Astro considered himself pretty well versed in magic. He'd studied different spells and techniques since he was young, learning from his mother, grandmother, and Eclipsa. But there were some areas where he was completely lost. Matters involving the soul and ancient magic happened to be two of those areas.

"What's wrong with you…" he muttered as he looked up at the massive fire before him.

He had come across it a few days after getting access into Rosetta's study, and honestly hadn't thought much of it when he did. It was interesting, but so were so many other things. There were just so many things to learn about in this place that it was just another on the list.

But when he came across what it actually was in one of her journals, his curiosity was piqued. The first golem, an ancient weapon created by the Air Nymphs.

He'd heard it mentioned a handful of times whenever he was having history lessons with his grandmother, but he never thought the thing would have been collecting dust in the castle this whole time.

At first he thought he should let the others know. Have it disposed of or at least put somewhere more secure. But there was no place more secure than this one. The only people who had access to Rosetta's study was Star. And the only one who had access to the hidden sanctum inside was him.

Plus he was too curious not to look more into it. Maybe he took after Rosetta more than he realized, because he just couldn't help but want to figure out how this worked.

He looked down at the journal and sighed. Some of the notes had been scratched out, and when he looked through other books it looked like information was missing. "What were you hiding Rosetta?" he asked, setting the book aside. "And what are you missing F5?" He just didn't get it. Everything was there.

All the parts were in perfect condition, he could sense magic flowing through all the right areas, and he could even sense a spark of life. Albeit a small one. So why was it still dormant? Was there some sort of switch on this thing?

"Uh." He ran a hand over his face and turned to leave. He was stressing himself out. He needed a snack or something to get his brain working again.

He made his way out of the room, locking the entrance behind him before leaving the study and heading towards the kitchen. As he left however, he didn't notice a certain redheaded figure lurking around the corner.

Hekapoo narrowed his eyes as she watched the door close.

The Magical High Commission had been trying to make its way into Rosetta's study for years. They had known that she kept all manner of dangerous experiments and artifacts inside of it. Things that could threaten the very kingdom itself. It was troubling enough that they couldn't get in because of the magical barriers she kept around it, but now that Astro was regularly making his way in and out, they were even more worried.

Omni had told them he wanted them to make another effort into getting inside, and while weary about the whole thing, she had to admit she wanted access too.

She waited a bit longer, and then made her way over towards the door. She reached up, and then winced and pulled back as the magical barrier around it zapped her. "Damn you Rosetta…" she muttered. How many years had it been since she'd created this thing? How could it have possibly still held up?

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of scissors. "Alright, let's hope this works…" If Omni's help worked, then this should be able to cut through the barrier. Then she would come back later when she knew Astro wasn't lurking about. She slowly raised them up, and then watched as the blade poked into the barrier.

It wasn't flung back like the others, but it still took some effort to hold it there. Hekapoo grit her teeth as she pulled the scissors downwards, and small sparks flew as it slowly began to sever the barrier. "Can't believe this is working… as a snail's pace, but still…"

She would never be able to cut through this barrier before Astro got back, but at least they had access to it now. They would just have to find a time where…

Hekapoo stopped as she heard something. It was loud, and it sounded… heavy? What in the world…?"

CRASH!

She was blown backwards as something suddenly smashed through the wall beside the door. She tumbled onto the ground, then looked up to see a massive figure looming over her. Her eyes widened as she took in the familiar figure. But… it couldn't be…

It was damn near twelve feet tall, and it's skin looked like it was made of a brown sand like stone. It's body was massive, and it had odd swirling patterns decorating it's it's torso, arms, and legs. It's face was strange, only being made of two yellow jewels where it's eyes should have been, and another pattern where it's mouth should have been.

It's heard slowly turned, eyes glowing as it locked onto her.

"F5…" Hekapoo muttered. But how? It was supposed to be disassembled! How in the world had Rosetta managed to get her hands on this?!

"Hekapoo. Scissor Enforcer. Magical High Commission member." It's voice sounded so strange and robotic, and it sent a chill up her spine. "Threat level, high. Execution orders initiated."

It raised it's rather bulky arm, and a hole on it's palm opened up. Hekapoo's eyes widened as she saw gusts of wind gathering behind it. Though she couldn't see them, there were vents on the creature's back, sucking in air at an incredibly high velocity.

"Shit…"

She got up and dashed away as quickly as she could, but when she heard the sound of the wind stop, she knew the attack was coming. "Wind Canon." All the air that had been sucked in suddenly fired out through the palm of it's hand. It tore apart the entire hallway as it rocketed towards the redhead.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

She reached for her scissors. If she was quick she could make a portal big enough to absorb most of the blast. She turned around and swiped her scissors, but…

BOOM!

For a moment everything turned into a blur. There was nothing but dust and dirt, and… sky? Was she outside now? No, she was still in the hallway. Or rather what was left of it anyway. "Are you alright?" Hekapoo looked down and saw Corona standing in front of her. The girl had a barrier up around them.

"What the hell did you do now…?" Looking over her shoulder, she spotted Morel, who had a scowl on his face. "What is that thing? How did it get in the castle?"

Hekapoo quickly stood up and pulled out her scissors. "It's a golem. I don't know how it got here, but we need to destroy it. Right now. It's a dangerous superweapon that could level this whole castle if we don't," she said.

Corona frowned. "Just wait a moment. It seems like it's intelligent, maybe it's just confused or panicked," she said looking back up towards F5. "Can you understand me?"

F5 stared down at her blankly. "Identification, unknown. Threat level… High." It then looked towards Morel. "Identification, unknown. Threat level… massive. Not listed as hostile." It held it's hand up and took aim towards them. "Sole target is Hekapoo. Formal request for others to stand aside."

"I'm down with that…" Morel said.

Hekapoo glared, while Corona stepped forward. "Would you mind telling us why you're trying to destroy Hekapoo?" she asked. "Why is she a target?"

"All members of Magical High Commissions are listed as primary targets…"

"By who?!" Hekapoo asked.

It couldn't possibly still be going off of it's orders from all those years ago.

"Target has been confirmed by Rosetta Butterfly."

Everyone suddenly paused, and there was a long moment of silence. Corona and Morel both turned towards Hekapoo, who looked stunned. She then glared. "That bitch!" Just how many gifts from beyond the grave had she left for them?

F5 began gathering wind again, and Morel sighed. "Don't think we're talking this one down Corona," he said glaring. He flew forward, pulling a few throwing knives from his sleeves. They floated around him, and with a swing of his arms spun around and slashed the Golem across it's chest. It didn't even leave a scratch. "Well, you're a sturdy one…"

He was just going to have to do this the hard way then. He raised his hand, ready to drain every last bit of power from the behemoth. But when he did, something felt… wrong. "It isn't working…" he muttered. "I can't drain his strength, what is this guy?" he called back towards Hekapoo.

While he was turned around, F5 prepared to fire. "Morel!" Corona shouted. "Keep the damage from the rest of the castle!" She began forming a shield, and swung her arms to move it towards his left. It crashed into them, causing him to stumble a bit. Without missing a beat, Morel flew forward and kicked it's arm with all his might.

He winced at just how sturdy the creature was, but still managed to knock it's arms upwards before the blast fired off. Morel was blown back, and even Corona and Hekapoo struggled to stay on their feet. "Shit! That thing is packing way too much fire power…" Morel muttered.

"Morel!"

The Incubus whipped his head back towards F5, who was getting ready to fire another blast. This time from a hole that opened up on its face. Morel barely had time to react as it fired. Instead of a blast of wind however, it sent a blast of pure magic. It nicked Morel's side, and he winced in pain. "Corona! The blast!"

"I have it!" Corona said, making another barrier. She stopped the blast, deflecting it up into the air so it wouldn't hit any building or people nearby. She looked like she had struggled to do so though, and Hekapoo couldn't blame her. With how powerful those attacks were, she had to be pouring a lot of magic into them. Especially that first one.

Morel growled and looked back towards Corona and Hekapoo. This thing really was tough. So tough he wasn't sure he could beat it without transforming. But he sure as hell wasn't going to do that with Hekapoo here. He had to think of something.

They saw it gathering more wind, and Morel braced himself. Maybe if he attacked right when it fired then he could reflect some of the damage back at it. Instead of a blast however, it fire a burst of wind from it's back, shooting itself forward and kicking Morel, who had been totally caught off guard.

"Morel!"

He went flying back and crashed into the ground behind them. He groaned and slowly sat up, only to see F5 getting ready to fire again. "You've gotta be freaking kidding me…" He rushed forward, but instead of heading towards F5, he went towards Hekapoo.

"What are you doing?!" Hekapoo asked as he grabbed her and flew upwards.

"Trying to keep that thing from doing anymore damage! Now shut up and let me concentrate here! My head's spinning!"

F5 raised its arm, taking aim at the two. It fired again, but this time the blast didn't seem quite as powerful. For a moment Corona thought it might have been weakening, but then it began firing more blasts. "Oh no! Keep moving Morel!" Corona shouted.

He zipped about in the air, dodging as many as he could. One of them managed to get close enough to wing him, and the force sent him spinning towards the ground. "Damn it, I shouldn't have to be putting so much effort in stuff today…" he complained.

"Pull up! We're gonna crash!" Hekapoo shouted. "Pull up!"

"Shut your trap already…" Morel said. "We're fine."

She was about to ask just what he was talking about, when suddenly something caught them and pulled them safely to the ground. Oswald pulled his tongue back and then looked towards the golem. "So… anyone wants to fill me in on what's going on?"

"Some giant mysterious enemy popped up in the castle and started wrecking shit. So you know, pretty much business as usual around here," Morel said. "Please tell me you brought somebody else with you?"

"I did actually. Met up with him on the way here."

As if on cue, another rather large figure made its way from behind the shattered wall nearby. Puff let out a yell as he brought his fist back and punched F5. The bulky behemoth was sent stumbling back, and Puff pressed on, delivering blow after blow and sending it crashing into the opposite wall.

Morel smirked. "Pretty good back up…"

"Yeah, I know right," Oswald said.

Puff growled as he looked down at F5, who was now laying back in the ruble. "Identification, unknown. Threat level, high. Extremely hostile…" It's eyes lit up again, and suddenly a beam fired from it's face again.

It stuck Puff in the shoulder, and the goliath roared in pain as he fell to his knee and clinched the injury. "Puff!" F5 raised it's arm and got ready to fire at Puff, and the goliath glared back and grabbed his axe, ready to swing back at him.

Just as F5 was about to blast through Puff, and Puff was going to cleave the golem in two, a figure leapt in between the two of them. "Backflow!"

F5's attack was sent bouncing right back at it, sending it crashing to the ground once more. While Puff's axe was stopped dead in its tracks.

Astro stood in his monster form, a furious look on his face. "I was gone for four fucking minutes to get a snack!" he shouted angrily. "What the hell happened?!" He glared over towards Corona and… Hekapoo! "You?! What did you do?!"

"You can fuss at me later, right now you have to-!"

"Identification, Astro Butterfly." They looked back and saw F5 was already back on his feet, towering over the young prince. Astro reached for his sword. As curious as he was about this thing, he couldn't let it go rampaging about like it was. "Primary objective identified. Primary directive initiated."

Rather than another attack as they had expected, F5 five suddenly crouched down before him. "What the hell?" Morel said, raising an eyebrow.

Astro looked confused. "What… what are you doing?"

"Primary directive has been initiated. Asterossa Butterfly is to be protected."

Astro's eyes widened. "Protect me? I… I don't know what you're talking about. Listen, you just woke up. You must be confused about something," he said.

"Negative. Primary objective given by Rosetta Butterfly was to protect Asterossa, as was given thirteen years ago."

Everyone looked towards F5 surprised. Rosetta had given those instructions? "My mother…? Wait, if those were her orders then why did you wait until now to wake up? Why did you start attacking everyone?" he asked. He had been trying to wake him up for weeks now.

"Orders were to remain deactivated until the primary threat was detected. Primary threat known as Hekapoo attempted to breach the barrier," F5 explained.

Astro turned and sent a death glare towards Hekapoo, who flinched. Corona and Oswald both shook their heads, Puff grunted angrily, and Morel narrowed his eyes. "I had my whole day interrupted because you were being nosy as shit…" Morel said.

"Primary threat known as Hekapoo is still present. Will proceed with extermination."

It raised its hand and began charging another blast. Hekapoo stepped back. "Asterossa, would you mind telling you new toy to knock it off…" she said wearily.

"Why should I?" he asked, a cold expression on his face. "I told you all to stay out of my mother's study, and now I know you didn't listen. I'm tempted to have this thing slaughter a lot of you."

"Asterossa!"

F5 kept on charging, and Corona and Oswald looked concerned. Morel quickly zipped over and grabbed Corona, pulling her away from Hekapoo, while Puff just crossed his arms and watched. He really couldn't care one way or another if Astro finished her off or not. Made no difference to him.

Just as it looked like it was going to fire again, Astro held his hand up. "Stop." Just like that, F5 halted his attack. Hekapoo let out a sigh of relief. "For Amber, and only for Amber," he said before turning around. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. I have a few questions for this thing. Would you mind explaining everything to my mother and the others?" he asked.

Oswald nodded. "We'll fill them in."

"I also have a few questions for you all too Hekapoo. I will be calling a meeting with the Commission later, and I expect answers," he said dangerously. "F5, come with me."

The golem stood up and began following after the prince. Hekapoo scowled. Great, they'd have to find some way to deal with him again. And it wouldn't be as easy as dodging a few questions this time.

Morel hummed as he watched the leave, and then turned towards… well, one of the only parts of the hallway left. The entrance to Rosetta's office. "There's not even a scratch on it…" he muttered. What the hell kind of magic was protecting that place.

"F5 is active?!"

Hekapoo stood before Omni and Rhombulus, both of whom were clearly unhappy with the news they'd just heard. "You've dang it! I knew Rosetta was hiding some super dangerous stuff in there! We should have crystallized her back when we had the chance!" Rhombulus shouted.

Omni sighed. "This is most disturbing. As if Asterossa wasn't dangerous enough before, now he has that monstrosity at his beck and call. He's becoming far too big of a threat for us to simply ignore…" He said before looking back at Hekapoo. "And for you to have let him loose. Honestly, what were you thinking."

"Excuse me?! This only happened because you both wanted to get into her study so badly! I warned you that she would have something up her sleeve! She always does!"

"She doesn't have anything! She's dead!" Rhombulus shouted.

"She planned this! I heard it myself! She ordered that thing to react to us because she knew we'd try to get in there! And she assigned it to take orders from Astro! This is way too big of a coincidence for it to be a coincidence!" she said. "We have to plan things out more carefully. There's no way this is the only failsafe she had for us."

Omni hummed. "You… you may be right. As much as I hate to admit it, Rosetta is someone we could never have hoped to predict. We must tread carefully from here on," he said. "We'll forget about her study for now. Let's just focus on monitoring Asterossa and F5."

"I think we should just-"

"We can't crystallize them Rhombulus! Even if we wanted to, you know how difficult sealing a Titan is," Hekapoo said irritated. Both Omni and Rhombulus looked down at the ground. "It's just… it's not an option."

Unbeknownst to the group, another figure was hanging outside the window listening to every word. Sirius hummed as he stood on the side of the castle, rubbing his chin. "So, F5 is awake now," he said. He would have to talk to him later. But he was sure that he wouldn't tell Astro anything he didn't need to know. Rosetta was very specific with his instructions. "It's almost time then."

He would have to keep a much closer eye on Asterossa and the Commission. He had to keep things on track after all. It's what Rosetta trusted him with, after all.

A/N: Rosetta strikes from beyond the grave! You didn't think she was gonna leave her baby boy behind without tons of protection did you? Her influence in the story is going to be a lot deeper than you guys know. And F5 is pretty robotic, but we'll get to see he isn't just some machine following orders later. What Sirius is up to will be revealed in the Titanic Ten arc.

These are the type of one-shots I want to do in between the arcs. Stuff to really help set up the feel of the Titanic Ten arc! Hope you guys enjoyed!