Wow shocks the Phoenix Fighters when his scarecrow features vanish, leaving him in the appearance
of a handsome young Risan. He confesses that he is really Inigo, Kazuo's brother, and that his scarecrow guise was merely
a curse. Meanwhile, while on R&R, Kazuo makes a startling discovery. After killing Zelazny months ago in a
fit of rage, he is amazed to be informed by Milady that he is the new leader of the Ebene. He eagerly accepts the position,
although he informs Milady that Adriana, Mia, Inigo, and Lilah should be kept from harm. She agrees and offers to give
Kazuo a tour of his new property. For the next several days, he does just that. In the Ebene stronghold, he finds
the book that got him addicted to black magic as a teenager. To his amazement, it appears to be the same exact copy
that he found in his room as a child. He decides he’s not going to tell anyone about his new position and remain
undercover at the Phoenix House.
Once he arrives back at the House, he meets up with Adriana in the bar and shows
her the book, although he says he found it in a cave. Adriana muses that the Ebene could have traveled time placed it
in Kazuo’s past, although she has little idea how correct she is. Kazuo determines that this must be the case
and the two of them decide to burn the book. They go out to the courtyard and do so. But to Adriana’s horror,
as the book disappears, so does Kazuo.
Adriana rushes back into the House and attempts to locate Inigo. She
finally finds him on the roof. But the moment Adriana mentions Kazuo’s name, Inigo turns cold. He informs
Adriana that his brother Kazuo died at the age of fourteen. Adriana realizes that she is in an alternate timeline.
By destroying the book in Kazuo’s present, they also destroyed it in his past. Kazuo never found the book and
studied dark arts, so he never turned evil and was killed in an attempt to rescue his parents from a burning building.
The
next day, Adriana discovers more disturbing news about the new timeline. Since Kazuo died before coming to the house,
Felsen was never killed. From there, she follows a domino pattern. Felsen took the twins and killed Aden during
an attempt to save the children. Aden’s death caused Tranns to run wild, Ariadne to take control of the House’s
paperwork, and Mia to become depressed. As soon as Adriana discovers that Aden’s been killed, she determines she’ll
find a way to change things back to the way they were.
She talks to Inigo, who is married to Lilah in the alternate
timeline, and the two decide to plant another dark arts book in Kazuo’s past. With the help of Lord Javert, Adriana
travels back through time and talks to a teenage Kazuo. Not long afterwards, Inigo shows up as well, bearing the book.
Adriana and Inigo both try go convince Kazuo to take the book, but he refuses, insisting that it’s evil. Although
she almost gives up, Adriana determines not to let Aden stay dead and she finally lies to Kazuo, telling him that by taking
the book he’ll be saving their children--the twins.
After hearing that he’s supposedly a father in the
future, Kazuo accepts the book, just as the three of them begin to smell smoke. Inigo and Adriana realize it’s the fire
where Kazuo’s parents die, and they know that if Kazuo tries to save them, he’ll die as well. So once again, Adriana
lies to Kazuo, telling him that his family survives the fire. Believing her, Kazuo escapes the house Adriana and Inigo find
their way to their exit portal and leave, arriving back at the Phoenix House in the correct timeline. There, they discover
some news: Amorette has given birth to a baby boy named Arrio.
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