“Hanabi…Souta…” Misashi got back up onto her feet, holding onto Hanabi for support. “It is no longer safe here, we have to move… I have a place near the mountains where I used to train at, it is safeguarded and invisible to those from the outside. The Red Crimson may strike at any given moment, we have no time to spare. Grabbing onto her katana, Misashi started drawing seals in the air spelling the word “開” in emerald green. A portal soon opened with a spring and a dojo on the other side, I held onto Yukina and carried her body along with us through the portal.

Upon arriving at the dojo, Misashi started preparing for Yukina’s cremation whilst Hanabi and I washed up Yukina’s body to ready her for the cremation. “Isn’t this weird? Just a moment ago she was alive and still laughing but now…she’s not even moving…” The pain and guilt in my heart overwhelmed me as I tried my hardest to fight back the tears. After cleansing her body, Hanabi placed her onto a bamboo table nearby and started applying make-up on Yukina’s face. I couldn’t bear to continue watching so I made my way to the hot spring nearby and decided to take a quick bath.

Removing my clothes, I realised it had blood stains all over it and all over my arms. I submerged my lower body into the hot spring before completely sitting down with only my head above the water. The blood on my arms dissipated into the water as I looked up thinking to myself, if only I had been there, things might have been different. “Mind if I join?” Excalibur materializes and sits down in the spring beside me.

“Throughout my life, I have seen both the good and bad side that it has to offer. The countless numbers of death around me, the lives that I have taken, the world was kill or be killed for me until I met this man called Siegfried. He lost the love of his life during Crisis Zero and was demolished, the pain he felt must have been close to the pain you are feeling now. However, he never looked backwards and always looked forwards, he knew he had to keep living for his two precious kids in his life. Well who knows where he is now, all I know is that I shall fulfil his last wish and order as my master. Souta, you should look forward, live life to the fullest for yourself, even if all hope seems lost, there are those around you who deeply care for you. I might be new here but I do know that you had something that Siegfried never had as a teenager and that is friends.”

“I understand, Yukina wouldn’t want me to live on in pain and guilt. I will live on for her sake… By the way, you mentioned this knight called Siegfried? Who is he exactly?” I asked in curiosity. Excalibur nudged her shoulder against my chest and started teasing me, “I’ll tell you more master, but right now, you should relax yourself first after going through all that, it must have been really rough on you. Here let me help you.” She reached her left arm out and pushed me against the side of the hot spring and soon mounted her body against mine.

“Siegfried, he was a noble young man who always fought for his village and his people. Before me, he had a weapon made of the skin of a magical dragon he slain, can’t really recall his name. He had a beautiful wife, almost comparable with my overwhelming beauty and he had two cute kids. A boy and a girl, soon later Crisis Zero happened. Siegfried was on the front lines fighting against the Van Astrea, his wife however was back in the human realm, it was on that fateful day, Siegfried was no longer the knight he used to be. He put the past behind him and decided to leave the human realm forever leaving the kids behind, you can say he was selfish, but I felt he was protecting them. So, he left me back at the lake where he found me and asked the maiden of the lake to safeguard me till the day his…” Excalibur stops and looks hard into my eyes.

“You really look just like him, your sister… Maybe I should have showed up earlier, things wouldn’t be this way…” Excalibur turns away from me and gets off my body. “What do you mean? I don’t…” She shakes her head and smiles, “Everything will be clear soon, he probably realised his daughter’s presence missing, I just hope you will accept him for who he is.” With that Excalibur vanishes into the air, leaving me to question what she meant…

The night soon dawned upon us, the fire was started as Misashi prepared flowers and offerings for the cremation. With Yukina’s body on a bamboo platform, Hanabi and I carried her over the fire. “Souta, are you ready?” I closed my eyes and nodded, releasing the platform from our hands and into the fire. Excalibur appeared and stood next to the fire and faintly I could see tears streaming down her cheeks as she muttered some words before fading off again. Tonight, felt awfully quietly as Misashi brought us to the rooms she had prepared for us. I slept on the tatami on the floor rolling around unable to fall asleep, I could still faintly hear Yukina’s voice echoing “Remember to brush your teeth before bed! Goodnight Onii-chan!” At that moment, the tears in my eyes started streaming down my face fast and free, “Yukina… Onii-chan will be fine, I swear!”

“Souta! Get up! Misashi said she felt a strong presence near the entrance to the springs and headed there first, we should go too!” Hanabi appeared in my room in a kimono. I quickly got up with anger and rage filling my body, “Tetsu? It’s about damn time he showed up! Excalibur!” The holy sword formed in my hands as the both of us made our way to the entrance of the springs.

Upon arriving at the scene, there was a knight in blue and white armour with crimson red hair, his eyes shone green in the reflection of the moonlight. Was that Tetsu, the red hair, it must be! Before I knew it, my body moved on its own towards the knight, with a swing of Excalibur, I sent the ground below us trembling. The knight swerved towards the side to evade my attack which left a huge split on the ground. “My word, you are truly impressive as ever Excalibur!” The knight exclaims in excitement.

“Souta! Stop! That isn’t Tetsu!” Hanabi rushes to my side and holds my hands down, lowering my weapon. “Reinhardt, what are you doing here of all places?” The knight smiles and pats Hanabi on her head and replies, “Under order of my lord of course. I will fill you guys in later but right now, my lord wishes to speak with all of you, please follow me back.” I pulled Hanabi to my side and looked at her with concern, “You know this guy? Can we trust him.” Hanabi shrugs and crosses her arms with a look of disgust in her face, “That knight there is the legendary swordsmaster Reinhardt. He is also my half-brother, we share the same father but he left us when I was only 10, I never saw this jerk ever again, and never have I ever wanted to see him again.”

Reinhardt looked at us with guilt and shame in his eyes, I could tell there was some sort of a tension between him and Hanabi but right now wasn’t the time to dwell into it. A portal formed before the four of us as Reinhardt extended his arm towards the portal, ushering us into it. Excalibur changed form and ran towards Reinhardt jumping onto his back, “Rein! I missed you so much! You’ve grown so much too! Hey guys, you can trust this adorable knight here, quick enter the portal, trust me Souta, the answers are right in front of you.”

I looked through the portal and behind it was a sort of palace with five other knights standing at the entrance. Taking a step through the portal, Hanabi and Misashi followed suit until Reinhardt and Excalibur crossed through, the portal closes. Five knights approached us and all bowed down, “Young Master, welcome back! Sir Reinhardt, welcome back!” The palace gates opened up as Reinhardt brought us into the palace, “This place is known as the Jade Palace, right now we are in a different dimension, a place where humans call heaven.”

My eyes lit up and I placed my right arm onto Reinhardt’s shoulder pad, “Does that mean the dead come here too?” Reinhardt looks at me and shook his head, “The spirit of the dead does indeed go to heaven; however, spirits don’t carry memories with them. It would be best to not associate the living with the dead.” I grit my teeth together and carried on following Reinhardt to a door, Reinhardt walks forwards and gently knocks on the door before opening it. Behind the door was a man with grey long hair wearing more formal clothing as though he were the king.

“Reinhardt bring the rest to their chambers first, I wish to speak with the boy alone.” Reinhardt nodded in agreement before leading the rest to their own personal rooms. The man raised his right arm and signals me to sit down opposite him at his table. I walked forward and bowed down showing some respect before sitting down across him. “May I know why my friends and I are here, sir?” I asked in curiosity.

“Souta Kentaro, how long has it been since we last met, you probably would not recognise me anymore and I do not expect you to as well. I am Siegfried, black knight of dragons, ruler of the Jade Palace.” He turned around and pointed at a picture on the wall above him, a picture of my mother in a stunning white gown with two kids in her arms. He then turned back to face me with a smile on his face, “I’m sorry Souta for not being there for you and Yukina. I hope you understand why I can’t stay in the human realm. My spiritual energy alone could cause imbalance and draw attention from other beings. I couldn’t let any evil beings realise where my wife and two kids were hiding, so I had to hide you from them in the human realm.”

“Hold on, you are my father? Siegfried, is my father?” It struck me hard and fast that this man before me was indeed the fatherly figure that I had always wished for and wanted when I was younger. Excalibur suddenly appears out of nowhere and knelt next to Siegfried, “I’m sorry master, I couldn’t protect…” Siegfried raised his hand and shook his head, his eyes were clearly watery and clearly, he looks like he has been crying for quite some time. “You did what you could Excalibur, I could never blame her death on you.” Siegfried looks back at me letting out a deep sigh, “Souta, I’m truly sorry for the loss of your sister. I hope there was something I could do but right now, there is no time. The truth is at a young age, your sister could master the powers of an archangel and was able to communicate with me telepathically at times. She knew of my existence but I ordered her to keep it a secret from you, your connection to this power has not fully been developed yet, so I wish to train you and…” I got up and slammed hard on the table, “Hey old man, you can’t just come back into my life and order me around. If what you say is true, Yukina is your fucking daughter, you speak as if she is nothing more than an asset to you…”

Siegfried stood up and grabbed me by my collar, “Yes, she is my daughter I admit I should have been there but I couldn’t make it in time. But you were living with her all this time, you are her brother, your job is to protect her! Of course, I’m torn apart as well but what is the point of dwelling in the past? I lost you and your mother during Crisis Zero and I swore to her and myself that I would never let you two die…” The grip on my collar loosened as he sat back down on his seat. “I know I have no rights coming back into your life Souta, however, the Red Crimsons are a threat to both you and I and we both know that girl, Elizabeth Van Astrea is wanted by them. They killed Yukina, that bastard Tetsuya, Souta I can give you immense powers and allow you to realise your strengths and abilities if you give me a chance to show you. Together we shall seek revenge and take down these scums!”

“I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for Yukina and Hanabi.” I got up and headed towards the door before exiting the room. “Excalibur, from now on stay with Souta you got it? No matter what happens to anyone else including me, you will always be by my boy’s side.” Excalibur nodded and smiled before vanishing…

Reinhardt stood outside the room, upon seeing me, he rushed over and asked me if I could follow him for a while. Before long I found myself with him on one of the roofs of the palace, “Souta, Eliza…Hanabi has probably told you by now that I am her half-brother however I want you to know that despite all that, I still love and care for her as a legitimate sister. I know she despises me and my mother, but I truly want her to be happy and safe. Souta Kentaro, I Reinhardt Van Astrea shall fight alongside you against the Red Crimsons who are after my sister and I will defeat the Van Astrea who caused all the pain and suffering from Crisis Zero. By the way, I shall be your new sparring partner so be prepared, I shall not go easy on your just because you are Hanabi’s boyfriend.” Boyfriend? BOYFRIEND?

“There was be a mistake somewhere, I am…” With one swift movement, Reinhardt appears right beside me with his blade at my neck, “Am I mistaken? Are you not in love with my sister? Don’t tell me you are taking advantage and using her!” Fuck, I have no choice don’t I. I shook my head profusely, “No! No! Of course not! I love Hanabi with all my heart, how could I ever use her?” Reinhardt smiles and sheathes his blade and pats me on my back, “I shall decide whether you deserve her first, see you first thing tomorrow for training, don’t be late.” With that, he makes his way back down to the palace.

I was determined to succeed and avenge Yukina’s death, I shall become the most powerful swordsman ever, Tetsu of the Red Crimson, I hope you are ready for this! Wait, where was I supposed to sleep in again? “Reinhardt! Reinhardt! You forgot to show me to my room! Anybody? Hello?”