5th Job is here, and I have returned too.

To forgive is to let go. Let time heal the invisible wounds.

He felt a throbbing pain in his heart.

No... it had always been there. He felt it always, ever since his awakening from his long slumber. Ever since then... it was never quite right. How was he conscious? He remembered dying slowly.

He tried to sit up, but his body did not respond to him at all, and it made him panic.

"Shhh, it is alright, it is alright." A gentle voice very similar to his echoed in the darkness.

He could not reply, only watch, but he calmed down.

"I feared You died, but I realise You are Me. And I am You. Eclipse killed Your consciousness, but I live, and I revived You." The voice said in a dreamy voice, much like a melodious chant. It is a little unnerving to listen to his own voice speak in such a different way; gentle, yet aloof, almost without any emotion. A warm light bathed upon him, and he can control his body again. But, the pain in his chest still lingered. He put his hand there, and found that it was an empty hole, ripped apart and never healed.

"We hurt You so much. That emptiness cannot be mended. I tried, but We are weak." There was a profound sadness in the voice's tone.

Luminous finally understood, he said, "You...you are my Light."

The voice replied, "Yes, I am Sunfire, Your Light."

"I thought… I lost you. You never appeared." He said with melancholy.

Sunfire appeared before him, dressed very much like when he was the Mage of Light. Sunfire's pure white robe, sky blue eyes, and pristine Shining Rod was almost blinding to him. It was all that he had lost. He helped Luminous up, and said, "I was broken, shattered, and tired. You must understand. Eclipse was too strong for me to maintain a presence."

"Then, how are you here right now?"

"Eclipse thought he won. He is relentless now, and taking control of Us. But that gave me a chance to reach You. We will have our time when Eclipse overloads the orb. I can feel it is soon."

There was a crack in the darkness, a small white slit in the mid air.

"When the darkness breaks, I will take over." Sunfire said. "We will be stronger, if We are one."

"What do you mean by that?" Luminous asked.

"Accept me as You, and We will become truly one, truly Light." Sunfire said, while he extended his hand to Luminous gracefully. "Do you accept Sunfire?" He asked, as if a big choice was presented to Luminous.

Without second thought, Luminous held Sunfire's hand, and Sunfire turned into a bright light in the darkness.

"NO! YOU are dead! YOU are mine!" He heard Eclipse bellowing in the darkness, pounding on his light. "HOW!"

"I will not let you destroy anymore, Eclipse," Luminous said, and he raised his hand towards the cracking darkness.

"Luminous! I know you are there!" There was a familiar voice who reached him.

"Phantom?" He felt as if someone was pulling him out from this dark side.

He heard Eclipse's one last raging voice, and saw the deadly Moonlight Spear. With his full concentration, he tilted the balance and broke out of the Darkness. In a split second, he casted Light Speed to save Phantom from the attack he conjured himself.

Moonlight Spear went through his body like a hot knife through butter. The pain was excruciating, and his lost his balance. When Phantom kept him standing, he was filled with guilt at what he had done. He never wanted to hurt Phantom, even if they never see eye to eye.

"I… am… sorry…" He said weakly before passing out.

In the deep consciousness, the two opposing parts of him spoke, like a ghostly whisper.

"...You will destroy the body long before you have the chance to destroy the world, Eclipse..." A stern voice said.

"...And you will destroy the body before you restore it back to the "Mage of Light"..." The other dark voice said.

"...It is impossible for you to take over. I am brighter and stronger now..."

"...Of course, he would never reject you, even if he knew what you are going to do to him..."

"...I am going to restore this body, restore Us..."

"...You will destroy all of us..."

"...If you were never here, things will be different..."

"...He would have died, and none of us will even be here. I am needed..."

"...Preposterous. Darkness is the reason We suffer..."

Then, the dark voice was very clear, "Do you really think that? Do you think that my existence is merely because of an accident? "

Luminous opens his eyes. Eclipse… an accident…? Before long, everything comes back to him. I am... alive? He breathes in deeply, and then groans in discomfort as his injuries still hurt. His mind is clear, and he feels somewhat detached to the world, like he is living in another person's body.

"You are terribly weak, you know?" A cynical voice says somewhere in the room. "I thought you would have died back then."

Luminous realises that he is in Lolo's bed. When he gazes at the direction of the voice, he sees a familiar face, and acknowledges, "Phantom."

Phantom is standing near the window, holding a card, and he scoffs, "At least you still remember my name." He walks towards Luminous and grips the front of his robe harshly. "What in the world happened? What have you done to yourself?" There is unconcealed anger in his voice. He continues in a low threatening voice, "I thought we sealed the Black Mage away, but now, you have the same Darkness as his."

Luminous does not fight back, he does not even have a reason to defend himself. He says with a chilly calm voice, "I was tainted, but now I am not. I have battled with the Darkness for a long time. It is not me."

Phantom recognises the difference in this Luminous as well, and he asks irritably, "Who are you?"

"I am Luminous."

"No, I mean what are you now, really? You don't sound like the real Luminous I know."

Luminous puts his hand on Phantom's and pulls it away. Phantom is surprised by his strength and retracts his hand from Luminous.

Luminous adjusts his robe before saying, "I will explain, but please, be nice."

"Alright, I am listening." Phantom says coldly.

"I vaguely remember that when I sealed the Black Mage, he imparted, or transferred some of his Darkness to me. During the many years of my slumber, the Darkness and the Light in me fought endlessly, until I awakened." Luminous says.

"That means, the Black Mage lives in you, right?" Phantom takes out his weapons. "I should kill you now, before you turn into his puppet."

Luminous looks at Phantom's eyes filled with hatred. "You still want your revenge." He states, more than asks. "Unfortunately, this Darkness of mine is its own entity. At least, that was what it or I was conveying."

"You sound like a crazy person, and you make no sense."

"Listen, Phantom, you might believe me, you might not. Frankly, we both are aware that we don't care much about each other. But I'll let you know now that my soul is no longer the same as the Luminous you knew hundreds of years ago. He – or I will never be that same Mage of Light."

"The same or not, I'll not risk having you turn into that Darkness maniac once more." Phantom's anger is not diminished.

"Do you want to fight me again?" Luminous asked, almost chillingly. He does not fear Phantom, even if he is aware that he is in disadvantage.

Phantom snickers. "Fight with you? In your condition? You should just surrender."

"There there, you guys, stop fighting, you sound like you are about to kiss each other." A feminine voice joins in.

"No, we are not," Luminous replies, and he knows that voice.

"Hmph," Phantom walks back to the spot in front of the window.

"When did you arrive?" Luminous turns his head to meet the turquoise eyes of the other hero, Aran. She puts down her gigantic axe beside his bed casually and tied up her silver hair. She looks just like how he remembered her from many centuries ago.

"Yesterday, actually. Did Phantom tell you that you were out for a week? Gosh, that is a long time, considering you had the fairies healing you all the time. How are you feeling?"

Aran's appearance lightens the mood a bit. Luminous decides to be optimistic. "I am good, and happy to be alive. It was quite a fight, internally, mostly."

"You sound… a little different, Lumi." Aran corks her head to one side, perplexed.

"He's crazy, if that clears your confusion," Phantom says with disdain.

"I admit, I am not the same anymore. I have accepted that fact." Luminous says calmly.

"Oh, don't you say that. I still believe in you, Lumi." Aran said. "I kind of get the gist of it, but you'll have to explain to me personally so that I know what's really going on."

And so, Luminous recounts the significant events that had happened since his awakening, leaving out some parts of his internal battles. After listening to him, Aran's expression turns into one of genuine worry while Phantom keeps quiet with a distant expression.

"Lumi," Aran kneels down and gazed directly into his eyes. "You've been through a lot. Are you okay?" She sounds very concerned.

Luminous think about that seriously for a moment, and then replies, "It is hard to say now. There are unfinished business I must attend to."

"Well, let's go then!" Aran said immediately, standing up.

"You'll help me?" Luminous is surprised by Aran's quick acceptance and offer to help.

"What kind of question is that? Did you forget we're all a team?" Aran feigns anger.

"I… I guess I have forgotten the feeling, it has been a long time." Luminous replies.

Phantom glances towards Luminous's direction. "I'll keep an eye on you."

"As you wish."