A week had passed since Clef's and Presea's visit and things had remained quite normal at Hotaru's and Alcyone's country house. With the supplies received from Mokona as well as Alcyone's newly made candies, their lives had become quite a bit sweeter. Their newly hired maids had gotten into the rhythm of things and learned to live together in the servants' quarters. Although there was the occasional argument, broken plate, duty shirk, or louder than necessary sleepover, the householders were pleased by their work.

Hotaru had still not received any news of his alarm system from Zazu or the twin blacksmiths, so he had continued his daily flights. To his surprise, Alcyone had taken a break from working in the alchemy tower, and had instead spent most of her days reading. There also hadn't been any new sightings or issues with the mysterious maid candidate who had called herself Starion, so Alcyone and Hotaru had stopped worrying about her.

Despite the usual peace and quiet, this didn't mean there were no restless nights for the two of them. Waking up in the morning with major bed hair, Hotaru and Alcyone had taken their time brushing each other down before starting their day. Their maids had prepared them breakfast, which pleasantly had no burnt edges this time around, and had been cooked evenly. Finished with eating, Hotaru was ready to start the day, and the special plans he had for it.

Getting up from the breakfast table on the main building's terrace, Hotaru leaned over to Alcyone and kissed her on the lips.

"I'll be taking a bit longer journey today, so I will be coming home late," Hotaru informed her, clasping up his reinforced shirt.

"Where are you going?" Alcyone asked curiously, before wiping some jam off of Hotaru's cheek.

Standing still for her, Hotaru eventually answered, "…I'll be making a round trip to see how Cephiro's oceans are doing. Making sure they are filling up without issue."

Due to plenty of past experience, Alcyone knew Hotaru was hiding something due to his tone of voice. However, she too had some plans for today, and having Hotaru out of the house was a great opportunity.

"Well, alright, but be sure to take care of yourself," Alcyone bid him farewell. "Don't do anything too risky."

"I make no promises," Hotaru smiled, before putting his gauntlets on.

Letting his Double Armor envelop him completely, Hotaru ascended high into the sky, before taking off at high speeds. Flying south in the direction of the four mountains near the mansion, Hotaru quickly flew past them to the sea. Enjoying the view, Hotaru deeply hoped that the villages would be alright today without his surveillance. So far, monsters had appeared around the villages he protected around once per week. With the previous one having happened only yesterday, Hotaru had figured today would be peaceful. As such he headed to a distant island off the shore nearest to his home, which with the shallow ocean levels, seemed more like a wide mountain.

Once on the island, he landed on a wide grassy field in the center of it. Although the island would make for a great vacation spot in the future with its lagoons, lake, and fruit trees, he wasn't here to relax.

Making sure he had enough space, Hotaru yelled, "Mazdakin!"

In a flash of lime-green light, a massive silver and gold robot with way too many lime-green orbs on it, appeared before him. Its golden, hexagonal armor and silver bladed wings shone brightly in the sunlight, making it slightly hard for Hotaru to look at it. Walking behind it, a lime-green beam of light shone from the hexagonal gem on its back, absorbing him into its hexagonal control prism. Once inside, Hotaru flew up higher using Mazdakin's boosters and emitters, and steadied his nerves for what was about to happen next.

"Titanium Power!"

With Mazdakin expanding to a size that dwarfed the island itself, Hotaru flew straight up using his magical flight. So as not to disturb the island below him or the atmosphere of the still recovering planet, he accelerated relatively slowly. By the time he reached the thermosphere, he was going at Mach sixteen. At this altitude, he slowed down, remaining floating in the air, the oceans and the curvature of Cephiro plain as day for him to see.

Most of the continents were now covered in either green, with only little bits of desert yellow and rocky orange visible. The oceans were still mostly stony landscapes, but their deepest parts shone blue already. Although he had observed plants growing rapidly in areas with water, Hotaru was surprised there were no forests in the oceans. It was almost as if the planet knew what parts were going to remain as land in the future. Though he had told Alcyone he was going to check out the progress of the oceans, this wasn't why he was up here.

Breathing in and out calmly, Hotaru nodded, "Alright, just as I thought, I can breathe inside Mazdakin even up here. Mashins really are space worthy… I hope."

Looking around, it took Hotaru a moment to spot Cephiro's moon. The moon was only barely visible beyond the horizon, looking as small and far away as on the surface. Though he didn't know the exact distance, it would make for a good destination for his experiment.

Staring at the moon, Hotaru talked to Mazdakin, "In our battle against Debonair, we didn't really hold back any of our punches, did we? I used all of our strength, toughness, and magic to beat and blast that crone to pieces. However, I didn't dare to go all out on our speed. I was worried we would rip Cephiro apart with our tailwinds, or cause the atmosphere to ignite. It was either your speed and flight or mine, not both at once. Let's see how fast we can go…"

Using the boosters on the backs of Mazdakin's thighs and calves and the emitters underneath its wings, the ginormous robot started flying towards the moon. Although its speed was only a little over Mach two, with the view around him barely changing, Hotaru knew this was already much faster than his walking speed. Accelerating first with his Aluminum Flight and then Silver Speed, Cephiro soon disappeared from his field of view.

Flying through space at speeds he couldn't even comprehend, without air resistance, Hotaru saw the moon rapidly approaching. In what felt like a little over a minute, he was close enough for the surface of the moon to take up his entire purview. As he tried to slow down, he underestimated the effects of weightlessness to his momentum. As the moon's gravity started to pull him in, Hotaru almost crashed into the surface, impacting heavily against it with Mazdakin's kilometer long feet.

A large cloud of fine silvery powder billowed up around the crater he had created, which quickly descended to the ground. Shrinking Mazdakin back to its regular size to get a better look at the crater he had created, he hoped it wasn't visible from Cephiro. Looking up in the direction of Cephiro, he could see the halfway shadowed planet above him, shining four times larger than the moon from the opposite direction.

"I thought that would take me at least an hour…" Hotaru said in English with his jaw agape. "How fast was I going? A million miles per hour?!"

Eventually calming down, Hotaru looked around, realizing where he was. The never ending silvery white plains stretched as far as he could see, contrasted by the pitch-black sky above him. Though woefully unaware of Cephiro's history, he didn't think anyone else had been on the moon before. Had he not already wasted his first words, he doubted he could have talked about small steps.

"So, this is the ball of rock that makes my Alcyone look so gorgeous in its light…" Hotaru smirked to himself. "Actually… That's right!"

Looking around the moon, an idea occurred to him. During their visit, Master Mage Clef and Presea had told him about Alcyone's birthday and the Cephiroan calendar. The Cephiroan year was divided into twelve months, named after the most significant features of Cephiro. Instead of seasons, the months were grouped according to the four base elements. The year started with water, in the order of Crystal Moon, River Moon, and Ocean Moon. Next was earth, with Forest Moon, Mountain Moon, and Land Moon. Then was fire, in order of Sun Moon, Fire Moon, and Gold Moon, with air rounding off the year with Night Moon, Fay Moon, and Sky Moon.

Though some of the names made no sense to Hotaru, Clef had explained they had to do with old Cephiroan beliefs and mythology from ages ago. The names had just stuck around out of respect, lack of need to change them, and it being an easy way to remember the past beliefs. According to Clef, Hotaru and the Magic Knights had first arrived in Cephiro during Forest Moon, and currently it was Night Moon. He had also said that Alcyone's birthday was the thirteenth of Crystal Moon. While taking a look at Hotaru with Reveal Person, Clef had seen that Aston was born in Gold Moon.

While finding out he had missed his birthday was annoying, Hotaru knew that had been the month the mansion had been finished. Meaning he had obtained quite the gift. And, while it was still four months away, he could take this opportunity to look for a gift for Alcyone.

Looking around the crater, Hotaru could see some patches of the moon's surface rock he had exposed from underneath the dust. Squatting down, he dug Mazdakin's fingers into the rock, pulling out a large chunk before inspecting it. While genuine moon rock was probably valuable down on Cephiro, he doubted it would be a fitting gift for Alcyone.

Putting the rocks down, he activated his Aluminum Flight and Silver Speed spells, deciding to explore the moon further out. Flying across its nonexistent skies, Hotaru kept a close eye on the silver dusted ground below. While being at the moon felt somewhat weird, it wasn't like there was too much for Hotaru to see or experience up here. However, this stale environment made it easy for him to spot something unusual, as he neared the dark side of the moon. Right at the edge where the light turned to dark, Hotaru could see something glimmering in the dust.

Halting his movement, he tried thinking of a way to blow the dust away without an atmosphere. Figuring no one would complain about the noise, Hotaru extended his arm downwards away from the shiny specs.

"Neptunium Barrage," he spoke calmly.

Dropping a single lime-green energy projectile on the ground, it created a large explosion that pushed the dust away for almost a mile. With the dust blown away, Hotaru could better see the source of the glimmer. A large quantity of multicolored, round and teardrop shaped gemstones, hidden in the dust. Despite the low light levels, he could clearly see them shining in swirling colors of seafoam green and cerulean blue, with little streaks of magenta.

"Now these I can work with," he smirked, before extending out his arms.

Using the gems on the backs of his hands, Hotaru absorbed many of the gemstones into his gauntlets. Not wanting to accidentally turn the moon gems into a claymore mine when unloading them, he decided to show restraint in how many he gathered. Once done, he realized how little time had passed since he had left. It would be a shame to waste a good space adventure, especially since he had said he would be gone for a while. Looking around the black expanse around him, Hotaru could barely see what he thought were Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren shining in the distance.

Then again, those could just be stars for all I know… or another galaxy! Would be a stupid idea to charge in blindly to a direction I do not know, or how long it would take to reach it. Like how would I find my way back? I need a more obvious target…

Continuing to look, a stupid idea came to his mind, as he spotted the sun.

Does the sun work the same way in Cephiro as it does back on Earth? Might be a bit risky to check that out. Although… I do have Tungsten Defense. Its thermal resistance should be enough to protect me from the surface temperatures just fine, but then there is the matter of gravity…

After considering it for around five minutes straight, Hotaru put on his sunglasses and took off towards the sun. Soon, both Cephiro and its moon were nothing but dots in the distance behind him, as he prepared for a long journey. Accelerating to full speed, he veered slightly off from his direct flight path towards the sun, as getting too close was foolish even for him. Instead, he would fly around the sun and back to Cephiro, to test out the full extent of his speed. To make sure he wouldn't go blind, he closed the mask of his helmet over his sunglasses.

As he flew, he could see the sun getting closer over time, however it quickly became clear this was going to take longer than his trip to the moon. This didn't surprise him, as while he wasn't really into astronomy, he did know the trip to the moon back on Earth was far less than one astronomical unit. And he would be traveling two or three of those; however long they were back on Cephiro.

With nothing else to do but fly for millions of miles, Hotaru inevitably began to zone out and let his thoughts wonder.

It was April when the girls and I arrived in Cephiro, so maybe Forest Moon is equivalent to that? However, the girls returned back to the day we left, and by then it was Land Moon here, so both calendars are completely messed up… Then again, the Cephiroan year always has 366 days, so it is not like it was ever too accurate. I wonder how long the girls will stick around next time they come over? Maybe they can stay almost a year to get everything aligned up again! …But then again, will they come back?

Remembering back to the anime finale, he remembered Hikaru, Fuu, and Umi deciding to come back to see the new Cephiro. But the anime had never continued beyond that point. This was a fact that had kept him awake at night back before he arrived in Cephiro and had shared about it with Ascot. Whether this world would exist beyond the confines of the show, remained to be seen.

Every instinct in my being is telling me that there will be a future beyond that point, but I could just be naturally inclined to think that way. What if I'm wrong? What if this really is the last year of my… no. All of our lives! There are so many things I still want to do! To see! To experience! …But should I rush it? Maybe things will continue and if I rush things, I might regret it later.

Weighing his options back and forth, Hotaru started feeling hungry after flying for five hours straight. By this point, he had just about passed the sun, and was starting to fly around it for a return trip. Having prepared some sandwiches yesterday, he pulled out a few out of his gauntlets, only to realize how tiny they were with Titanium Power active. As he thought of shrinking back down to a size where they could actually fill him up, he was horrified to see them catch fire and burn to a crisp almost immediately.

Despite still being half a million miles away from the sun's surface, his body, armor, and Mazdakin were all thousands of degrees hot. It was clear to Hotaru that the Tungsten Defense portion of Titanium Power was the only thing keeping him alive at the moment. With turning around taking about as long as finishing his lap, he decided to soldier on, despite his hunger and thirst.

If this is a sign of something, it is that I shouldn't rush things. Even if the world were to suddenly come to an end, I should take the time I have to enjoy and appreciate my life with Alcyone. Those rocks I found are pretty, but maybe I can come up with something more meaningful than gems and jewelry. I have time, so let's enjoy exploring my options for her birthday present.

Curving around the sun eventually, Hotaru had all but confirmed that there were no other planets between Cephiro and its sun. Even then, it wasn't easy to tell which of the millions of dots in the distance was Cephiro. Eventually however, he spotted a blue dot that was brighter than the others, and started heading home.


By the time Cephiro's first astronaut reached their home planet, twelve hours had passed. Entering the atmosphere, Hotaru swapped Titanium Power for Tungsten Defense, and aimed for one of the watery pools in Cephiro's oceans to cool himself down. After quenching himself and Mazdakin, it took Hotaru a while to get his bearings, as he didn't have a compass. Fortunately, using the shapes of the filled-out parts of the oceans, finding his way back home only took an additional hour. By the time he reached his mansion again, it was already dark, with only the lights of the main building and servants' quarters showing him the way. So as not to bother the maids, he headed straight for the main building.

Tired, hungry, and bored out of his mind, Hotaru opened the door in a less than subtle manner and closed it with a bang. Seeing no one around, Hotaru took a deep breath before shouting to get Alcyone's attention.

"Alcyone, I'm home! It was a long journey without breaks so if there is any dinner left, I would appreciate it!" he said while heading to the stairs.

With only his voice echoing back throughout their large home, Hotaru felt anxious, as normally he would be greeted or yelled back at by Alcyone. Knowing there was the chance she was still outside planting seeds or spending time with the maids in the servants' quarters, he started climbing the stairs. But only after a couple of steps, he heard light scratchy footsteps behind him, before a high-pitched voice caught his ear.

"Meow."

Turning around curiously, Hotaru was amazed by the sight of a black, medium-sized cat with green eyes and long fur. The cat stood quietly behind him, before sitting down on its hind legs, looking up at him, its tail swishing slightly against the floor. Its ears twitched as Hotaru let out a short, high-pitched squee of excitement, before crouching down lower. Though he had never owned a cat before, he had learnt of ways to approach them without scaring them away.

Gently squatting down the stairs, he extended his hand out down low, letting the cat come to him instead. With careful movements, the cat approached him, sniffing his fingers carefully, before moving onto his palm. As the cat's head moved onto his hand, he gently scratched the back of its chin with his fingers. The cat's eyes narrowed as it let out a relaxed purr, leaning against his wrist.

Playing with the cat, Hotaru wondered how it had gotten here? Did Cephiro have cats with another name and he just didn't know about it? Had it been summoned by Alcyone? Was it a monster in disguise to make him drop his guard down and had already used its other forms to eat the others? While the last option seemed most likely, Hotaru reached down and picked the black furball up by its armpits.

Holding the cat in his arms, he carried it upstairs, while looking for any signs of Alcyone, others, or a struggle. As he did so, the cat snuggled up against his chest, resting its little head on his shoulder. With nothing seeming out of the ordinary, Hotaru walked over to a green floating arm chair in the library and sat down.

Caressing the cat's fluffy fur in long strokes, he wondered what he should do with the little fellow. He didn't know what Cephiroan foods would be safe for cats to eat, nor did he know if the cat was hungry or thirsty. As the cat started kneading biscuits on his stomach, Hotaru figured he could worry about it later. After about two minutes of kneading, the cat laid down on its side on top of him, its arms and legs draped over Hotaru's thighs.

Sitting in the chair, he listened to the sounds of the cat purring, while also listening to the mansion. Everything was unusually quiet, reminding Hotaru of the seclusion of his mansion. He could easily have thought he was the last person on Cephiro. But this illusion was broken due to the sound of Livina and Envix yelling about something loud enough to be heard through two walls. At first this caught his and the cat's attention, but loud shouts like these weren't rare among their maids. As soon as they quieted down, the cat rolled back down onto its side.

With the little feline acting so familiarly so soon, Hotaru couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the cat's behavior. He wasn't the most approachable person, even among the animals, so having a cat be so calm with him seemed a bit odd. Reaching over and tickling its stomach, the cat quickly started swiping and biting at his fingers playfully while mewing.

Instead of stopping, Hotaru continued tickling the cat with a smile, "You can stop pretending now, I know it is you Alcyone."

Still wriggling on his lap, the cat quickly started expanding larger and larger, until its fur disappeared and was replaced by a smooth black leotard. A tall woman with pale skin, long black hair and a white cape, sat in his lap, still giggling as Hotaru continued tickling her stomach, before hugging her close.

"Fufufufu, I am surprised you didn't catch me earlier," Alcyone giggled, hugging him back. "You were so adorable while smiling as you played with me."

"You should've seen how cute you were as a furry void with eyes," Hotaru smirked, leaning back in the chair.

Stroking his long auburn hair, Alcyone smiled, "I am well aware. Integra and the others played with me for hours when I got the transformation perfected. Compared to them you were a lot gentler."

"Thank you, I guess," Hotaru said awkwardly, trying to imagine how the maids had played with a cat like three children. "But how… Why did you turn yourself into a cat?"

Leaning in and kissing Hotaru's cheek, Alcyone smiled, "I wanted to give you the pet you never had the chance of having. I've been practicing for a few weeks now, but I was only able to get it right after Mokona gave me the picture book of animals from your world."

"So that's why you requested it…" Hotaru smiled, kissing Alcyone on the neck. "I have to say you were quite convincing. Did you read all about cat behavior or did it come naturally to you?"

Alcyone thought about it for a moment, pressing her finger against her chin, "…I think most of it just came from being in a different form. Also, you did not tell me how instinct driven cats were~! I've been chasing anything that moves, sleeping outdoors, and exploring tight spaces all day…"

Unable to hold back a laugh, Hotaru grinned, "Well at least you've been staying busy. Me, I was close to being bored to death…"

"Oh? Had the oceans not come back yet?" Alcyone asked worriedly.

"…Oh no! They had come back partially, but staring at them for hours on end was boring," Hotaru chuckled, not wanting to confess he had been to space.

"Hmmm… well then," Alcyone said after some consideration, "I suggest that next time you also try to get some exercises done along with the observations."

"…Huh?"

Poking down at Hotaru's stomach while sitting in his lap, Alcyone pointed out, "You've been getting kind of flabby as of late. While it is nothing alarming now, it needs to be addressed before it gets worse."

Chuckling lightly, Hotaru scoffed, "Nothing to worry. I've just been eating too many sweets as of late. Just need to cut back a bit."

"That is not enough," Alcyone shook her head. "This kind of softness is caused by lack of exercise. Your muscles have not seen much use since Debonair was defeated."

"But it is not like I am just sitting around at home! I fly around the world almost every day!" Hotaru objected. "Today even more so…"

"Moving around with magic is not the same as putting effort into keeping yourself fit," Alcyone scolded him softly. "You know why I always tend to my fields and to the yard work? It is to keep myself fit, because even if I do not grow old, it doesn't mean my body cannot deteriorate."

"…Is it really that dangerous?" Hotaru asked, feeling out his body.

"Surprisingly yes. While it won't happen instantly, improper exercise will lead to sluggishness, which can make you feel older, which then causes your body to age," Alcyone explained, before stroking Hotaru's cheek. "If we really do want to stay together for centuries, we need to take care of our health."

While he wanted to assure her it would all be fine, Hotaru could not do so. To change herself into a cat for him, to show such concern for his well being and their future; Alcyone's love had once again exceeded his expectations. Though he had already resolved himself into taking his time to enjoy his life with Alcyone, he also should put in the effort to make that time last. Taking a moment to appreciate how fortunate he was to have her, Hotaru picked her up and got off the chair.

"In that case, shall we go upstairs and work up a sweat?" Hotaru suggested with a playful smile.

Blushing slightly, Alcyone poked his nose, "First you will have dinner. I hope you aren't too tired of sea life, because we're having fish."

"Why am I not surprised?" Hotaru chuckled, carrying Alcyone upstairs.


After over a month of living the sweet life in their new mansion, Alcyone and Hotaru had both changed their diets and daily routines. Lowering the amount of sugar and sweets they ingested as well as eating slightly simpler foods, had taken some getting used to. In addition to this, Alcyone had instructed Hotaru to do some low-impact exercises in the morning, as there were no chores for him to do. For a week now, they had been living much healthier lifestyles, with Alcyone finding new pep in her step. She had been training the art of transforming out in the open, now that she no longer had to keep it a secret from Hotaru. On the side, she had continued tending to her plants in the courtyard and gardens.

Having mastered transforming into a cat, Alcyone was now free to focus on other things, like planting the seeds she had obtained from Mokona. She was already familiar with the end products of mint and vanilla from Hotaru's cooking, and was dying to try cinnamon and licorice. As she was starting to till the fields, Hotaru had asked if she could also sew the seed potatoes he had obtained from Mokona.

Seeing the opportunity, Alcyone had handed the mattock over to Hotaru and told him to plow the fields without the use of Steel Strength. Though her boyfriend had been slightly curmudgeonly about this switch of tasks, he had resentfully agreed to it, giving Alcyone time to focus on another task.

Walking back to the courtyard, Alcyone inhaled the fresh air of her glorious grove, most of which she had designed herself. Though she liked tweaking and tending to it, today it was there to just calm her mind. Looking up towards the scullery building between the kitchen and bathhouse, she saw Integra, Livina, and Envix standing at its balcony. The maids had hung up a pair of carpets on wash poles, and were hitting them with dust beaters. Livina and Envix were beating the carpet on the right, while Integra was taking care of the one on the left.

Their head maid was skillfully and forcefully beating the dust out of the carpet, doing a better job than the other two combined. This however was mostly due to the fact that Envix, forever the troublemaker, was only doing the work of a quarter of a maid. While such neglect while working got onto Alcyone's nerves, she understood that Envix was only a temporary hire. Either she would find a job that she liked or Alcyone and Hotaru would find a replacement for her.

But despite her dislike of the purple-haired teen, Alcyone couldn't help but pity the little gremlin. Not only because she had indirectly killed her father, but also because her lack of work morale reminded Alcyone of herself in her youth. Her parents had tried to push plenty of tasks onto her and tried to guide her into serving their noble family, as an assistant and pawn to her older siblings. Instead of that she had trained her swordsmanship, then magic, then herbology and medicine, before busying herself with military tactics and logistics.

I never imagined myself trying to help a troubled young to find their bearings. But to find what you love doing the most is never easy in life. You just have to keep trying new things until you find the ones that speak to you.

With this mindset, Alcyone approached the scullery before yelling, "Envix! Come down here, I have something to speak to you about."

Hearing Alcyone calling for her, Envix dropped the dust beater right there and then, and lazily walked indoors. About three minutes later, she walked out of the scullery, standing up right and holding her hands properly in front of her waist. While she was still lazy, it was clear to Alcyone she had learnt to act properly when being spoken to by her and Hotaru.

"What is it that you wanted to discuss, Lady Alcyone?" Envix asked in an overly polite tone.

Despite her sarcasm, Alcyone kept her calm and explained, "In order to let you experience more paths in life and to start my own training as Cephiro's next Master Mage; from this day onward, I shall start teaching you magic."

Not having expected an answer even remotely close to this, Envix stared at Alcyone with her eyes wide and her mind blank. It took the purple-haired teen a while to shake herself from the shock, before she was able to talk back.

"A-Are you sure about this?" Envix asked, raising her eyebrow suspiciously. "Why me? Why not teach the other two? Or someone else? I really have no interest in learning magic…"

"You sure about that?" Alcyone asked curiously. "You have never tried magic before, so how do we know how much potential you may have in it? Besides, you are showing some promise already."

"Promise?" Envix tilted her head.

"You are 34 years old, but look like you are sixteen," Alcyone pointed out. "Only people with strong hearts can distort their age that much without even knowing magic. Granted, having a strong heart isn't a guarantee for being gifted in magic, but most of the time these things go hand in hand."

"…So, you're saying there is no harm in trying," Envix sighed defeatedly. "Alright, how do we start?"

Giving a gentle smile, Alcyone extended out her hands, "First, let me hold your hands."

Slightly hesitant about all this, Envix placed her hands onto Alcyone's, feeling the much taller woman's cool hands wrap around hers. Her heart was pounding slightly from the nervousness of what was going to happen next, but luckily Alcyone was quick on the explanation.

"There are a few ways to learn the basics of magic. A rare few learn it naturally through study, but most people learn it by being bestowed a small amount of magic by their master. This awakens the dormant magic within them."

"…Okay," Envix nodded, understanding the explanation so far.

"I have not done this before so I am not quite as skilled as Master Mage Clef," Alcyone admitted, before closing her eyes. "He was able to do this from range to several people. But from what I've read, I should be able to transfer some of my magic into you without issue like this."

Holding onto Envix's petite hands, Alcyone gathered some of her magic into the center of her body. She didn't know exactly how much to use, but decided not to go overboard. It was better to start off small and work her way up, so as not to hurt Envix.

"Bestow Magic!"

In a moment, the connection between their hands began to glow brightly, as a circle of light surrounded them. As Alcyone transferred the magic into her body, Envix could feel a tingling sensation spread out from her arms into her heart. Afraid she may have gotten an electric shock, Envix tensed her body up, but soon realized she was alright. As the light faded, Alcyone let go of her hands, looking at Envix expectantly.

"So, how do you feel?" Alcyone smiled like a proud mother.

"I feel… A bit tingly, but otherwise the same," Envix admitted, observing her body for any changes.

Remembering back to the time her magical abilities had been awakened, Alcyone asked, "Do you hear any words coming from your heart?"

Blinking confused, Envix tilted her head to listen and focus on the beating of her heart, "Ummm… All I hear is Livina beating the rug."

Disappointed by these results, Alcyone remembered back on his training with Clef.

"Close your eyes and try and listen," Alcyone mimicked her master. "Do you feel it? The power that you have inside of you? A power you've never felt before?"

Once again, Envix took her time, trying to listen to her heart, "I hear… nothing. Just the beating of my heart, and it is awfully quiet."

Crossing her arms across her chest, Alcyone began to think about what the issue was. Could Envix really not have any gifts for magic? Could she have done something wrong? Remembering that Clef had said this would be her first step to becoming the Master Mage, she knew she couldn't let this obstacle stop her.

"So… can I go now?" Envix asked, the awkward silence getting to her. "Like I said, I don't think I have the gift for magic, so I would be doing a favor to both of us if I…"

Shaking her head, Alcyone said determinedly, "No, let's not give up just yet. Like I said I have never done this before, so we might as well try a few more times and then go over some theory in the library."

Realizing she couldn't change her employer's mind, Envix sighed deeply. For the next hour or so, the two of them tried over and over again, with each attempt feeling and working slightly different than before. They tried Alcyone pouring all her magic into Envix, which caused her hair to stand up. They tried meditating to calm themselves and for Envix to better listen to her heart. Alcyone even took her time to explain the theoretical side of how magic worked before showing it off in practice, but Envix just couldn't feel the magic in her. At this point the teenager was ready to beg for a break, before hearing the gate next to the bathhouse open up. Turning around, she saw her other employer walk in, seemingly in a rather foul mood with his clothes covered in dirt.

"The field's been plowed," Hotaru informed them, walking past rather aggressively. "I'm gonna go for a flight."

"Oh… alright," Alcyone stepped back, before asking carefully. "When will you be back?"

"Who knows," Hotaru said frustratedly, "I'll be back when I get back."

Expanding out his armor, Hotaru took off like a rocket, startling the women with the sonic boom. While Alcyone wasn't happy with Hotaru shaking all the windows of the mansion, Envix couldn't help but stare up with her mouth ajar. She had seen Hotaru take off often, but had never really paid attention to it, as it had always been from far away. But now, looking up at the sky, she figured it would be fun to see the world from the bird's eye view.

"Hey, Alcyone," Envix asked curiously. "If I learn magic, do you think I can fly like that?"

"…It is certainly a possibility," Alcyone smiled, seeing new inspiration in her student's eyes.


Having taken off in a fit of frustration, Hotaru had sworn under his breath for a few minutes straight, before finally calming down. Seeing the bright blue sky above him and the ever-greener lands below, soothed his mind, while his Double Armor made him feel safe. As he finally started thinking straight, he realized he didn't really have anyone to be angry at, otherthan himself.

Though he had given the exercise routine recommended by Alcyone a try and didn't find it too straining, it had been the straw that broke the camel's back. He had come to Cephiro to live a simple, relaxing and carefree life, one where he could imagine himself just sitting back and growing old and gray. A life not burdened by responsibilities, relationship drama, fears of failure, and free of greed, ambitions, and schedules. But now he had essentially gained all that he had hoped to avoid, all on his own accord.

The drama and fears of failure he had managed to overcome, and had revoked his greed and ambitions for ruling the world. In exchange he had become the hero of this world and gotten the girl of his dreams, but with that came the responsibility. His greed and ambition had resurfaced as he sought to start a lucrative business, which only added to his responsibilities, bringing back the fear of failing his clients.

The old saying is true, I guess. No matter where you go, you always bring yourself.

The life which he had hoped to spend worry free now included: surveillance flights three times a day, keeping an eye on three employees, hour long morning exercises, shopping trips, etc., and now field work. No longer could he sleep in the mornings worry free with Alcyone, or stay up late with her. Even coaxing her out of her daily tasks had become more difficult and she had become more health conscious to boot. The idea of them even having children at some point would essentially make him dream of retiring all over again. And yet, he didn't dislike the idea.

…I can't believe I flew off the handle due to my diet and broke my promise of cherishing my time with Alcyone only after a week. I guess I just needed some time for myself… Or, someone to hang out with? If I remember correctly… Ferio and Ascot said they were living in this direction.

Continuing to fly south east, Hotaru eventually came to the sea and crossed it. He hadn't seen Ascot and Ferio in ages, but remembered them talking about moving back to the continent they had first met. Flying over the familiar continent, Hotaru couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic when observing the area from the air. Remembering the weeks it took them to cross the area, was almost silly considering his current velocity.

As he was flying over a forest clearing, he saw movement that he was far too familiar with. Looking closer, he saw two monsters at the center of a village, surrounded by some broken clay buildings. Seeing that the two monsters were fighting each other, Hotaru quickly flew down as he knew he was on the right track.

Sure enough, as he came closer, he saw a massive warthog-like monster fighting a wooly mammoth-like one, with their spiky tusks clashing furiously. For a moment it seemed like the warthog monster was about to run away, but it ran around in a circle, before charging right at the mammoth. As the mammoth intercepted the warthog, it dug its honey badger-like claws into the ground, preventing it from being pushed into the buildings behind it. Raising its front limb like a bear, the mammoth swatted its arm down at the warthog, slamming it against the ground, stunning it. Taking a deep breath, the mammoth sprayed freezingly cold air over the warthog through its trunk, freezing it solid. To finish off its opponent, the mammoth spread its tusk wide apart, before snapping them shut around the warthog, shattering it to pieces.

As the remains of the frozen monster evaporated, the villagers cheered for the mammoth's victory, as Hotaru quietly landed into the village. With it all but confirmed that the mammoth was one of Ascot's monsters, Hotaru looked around to find the summoner's big hat among the crowd.

"Hay look!" one of the village's children yelled. "It's Hotaru the Hero!"

"Hotaru the Hero!?" many of the villagers yelled as they rushed over.

Due to his silver and gold armor, Hotaru stood out in the crowd of villagers, even with the mammoth monster right next to him. As such he wasn't surprised when getting swarmed by the villagers, but he wasn't prepared for the way some of the villagers looked at him. Especially the young ones.

"You got a lot of nerve showing up after the battle!" a teenage boy said, being quickly muffled by their mother.

"Finally decided to pay attention to us little people, huh?" One of the adults said with his arms crossed.

As the crowd began to get a bit more aggressive, Hotaru extended out his arms to get their attention, "Would everyone PLEASE let me talk for a moment!? …Okay thank you. I am here to see my friend Ascot the Summoner. Judging by this noble beast I assume he is nearby?"

The crowd quieted down, looking at each other, before an elderly woman who acted as the village chief stepped forth. She was an old crone with a wooden stick for a cane, a long brown shawl, and a white conical bonnet. Unlike the other villagers, she was smiling warmly, her wrinkly face looking surprisingly spry for her age.

"Pardon the youth. They are slightly miffed about having to ask young Ascot for help instead of gaining your protection. But we cannot expect you to protect every place at once," the village chief spoke understandingly in a haggard voice. "To make sure we are protected, Summoner Ascot has lent us Turbo to look after our village."

With the crone pointing at the Mammoth that was now laying down onto its stomach, Hotaru realized what was going on.

"Renting monsters to protect villages from monsters. Clever," Hotaru complimented his friend. "So where does Ascot live now, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He lives near the western coast," the village chief answered. "It is a large fenced off area. Follow the coast-line and you cannot miss it."

"Thank you for the directions," Hotaru tipped his helmet.

Taking off once again, Hotaru flew high up into the air so that he could see the western was supposed to be beaches now looked like sand dunes that fell into the wastelands below. Yet the oceans had recovered a little bit more since his space adventure, making Hotaru wonder if he should worry about sea levels getting too high.

These thoughts were put on hold, as he noticed a forested area hugging the coastline, with a deep lagoon next to it. Around and inside the forest, there were large fences that could be seen from up above, made out of logs and rocks. Close to the lagoon, up on a tall and sturdy looking cliff, was a large white building. The building was made out of boxes and pillars of marble, with slanted gray brick roofs. The whole building looked like a Greek temple done in a split-level architectural style, with a large yard for animals. As he landed, Hotaru could see massive doorways leading into multiple sections of it.

Looking into the fenced off pens, Hotaru could see some of them housing large monsters, but he didn't have long to look at them. From inside the main temple, he heard loud barking sounds, and soon a white fluffy caterpillar sheepdog rushed out from it. The several pairs of moth antennae on its back wagged happily and its pink tongue was hanging out, as it barreled towards Hotaru.

Spreading his arms wide, Hotaru allowed it to crash into him, "Nice to see you too, Hoggar! OOF—!"

As Hoggar tackled Hotaru to the ground and started licking the little bits of his face visible from under his helmet, Ascot rushed out of his house. The summoner was still wearing the same clothes he had been given back at the Sanctuary, but with the addition of large, brown, leather gloves with green gems on them.

"Hoggar! I've told you not to tackle our guests like that!" Ascot scolded his dog while rushing over. "I'm sorry I hope you're— Hotaru?! Long time to see!"

"Happy to see you too, Ascot" Hotaru crawled up from under Hoggar, moving the dog aside with his magic. "Nice place you've got here. Are all the empty pens for monsters you have given jobs?"

"Oh, you've heard of that already?" Ascot smiled, before rubbing his nose. "Me and Ferio tried doing the same as you, but it was hard keeping all the villages safe, so we started giving them monsters. It has turned out to be a great way to get the villagers used to Hoggar and the others."

Rubbing Hoggar's belly who was rolling on the ground, Hotaru asked, "Speaking of which, where is he? He out shopping for dog food while you man the house?"

"No, he doesn't live here anymore," Ascot answered, taking off his gloves. "Well, he lives here but we have our separate homes. He wanted some privacy so he built his house deeper into the woods."

Following Ascot's pointed finger, Hotaru did notice that the road leading to Ascot's house, forked some ways away. The much less trodden road led to a denser section of the woods, one where the leaves of deciduous trees covered even the trunks.

"Huh… I always thought he would be out partying instead of living hidden in the woods," Hotaru commented.

"We try to get out in the evening but there isn't much to do," Ascot pointed out. "Sure, there are a few bars in the area where we can get a drink and play games, but we only do that once a week. Otherwise, it gets boring."

"Umi would be proud to hear that you do things in moderation," Hotaru chuckled. "…I think. You guys mind if we have a barbecue this evening? I'm starving for something to break up the monotony too."

"Only if you got enough for everyone," Ascot chuckled, pointing at the monsters in their pens. "…Actually, there's something I really need to show you before you go see Ferio."

Seeing how stoked Ascot was, Hotaru shrugged, "Lead the way."

Following Ascot into his home, Hotaru was taken aback by the décor a bit. The mostly pristine white halls of the temple-like building were decorated with what he could only describe as heavy-duty playground equipment. Sure, there were the usual furnishings of a house such as tables, chairs, couches, etc. But in addition, there was an indoor sandbox, a dog house, a jungle gym, and several ramps going up the walls. While he was familiar with Ascot's room back at the Sanctuary, seeing all this made Hotaru worried his friend had gotten too in touch with his inner child.

Unaware of Hotaru's grimacing, Ascot hurried over and knelt next to the sandbox, "Okay, watch this. Montero! Come out!"

Hearing its name, something small moved in the sand, letting out a screech similar to a bat. Moving closer to the sandbox, Hotaru could see three small brown dorsal fins poke out of the sand. As the creature started swimming in the sand in circles, Hotaru recognized this as a miniature version of Ascot's manta ray-like monster, Pajero. While he couldn't muster up the excitement Ascot did about the little critter, he couldn't deny seeing it swim in circles was kind of adorable.

"Cute little junior," Hotaru smiled, leaning over the sandbox. "I didn't know monsters started out so small."

"They don't!" Ascot exclaimed, throwing a little treat onto the sand. "Monsters are born complete into this world. They do not grow or mature, nor do they breed to make young."

Finally realizing what Ascot was on about, Hotaru's jaw dropped, "Oh right… Debonair said something similar. Then, what are these? Miniature monsters that stay pint-sized?"

"Not that either," Ascot said, whistling softly. "Saber! Tank! Come on out!"

As Ascot started pulling more treats out of his pockets, more monsters showed up. From the dog house, walked out a fanged three eyed wolf with yellowish orange fur, that looked similar to Vigor. From inside the jungle gym, a small caterpillar similar to Atalante's first form crawled out, slowly making its way down the side of the wooden structure.

"Saber here was small enough to fit into my lap when I found it," Ascot smiled, petting the wolf's head. "But now it is so big I will soon have it sleep outside."

"…How fast do they grow?" Hotaru asked, watching Tank crawl up his leg slowly.

"Hehe, let me show you," Ascot smiled, signaling Hotaru to follow him.

Walking to the back of the marble hall, Ascot opened a wooden backdoor that took them to the cliff behind the house. Peering over the grassy cliff into the lagoon below, Hotaru expected for a shark to jump out of it.

Inhaling deep, Ascot yelled, "Atenza! We have a guest!"

The waters rippled for a moment, until an olive green, humanoid, aquatic lizard with fish-like fins rose from the waters slowly. Remembering this as a beast similar to the one that had broken his arm, Hotaru jolted back a bit, until noticing Atenza was only half of Capella's size. Despite this, it was still larger than a house, and as it waved up at him, Hotaru swore it could have tried grabbing him.

"So… these are monsters that grow and mature like humans and animals?" Hotaru asked, still in shock by this discovery.

"Yeah," Ascot nodded, smiling excitedly. "I don't know for sure what is causing it, but I have a theory."

"What is it?" Hotaru inquired worriedly.

"You remember that Cephiro is now being created by the hearts of all the people who love it? People of Cephiro know very little about monsters," Ascot explained, trying to sound neutral about the topic. "If my guess is correct, peoples' beliefs about monsters are causing them to… change. To become more human."


Finished discussing monsters with Ascot, Hotaru had headed down the path over to Ferio's house. The gently curving forest path seemed to have even more varied plant-life than the forest that surrounded his mansion. There were flowers, orchids, jungle plants, ferns, moss, berry bushes; deciduous and coniferous trees, vines, ivy, fruit trees; mushrooms, lichens. Almost every type of flora and fungi Hotaru could think of grew in the area.

Making it to the end of the road, Hotaru came across a massive leafy tree with several tops and huge branches. The tree had been overtaken by vines, moss, and man-made structures. The top of the tree housed treehouses with sturdy wooden walls and several rooms, with rope bridges and branch-paths connecting them. Below them was a large cabin built out of logs, stone bricks, and clay, with a mossy roof and glass windows. The cabin had a rooftop balcony that connected it to the treehouses above. At the foot of the tree, built between the roots, was a slanted trapdoor with a triangular roof on top of it, leading to an underground abode.

"…I didn't take Ferio to be even more into plants than Alcyone is," Hotaru blinked in confusion, looking at the arboretum city.

Before Hotaru could try and start guessing which door he should enter, the ground around him cracked open. Dozens of green vine-like roots shot out of the ground, wrapping around his armored arms and legs, before he had time to react. Pulling on the vines, he could feel them pull back even harder, forcing him to strain himself to stay standing.

As he was about to activate Titanium Power, he saw a daring figure swinging over to him on a vine. With his green hair, yellow eyes, and pale-yellow tunic, Hotaru quickly recognized this as Ferio.

"Greetings, Boss!" Ferio smiled, landing gracefully as he let go of the vine. "Sorry to use you as a test dummy but I wanted to see how this spell works for ambushes."

"Has Clef been teaching you magic or shibari?" Hotaru asked annoyedly.

"Once again, sorry," Ferio rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Let me just untie you…"

"No need. Steel Strength!"

Pulling on the roots as hard as he could with his arms, the ground cracked even more as huge bundles of roots were pulled out of the ground. As the bundles of roots were exposed to the outside air, they quickly shriveled up, leaving Hotaru's arms free, allowing him to tear the roots around his legs.

Dusting himself off, Hotaru rated Ferio's spell, "As binding spells go, that was rather on the weaker side. Alcyone's and Fuu's are a lot harder to break out of."

Sighing frustrated, Ferio crossed his arms, "Yeah, I still need to work on it. It's taken me nearly three months to get this far even with Ascot's and Clef's help. Don't think I'll be creating a Mashin anytime soon like you did."

"Maybe you can create a walking suit of arboreal armor," Hotaru chuckled. "Did you use your magic to create that house?"

"Yeah, most of the plants here as well," Ferio admitted withhis hands on his hips. "Can you believe the first spell I learnt was for growing plants? Clef told me to keep practicing so I kept growing all sorts of stuff even I don't know."

"How many spells do you know in total?" Hotaru asked curiously.

"Three. One that grows plants, one that moves earth, and the roots one," Ferio listed. "I was excited to find out my element was earth but so far I feel more like a farmer than a magic swordsman."

Hotaru was about to question how growing plants were related to earth, till he remembered Hikaru using lightning and Umi ice. Instead, his concentration was caught by the other thing Ferio said.

"You're a magic swordsman already?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow. "Even I haven't been given that title…"

"Well, I'm not one yet!" Ferio admitted, leaning back a bit. "I just figured that since my other family members are a magic swordsman and the Hero of Cephiro, I should try to step up a bit."

"Your title is the prince. …And family members?" Hotaru looked down at Ferio. "You consider me and Lantis as part of your family?"

"We're all connected by blood ties," Ferio shrugged. "Or do you not consider me as part of your family?"

"…I guess I do," Hotaru admitted, trying not to get too emotional. "…Though I'm not going to call you 'uncle' or anything."

"I would appreciate that too," Ferio chuckled, before looking at Hotaru with a perplexed expression. "Speaking of, what are you doing here?"

"I got tired of being surrounded by women all day," Hotaru said smugly, not for the life of him wanting to admit his real reason for running from home. "Why are you here? I didn't think you would get so quickly tired of living with Ascot."

"It's not Ascot that bothers me, but..." Ferio admitted, before leaning close to Hotaru. "it's the smell, you know? Having monsters indoors quickly stinks up the place."

"Ah… that makes sense," Hotaru admitted, remembering visiting an animal shelter once. "Well if we do it outdoors, you mind joining us for a barbecue?"

With Ferio invited, the two of them returned to Ascot's house where they prepared a firepit. As it burned to get them a nice pit of embers, Hotaru visited nearby villages and forests, gathering meat and game. Ascot used his telekinetic spells to move a couple of tables and chairs outside, before setting them up. Ferio, in order to practice with his spells more, grew some of the seed potatoes Hotaru had on him, and harvested some fruits and vegetables for the table. Eventually Hotaru returned with enough meats to feed most of Ascot's monsters and drinks for the three of them to get merry. By the time the fire was hot enough and the meat cooked, the sun was already setting.

Gulping down a large tankard of ale, Ferio turned to Hotaru, "So, Alcyone put you on a diet?"

"Yeah…" Hotaru admitted, taking a large bite out of a roasted piece of meat on a skewer. "She also turned herself into a cat so we've mostly been eating fish and vegetables. Just when the maids learnt how to make pancakes and hash browns without burning them."

Understanding most of the words Hotaru had said with his mouth full, Ascot asked, "Why not just tell her you want to take a break every now and then?"

"Because I am not going to cheat on my diet," Hotaru said, stuffing two fried potato wedges in his mouth. "This doesn't count. All this food is sugar free."

"Then why you out here?" Ferio asked, eating some as well. "I heard from Clef you had a pretty sweet mansion now. You could have just invited us over for a barbecue as well."

"I just… I just needed to remind myself that I am free," Hotaru admitted, having had time to think about it. "That no matter how repetitive and routine life becomes, I can still go out and do what I want. You'll understand it when you start living with your girlfriends."

"I wonder if that will even happen…" Ascot sighed, leaning against his tankard and spinning a large yellow fruit above his other hand. "I know you said Umi would be back and I believe that, but do you really think we can have a future together?"

"That is a good point," Ferio sighed, leaning back in his chair, tilting it backwards. "Not that I couldn't provide for her, but would Fuu really enjoy living in the woods like this? She told me she hoped to be a systems engineer, but I didn't even understand what that meant…"

"U-Umi just said she wanted to be a bride and a house w-wife," Ascot stuttered while blushing, "which she can be, but I don't know if she is okay with living in a house with monsters…"

Seeing the uncertainty on the faces of his friends, Hotaru wasn't sure what to say to them. He had no idea if Fuu and Umi would be okay with living in Cephiro, or if it was possible for Ferio or Ascot to make it to earth. He faintly remembered that the Magic Knights had become capable of traveling between worlds at their leisure at the end of the manga. But this would at best mean long-distance relationships for the four of them. One thing he did know for sure; it was too early to be calling whether their relationships would last or not.

"There is no use worrying about it yet," Hotaru reassured the two of them. "Fuu and Umi are still young. What they want and what their dreams are will change and evolve as time goes by. When they come back, I suggest focusing on getting to know each other better and spending more time together. All relationships have their growing pains and they never go away, so you need to bewilling to work on them."

Despite Hotaru's less than stellar peptalk, Ferio and Ascot looked at each other, before smiling and nodding. With their worries set aside for now, the trio continued eating and drinking till the sun set beyond the horizon. Once full, the boys started playing catch with the leftovers, throwing them over to Ascot's monsters to eat. Unwilling to let the party end, the trio started wondering what they could do next, and at some point, Hotaru mentioned fireworks. With all of them having downed a few more drinks than they should have, Ascot started firing his ranged spells into the air to simulate fireworks rockets.

Thinking they didn't have enough oomph to them, Ferio had suggested Hotaru fire his spells into the air instead. After firing a few Neptunium Barrage spheres high into the air that lit up the night sky, Hotaru raised his arm, firing off a Uranium Cannon. The ground to air conical explosion almost knocked them all off their chairs and managed to scare off Ascot's monsters, causing them to run back into their pens. Sobered up enough by the explosion, the trio decided to call the fireworks show off.

Calming down a bit, they laid down on Hoggar and stared at the starry sky. The moon wasn't out tonight and there were no clouds, so the stars were particularly bright. As such, the still tipsy trio continued staring into the distance, not thinking too carefully about what they said.

"I wonder what it is like out in space…" Ascot thought out loud. "Those Autozam guys must have a lot of fun traveling between the stars."

"Meh, from my experience, it is mostly just empty space with very little happening," Hotaru answered bluntly. "I did manage to find some pretty rocks on the moon. Gonna turn them into a birthday gift for Alcyone."

"What a silly idea, to give rocks as gifts," Ferio chuckled, laying down with his hands under his head. "When Fuu comes back, I will give her some rainbow lotuses."

"Rainbow lotus?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"It's this… really beautiful flower that glows in all colors," Ferio stroked his forehead, trying to remember the details through the haze. "I once found one when scaling mountains… somewhere. I picked it up to sell in a village, but by the time I got there, it had turned pitch black. The locals told me rainbow lotuses were just an old wife's tale."

"I think a black lotus would have sold for a lot too," Hotaru chuckled to himself. "Did you ever find any more?"

"No, but one of the local old hags told me a story about a valley full of rainbow lotuses up in the mountains," Ferio explained, slurring his words a little. "Didn't have time to go look for it and now that Cephiro has been rebuilt, I'm not sure if it even exists anymore. But, I'm sure if I keep practicing, I can maybe grow one myself with my magic…"

Listening to Ferio to trail off a bit, Hotaru realized Ferio had fallen asleep. Getting up to a sitting position on top of Hoggar, he noticed Ascot was also asleep, halfway buried into the dog caterpillar's fur. While staying for a sleepover seemed like a nice idea, Hotaru knew he had be going back home before Alcyone got too worried.

Sliding off of Hoggar's back, Hotaru grabbed some leftovers, before activating Aluminum Flight and Silver Speed. Barely able to recall the way back home, Hotaru took off slowly before speeding up. Realizing flying tipsy wasn't the safest idea, he decided to plot his course carefully. He would fly slowly until he reached the coast near the water shrine, from where he would then speed up to reach his home continent. But till then, he would fly relatively slowly so he wouldn't get lost.

Staring at the ground below him, lit up by the starlight, Hotaru remembered why he and the Magic Knights never traveled during the night. With no street lights or anything, the nights in Cephiro were very dark, especially in forested and grassy areas. While being attacked by a monster in these circumstances was scary enough, spraining an ankle while stumbling in the dark was all but guaranteed. Looking around to spot the cliff that they had been carried to by Clef's flying fish, Hotaru noticed a group of mountains in the distance that looked familiar.

Flying towards the mountains, Hotaru wondered where he had seen them before, when the mountains suddenly stopped getting closer. Feeling the rush of air in his ears get quieter, Hotaru's eyes widened as he realized he was falling down.

Seeing the forest below rapidly approaching, Hotaru yelled over and over again, "Tungsten Defense! Tungsten Defense! Tungsten Defense!"

There was a loud cracking sound, at which point he lost consciousness.


While waking up hungover and with his body aching was nothing new to Hotaru at this point, this time was different. Not only did his body ache and his head hurt, his ears were ringing at a low pitch. Opening his eyes, he realized his fully armored body was splayed out in the branches of a tree with a thick canopy. His leg raised higher than his head and his arm stuck underneath him, with his body feeling stiff. With some rays of sun shining in his face, Hotaru looked up at the hole in the canopy above him, figuring it had been created by his crash. Getting his armored boots off of the forks in the branches, he started trying to gather his thoughts.

"Nothing seems broken, except for my head," Hotaru grunted, slowly getting over the paralyzing pain. "Okay from now on I should not drink and fly…"

Thinking back on last night, Hotaru slowly remembered plummeting through the air, with none of his spells working. Trying to activate different spells, he realized this wasn't due to him being drunk, nor had his body shrunken to the size of a child again. As the ringing in his ears continued and he looked around, Hotaru's eyes widened as he saw the tall, spire-like mountains in the distance. Looking down on the ground, he was met with the sight of a dark and barren forest floor, dominated by gnarled tree roots.

"The Forest of Silence…" Hotaru gasped under his breath.

Hearing the roar of a distant monster, his body froze up as he realized the true gravity of his peril. While Hotaru was the most powerful being on Cephiro, nearly all that power came from his spells. Without them, he was just a taller than average man with a suit of nigh indestructible armor and a variety of weapons. Though this could have been enough if fighting against a standard sized monster, it was barely anything when in the face of potentially hundreds of thousands. And yet, despite the grievousness of his situation, his mind was filled with questions.

Why is this place back!? I mean the forest and mountains I understand, but why is the Silence still in effect? Didn't Fuu destroy the stone that was responsible for the anti-magic field ages ago! Don't tell me… Did it come back as Cephiro was rebuilt?

"…Questions for later," Hotaru decided, before starting to climb down from the tree.

While Hotaru had lost his magic, he hadn't forgotten how to climb trees. In addition, the small claws at the tips of his armored boots gave him a good foot hold against the tree trunk. Little by little, he shimmied his way down to the ground, before doing a two-point landing. He turned around quickly to make sure there were no monsters nearby, after which he studied the area, trying to find the way out.

"These roads and trees all look the same as always. But as long as I don't run around aimlessly chasing a rabbit, I should be able to get out if I just walk in a straight line," Hotaru tried to rationalize his situation. "…Of course, considering Ferio was lost here for who knows how long, it might take a few days on foot."

Picking the direction he hoped he had flown in from, Hotaru started walking forward, as he had no better plans. Instead of following one of the pathways, he slipped between the densely grown trees, trying to go as straight of a line as possible. While it was slower, he figured the monsters would be too big to follow him this way.

I lost my magic as soon as I entered the forest, so hopefully I am moving towards its edge. I might be able to make it out of here before it gets too dark. Though I have no idea what time it is since I can't see the sun… I suppose I can sleep up in the treetops at night and eat the leftovers I have from the party. If I can't get out before tomorrow, Alcyone will… What am I saying, she is already worried, since I didn't come home last night!

Coming to a large road, Hotaru noticed that the next tree line was even more densely grown. If he tried to get past it, he would get stuck without question. Not wanting to turn around, he figured he could at least try something else. While spells didn't work in the Forest of Silence, magic items still functioned without issue. Reaching for his left shoulder, he pulled out his golden blade, in order to use its chainsaw to cut his way through. But…

"Ow!" Hotaru yelled, as his wrist twisted before he dropped the giant sword. "I forgot how heavy this stupid thing is…"

Trying to rub his twist through his gauntlet, Hotaru couldn't help but grit his teeth annoyedly.

Like Ferio said, not even Zagato was able to do anything to this place. The only reason we managed to survive here was because of teamwork, Mokona, and Fuu having a ranged weapon. Never thought the day would come again when I would be missing those things...

Looking at the tree line again, another thought popped into his head, "…While Zagato couldn't do anything to this place, what about Lafarga?"

Reaching for the gem on his chest, Hotaru pulled out his Titan Slicer. Grabbing the huge curved sword with both hands as it materialized, he was surprised by how heavy the sword was. Although it was longer than his golden blade, the Titan Slicer was significantly thinner, and yet it weighed like a huge dumbbell. Not wanting to give up, Hotaru raised the sword up high, before swinging it down with all his might and all his heart.

There was a flash of white light, as a wind cutter shot out of the silvery edge of the Titan Slicer, striking the tree line, and dissipating. Though he had created a gust of wind, it had barely left a dent in the tree it had struck.

Dropping his sword while panting, Hotaru muttered under his breath, "Honestly… it is a miracle I can do that much without Steel Strength…"

As he collected his weapons andwas about to continue down the road, Hotaru heard the snapping of a twig behind him. Turning around quickly, his face went pale as a monster was standing only a few meters away from him. It was tall and lanky with long arms and legs, with large claws at the ends of its limbs. Its body was covered in black fur from head to toe, and had a wide maw full of sharp teeth, as well as a single red, vertical eye on its chest.

Before he could react, the monster lunged at him and clawed down on him. While Hotaru was knocked back by the attack, the monster's claws shattered against his Escudo plate armor. The head almost split in half as it roared out in pain, as it held its bleeding fingers. Though he was surprised by the durability of his armor despite having no Tungsten Defense, Hotaru knew the fight wasn't over yet.

"I guess we are doing this spartan style!" Hotaru yelled, reaching for his forearms.

Spreading his arms, he pulled out his round golden shield with a gem studded silver hexagon and his spear with a large, golden, V-shaped tip. Raising the shield in front of him and holding his spear back, Hotaru waited for his foe to act. Soo enough, the creepy humanoid monster lunged at him again, this time aiming for his face with its claws. Ducking underneath the monster's arm, Hotaru thrusted his spear forward, stabbing it into the monster's eye.

The monster roared out in pain again, until its body turned pitch black and evaporated away. Smiling victoriously, Hotaru almost bit his tongue as a heavy blow struck him from behind. Being sent flying forward, he was only barely able to hold onto his weapons as he landed on his front. Getting up quickly and running further away, Hotaru soon found himself staring at a much larger monster, with a much tougher looking body.

A purple Minotaur with three, forwards curving silver horns and red eyes, stood before him, its sickle-like horns scraping the treetops. Before Hotaru could observe the monster further, he spotted movement behind it. A dark-green mantis-like monster and a two-headed eyeless horse with large sharp fangs were rushing towards them. Turning around to run away, Hotaru was soon faced by two more monsters. A six eyed giant sloth with spikes growing out of its back and a giant, tentacled plant monster that closed his exit completely.

Backing himself into a corner to protect his rear and lowering the mask of his helmet, Hotaru took a defensive stance. Though he knew this would at best slow down his demise, he couldn't go down without fighting. As the monsters rushed towards him, he started stabbing at them rapidly, managing to push back the mantis and the sloth. However, the minotaur's hide was too tough, and the giant started bashing at his armor and shield.

Withstanding the assault with his grit alone, Hotaru continued desperately stabbing at the minotaur.

"I didn't defeat Debonair to die like this!" Hotaru gritted his teeth, seeing the rest of the monsters approaching him.

Alcyone, I promise you! If I ever get out of this forest, I will never again skip doing my morning exercises! I promise I will not leave home without telling you why! And I promise that I will never again go joyriding out in space witho— Wait! Please work…

While the Forest of Silence housed hundreds of monsters inside it, from the outside, the densely grown woodland looked deceivingly serene. The monsters that lived in it never left the forest, leaving the outside of it undisturbed and its greenery impenetrable. As such there was almost a popping sound as the forest's canopy burst open, as a ginormous silver and gold robot stood up. Branches and leaves rained down on the trees below, that reached less than one third of the robot's height.

Spreading its massive bladed wings, the robot looked down at the monsters with its four red eyes. Raising Mazdakin's pointy foot up, Hotaru brought it down, stomping on the monsters repeatedly.

"Not one of ya's going to survive this!" Hotaru yelled in a thick Scottish accent, out for blood.

Stomping his way through the forest, the Mazdakin left behind it a trail of fallen trees, as Hotaru made his way towards an opening in the forest. Seeing the almost crater-like forest clearing, filled with monsters, from miles away, Hotaru made a beeline for the source of all his blights. Making it to the edge of the barren clearing, Hotaru saw the floating black stone at the center of it, humming and giving off an eerie light. For an inanimate object, Hotaru couldn't help but be intimidated by it, as it stirred some primal fear inside of him. Remembering how Ferio was almost turned into a monster by getting too close to the stone, Hotaru reached for one of the largest trees around.

Tearing the tree up by its roots, he started removing its branches as the army of monsters headed towards him. While there weren't as many monsters as the last time he was here, it was still a horde numbering in the hundreds. Ignoring the ankle biters, Hotaru used the sharper angles of his Mashin to whittle the top of the tree into a relatively sharp point, before throwing it like a spear.

The massive tree trunk flew across the clearing, almost missing the black floating stone. But despite only grazing its surface with its sharpened tip, the dozens of tons weighing projectile shattered it. A massive burst of energy erupted from within the rock along with blue flames. Instead of slowly falling to the ground, the pieces of the stone scattered all over its surroundings, the rock's insides glowing in a myriad of colors.

With the stone destroyed, the monsters around him glowed bright blue, before shrinking down into a variety of Cephiroan animals. As the critters, creatures, and fay rushed away from Mazdakin, Hotaru walked towards the remains of the stone. Looking at the black rubble, Hotaru couldn't help but to wonder what the stone truly had been.

I thought this thing was a meteor or something out of this world, but why did it regenerate along with Cephiro? Is it just another weird Cephiro thing like the Spring of Eterna? But why would this world have something like this? The manga didn't have one as far as I know.

"In any case, it is far too dangerous. Best to get rid of it for good," Hotaru said and pointed Mazdakin's arm towards the remains. "Uranium Cannon!"

A massive lime-green flash erupted from Mazdakin's hand, blasting the center of the clearing. The remains of the black stone were evaporated, with the explosion also scorching the trees at the edges of the clearing. The flames were put out by the blast wave that kicked up dirt and dust, as a brownish mushroom cloud rose high above the trees. With not even dust remaining of the black stone, Hotaru felt slightly less anxious, but couldn't shake off the feeling of uncertainty. Was this really it?


Able to use magic again, Hotaru quickly headed back home, with a sense of worry lingering over him. Having stormed out of the house without a proper explanation and not having returned home all night; Hotaru had no idea what kind of a welcome he would get. All he did know was that he wanted to see Alcyone more than he feared her scolding him.

By the time he reached home, it was still late morning due to time zones. His mansion looked quiet and empty, with no maids or Alcyone visible. However, looking at the position of the sun, Hotaru figured it was lunch time for the maids. Landing in front of the main building's terrace door, he was about to open it when it was violently pulled open in front of him.

With heavy bags under her eyes and her jaw agape and tears running down her cheeks, Alcyone stared at him in disbelief. Before Hotaru could greet her, the raven-haired sorceress jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Though this level of affection left Hotaru baffled, her pouting expression made him lean back in fright.

"Where were you!?" Alcyone cried angrily, hugging him tightly. "I was so worried!"

Feeling Alcyone shiver against his body, Hotaru unassembled his armor before wrapping his arms around her gently. His heart was about to burst with remorse, seeing the state Alcyone was, for he never knew she would react so strongly.

"I'm sorry I left…" Hotaru apologized, looking into her tearful indigo eyes. "I was just out visiting Ferio and Ascot. I should have let you know…"

"No! That's not what I mean!" Alcyone yelled, almost choking on her tears. "I spent all night trying to track you down! I couldn't sense you anywhere! You disappeared completely and now you're back, covered in bruises!"

With Alcyone crying against his chest and stroking his own sore cheek, Hotaru finally understood what was going on. Realizing how far Alcyone had gone to try and retrieve him, he knew he couldn't stay silent about his morning.

"Ah… Well, the thing is," Hotaru started roundaboutly, not wanting to worry her even more, "when I tried coming back home, I discovered the Forest of Silence was back, and active."

Letting out a quiet yet shocked gasp, Alcyone stared up in disbelief, her body tensing up as almost rejecting this explanation.

"H-How is that possible?" she asked, the severity of the situation sinking into her. "I thought the seal on the Forest of Silence was broken already…"

"That's what I thought too. I found out otherwise when I crash-landed into a tree and woke up in the forest when the sun came up," Hotaru continued his story. "I couldn't use magic so it took me a while to figure the way out."

"…I c-can't believe it, b-but it explains so much," Alcyone stuttered, before completely slumping against Hotaru. "I couldn't sense your magical aura in the forest, so I thought you had just instantly disappeared or died… How horrible for you to have been in the forest all alone!"

Wrapping his arms around her gently, "It wasn't too bad. Thanks to Mazdakin I was able to 'break the seal' once more."

Although the idea thatAlcyone was able to tell his location even on another continent was a bit frightening, it was of no concern to him right now. Holding her securely in his arms, Hotaru noticed how Alcyone's body temperature was higher than normal.

She is burning up… no, I am just used to her body temperature being so low. She may not have fever, but she stayed up all night worrying over me. I remember having similar hot flashes when not getting sleep due to continuous stress.

As Hotaru looked after Alcyone, he almost didn't notice their head maid, Integra, walk through the open door. The green-haired maid seemed surprised to see him, but quickly collected herself.

"I am glad you are back, Sir Hotaru," Integra bowed politely. "Lady Alcyone has been in less-than-ideal condition after you left."

Stroking the floor length hair of her lover, Hotaru smiled sadly, "Sorry about that. Honestly I expected her to be a lot angrier at me for disappearing like that."

"I assure you, she has gone through a whole spectrum of emotions after you weren't back by dinner," Integra mentioned bluntly, causing Alcyone to twitch violently in Hotaru's arms.

"Hotaru… I'm sorry I drove you out," Alcyone apologized, keeping her face buried in his chest. "I shouldn't have made you diet and exercise against your will…"

Hearing Alcyone blame herself; Hotaru hugged her tighter and smiled, "You were just trying to do what you thought was best for me. And I know now that you were right.I need to stop relying on my magic so much. Besides, I didn't leave because of you."

Looking up carefully, Alcyone asked carefully, "…You didn't?"

Smiling at her warmly to make her feel at ease, Hotaru assured her, "I just needed to get out of the house for something other than work. But now, I want nothing more than to spend time with you."

"…That is so sweet of you," Alcyone smiled back at him, "but I need to start Envix's magic lessons soon… We are still trying to figure out how to awaken her powers and…"

"Not today," Hotaru said sternly, placing his finger onto her lips. "You are in desperate need of rest and I need some as well after the night I've had. We're going to bed, get nice six hours of rest, and then figure what to do with the rest of the day."

"But then we can't get any sleep at night!" Alcyone whined tiredly while being picked up by Hotaru.

"No buts! We'll figure something out," Hotaru ordered, carrying Alcyone with her legs wrapped around his waist, all the way to their bedroom.


Having slept till evening, Hotaru and Alcyone had taken the rest of the day off, with Hotaru only doing a single surveillance flight. After snuggling under the covers for a bit, the two of them had washed up before a late dinner. Tired of eating fish as well, Alcyone had cooked Bugattian stew for old times sake, with Hotaru helping with preparations and seasoning. After eating their fill, they had sat down on their living room couch to play video games and relax for a few hours. Next, they had taken time to spoil each other, while discussing about the Forest of Silence on the side.

As far as Alcyone knew, the forest of silence had been well known as the most dangerous location in all of Cephiro for thousands of years. Its magic suppressing abilities and innumerous monsters, were well documented all the way to the days of the first Pillars. Many Pillars had tried to turn the forest into a normal woodland, but none had been able to, for the forest also nullified Pillar's powers. No one really knew what caused the anti-magic field, so Alcyone was curious to hear about the stone that created monsters.

To top off the day, Hotaru and Alcyone relaxed in their private hot spring for the first time since the maids had arrived. As there was only a sliver of moon in the sky, they lit up the edges of the hot spring with candles. After talking about sweet nothings for a few hours while eating snacks in the pool, they finally felt tired enough to return to bed.

The next day life in the mansion returned back to normal, for the most part. With the Forest of Silence having served as a grim reminder to Hotaru about his mortality, he had taken his exercises to a new level. To make sure he would be strong and agile enough to defend himself even without magic, he started training far more earnestly. While he didn't go for a full body building route, he started training his swordsmanship, doing calisthenics, and going on runs in the forest.

He would run over to the four mountains opposite to his home mountain, before training his wind cutter and Dark X against its stony cliffs. Once finished, he would run back to the mansion and take a shower in the bathhouse. While this new daily routine often gave him muscle cramps afterwards, Alcyone's medicines were effective at relieving muscle stiffness. To help Hotaru with his exercises, Alcyone would often spar with him with practice swords, allowing for both of them to get better at sword fighting.

As for Alcyone, she continued tending to her new herb and potato fields in addition to her old gardens and the courtyard. Sometimes she would deliver her medicine to villages to sell it, or give it for free if someone was seriously ill. She felt slightly guilty for not being able to contribute more to Cephiro's rebuilding, but seeing the damages she had caused being repaired, put her mind at ease.

In addition to her daily chores, Alcyone continued teaching Envix about magic, with the purpose of trying to awaken her magical potential. On one occasion Envix was able to use magic, but this turned out to be due to Alcyone giving her so much of her own she had to discharge it.

After a little over a week had passed in the mansion, Hotaru and Alcyone received another messenger bird, while eating their breakfast outside. Removing the letter from the white bird's leg, Alcyone read the message.

"…It seems that Presea and the others are finished with that alarm system you ordered," she said, before smiling at Hotaru. "Now you won't have to do your surveillance flights anymore after today."

"Finally," Hotaru said happily, getting up off of his seat. "With this we can visit other places without worrying about being unaware of an attack. I will go and fetch it immediately."

"Safe travels," Alcyone cheered him on.

Vaulting over the terrace railing down to the courtyard, Hotaru wanted to take some distance from their breakfast table, so as not to flip it when taking off. Just as he was putting on his Double Armor, he saw Integra and the other maids approaching him. At first he thought they were just coming over to clean up the dishes from the breakfast, but it was clear they were looking directly at him.

"Sir Hotaru, may we have a word with you?" Integra asked politely.

"Certainly, what seems to be the problem?" Hotaru beamed, being in a better mood than usual.

"Well… There is this one matter that needs to be addressed before—"

"You haven't paid us!" Envix cut to the chase.

"What?" Hotaru blinked in confusion. "Oh! Right, you've already been here for a month… My apologies, time flies when you're having fun."

"It certainly does!" Livina smiled radiantly. "I haven't had this much fun in over a decade!"

"…What a sad life you've lived," Envix whispered under her breath.

Clearing his throat, Hotaru addressed them formally, "Alright, but before your payment there is some feedback I should give you. One, you have all shown great improvement during the past month, in both cooking, chores, and work morale. The only thing I have to really complain about, is that I wish you would try to stay quiet during the night. I don't know what you three do in your bedroom at night, but me and Alcyone can hear it in our bedroom."

"Mostly it is pillow fights," Livina admitted, recalling the past month.

With both Envix and Hotaru looking at the orange-haired maid in disbelief for just admitting that, Integra addressed her employer, "We will take this into consideration; however, we would like to also file a complaint about noises during the night. I am happy you and Lady Alcyone are passionate, Sir Hotaru, but declaring your arrivals is a bit…"

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Hotaru interrupted Integra, blushing deep red. "I'll just sound-proof the main building…"

Aiming his left gauntlet at the maids, Hotaru produced three bags of gold coins one by one, handing them over to the maids. These were bags of gold he had prepared for them in advance, back when he and Alcyone were still in the hiring process. Each bag contained 250 gold coins, an amount Livina and Integra seemed pleased with, but their shortest maid…

"This doesn't seem a lot…" Envix complained. "My mother gets paid at least twice as much."

"You aren't a Master Builder," Integra pointed out. "This is more than enough for a maid to be paid. Especially since we do not have to pay for food."

"What should we spend it on, though?" Livina asked, stroking her chin. "Should we get some pretty dresses? New underwear? Fluffier blankets for our beds?"

"You have fun figuring that out, I have to go now. See you soon," Hotaru smiled, taking off with moderate speed, before accelerating into the horizon.

Seeing their master fly off, Envix mused, "…Must be fun to be able to fly like that."

"Continue studying with Lady Alcyone and perhaps you can learn how to teleport," Integra pointed out. "That is even faster than flying."

"But maybe not as much fun," Livina pointed out, before spotting something. "...Is that another messenger bird?"

Watching a pink bird fly over to Alcyone, Integra recognized it, "…That's Master Mage Clef's messenger bird."

Rushing over to Alcyone, they saw the sorceress offer her finger to it, letting it land gently on it. Removing the letter from around its neck, Alcyone started reading it, while the maids watched from below.

"What is the news, Lady Alcyone?" Integra asked curiously.

"Are we getting another celebrity guest?" Livina asked excitedly.

"…Potentially. It seems Clef has managed to provide what I asked of him," Alcyone smiled at the letter.


Having reached Renault, which by this point was a town in all but name and population, Hotaru had headed straight for the research center. There, he had quickly found Presea, Sierra, and Zazu in a luxurious break-room with potted plants, large cushy sofas, wide windows facing the atrium, and a kitchenette. Sitting down to drink a cup of mocha with the twins, Zazu had left to bring over the alarm system, which he had already wrapped up in a tarp.

As the short young man brought it over, Hotaru was flabbergasted by the size of it. Instead of a freezer like his previous introduction to Autozamian tech, its size was more akin to a Zamboni.

"This thing is… a lot bigger than I thought," Hotaru scratched his head.

"Well, what did you expect?" Zazu asked sarcastically. "This is twenty units of long-range alarm systems with signal strength to cover the entire planet. Not to mention the main control panel that will be installed into your home and the power sources."

"Right… I shouldn't complain about that," Hotaru pointed out. "I guess it will all fit in my gauntlets. What do I owe you all?"

"Not much," Sierra admitted honestly. "Most of the technology is old and primitive by Autozam standards, so it was cheap to get it. Making it work off of the magic batteries was the labor-intensive part."

"True, but we also know you are not short on cash," Presea smiled impishly. "How about three thousand gold pieces? One grand for each of us?"

With a slightly twitching nerve, Hotaru ejected the bags of gold onto the breakroom table, "This is starting to become an expensive day… Good thing my payday is tomorrow."

As Hotaru stored away the components of the alarm system, Presea and Sierra counted the money to make sure they were getting enough. Although they had to reduce the material costs and imports, they all had essentially made two month's salary in one job. With all the components gathered up, Hotaru was about to talk to the twins, when Zazu walked over to him.

"Here you go, the final piece of the alarm system," he said, handing over what looked like a wrist watch. "This is the mobile computer. It will help you link up the system and tell you what village is in need of rescue and how bad things get. Green means monster has been spotted, yellow means it is heading towards the village, and red means it is already attacking."

The mobile computer was essentially a silver strapped watch with a green metallic case. At the center, was a sky-blue glowing screen with Autozamian words, some of which Hotaru was already familiar with. Looking at the wrist watch in his hand, Hotaru was at first amazed by how something so small could do all that. But then he remembered the smartphones of his previous life, realizing just how simple a gadget like this was in comparison. This was until he touched the screen, at which point it projected a holographic interface on top of it. Turning it off, he quickly put it on.

"This will take some getting used to," Hotaru mused while putting it on. "By the way, would you two be interested in making some extra cash? I have another project in mind, this one a lot simpler."

With Presea and Sierra looking at him, the older of the twins raised an eyebrow, "Define, simpler?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could make Alcyone a new sword?" Hotaru suggested. "I've been thinking of what to give her as a birthday present, and remembered that I sort of broke her previous one. I don't expect it to be made out of Escudo, but something high-grade would be nice."

Crossing her arms, Presea thought about it, "It has been a while since I last got to actually make a weapon…"

"But are you sure about this?" Sierra asked, frowning condemningly. "Giving your girlfriend a sword is not very advisable, as it is considered a brutish thing to do. Gifting someone a sword was considered a means of challenging someone to a life-or-death duel back in the day. You should try to think of something more thoughtful and personal to give to her."

"Oh… I didn't know Cephiroans saw it like that," Hotaru admitted annoyedly. "I thought I would have the sword's guard and handle embedded with gems I found to make it more personal. Take a look."

Extending his gauntlet towards the breakroom table and letting out the moon gems he had collected, Hotaru realized his error too late. There was a loud crash as the table collapsed under the weight of massive hunks of rock that were a lot bigger when viewed up close. Several boulder sized rocks, shining seafoam green and cerulean blue with little streaks of magenta, fell to the ground with a thud, scattering gold coins everywhere. As Zazu quickly started gathering the coins up so as none would be lost, Presea and Sierra stared at the pile of rubble with their jaws agape.

"Uhh… Apologies about that," Hotaru grimaced embarrassingly. "I didn't know they were that big…"

Despite Hotaru's apology, the twins barely even registered his words, as they stared at the giant gemstones before them.

"…Are those Olympia opals?" Presea yelled out loud.

"They match the description…" Sierra held the side of her head.

"S-Something wrong with them…?" Hotaru asked carefully?

"Yeah! The SIZE!" the twins yelled together.

Looking at Hotaru with a mixture of emotions, Sierra yelled, "These are the rarest gemstones in all of Cephiro! The only people who have ever had these have been the Pillars and the wealthiest nobility!"

"I've heard of these…" Zazu examined some of the stones larger than himself. "The queen of Chizeta supposedly has three of these on her headdress."

Having a hunch as to why the others were reacting this way, Hotaru asked carefully, "So how valuable are they?"

"They are worth a fortune!" Presea exclaimed frustratedly, holding onto the side of her head. "A few karats would be enough to buy all the weapons in my old shop or a small village! One of these would be enough to buy all the land in Cephiro! Had I known you had these I would have twice as much for payment!"

"…Want me to pay you in opals this time?" Hotaru suggested, trying to appease the clearly angry twins.

"We would love that if it was twenty years ago! There is no one on Cephiro who can afford even a shard of these today!" Presea grimaced, before looking at the opals again. "…Or at least I think so? I think you may have flooded the market with these and dropped their price like an anvil…"

"What a waste of a good fortune," Hotaru sighed annoyedly while rubbing his temples. "All the wealth in the world and no way to spend it."

"Where did you find these?" Zazu asked curiously.

Hotaru was about to tell he had found a motherload on the moon, as he was the only one on Cephiro who could get there. But remembering that Zazu was from Autozam, he wanted to avoid a potential battle for resources.

"…I discovered a source for them on my travels," Hotaru said proudly. "Anyway, do you think a sword decorated with these would still be a bad present?"

Remembering these stones were to be used for Alcyone's birthday present, Presea sighed jealously, "It would certainly turn some heads… and potentially attract the wrong kind of attention. Then again, she would have a sword to defend herself with…"

"I get what you mean…" Hotaru admitted, reconsidering his plans. "Well, at least I still have a plan B."


…Good bye plan B!

Having ordered the sword for Alcyone anyway since it didn't necessarily need to be a birthday present, Hotaru had made his way back. Deciding to leave collecting this month's payments and installing the alarm system for tomorrow, he had gone straight home. Upon arrival, there were two new figures at the country house, with eight legs between them.

"Weeeeee!" Envix screamed out loud happily, flying atop a flaming equine high up in the air.

"What do you think, Hotaru?" Alcyone asked, stroking the cheek of another. "They are called Zenith and Nadir. Master Mage Clef found them and brought them over. Aren't they magnificent?"

The two flaming horses were in fact quite magnificent in both size and build, as well as very healthy looking. Zenith, the one that Envix was riding, was a white unicorn with a blue flaming mane, like the one Alcyone had once had. Its white fur and long straight horn shone silver in the sunlight, and its sharp eyes were solid purple. The other one, Nadir, was a black bicorn with a deep purple flaming mane and golden ram-horns. Its eyes gleamed red and looked quite sinister, but its behavior was quite tame and noble.

"Yeah… they look absolutely wonderful," Hotaru forced himself to smile. There goes my plan for getting her a new mount…

"…Did he say anything about that flying coach you mentioned?" Hotaru asked, trying not to let his frustration show.

"He said he would have one ready in a few months," Alcyone smiled, "though we will have to pay for that one."

Though paying wasn't an issue, Hotaru tried his all not to clench his fists, before sighing deeply to calm down. Seeing Alcyone so happy to have mounts for the both of them, Hotaru accepted the fact that he was back to the drawing board. And seeing how happy Envix was, kind of freaked him out…

Flying back down on the unicorn next to Alcyone, Envix asked her teacher, "Lady Alcyone… When you get the coach for these two, you mind if I train to become your coachman?"

"I mean…" Alcyone thought about it, surprised to see Envix this excited about something. "I guess it would be fine, but it will have to come after your magic studies."

"Ah! A-About that…" Envix stuttered, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I… don't really want to continue practicing magic. I mean, I have enjoyed our time together, I just don't think I am really getting anywhere with it."

Letting out a slight gasp and looking at her student rejectedly, Alcyone asked, "…Do you really feel that way?"

"I have learnt a lot about magic, so it hasn't all been a waste of time" Envix admitted, smiling awkwardly. "But I think I now know enough about magic to recognize that I just don't have the potential for it. And I'd rather just attend to the horses…"

Feeling disheartened, Alcyone slumped her shoulders, "…I guess I'm not cut out to be a Master Mage just yet…"

Placing his hand on Alcyone's shoulder, Hotaru encouraged her, "I don't think you did that badly. You clearly taught Envix something, you were patient even when she showed no progress, explored different ways to teach her, and listened to her requests. You were a good teacher, you just taught her about the wrong topic."

Seeing Hotaru stroke the back of the bicorn, Alcyone brightened up and smiled, "You're right. Envix! Tomorrow, I will teach you about magical mounts!"

With Envix cheering happily, Hotaru smiled and walked back in, letting the ladies enjoy their horses. He still had a few months left to decide on a gift for Alcyone, so he could think of something else. For now, he had to figure out what to do with sixteen metric tons of Olympia opal…


Author's Afterword: I am… surprisingly exhausted after this chapter, so I will keep it short. Not only was it longer than usual, but I also found myself writing less per day than normal. Needless to say, I still enjoyed it, despite having hoped to keep the space adventure and Alcyone turning into a cat in the previous chapter.

The title of the chapter is not only a reference to Alcyone's and Hotaru's new mounts, but also about Hotaru's misadventures this time around.

My Deviantart page is now up and has some concept art and fan art! The link should be available in my profile and I will be uploading more in the future.

As always, reviews, questions, and critiques are welcome! Let me know what you thought of the chapter! I would like to thank our reoccurring guest for your review on the last chapter! I would also like to thank Antoinette Veronica for the beautiful Hotaru fanart that they commissioned!

Remember, even if you leave a review on an older chapter, I will always be grateful and make sure to mention you in the next chapter!