16 Esteemed Gods

In the distance, the Japanese city of Fukuoka could be seen. This let Solis know that he was at least in Japan and had a little ways to go before he could land in Kyoto. He sadly couldn't stop by and enjoy the scenery but the view of the citizens going about their day pleased Solis.

Now that he was a few miles away from Kyoto, his nose caught a whiff of Kalamati. He altered his flight path and flew to exactly where they were. Before him stood the sliding doors of a hotel that, he assumed, his companions rented out. He opened the doors and made sure to take off his shoes before walking on the floor. The lady who manned the front of the house noticed his presence and gave him a greeting.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am, I was just wondering if my friends rented out a room here?"

"I can't answer such a vague question now can I?"

She shot him a very mischievous smile.

"Of course, I apologize. They most likely came separately, in two groups to be exact. The first group most likely consisted of five people, four women, and one boy. The second group would be two women and one man. If that's still not specific enough then has a really tall, brown man reserved a room here?"

The lady thought about his question for a few moments before getting back to him.

"Ahh, yes! Recently, a man like you described came in and reserved a room! For security's sake, may I get your name and the name of your friend?"

"His name is very peculiar so I doubt you'd forget but it's Tenacity. And if he gave you a last name it was Arcana. My full name is Solis Arcana, and I'm that man's cousin."

"Thank you! Now, let me see here..."

She looked down on a little register and looked for Tenacity's name.

"Good! Everything checks out! Your cousin is in the room on the second floor, furthest down the hall, and to your left."

Solis bowed and said his thanks to the lady before he walked away. It was a square, but modest-sized, facility. The hotel's tatami floors and wooden build were pleasing to his eyes and radiating the sense of tranquility. He walked up the narrow staircase to the second level. He looked to his right and into the courtyard of the hotel. They seemed to have planted multiple cherry blossom trees and they looked to be in season. He observed the trees as the pastel pink petals floated to the ground, some went into the pond that sat in the middle of the courtyard. Well-trimmed bushes lined the outside of the courtyard, some with pretty flowers blooming, all of which varied in color.

Before he knew it, he was in front of Tenacity's room and ready to knock on their doorframe. Their silhouettes could be clearly seen through the door. He noticed one of the silhouettes get up and run toward the door.

"Oh, no--"

"Solis!"

Lyra flew through the door and tackled Solis to the floor.

"I-I was so scared, Solis!"

Her crying drew attention and caused his shirt to become wet.

"Lyra, not now, you're drawing attention to us."

"Brother is that you?"

Solis looked down the hall and saw his sister standing out from one of the rooms he passed by on his way to Tenacity's.

"Tenacity, a little help, please?"

"Yes, of course, Solis."

Tenacity took control of Lyra's mind and made her walk back into their room. She sat down beside Kalamati before Tenacity released her of his mind control.

"Wha--? How did I--?

"You'll behave yourself until Solis gets back. Understand?"

Kalamati looked at Lyra with stern eyes.

"You can't tell me what to do!"

She stuck her tongue out at the displeased Kalamati.

"Ugh! So stubborn!"

Lyra tried to bolt to Solis again but Kalamati tied her up in her whips before she could run out of the door.

"Tenacity, close the doors."

"Wait! Let me go with him!"

He got up and shut them, leaving Lyra in their company. Solis walked to his sister's room and entered. The Arcana siblings embraced one another after a few days of being separated. Lunis and Elise sat beneath the table as they watched. After Solis split off from his siblings, Lunis got up and hugged her childhood friend.

"How are you, Lunis? You guys didn't encounter too much trouble I hope."

With slightly misty eyes, she said, "No, not too much. Just took out some of the wyverns that tailed us, nothing too hazardous."

Solis patted her shoulder and was happy she was safe. Elise took her chance to greet her friend as well. The two of them shook hands and put a hand on each other's shoulder.

"No injuries, right?"

"Nope, none at all! All is well over here."

They too gave one another a friendly smile. While he chatted with his friends, Solis noticed a flurry of footsteps coming from the hallway.

"How the--? There's no way Kalamati let her loose that easily," he thought.

Lyra flew their doors and tried to hug Solis, but Fera stepped in and held her up by her wrists. The girl struggled in Fera's grasp as cried out for Solis.

"Who is this girl anyway, brother? She came in with Tenacity and Kalamati when they arrived but they didn't care to explain who she was."

"First, let her go, please."

"Of course."

Lyra fell to the floor but recovered quickly and took her spot beside Solis.

"Who are these people, Solis!?"

He let out a tired sigh.

"They're the friends I came here to meet. Well, to be specific, those two over there are my younger siblings."

Ad and Fera flocked to Solis as if to intimidate Lyra and to show off their familial bond with Solis.

"What a weird, girl you brought with you, Solis. I'm assuming she's not useless though, right? Otherwise, I don't think you would've brought her along."

Lunis marveled at Lyra's as she clung tightly to Solis's arm. Fera wanted to shove her away from her brother but she knew that would anger him.

"I agree with Lunis. What's the reason you've brought her, brother?"

"She will be our ticket into Byakko's palace."

"Really? How so?"

Before he could explain the situation, he asked that everyone was present for it. Not long after, all nine people were in one room. With his conditions met, Solis started explaining. They need Lyra because a person with the blood of Byakko could accurately lead you to the entrance of his palace. Every divine being knew he was situated in Kyoto but no one knew where he was exactly, it didn't help that he always moved the location of his castle after he let the guests leave. But, if you brought along a family member of his, their instincts could tell you where he was, you would just have to search for a little bit before they could help you. Solis had to find out the hard way that he needed a family member to find Byakko. After all, he spent hundreds of years searching for him until he was told this by the god himself.

"Can I really do this, Solis?"

Lyra looked up at him, worried that if she failed her job he would ditch her.

"Of course, I'm positive you'll--"

Suddenly, Solis clutched his chest, and beads of sweat formed on his face.

"Solis! What's wrong?!"

Lyra tried to help him up but was dragged back by Lunis, and she looked at Tenacity.

"Ah jeez, this hasn't happened in a while. Tenacity! Take him to your room and make sure no one enters!"

"I know! Give him to me, quickly!"

Fera and Ad picked up their brother off the ground and handed him over to Tenacity.

In the commotion, Elise tried asking Lunis, "What's going on?"

"I'll answer later. If we don't get him to sleep right now, this whole country will be reduced to ash."

Elise looked at Tenacity as they dragged Solis's drenched body away. Elise and Lyra waited for the return of Tenacity and Kalamati but were left waiting. Lunis decided to answer their unease.

"You probably won't see them until later in the evening."

"Well, I'm going to check on Solis now."

Fera was leaning on the door frame when she looked at Lyra.

"I advise against it. Unless you want your life ended early then be my guest."

"Well, what do you know about him? He's my friend, I'm sure he wouldn't touch a hair on my head."

Little did Lyra know, her brashness and naivety caused a landmine to explode.

"'What do I know about him?'"

"W-woah, Fera, calm down."

Ad tried quickly to calm her down before she went off on Lyra. Sadly, his efforts were in vain.

"I have been by his side for longer than you've been alive, little girl! You couldn't even fathom how deep our bond is as family! I've been with him when he was at his worst and I've been with him at his best! There is no one closer to him than his own family, so do not go boasting the weak bond that you have with him."

"Fera, Fera, calm down. Solis won't be too happy if he finds out that you were rude to our guest. You know how he is about this stuff."

"I know, Ad."

She looked up once more at Lyra and gave her some advice.

"If you still want to try and see my brother then be my guest, but I guarantee you won't even get within 30 feet of him."

She moved away from the door to let Lyra walk by and as she did, Lyra gave Fera a smug look. Lyra expected to easily walk through the door but something prevented her foot from crossing over that barrier.

"Hmph. Couldn't even make it past the door."

Fera moved away from the door and sat down with the others, and they watched as Lyra remained frozen near the door.

"So...which one of us has to get her?" Ad asked.

They looked at one another for a moment and Elise was the first to excuse herself.

"You guys do it, I'm shaking in my boots over here."

"Welp, Elise is out."

Ad looked at his sister and Lunis with intense eyes.

"Ready?" He asked them.

"Always have been," Lunis replied.

They fell silent and continued staring at one another with fierce gazes.

"""SHOOT!"""

"Awww, dang it!"

"Yeah! We got her, Ad! Way to go!"

What happened, you ask? Well, they had a quick game of rock, paper, scissors. Fera was the one who had ended up losing, since she threw paper, while Lunis and Ad got to revel in their victory. Fera begrudgingly got up from the floor and dragged Lyra back inside the room, where she was able to move again. Lyra was muttering incoherent sentences as she scrambled along the floor.

"I told you didn't I? That you wouldn't make it within 30 feet of my brother, you actually did worse than what I predicted. The only people who could resist being near him right now are Tenacity and Kalamati. So if you've learned your lesson, stay here with us until Solis is better."

Lyra did as she was told and found a spot in the corner of the room. For the next few hours, until evening, they spent their time in the room. If they were hungry, one of the ladies, except Lyra, was sent to get some food for them, otherwise, they never left. Before they knew it, it was time to sleep. Each of them got their own futon, they had to get Lyra her own so she could sleep. It would be later in the evening when Kalamati and Tenacity came out of the room that they put Solis to sleep in.

"Geez, I hate it when he has these episodes."

Tenacity slumped up against a nearby wall as he exhaled a sigh of relief.

"You and me both."

Kalamati sat down beside him. They felt extremely exhausted as the coolness of the wood and the light breeze from the night encompassed their bodies. Tenacity was the first to lose consciousness, while Kalamati got one last look at Solis before her eyes closed. The breeze that ran through the hotel caused a low-tone whistling noise to ring throughout. The insects in the courtyard started their nighttime party as they started their chatter. Their conversation reached Solis's ears and it took him a bit to wake up.

The open window in the room let in a ray of moonlight that pierced Solis's half-open eyelids. He got up slowly as he tried to remember what happened. When he did, he felt slightly embarrassed as he let his "other self" come out. In all honesty, it wasn't exactly his "other self" more like the rest of his personality. Solis got up from the floor and walked outside into the hall, where he came upon the sleeping Suns. He did them a favor as he took out some futons and laid both of them out separately. Solis gave them a small thanks before he went back out into the hall. His stomach growled as it too woke up from its sleep, and it beckoned for Solis to feed it.

The cherry blossom's glowed in an otherworldly type of pink as the moonlight passed through each leaf. The courtyard was lit up in a pink hue and adopted a jolly feel to it. Solis took some time to pause and enjoy the exotic trees. His mood brightened and he continued down the hall. Since he didn't know where the dining hall was, he just used his nose to guide him. In no time at all, Solis found himself in a dimly lit hall that had rows of tables meant for eating. Since it was the middle of the night, there was no one there to serve Solis, but that didn't matter. Instead of sitting down, Solis made his way to the kitchen. His mouth started drooling as the fridge came into view. The door swung open as Solis began devouring the food inside.

His rampage stopped abruptly when he heard a noise in the hallway. The fridge door shut and Solis stuck himself to the ceiling as he surveyed the room for whoever caused the noise. He stayed there for a while and would only go down if his instincts told him so. The hairs on his body stood on end as he felt something near him.

In a low voice, a stranger said, "So you were here."

Solis let out a grunt as dropped from the ceiling and tried to kick at whatever was there. As soon as his feet touched the floor, Solis dashed out of the kitchen and tried to gain the upper hand over his foe.

"Why are you running away? Are we not old friends?"

Solis heard the voice once more but couldn't see who it came from. One thought came to his mind and he acted quickly. His tail came out from his body and he swung it at the dining tables. They flew across the room and it allowed Solis to find his foe. He darted to his left and held out his hand, waiting for it to come in contact with the neck of whoever approached him. With a thud, Solis had pinned something invisible to the wall.

"Stop with your antics, don't make me destroy this place any more than I have to."

"Fine. Fine. Just let go!"

He did and something fell to the floor. The figure's body slowly materialized as they returned the air molecules to their normal state.

"Have I ever told you how much of a pain you are?"

Solis looked down at the figure.

"Haha! Too many times to count."

Before him the figure of the god he was looking for appeared. Wearing a plain t-shirt and extremely tacky board shorts, was a young man with messy ginger hair that he tied back in a ponytail. He sported glamorous, blue eyes with nice thin eyebrows. A little fang of his poked out every time he spoke or smiled and gave him a very kid-like appearance. Overall, his body was of average height with a runner's nimble build.

"Why come to me, Byakko? I assumed it was too risky for you to try."

"Ah, don't worry about that stuff. You should know that, since I'm part of the Lower Half, I'm not given much attention by the Upper Half."

"I haven't forgotten. I'm anxious because both Halves know you and I are friends."

"Yeah, yeah, old news. They haven't forgotten, they just stopped caring."

Solis cocked his head back in confusion at how laid back Byakko was.

"Look...I understand why you're so worried, Solis, but the Upper Half are diverting their attention somewhere else. I've heard rumors that the Upper Half have been working on some big project, but I don't know what exactly. So, they've tasked the Lower Half to hunt you guys down."

"That still doesn't make sense why you shouldn't be cautious."

"I am, I'm just not scared of a fight. Don't think that for 17 years I've sat here twiddling my thumbs, Solis. Like the drakes with their new weapons, I too have had my people develop our own ace in the hole."

Shocked at the news, Solis wanted to press further into the matter.

"What is it you've done, Byakko?"

"I will tell you when you're in my domain, where there are no prying ears. Until then, I must cut our conversation here short."

In the blink of an eye, Byakko disappeared from Solis's sight, but he could still feel his presence somewhere around him. With his appetite ruined, Solis went back upstairs to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning came faster than Solis could prepare for and was bombarded by the rays of sunlight. He rolled his body in a manner that made sure the sunlight wouldn't hit his eyes. Thinking he could get more time to sleep, Solis let himself relax once again.

"Hey! Wake up, Solis, we're going out to eat and we can't leave you behind."

He groaned as Kalamati tried to take his futon away from him.

"Don't be such a hatchling, Solis! You want to eat don't--Oh, I see how it is. I forgot that you're still trying to recover. I'll just come back for you later then."

"Thanks, Kalamati, I'll join you guys when I feel better."

"Alright, we'll be waiting."

He listened as her footsteps grew fainter and fainter. Once he felt she was far enough, Solis got out from his futon and changed into some "work" clothes. He put on a white tank top and put a blue button-up over it. To top it off, he chose a set of whiteboard shorts and some tennis shoes. Before he left, he made sure to bring his mask because he wanted to ask a certain god a few questions. Byakko's abnormally calm demeanor unnerved him, so he was going to seek out information.

Solis doubled checked the items he needed before opening up the windows. The wind wafted through the air and into Solis's nose. The scent of the salty sea was carried by the wind and tickled his nose. He stepped onto the window sill and readied himself to jump out. But just as he tensed his legs up, something from behind him dragged him back inside.

"Ack! Lyra? Why're you back here?"

"Solis! I'm so glad you're back to normal!"

She smothered herself in his chest while he tried to break away from her.

"You need to be with the others, Lyra, it's not a good idea to be separated from them."

"It's worse when I have to be separated from you!" She retorted.

Her clinginess was starting to get to him. Normally, he wouldn't be so annoyed but he had something he needed to do, and he hated it when he was impeded. Luckily, he knew he wouldn't have to deal with her for too long. A certain person was going to show up and take her away. From the hall, Kalamati burst into the room and scolded Lyra.

"I thought so! It was an obvious lie when you said you needed the restroom!"

"No. No. No. Let me stay with hiiiiiiim!"

She struggled in vain as Kalamati wrapped her up in her whips and completely immobilized her.

"Solis, you look better. You're coming along now, right?"

"No, not this time. I know I said I would, but I have something to attend to," he said in a tone not that of a friend.

"Of course, Solis, I'll leave you be. I'll inform Tenacity of your decision."

Kalamati understood his intentions and complied.

"Once I'm done, we'll start looking for the entrance to Byakko's domain. Until then, you and Tenacity need to make sure nothing bad happens to our group."

She gave him a nod before walking away completely. Solis returned to the window sill and promptly jumped out. Now that he was on the street behind the hotel, he would follow it all the way to the coast. By the time he was on white sand, it was 12 in the afternoon. He looked out onto the water and readied himself for his dive. With the diving equipment, that he rented from a nearby shop, he suited up and walked into the water. His vision was immediately crippled as the dark blue of the sea was the only thing in front of him. His plan was to follow however deep the beach dipped into the sea and to stop at the depth he felt was necessary to find his god. A few minutes later, Solis was so deep that the sunlight couldn't reach him. Satisfied with his position, Solis took out his rebreather and let out his golden ray. The water sizzled as the beam traveled across the blue expanse.

Solis put his rebreather back in and waited for his efforts to bear fruit. Some of the deep ocean life swam by him as if to inquire what he was doing, but he just observed them as they came and went. Not long after, a torrent of water came rushing at Solis. A winding figure came out from the darkness and swam around in the water.

"Who disturbed the subjects in my kingdom?!"

Solis snickered as he watched the azure-colored dragon search for him. This dragon was the one and only Ryujin. Dragon God of the Asian waters, his unreal elegance was a sight to behold. His blunt and bone yellow horns sat atop his head like a crown. A furry mane surrounded his head and flowed in the water as the ocean currents ran past it. His four limbs were slender but strong with powerful claws. At the end of his snake-like body, was a finned tail he used to fly through his waters.

Although they were both dragons, they were still different species, so to speak. Long ago, Ryujin's ancestors were once close relatives of Solis's ancestors, but they had chosen to stay in Earth's oceans for so long that they evolved differently. Many eons later, Ryujin and his fellow Ardun were now completely different from Solis.

"I'll eviscerate you once I find you!"

Solis snickered once more before he began to move. He'd make Ryujin's job easier as he took it upon himself to confront him. Ryujin noticed Solis and was ready to kill him, but Solis caught him by surprise instead. Solis exploded through his diving gear as he turned into a dragon once more. His white body almost seemed to illuminate the dark abyss that encompassed the two of them. Once Ryujin processed who was in front of him, he swam back and cowered in fear. Solis couldn't speak underwater since that wasn't where he came from. Instead, he projected the words he wanted Ryujin to understand into his mind.

"Grant me your blessing of Ardus Tongue, I have much to discuss with you" were the words that appeared in Ryujin's mind. What Solis was asking for was the temporary ability to breathe and speak underwater.

"Of course, Solis-dono--"

Now with the ability to talk underwater, Solis replied, "Not '-dono,' Ryujin, just call me Solis instead, I have no right to that title."

"Apologies, Solis. Please, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to my quarters."

Solis wrapped his tail around Ryujin's ankle and let the Dragon God lead him. Even though Solis was bigger than Ryujin, he towed Solis with ease. Solis didn't know how long they had been swimming for but the environment around them started getting brighter. He took a glimpse behind him and saw a massive underwater city. Ryujin had cleverly built it at a depth that would challenge humans to explore any further and to made it in the guise of a coral reef. Natural bioluminescent sea creatures were to thank for the aqua green light the city emitted. Many Ardun, Ryujin's race of dragon, swam around the city all the while greeting him. Some bowed, some gave him a smile, and some backed away in respect. They swam through the "streets" all the way to a weird dome structure that belonged to Ryujin.

It was a singular massive "room" that had a bed big enough to fit three Ardun, which was actually the only piece of furniture in there. It was a bit of a tight squeeze for Solis, but he would be just fine. Unexpectedly, Ryujin's wife and daughter were there too. The last time Solis had seen Ryujin's daughter she was only a hatchling, now she looked old enough to participate in an Aetatem. His visit was short the first time he went and he had never actually met Ryujin's wife, so this was a first for both of them.

For the most part, Ryujin's wife looked a lot like him except for her purple hue and lack of horns. Also, she appeared to be longer, slender, and had a thinner mane compared to him. In his head, Solis congratulated Ryujin for choosing such a magnificent wife. On the other hand, their daughter looked to be the perfect fusion of both of them. Her body was a gradient of both her parent's color, while her mane was the white of her father's. She had evidence of horns in the form of small nubs on top of her head.

"Beloved, who is the guest you've brought with you?" Ryujin's wife asked.

Solis unwrapped his tail and distanced himself a bit from her to let Ryujin explain the situation. Their daughter hid behind her mother in fear of Solis's appearance and overwhelming size.

"Mirai, this is an old acquaintance of mine. He's been here before but you were out somewhere else during his visit. I present you Solis Arcana."

"Arcana?!"

She dropped her head and gave Solis a bow.

"I-I didn't realize you were of the Arcana family. Forgive me for my ignorance, Solis-dono."

"Haaaa. Please, don't do that. I've told your husband this already but drop the '-dono,' I have no right to be given such respect."

"O-of course, then let me call you Solis-sama, at least."

"Not that either, I am in your kingdom and I have no right to command higher respect than its own queen. If anything, I should be bowing to the both of you."

Mirai stood up slowly and stared into Solis's eyes.

"Thank you for your benevolence, Solis."

Solis gave her a small bow in return.

"Papa! I don't like him! He seems like a bad person!" Their daughter protested.

Mirai tried to rein in their daughter.

"Please, Nyoko, behave. Remember all those tales you've been told of your father fighting a war for possession of this patch of the sea? H-he was the dragon that helped your father succeed. Understand, daughter, how much of an honor this is to see someone of the Arcana family, their first son no less!"

"You flatter me too much, Mirai, it was your husband that did most of the work, I only gave him advice."

"Regardless, Solis! If not for you, my husband wouldn't have been alive to attend our wedding."

This was news for Solis.

"Oh? You never told me about such an occasion after the war, Ryujin. What is the meaning of this?"

"I-I'm sorry, Solis, I didn't think it was something you had to know. For someone such as you--"

"You should've invited me, I would've given you my blessing."

"What?! Y-you would've done such a thing?"

Mirai was in a craze because of the mistake her husband had made.

"Yes, I would've, but that's all in the past."

"Ryujin! What have you done?! You could've made our wedding ceremony 100 times better!"

"Can you blame me, Mirai? You should know that Solis was the head of the Arcanas during that time so I assumed he was too busy to attend an Ardunic wedding!"

The two of them bickered for a few minutes about how disappointing their wedding seemed, compared to if Solis was in attendance. Nyoko and Solis stood and watched the king and queen become a normal married couple.

Solis looked down at the hatchling, whose eyes filled with fear. She tried to swim away but tangled herself up in her own tail. Of course, Solis had no intentions of hurting the girl but he couldn't help but laugh at her clumsiness. He swung his tail up near his mouth and took a piece of his scale off of it. The scale that came off started flashing multiple colors before it stopped on the color gold.

"Princess, if you don't mind, I would like to give you a present. I understand it might not be a present suited for someone of your beauty but it's the best I could do on short notice."

The scale changed shape and color as it became a fuschia-colored earring big enough for her.

"Princess, the scales of an Arcana are special in the sense that you can make it look like whatever you want."

Solis outstretched his tail, which was holding the scale, and waited for Nyoko to take it. She didn't move from her place and continued staring at Solis's present.

"Nyoko! Don't be so rude to our guest! An Arcana--!"

"No, no. It's alright, she doesn't need to be forced."

Solis set down the earring, which turned back into a scale of distorted colors and appearance, and backed away.

"Now, Ryujin, there were things I wanted to talk with you about."

The atmosphere turned serious so Ryujin asked his wife to take their daughter away so that they could talk. Ryujin appointed some of his most trusted Bellator to make sure that no one could get within 100 feet of them. When everything was finished, Solis went ahead and asked Ryujin if he knew what Byakko had been up to. Apparently, Byakko had been causing a ruckus in the sea off of the far Northeastern coast of Japan. Ryujin had sent one of his Bellator to go check out what he was doing, but the Bellator was sent back the same day. His warrior had gone back because one of Byakko's men threatened to go to war if they meddled with Byakko's business. From what his soldier gathered, Byakko was mining for something but he was too far to see what exactly he was looking for.

"Since then, I haven't heard or seen of Byakko-san doing anything peculiar, except for the fact his forces are still there mining. For now, I've decided to leave him alone since he's not causing trouble for me."

"Thanks for the information, Ryujin. Now, if you will, take me back up to the surface."

"Of course."

Solis wrapped his tail around Ryujin's ankle again and they swam out of his room. They went down past the Bellators and continued on. Solis tuned his ears to the conversations of the Ardun as Ryujin took him back.

"M-Minori-chan...i-isn't that the 'Pure-White Dragon' from the tale of 'Ryuju-go?'"

"I-it looks like him but that's impossible."

"Then why doesn't he look like us?!"

The two Ardun looked at each other and realized who they were looking at. Soon, they were shouting out that the "White-Dragon" was real and that he was there, so it didn't take long for a large crowd to form.

"Ryujin, your people have noticed who I am, so if you could, speed up."

Ryujin nodded as he prepared to do just that. Just as the hoard of Ardun swarmed Ryujin, he swam through a gap in the crowd and started going up. Ryujin lost the crowd along the way to the surface and soon, the dark blue sea got brighter. Now that they weren't too far from the surface, Solis decided that he would swim the rest of the way. He let go of Ryujin's ankle and dropped back.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to stop here, if not, the humans might see me in my dragon form."

"Ah, I see. Then, I'll be going back."

"Thanks for the help, Ryujin. I'll see you next time."

The water around Solis bubbled as his scales turned back into the hot liquid and went back into his body. Solis bowed his head once more before Ryujin swam back into the deep. He turned back toward the surface and started swimming. Once he broke the surface, Ryujin's blessing went away, meaning he couldn't breathe or talk underwater. Solis walked onto the beach with the clothes he had on before and without his diving gear. It had been a solid few hours since he had dived so when he came out of the water without his gear, he got some weird stares. He stepped onto the beach with a plan of getting a new set of clothes. Luckily for him, there was a store that wasn't too far away from the beach that should some clothes.

Now outside once again, the heat of the Sun beat down on Solis as he walked through the streets. Since he had the information on Byakko he needed, he had nothing else to do now but find his friends, which he would do but nothing ever goes the way he wants it.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Solis, it's you!"

Now...there weren't a lot of things that annoyed him, nor were there a lot of things that could irritate him, but one of those had to appear before him. A person, rather demigod he wanted nothing to do with, had appeared. He didn't want to turn around, since he knew who the voice belonged to, and sped up his pace. The footsteps of the one chasing him caught up and turned him around.

"Damn, should've walked faster," were the last things that ran through his mind before the person chasing him broke his peace.

"Y-yes, hi, Quintessa."