Fang did feel a little better the next morning, but he was unusually clingy towards Ren.

No one remarked on it.

"So what\'s this dark magic?" Pax asked. "Wolf and I have never heard of it before."

Ren went into a lecturing mode. "The magic we use...that\'s light magic. Dark magic is the opposite of that. Typically, there\'s a balance between light and dark magic, but in this world, there wasn\'t much magic to begin with, so I think the dark magic - and it\'s practitioners, if any, were hidden away. But my arrival caused a disruption, and I changed yours and Fang\'s innate magic to a much higher level by teaching him things from my world. The babies, too. This probably tipped the balance between light and dark magic, and to balance that out, either indigenous dark magic practitioners became more powerful, or someone from outside...like me...was brought in. We don\'t know what their purpose is, but from what happened yesterday, we do know that this force doesn\'t mean us well," he concluded.

Pax frowned. "You said you figured out what\'s wrong with you," he said. "Is it caused by dark magic?"

Ren nodded. "I\'m not sure when our new enemy was able to get to me and inject dark magic into my bloodstream or infect me with dark magic, but it was indeed the case. That\'s why nothing turned up in any of the medical tests."

"But you can treat it now?" Wolf asked.

"Yes, it\'s not very difficult," Ren replied. "With Fang\'s help, I\'ll be back to normal in a month. I\'ve already started fortifying my organs with magic, and drawing out the dark magic slowly."

Wolf frowned. "You can\'t yank it off all at once?"

"Not unless you want me to end up in a coma for the foreseeable future," Ren said dryly.

"No!" Fang cried out. That would be his worst nightmare come true, Ren lying helplessly in a coma and Fang being unable to do anything about it.

Ren immediately threw an arm around Fang\'s shoulders and pulled him close. He knew that the idea upset his little darling and he hated seeing Fang in distress more than anything else in the world.

"We\'ll go the slow and steady way," Wolf said quickly. "The most important thing is for you to be safe."

Ren smiled and nodded. To be honest, now that he\'d identified the cause and determined it to be dark magic, he and Sylvia could deal with it quite easily. However, Ren wanted to keep Fang occupied by engaging him in the matter - it would keep his mind off unnecessary things and Fang always felt better when doing something productive. The second reason was the doctors at SIMS - an abrupt recovery wouldn\'t make sense from a medical point of view.

For the next few weeks, Fang stuck to Ren like a limpet almost all the time, and the six babies clung to Fang whenever they were not in school.

Both Ren and Fang had taken time off from SIMS. They did visit after two weeks to run tests on Ren again and happily found much improvement exactly as Ren had promised. Fang got a little less clingy after that, but he would still be uneasy if Ren left his line of sight.

The new enemy left absolutely no clues about their identity. Wolf and Pax searched thoroughly but found nothing, so they could only give up and increase their surveillance.

Wolf and Pax\'s magic teacher and the hidden master visited them and the hidden master more or less confirmed Ren\'s theory about the spike in dark magic in this world. What they couldn\'t figure out was what possible grudge the dark magician could have against Ren!

Still, no one bothered them for a while, and they could relax a little. Fang\'s psyche also stabilised, but Ren could still feel undercurrents of insecurity and fear in his little darling.

Ren was at a loss on that account, really. The babies seemed to be worried about their Papa, too. And Fang didn\'t mind having six little tails behind him all the time – although he had to admit that he was surprised, especially with Rudy, who was Ren\'s biggest admirer, sticking to him instead. In fact, Fang would, with great interest and patience and care go over what happened at school everyday with the babies and help them with their homework. Ren simply stood by and watched, occasionally taking pictures.

"You\'re a good father," Ren said.

Fang looked up with a smile. "So are you," he replied. He sniffed delicately and his eyes brightened. "What did you make today?"

Ren put down the large plate of snacks on the table.

"Mysterious dumplings!" he said with a grin. "Come now, my little darling and my little babies - who wants to guess the fillings?"

One Papa and six babies immediately attacked the snacks and the huge plate was wiped clean in a matter of minutes.

Ren had also taken over the kitchen these days, after he noticed Fang\'s lack of appetite and found him secretly throwing up in the toilet two days after the incident.

Worried, Ren immediately got to work and prepared a light meal for Fang.

Fang insisted that he was fine and that Ren didn\'t need to take the trouble of cooking for him, but no one believed him when he was looking so grey.

Fang was afraid that he wouldn\'t be able to hold down Ren\'s cooking either...but to his surprise, not only was his appetite stimulated the moment Ren walked into the room with a plate of food, but he also ate hungrily and even asked for seconds.

Ren didn\'t let him overeat at once, though. He simply cuddled up with Fang and rubbed his back soothingly with gentle fingers until both of them fell asleep. A few hours later, Ren fed Fang again. This continued for a couple of days and then Fang regained his colour and vitality, bringing much relief to Ren and the babies.

Ren kept cooking, however. Since he was at home with nothing much to do, and his family loved his cooking so much - he enjoyed cooking, but what he enjoyed the most was the look on Fang\'s face and the reaction of the babies when they ate.

"I\'m wondering if we should make an entry into the restaurant business," Ren muttered.

Fang frowned. "You want to be the chef yourself?" he asked. "Wouldn\'t that be too tiring?"

Ren laughed and shook his head. "I only cook for the ones I love," he said, snuggling up to Fang.

Fang put his arms around Ren and stroked him like he often did to Snow. Sometimes, Ren\'s movements were distinctly feline, mirroring Snow at her laziest. Fang often wondered if their daughter learnt it from her Daddy or if Ren learnt it from Snow!

Ren smiled and kissed Fang\'s chin. "I was thinking I could teach Chef Jules some more of my recipes and have him train a bunch of cooks for the restaurant. We can put him in charge until he gets bored..."

Chef Jules had been complaining about having nothing to do since Ren had taken over the kitchen.

"But you won\'t be able to cook like this everyday after we get back to work...if you send Chef Jules to the restaurant...who will cook at home?" Fang asked, worried. He didn\'t want Ren to tire himself out. In fact, if he could have his way, he\'d keep Ren at home, relaxed and comfortable and lazing around like a big cat.

Of course, Fang knew he couldn\'t do that.

"I used to cook for all of us everyday when we were in Sand Country back then, remember?" Ren pointed out. "Besides, I like cooking for you and the babies... it\'s very satisfying."

"Then... you must let me help you with the cooking," Fang said firmly. "You\'ve not recovered fully, and I don\'t want you to exhaust yourself again." He trembled slightly, remembering how he\'d found Ren collapsed on the bathroom floor not so ago, and how terrifying it had been in the following weeks...

Ren pinched Fang\'s cheeks, bringing him back to the present. "Don\'t worry so much, my little darling or you\'ll start going grey before you\'re twenty five." His voice was soft and gentle but also firm - and he spoke this way because he wanted Fang to start putting the whole unpleasant episode behind him so that the two of them with their babies could move ahead in life with peace and happiness.

Fang chuckled. "I don\'t mind going grey at twenty if that\'s what it takes to keep you safe and healthy," he said. He paused for a moment. "Does it annoy you too much? That I\'m so fussy and nagging and clingy and possessive when it comes to you?"

Ren sighed and cradled Fang\'s face with both hands and then kissed Fang fiercely.. "Does it look like I\'m annoyed in any manner whatsoever?" he demanded.