[Completed] Legend of the Five Knights II: The Shadow of Justice

Episode 87: One who Believes

After having left the house, I left Yuko and Rosalba behind, preferring to be on my own. I had wandered off aimlessly, only to end up at my father's tomb... well what I had once thought as his tomb.

I walked up to it and raised my right fist over it. I sighed. I... I couldn't do it. I couldn't destroy his tomb. I wasn't sure why, though. Was it because of emotional attachment? Had I become more attached to the figure I had built up than the man who was actually my father? After all, this tomb represented that man, the ideal knight and father. The one I had looked up to all these years.

"Tetsu?" a voice called out. It was Serrano. His eyes were red as if he had also been crying. "What are you doing here by yourself?"

I smiled slightly. "I can ask you the same."

Serra turned his eyes toward one of the other tombs in the distance. This place was our family grave. In it were buried various ancestors, one of whom was my grandmother, Tulia. Another was Serra's little brother, Conrad.

"You came to see him, didn't you?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Serra closed his eyes. "Last night, I had a dream of him. We were kids and he was leading me through into a dark portal. It turned out to lead to the abyss, but I didn't care... at least he was back." He sniffled. "Why wasn't it real? Why couldn't he be alive?"

I stared back at Pa's grave. I used to ask the same thing about him, then when it came true, I didn't want it to be.

I patted his back and remained silent. I glanced up at grandma's tomb which was beside Conrad's and saw dark wisps appear. It was Takeshi. He seemed to fall to his knees in front of the tomb and bow his head down. Seeing him like that reminded me of myself... I would visit Pa's tomb whenever I felt sad, distressed, or simply wanted to get something out of my throat.

I gasped as Takeshi suddenly turned into a black panther, jaguar-like cat and began howling.

"What's that sound?" Serrano asked, looking up. He wiped away his tears and saw the big cat kneeling beside our grandmother's grave. "A panther? No, a jaguar? Uh, what is it?"

"It's my dad," I said, turning around. "Let's get out of here."

"His howling... it sounds so... sad... Is it because he misses grandma?" he asked as he followed behind me.

"Maybe." I gasped. Or maybe something bad happened to Ma.

I spread my wings and took to the air.

"Hey, where are you going?" Serrano yelled as he spread his out as well.

"To check up on my mom. I want to see if she's alright. Something bad might've happened to her if he's here," I yelled.

Serrano stared at his phone. "I think she's fine. Tere sent me a text through Dr. Yuki's phone. She said that he went to check up on her not too long ago, said that she's doing fine. She simply had an alteration. Well, two."