On their way out of the Ghost Palace to grab lunch, Cain and Setsu bumped into Murasame who grumbled at having to see the Heel siblings acting all lovey-dovey together. They ignored him, which seemed to make him even more angry.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Murasame demanded.

"It's none of your business," Setsu spat back.

"As your employer, it sure as hell is!" Murasame yelled back.

"Murasame-san, you don't have to get all worked up over nothing. The Heel siblings are free to leave the palace whenever they choose," A voice said from behind the Heel siblings. Cain and Setsu turned around to see Miroku walking towards them.

"Yeah, all we were going to do was eat lunch, and you had to harass us like this," Setsu harrumphed.

"Heel-san, if you're heading out to eat, you could just stay and eat some of the lunch that the staff made already. We would like to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss your tasks, and it'll be quicker if you eat in the palace," Miroku suggested. Kyoko looked up at Cain to see what he thought about Miroku's suggestion. Cain seemed as impassive as ever. Kyoko decided to agree to Miroku's suggestion since it would be a waste if the kitchen staff had already made them food and they went out to eat.

"Very well. We will stay here to eat lunch, then," Setsu answered, causing Miroku to smirk. For some reason, Kyoko was a bit unnerved at Miroku's smile. Setsu grabbed Cain's arm and turned them towards the palace kitchens. Murasame balked as he caught a glimpse of a purple mark on Cain's neck as he turned.

"What the hell?! What's on his neck?!" Murasame pointed at Cain, his face ghostly pale. Both Miroku and Setsu looked at the bruise, and Setsu only gave Murasame a smirk before grabbing her brother's hand and dragging them in the direction of the palace kitchen. Murasame turned to Miroku to see if Miroku was as disgusted as he was, but he found the man to be smiling.

"How can you be smiling after seeing something like that?! It's disgusting!" Murasame yelled, trudging away. Miroku only gave a small shake of his head before teleporting to the palace kitchen to make sure the kitchen staff knew which special dishes to give to the Heel siblings.

...

"Nii-san, you have to at least eat something," Setsu pouted, holding up a spoonful of her meal to him. Kuon was content to just watch Kyoko as she ate lunch. He had never really had an appetite anyways, so it was normal for him to watch her eat, but apparently she wouldn't let it go this time as Setsu's arm remained outstretched with the spoon. Cain rolled his eyes and clamped his mouth around the spoon, chewing quickly before swallowing the food. For some reason, he found that the food tasted a bit weird. Was it some kind of Ghost Kingdom herb that made this flavor?

"I'm full," Cain grumbled as Setsu held out another spoonful for him. She narrowed her eyes at him, the spoon still hanging in the air, but she eventually gave up when she realized Cain wouldn't budge. She quickly finished the rest of her meal so that he wouldn't have to wait too much longer. After lunch, Cain and Setsu made their way to Vie Ghoul's meeting room where they encountered the whole Ghost Kingdom gang already launched into conversation.

"When will we make our attack? Are the barriers weakened enough?" Manaka asked.

"It seems that the barrier around King Reino's prison is still too hard to penetrate. I heard from our insider that the Crown Princess showed up to reinforce each bit of magic that was taken down by the deaths of Rick's disciples," Muramase answered. He turned to see Cain and Setsu's arrival, and a wide frown marred his features. The rest of the company in the room also sensed their arrival and immediately included them into the conversation.

"Heel-san, have you killed Matsunai Ruriko, Hidehito Kijima, and Momose Itsumi?" Shizuru asked. Cain nodded gruffly.

"Did you find the chicken artifact in any of the disciples' palaces, Heel-san?" Kiyora asked Cain. He shook his head, and Kiyora sighed heavily.

"You know what? I think it's time to set our next plan in motion. Heel-san, we need you to assassinate the Crown Princess," Miroku announced.

"Good idea, Miroku! That Crown Princess is always getting in the way! Once she's gone, all of the magic barriers that she put up again will be gone!" Manaka exclaimed.

"But won't it be difficult to kill her? You know what happened last time we faced her..." Dasuku trailed off.

"This time will be different. We have her surrounded," Miroku grinned, turning to stare Kyoko right in the eye. Kyoko stiffened internally, but Setsu remained nonchalantly examining her nails.

"What do you mean?" Setsu asked. Miroku flicked his hand. Suddenly, twenty guards teleported into the room, each pointing a bow at Setsu and Cain. Setsu widened her eyes in shock as Cain instinctively pulled her behind him to protect her.

"Miroku, what's going on?" Manaka asked, worried that they were trying to hurt Cain.

"Cain and Setsu Heel are not who you thought they were. That's Hizuri Kuon and the Crown Princess. They've been tricking us this whole time! They never killed any of Rick's disciples, they just acted like they did! We've been ignorantly telling them everything this whole time!" Miroku growled. Murasame widened his eyes at the siblings. All this time, he had thought they were perverted because they acted like a couple even though they were siblings, but it made sense now since he knew that Hizuri Kuon and the Crown Princess were engaged. Murasame looked around the room to see that all of Vie Ghoul had drawn their weapons, almost as if they had known what Miroku had planned to reveal.

"How come you didn't let us know this until know?!" Murasame complained.

"Never got the chance to tell you," Kiyora replied, his sword suddenly gleaming as tongues of fire danced around the blade. Kuon materialized a sword in his hand, ready to fight, but Kyoko took his other hand and teleported them away before anyone could fire one shot.

"You idiots! You should have cast a teleportation barrier before you exposed them! This is why you tell us who they really are before you reveal their identities!" Murasame fumed. Miroku waved his hand, and the guards that had been in the room disappeared like dust.

"It's better that they're kept alive. Now let's begin our real discussion. We're breaking out King Reino in two days," Miroku announced.

"What?! How are we going to do that so early?! The Crown Princess put up all the defenses again!" Murasame argued.

"She did, but there's a reason they entrusted the barriers around King Reino's prison to ten separate immortals. Before you arrived, I told the servants to put Yowamaru potion in the Heel siblings's meals. The potion takes two days to start working, but it'll temporarily restrict one from using any powers for one whole day. It's fortunate that King Reino still had enough in his storage for me to borrow," Miroku explained.

"So in three days, the potion will activate, and the magic of the Crown Princess that is holding up the barriers on King Reino's prison will suddenly stop working?" Manaka clarified.

"All we have to do is wait," Miroku grinned.

...

When Kuon found that Kyoko had teleported them to the Sky Palace, he was momentarily disappointed. He had really wanted to see what it would be like to slash at Murasame's chest after all that cheese-brain has said to them.

"Setsu! Why did you teleport us away?!" Cain growled. Kyoko changed their appearances back to normal and rolled her eyes.

"Kuon, you don't need to act as Cain Heel anymore! Come back to me!" Kyoko frowned. Kuon blinked away his character and looked down into her golden eyes that he had missed ever since their lovemaking session last night. He immediately leaned down to crash his lips onto hers. She widened her eyes in surprise at his action but immediately kissed him back with just as much intensity.

"Kuon, why did you do that so suddenly?" Kyoko smiled as he pulled back.

"I'm not Cain Heel anymore. I can freely declare to the whole world that I'm in love with you, Kyoko, and no one can stop me," Kuon smiled radiantly. Kyoko blushed and took his hand in her own.

"Kuon, we have to solve the problem with Vie Ghoul. What are we going to do?"

"We've found out enough to set them back in their plan. They're going to try to head for the other disciples now to try to weaken the barriers around King Reino's prison, but we can warn them and station more guards to protect them. And since we know the layout of the Ghost Palace, we can stage a coup to usurp Manaka-san and Murasame-san and capture Vie Ghoul. I also have to return to the Fairy Kingdom soon to pick up Brian," Kuon explained.

"Who's Brian?"

"The chicken with magical powers to freeze time," Kuon replied. If it was anyone else, Kyoko would have thought he was speaking nonsense, but everything suddenly started to make sense to her.

"Of course! You had him this whole time! That's how you knew when Vie Ghoul broke into High God Rick's tomb!" Kyoko realized.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before, but I made an oath to my master that I would protect Brian," Kuon apologized.

"I understand. He's a very powerful chicken. We just need to make sure that the he's protected now at all costs," Kyoko replied.

"I think I have an idea on where to hide him..."

...

"You really want me to watch over this chicken, Master Kuon?" Ruto confirmed again. Kuon nodded his head with a smile.

"No one ever comes around the Hall of Radiance, so I'm sure Brian will be safe here. I trust you to keep him safe," Kuon smiled. Ruto bowed, and Kuon went on his way to rendezvous with Kyoko. She had been tasked with warning all of Rick's other disciples about a possible attack and release the disciples that had been staying in the Sky Palace. Kuon smirked as he teleported to Kyoko's private quarters and snuck inside. He had never been inside before, but her bedroom was very similar to the rest of her minimalistic palace except for one looming statue that caught Kuon's eye. When he went over to look at it, he felt a pain go through his heart.

Kuon knew immediately that this statue was of Ren. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought it was of him, but Kyoko wouldn't have had time to create this since the time she met him. Ren had always been in her heart, and he was still in her heart if she set up this statue in her bedroom. Was it possible that Kuon had come to the wrong conclusion? He had been together with Kyoko last night, but what if she lied when she said she loved him? Could she have just slept with him because he looked similar to Ren?

"Kuon?"

Kuon turned around to see Kyoko looking at him worriedly. She had forgotten to hide Ren's statue since she came back to the Sky Palace.

"Is this Ren?" Kuon asked even though he knew the answer. She nodded.

"For the past 300 years, Hana has never been able to see her father, so I created this sculpture so that she could always have him watching over her. The statue used to be in the Hall of Radiance, but I had it moved here so it wouldn't make you uncomfortable."

"I see."

Kyoko felt uncomfortable in the heavy silence that fell between them and approached Kuon. "I finished warning all of High God Rick's disciples. I ordered my guards to tell the ones here in the Sky Palace that they are free to leave if they want. We've counteracted everything that we learned that Vie Ghoul was going to do, and it's possible that I can order my troops tomorrow to arrest Murasame-san, Manaka-chan, and Vie Ghoul," Kyoko said.

"That's good. It's night already, so I should probably head back to the Fairy Kingdom now. I'll come see you again tomorrow," Kuon said, brushing past her to get to the door until she grabbed his arm.

"Kuon, it's already late. Do you want to stay here for the night instead?" Kyoko asked.

"I'm afraid that I would take up too much room."

"You wouldn't. The bed here is large enough even for you," Kyoko replied, going over to sit down on her bed. She patted the spot next to her, encouraging him to come over. Letting his own self desires override his fears that she only wanted him physically, Kuon walked over and sat down next to her, and she smiled. Pulling off the soft blanket on top, she laid down, prompting him to lay down next to her. However, he turned away from her and there was a comfortable distance between them. He was not able to look her in the eye as his mind kept insisting that she might only love him since he looked similar to her late husband.

Kyoko wondered why Kuon was being so distant all of a sudden. Had she made the wrong assumptions about their relationship after the last night? Had it only been the magic of Cain and Setsu that caused him to desire her like Cain desired Setsu? She scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, startling him, but he didn't push her off. She gently ran her hand through his blonde hair. "Kuon."

Kuon slowly turned towards her. "What is it?" Kuon wondered. She leaned in to give him a sensuous kiss. "I love you," She said as she pulled back. Kuon wanted to believe her. All of her actions screamed that what she said was true, but why did he still have a feeling that she just could not let go of Ren? He was being jealous for no reason. Ren was already dead. It wasn't as if Kuon needed to compete with a dead man for Kyoko's affections. As long as she said she loved him, he should believe her from now on.

Kuon wrapped his arms around her, trying to let go of his fears. "I love you too," He pressed a kiss to her forehead. They laid content in each other's embrace for a few moments before Kuon spoke again.

"What about we get married on September 2nd?" Kuon asked.

"What?" Kyoko blinked as she pulled away from him, not believing what she just heard.

"Kyoko, I want to marry you. It's almost fall, and I heard that the 2nd of September is good for weddings and constructions. It's a good day for everything. Why don't you tell your mother that we'll get married that day?"

Kyoko felt tears of happiness come to her eyes and tackled him in a hug. "Kuon, I love you. I really do love you. I want to be with you for eternity," Kyoko kissed him, letting all her feelings for him into the kiss. He gladly welcomed the kiss and kissed her back with just as much intensity. When he pulled back, he smiled heavenly at her.

"You are truly the only woman I have loved and will ever love," Kuon smiled, stealing her lips once again for another passionate kiss. Kyoko opened his robe slightly and shrugged the fabric off his strong shoulders.

"Kuon, give me another child," Kyoko breathed against his lips as he cast a sound barrier around them to have a repeat of the events of last night.

...

Kyoko snuggled into the warm embrace of her lover as the morning sun drifted through the curtains of a window. She shifted in his arms to face him and placed a soft kiss to his beaming face, playing with the fabric of his robe. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. He traced the white scar on her chest with his finger.

"Since you asked me about my scar last night, where did you get this one?" Kuon wondered.

"Battle with the Pixie Kingdom," Kyoko hummed, too comfortable in his embrace to be fully awake.

"I've always wondered. I've heard everywhere that any war or battle you choose to partake in, you always win. Why did you almost die in the war with the Pixie Kingdom?" Kuon asked.

"I let Morizumi-san do it," Kyoko replied. Kuon stayed silent, waiting for her to elaborate.

"I'm usually never envious of anyone, except for Moko-san."

"Moko-san?"

"Sorry, that's my nickname for Kotonami-san."

"Oh? Why would you be envious of your best friend?" Kuon asked.

"You heard that she eloped with Hiou-kun?" Kyoko wondered. Kuon chuckled, and Kyoko loved feeling the warm reverberations of his laugh as she laid on his chest.

"Did you forget? I was engaged to Kotonami-san until she ran off with Hiou-kun," Kuon chuckled, causing Kyoko to laugh as well.

"Moko-san found love and got what she wanted. Although my mother banished her to the Water Kingdom, she still ended up with the immortal she loved. She was a princess of the Sky Kingdom, but without the restricting identity of Crown Princess, it was easier for her to get out," Kyoko sighed.

"And what about you?"

"Although I'm Crown Princess, I'm lucky that the person I love is King Hizuri Kuon," Kyoko replied, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He smiled heavenly at her as she closed her eyes, content to spend just a little more time in his arms.


We're almost at the end of this story arc! Only a few more chapters to go until we reach the penultimate arc! It's hard to believe I started this story more than a year ago and I'm now at over 140,000 words... Thanks for sticking along for the ride! I'm excited for the upcoming chapters, and I hope you are as well!

Paulagato- If Kuon does find out that Sho took his eyes, there is a way to retrieve them... And you should be very scared of Reino. If he comes back, there'll be a lot of trouble not only for our favorite couple but for all immortals in the Heavens... Thanks for reviewing!

valie france- Awww, thanks! I'm glad you are liking my story thus far! It must have taken quite some time to get through the 43 chapters in one sitting. I try to update as quickly as possible (at least once every two weeks), but sometimes life just gets in the way :/. I agree with you on needing Skip Beat! fanfic to tide us over until the next official chapter releases though since there's barely any progress each month!

JeremyVD- I feel you. It's like: finally, they get together! Kuon is starting to remember some memories from his life as Ren since Lory's amnesia potion wasn't foolproof. In my fic, Kyoko's a bit similar to Ren since she blames herself for the death of a loved one, but as they are both together now, they're on the path to forgiving themselves for what happened together. Thank you for your comment :).

Tam2013- Sometimes life just decides to get in the way of chapter releases, sigh. I'm glad to know that I have readers eagerly awaiting each chapter release :). Thanks for reviewing!

Fanfichlover22- Thank you for your kind words! Kuon is in the process of recovering some of his memories as Ren, but you'll have to wait and see how he reacts to this knowledge in the final arc ;).