Lumina sprinted across the shrine courtyard with Metsu waddling behind her as Solus slowly stumbled up the last few steps of the long staircase and arrived at the shrine courtyard. Nebula, Camellia, and Tsarina strolled behind Solus while the former two had troubled looks on their faces. Tsarina placed a hand on her chin and mused over something as Zu (sitting on Tsarina's head) mimicked Tsarina's actions.

"Are you sure he'll be ok?" Camellia asked. Tsarina pushed up her lips with her thumb before she lowered her hand from her face and looked up at Camellia.

"I'd say so," Tsarina said with a smirk.

"And what makes you think that looks ok?". Camellia gestured to Solus and even did jazz hands to emphasize her point as Solus made multiple bone-clicking noises each time he moved his body.

"Well, he's able to move on his own, so I'd say he'll be fine," Tsarina stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?".

"It meeeans if he isn't dead then he'll be fine, duh," Tsarina said in a mocking tone as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Ok-ok, you don't need to rub it in...," Camellia murmured. Camellia rubbed the back of her head, and Nebula hurried over to Solus before grabbing his hand and walking by his side.

The group eventually arrived at their home, where Lumina could be seen talking to Luminous (wearing a white t-shirt, black fluffy trousers covered in white poker dots and black cat-themed slippers) in front of the Japanese-themed bungalow.

"Lu-chan, what do you mean he's isn't actually here yet?" Lumina asked as she ruffled her tails.

"It's not that he hasn't arrived; he just got sidetracked with a yokai is all,". Lumina thought about responding, but she and Luminous turned their heads as they heard Solus and the others approaching.

"I would ask why you're walking like my father, but given Tsarina is here I believe the answer is obvious," Luminous said calmly, causing Tsarina's to giggle nervously before she and Zu quietly disappeared in a cloud of shadow. Luminous itched the side of his head and sighed.

"I didn't even show any sign of... well, I wouldn't say aggression; maybe assertiveness would be more accurate," Luminous uttered aloud.

"I think it's more she's a shadow spirit, and you're radiating all kinds of mana like a geyser," Solus remarked as he stood up straight, making his back click multiple times.

"I see," Luminous said as Metsu walked past him, and Camellia picked her up before something appeared to click for Camellia.

"Wait, did you say this Milo guy's dealing with a yokai?".

"His name's Grand Medic Z-Zallino, not M-I-L-O," a girly voice said right next to Camellia's head. Camellia's tail stiffened up like a cat's, and she jolted away from the voice but bumped into Solus, causing Solus to cringe and grit his teeth. The floating six-year-old girl seraph elf looked at Camellia with an annoyed expression while the two-year-old girl kitsune was piggybacking on the seraph elf and was sleeping like a log.

"Oh... sorry...," Camellia said before she leant over to Solus.

"Whose the sassy child?" Camellia asked with a whisper. Solus snickered at Camellia, calling the floating girl a sassy child.

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"Her name is Kusana, and the sleeping loaf is Lola," Solus said.

"And me and Solus are related to them... somehow, why do kitsune family trees have to be so confusing?" Lumina muttered before she trailed off into incoherent chatter as she tried to figure out her familial relations with the two girls. Lumina eventually shrugged and looked over at Luminous.

"So, where is Zallino anyway?" Lumina asked. Luminous gestured to the sky in response, and everyone looked up to the sky to see the shrine spirits floating above holding a sign saying gullible. Lumina closed her eyes and puffed up her cheeks as she slowly lowered her head.

"Did I just fall for a: it says gullible on the ceiling level prank?". Lumina groaned and rubbed her face as Kusana floated over to her and landed on Lumina's tails.

"My apologies, but I was brided with a collection of rare chakra crystals," Luminous said as a purple snake with purple spiral-shaped pupils climbed onto Luminous' shoulder.

"Hiss hiss, yet another masterfully executed prank by the one and only Maru," the snake cheerfully said as he stuck out his ten snake tongues.

"Should have figured," Lumina uttered as Maru hopped off Luminous' shoulder and landed on the ground before his body glowed and morphed shape.

Maru's form morphed into the shape of a short eleven-year-old before the glow around his body faded to reveal his human form: he has silver hair with pale purple tips, pale white skin to the point it's faintly cyan with his whole body (apart from his head) is covered in purple snake scales; he's also wearing shorts and an open hoodie made of black dragon scales, and a white t-shirt.

"Now to actu-" Maru managed to say before he was picked off the ground and put into a bear hug by Camellia while Metsu climbed onto Camellia's back.

"Oh my gods, you're absolutely adorable! For a second, I thought you were a girl," Camellia said ecstatically as she swung Maru around in her arms, much to Maru's disinterest. Maru attempted to break free but couldn't willingly muster the strength and sighed.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the moment we arrived, Zallino said he detected a high level of spirit energy nearby and flew off to investigate it by himself," Maru said, but something he said confused Camellia.

"By... himself?" Camellia asked.

"Don't fret, Cami. Due to his physiology, he'll be just fine," Lumina said.

"If you say so..," Camellia said with a mildly unsure tone. As the others continued to talk, Nebula lightly pulled Solus, leading him into the house and then the bathroom. Nebula funnelled some of her mana into the water mana and the fire mana crystal on the wall before the bath began to fill with warm water.

"Nebi, you don't need to run me a bath.". Solus' words were cut short by Nebula throwing Solus' yellow hoodie (the one Nebula was wearing) in his face causing Solus to exhale in defeat.

"Fine...," Solus uttered as he pulled the hoodie off his face.

Meanwhile, Zallino (the metal-bodied and phoenix-winged guy) hovered over a collection of large towering snow-covered stone spikes protruding from the ground. He scanned the terrain like a hawk and paused his sight-seeing once he located the behemoth of a yokai draining mana form behind a towering spike made from a red crystal.

"Statis report, a grade-A yokai appears to be syphoning power from a giant-type fire mana crystal should I eliminate it or leave it to the local authorities?". After a few seconds, Zallino nodded.

"Understood.". Zallino raised an arm, and he started to increase its size and hundreds of large shiny silvery metal needles formed all over it. He pulled his arm back before he hurled it forward and flung all the needles at the yokai. The yokai darted its eye upwards and spotted the storm of dawnite (the shiny silvery material) needles hurtling towards it.

The yokai swiftly pushed its tendrils against the fire mana crystal spike and launched itself away before the needles pierced into the mana crystal. The crystal's colour faded around where the needles punctured. The massive squid-like yokai hovered in the air and screeched at Zallino as he was morphing his arm back to normal.

"Rude... I don't even have a mother.". Zallino grabbed onto one of the towering stone spikes, and the tip of it transformed into an opaque colourless gem. The gem tip floated off the spike and morphed into the shape of two large claymores while their colours shifted; one turned white, and the other turned black.

"I'll probably only have enough time after this to give Solus a basic rundown before Maru and I have to leave again," Zallino uttered before he and the massive squid yokai charged at each other.