The incident of the day before is forgotten by the next day, when Eliphas arrives. He was suppose to wait for Astral to come back, but the death of his key owner was an unforeseen and rather unfortunate event that seemed to affect Astral's ability to do his mission. Eliphas also would have transported him back without leaving, but both Astral and Dark seem to want to talk before being taken back, so he rather reluctantly agreed.

They meet downstairs in the living room while Kari does the chores and Haru talks with the funeral home. Since none of them could be seen, it is safe to meet there. Besides, Astral refuses to meet upstairs, where Shing is hiding away in Yuma's room while Yuri and Dark Mist try to get her to open up. Dark is pacing around impatiently while Astral sits on the end of the couch, his arms resting on the armrest. He seems to be staring into space while waiting.

Finally in a flash of light, a tall man appears before them. He is the same sky blue color as Astral with blue and gold eyes. He has on golden armor along with a golden helmet, with large blue gems embedded into them. From behind the helmet is hair that's a little longer than shoulder length in different shades of gold. The armor lacks sleeves, but his forearms are covered with blue fingerless gauntlets. They are trimmed with a gold color with a large blue gem in the center on the top of his hands.

"Eliphas!" Dark exclaimed, immediately jumps onto the tall man hugging him.

"Hell Dark," Eliphas answers, not even trying to push him away. He knows that's futile. "Hello Astral."

"Hello Eliphas." Astral answers blankly, he can barely remember anything about this man.

"You two said you wanted to talk before you come back."

"Yes. I would like to postpone our arrival until after the funeral."

Eliphas's face hardens. Through the memories Darl allowed him to see, Astral knows to expect this reaction but he doesn't care. "We have no time for this. The sooner you can come back and prepare for another key owner, the sooner you can complete your mission."

I know that, but I want to honor my friend by attending his funeral."

"Friendship is meaningless. If you don't complete your mission, we will never advance."

Dark suddenly becomes calm and settles himself on the couch while Astral shoots a fiery glare towards Eliphas. "It is not meaningless! I will attend the funeral, and after that you can do whatever it is you want to. But it will not happen before, do you hear me?"

Eliphas doesn't miss the sharpness and the hurt in his voice. He sets his jaw. Human funerals usually take a long time to plan. By then, Astral's purity will be beyond fixable. It is best to go now rather than later. The look on Astral's face and his body language tells Eliphas that it would be best to wait though. After all, by the way Dark's now behaving, his emotional levels are high enough to make that possibility a threat.

Against his better judgment, Eliphas relented. "Very well, but I don't know the consequences of your decision."

Astral immediately calms down. In contrast, Dark perks up and screams loudly. "Stop doing that Astral!"

Astral ignores his twin and settles back down on the couch. "We'll call when the event is over."

"Very well." Eliphas opens a portal to leave, but he isn't sure if he'll be able to fix what is broken.

~.~.~

After a few days of endless attempts to get Shing and Astral to stay in the same room together without breaking out into an argument, the day finally comes when it happens. Shing is sitting up in Yuma's room, looking out the window, when Astral approaches her silently. He knows Yuma wouldn't want any of his friends to fight, so he once again decides to be the bigger person and talk to her, at least for his late friend's sake.

"Hey." he calls.

Shing jumps and whirls around to face him. When she sees it is only Astral, she discreetly breathes a sigh. "Hi."

An awkward silence settles over them. They remain apart from each other, looking everywhere but at each other. Finally Astral speaks first.

"I'd like to apologize for my behavior. It was immature of me," he says, still clutching the Emperor's Key in his hand. "Can you forgive me for my behavior?"

Shing only stares at him for a moment, not really processing this information immediately. Did he just apologize? Well, they had been jerks to each other for the past few days since Yuma's death; one of them had to say something first, and that someone is apparently Astral. She nods once. "I forgive you."

Astral nods and sits beside her. "Yuma wouldn't want us to fight, I know this, but I could not bring myself to speak with you after how you acted."

"I'm sorry for that," Shing sighs, feeling fresh tears brimming her eyes. "I just… I-I couldn't stand the thought of him just…" She trailers off.

"The thought that he would no longer be so animated?" Astral finishes for her softly. His voice quivers only slightly. But his eyes show his true sorrow. "That thought…it's difficult to grasp…"

Shing sniffs, nodding in agreement. She can't trust her voice, not with tears threatening to spill onto her cheeks. Astral sees this and reaches out experimentally. To his surprise, his hand doesn't simply pass through. Instead, he is able to touch her shoulder. With this knowledge, he wraps his arms around the distraught girl as they both mourn for their friend.