Good evening. Thank you for so much feedback, I appreciate it.

Please enjoy.


Kai's POV

"So you are saying that we have some strange pieces of a weapon inside of us and that that weird dude is sending our friends to receive those?" asked Naoki as he tried to probably consume the amount of information I just threw at him.

"Basically," I replied, confirming his statement, even though the use of words was a little odd for my taste. Leon and Ren exchanged looks and Aichi just sat by silently watching the rest of the group.

"We know now what the Angelic Jewels actually are, but what now? We're still there where we started yesterday. We are lost and have no idea, what to do about our current situation," said Ren as he looked up the sky to see the rising sun. He was right. If we at least had a clue or at least something we could start with.

"Guys, look!" said Aichi as he pointed at the burning mark, which appeared after Miwa disappeared in the flames of darkness. We all walked over to him to see a strange image on the ground. I have never seen anything like this before.

"What can it be?" asked Naoki as he looked more closely at the burned spot. Ren, I and Aichi also tried our hardest to figure out what it actually was, but we did not have any success. It reminded me of something, but I couldn't really put my finger on it.

"It's a castle, or maybe the term palace would be more suiting," exclaimed Leon from behind us. He sounded like he knew exactly what he was talking about. I raised an eyebrow at the Sorryu child as I wondered what this was about and from where he knew what this picture should represent.

"Leon, how do you know?" asked Ren as he still tried to figure out how in the world Leon could see a castle in it.

"I saw this image in one of the books I used to read. As Aqua Force was sealed away, the wind on the island went missing and I, Jillian and Sharlene were stuck in there without any help whatsoever. But you all know this story. I once opened a book and there was legend about a Palace of Shadows hidden in the deep forest of darkness. It predicted the end of the world to be near and there was something about a horrible apocalypse. I didn't dug much into it, since it had nothing to do with freeing Aqua Force, therefore I don't know what other details it contained. But what I know for sure is that this picture, this burned image was the first thing to catch my view."

"Are we going to search for the castle then?" asked Naoki.

"I suppose. What other option do we have?" I said, actually feeling a little tired. I was exhausted, since I didn't get any sleep the previous night. And the fight with Miwa really got the best out of me. But I asked myself, what happened to Miwa after he lost. I mean, if our defeat would mean our death… wouldn't it mean that our opponent's loss would mean their death?

"It's decided then. We are heading to the Palace of Shadows," said Ren, tying his hair up in a ponytail.

"Leon, have you read anything about defeated card fighters in the book, because I want to know what happened or will happen to Miwa," I simply said, feeling concerned for my friend. Leon just shook his head, which made me worried even more. This wasn't good, if losing meant death, I'm not quite sure if any of us will be able to face off against a dear friend. I believed if I was able to defeat Miwa, I would bring him to his senses, but maybe my friend was lying somewhere dead now. And it would all be my fault.

"But how do we get there? It's not like we have a map or anything," said Aichi, still cuddling to my jacket. It made me happy to see him so cozy with a part of my clothing.

"And that' when high trees come in handy," said Leon, looking up a tree. Was Sorryu serious? Did the devoted card fighter actually know how to climb up a tree?

"You know how to climb?" asked a shocked Aichi, looking with wide eyes at the Aqua Force user.

"Of course I do, how do think I would manage to survive that long on my island?"

And after that Sorryu put a stunt I won't forget until death. With a few swift moves he swung himself up the high tree. I concede, Leon, you know your stuff. After several minutes he returned to the rest of the group with a piece of paper.

"Here, I just sketched a map, so I don't need to do this every time we lose our path," said Leon, showing us the little map he drew. We all nodded and were glad that we finally had a clue to follow.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go kick some butt!" said Naoki as his determination returned to his voice and his eyes started to reflect flames once again. My eyelids were so heavy. I tried my best to focus, but I felt so powerless right now, but I had no right to whine right now. We had to get to the Palace of Shadows.

"Wait! Kai-kun is tired. He hardly got any sleep last night, shouldn't we let him rest for a little?" echoed the voice of Aichi. I was fairly surprised to hear Aichi say anything like that. I noticed Leon, Ren and Naoki look at me with apologizing looks. I felt actually a bit embarrassed by this.

"You're right, Aichi. Kai, get some sleep or else you'll collapse on the way," said Ren, pushing me into the cave. I protested a little, but I really needed a nap to refill my power. I would probably just be a burden if I would just walk behind like a body without soul. I stretched my body and found a spot to lie down. I was so worn out I could sleep anywhere, really.

"Sleep well, Kai-kun," echoed a gentle voice.

That was the last thing I registered, before drifting off to a peaceful sleep.


REVIEW

A/N I think the writers block is slowly disappearing, luckily. I hope you liked it and see you next time.