Tenseiga rushed passed the door to the dining room to go to the backyard.

“Tensei?” Beni called to him as he, Aaron, and Tetsuya followed him out, “Tensei, what’s happening, and what is that?”

Tenseiga seemed to ignore them as he threw salt in the bucket. He lit a match when Benimaru grabbed him.

“Tensei!” Benimaru exclaimed.

Tenseiga blinked and looked around, “Oh, you’re all out here.”

“Is this— skin?” Aaron reached for the bucket.

“Don’t touch that!” Tenseiga grabbed Aaron’s arm.

Tenseiga stopped him at the right time because the flesh started whispering, and a purple substance began oozing out of it. Tenseiga hurriedly lit a new match and tossed it in. The flesh in the bucket gave a deafening scream as it burst into flames. Tenseiga sighed in relief.

Benimaru grabbed Tenseiga, “What in the hell is actually going on?”

“Well, His Highness and Tenseiga needed some assistance after cutting the cursed flesh from Charlotte’s body,” Dr. Goldfuss began before Tetsuya indicated the two mortals.

Dr. Goldfuss was good at ignoring people he didn’t feel were significant to the conversation. Dr. Goldfuss shook his head before explaining, “She’s resting now, and I have your— pops hooked up for a blood transfusion, so she should be good as new in a couple of days.”

“Tensei, there’s a lot of blood on your shirt,” Aaron noted.

“S-so there is,” Tenseiga was not like himself at all.

“What happened?” Benimaru asked again.

“Mortals,” Dr. Goldfuss sighed, “I just told you, they had to cut the cursed flesh from her body. So the curse wouldn’t manifest further, the flesh had to be burned, and to stop the bleeding, the wounds had to be cauterized.”

Tenseiga figured half the truth was okay, “a group of people carved wounds into Charlotte’s body.”

“Oh my god,” Benimaru covered his mouth.

“They were— it was a sick ritual that fortunately and unfortunately backfired. The ghosts you likely saw resulted from that conjuring,” Tenseiga continued.

“Tensei, that’s crazy!” Benimaru yelled, “You should have taken her to the hospital! There had to be some other way to—“

“If there was another way, Benimaru, don’t you think we would have done that,” Tenseiga yelled, which rattled them. He’s never raised his voice, “do you think that we liked the idea of having to do this to her? Do you think we wanted her to endure something like that?”

Tears started streaming down Tenseiga’s face.

Dr. Goldfuss touched his arm and invited Tenseiga to go sit down.

“Whatever you choose to believe or not doesn’t matter here. The fact of the matter is that if we took Charlotte to a mortal hospital, as soon as anyone touched her to examine her, they would have died because mortal doctors are so— anyway, the hospital staff would have perished, and by the time they figured out what to do— which they would never have— not only would the staff have died but Lady Charlotte would have died too,” Dr. Goldfuss said gruffly.

“Wait, so how did Tensei and Sam not die,” Beni asked.

Tenseiga thought, “Damn it, Goldfuss.”

Dr. Goldfuss continued, “Believe it or not, Tenseiga is quite skilled at identifying and figuring out how to neutralize curses and poisons. I would venture to say that he is probably the most gifted at knowing how to handle these situations. Best in all of creation.”

“Wow,” Aaron breathed.

“His bandage work leaves something to be desired, though, which is why they brought me in.”

“You just had to ruin it, didn’t you,” Tenseiga muttered.

“It’s sad, really,” A voice came out of a massive scar torn in the fabric of reality.

“Chad! What are you doing here?” Tenseiga hissed.

“Tensei, Tensei, Tensei. You could have served me in luxury, yet here you sit in tears over my pathetic cousin,” Chad tsked, shaking his head.

“Lord Mal! What are you doing out of the void?” Dr. Goldfuss exclaimed.

“Pops?” Benimaru and Aaron exclaimed at the same time.

“Pops?” Chad began, then laughed as it dawned on him, “Uncle Mal, isn’t it adorable how my cousin and Kumiho’s soon-to-be pet keep confusing you for Uncle Sam?”

Tenseiga hissed, “What does Kumiho have to do with this?”

Kumiho followed Chad out of the void, “I assisted Lord Chad in ushering in a new era. He will rage on this world to his heart’s content before turning to take down the upper gods.”

“Not going to happen,” Tetsuya dashed at Chad but went to a complete halt when Chad summoned Charlie’s shadow as a shield.

“Charlie?” They all exclaimed.

Tetsuya reached for her with shaky hands.

“It’s almost cute how one abomination cares so deeply for the other,” Chad made no effort to hide his disgust before making her disappear.

“Charlie!” Benimaru called out.

“Ah, Benimaru, my beloved,” Chad approached.

Tenseiga shed his human form, turning into a giant nine-tailed fox. He curled Benimaru and Aaron in one of his tails, baring his teeth.

“T-Tensei?” Benimaru looked up nervously.

“Oh, Tensei, do you think you can protect them from Kumiho AND me?” Chad and Kumiho approached but stopped dead when a wall of blue flame crossed their paths.

Tetsuya took to the sky, beating his wings to keep the flames hot.

“Hmm…” Chad looked annoyed, “Come on, Kumiho, we have a mortal realm to destroy. I’ll be back for you, Beni.”

Chad winked as he walked through another gash in reality, followed by Kumiho.

Tetsuya roared in frustration.

“Tetsuya, what in the hell are you—?” Sam rushed out of the house and stopped when he saw Tenseiga shielding Benimaru and Aaron, “What happened? Why do I feel like my brother was here?”

“Pops?” Benimaru rushed towards Sam, “Pops! It was Chad. I don’t understand any of this, but Chad was saying something about raging on the mortal realm, and it looked like you were chained to him, and then he left through this portal taking— Charlie’s ghost with him?”

Benimaru collapsed when his brain couldn’t process what he had just said. He held his head, “What in the fresh hell is happening, pops? Why is Tensei a giant fox? What’s with this Dragon?”

Sam’s eyes flashed, “I knew Borealis was up to something. That bastard.”

“Sire, we can’t jump to—“ Tenseiga’s voice came from the air.

Black flames engulfed Sam, and he reappeared twice his height clad in black armor.

“They will burn. They will burn for hurting my Charlotte. They will burn for terrifying and threatening my children. Paradise will be ash by the time I’m through,” Sam’s voice gained a few dissonant tones.

Aaron ran to Benimaru’s side, “Pops? What happened?”

“We told you to make sure your halfling kept our brother in the void—“ Alpharam and the other gods appeared in a crash of thunder.

“Pretty bold of you to all be here leaving paradise unguarded,” Sam boomed, then laughed maniacally when the earth started to shake and groan, a gaping maw appearing in the fabric of reality, “Finally, we have breached the mortal realm! Prepare yourselves because before this night is over, paradise will burn.”

“What are you on about?” Borealis made no effort to hide his smile.

“Ask your damned son,” Sam glowered.

“Chad?”

Before Borealis could finish, the world rumbled, and Chad’s voice boomed across creation.

“Mortals! Your time on this plane is over, but don’t worry. I don’t intend to wipe you all out. I want to play a game to see which of your foolish boundaries you call countries will survive the longest. Then, I will destroy those who survive last. Good luck.”

“You all have one hour to prepare for my army,” Sam glowered, disappearing in black flame.

“Well, well, well. My boy,” Borealis laughed, “I’ll take Samuel’s challenge. I can’t have my son take all the glory.”

Borealis disappeared.

“Caz— we must prepare to defend our home against our brother. Can you handle Chad?” Alpharam asked.

“I’ll do my best, father,” Caz nodded and watched as his father and uncles disappeared.

Caz looked behind him and sighed, “Well, I suppose I can’t be picky here….”

“What the hell does that mean?” Aaron shouted.

Caz ignored him, “I’m going to guess Charlotte is incapacitated since Uncle Mal is now bound to Chad. Dragon, I need your assistance in stopping my cousin. Tenseiga, you stay here and try to get Charlotte back together. Much as I hate to admit it, she will probably be the only one who can reach uncle Mal.”

Tetsuya resumed his humanoid form, “Not happening, ass wipe.”

If looks could kill, Caz would drop dead.

Caz blinked, “Did you not hear me, dragon? I said-”

“I heard what you said,” Tetsuya seethed.

“Then why do you not obey?” Caz was confused.

“I don’t answer to any of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on the princess,” Tetsuya turned to walk away, “I only answer to her.”

Against his better judgment, Benimaru followed Tetsuya inside.

“W-wait! Beni?” Aaron took off after him.

Tenseiga sighed, taking on his humanoid form and following the others inside, leaving Caz outside, confused.

“Why do they not obey?”

—

Tetsuya collapsed at Charlie’s bedside, holding her hand and clenching his jaw.

“I never thought— I never thought I’d fail you so dismally, my goddess,” Tetsuya held her hand to his forehead, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Benimaru stopped just inside the door, “Tetsu— are you—“

“Yes, he is a dragon,” Aaron came in behind him.

“Th-that’s not what I was going to ask, but I think that’s something I want to unpack later. Tetsu, when you say princess— do you mean— that is— pops was—“ Benimaru was still trying to string what he was trying to ask.

“Yes, Beni. Charlotte Obsidian is the daughter of Samuel Obsidian, emperor of the underworld,” Tenseiga followed in after them, “Tetsuya and I are her guardians. I assisted the emperor in raising her— being the only being in the underworld who knew how to care for a demigoddess baby. Charlie dragged Tetsuya out of a cave. If he were a fully mortal dragon, he would not be sitting in front of us as you see him now. I told her she wasn’t going to have another pet because I was not going to feed him or clean up dragon poop.”

“She’d have taken me regardless, stupid fox, and you know it,” Tetsuya’s laugh was strained. It was comical to think of Tenseiga having to babysit and clean up after a dragon.

“I know, she always gets her way,” Tenseiga sat on the bed next to her, “Mostly because she never asks for much, and the things Charlotte does ask for are pretty sweet and innocent— Tetsuya, you better not breathe a word about what she asks of you. I don’t want to know.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything. Unlike you, I like to keep those things private,” Tetsuya was indignant.

Tenseiga stroked her hair, ignoring Tetsuya.

“My Charlotte, my child,” Tenseiga’s voice cracked.

“Tetsuya,” a deep voice echoed from the doorway, causing Benimaru and Aaron to jump, “the emperor has called on the celestial beasts for war. The High Council of the Eternal Flame has been requesting your presence since the passing of your father, but now we demand it.”

“Listen, asshole, I told you and every other celestial being that I only answer to princess Charlotte and princess Charlotte alone,” Tetsuya didn’t turn around.

“Such insolence is to be suspecting from a halfbreed,” the man seemed annoyed.

“Listen, man, I’m not sure who or what you are, but you don’t get to come into our house and disrespect my friend,” Aaron stood up a whole two and a half feet shorter than the man.

He blinked at Aaron, “Mortals? Tetsuya, are you a fool on top of being an insolent halfbreed?”

“I’m warning you—“ Aaron shouted.

“Tetsuya is no fool, Lord Minos,” Tenseiga stood up, “on the contrary, he happens to be the least foolish person I know, and as ward to the princess and second to the emperor, I order you to leave.”

Lord Minos scoffed, “those ranks mean nothing to the Council of the Eternal Flame, but your hierarchy among celestial beasts demands my compliance. I will leave, but I have a question, Tetsuya. Are you truly satisfied weeping here, or would you rather take vengeance on the battlefield?”

Tetsuya stood up, “I’ll go.”

“Good, your rider will be waiting—“ Lord Minos began.

“No underworld bastard is riding me into battle,” Tetsuya raged.

“But, all dragons have a partner in battle. I would be a fool to let you go without a partner,” Lord Minos shook his head.

“I’ll go,” The words left Aaron’s mouth before his brain could reason.

“What?” Everyone in the room shouted.

“If the only way Tetsu can avenge Charlie is with a rider, then I’ll be his partner,” Aaron said again.

“Aaron, are you crazy?” Benimaru held his face, “Do you even realize what you’re saying?”

“Beni,” Aaron touched a hand to Benimaru’s, “I can’t leave Tetsu hanging. He still hasn’t admitted that I am the true king of the court.”

“Oh no. I am the true king of the court, you fool,” Tetsuya half-laughed, “You— don’t have to go with me.”

“Oh, but I do. Someone has to hold you accountable to come back to play ball with me and come back to Charlie alive,” Aaron shrugged, approaching Tetsuya, “I mean, you’re right. How can we trust some rando to do that for you?”

Tetsuya held out his hand, and Aaron clapped it against his as they held them together, “All right, partner.”

“No! Aaron!” Benimaru reached after him.

“Don’t worry, high-strung— er, Beni,” Tetsuya put a hand on Benimaru’s shoulder, “I’ll make sure his sorry ass comes back home alive, too.”

Benimaru looked down for a long moment before saying, “Okay. Okay, but you two promised me. I don’t know how this otherworldly stuff works, but you promised.”

Aaron wrapped his arms around Benimaru, “When have I ever not come back to you, Beni?”

Benimaru squeezed, “You’re right. I just... This whole thing….”

“I’m pretty damn terrified myself, Beni,” Aaron admitted, “but I feel like this is something I have to do.”

“Okay… Okay,” Benimaru looked up at him, determined.

“Good,” Aaron was going to pull away but was utterly shocked when Benimaru pulled him in for a kiss. They lingered for a long moment.

“For— luck,” Benimaru blushed.

Aaron kissed him again, “Thank you, Beni.”

Benimaru and Tenseiga watched as Lord Minos, Tetsuya, and Aaron walked through the vortex.

Benimaru’s legs finally gave out.

“Beni!” Tenseiga caught him.

“Sorry, Tensei,” Benimaru steadied himself, “This— is a lot. What can we do— for Charlie, I mean.”

Tenseiga thought for a long moment, “Well… I know of one thing, but your parents will kill me for suggesting it.”

“What is it, Tensei?” Benimaru gripped his arms.

“We— go into the void to see if we can get Charlie’s soul back to her body,” Tenseiga sighed.

—

“Absolutely not!” Maki shouted, sitting next to Charlie’s bedside in a chair.

“But mom, Pops is off waging war, Aaron went with Tetsuya, and I feel like I need to contribute, too,” Benimaru argued.

“Mrs. O,” Kat began slowly from a stunned silence, “Ben-Bun… I think he should do this, even though it’s crazy as hell.”

“No! My daughter is unconscious; one of my sons is out fighting a war riding a dragon?” Maki was still not sure she believed the details, “And now my other son wants to go into some void on a soul journey.”

“Lady Maki,” Tenseiga began, “Believe me, I regret suggesting it, but… Benimaru would be safest with me.”

“Okay, let me just pretend for one moment that I truly believe this insanity,” Maki began.

“Tensei, show her,” Benimaru was determined.

“Beni, I don’t think that will help our case,” Tenseiga nervously laughed.

Benimaru looked at Tenseiga, “She still doesn’t believe, and if we can’t fix this, we will all die anyway if I understand a war between the gods.”

Tenseiga sighed, “I see your point.”

“Do we need to go outside?”

“No, unlike Tetsu, I can control my size,” Tenseiga was surrounded by a cloud of smoke and reappeared the size of a deer.

“Oh— my— gosh,” Kat flung her arms around Tenseiga, “Ten-Ten, you’re adorable!”

Tenseiga cleared his throat, “I not adora—“

His tail started wagging when Kat scratched behind his ear, “Who’s a good fox?”

Benimaru cleared his throat.

“Oh! Sorry, Ben-bun,” Kat went to sit next to Maki, but she got up and slowly approached Tenseiga.

“So— you are telling the truth,” Maki said as Tenseiga nodded, “And my husband— is waging war against his brothers on behalf of Charlotte?”

“On behalf of all of you,” Tenseiga corrected.

Maki thought for a long moment, absentmindedly petting Tenseiga. He was trying to pretend he was not enjoying it because it was a little undignified.

“And— you’ll be there— with Beni the whole way?” Maki said slowly.

“Yes, my lady,” Tenseiga bowed his head.

Maki thought for a long moment and then let out a shaky breath, “Okay… Okay. What would you like Kat and me to do?”

“We need you to stay here and watch Charlie’s body,” Benimaru explained, “I don’t know how any of this works, but I know she will probably want to see a familiar face when she wakes up.”

“Okay,” Maki held his face, “Just— be careful, son.”

“We will, but are you sure your protections will hold against Chad and Kumiho, so nothing happens to mom and Kit-Kat?” Benimaru looked up at Tenseiga.

“Yes, I’m sure, Beni,” Tenseiga nodded.

“Even if they don’t, I have it covered,” Kat stood up proudly.

“Um… Chad is a god Kit-Kat,” Benimaru shook his head.

“Well, they’ll have another god in their corner,” Caz sighed, leaning on the doorway.

“Caz!” Tenseiga growled and jumped to the defensive.

“Calm down, Tensei!” Linda was wrapped around Caz’s arm, “We found him sulking around in your yard.”

“I wasn’t sulking,” Caz was indignant.

Linda giggled, “Of course, you weren’t.”

Benimaru stepped up to Caz, “I don’t know what your end goal is here, but if you hurt them-”

“Don’t worry, cousin,” Caz held up his hands, “the least I can do is protect uncle’s wife since I fell for Chad’s foolishness also.”

“Well, okay…”

Maki hugged Benimaru tightly, “Just be safe.”

“I will, mom,” Benimaru hugged her back.

“You better! I need you to tell me what the deal is with Aaron,” Maki ruffled his hair.

“Mom…” Benimaru groaned.

Tenseiga nudged Benimaru with his nose, “Let’s go, Beni.”

Tenseiga kneeled for Benimaru to climb on, and with a wave, they disappeared into the void.