Today I went to classes without much trouble, smiling as I went side by side with my siblings, Sato and Ami, as we head towards the classroom. We decide to make a group project, and then we wonder what to do, and how do we do it. Suddenly, a fire starts, and we are evacuated out.

…Oh no… The fire… is bigger than I expected! We all run out in a panic, and then someone grabs me from the waist, laughing. I look up to meet a Zoroark lady in bikini, laughing as she runs about and around, taking me.

“E-Excuse me…”, I ask. “W-Who are you and why are you taking me?”

“Oh, I have my reasons…” She replies with a grin, taking me into a portal while holding me. As we left, I saw the fire… disperse and fade?

–

When Ami and I turned back, the fire seemed to disappear as fast as we turned, but we didn’t see Eclipse anywhere… We started looking for her everywhere, but then we found something that gave us a clue of where she went: a black and red feather… We went to see Mom and Dad and ask them what they think about it, and that Eclipse went missing… Then their concerned faces contorted into anger as Mom muttered something…

“Alice…”

She drags Dad out of the house and they both run ahead in a hurry, heading for the garage to pick up some weapons and then open a portal to another world. What just happened, and what does this have to do with Eclipse?

–

Zero and I rush out of the portal and arrive to another planet, full of flowers and ruins, a castle standing on a island miles away from where we stand. She told me that the feather belongs to a powerful monster Zoroark by the name of Alipheese the XVI, and she had seized Eclipse for no good reason. I heard her speak of the Demon Lords once, who hold the weapons of the Shadow Realm, the Astani Treasures: The Freezing Blade of Astani, the Flaming War Talons, and the Divine Lightning Scepter. Alice just happens to be in hold of the blade.

There was once a war in the Shadow Realm, known as the Great War, used to defeat the Demon King and his forces. Eventually, the weapons were restored after the Mirror War that marked the birth of the Star World. As a star fell out, three people were chosen to hold them, be it for good or bad. Unfortunately, the three demon lords were the chosen ones for holding them, and they slowly lost their sanity when they were tasked to defeat an evil force at the Shadow Realm, thanks to a monster known as Dark Yabu. Soon, Zero and her squad finally opened a way into the Shadow Realm, only to find that the three demon lords have eliminated all life from it, and in the end, Zero and her squad defeated Dark Yabu, sealed the Demon Lords in the Shadow Realm, destroyed the Keystaff, and life was born anew.

We head into the palace inside, and eventually meet up with demons. We fight them with our own weapons and run down the halls to find and rescue our Eclipse. We split up at a fork and I look into the cellars, fighting the demons along the way and cutting their heads off as I look into the rooms to see if Eclipse had been locked out.

 –

I woke up in a big bedroom, and yawn as I look at various kinds of plush dolls, and a few posters, mostly of girls that looked like monsters, and the bed was comfortable. I then see someone entering. It was the Zoroark lady from before. She smiles gently at me as she walks in and gives me a glass of water.

“How are you?” She asks as she sits down and looks at me.

“E-Eh… I am alright…? Where am I?”

“You are at my home, darling. I just saved you from a fire, that’s all. I will take you to your parents soon, so, please stay here while I bring you the food, okay?”

“O-Okay?”

She eventually leaves the room and I drink the water. I felt no micro agents or dubious chemicals inside, so I assume it is clean water. She comes back after a few minutes with a bowl of spaghetti, coated in sauce and meatballs. I take it and start to eat.

“So… tell me about yourself. I would like to know you first.”

“I-I am Eclipse. I am a Eclipseon, and my mom and daddy are demon hunters.”

“Oh. For a teenager you have a very short backstory, but you could improve.” She crosses her legs.

“I hang out with the Guardian Spirits at school and right now I was working on a project to make ecological fuel for steam machinery.”

“Guardian spirits?” She raises an eyebrow. “Oh, I would love to meet them… Anyway, my name is Alipheese the Sixteenth, and I am a really, really nice lady. I will talk with your parents through the phone and tell them to pick you up, because I know about you.”

“Y-You do? Thanks!”

She eventually leaves the room and leaves me alone. I try to get out, but the door is locked. If she wanted to keep me safe, why lock me down? Hmm…

–

I couldn’t find my Eclipse anywhere… and I suspect that Alice might have her for some malicious purposes. I checked the jailrooms, and found nothing. Eventually, I rejoin with Der, who has found nothing. Eventually, we come up with the conclusion that she might be in the higher quarters, at the bedrooms and head upstairs to the throne room, where the fiend is sitting there, glaring at us rather calmly.

“Where’s she, you fiend?!” I shout at her, holding my blade.

“You have no right to invade one of my kingdoms, Zero. I have become one of the Astani Warriors, and I’ll personally waste you away.” She then glints at my husband. “… Oh, you’re quite lucky. You have a husband.” She smiles cynically. “I envy you.”

“Then, why take our daughter prisoner?”

“I only used her for getting back at you! You promised you’d purge the demon that infested her, but you just had the idea of killing her!”

I remember years ago, that I failed an exorcism operation, because the demon had taken her over completely, and the only choice was to purge her dead… “It… it was not just my fault. Had you told us sooner, she would have been alive!”

“Enough!” She unsheathes the Astani Ice Blade, getting ready to strike. “I’ll repay you the favor by killing you two, and then she’ll be mine!” She laughs manically as she lunges at us. Der leafshroud proves to be ineffective when she slashes at his pauldron effectively, twice in fact. We then decide to ambush her with a vice attack, going from both sides as she blocks our strikes. We then start using Psybeam and Aura Sphere to breach her defenses, but she deflects some of our attacks back at us.

We were eventually even in the battle and near death. Alice rushes at us with her blade in a rage, and then we see Eclipse come out and see the scene, gasping as she sees all of the blood. “E-Eclipse, don’t look…!” Alice cries out, as Eclipse runs up to me and hugs me.

“M-Mommy, stop! Alice isn’t a bad person…!”

“B-But honey, she’s a demon!”

“S-She’s given me lunch, and it tasted so nice… her bedroom is cozy, and she kept me locked for some reason, but I managed it out.”

“Ah, did you like it hun…?”

We give each other a look, and then look back at the Zoroark, who then looks at us. “What did you put in the food?” I ask coldly.

“I put in nothing…! I wouldn’t hurt my child!” Alice spurts out, lost in her madness. “If I kill you, she will have me…!” She laughs manically, causing Eclipse to cling further to me.

Eventually, Der rushes up at her and stabs her, ending her laughter and causing her to collapse. She looks at us with fading eyes, a tear rolling from her cheek. “I am dying… but… I won’t see my daughter… for we are long gone…”

“Please, cling further to life! We can save y-“ She then tackles Eclipse and I as she is then struck away by another object, saving us from a molten fireball. “What!!”

A shadowy figure stood on a side of the room, holding a scepter as he laughs from where he stands. “Foolish Alice, why did you keep so long with trying to kill this family, and then derail yourself with your silly child ideas? Oh, just to get yourself killed by me when I tried to finish the job?” He laughs loudly, causing me to feel disgusted. “Zero, Der, you are no match for me. Until we meet, I hope you’re ready for your doom. Long live Lord Vexx!” He then disappears and we run up to the woman, who was smiling in her last moments.

“Zero… take the sword… I saved your child… you… you must not let them… win… I may not be able to reason after this… if I revive… So, prepare yourself… and thanks for freeing my soul… I’ll see my Ruka again…”

I could hear her speak to me in my mind, as I take the sword with cloth and wrap it around. Eclipse was sobbing through the burial we gave to her, and we moved on back to Earth. “Who was the shady man who attacked us? Who is Lord Vexx?” More than questions, we had a lot of training to do, for ourselves and our kids…