A/N: Happy discounted chocolate week! Only one more Chapter until the fire temple, and then the new characters are FINALLY introduced. Yay!

MisakaMisaka0202: Thanks! Wait, who are you thinking of?

Toonie: Thanks! I'm sorry! I didn't know! But that's pretty cool. And as for the malaria thing…Wait and see.

KaguTheGreat: Thanks! Of course his luck is getting worse! Well, until the new guy comes along, anyway….

Chapter 21

"In which Astral is introduced."

"Uh oh." Raphael said, running outside. Galileo slipped the watch over his neck and ran after him. Angel and everyone else ran outside, as people dashed away from them. Chevalier's were wreaking havoc in the square, with Isaac leading them.

"They must be looking for the key!" Charlie said, taking out her lightning knives.

"No kidding." Angel replied, pulling out her bow. "Time for some target practice."

With that, the five ran outside, obliterating any chevaliers in their way.

"Nice to see you here." Angel said, nodding at Isaac.

Isaac eyed her, but didn't say anything. He looked at the five of them, and his eyebrow rose. Then he dashed after Angel, his scythe unsheathed.

Oh, hot da-

Emily blocked Leo's punches. "Ok, that's enough. Let's take a break."

Leo dropped to his knees, his shirt soaked in sweat.

Emily then started coughing a bit.

"If you need to rest, it's fine by me." Leo said, worried.

"I'm fine." Emily replied, and then shivered. "Let's try with staffs again."

Leo nodded and picked up his staff, and prepared to battle her again.

"Uh, Emily? You look pale." Leo said, worried.

"I'm fine. Let's begin."

Angel gritted her teeth as she felt pain shoot up her arm. She was able to block Isaac's attack with the blunt end of her knives, but that didn't stop it from hurting like heck.

That was too close for comfort. Angel thought, jumping back and making extra space.

"A little help here?" Angel asked, blocking another attack with her knives.

"A bit busy right now, Angel!" Raphael said, fighting chevaliers off along with Charlie and Galileo. Marie stood by, warning them of any attacks.

At least things can't get worse… Angel thought, still battling Isaac.

"'Ello, cousin. Did you miss me?" Charles asked, jumping down from the nearby casino and running towards Charles.

I just HAD to jinx it, did I? Angel thought, scowling.

"Chevalier's. Halt." Charles said, and they obeyed his orders.

"Hello, Charlotte. Nice to see how you've grown." Charles said, smirking.

Charlie's eyes narrowed, and she unsheathed her knives. "Back off, Charles."

Charles started laughing. "You think that can hurt me?" With that, he pulled out two dark knives of his own.

Charlie's eyes widened, but then they narrowed. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be. Did Cherruvue tell you anything about her life?"

"No." Charlotte replied.

Charles smirked. "Don't worry. I won't spoil it. But enough of the chit chat. It's time we settle some family matters." With that, he charged at Charlie.

"Emily? Are you sure you're OK?" Leo asked, watching Emily with a worried look.

"I- am fine. I just…Need to take a breather. That's all." Emily said, sitting down. She then used her staff to push herself up.

"Ok. Let's try to practice this again." Emily said, talking a deep breath. She started to sway.

"Emily?" Leo asked, getting up.

"L-Leigh—" With that, she collapsed.

"Emily!" Leo cried, running to her side.

Charlie blocked Charles's attack, her knives shining with electricity.

"Hm. You're not as bad as I thought." Charles said, smirking.

Charlie glared at him, but she knew she was losing.

"What's the matter, Charlotte? Your boyfriend Leo isn't here to save you?" Charlie taunted.

"Shut it!" Charlie retorted.

"Wait a minute. Emily isn't here either…Something's up." Charles said, narrowing his eyes and looking around.

"Better not take any chances, then." With that, he flashed forward. Within seconds, Charles had his black knife at Charlie's neck.

"Alright. I want that chip, and I want it now." Charles said, his eyes narrowing nervously.

"What chip?" Galileo asked.

"The poker chip! The one that you –" Charles's eyes widened as he saw the golden pocket watch on his neck.

"Where'd you get that?!" Charles asked.

"What?" Galileo asked.

Charles moved the knife closer to Charlie's throat. "Don't play coy with me. If you have that watch, that means-" Charles's eyes widened.

"What?" Galileo asked, confused.

Wait. He doesn't know about the third eye? Charles thought, frowning.

The book Rouge gave him slipped out of Galileo's jacket, and clattered to the ground.

"The spell book…" Isaac said, and stopped battling Angel for a moment.

"Whoops…" Galileo said, picking up the book.

With that, Charles withdrew his knife from Charlie's neck and instead charged at Galileo.

"E-Emily?" Leo asked, resting his hand on Emily's forehead.

She's burning up with fever… Leo thought, looking at Emily.

Emily shivered, her eyes shut. "I'm so cold…"

"I'm so cold…" The purple haired girl said, shivering violently in the black haired boy's arms.

"Don't worry…I'm here with you." He said, holding her gently.

The girl shivered again, sweating profusely.

"Besides, I owe you one, right?" The boy replied, giving her a small smile. The girl simply clung to him.

"Give me that watch!" Charles yelled, dashing at Galileo. "And the chip!"

"Galileo, run!" Angel shouted, grabbing a smoke grenade and throwing it to the ground.

Charles cursed at her, and when the smoke cleared, Galileo was long gone.

Charles turned to Angel with an angry look in his eyes. "You're going to pay for that."

"Bring it." Angel said, holding her knives tightly.

"Now, now. There's no need for any…Violence."

Charles, Angel, and Isaac looked up at where J.F was standing. Miriam stood next to him, along with three guards with sniper rifles aimed at Raphael, Marie, and Charlie.

"What do you want, J.F?" Angel asked, scowling.

"Oh, nothing much. I just want that chip, along with the watch." J.F said, yawning.

"Too bad. Galileo has them. And in a place this full of people, you'll never find him." Angel said, smirking.

"Oh, I'm not going to find him. You are. Unless you want Marie, Raphael and Charlie to be target practice." J.F said, giving her and evil smirk.

Angel grit her teeth in annoyance. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Wonderful! You have until sunset. Meet me at the top of the casino with the items. Go on." J.F said, gesturing her away.

"I'll be back, you three." Angel said, dashing off. I really wish Emily were here…

As soon as Angel was out of sight, J.F turned to Miriam.

"Follow them, and get the chip no matter what. Kill them if you need too." He said, adjusting his monocle.

Miriam nodded, and jumped to an adjacent roof and ran off.

Emily felt her eyes slowly open. She then sat up and looked around.

"Emily? Are you Ok?" Leo asked, worried.

Emily nodded. "What happened?"

"You passed out. Then you had a really high fever…" Leo felt her forehead.

"It's lower now…" He said, putting a damp towel on her head.

"Wait. How'd you know about how to treat fevers?" Emily asked.

"Well, sometime after William Wintre had our parents murdered, Galileo got a really bad fever… So since we didn't have anyone to go to, I had to do it myself…" Leo said, adjusting his hat. "I hope he's alright…"

Galileo ran through numerous side streets, not stopping until he was out of breath.

I think I lost him… Galileo thought, looking around. I hope the others are alright…

Galileo then pulled out the watch and stared at it.

Charles wanted this watch for some reason… Sure, it has the Tiamat mark on it, but it doesn't seem to have any other uses… He then took out the book that Rouge gave him.

It has the Tiamat symbol on the front, but everything else is in some kind of hieroglyphics…. Galileo thought.

They have to be important for Charles to want them…But what are they? Wait…There's something faded on the watch…

Galileo squinted, but he still couldn't see it. He then started to rub it, trying to clear some dust off.

Then the watch started to glow brightly and started shaking. Galileo then felt a burning pain on his hand and dropped the watch.

"Ow!" As Galileo stared at his hand, and a Tiamat symbol appeared on the back of it.

And on the front of it was a pink eye.

Wait…What element is this? Galileo thought, looking at the eye in confusion.

Then the watch opened.

A man in a cloak popped out. It was a long, black cloak with a star design on it. An array of pink stars covered it as well. The man had black hair, under a black top hat with a pink ribbon. The hat and cloak covered every part of his body except his mouth, which was a wide smile. He levitated in the air, looking at Galileo.

"Why, hello! You must be the Tiamat eye, correct?" The man asked.

Galileo looked at the man in shock, and then screamed.

At the top of the inferno casino, a bound Charlie, Marie, and Raphael sat in a corner, waiting.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Marie asked, worried.

"Of course. Angel and Galileo would never leave us." Raphael said, smiling.

"Are you sure that's the best idea? Whatever that chip is for, I doubt it's good." Charlie said, frowning. "J.F wouldn't want it so badly if it wasn't so important. What could it be?"

Raphael shrugged. "Who knows?"

"I do."

Charlie, Marie, and Raphael immediately turned to see a smirking Charles behind them.

"What do you want?" Charlie asked, scowling.

Charles laughed. "Earlier I wanted your soul, but now I'm stalling for something big."

"What?" Raphael asked.

"Hah! As if I would tell you three!" Charles replied. "Anyway, how about we have a match on the roof, cousin?"

Emily sat up in her bed, sipping tea. Leo sat next to her, reading a book.

"Emily, can I ask you something?" Leo asked.

"You just did." Emily replied.

"Well, another one." Leo said.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Who's Leigh?"

Emily's teacup fell to the floor, shattering into a million tiny pieces.

"Who- told you that?" Emily asked, looking at Leo.

When Leo looked into her eyes, he didn't see the enigmatic disinterest that most people did.

He saw sadness. A deep, deep sadness.

As soon as Galileo was done screaming, the man stared at him blankly.

"Eighty-nine decibels. Almost loud enough to shatter glass." The man replied.

"Please don't hurt me." Galileo said, backing away slowly.

"Relax, Galileo. I'm not going to hurt you." The man said.

"How'd you know my name?" Galileo asked.

The man pulled out his hand from the cloak, revealing the same pink eye that was on Galileo's hand.

"My name is Astral. I'm the dragon eye."

"Wait...So you're like Cherruvue, right?"

Astral nodded. "I'm the original dragon eye. Like the other heroes, my spirit is attached to my weapon.

"Wait...So your weapon is the pocket watch?" Galileo asked.

"Well, my spirit is linked to it. The real weapon would be that spell book." Astral said, pointing at the book Rouge had given Galileo.

"Wait...What element am I?" Galileo asked.

"None, to be exact. As the dragon eye, you can use all elements, but not as well as their specific hero. A jack of all trades to be exact." Astral said, adjusting his top hat.

"Oh..."

"Well, unless the mind counts as an element. You see, the dragon eye can read minds."

"It can...Read minds?" Galileo asked.

"Yes. Along with illusions and other stuff." Astral said, shrugging.

"But how?" Galileo asked.

"Simple. I can grant you the power. Whoever opens the watch is my owner. And whoever owns me is the person who I grant my powers to. Open your eyes."

Galileo took a deep breath, and then opened them as wide as he could.

"Now, stare into mine." Astral pulled up his top hat, revealing two glowing pink eyes. Galileo nodded and stared into his eyes.

"Done. That's it." Astral said, adjusting his hat to obscure his eyes again.

"That's it?" Galileo asked.

"Yes."

"I don't feel any different..."

"You shouldn't. Any, try reading out of that book Rogue gave you." Astral said, pointing at the small book.

As Galileo stared at it, and the symbols slowly formed into words.

"Try reading the first line." Astral said, pointing at a line.

"F-Fo̱tiá...Pijler?" Galileo said, squinting as he tried to read the spell.

A pillar of fire exploded from Galileo's hand, causing a nearby trash can to explode into flames.

"Ah!" Galileo said, jumping back. The moment he backed away, the fire went out.

Astral sighed. "That was the fire pillar spell…This could take some getting used to..."

"There you are!" Angel said, walking toward Galileo. I've been looking all over- Who are you?" Angel asked, staring at Astral.

"I'm Astral. The dragon eye." Astral said, making a mock bow.

"Shouldn't you be in a temple or something?" Angel asked.

"Only the main seven heroes have temples. Besides, sitting in one place was boring." Astral replied, yawning.

"Anyway, Galileo. We need to get back to that casino. J.F has Raphael, Charlie, and Marie and he wants the chip along with the watch. By sunset." Angel said, folding her arms.

"You mean this chip?" Galileo said, pulling it out. It was a small red and gold poker chip, with an A stamped on both sides.

"Yeah...But why would J.F want it so badly?"

"It's a detonator." Astral said, looking at it for a moment.

"What?!" Angel and Galileo said, turning to him.

"Whoops. Spoilers." Astral said, shrugging.

"A detonator...It's obviously for a bomb...But where could it be?" Angel said, thinking. Emily is better with technology than me...

"Think. J.F wants to find the fire key, correct?" Astral asked. "And it's located inside the inferno casino, right?"

"True...But why would he need a detonator?" Galileo asked.

"Maybe he wants to blow the place to smithereens and have chevalier's search through the rubble?" Angel asked.

"Well, that'd draw a lot of attention...Besides, aren't J.F and everyone else inside the casino right now?" Galileo asked. "Blowing it up wouldn't do much good..."

Angel shrugged, and then looked at the sky, frowning.

"It's almost sunset..." She said, worried. She then started walking. Galileo got up and followed her along with Astral.

"What happens at sunset?" Galileo asked.

"Simple. J.F will turn Charlie, Marie, and Raphael into target practice. We need to get to the casino and go from there."

But before she could take another step, Miriam jumped from a nearby rooftop, knives in hand.

"That chip. Give it." She said, gesturing towards Galileo.

END CHAPTER 21

Here's a sneak peek of the next chapter!

"Come on, cousin. Only one match." Charles said, smirking.

"No." Charlie replied, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, if you don't want to play-" Charles took out two knives and smirked at Marie. "I'm sure Marie would love to."

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