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**And we're back!

Sorry it took this long to bring you a new chapter, it's been quite a busy year for me. But I promise I'll try not to repeat that this coming year and will keep updating more often.

This is mostly like a recap episode, so hope you don't mind that much. Enjoy! B3**

With a lamenting look in her eyes, Sasuga placed the bouquet of flowers on the grave she was standing in front of. The engravings on the tombstone read 'Here lays our dear Son Kyle Crowe (1989-2005)'. She waited for the funeral ceremony to end before she visited his grave, after everyone else had left.

She didn't think she could bear watching his parents' and family members' suffering as they burry their only child. The kirin passed the tip of her finger over the carved letters, in a feeble attempt to reach out for her lost friend one last time, before she gave her final farewell.

"I'm sorry, Kyle. I promise, I'll make them pay. Goodbye..." Sasuga softly said. She expected that she would shed a few tears, but oddly enough, her eyes were dry. Maybe knowing the cause of Kyle's death and who were responsible for it eased her grieve a bit and made her feel less guilty

about it. She paid her respect and put the flowers she brought between the numbers of other bouquets, as he finally turned her back and walked away, meeting up with Seif who was patiently waiting for her at the cemetery's gates. "Sorry, I kept waiting," Sasuga apologized to the towering blond lion

before her.

"It's quite alright. You can stay longer if you want to," Seif genially replied, the sun was setting.

Sasuga shook her head gently, "No, I'm done. Thanks, Seif." She smiled up at him for being so patient and supportive of her throughout this whole day.

Seif nodded and then asked, "Do you want to get something to eat?"

Sasuga blushed a little. They got caught up by the events of the day that they didn't have a chance to have lunch yet. She was kind of hungry, truth to be told, but she felt a bit guilty to be troubling him all day long and dragging him with her all over the place. Although, he didn't seem to mind and she was thrilled that he was asking her to eat with him. Maybe not like a full fledged date, but thrilled nonetheless.

"Are you not hungry, Sasuga?" Seif's gruff voice interrupted her clustered thoughts as he asked her again.

"Oh, yes, I am! I... I'd like that, Seif," she replied coyly, wanting to kick herself for always being easily distracted and over thinking stuff. He was just asking her for a casual invitation, so she should just go along with it. "Well, but nothing heavy or fancy. Anything simple would do," the kirin

then added, not wanting to trouble him further.

"Alright, I think I know of a good place," Seif said with a small smile and they both climbed into his SUV and drove off through the city for less than ten minutes before reaching their destination. Sasuga got out of the car and saw that they stopped in front of one local oriental food restaurants that she recognized, as she read 'Hao Nao's Hut' on the restaurant's wooden sign. "I hope you like oriental food," Seif said as he stood next to the kirin.

"Oh yeah, I love it!" Sasuga gleefully answered. "I usually eat at this place whenever I'm around the neighborhood. It has excellent dishes!"

"It does indeed. Well, good to hear that you like it too. After you," Seif smiled back at her and gestured for her to go in ahead of him into the restaurant, which Sasuga gladly did. They entered the restaurant as Seif ordered a table for two from the receptionist, who was a middle-aged gray-furred raccoon in an oriental uniform. He gladly led them to an empty table right next to a window. Being the gentleman that he was, Seif pulled the chair for Sasuga to sit on first, as she happily smiled back at him and sat down while Seif took his seat in front of her.

"How can I help you?" a young female red-furred wolf waitress asked them as she handed them the menu.

"What are you having, Sasuga?" Seif asked the kirin as she was looking through the menu, not finding it easy to decide which dish should she order from the many good ones.

"Umm, gosh, I'm not sure... what are you going to have, Seif?"

"Hrmm, do you like sushi?" Seif then suggested and Sasuga's face brightened.

"Yes! I do!"

The lion chuckled softly, "I guess that settles it then. A plate of assorted sushi for two and a bottle of white wine, please."

"Anything else you want to order?" The waitress inquired as she jogged their order on her notepad. Seif turned to Sasuga to see if she wanted anything

else and she shook her head.

"That's all, thank you," Seif replied and returned the menu to the waitress.

"Okay, that'll be ready in about fifteen minutes. Please be patient," the waitress said with a bow and walked away to attend her business.

"How are you doing now?" Seif then asked Sasuga all of a sudden.

"Huh? About what?" Sasuga blinked.

"About what's been happening lately. Barzard told me about what happened at circus. You've been through a lot in such a short while. It must've been

rough on you," the lion explained better, showing his concern.

"Oh... I'm not so sure. I'm dealing better with it, I guess. I mean, I have to, since I don't have any other choice." Sasuga started. "On the plus side, I'm getting better at controlling my powers." She expressed with a little hint of pride.

"Oh yeah, you healed the ringmaster's from a critical wound. That's quite impressive. You saved his life," Seif encouragingly said.

Sasuga smiled a bit at first at his encouragement, but it then turned into a frown. "But... I still couldn't save Kyle," she sadly muttered. "I know. I know I shouldn't blame myself for his death. But I still feel responsible. I still feel like I could've done something, anything to prevent that from happening to him. I should've warned him, checked up on him from time to time. But instead, I cut myself from him immediately after that day. He got mistakenly involved because he was worried about me, and that... ended up getting him killed..." the kirin continued in a sad voice, reverting to melancholy, her ears drooping.

"I know how you feel, Sasuga, but blaming yourself won't do you any good. You did what you believed was the best and no one can blame you for that. You tried your best not to get your friend involved, as much as that pained you. It's hard, but you have to learn to cope with it and accept it without any weaknesses, or else you'll only hold yourself back and whoever with you as well," Seif told her candidly without sugarcoating the facts. Sasuga paused for a moment after she listened to what he said, processing it in her mind. She definitely appreciated how frank he was with her and that he didn't hold back on her.

"You're right. I'm sorry, I'll try not to think that way again. Thanks, Seif," Sasuga appreciatively said and Seif nodded back at her. "But, I won't rest till I'll make the ones responsible for Kyle's death pay. I don't know how, but I'll make them pay..." the kirin then expressed in suppressed anger. She never experienced such desire for revenge before. It was like a fire burning inside her chest that wouldn't die out unless she exterminate the ones that killed Kyle, especially Onyx, since he openly admitted he was the culprit.

"Sasuga, revenge is never the answer. I understand that you're feeling angry and you want to avenge Kyle's death, but don't let that anger blind you and take over your better judgment. Believe me, I've walked that road before in the past; it wasn't pretty," Seif admitted jadedly, piquing the kirin's interest.

"What do you mean?" Sasuga asked, as Seif let out a sigh.

"I guess now would be as good as any other time to tell you this. At least it will help you understand some things better. And, I rather you hear it from me than anyone else," Seif stated and started to worry Sasuga, wondering what was he talking about. "It's kind of a long story, so are you ready for it?" the lion asked her and of course she was ready for it. She wanted to know more about Seif, about their past, about her past.

"Yes," Sasuga gave him a direct answer.

"Well, I guess the best way to start would be from the beginning. Have Barzard or Panja ever told you who I really am?" Seif began with that weird question, as Sasuga looked back at him with a puzzled look.

"Who you are? You mean your real name isn't Seif?"

"In the contrary, I am Seif Lowefang. Haven't you run into that name somewhere, sometime in your life before?" Seif asked her another question and confused her some more. However, now that Sasuga thought about it, she always felt that she saw Seif and heard his name before she had met him from somewhere, but she couldn't exactly remember when or where. But when Seif raised her suspicion by asking her about it, she squeezed her mind as best as she could. And then, it hit her.

"Oh my God!" Sasuga gasped out loud, enough to attract some of the nearby tables' attention. She quickly reacted by covering her mouth by her hands and looked warily around her, hoping that she didn't get too many eyes on their direction. Seif was a little embarrassed himself, although he seemingly saw that coming, keeping a calm composure of himself. "S-Sorry..." the kirin whispered demurely, looking down at her side of the table.

"It's... all right. I take that you remembered something by that?" Seif smiled back.

Sasuga looked back at him with stunned eyes. "You mean... you're THE Seif Lowefang? The King of Asadia Kingdom?" She of course was referring to that painting she saw during that last school trip to the museum. The one that caught her attention, with the drawn picture of the fallen king of Asadia, which dated back to the seventeenth century.

Seif got more embarrassed. "Yes, but can you please keep it down?"

"Oh, sorry! I'm just... wow... I can't believe it took me this long to realize it. That's unbelievable... so you're a king..." Sasuga mumbled in astonishment, finding that the lion she always admired from the start was actually a bona-fide royalty.

"Well, was a king, anyway. Now I'm just a businessman who hunts down demons on the side," Seif said lightheartedly, causing the kirin to blush a little. As much as that surprised her, finding out that Seif was actually a king was kind thrilling, like something of a fairy tail.

"So, wait, if you were the king, does that mean that Panja was also..."

"Indeed," Seif simply replied to her and made her blush some more. She could swallow the fact that Seif was a royal king, being so regal and has that

majestic vibe to him, but not so much with Panja. Seif somehow knew that what she was thinking of and chuckled. "A bit hard to believe, I know. Hrmm,

in fact, Panja was the true king himself, more or less. It's a bit complicated, so let's start from the beginning. The day we met the

Millennium Slasher for the first time."

"You mean Hazard, right?" Sasuga wondered and Seif gave her an obvious nod.

"Back then, the previous ruler was King Rour. He was Panja's father. He was a great king, fair and kind. He was my direct uncle from my father's side and I had utmost admiration and respect for him, as he took me in as his own son after I lost both of my parents shortly after I was born. He was truly the father that I never had, and I grew up with Panja like brothers. With that said, Panja was always meant to be the heir for the throne and not me, but his heart wasn't in it and never did want to be a king and the responsibilities that come with it," Seif started to tell her the story of their past as Sasuga intently listened. She easily imagined how Panja would've acted that way, not wanting to be restrained by the chains of duty that being a king to a kingdom held. "Then one day, during a battle tournament my kingdom held every few years, the Millennium Slasher came to our land and joined the battle event and we saw him for the first time."

"Excuse me, Seif, but can I ask you about something? Why is Hazard called the Millennium Slasher? I heard those bad guys calling him that a lot and it always made me wonder," Sasuga curiously inquired.

"Hrmm, well, The Millennium Slasher legend was an old story they used to tell us when we were little. The legend tells the story of a swordsman that fought a thousand demons in one night and managed to kill them all by himself. It supposed to have happened over five hundred years ago, and that's how old Brazard is now," Seif answered her as best as he could and left Sasuga in awe.

"Wow... that's incredible. Did Haz really do that?"

"I'm not sure. To be honest, I haven't really asked him about it. I don't think it's something he likes to bring up. But I believe it, especially after seeing what Barzard is capable of. Anyhow, that's how the name Millennium Slasher came up and it stuck with him ever since. He was quite the legend, and although it's almost dead now, I think you can find some trace of the myth alive if you searched for it online in ancient lore."

"I see..." Sasuga murmured. She always felt that Hazard was an extraordinary person, but not to this extent. "Sorry for interrupting, can you continue?"

"It's okay. Well, where was I? Oh right... Barzard shown up in the competition and needless to say, he made quite the showing. I was actually eager to do battle with him that day, but Panja recklessly beat me to the punch and fought Barzard outside of the games rules. What made it worse is that Panja lost to him and that caused an outrage as the king ordered for the capture of Barzard, who fled the scene soon after and that the last time I would see him for a long time."

"And what happened to Panja after that?"

"After that fateful encounter, something in Panja changed. Unbeknownst to all of us in the castle, he was actually meeting with Barzard secretly. And... well, as you might have guessed, Panja got a quick infatuation for the wolf. Without any warning, he ran away from the castle and ditched his duties as the prince and only heir to the throne, in favor of a new life of traveling the world with Barzard."

"Panja..." Sasuga softly breathed. She didn't know what to think of what Panja did, abandoning his kingdom and leaving Seif behind so selfishly like that. "So that's why you ended up being the king? That must've been hard for you..."

"Yeah. During that time, King Rour was ill from his old age and he passed away not too long after Panja's disappearance. The duty of ruler of Asadia fell on my shoulders, having no other choice and being the only Lowefang remaining. At that time, I was so mad at Panja. I thought I could never forgive hi for what he had done; especially breaking his father's heart and causing so much grieve till the day he died. I swore that I would be a great king, like Rour, and surpass everyone expectation and make them forget about Panja. Sadly, I couldn't..." Seif's tone gradually lowered to a sad voice.

Sasuga somewhat figured that the story wasn't going to end well, since she heard how the Asadia Kingdom met a tragic end, but she wanted to know more about it. "What happened, Seif?"

Letting out a dry sigh, Seif continued, "About a year after being crowned, the kingdom was suddenly attacked a huge army of demons and undead monsters. It was so quick and expected, everything was ruined in a single day. I somehow survived, and in that day, I got received the Curse of Abaddon, although I don't know how. But I lost everything. My Kingdom, my people, my home, everything. The despair I felt was unbearable, I didn't know what to do with my newly given immortal life."

"That's so horrible..." Sasuga's heart quenched for Seif. She thought she had it rough in her life lately, but it's nothing compared to what Seif had been through. It made her feel petty.

"I was so lost, until I found out who was responsible for that attack. An evil necromancer that went by the name of the Ethereal Warlock. And that was when my quest for vengeance began. It consumed me completely. I didn't care for anything else but to destroy him with my bare hands. I eventually met up with Barzard and Panja, and even though it helped retaining whatever humanity left me being with them, that deep anger and hatred still lingered inside of me. That desire for revenge didn't cease even after I found that the Ethereal Warlock was... my father," Seif then revealed to an utterly shocked Sasuga.

"Hold on, you said your parents died after you were born!" Sasuga recalled.

"That I and everyone in the kingdom have been, but it wasn't the real truth. The reality was that only my mother passed away, giving birth to me, and that devastated Grall, my father, so much he went insane and secretly started practicing the dark arts of necromancy to bring his dead wife back to life. When King Rour found out about it and that he has been using castle servants as test subjects for his sick experiments, he locked him up in the dungeons, but Grall managed to escape somehow and vanished. Nobody heard of him ever since and King Rour covered up every trace of what his young brother had done and ordered to the few people who knew to keep it a secret and fake his death for the public. He didn't want me to know what kind of a father mine was for my sake, so they kept it well hidden and I've been living through that lie until the day I've finally met Grall and he told me the truth."

"Oh Seif..." Sasuga softly muttered. She couldn't imagine how this story could get any worse. But it did and Seif was having a hard time getting to this next part.

"That wasn't the worst thing that Grall did, though. Destroying his own nation and people that he held a grudge on is one thing, but wiping out another innocent tribe was completely unforgivable. It involves you, Sasuga," Seif said with a pained expression in his face.

"M-Me?" Sasuga blinked and wondered how she was mixed in this centuries old fable.

"Yeah... Did Barzard or Panja ever tell you that we found you in your egg a long time ago?"

"Yes, yes, they did." She did remember that well when they both told her the truth about their immortality and after she told them the story of how she was found by her adoptive parents, but they didn't delve deeply into the matter.

"Well, Grall was after your egg because he believed you already had extraordinary powers of the Heart part. And to get it, he... he destroyed your kirin tribe."

Sasuga's eyes widened as she heard those words coming out of Seif's muzzle. "No... No way..."

It was getting harder for Seif to continue, but he had to. He wanted to be the one to break it to her. "I'm sorry, Sasuga. But it's the truth. Grall... My father, was the one responsible for the extinction of the kirins. He eradicated all of them just so he could get your egg." That revelation dropped on Sasuga like a bombshell. All her life, she thought she was the only kirin that ever lived in this world. That she was different, an unnatural being. But now she found out that she had a tribe, a family, maybe even a real father and mother, and they were all gone way before she was even born into this world. Seif sensed her distress over the sudden news and gave her a moment before he would continue.

"Seif... Haz told me that I was the Princess of the Kirins. What did he mean by that?" Sasuga then asked him, remembering that little detail Hazard mentioned to her before.

"Yes, you are. Your father was the chief of the tribe," Seif answered her directly. "When we were after Grall, we arrived at the hidden village of the Kirins, and despite being burned down by the time we came, there was a sole survivor. A female kirin by the name of Mirna."

For a short moment, Sasuga's eyes were filled with hope. "R-Really?! She didn't die? Who was she? Did she know my parents?"

Seif grunted quietly, hating how he had to extinguish that hope so quickly. "I'm sorry, we couldn't save her either. Grall showed up unexpectedly and killed her before we could've done anything."

Sasuga gripped her chest in sorrow. "God... Why would he do such horrible things?"

"I don't know. I'm still not sure why he attacked his own people and killed all of the kirins. He was just insane and lost in his desire to master his necromancy powers."

"What happened to him? To Grall?"

"We eventually faced him and defeated him. However, during the battle, your egg fell down an icy crevice and we couldn't retrieve it. It's an incredible miracle that you actually survived that fall and hatched after more than two hundred years, but I'm quite relieved; at least our efforts of defeating Grall didn't go in vain. Sadly, it took us this long to reunite again, but I'm glad we finally did," Seif ended his story with a serene smile dispelled all the sadness Sasuga was feeling a moment ago.

"Yeah, I'm glad too, Seif," she smiled back at him, her blush returning back to her cheek.

"I'm sorry I had to dump all of this on you at once, but like I said before, I wanted you to know this from me. Despite having nothing to do with Grall, he was still my real father, no one can deny that, and he had caused us a lot of sorrow for inexcusable reasons, especially to you. I still feel that his sins are part of my responsibility as a Lowefang. With that said, I'm begging for your forgiveness," Seif then humbly apologized and pleaded to the surprised kirin.

"W-What?! N-No, please don't!" Sasuga retorted. "You've done nothing, Seif! You don't have anything to apologize for! It's true that what your father did was unforgivable, but you suffered greatly from it as well, even more so than me. You're not guilty of anything, so please, don't do this!" Seif had been nothing but a charm to her ever since they had met, so she was mortified to see him asking her for forgiveness. She definitely didn't think she was worth, compared to what he had been through in his long and struggling life. "If anything, I should be grateful to you, for saving my life back then. Even if I was still in an egg and asleep all this time, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here right now," Sasuga gratefully said, unconsciously reaching out with a hand and holding on one of Seif's much bigger ones gently.

"Thank you, Sasuga. You have no idea how relived I am to hear this. Ever since I defeated Grall and avenged my kingdom and people, I thought that would bring me peace, but it didn't and I still felt empty inside of me. I thought traveling with Barzard and helping him end this curse would fill that void, and despite it helping distracting me from it, it didn't. I think what I needed was... to find you," Seif breathed softly, as Sasuga's blush increased tenfold.

"M... Me?"

"Yes. I needed to find you and make peace with you for what my father did. I think this is what I've been searching for all this time. So, thank you," Seif smiled and tenderly squeezed on the kirin's hand, making her realize that she was holding his hand intimately and bashfully pulled it away. "Sorry about that," the lion apologetically murmured, sensing that he was out of line.

"N-No, no, it's okay! Thanks, Seif..." Sasuga shook her head, faking a smile, but in reality, she was actually troubled. Was all this attention she was getting from Seif from the beginning because he was feeling guilty of what his father did? And to think she thought that Seif was actually interested in her. Of course not. How could a wonderful man like him be interested in her? Maybe Hazard and Panja felt the same way. It all made sense to her now. Did they all really care about her or was it just a pity party? Negativity started to invade her mind as she started to doubt herself again.

"Here's your order! Sorry for the wait," the waitress finally came back with the sushi plate and a bottle of white wine with two glasses. She put them neatly on their table and excused herself with a bow, wishing them a good eating. The plate had a colorful array of assorted sushi flavors that were quite appetizing to the eyes, good enough to make Sasuga forget about those gloomy thoughts.

"I hope I didn't ruin your appetite with that depressing story," Seif smirked as he poured the wine in both of their glasses.

Sasuga giggled lightly, "Not all. I can eat sushi any day, even if I had to kill a few demons for it."

"Oh, I don't think you have to go that far," Seif chuckled. "I also hope you'll stop thinking about your revenge. I don't want to see what it would do to you like how it did for me."

Sasuga shook her head, "I won't. Thanks for telling me the truth, Seif. I really appreciate your honesty."

Seif nodded gladly. "Well, let's forget about all of that for now. We should enjoy whatever good time we have while we can. That what a certain old friend taught me once in the past," Seif said, sipping from his glass of wine enjoyably. Somehow, Sasuga had a hunch who that old friend was, but she didn't dig deep into it and just enjoyed her meal of the tasty sushi.

To be continued...