Karine seemed to be in a panic as soon as she heard the news about change of leadership at the Carmine Corporation. She instantly thought that something had happened to her father. Before David or the new guy could say another word, Karine immediately pulled out her cell phone and began trying to call her father. Even after a few attempts, she couldn't get an answer. The lack of an answer to her question had made her anxiety even worse. In a matter of seconds, Karine had decided to leave the party early after the news about William Carmine delivered and she couldn't find out what was going on.

While Karine was panicking in her head, David was honestly debating if he should hit the guy or not. Between this Gabriel ruining his date's evening and even hijacking David's favorite way to address Karine.....David going to, at least, confront the man for being rude. Just as he was beginning to open his mouth, he felt a tug at the sleeve of his jacket.

Realizing that he may have just cause and issue, the guy named Gabriel started, "Lady Karine....if I could have a moment, I could....."

Not waiting on Gabriel to finish speaking, Karine suddenly threw her phone in her purse and grabbed David by the arm.

"Excuse us. We need to go. I need to talk with my dad," Karine said in one long string of words. Then she turned and quickly started walking towards the exit.

As David hurried along behind Karine, he couldn't resist turning around to see Gabriel chuckling with the other three guys next to him. They seemed to be having a great time without a care that they just messed up Karine's evening. All of a sudden, David felt a burst of threat coming from one of the men to Gabriel's side. Their eyes made contact and a devilish grin appeared on the man's face....and the man thumbed his nose at David.

"Who the hell are these guys? Why would they show such an aggressive look toward me?" David thought to himself turned back around to catch up to Karine at the door.

_______________________________________________

As the limousine pulled up at the Carmine's home, Karine basically didn't even wait for it to stop before she was out the door and running up the entrance way staircase. She had been a mess the entire ride and nothing David could say would calm her down. The woman was really worried for her father. David guess that since she had lost her mother when younger then she must have had a slight complex toward the safety of her dad.

Bursting through the door, Karine was greeted by a few people that she didn't recognize. David was only a few steps behind and almost ran into Karine's back when she suddenly stopped in the doorway.

Standing just inside the doorway, David looked up and saw three men standing in the foyer. One of the men was Mr. Carmine and the two other men were unfamiliar and appeared to be slightly younger than Mr. Carmine.

"Karine," Mr. Carmine said, "Why are you in such as rush? We have some special guests. Take a moment to talk to us."

Ignoring the guests comment, Karine responded to her father, "I was in a rush to see if you were okay. Some guy named Gabriel ran into us at the Grand Opening Gala and said that you are leaving to go to The Other. Is everything okay?"

Before Mr. Carmine could respond, one of the men standing next to him stepped up and said, "Apologies, Lady Karine. My son, Gabriel, can be a bit loose tongued when he is excited. When we arrived earlier, he had rushed out to find you."

David looked at the man in evaluation. The older man had a similar bearing as Mr. Carmine and was slightly taller then the other two men standing by his side.

The tall man bowed and lifted Karine's hand and kissed it.....then he paused and said, "My name is Vincent Carmine and I will be taking over control of the Carmine Corporation once your father transitions to The Other."

"My adopted son, Gabriel, was very excited at the chance of meeting Lady Karine, whose famed beauty even manages to reach the ears of those in The Other," Vincent Carmine said in a leading manner.

Realizing that someone else had spoiled his chances of breaking the news easily to his daughter, Mr. Carmine started to grow a bit agitated. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to keep his daughter at bay much longer, William Carmine decided it was best to end the tour short.

"That's enough for now, Vincent. I haven't even had a chance to explain what is happening to my daughter and your son has caused her to be in such a worried state," Mr. Carmine said in a slightly peeved manner, "Karine, you and David go over to the study and I will join you shortly to explain. Let me finish getting these gentlemen settled in for the evening then I will come back to speak with you."

"Nice meeting you, Lady Karine," Vincent Carmine said while giving David a glare that could almost burn holes in his face.

The group of four men walked off and left Karine and David standing there in the entrance way. After recovering from the rapid delivery of new information, the two made their way over to the study to wait for Mr. Carmine. Karine was still a mess. She kept pacing back and forth in the study.....and wouldn't really even pause for a second to talk with David.

__________________________________________

After about 20 minutes, Mr. Carmine showed up with both Mr. Gauge and Mr. Lester in tow. He must have called them on his walk back to the room. David knew that Mr. Gauge lived in the main Carmine residence, so he wouldn't have been far away. But why was Mr. Lester here?

Each man proceeded to walk over to a small mini-bar that was situated at a corner of the study. After each pouring themselves a glass of some type of liqueur, the three men walked over and began explaining the situation in an alternating fashion.

Mr. Carmine started, "Two weeks ago, I had a few lucky insights when sparing with Mr. Lester. I have been at the peak of the Foundation stage for only a year. For me to have the insight to develop a sword concept and become a Level 1 Sword Demigod...it is basically a miracle for it to happen that fast. My first concept is even the 'slash' concept which is very beneficial to battle."

David could tell that the old man was excited. Who wouldn't be happy about increasing in strength?

Mr. Carmine had stopped talking, so Mr. Gauge picked up, "Since William needed to focus on consolidating his concept, I decided that it would be best to send notice to the Carmine Family in The Other to begin preparation for the transfer. I only sent over the notice last week. How was I supposed to know that they would send someone over so fast? It is not like William needs to leave tomorrow. He should have around 3 months before he would be negatively influenced by his presence here."

Mr. Carmine continued, "Vincent Carmine is the only son of my uncle Phillip Carmine. Phillip is slightly older than my father by about 30 years, but technically Vincent and I are in the same generation. Because Vincent is at the Level 5 Fire Foundation Stage and is 10 years younger than me, then the family thinks that he will be another stable person to lead the Carmine Family on Earth."

"It doesn't hurt his stance either that his adopted son is an exceptional talent. Vincent said that he is already a Level 4 Fire Foundation Stage. He is almost as strong as Vincent," Mr. Lester said.

"Dad, why don't they just put Uncle Gauge in charge or even Mr. Lester? They have more than enough knowledge and power to keep everything under control here," Karine said questioningly.

"The Carmine Family in The Other always want someone of the direct Carmine Family line to lead their forces here on Earth. This is a policy that great grandfather established long ago to secure our family's status on earth. No exceptions can be made," Mr. Carmine explained.

"Why don't you just come back after you progress to Demigod Stage?" David interjected a question.

"I wish it were that easy," Mr. Carmine said, "there is a treaty amount all 9 gatekeepers on Earth. No Demigod Stage can come back to the planet from The Other. In the past, a few of the Demigods had come back and ruled over part of Earth. After spending time here, they soon realized that the heavenly energy in their bodies was dissipating. Because the Earth's atmosphere lacks heavenly energy so much, the heavenly energy stored in the body of a Demigod slowly dissipates over time. Although Demigods are relatively common in The Other, the 9 gatekeepers had seen extended Earth stay as too risky and outlawed it."

"The gates even have rune restrictions placed on them that prevent a demi-god from transferring over," Mr. Lester said to back it up, "Only Gods could override those restrictions."

"So how much is this going to shake things up?" David said.

He didn't receive a response.

"David, why don't you give us a few minutes to speak with Karine alone? We have a few important family issues to discuss," Mr. Carmine said.

"Sure....I'll just wait outside," David said. He realized he was being asked to leave.

_______________________

After about ten minutes, Karine came walking out of the room with her father and the two other men.

"Karine, remember to consider your future," Mr. Carmine said before glancing at David. Then, Mr. Carmine, Mr. Gauge, and Mr. Lester walked off.

Karine was left standing in front of David with a disheartened look on her face.

Trying to cheer her up, David proposed a change of scenery.

"Karine, how about we go for a walk in the woods in the back of the estate?" David asked, "With the news from tonight, I would really like to go for a nighttime walk in the woods right now and you said that you loved walking in the woods with your mom."

After standing there for another minute, Karine looked up at David's face and said, "No, David. I have so many things going through my mind right now. I just don't know what to do."

Karine continued, "I know my father isn't dying or anything and that this is actually a good thing.....but I don't want to lose him. It seems like I won't be going with him to The Other right away. I need to stay here to help the new group from the Carmine Family adjust to life on Earth and the inner operations of the Carmine Corporation."

"I understand Karine. I guess I will probably just head back to my apartment," David said as he leaned forward to give her a kiss.

Leaning away as David moved in, Karine said, "David, I'm not really sure about us at the moment. With everything going on a lot is going to be changing in the next couple of months. I need some time to think. Sorry."

Karine just turned around an left at a quick pace.

David was left standing in the entrance of the Carmine's house with only the two door attendants present.

"What the hell?" David said to himself.

How had tonight went from being a fun celebration to an absolute shit hole of a mess.