And failed to save him from being kidnapped a second time."
The peasant wrapped an arm around him and grinned. "Well, now is your chance to make amends!"
Serrano smiled back and nodded. "You got a point. I'll retrieve him from the dark depths, even if its the last thing I do!"
Mom beamed. "Thanks, you two!"
"Yeah, thanks," I said. I raised my head. "Though I'll also be going! I won't depend only on others to save Dan this time."
"Though the state you're in isn't enough," Eita said, crossing his arms.
The three of us gulped.
"That's why we're going to the training camp Tekeshi has planned for us," Setsuko said, turning around. "Hopefully we'll be able to gain the strength..." She turned her gaze toward Dine. "not only to save Dan, but also to change that 'inevitable' Destiny of ours."
Rosa hugged her sister and nodded. "Yeah. I don't plan to stand around, waiting for the end to come. Tekeshi himself said I have a significant role to play in how the future turns out. If I simply surrender then I'll be surrendering to that dark future."
Dine chuckled. "Be my guests then. Try to change it. I know that one of the ones I care for would love it if you do. And that person just so happens to owe you a lot."
Rosa smiled. "You mean Etsuo, don't you?"
Dine beamed. "Yeah, my favorite monkey boy," she said, or rather she and Kiara did. She turned around and took out a card and placed it into the casket alongside the one Silas put.
I looked at the deck in my hands and walked over to the casket. "This is like a time capsule," I said, smiling. "One day Dan will return and unearth what we left him..."
The others started to frantically look to see what they had to put into it. I chuckled and placed the box inside. Dan, come back to us soon. Though you don't then we'll go there to find you and bring you back. All the same, you will be back.
**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3 Thoughts, theories/predictions?**