I hate to keep my lovely fans waiting, so here's chapter 21! Gee, I really should start to wrap this up, but I've got so many ideas in my head…hmmm…what's a word for a third series in a story? Ahem! Sorry! Just talking to myself again! So, er, here ya go!

Chapter 21

Daisy's Secret

"You're making a huge mistake fighting me, y'know," Aster said, his arms folded. "I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back and a bucket on my head."

"We don't want to hurt you, man." Jaden said. "We just have to make you snap out of it."

"You don't want to hurt me?" Aster repeated. He smiled. "Well then, that just makes things easier." Aster closed his eyes and began to glow blue. "I'll have some fun and kill you slowly." Three silhouettes glowing blue emerged from Aster. When the glowing stopped, three copies of Aster were standing before the group.

"Uh oh," Jesse said.

"I can't deal with three Asters" Hassleberry yelled, clutching his head.

"The more the merrier." Aster said. The three clones ran towards the group. Quickly, Haru threw his poles against two walls, so one was on each wall. A stone wall closed between the clones and the heroes like automatic doors.

"This is not good," Melody muttered.

"He really is trying to kill us," Chloe said.

"Aster, you're still in there. I know you are." Hannah whispered. Suddenly, the stone wall exploded and three Asters ran towards them. Haru made a stone structure erupt from the floor and almost touch the ceiling, but an Aster clone on the right jumped high into the air onto a wall, jumped off the wall with a flip forward and landed on the ground again. The other two clones crashed through the wall, making two large holes. Chloe fired a blast of frost from her hand to the clones. Two of them dodged out the way, but the middle clone was frozen from the shot, and it exploded into a puff of smoke.

"They're just shadows!" Chloe said. An Aster clone landed in front of Hassleberry and punched him across the face.

"Well I certainly felt that." Hassleberry snapped. "Right, you're mine." Hassleberry faced the clone that punched him, and they both engaged into a street fight.

"Typical," Melody sighed. She activated her Serenade sword on her flute and charged at the second clone. Just as her sword was brought down, Aster caught it in his hand effortlessly, surprising Melody. He grabbed the sword with both hands and threw Melody over his shoulder.

"What a disappointment," The Aster clone said, shaking his head. "You're next," He turned to Jaden.

"Uh…I don't want any trouble…" Jaden started. Aster dashed towards Jaden at a fast speed and circled around him so that a dust trail was shown and Aster was just a blur.

He's fast… Jaden thought. Suddenly, Jaden was kicked behind the head by Aster, forcing him onto the floor. Aster placed a foot on his head to prevent him from getting up.

"Alright, that's it!" Hannah yelled and threw her sparrows at Aster. They were a direct hit, and the clone exploded into smoke.

"Wow. Thanks Hannah." Jaden said.

"Well I, er…was just wanting to er…moving on…" Hannah muttered nervously, her cheeks turning pink.

"Stop flirting and help us out here!" Chloe yelled.

"Er, right. Sorry." Jaden said, standing up again.

"How about a combined attack?" Hannah smirked.

"What have you got in mind?" Jaden asked. Hannah whispered into Jaden's ear for a few seconds. Jaden reached to his gun and began adjusting it.

"Ready?" Hannah asked, pulling out a handful of sparrows

"You bet!" Jaden said. Hannah threw her sparrows into the air to make a two sided triangle. Jaden fired his gun at the sparrows, flames flying out towards them and setting them on fire. The flames morphed the sparrows into a phoenix shape, which glided around the room, burning red curtains, melting the statues and a tip of a wing went past the clone Hassleberry was fighting.

"Aw! But I was just about to beat him." Hassleberry whined as the clone exploded. The giant phoenix glided towards the real Aster, who still stood there with his arms folded and a smirk. The phoenix crashed into him with a huge explosion.

"HANNAH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Haru yelled.

"Sorry. They act on their own accord." Hannah apologised. "Besides, Aster's fine." As she spoke, Aster jumped out of the smoke without a single mark on his body. "See?"

"But how?" Jesse said. When the smoke cleared, a puddle of water was on the floor.

"Oh, goddammit!" Hassleberry yelled, charging to Aster with a fist clenched. Just as he was about to hit him, Aster sidestepped out of the way behind Hassleberry calmly, planted his left hand on Hassleberry's left shoulder and his right hand on his head and flipped over Hassleberry effortlessly.

"Humph. Playtime is over." Aster said.

"Hang on a second." Jesse said. "Guys, don't you see what he's doing? Aster's not even trying to win this fight."

"Not true! I'm giving it my all." Aster said sarcastically.

"You're just playing with us." Hannah yelled, pointing a finger at her possessed cousin.

"Uh, right. I think Jesse just said that, genius. Oh yeah, and since you're blind, just to let you know, I'm rolling my eyes"

"I'll roll your whole head." Hannah shouted angrily.

"Calm down, Hannah." Jaden said.

"Now I'll get serious." Aster began to fade away until he was see-through.

"Now what?" Chloe moaned. Before their eyes, Aster vanished.

"Aw, crap!" Hassleberry exclaimed. "He turned invisible?!"

"No fair! That's cheating!" Melody yelled.

"I wonder if the others are having as much fun as we are," Haru muttered.

…

"Wow! This is fun!" Syrus said, slicing through prison bars with his sword. Five people inside ran out cheering.

"It's easier than I thought." Millie said. She walked on a wooden beam in the ceiling with golden threads hanging from her fingers leading to a guard. She made him pull out a ring of keys and unlock the doors. Eventually, a large crowd of prisoners were in the corridor. Meno opened a wooden door.

"Get out of here! Move it!" She yelled, helping the prisoners bustle out of the door.

"Right! Twenty down…er…some more left to go." Syrus said.

"This is going to take ages." Millie moaned, jumping down from the beam and releasing the guard from her control. It scrambled from the floor and ran off.

"How many cells are there?" Syrus asked.

"Well…" Meno started, indicating the large room with rows of cells up to the ceiling.

"There must be hundreds of them!" Syrus exclaimed.

"I'll take care of these." Meno said. A pink whirlwind of energy surrounded her body, making her clothes and hair blow in the breeze. Hundreds of arms shot out of the whirlwind and waved around the room, cutting every single cell door open and even smashing a few windows.

"Is that all of them?" Meno asked. Millie looked around at all the prisoners walking out of their cells cautiously and confused. Millie nodded at Meno. The pink whirlwind disappeared from Meno, who fell onto her knees with a sigh.

"You okay?" Syrus asked, kneeling down beside her. Meno blushed.

"Yeah. That attack takes a bit out of me. I'm fine though." Meno stood up from the floor.

"Alright. That's all the prisoners taken care of. There's only three left. No prizes in guessing which ones." Syrus muttered.

"I know where they are." Meno said. "I heard of Kagehoshi's plan before any of her other minions. They're through that door." She pointed at a second wooden door right in front of them.

"Here we come," Syrus said, opening the door.

"Whoa!" Millie whispered. All three of them were standing in a room filled with rubble, the only unharmed objects being a mirror and a stone font.

"I wonder what happened here." Syrus said, picking himself through the rubble.

"This mirrors broken." Millie whined. "I can't see how pretty I am." She tapped the glass in the mirror.

"Knock it off!" A voice yelled. Millie squeaked in surprise and stumbled away from the mirror.

"It's alive!" Millie squealed.

"You shall pay for disturbing the spirits of the haunted mirror…" The voice said in a spooky voice.

"Haunted?!" Syrus whimpered. Meno raised an eyebrow suspiciously. She heard stifled laughter coming from the mirror.

"Hang on a minute..." Meno went up to the mirror and banged it hard with her fist. "Alright, we caught you." Aster and Daisy appeared in the mirror from their hiding place bursting out laughing.

"Sorry. We couldn't resist." Daisy laughed, regaining control over herself.

"That was not funny." Syrus snapped.

"I like to see what you'd do trapped in a mirror." Aster said as a comeback.

"How long have you been in there?" Millie asked. Both Aster and Daisy shrugged.

"Not sure" Aster muttered.

"I was in here longer," Daisy said.

"I tried breaking through it. Not a scratch."

"I tried as well. My picks didn't do a thing." Daisy clamped a hand over her mouth after she spoke.

"Huh? What picks?" Aster asked. "You've got a secret, haven't you?" Daisy sighed in defeat.

"Okay. You caught me." Daisy pulled out from behind her a purple shoulder bag that had a button up flap and a pouch shape body.

"I got this when I came to the castle…" Daisy started.

Flashback

"Keep moving, missy," A guard demanded, showing Daisy further down a long corridor.

"It's a shame we can't kill you right now. You're such fresh meat." Another guard hissed.

"But I have friends. They'll save me. And then you'll get what's coming to you."

"Cocky brat," A guard muttered, clenching his fist.

"Easy, John" The other guard said. "We're only following Miss Kagehoshi's orders."

"Fine," John sighed. At this point, the three of them went past a wooden door. As soon as Daisy was in front of it, the door began shaking violently, stopping the guards.

"What the hell's behind there?" John yelled.

"I heard rumours that Miss Kagehoshi was storing charmcaster items behind there."

"What's a charmcaster?"

"You never paid attention to Kagehoshi, did you John?" The guard sighed. "Charmcasters carry around a bag that contains an infinite number of small weapons for any purpose, be it disarming or defending. The bag chooses its master, and by the looks of it, the master has been found."

"Maybe it's one of us." John said hopefully.

"No. The masters are usually girls. It's extremely rare for a male charmcaster." Both the guards looked at each other.

"Could it be?" John whispered. Both of them turned to Daisy slowly.

"Er…did I do something wrong?" Daisy asked sheepishly with a grin. Suddenly, the wooden door burst off its hinges. A purple bag charged through and hooked itself over the dumbfounded Daisy's shoulder.

"Well…purple is my favourite colour." Daisy said.

"You give that to us now!" John demanded, reaching out to the bag. As soon as he touched it, his hands jerked away quickly.

"ARGH! IT BURNS!" John screamed, clutching his hand.

"The bag of charms has chosen its master." The second guard muttered to Daisy. "You're the new charmcaster."

"Just like that, Daisy Portrait became Daisy Portrait the charmcaster."

"So let me get this straight." Syrus began. "That bag has a lot of weapons inside like a tardis." Daisy nodded.

"None of them worked on this mirror. Even my favourite weapon didn't do anything." Daisy reached inside the bag and pulled out a sharp needle attached to a small wooden handle. She hid it in the palm of her hand and three more appeared, so one was in between each of her fingers like claws.

"Are those the picks you mentioned?" Aster asked. Daisy nodded again.

"I can trap an enemy on a wall and prevent movement. Watch." She threw her picks at Aster, and straight away the sleeve of his jacket was pinned to the wall.

"Wow. That would be so cool if it wasn't aimed at me." Aster said.

"Sorry. I just needed something to demonstrate with." Daisy apologised, easing the picks out of the wall.

"I didn't know you could be that accurate." Meno said.

"I've been practicing while in this mirror. The guards couldn't take the bag off me. Apparently, it burns anyone other than me who touches it."

"Well why didn't you tell me?" Aster asked.

"It's kind of embarrassing." Daisy muttered. Aster gave a laugh.

"Embarrassing? I think it's cool!" Daisy smiled.

"Thanks for understanding."

"Wow! Check this out!" Millie yelled, gazing into the font with her nose barely showing over the edge. Meno and Syrus looked into the font.

"It's showing the fight." Meno said.

"It doesn't look good." Syrus muttered.

"Ahem!" Aster coughed.

"We can't bring this thing over to you, Aster." Syrus snapped.

"What about bringing them here?" Meno suggested. She brought a glowing pink hand up, and soon the mirror began to glow pink as well. Slowly, the mirror moved away from the wall and was then attached to another wall in front of the font.

"That's better." Aster said huffily.

"This thing's amazing." Meno breathed.

"Maybe this is what Kagehoshi has been watching us with." Syrus suggested.

"That would make sense." Aster shrugged.

"Isn't that Hassleberry?" Millie asked.

"Oh yeah it is." Meno said.

"Of course! The others are fighting a possessed you." Syrus exclaimed, pointing at Aster.

"I just hope they won't screw things up." Aster muttered.

"Cool! It's got sound!" Millie squeaked excitedly. "Oh boy, this is better than the cinema."

…

"C'mon. Put 'em up!" Hassleberry yelled, running around in circles and punching the air.

"Hassleberry, you've got to stop running around like a headless chicken. You're wasting energy." Haru said.

"What else can I do?" Hassleberry asked, exasperated.

"We've got to see through Aster's trick somehow." Jaden said.

"Uh…question. How can we see someone invisible?" Chloe asked. Melody, Hassleberry, Jaden, Jesse and Hannah all looked blank. They huddled into a circle and whispered to each other for a few seconds. They came out later with grins and their arms in the air.

"Psychic powers!" Jaden yelled.

"Inner strength!" Hassleberry shouted.

"Mind's eye!" Hannah cheered.

"Fighting spirit!" Jesse said cheerfully.

"X-ray vision!" Melody sang. Chloe sweat dropped at the group.

"Don't know 'em. Don't know 'em." Haru muttered to himself. In the mirror, Aster slapped his forehead.

"Idiots." Aster hissed. Meno and Daisy heaved suffering sighs.

"They REALLY had to pick the perfect time to be useless." Daisy said.

"Shush!" Millie hissed. "I'm trying to watch"

"When's he gonna show himself?!" Jesse yelled. "The suspension's killing me."

"Calm down, Jesse." Jaden said. "This is probably how he wants us to react."

"Jesse," Chloe started. "Why don't you get "it" out?" Chloe smiled.

"Oh, right." Jesse said. He reached towards his jacket pocket.

"Huh? What're you two on about?" Jaden asked.

"Oh, you'll see." Chloe smirked.

"Right. The only problem left is finding Aster." Jaden said. Though Jaden was unaware of it, Aster had made himself visible behind Jaden, staying in the shadows out of sight. He slowly stepped out the shadows, and sneaking water noiselessly from the water skin on his back, it sharpened into a knife. Aster smirked and made his way towards Jaden. Jesse spotted Aster and gasped.

"Look out, Jaden!" Jesse yelled. Out of nowhere, he made a whip made of lightning appear in his hand. With skill, Jesse made the whip crack around Aster's wrist, forcing him to drop the ice dagger.

"How did you do that?" Jaden asked, amazed.

"It's a new weapon Chloe gave me." Using the whip, he forced Aster off the ground. He swung Aster around the room and slammed him into a wall so hard, a column was destroyed. "My secret weapon. The light whip."

"Well, er, thanks Jess." Jaden said.

"Well, what have ya got to say about that, Aster?" Hassleberry asked triumphantly. "Not so tough now are ya?" Aster stood up from the ground, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Melody asked, raising her eyebrow.

"On the contrary, I couldn't be more pleased." Aster said, brushing dust off his outfit. "You've all got a lot of skill, so you leave me with no choice." He outstretched his right arm. "Kagehoshi said to use this as a last resort. You shall have the pleasure of dying against my own secret weapon." From the ceiling, a dark wooden staff with a green orb on top fell into Aster's right hand.

"What is that?" Chloe whispered.

"Oh, that's very easy, Chloe." Aster hissed. The orb on the staff glowed green and green electricity shot out and filled almost the entire room, making Aster's silver hair stand on end. "This is your death."

…

"What the hell is that?!" Aster yelled. The font was showing green lightning filling the room, with the group fighting Aster bracing themselves from the lightning.

"Unh…" Daisy moaned clutching her head.

"You okay? What's wrong?" Aster asked.

"All of a sudden…I feel really weak…" Daisy closed her eyes and began to fall onto the ground.

"Daisy!" Aster yelled, catching her and laying her on the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" Syrus asked.

"This is part of Kagehoshi's plan." Meno said. "That staff Aster has generates electricity from the orb and a body inside."

"Hold up, did you say…inside the orb?" Aster asked. Millie nodded.

"Judging by Daisy's reaction, I'd say her body is inside that orb."

"And with that power you're using down there, in a matter of minutes Daisy will…well…" Meno closed her eyes and turned away, unable to finish the sentence.

"She'll die, wont she." Aster muttered. Millie nodded, and walked over to Meno to comfort her.

"It's like killing two birds with one stone." Syrus said to himself. "Our friends will die, and so will Daisy."

"This is what Kagehoshi has been planning." Meno whispered. "Aster will have no one left to turn to, because he killed them. The only person he'll go to may be Kagehoshi herself. This is Kagehoshi's plan. To make Aster join her and together, the world shall be doomed."

"Er…make that three birds with one stone." Syrus corrected.

"No…that can't happen…" Aster cried, pressing his hands against the glass of the mirror. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Kagehoshi…you bitch…you piss me off and I hate you…but… Aster thought. He opened his eyes slowly. Once again, his eyes glowed white.

I won't let Daisy die.

"Get down!" Syrus yelled, forcing Millie and Meno onto the ground.

…

"I guess this it it!" Jaden shouted over the electricity.

"It's been nice knowin' ya!" Chloe shouted.

"Haru, if we get out of this alive, I look forward to our rematch." Hassleberry said.

"I do as well," Haru said smiling.

"Goodbye!" Aster yelled. "Now you shall die!"

KABOOM!

"What was that?!" Melody shouted. Everyone looked up. A huge hole was in the wall high up from the ground and black smoke was flying out of it.

"No!" Aster yelled. He looked at the staff and realised the orb was cracking. It smashed and Daisy's body enlarged into her original size.

"That's sorcery!" Hassleberry exclaimed.

"Daisy was in the orb?!" Jesse yelled. The electricity disappeared as soon as the orb smashed. Aster clutched his head before collapsing on the ground next to Daisy. The group stared at them, dumbfounded.

"Uh…what just happened?" Hannah asked. Syrus, Millie and Meno leaped down from the hole in the wall and ran to the gang.

"Aster went all glowy and the mirror Daisy and he were trapped in smashed." Syrus gasped when he reached his friends.

"They should be fine." Millie said. Daisy and Aster sat up from the floor rubbing their heads.

"Urgh. What happened?" Daisy moaned.

"You got any painkillers? I've got a monster headache." Aster asked. He looked around the room he was in. "It's not black." He muttered. "WOO HOO! WE'RE FREE!" He cheered, standing up from the ground laughing.

"Aster! You're okay!" Hannah squealed, hugging her cousin around the neck.

"Ack! Hannah, I can't breathe!" Aster choked.

"So things worked out for us." Jesse said. Daisy looked around at the crowd amazed.

"You…you all came here…knowing you might die…just for me?" She whispered. Aster pulled Hannah away from him and kneeled down in front of Daisy.

"Daisy, you're our friend. And you're the girl I love. Our world wouldn't be the same without that cheerful smile and your feisty attitude. Seeing you happy makes me happy. Seeing you sad makes me sad. You're my everything, Daisy." Aster smiled. Both of them shared a hug.

"Ew! Mushy!" Millie said, turning away.

"So that's Daisy then?" Haru asked Hassleberry. "I can see why Aster likes her so much"

"And by the way…" Daisy started, standing up. She pointed at Haru. "Who's she?" Haru fell over anime style.

"Oh, for God's sake…" Haru muttered from the ground. Daisy blinked in confusion.

"What?" She asked. Aster whispered in her ear.

"He's a guy?!" Daisy exclaimed. "Well you could have told me!" She snapped. Aster laughed.

"It's good to have you back, Daisy." Jaden cheered.

"Yeah, you have no idea what dual academy's been like without ya." Hassleberry said.

"Thanks' for coming all this way to save me." Daisy whispered. "Now we're all together again. And who are you two?" She went to Chloe and Melody and began talking to them.

"Wait a minute!" Aster suddenly said. "What about my dad?"

"You mean he still hasn't been found?" Syrus said. Aster shook his head.

"I saw what happened, but I can't remember." Aster shook his head quickly. "Goddammit."

"I can help you out with that." The whole in the wall closed up and a marble balcony appeared, with Kagehoshi standing behind the railings.

"So…looks like you're ultimate plan failed." Jesse yelled.

"Sorry, sexy." Hassleberry said. Aster nudged him hard in the ribs to prove his point.

"Actually, that was only part of the plan. I've got another trick up my sleeve. Literally." Kagehoshi smirked. She reached into the sleeve of her kimono and pulled out an hourglass. At the top, hanging upside down by golden threads, was a man.

"This is my plan B" Kagehoshi hissed. Aster spotted the hourglass and gasped.

"What is that?" Melody asked.

"An hourglass?" Jaden suggested, shielding his eyes to look up at Kagehoshi. "I can't tell. She's too far up."

"There's something inside." Hassleberry said. "Look."

"Oh, yeah!" Chloe said.

"Okay, someone's gonna have to tell me what's in there." Hannah huffed. Aster fell onto his knees trembling.

"Aster? What's wrong?" Daisy asked.

"Are you okay?" Haru said.

"No…" Aster whispered. "I-it can't be"

"What's the problem, Private?" Hassleberry asked.

"Wait a second…" Chloe started. "I know the guy in there." Everybody looked up again, and one by one, their eyes widened.

"No way…" Jaden said slowly.

"Who's he?" Haru asked.

"Ask Aster." Jesse said, pointing at the shaking Aster.

"I've found him…" Aster said slowly. "Dad's inside that hourglass!"

Dun dun DDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!! Phew! I sure enjoyed writing that, and I hope you enjoy reading it! Next time; can the gang free Aster's father? And a few identities are revealed. But who's? Find out next time!