A/N: Hi guys! Here's chapter 24 of COTF hehe, this one is super long I hope that's ok! This chapter mentions two other "future children" and their mother Solara who all belong to one of my tumblr mutuals she just let me borrow them for the series! The mana zone mentioned was an idea created by another mutual so that belongs to her as well and this chapter mentions another fic I wrote called 'Rain' which is on my tumblt if you guys want to read. I hope you all enjoy! Also there's a, hm, lovely surprise at the end too hehe.

" W-What did I do?"

As Alistar's soft question hung in the air, Hikari lowered her Katana. A similar scene played out a long time ago. She watched as tears pooled in Alistar's ice blue eyes and all she wanted to do was wrap him in her arms and hug him, but as she reached a hand towards him Josslyn began to scream.

" Hikari get away from him! He's a freaking psycho!" She screamed as Yami released her from Alistar's spell. Hikari turned towards the pink haired girl.

" Josslyn, just be quiet for a second! He isn't going to hurt anyone!"

" He already did!" The girl shouted again, Hikari looked around as William and her 'father' continued releasing people from Alistar's spell. She saw minor injuries, mostly cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. But she couldn't deny that Josslyn was right, he did hurt people.

" Alistar-. Alistar?" Hikari started as she turned around to face him, but when she did he was gone. Hikari blinked before looking around wildly. When she looked towards the house she saw one of the brooms was missing, she then looked towards the sky and saw Alistar flying away as quickly as he could.

" Alistar! Alistar come back!" Hikari shouted before taking off running towards the house, she quickly grabbed a broom herself and took off after him.

" Hikari wait!" Yami shouted before turning to release Charlotte, who nodded in thanks.

" What was that? I've never seen anything like that before." Charlotte said as she rubbed her sore wrists, Yami looked down and saw slight bruises already forming. He already didn't like Alistar that much and now he didn't like him even more.

" It was some sort of mana zone," William said as he walked towards Yami and Charlotte. " I'm not sure how it works, but apparently Alistar losing control activated it." William added, Yami and Charlotte nodded. This was probably some new ability the kids learned in the future.

" I'll take care of everyone here, you two go after Hikari and Alistar." Charlotte suggested. Yami and William nodded.

" You sure you're alright?" Yami asked in slight worry, Charlotte nodded.

" It takes a lot more than a few cuts and bruises to take me down." Charlotte said light heartedly before she walked over and helped a few of the kids up, Yami chuckled a bit as what she said was true. He then followed William as they went towards the house, grabbed the remaining brooms, and took off after Hikari and Alistar.

—

Hikari tried to follow behind Alistar quickly, but he was soon out of her sight. She sighed in slight irritation, how was it he could make his broom fly that fast but she couldn't? She shook her head. There was really only one place he could go, and that was the Capital.

So she at least knew where to start her search.

After a few more minutes of flying she landed right at the edge of the City. She couldn't sense his mana anywhere nearby which only confirmed that he was probably further in the city. So she stood there for a few minutes in thought, where would he go if he was in the city? She turned slightly, she knew her 'father' and Captain Vangeance weren't too far behind her and she knew she had to find Alistar before they did.

She quickly ran off towards the center of the city, that was the best place to start. It would take a while, sure, but she had to search for him. He didn't need to be alone right now.

As Hikari made it to the center she looked around, where did she start? She crossed her arms, this was seriously going to be a pain. Especially since Alistar didn't have a place he normally visited the city. Hikari sighed, he could be anywhere right now. As she continued to search for the best direction to go towards, a bright vermillion color caught her attention.

" No way." She muttered, quickly blinking and rubbing her eyes. She had to be dreaming right? There was no way they could be here too.

" Leon? Cyraleona?" She called cautiously, the people turned to look and their eyes also widened in surprise.

Leonidas and Cyraleona Vermillion, also known as the Vermillion twins, were the children of Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion and his wife Solara Equinox. Leonidas, or Leon for short, was almost a younger version of his father in looks, although his hair was a lighter shade and his eyes were golden. His personality was a mixture of his fathers and mothers, he could be stern and serious, but there could also be a little playful glint in his eye.

Cyraleona, or Cyra for short, was a little more shy and withdrawn than her brother. Whenever the Captain's children gathered together she usually had her small group of friends she was comfortable with, but if they weren't around then she stayed close to her brother and spoke only when spoken too.

" Hikari? Is that you?" Leon asked as he and his sister approached. Hikari walked up to them with a smirk.

" Funny seeing you two here, especially since I thought all the kids that were sent back from the future had gathered at the Hideout the Wizard King made." Hikari said, Leon nodded.

" I had heard that too, but for some reason we weren't." Leon answered vaguely, Hikari frowned a bit as she watched his Ki. He was hiding something, much like Alistar was at the beginning.

" What are you on some secret mission too?" Hikari asked half jokingly, when she saw the serious look on Leon's face and the sheepish one Cyra's she blinked in surprise. " Hold on, seriously?! You guys are on a secret mission too?!"

" Yes we are, I'm sorry that's all we can tell you Hikari." Cyra said softly, Hikari waved off her apology before rubbing the back of her head.

" It's alright. Everyone just likes keeping secrets these days." She muttered, Leon frowned but before he could comment Cyra spoke.

" Where's Alistar? Isn't he usually with you?" She asked curiously, Leon looked around as well. Usually you didn't find one without the other unless they were on separate missions.

" Ah Alistar? Well um…I kinda lost him." Hikari admitted with a sheepish laugh.

" What kind of bodyguard loses their charge?" Leon asked jokingly, but he grew concerned when she looked upset and almost ashamed.

" A crappy one if you ask me." She muttered more to herself. Leon and Cyra looked at each other, they wanted to ask what was wrong but they were both partially afraid of the answer.

" Hey, if you two aren't busy, can you guys help me find him? The area's a little big for me to be searching on my own." Hikari asked with a sheepish laugh, Leon and Cyra both nodded.

" Here take one of these, that way when one of us finds him we can alert each other." Leon suggested as he handed his sister and Hikari a magic item.

" Thanks you guys, I promise I'll try and fill you guys in on what's happening later but right now we need to find him before my dad and Captain Vangeance do." She said as she began to run off. " Oh yeah, and if you guys find him don't approach him just let me know where he is!" She added before continuing to run off.

Leon and Cyra looked at each other, don't approach him if they found him? That didn't sound good at all.

—

William and Yami landed softly just outside the city's center, this was their first stop, next would be the Golden Dawns base. The two began to walk, with Yami muttering how they would have gotten there sooner if they had just used his 'wheels' or 'taxi jr'. But soon the two fell into silence, not sure of what to say.

" You alright Vangeance?" Yami asked as he looked at his friend, he had noticed earlier that William had appeared shaken up. He was doing his best to hide it, but his Ki didn't lie. William turned to look at him and all he did was give him a small smile.

" Yes I'm alright Yami." William said, Yami snorted which caused the Golden Dawn Captain to frown.

" So that's where the kid gets it from." Yami said with a shake of his head which caused William to frown even more in confusion. " Your kid Alistar. He does the same thing, even if he isn't alright or if somethings wrong he puts a smile on his face and pretends otherwise." He explained.

" I don't do that." William denied but Yami cut him a look.

" You just did it, and to be honest, Alistar is a lot more like you than you think. Hell the kid even wears a mask like you, although his is figurative while yours is…literal." Yami added.

William hadn't realized others had noticed that too, that Alistar would put on a mask. He wasn't so sure about them being alike in personality, but he couldn't deny their backgrounds and a few of their mannerisms being similar.

" So what's got you shook up Goldie Guts? Is it the 'finding out you're dying' or is it your kid losing control of both his powers and most likely his mind?" Yami asked, he paused as he didn't hear William's boots clicking beside him. He turned and saw him standing a bit away with his head down.

" It's not finding out I'm dying. To be honest, we're all going to die in the future at some point, so it's a bit expected. But Alistar…I don't know what to make of it." He muttered softly as though he were getting lost in thoughts, the person he saw today wasn't the same person he had seen and spent time with the past couple of weeks, maybe, maybe it was someone else entirely?

" Yami," William asked suddenly, his voice slightly full of hope. " Was there anything different about his Ki or his mana? Maybe, maybe Alistar was possessed by something." William felt his little ounce of hope dash as Yami shook his head.

" Nope, it was all Alistar. Even though his mana got a lot stronger when he lost control it was still all him, nothing changed." Yami said simply he watched as his friend's face grew more defeated. " Look, we'll find out more once we find your kid. Maybe he is possessed by something, or maybe he just has a couple of screws loose." Yami added with a shrug. William nodded, he knew he was right, they would only find out when they asked Alistar directly.

" Or maybe," Yami said suddenly as the two walked for another few minutes. " Maybe he was cursed like you and Prickly Princess? Or he inherited something from his mother?" Yami added thoughtfully.

" He could have been cursed so we'll keep that as a likely possibility. As for his mother, I'm not sure. I've asked about her a couple of times and he doesn't answer, all he's said is that she had plant magic."

" That's it? You'd think the kid would give you more to go on to ensure he's born in the future." Yami said jokingly, William nodded and chuckled a bit.

" You would think so. But Alistar is very 'by the rules' which I guess he got from me like you said. So anything to do with her is deemed 'spoilers." William explained, Yami nodded and the two continued searching for William's 'son'.

—

Hikari sighed as she looked down yet another side street. She, Leon, and Cyra had been searching for Alistar for at least an hour and they still had no luck, it was almost as if he had disappeared into thin air. But she wasn't about to give up. She would stay out all night if she had too!

" Where are you Alistar?" She muttered to herself, the last time he did this he ran to the tallest point of the Golden Dawn base. She began to look towards the sky, although he was very much a 'ground dweller' Alistar did like a good view. Especially when he wanted to be alone. Her eyes finally landed on what appeared to be a clock tower, that was the highest point she'd seen so far and she hoped beyond hope that he was up there.

Hikari couldn't help but pant slightly out of breath as she made it to the top of the tower. She really wished she had brought Ezio, because then she could at least use his Spatial magic to get from place to place. She opened the door leading to the top and saw Alistar sitting on the edge. Hikari quickly pulled out her magic item, informed Leon and Cyra that she found him, and told them she would explain later.

" There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." Hikari said as she walked towards him. Alistar jumped slightly before turning to see her there.

" Why'd you follow me?" He asked softly as he turned back to stare over the city. Hikari sat down next to him with a sigh.

" Because I was ordered too." She responded, Alistar gave her the side eye. " Y'know, I think we've had a similar conversation before." She added light heartedly.

" We have. This whole day has played out before." He muttered in slight irritation, Hikari nodded in agreement, so it wasn't just her who thought that.

" I remember that as though it was yesterday, it was the day we truly met each other." Hikari said with a chuckle.

In the future

The boy didn't even seem to notice her presence, he stayed in the same spot, in the same position, as she walked up to him. Hikari had known the boy pretty much her entire life, they weren't very close though as they were in two separate squads, but she had met him numerous times and found him pleasant to be around. Even if he could be a little bit of a 'by the rules' type, but he was always kind and polite to her. This didn't even look like the same boy.

" Hurt...it hurts…" Alistar struggled to get out, his voice was hoarse as though he had been screaming, there were vines wrapped around his legs and ankles, but they didn't look tight enough to be hurting him.

" What hurts?" She asked him as she looked around his body, his shirt was slightly torn, but he had no wounds.

" Everything…" Alistar told Hikari so softly that she almost missed it, her head shot in his direction. Sweat was dripping down his face as though he were in extreme agony. But when he finally moved his eyes to look at hers she gasped; his eyes, they held a different kind of pain in them. Alistar wasn't talking about physical pain, he was talking about a different kind of pain, one that couldn't be seen.

" Look, I know you're hurting right now, and I'll do what I can to help you. But just because you're hurting, doesn't give you the right to be hurting others too!" Hikari shouted, shocking both Alistar and Yami. Alistar gaped at the young brunette. She could understand he was hurting and that in return he wanted others to hurt as well, but that didn't mean it was the right thing to do!

" I…" He trailed off, his eyes suddenly searching hers, for what neither really knew. But the vines that surrounded them suddenly began to vanish.

" I don't want to hurt anyone else."

" Alistar," Hikari asked softly yet cautiously just like her mother would do. " what happened?"

Alistar looked away instantly at the question, his body began to tremble once more. Where did he start? How did he even begin to describe what he found out today? He leaned a hand against the pillar for support, Hikari went to help but he held a hand out to stop her. He needed to calm down. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt or worse, because of him again. He took a few deep calming breaths before he bit his bottom lip, the words were on the tip of his tongue, but he wasn't sure if he had the courage to say them out loud.

" I…" Alistar paused, shutting his eyes tightly and squeezing them. " I killed my mom." He said, his voice cracking in the middle, Hikari's eyes widened, what was he talking about? How did he kill his mom? She didn't understand.

" What do you mean?" She asked softly, she watched Alistar's hands ball into fists as his shaking only got worse. He finally looked up at her, his blue eyes were full of hurt and anger.

" My mom...she died giving birth to me. I caused her to hemorrhage, to bleed out, and that bastard lied to me about it!" Alistar suddenly shouted.

Present Day

Hikari turned and noticed Alistar had his face hidden, the memory of that day coming back full force.

" I remember how you told me your dad lied to you for years, and how the other Golden Dawn members resented you for what happened to your mom." She began to explain softly. " I also remember how you told me you felt all alone without actually telling me." She added with a chuckle.

" I also remember promising to have your back when you needed me, to be your bodyguard. But I guess I failed." Hikari muttered more to herself than to him.

" You didn't fail. You were meant to protect me from others, not others from me." Alistar muttered softly, Hikari shook her head.

" That's not entirely true. My definition of being your bodyguard meant those things yes, but it also meant protecting you from yourself." She explained with a small smile, Alistar rolled his eyes a bit.

The two sat together quietly for a few moments, both just getting lost in their thoughts and memories. Hikari tilted her head as she asked the question that had been on her mind since he lost control.

" Why didn't you tell me your dad was dying?" She asked softly, she watched as Alistar visibly tensed, she waited patiently for his answer.

" I…I didn't know how…" Alistar admitted with a shake of his head. " to be honest I don't think I've been able to admit it to myself. So that's why I didn't say anything." He added softly, Hikari nodded. His father has probably been the only other constant person in his life besides Hikari, so she could only imagine how the thought of losing his father was affecting him.

" I can understand. If it were my dad or my mom, I don't know how I'd react." Hikari admitted, she quickly shook her head as the thought of losing one of her parents or siblings popped into her head. She didn't even want to imagine it.

Suddenly Hikari felt a soft thunk on her shoulder, she turned and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the top of Alistar's head.

" Promise, promise you won't leave me too. I don't know if I could handle it if you left me like my mom did and my dad will. So promise you won't." Alistar begged softly, she felt drops of water gently hitting her shoulder. Alistar was crying.

Hikari moved gently and, somewhat awkwardly, as she wrapped her arms around Alistar in a comforting hug. They both knew she couldn't promise that but she did it anyway.

" I promise Alistar. I'm your bodyguard, remember? Where you go I go, and I'm one of the strongest mages in Clover so there's no way I'd be defeated easily." Hikari told him kindly, she felt him just simply nod his head.

" It's really raining out there isn't it?" Alistar muttered against her shoulder, Hikari chuckled but nodded in agreement. She couldn't figure out why anytime he cried he tried to pretend it was raining.

" It really is. It's a torrential downpour." Hikari agreed.

After the two sat there for a few minutes the two young magic knights climbed down and walked through the streets of the Capital. They talked about silly little things, both avoiding the elephant in the room which was how he was going to explain what happened and why he lost control.

" Was anyone seriously injured?" Alistar asked sheepishly, Hikari shook her head.

" No, mostly just cuts and bruises, but it wasn't anything like what happened when we were 12." She told him, she watched as a half smile half grimace appeared on his face.

" I'm relieved, but I also feel sorry. I'm going to have to seriously apologize for that." He said softly, she just nodded in agreement, one of the best things about Alistar was how he would quickly admit his faults and would apologize for them.

Suddenly Alistar stopped dead in his tracks, Hikari made a curious 'hm' noise as she turned to look at him. She watched as he stared at someone, she followed his gaze and noticed he was watching a woman. The woman had ash blonde hair, wore plain neutral clothing, and had a red flower in her hair. Hikari frowned and she walked over to Alistar, when she placed a hand on his shoulder she noticed he was shaking.

" Alistar, what's wrong?" She asked in concern, Alistar's mouth kept opening and closing, as though he just couldn't get the words out. Finally after a few seconds Alistar was able to find his voice.

" M-Mom?"