"Cain!" Hajime shouted.

Cain's sapphire eyes shot open. Slowly he gathered himself and shook his head. He never felt this lethargic and confused, not even when he was first awakened.

"Are you okay?" Hajime asked.

"Nothing to worry about," he lied and hid his panting.

"Since when do you pass out?" Natsumi asked.

"I must have been tired and not realized it," Cain said. "We should keep moving."

"Good idea," Hajime said.

"But what if Cain faints again?" Makoto asked.

"It won't happen again," Cain said confidently.

"See, now let's get moving," Hajime said. "If we don't hurry that damn beast king could escape with Kana."

The group began to walk ahead again, Cain walked by Hajime's side as usual, but things were different. His mind was split between two identities, both equally real to him. First was Cain the slayer of despair, a remarkably strong and loyal fox spirit. Second was Kyousuke Munakata, the proud vice chairmen of an organization bent on wiping out despair, only for an impossible incident to throw them into complete disarray. The second identity was far more broken and lonesome, losing his companions and sanity to the hands of an apathetic God. A God that somehow lived inside Kana. Just thinking of her made his head ache. The paradoxes were tearing him apart. In this state he would be useless in a fight, so he had to choose one identity or another.

He didn't have time to dwell on it before the group came upon an indoor courtyard under a glass ceiling. There, instead of flowers, a variety of fruits and vegetables grew in potted rows. Water canals separated the garden into four quadrants with a lone apple tree growing on an island in the center. In its shade, the magnolia eyes of Abel glowed. Sounds of flowing water echoed until the black spirit fox stepped out of the shade, fur raised and fangs bared.

"End of the line," Abel growled.

"Great, this bitch again," Natsumi growled already summoning her shadow claws.

"This time you're not getting away," Hajime pointed his spear at him.

"So Munakata, you finally remember who you really are?" Abel asked, brushing off Natsumi and Hajime's threats.

"You mean the vivid lies you casted on me?" Cain growled. "I don't need to remember what isn't real."

"Tch, still as stubborn as ever," Abel said.

"Cut the flirting crap and let's just get to it!" Natsumi yelled before lunging at Abel. "Like this!"

Abel swiftly moved to the side, summoning a tail fist encased in ice, which he used to punch Natsumi into the wall.

"Fuck," Natsumi growled, her nose bleeding from impact.

"Natsumi, look out!" Makoto shouted.

Just as Natsumi stood up and wiped the blood from her nose, Abel swung his ice tail fist at her. Cain leapt forward, summoning his own tail fist to catch and hold Abel's. The cold of the ice slowly stabbed and numbed his tail. He recalled his power of fire and focused it onto his tail fist. Fire grew out from his tail fist, melting but not completely removing the ice from Abel's tail fist. Abel snarled, indicating he was going to summon another ice covered fist. Once he did, Cain was able to catch it with his second tail fist engulfed in flames. Both of them struggled to push and pull the other down, but their strength was equally matched. This was no time for a stalemate, so before Hajime and Natsumi could run in, Cain raised his head and shouted.

"Hajime, Natsumi, go on ahead!" Cain shouted. "I'll take care of this foul beast."

"Hell no," Natsumi snapped. "What is your brain made of shit?"

"Hajime, you said it yourself, time is of the essence," Cain said.

"No, we can't leave you behind with him!" Hajime shouted.

"I can take care of him," Cain growled. "I only failed last time because this scoundrel attacked you."

"But-," Hajime said.

"Do this for Kana!" Cain shouted. "She needs you more than anyone else is this world."

Hajime bit his tongue but nodded, taking Makoto's skeletal hand, and running to the exit on the other side.

"You too hussy," Cain said to Natsumi. "Keep him safe."

"Fine, you bleached asshole," Natsumi said before running off to join the others. "Don't die!"

"Same to all of you," Cain grinned.

"No!" Abel snarled, shooting a blast of ice breath from his mouth at Natsumi.

Cain intercepted the ice breath with his own fire breath redirecting it away from Natsumi. Natsumi continued on ahead with Makoto, yet Hajime remained in the doorway. Cain shot him a reassuring glance, prompting him to understand and go on ahead.

"You used to give me that same look," Abel said. "Even after everything you did you stared at me hoping somehow I could read your distorted mind."

"Shut up," Cain growled with annoyance more than rage. "Those memories you infected me with are just illusions."

"It's the truth," Abel growled. "You were the first to separate Kana from her father."

"I will say for an illusion it was quite elaborate," Cain grinned. "If it didn't come from the beast king's pet then maybe I would have believed in it slightly."

"You…," Abel snarled before shooting a breath of ice at Cain, just as the latter planned.

Cain shot a burst of fire at Abel's breath, creating a cloud of mist and sending a few stray sparks directly into his enemy's face. Abel snarled as he shortly lost his concentration and wiped the sparks from his face. Within that short timeframe, Cain released Abel's ice covered fists before slamming his two inflamed ones onto the surrounding crops. Instantly the plants caught fire, producing a thick smoke. Abel recovered and swung his tail fists at Cain only for the white fox to sprout wings that launched him out of danger. With his wings, Cain fanned the flames, spreading the sparks to all the surrounding vegetation and increasing the smoke.

"You sly bastard," Abel growled and tried to swing his tail fists at Cain.

Cain dodged both causing them to hit the tile and crack from the impact and rising room temperature. By then the indoor courtyard was filled with a large and dense cloud of smoke. Through the flames and smoke, Cain hid himself and fired several small tail lances in Abel's direction. Abel's ears perked and turned to the source of the sound and used it to dodge the projectiles. In retaliation, the black fox fired his own tail lances in the direction of where the previous came from. Cain kept moving, barely dodging a few of Abel's lances, but staying as silent as possible. The heat, fire, and smoke continued to rise, yet neither foxes suffocated. Instead they kept up their futile attacks.

"You always were a stealthy attacker," Abel growled. "Even that night you were silent, only Kana's screams gave you away. Do you remember that?!"

Cain held his tongue, refusing to fall for Abel's trick. He kept moving in the fire and smoke, firing tail lances in the direction of Abel's voice. Abel yowled, a clear sign he was hit, but then several ice spears shot out from the canals and right through the glass ceiling. In a desperate attempt to find cover from the oncoming shower of glowing, Cain ran towards the apple tree, now burned barren with only a few scorched apples left on its branches. The shriveled branches barely protected him and several shards of glass scratched and pierced his skin. One last big shard scratched down his right eye.

After the last of the glass fell, the smoke rose and decreased in density, making the room more visible. Through the flames and his one remaining eye, Cain saw Abel summon his wings before breathing out what looked like snow. With his wings, Abel spread the cold snow around the courtyard, smothering the flames. The black fox scanned the courtyard till he saw the wounded Cain standing firmly under the dead apple tree.

"Found you!" Abel growled, eyes narrowed.

From the moment he came to the beast king's castle, Makoto could somehow feel Kana's presence here. He didn't really understand why especially because he never met her, but the presence just felt like her. In case he was wrong, he kept this feeling a secret from Hajime as they continued through the castle. Eventually after climbing up more stairs they entered a grand library with several large open windows. In the center, sitting in two red quilted chairs, were Chihiro and Usami.

"So Abel couldn't stop you," Chihiro said. "That's unfortunate."

"I don't have time for this," Hajime growled, "Chihiro, Usami, why are you working with the beast king?"

"We were built to serve the true humans," Chihiro said.

"What are you talking about?" Hajime asked.

"If only Cain and Abel were here to explain," Chihiro sighed. "It all happened 1,300 years ago."

"Humanity was on the verge of extinction," Usami said. "In order to save themselves they had to abandon their physical bodies for some time."

"We didn't come her for a fucking bullshit history lesson!" Natsumi shouted, summoning her shadow claws.

"Then we'll cut to the main point," Chihiro said before looking Hajime directly in the eye. "None of us are true humans."

"My brother and I were built by the true humans, but you Hajime are just a shell," Usami said.

"No!" Makoto protested. "Hajime is a human! He bleeds and feels just like one!"

"That was just a mistake on our part," Chihiro said.

"Say your story is true, where are these true humans?" Hajime asked. "Why don't they come out and face us themselves if they want to stop us."

"They have," Chihiro said. "Countless have tried to stop you. Men, women, even children have fought you only to die a gruesome death."

"But… the only thing Hajime fights is…," Makoto's teeth chattered.

"Shades," Usami said. "They are the souls of humans released from their shells."

"No, you're lying," Hajime growled. "You're trying to confuse us to stall for the beast king!"

"If you doubt us, why don't you ask your companion who is already possessed by a shade," Usami said.

Natsumi's eyes widened before she gritted her teeth.

"You two are full of shit you know that," Natsumi growled. "Like hell the shades are humans. They're nothing but feral bloodthirsty beasts!"

"We are honest, you are not," Usami said before picking up a crescent hooked staff from the side of her chair. "But now the pleasantries are over."

"I'm sorry Hajime, but it is time the shell is returned to its rightful owner." Chihiro said, also taking a crescent hooked staff from the side of his chair.

"Makoto, stand back," Natsumi said. "I got this."

"Natsumi…," Makoto fearfully did as told. "Be careful."

The twins raised their staffs just as Hajime and Natsumi raised their respective weapons. In the blink of an eye Natsumi lunged at Chihiro. He blocked her claws with his staff, trying to throw her off. At the same time Usami ran at Hajime, he tried swinging his spear at her only for her to dodge and use the hook of her staff to pull him off his feet by the ankle.

"Hajime!" Makoto shouted, unsure what to do.

Natsumi took notice and switched targets. Before Usami could stab Hajime, Natsumi tackled her to the ground, making her drop the staff. Hajime took the staff and tossed it out the nearby window. Chihiro ran to his sister's aid, yelling as he tried to cut Natsumi. However Natsumi's shadow legs allowed her to swifty escape his attack. A few inches closer and he would have stabbed Usami. Instead his sickle was stuck in the floor. Desperately he tried to get it out with Usami's help, but that made him vulnerable to Natsumi's attack. With one precise swing, Natsumi punctured her shadow claws through Chihiro's spine and chest. Yet no blood came out, not even a heart. Instead it was just metal and wires.

"Brother!" Usami screamed.

"A machine," Hajime said.

"In that case," Natsumi said, before stabbing her extra set of shadow claws clean through Chihiro's steelhead.

"Noooo!" Usami wailed, completely helpless on the floor below her mortally wounded brother.

Swiftly Natsumi retracted her claws allowing the broken automata to fall directly on his sister who cradled him in her arms. His face was just a hole now with colored wires coming out of it.

"Chihiro…" Usami said, lowering her head to Chihiro's, confirming he was gone.

"Usami…" Hajime spoke. "Let's stop fighting."

"Stop? You want me to stop?!" Usami jerked head up and growled. "You think I have the luxury to stop? You cut down my brother like an animal and you tell me to STOP?!

"Usami you ca-," Makoto tried to speak.

"No one STOPS!" Usami shouted. "It's way too late to STOP! Activate order 444!"

"Wait!" Hajime shouted.

Suddenly there was a loud beeping sound. Makoto looked around the library but the only source was Usami.

"What's that sound?" Makoto asked fearfully.

"It's a bomb," Usami snickered. ""In less than three minutes this whole building will be turned to rubble along with everybody inside."

"Bitch, you're gonna kill Kana!" Natsumi yelled after grabbing Usami by the collar. "Are you insane?!"

"Kill me if you want but that'll just make the bomb go off," Usami said. "My brother was my only solace in this hell and now that you killed him I have nothing left to lose."

"So you're going to kill an innocent girl, just to get back at us?!" Hajime shouted only for Usami to laugh.

"None of us are innocent," Usami grinned. "We all have blood on our hands and soon your blood will be everywhere!"

"Bitch!" Natsumi growled.

There was no way to outrun it.

No place to hide from it.

Soon the bomb would go off and they would all die.

Those thoughts repeated in Makoto's head over and over. He wanted to scream and cry, but what good would that do. Then it came to him, almost as if Komaru said it to him. It was the only way to save Hajime, Natsumi, Cain, and Kana.

"Hajime, Natsumi," Makoto spoke up, getting their attention.

"Thank you both for being my friends," Makoto said. "I love you both."

"What are-?" Natsumi asked.

Before she could finish her sentence, Makoto took hold of Usami and jumped out the window. As he descended and tried to get as far away from the building as possible, he could hear Natsumi and Hajime screaming for him. Usami squirmed in his grasp but he was determined to hold on. He hadn't noticed it before, but outside the beast king's castle, there were lots of other old world buildings. Maybe what Chihiro and Usami said was true, but even if they accidentally killed men, women, and children, Makoto was resolved to love his friends no matter what. Afterall, they still loved and cared for him even when he turned into this grotesque monster or wiped out everyone in the Aerie. Thinking of that, he thought it only right to leave his friends with one farewell gift. He recalled the song Komaru sang to him all those years ago and began to sing as loud as he could for his friends above to hear. A barrier of grey light surrounded him and Usami, who became silent. Both were resigned to their fates.

As he sang, Makoto wondered how his friends would be without him. Natsumi and Cain did butt heads a lot and sometimes Hajime was a bit too excited to kill shades or humans as they might have been. But he had faith they would survive as long as none of them were alone.

Before he could finish his song, the bomb went off.

Time passed as they continued to fight. The garden the two foxes used as their battlefield was now only a mess of fire and ice. Every plant, even the tree was turned to complete ash while spiked ice covered the walls. At the heart of this mess, both foxes panted out of breath from using their respective element. Their paws were bleeding from all the glass stuck in them and both had bit and scratched the other many times leading them both painted crimson with blood. During their fight, Cain managed to tear off Abel's left ear, yet in return Abel ripped out Cain's right eye. Even with his one eye, Cain stared daggers of hate into his foe. That's what he was. He wasn't an ally from the past, he was a violent trickster that would stop at nothing to destroy him and his friends.

"It… seems," Abel panted and wiped the saliva from his mouth, "we're evenly matched."

"Then let us end this once and for all," Cain growled. "I'll burn you in an endless inferno before you can freeze me in an infinite blizzard."

"Fine," Abel growled.

The two foxes positioned themselves to face one another. These next few seconds would be vital to his victory. He focused all his burning hate towards Abel and manifested the flames in his mouth. In turn Abel manifested a cold mist in his mouth.

One second. Cain took aim.

Two seconds. Cain lunged forward.

Three-

Suddenly a loud sound pierced the sky and echoed on the wind. He recognized this sound. Against his will, his head moved away from his enemy and in the direction of the sound.

"Makoto?!" Cain shouted, completely letting his concentration fall apart just to confirm the dear boy was not in danger.

A fatal mistake.

Abel unleashed a long path of spiked ice. With a millisecond of reaction time left, Cain tried to summon his fire breath. It was far too late. One icicle pierces his left hind leg, but the rest struck deep into his chest, neck, and face. Instantly he dropped to the ground, splattering the floor with his blood. The icicles stabbed in him swiftly made him shiver from the intense cold. Only their numbing coldness kept him from screaming. Instead Abel screamed

"No!" Abel screamed, paralyzed.

"What?" Cain breathed out. "Is this… not how you wanted… to best me?"

Abel gritted his fangs. His magnolia eyes were actually becoming diluted

"Why… are you... crying…?" Cain asked faintly.

"Because… this never should have happened," Abel growled it. "Damn it!"

"A shame… my death… won't be as satisfying… as you hoped," Cain faintly chuckled on to cough up some blood.

"I didn't want you dead!" Abel snapped. "I wanted you to face all those fucking things you did and fucking make up for it!"

"The illusion… was small… so I don't know all the things… you're referring to," Cain struggled to speak, his voice becoming rasper.

"Figures," Abel sighed as he came closer. "Just… hold on… you're a stubborn bastard, so you can get through this."

"I highly doubt that… in this condition," Cain breathed.

"Damn it, just stay with me!" Abel yelled. "Don't you want to see your friends again?!"

"They'll be fine… without a stubborn old fox... like me," Cain grinned with bloodstained fangs. "Yes… I have no doubt… they will succeed."

The numbing cold overwhelmed his body till finally he could no longer keep his remaining eye open. Although he knew he was going to die, he wasn't scared, not in the slightest. Sure he'd miss seeing Hajime, Natsumi, and Makoto, but he was content with the time he spent with them. All he could desire now was for Hajime to reunite with his precious daughter after these long lonesome years. Perhaps, if the illusion was real, this was how he could atone for whatever sins he committed in the past. Whatever fate awaited him beyond this life, he could accept.

"Good… luck… Hajime…," Cain managed to say with his final breathe.

Hajime and Natsumi stared out the library window completely silent. They heard the song Makoto sung and the explosion that followed it. Now they could see a cloud of black smoke rise up. He wanted to look over the windowsill, but he knew it was pointless.

Makoto was gone.

Realizing that, Hajime fell to his knees. Natsumi understood the fact as well as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. But then he felt another pain strike him. It was so strong it made him fall over from the sheer pain. The only way he could describe it was like a large portion of his essence just evaporated leaving him hollow and cold. It couldn't be from Makoto, no it was from someone else. The one that had been bound to his body for five years.

Cain was gone.

"No," Hajime gritted his teeth, tears forming in his eyes.

"Fuck!" Natsumi yelled.

"Makoto, Cain," Hajime said. "They're both… dead."

Natsumi growled as she stomped over to him. Rather than consul him with words, she proceeded to kick him.

"Gah," Hajime groaned. "Nats-"

Natsumi grabbed him by the throat and pinned him into the nearest wall. He could see her green eyes filled with rage, but something else. Regardless she kept kicking him. At one point she stopped. For a brief moment she stared directly into his eyes, their faces mere inches away from each other. It looked like her anger had cooled, but then she slapped him in the face. Fortunately that was the end of her violent rage. No doubt they would leave bigger bruises than the shades ever could.

"We're rescuing Kana no matter what," Natsumi growled. "So stop fucking crying like a girl and let's save her together."

"But Ma-," Hajime tried to speak.

"They knew death was a possibility and agreed to fight anyways, so don't pussy out of the cause they died to help you in," Natsumi growled before looking back at him with a razor sharpness in her eye. "Got it?!"

"Y… yes," Hajime said before regaining his composure. "We're going to kill the beast king and save Kana."

"No matter what!" Natsumi grinned.

Past the library, the remaining two warriors climbed several flights of spiraling staircases. At long last they reached the highest floor, where a pair of doors with two large dragons carved into it stood. Together Hajime and Natsumi pushed it open. It felt tough to open like there was some sort of web holding it shut on the other side. Regardless, they pushed and managed to open it. Awaiting them on the other side was a grand chapel cleared of pews and overgrown from floor to ceiling in pure white lunar tears. Their floral scent overwhelmed both of them. Sunlight leaked down from the holes in the ceiling causing each flower to glow. However lovely they were, they meant nothing to Hajime, who was more fixated on what laid on the other side of the room. There under three large colored glass panes depicting a black dragon, a white dragon, and a gray dragon in the center, a canopy bed overgrown with lunar tears stood in place of an altar. Inside, sleeping soundly under a blanket of lunar tears, was Kana. Even from a distance he could tell it was his daughter.

"Kana!" Hajime shouted as he ran towards her.

He only managed to make it halfway across the room until a familiar pool of shadows formed in the center. From it arose the beast king, his shadow body and hair completely unchanged from the last time they met.

"You!" Hajime growled as he looked into the beast king's piercing crimson eyes.

"It's time to die asshole," Natsumi summoned her shadow claws.

"Took the word right out of my mouth," Hajime grinned before shooting forward with his spear.

The beast king moved to the side only for Natsumi to try and swipe at him. Again the beast king dodged, but Hajime was close enough to slash his back. In response, the beast king summoned his cloak like wings and flew high above them. From there the beast king showered them in sharp shadow feathers. Hajime spun his spear around as a shield and Natsumi swatted most of them away, yet a few feathers managed to pierce their skin.

"Bitch I am going to rip off your wings like paper and make shower them over you lifeless body!" Natsumi yelled before proceeding to climb up the nearest wall covered in lunar tears.

As Natsumi climbed up the wall, the beast king attempted to dive bomb Hajime and kick him. Hajime used his spear to guard against the attack and try to stab him in the chest. The beast king caught the spear, but just as he was about to try and pull in out from Hajime's grasp, Natsumi launched herself off the wall and pounced on him. With one arm she locked the beast kind into a choke hold and with the other she tore and clawed his right wing to shreds. Blood splattered out of the wing and stained some of the wilting lunar tears red. The beast king tried jerking his head back and forth and flying lopsided around as frantic as a bat to knock Natsumi off, but she refused to let go, even wrapping her shadow tail around his leg as an extra precaution. Hajime watched helplessly from the ground unsure what to do. Just as Natsumi proceeded to claw the other wing to shreds, the beast king flew her into a wall over and over till she had no choice but to let go. The impacted lunar tear petals flew off along with her, but she managed to land on all fours. Without any of them realizing it, all the lunar tears were turning brown and starting to shed their petals. Yet the three continued to fight Hajime swinging his spear, Natsumi trying to stab with her claws, and their one winged enemy continuing to dodge almost all their attacks.

"FUCKING FIGHT US!" Natsumi yelled. "Stop fucking dodging like a pussy ass bitch!"

Why was the beast king dodging them so much? Was that all the leader of the shades could actually do? Or was he hiding a last resort? Whatever the beast king did, Hajime was determined to kill him and take back Kana. So the fight went on and on. The only blood spilled was from the beast king's torn wing. As their battle raged on, every lunar tear blossom shriveled up and died till only the crumpled brown petals remained scattered about the chapel. Along with the lunar tear blossoms, their scent also faded out. But it did not matter to any of them. The only thing on Hajime's mind was killing the beast king.

"S… Stop!" A soft voice shouted.

Everyone, even the beast king froze to see the owner of the voice. Near the canopy bed, Kana stood trembling and holding her hands over her chest. She was taller now with much longer hair and dressed in a white gown, but she was unmistakably his daughter.

"Kana…," Hajime breathed.

"Pa… pa…," Kana tried to speak, tears forming in her eyes as she stumbled towards him.

Hajime held out a hand to her. As soon as she was close enough he would embrace her and never let her go. But she didn't get close enough. She walked right past him and towards… the beast king.

"Papa?" Kana asked the beast king.

The beast king looked straight at her.

"It's you…," Kana said, inching closer to him. "It's really you."

Hajime and Natsumi stood stiff as statues as they watched Kana tearfully embrace the monster who kidnapped her.

"This whole time…," Kana cried. "I thought you were dead!"

The beast king wrapped his shadowed hands around the girl, making Hajime blood turn hot and cold.

"I'm so sorry," Kana cried even more, nestling her head in the beast king's chest just like she would with Hajime. "I didn't know. I didn't…"

Kana's words were cut short as her body went limp and she lost consciousness. The beast king raised his wings and tried to fly off with Kana only for Natsumi to tackle him and grab her from his clutches. Kana safe in her shadow claws, Natsumi ran over to the canopy bed to lay her down.

"Natsumi, watch over Kana for me!" Hajime shouted as he raised his spear. "It's time I end this once and for all."

"Right!" Natsumi nodded.

Slowly the beast king lifted himself off the ground, his piercing crimson eyes now starting to reflect a flame of rage as black shadows and red electricity formed around him. Hajime charged at him with all his might only for the beast king to catch the spear in his hands. Except they weren't hands anymore. They looked like the talons of a bird. In fact many shadow feathers were beginning to sprout around the beast king's body, repairing and enlarging his wings. Once transformed, the beast king let out a distorted shriek. Of course, after all he was a beast just like all the other monstrous shades.

Hajime withdrew his spear and waited for the beast king to make a move. With his mighty wings, the beast king flew to the center of the room. There he summoned lines of shadow fire which he proceeded to throw at Hajime. Using his spear and his reflexes, Hajime batted away and dodged the fiery projectiles. Despite them landing on the lunar tear vines, the shadow flames did not spread. The beast king shot several inflamed feathers at Hajime, all of which he batted away and dodged.

"Pathetic!" Hajime snarled as he ran around the beast king. "You really want me to accept that you were a human and Kana's father?"

The beast king made a distorted roar, sending inflamed feathers everywhere.

"You're neither of those things!" Hajime yelled. "You and your disgusting kind killed thousands of innocents including my friends! That makes you a monster!"

The beast king flapped his wings furiously to try to knock Hajime off his feet, but he managed to stab his spear in the lunar tear roots just in time.

"But most importantly, you wanted to deceive and harm my daughter!" Hajime snarled and hurled his spear at the beast king's back. "For just that, I will gladly kill you over ten thousand times if I could, no questions asked!"

The spear directly pierced the beast king's back, causing him to produce another distorted roar that shook the chapel before he fell to the ground. Hajime approached, ripping out the spear and using it to slice off the beast king's wings. There was no scream this time. Now the beast king only stood on his hands and knees staring directly at the canopy bed where Kana laid. Seeing this Hajime scoffed and walked around the beast king just to get a look in those hideous crimson eyes once more and prevent them from gazing at his daughter. When he did, he raised his spear, but then realized why the beast king's face looked so familiar. It was a shadowed reflection of his own.

"No," Hajime shook his head and brought down his spear.

Blood shot out where the beast king's head was. The head itself rolled off before Hajime stabbed it for good measure. Unlike the other shades that simply faded away, the beast king's body exploded into clouds of smoke which slowly dispersed in the air.

Finally, the beast king was dead and Kana was saved.

Thinking of her, Hajime turned towards the canopy bed to see how she was doing. What he saw however sent a chill down his spine, freezing the euphoria he felt from killing the beast king. Natsumi has raised her shadow claws above Kana as if she was going to strike the defenseless girl.

"Natsumi?!" Hajime shouted, causing her to jump a bit. "What are you doing?!"

"Hajime…," Natsumi turned to him. "The shade inside me… it wants… to kill Kana."

After she said that, Natsumi forced herself away from the bed. The shadows from her claws grew and began to encase her body and extend into shadow appendages against her will.

"Natsumi!" Hajime ran to her side.

"Gahhhh," Natsumi screamed like she was being choked.

"Fight it!" Hajime said after placing a hand on Natsumi's shoulder.

"You… don't get it…," Natsumi huffed. "This thing… it's going to stop… at nothing… till Kana is... dead!"

"Why?!" Hajime asked.

The shadows kept growing, leaving only Natsumi's face.

"I don't…," Natsumi winced and closed her eyes. "Just… KILL ME!"

Natsumi yelled in complete agony as the shadows covered and morphed her face to that of a tiger. Then the rest of her scream became distorted as crimson stripes appeared all over her shadow body. She opened her eyes revealing they had turned into a piercing crimson.

"Natsumi?" Hajime asked, hoping somehow his partner was still in control enough to speak.

Instead he was met with a distorted snarl. He backed away, nearly getting clawed by the humanoid tigress shade. The beast looked at him then towards the fainted Kana. Hajime took his spear and blocked the beast's path to Kana.

"Natsumi!" Hajime shouted. "Snap out of it!"

This appeared to make the tigress shade grin as if she took delight in his confusion. Running on all fours, the tigress shade lunged at him trying to claw out his throat. Hajime blocked her claws with his spear and kicked her away to the center of the chapel. She easily landed on all fours and growled at him. When he ran towards her, the tigress shade leapt onto the wall. There she proceeded to launch herself off the wall and towards him. He blocked the attack with the handle of his spear, only for the cunning beast to launch off it towards another wall. From there the tigress shade tried the same attack again, to no effect. Bitter, the tigress shade whipped him with her long tail to get him to flinch, but he stayed firm and actually used one hand to grab it.

"Natsumi!" Hajime said as he yanked it. "You're stronger that this thing!"

The tigress shade only responded with another distorted snarl before trying to pull her tail from Hajime's grasp with a burst of speed. Hajime refused to let go, pulling the tail and thus the tigress shade forward until he could capture her in a tight embrace. Perhaps it would reawaken Natsumi. Instead it only angered the tigress shade more as she tried to scratch him with her back claws.

"Na…tsumi," Hajime gritted as he tried to contain the feral creature. "St… op!"

"K…," the tigress shade tried to speak, "ki..ll me…"

Upon hearing those words, Hajime unconsciously loosened his grip, allowing the tigress shade to escape. The tigress shade ran around him before lunging at Hajime's back. Swiftly Hajime stood up and blocked her claws yet again, making the beast growl. Upon jumping back, the beast paced side to side, calculating her next attack.

"Natsumi, I can't kill you," Hajime said. "Not when I've seen you overcome this shade before! You're stronger than it!"

Those words seemed to reach the tigress shade as it froze with widened eyes. Yet it only grinned and tried to attack again. Now the tigress shade ran circles around him. She moved so swiftly he could only see a blurred ring of black and crimson. Then she leapt out and scratched his left shoulder before returning to running in a circle. Again she leapt out this time scratching, his right ankle. Clearly she was trying to wear him down slowly but surely and there was nothing he could do but try to counter. An impossible task when he couldn't see or hear her. Several more times the tigress shade leapt out to scratch him then returned to running. Her claws scratched his arms, legs, and back. The last one even scratched under his right eye.

"Erg," Hajime gritted his teeth, trying to stay strong and predict the beast's next move.

Then he heard her.

"Hajime!" The tigress shade shouted in Natsumi's voice.

He turned his head and managed to block the tigress shade's claws with his spear. Yet she didn't run away, instead the beast was trembling as its claws dogged into the metal spear. Then the tigress shade's head began to jerk around under her crimson eyes faded away back into olive green.

"Natsumi," Hajime breathed.

"Ca… can't fight… it," Natsumi pushed to speak through her distorted face. "Please… KILL ME!"

Natsumi's screams echoed through the chapel and vibrated off his bones. She had never acted this way before, like she couldn't do anything. Like she was completely helpless. But that's what she was now, he realized as the crimson started to spread over her olive green eyes. The beast would take full control again and continue to attack till he and Kana were dead. So, he realized, Natsumi was using what little ounce of strength she had left to hold the tigress shade in place just long enough for him to kill the beast. Hajime nodded solemnly before pulling back his spear and stabbing it directly through her chest. The tigress shade let out a distorted roar, making Hajime twist the spear.

"I'm sorry… Natsumi," Hajime said before ripping out the spear.

The tigress shade dropped to her side, a pool of blood quickly growing around her and being absorbed by the lunar tear vines. Hajime stood over her with a cold look until the shadows began to fade away, revealing Natsumi underneath. She was smiling. Yet, before he could hold her one last time, her skin turned completely white, beyond any normal hue of skin. Then her body crumbled apart, like sand, until the only thing left of her was her clothes and white dust.

Hajime dropped to his knees, speechless.

Now the last of his closest friends was dead. Killed by his own spear. Knowing this, he couldn't help but scream and cry. He cried so much, his whole face went red. In his anger and sadness he tore up the surrounding lunar tear vines, thinking of them as all the beast king, Chihiro, Usami, Abel, and all the wretched shades that brought nothing but despair and ruin.

"Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Hajime screamed as loud as he could.

Then he looked over to the canopy bed and remembered what this all was for. Or rather who. While he was screaming and crying, Kana, his precious daughter, was still alone and unconscious in her bed. That wasn't right. As her father, he had no right to break down when she needed him most. So, he stood up, wiped away his tears, and approached, careful to step over Natsumi's remains. Reaching the bed, he took a seat and held Kana, so the first thing she saw when she woke up was the compassionate face of her father.

Silently, time passed. He could not tell how much time exactly, but it was irrelevant anyway. All that mattered was Kana waking up. Just as he thought of her, Kana began to stir.

"Mh," Kana made a soft noise as she opened her eyes so bright and violet. "Pa… pa?"

"I'm here," Hajime said softly, holding back his joy to see her awake.

"Wh… where are we?" Kana asked as she looked around the room. "How… long was I asleep?"

"The beast king brought you here five years ago, but I defeated him," Hajime said. "Now no shade will ever harm you again."

"Oh…," Kana seemed confused but smiled. "That's good. Thank you papa."

Kana delicately wrapped her arms around her father and embraced him. In return he did the same. For a while they just stayed like this. Content to just be back with one another.

"We should get home before dark," Hajime said.

"Okay," Kana nodded.

"Want me to carry you?" Hajime asked.

"No, I can stand on my own," Kana said as she put her feet on the floor.

Despite how much she had grown in her sleep, Kana walked completely normal. As if she had always been this big. Regardless, Hajime still held her hand just in case she fell. Together they walked alongside the chapel, avoiding the center and what lay in it. Fortunately Kana didn't see it and instead gazed out the windows to the ancient city.

"I didn't really have plans for dinner, but when we get back I could try to make you something," Hajime said.

"Oh, okay," Kana said. "I'll make dinner instead. I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Hajime asked.

"Ye-," Kana froze.

"What's wrong?!" Hajime asked.

"I… I…," Kana tried to speak only to fall over.

Hajime caught her in his arms and held her close. She was still awake and breathing, but he could feel she was running a fever.

"Kana!" Hajime held her close. "Stay strong."

"Papa…," Kana cried. "I can't stop it… anymore."

"No, you can fight the illness!" Hajime said. "You're a fighter just like me!"

"No… I've tried... but…," Kana breathed heavily. "I have… to choose."

"Choose what?!" Hajime asked.

Before she could answer, bright grey lights formed around Kana, nearly blinding him. As his eyes adjusted he saw six dragon wings sprout out of Kana's back as well as six horns forming on her head. Kana's eyes were shut tight as she grew a grey dragon tail with white spear end. She looked like she was becoming the grey dragon depicted in the center glass pane in the chapel. Was this some sort of shade that possessed her?!

"Kana!" Hajime held on tight to her regardless of the changes, hoping somehow his embrace would stop the transformation.

"I'm sorry papa," Kana said as she lifted her head towards him, "but I need you to sleep now, while I fix this."

"Wh-," Hajime tried to ask until Kana opened her eyes.

They were no longer purple. Instead one was frigid blue and the other pale pink, yet both glowed with an otherworldly aura. It sent chills down his spine, yet despite his fear for Kana, his body was beginning to go numb. His consciousness was fading. No matter how much he tried to fight it and stay with Kana, sleep overwhelmed him until everything went black.