Hey everybody! I'm sorry that I haven't been updating this story as much as I wanted to. I updated a couple of my other stories because they were shorter. This chapter took me a long time to write partly because of laziness on my part and life in general. I finished it finally and I'm happy to present it to you guys. Thank you for being patient with me and enjoy.

Warning: character death

Arbil and her friends reached the front doors of the floating castle successfully. Crimson pushed them open, the groaning sound echoing loudly throughout the hall. Everyone twisted their heads to see if there were any more Desolate Wasteland Mythics but couldn't find any.

"There's no one here," said Dialo.

"Maybe we defeated them all on the way here," Yosafire stated with a hopeful tone.

Crimson remained on high alert. "Yosafire is probably right, but we haven't encountered any of the rest of the Dark Brigade yet. They are most definitely in here somewhere. Everyone, stick together and be on your guard."

"Do we have any potions or items left to restore our health and magic?" Arbil asked the girls.

Yosafire sifted through her bag. "We have very few so we might need to ration them carefully."

"Then we'll use them during the upcoming battles," Crimson suggested. "We'll switch so whoever fought before can restore their power. Froze should keep a couple on her since she can heal all of us. Does everybody agree?"

Everyone nodded at Crimson's plan. At their approval, he continued. "Then let's go."

The group walked cautiously as they went through corridors to reach the second floor, keeping their eyes open for anything suspicious. They made it to the second floor without any interruptions but remained alert. They took a few steps when Crimson's head flicked to the side above them swiftly.

"Look out!" he shouted urgently, shoving a couple of the girls behind him.

He swung his sword in front of him, releasing a fan of red and black flames as they collided with shards of black ice.

"Dang it," a voice whined. "I thought I could catch you guys by surprise."

Frost was hiding in the shadows of the ceiling, using his black wings to blend in. Having been discovered, he dropped down and landed in front of them. He didn't look too disappointed about being revealed if his crazed look said otherwise.

Macarona shivered. "Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"

"Frost uses black ice magic so he emanates an air of cold around him," Crimson explained. "Yosafire and I will fight him with our fire magic."

The fire demon stepped beside him with eagerness. "I'll do my best!"

"Froze can use her ice magic to counterattack Frost's attacks, but only during certain moments so she can still have magic on reserve for healing. Everybody else, be ready to switch if any of us gets injured."

Froze nodded. "All right."

"Three against one?" Frost commented. "That's unfair but I relish the challenge." He tightened his grip on his cutlass sword. "Come at me!"

Crimson ran toward Frost at full speed but the ice Darkened angel expected it. He stabbed his sword into the floor, creating an icy floor. Crimson clicked his teeth as his feet nearly slipped. The hallway was too small to spread his wings and fly so all of them would have to stay grounded.

Yosafire saw Crimson slip and reacted when the ice crept up to the rest of them. She inhaled a deep breath and blew out a fire breath on the floor, melting the ice.

Frost became so surprised that his ice was easily melted by a regular fire demon that Crimson chose that moment to attack him. He performed a mighty slash on Frost, knocking him into the wall.

"Thanks Yosafire," Crimson said. "Let's continue hitting him while he's down."

"Right!" she responded, running after Crimson.

Frost pulled himself from the wall, an angry expression on his face. "I'm not done yet!"

He flapped his wings repeatedly, creating a blizzard of dark snow. Crimson and Yosafire were forced to stop in their tracks, the force too strong for them to move very well. The others were buffeted by the blizzard but not so greatly since they were at the back. Froze saw an opening on Frost whenever he opened his wings. She unleashed her own barrage of ice shards and attacked him. A few of them were blown back from the wind but the rest managed to strike Frost.

He grunted in pain, pausing his assault. Crimson and Yosafire attacked the ice Darkened angel simultaneously with their swords infused with their magic.

"Awesome job, Froze!" Crimson complimented. "At this rate, we'll defeat Frost in no time. Let's keep up the good teamwork."

Crimson, Yosafire, and Froze worked so well together that there was hardly any need to switch out even when they took damage. Frost fought back relentlessly but couldn't attack Crimson or Yosafire whenever Froze countered his ice attacks.

Crimson threw Frost into the air using his sword, leaving him breathless.

"Now Yosaf! Let's use our fire magic together to finish him!"

Yosaf's sword started heating up. "Way ahead of ya!"

The tips of their swords touched, a fireball of red, black, and orange instantly forming and becoming bigger. With a loud cry, they released their combined attack on Frost while he was still in the air. Not being able to defend himself, the fireball made contact with Frost, causing an explosion. He fell back to the ground, completely defeated.

Crimson let out a sigh of relief. "We got him."

Yosafire plopped down with a grin. "Yay! Victory!"

"It's a lot easier to beat up the Dark Brigade since Mother weakened their magic," Arbil commented.

"Maybe the others will be this easy as well," said Macarona.

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Crimson while leaning on his sword as a support. "One of them can make explosions and the other can shapeshift into any of us, so they could still be formidable opponents. Not to mention we still have to defeat Revlis."

"Well, I'm confident that we'll all beat them," Rawberry stated with confidence.

Crimson smiled. "I think so too." He stood up straight. "All right. Because we didn't take much damage, let's move forward."

Everyone walked forward with Crimson in the lead. Chelan looked back when she noticed that Arbil wasn't moving. A troubled expression was spread across the hybrid's face. She whispered to Dialo and the demon turned to Arbil.

"Are you okay, Arbil?" Dialo asked. "You seem unfocused."

Arbil blinked out of her stupor. She shook her head, giving a forced smile. "Yes, I'm alright. I just went into a trance for a second."

Dialo and Chelan looked at each other then shrugged their shoulders and moved on. Arbil's forced smile fell and she walked after her friends slowly, still staying behind.

She gripped her shirt over her stomach tightly. Why do I have a heavy feeling in my gut like something terrible is going to happen?

She had the feeling since she entered her world and it grew stronger as they progressed through the castle. Arbil shook it off earlier, thinking it was nerves, but started second-guessing the feeling.

I'll just be more cautious from here on out, she concluded to herself.

Arbil ran to catch up with the others when they reached the stairs to the third floor. The group didn't encounter anyone until they reached the middle of the corridor. There stood a male Darkened angel with his arms crossed and eyes closed, awaiting their arrival. He wore a t-shirt with various shades of gray in a pattern of a flame and ripped black jeans. Gray sneakers completed his attire. Upon closer inspection, splotches of black something covered his arms, face, and silver hair.

Crimson stopped and the others followed his example. Sensing their presence, the Darkened angel opened his dark eyes, a serious expression etched on his face.

He began to speak. "From your arrival to this floor, I assume that you defeated Frost. Congratulations, but I won't be so easy. My name is Darius and I will be your next opponent."

"Do you know what kind of power he possesses, Crimson?" Arbil whispered.

He responded. "I'm not certain. The only Dark Brigade members remaining has explosion magic and shape-shifting magic, and he could have either one. He's not making any moves so we need to be cautious."

"Then, let's attack without getting closer," Yosafire suggested while a fireball formed at the tip of her sword.

She let it loose once it reached an adequate size but Darius simply dodged it by stepping to the side.

"Darn it. I thought I could expose his magic but he dodged my attack."

"He's being clever not using his magic, giving him the advantage in this battle," Froze spoke with a calculated tone.

"So the only way to know his power is to attack him straight on," suggested Arbil.

"It seems so," Crimson agreed but didn't like the idea much.

"Well, since you, Yosaf, and Froze fought the first battle, you guys rest and let the rest of us take over. I'll go this time."

"I'll go with you," said Macarona, stepping beside Arbil. She was trembling a bit, but determination burned in her red eyes. "I want to fight and show what I'm capable of."

Crimson still wasn't all right with them attacking Darius blindly but he nodded his head. "Okay, be careful you two."

"We will." Arbil took out her double-headed spear. "Let's go, Macarona."

Macarona clenched her fists, white light emanating from them as she charged her attack. "Right."

Both girls were forced to run to Darius because this corridor was too small for them to fly in as well. When they were only a few feet away from him, Arbil saw his lips change into a smirk. She immediately knew that they were about to fall into a trap. Before she could yell out a warning to Macarona, the floor lit up below their feet. They weren't able to react fast enough and got blasted away by a strong explosion.

"Arbil! Macarona!" Crimson yelled as they all ran to their fallen friends. He ran to Arbil while the others ran to Macarona.

Crimson helped Arbil up as she struggled to raise herself up by her arms. "Are you okay, Arbil?"

"Not really," she grunted in pain as she let Crimson help her up, "but I'm okay overall."

"At least we know he uses explosion magic," Dialo commented as Froze used her healing magic to heal Macarona's wounds.

"Those black splotches on him must be ashes then," Arbil added as she managed to sit up.

"It looks like he can do long range attacks and most likely short range," said Crimson. "It'll be difficult to beat him."

"Chelan can put him to sleep with her singing but because he's powerful, it will only last a few seconds," Dialo suggested. "She needs to get close enough though so her magic doesn't affect us as well."

Chelan nodded her head, agreeing with her demon friend's plan.

Crimson stood up once Froze healed Arbil's wounds. "Then we'll distract Darius for you, so you can get close," he said. "With my fire magic, I'll be able to withstand and counter his explosion magic."

"I'll use my ice to cover the floor in case he added any more mines," Froze stated. "It won't be too slippery and it should be thick enough so you can't trigger any more mines."

"I want in too," Rawberry said, standing beside Crimson, her teeth glinting in a hungry smile. "He hurt Macarona so I want to get back at him."

"Let's go then." Crimson commanded.

As soon as he gave the okay, Froze pounded the blunt part of her box staff against the floor, the floor instantly covered in ice. Crimson and Rawberry dashed to Darius with Crimson in the front. Figuring out his abilities, Darius readied himself for combat. Crimson attacked him with his sword but Darius grabbed the blade with both hands. His palms heated up, producing an explosion that threw Crimson off balance. Rawberry appeared right behind, fangs out ready to bite Darius. He managed to jump back but the pink demon chased after him.

Crimson recovered quickly and assisted Rawberry. When Darius was left open for a second, Chelan appeared out of nowhere and sang a soothing lullaby. A few notes and Darius instantly fell asleep.

"Now's our chance!" Crimson yelled.

The others joined Crimson, Rawberry, and Chelan, unleashing all of their most powerful moves on the sleeping Darius. His body smoked from the group's simultaneous attacks but it didn't seem like it did the damage they expected.

Their time limit was up so fast that Darius was already awake. He awoke with a pained groan and slowly sat up. "I'll admit that you caught me off guard, but I won't let it happen again."

Crimson sucked his teeth. "Dang it. It doesn't look like our attacks did that much harm to him."

"He must have a very high defense stat," said Arbil, "which makes sense since he makes explosions and needs it, so he doesn't take damage from his own magic."

Crimson hummed in agreement. "It's going to be tough beating Darius, but we must attack him non-stop so he can stay down."

Yosafire and her friends knew this was going to be a long winded battle and most of them weren't used to that, but they were determined to fight till the end.

"We're with you guys," Yosafire stated, speaking for her friends.

Arbil smiled at her friends' dedication. She twisted her head back to Darius when she heard him stand up, brushing off his clothes.

She tightened her grip on her weapon. "Ready Crimson?"

He reciprocated the same action as her. "Always."

The group knew that their battle with Darius wouldn't be easy, but they didn't realize that it would take longer than they expected. It took all of them to defeat him. Throughout the fight, they had to switch multiple times in order to recover their strength. They did it so often that they ran out of potions and items. Even Froze was running out of magic to attack and heal.

The group let out a huge sigh of relief when Arbil and Crimson delivered the final blow, Darius knocked out for good.

Yosafire fell over from exhaustion. "That took way too long. I'm completely out of magic and my health is really low."

"All of us are in the same situation except Arbil and Crimson," Froze pointed out.

"What's worse is that we still have to fight one more person and the God," said Macarona, her voice portraying wavering faith.

Crimson sat down against the wall, Arbil sitting beside him. "Unfortunately, we can't go back to Gray Garden to get supplies or restore our health and magic. When we return here, Darius and Frost will most likely wake up, so we'll essentially be starting from square one. Arbil and I have enough power and health to beat the next opponent, so you girls can stay back and rest."

Arbil managed to send a tired grin to the girls. "It was amazing that all of you held up for so long as you are despite the odds. I'm very proud of you all."

Crimson grinned too. "Me too. Let's rest for a few minutes then move on."

Arbil tried to relax to regain her stamina but she couldn't. The heavy gut feeling that she had before became much stronger. What once felt like swallowing a rock now felt like a boulder, giving her a nauseous feeling at the back of her throat. The hybrid hugged her legs to her chest, curling into a tight ball.

She let out a quiet moan. Why won't this go away? Is my subconscious trying to tell me something? Is something terrible going to happen to one of us if we go any further?

At her moan, Crimson looked at her, seeing her in distress. He instantly straightened up and rubbed her back in a soothing manner. "Hey, you okay?" he asked with concern. "Are you hurt that badly?"

Arbil lifted her head and grinned at her best friend, her smile somewhat strained. "No, I'm fine really."

"Are you sure? If you absolutely need healing, we can go back to Gray Garden and return with backup."

Arbil shook her head. "No, no. Like you said, it would take too long and we would have to start all over. I'm fine, honestly."

Crimson still looked worried. Usually, Arbil was very open with him and would always tell him whatever was on her mind, but this time she seemed firm on telling him nothing. However, he trusted her and let it go, resting once again.

The group rested a few minutes more before slowly rising and heading to the next upper level before Darius woke up. They didn't encounter the next opponent until they were at the very end of the hallway, the final stairway leading to the throne room. There was a man guarding the stairs dressed in a dark gray striped t-shirt and denim jeans with black and white sneakers. A scar was carved over the right side of his lips.

Yosafire and the girls stayed behind while Crimson and Arbil kept moving forward. They paused a few feet away from the Darkened angel who merely smiled at their appearance.

"So, you're the shape-shifter, I assume?" said Crimson.

The Darkened angel grinned more. "Your assumption is correct. My name is Pseudo."

"How fitting," Arbil commented.

Pseudo crossed his legs and started talking. "I'm very impressed that all of you made it this far, especially since Darius was your previous obstacle. As a reward, I'm going to divulge some information. I am indeed your last opponent and Revlis is most definitely in the throne room."

He smiled wickedly. "But you'll have to get through me first."

Pseudo's form shifted, the atmosphere surrounding him distorted. Everyone gasped in shock when they saw his new appearance. He looked exactly like Rawberry to the T. He matched her clothes, height, and other features perfectly. Even the scar over his lips disappeared.

"Now, come at me whenever you're ready," he challenged in Rawberry's voice.

Arbil's hands shook with hesitation. She knew that that wasn't the real Rawberry but she didn't feel comfortable beating up one of her close friends, even if it was a copy.

Arbil felt a hand on her arm. She looked to the side and saw Crimson giving her a warm, reassuring look.

"I know this will be very difficult. I don't want to fight him if he changes into any of us just as much as you don't want to, but our real friends are safe behind us. As long as you remember that, we can beat Pseudo, okay?"

Arbil nodded her head, agreeing with Crimson. "All right. Thanks Crimson."

He smiled and turned to Pseudo. "Let's go."

Arbil got into her battle stance. "Okay."

She went first, ready to strike Pseudo. He was ready as he used one of Rawberry's moves, summoning a huge wave of bats towards Arbil. Crimson instantly retaliated by swinging his sword in a downward slash. Arbil, of course, ducked to dodge his attack. Crimson's fire magic split the swarm of bats in two, giving the hybrid a straight path to Pseudo.

Arbil continued running to Pseudo, knocking him off his feet. With a pained grunt, he shifted into Yosafire and released a breath of fire right on Arbil. After her attack, she was still in motion and wasn't able to block the incoming attack. Luckily, Crimson appeared right in front of her and raised his fire shield to protect her.

The battle went on with Pseudo shape-shifting into Yosafire and the rest of the young girls. Crimson and Arbil had no problem beating up the Darkened angel, keeping him away from the girls so he wouldn't blend in with them.

It's a good thing that we trained against each other so we can predict each type of move, Arbil thought to herself as she landed a hit on Pseudo. But why does he only change into the girls? Does his shape-shifting power have some kind of restriction that doesn't allow him to change into me or Crimson?

Arbil brushed off the thought. It doesn't matter now. One more hit and he's finished.

With a powerful push off her feet, Arbil prepared to finish off Pseudo when his guard was down. Or, so she thought.

Pseudo gave a smirk and it confused her. He shifted once more and Arbil mentally screeched to a halt. A shocked expression was plastered on her face as she stared right into Crimson's face. At the back of her mind, her brain repeatedly tried to convince her that he wasn't her best friend. However, the forefront of her brain told her that she couldn't attack him. Even as the fake Crimson raised his clawed hand to most certainly deliver the killing blow to Arbil, she couldn't raise her spear to defend herself. She knew that Crimson would never hurt her.

Pseudo grinned evilly. "Say goodbye."

Everything happened in a flash. One second, Arbil was about to be killed. In another second, the real Crimson appeared out of nowhere, taking the hit. The force of Pseudo's attack shoved both Crimson and Arbil back, the duo crumpled together on the floor.

Arbil sat up with a groan, rubbing her head. She looked down when she noticed Crimson's unmoving body. Her eyes widened when a strong metallic scent hit her nose and when she saw a pool of blood flow from under him.

Ice-cold shock struck her like a rushing waterfall. She scrambled to place his head on her lap. "Crimson! Crimson!" she yelled frantically.

The girls, seeing Crimson's condition, rushed to Arbil and Crimson's side, surrounding them in a half circle. Arbil relaxed momentarily when she heard him weakly moan but she just tightened her grip on him. "Crimson, please hold on!"

He coughed, blood trickling down the side of his mouth. "I think… I'm dying Arbil."

She shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no! Don't say that, you're going to be fine." She turned to Froze with a desperate look. "Froze, you have to heal him or do something else to stabilize him, please!"

Froze's normally calm visage changed to distress. "I'm sorry Arbil. I ran out of magic and we don't have any more items."

Arbil started trembling as she realized that her best friend was dying in her arms. Tears welled up in her eyes, falling as fat droplets. "No, please. There must be something we can do."

This was what that strong gut feeling was warning me about. It was about Crimson's death and I ignored it. Why didn't I trust my instincts? Now my best friend is dying and it's my fault.

Crimson weakly lifted his hand to Arbil's cheek. She instantly held it so it wouldn't slip off. She opened her eyes and Crimson was staring at her with the same loving, caring expression he always gave her as if he wasn't bleeding out.

Arbil sniffed. "I'm so sorry Crimson. I wish I knew healing magic so that I can heal you, or any kind of magic so that you wouldn't have to defend me all the time."

Crimson grinned slightly. "It's all right. You know I never minded you having any magic or putting myself in danger for you. I do have something to confess to you."

"Yes, what is it?"

Crimson took in a strained breath before speaking again. "I should have followed Etihw's advice and told you this sooner, but I was too scared that I would ruin our friendship. Ever since we were teenagers, I fell in love with you and it only deepened as we grew up together. There were so many opportunities where I should have told you my true feelings, but I knew that you didn't feel the same way."

Arbil squeezed Crimson's hand tighter, the one on her cheek. "I just realized my feelings for you recently. I'm so sorry that I ignored yours and left you hanging for so long. However, I love you. I love you so much, so please don't leave me. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Although Crimson's heart was slowing down, he felt it jump at her confession. He smiled. "I love you too. May I have a kiss?"

Arbil nodded. She leaned her head down and gently pressed her lips against Crimson's. The blood didn't deter her from kissing her lover. It was a simple peck but both of them felt a spark within them.

At that moment, the memory gap in Arbil's mind rapidly filled up with forgotten memories. It was as if darkness shrouded it and that single spark of light chased it away. The hybrid reeled back from the kiss, only having a moment to process it before she felt Crimson's weight shift.

"Take care of Hikari for us, all right?" he spoke as his last breath left him, falling limp in Arbil's arms.

Hikari was suddenly struck with a powerful force as she felt her father's life force disappearing. After healing a few Gray Garden citizens, she stared at the portal leading to Desolate Wasteland. Being young, she didn't quite understand what the feeling meant, if Crimson simply lost all of his magic power or if it was something else entirely.

"Daddy?"

Arbil sobbed loudly, her cries echoing throughout the entire castle as she hugged Crimson's still body tightly. The girls cried as well, somewhat more quietly. They wanted to comfort their hybrid sister but thought to give her space to mourn.

In the next instant, a bright white light enveloped Arbil's body in a powerful surge. The girls looked at Arbil in surprise as the sudden acquirement of magic radiated from her. She opened her eyes and the color was completely different. Colors of yellow, green, blue, and brown swirled in her irises as if they were alive.

Arbil slowly stood up, gently placing Crimson's body back on the floor. She steadily strut to Pseudo, her expression calm but her eyes were ablaze with anger.

Pseudo, who was silent and being surprisingly polite during the girls' grieving, took a step back as Arbil approached him. "What is this sudden magic power from her? Where did it come from?"

He shifted into Yosafire. "No matter. I'll defeat you as well."

A ball of water formed in Arbil's palm. She threw out her hand forward. "Water Torrent!"

A huge blast of water doused Pseudo. He laid on the floor, completely drenched. He struggled to sit up. "Why does she have magic all of a sudden? And why is it on the same level as a god?"

He changed into Chelan but before he could do anything, Arbil made a move again. "Thorn Whip!"

Thorny vines burst up from the ground, relentlessly whipping Pseudo, leaving bloody marks all over him. He collapsed on the floor, defeated after the continuous onslaught. However, Arbil wasn't finished. She materialized a blade of light in her hand and stood over Pseudo. Just when she was ready to stab Pseudo through his heart, an image of Crimson appeared in her mind. She snapped out of her rage and lowered her hand.

She glared at Pseudo. "Even though you killed my best friend, I can't kill you. Crimson would never forgive me if I did."

Arbil took in a few deep breaths to calm down before speaking to the girls. "Revlis is ahead so I'll fight him alone. You guys stay here and watch over Crimson for me please. I don't want any of you dying as well."

Without looking behind to see if the girls agreed with her, Arbil progressed to the throne room.

And that's it for now. Sorry again that it took so long. I didn't realize that I haven't updated this story in nearly a year.

Arbil finally has magic! Hurray! If any of you are confused of how she suddenly acquired magic or how she knows how to use it so well, it will be explained in the next chapter where it will be about Arbil's forgotten memories, so stay tuned for that.

Review please!