When last we left Aaliyah, Shard, Gorpi, and Onjo were engaged in a debate of life and death. Specifically the life of a giant Water Eidolon, and whether or not Shard was justified in slaying that very same Water Eidolon. Aaliyah had just given Shard an ultimatum: either never act on your own again, or be destroyed. Shard was about to respond when... "Aaliyah, please, I have to say that Shard is not fully to blame for her actions." Onjo said urgently "What do you mean?" Shard asked quietly "Well, you have to understand that we aren't like you Aaliyah, we are echoes of a moment." Onjo said very intensely. "You have had the chance to at least partially recover from your trauma, while for us it's always simmering just below the surface. At times it can be very hard to control and contain those feelings." "Well, let me ask you something, Onjo" Aaliyah said sarcastically." How many times have you acted on your own?" "Well, many times I have thought about it.." Onjo said. "That's right. You thought about it, but you never did it. It is not about place, or standing, it is about you fulfilling your purpose. And that purpose is to be determined by your wielder, whether you like it or not. I may not know as much as the rest of you when it comes to Soul Infusion, but I know that when I'm in a fight, my weapon better do what I want it to. Is that understood Shard?" Aaliyah asked still as angry as before. "I...forgot my place. You are correct, I will do only as you say from now on." Shard answered silently, but there was still a hint of doubt in her voice. A tiny hint but enough for Aaliyah to pick up on it. "Promise me. Shard, please just promise me." Aaliyah said "I promise!" Shard said louder in a less pathetic voice than before. "Well if you two are done here, I believe we need to get going." Gorpi interrupted. "Let's go then." Aaliyah responded. They begin their trek through the cave. They observe many wondrous sites, yet Aaliyah cannot help but feel conflicted. She knows now that the Eidolon was going to kill them, but she cannot shake the feeling that Shard enjoyed what she did. It is only by chance that she catches a glimpse of a shape on the wall out of the corner of her eye. She turns and sees a giant black and red tarantula, staring right at her. She automatically launches a fire barb attack in the direction of the spider, but Shard is en lodged in what appears to be a wall made of crystal. Gorpi turns, startled by Aaliyah's attack. "What happened, what's wrong?" She asks, but then she turns in the direction Aaliyah's facing,"Ahhhhhhhhh!", She screams and jumps back ready to attack, but then takes another look at what has taken place. She begins laughing so contagiously that it overtook all present. After a few moments the laughter subsided. Aaliyah and Gorpi stood back to observe the wall. "Wow! Aaliyah look!" Gorpi said in amazement." There's all sorts of nasties trapped in there." Aaliyah walked to the wall to retrieve Shard. "It appears to be crystal, and it's so thick, these creatures must have been trapped here for a long time." She said "It's ice, not crystal, and it has been here for over 500 years" A voice from behind said. They turn to see who the voice belongs too. It was a fairy who appeared to be floating. She had light pink hair, in a short style, with a silly looking dress that fit the fairy oddly. "Who..." Gorpi tried to ask. "I am a Grime Fairy, we are caretakers of the tide cave." The fairy said. "That's strange, Irons Arms never said anything about caretakers, only Quartz." Gorpi replied. "Why haven't you been able to communicate with the outside world, fairy." Aaliyah asked. "The water Eidolon has barred our escape. I assume you have killed it?" The fairy asked. "Yes... we killed it." Aaliyah answered. "Hey can you just take us to Quartz please? It's him that we came here to see." Gorpi said. "Follow me, Master Quartz will be pleased to see you." The fairy said. They begin walking down a long corridor that did not have the same ice walls as the previous chamber. "Aaliyah, there is no way we can trust this fairy," Shard said in a suspicious voice," I say we just..." "I say we've heard enough of your opinions for one day." Aaliyah interrupted. Shard did not respond. The trio comes to a large circular-shaped portal, encircling a massive retractable iron door studded with a multitude of ice crystals. "There's no handle, how do we open it?" Gorpi asked. "You don't open it, I do!" The fairy interrupted rudely. "Well, as long as it isn't another portal, do whatever you like honey, just get us inside." Gorpi replied sarcastically. The fairy raises her arms above her head with her fingers stretched out to the roof of the cave. She slowly silently begins chanting. As she chants, she slowly lowers her arms, and simultaneously the door retracts, sliding into the sidewalls. "Master Quartz is at the back of the chamber, sitting on his throne. I will alert my Mistress of your presence, and the death of the Water Eidolon." The fairy said. "Yeah, you go do that, we'll handle things from here." Gorpi said. But as soon as the fairy was outside of earshot, "I don't like this Aaliyah, somethings going on here. There was something about that fairy, she's trouble." "I... felt it too," Aaliyah says recalling Shard's warnings, "but we've come this far, we have to see this through to the end." They start walking towards the back of the cave, but neither can take their eyes off of the floor. It was the same ice that the walls were made of, but it wasn't cold. The tiles formed patterns that intertwined, and when stared at long enough, made shapes that almost seemed like illusions. Once again, by chance, it was Aaliyah who first took her eyes off the floor to see Master Quartz sitting on his throne, with a large wizard's sword impaled within his chest. "Gorpi...look." She said almost breathless. Gorpi didn't respond. She was mesmerized by the patterns on the floor. "Gorpi!" She shouted. Gorpi looked up this time, and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, the floor, it... made me feel dizzy." Gorpi replied. She looked directly at Master Quartz. "He's dead..." She said. "Just like you're about to be!" yet another voice said from behind. The duo turned once more, and beheld the Grime Fairies' Mistress, as well as a group of five other fairies who where gathered behind her. "You did this?" Aaliyah asked. "No, we didn't kill him, but were going to kill you!" the Mistress said with a perverse grin on her face," So say your prayers honey, cause it's going to be a rough couple of hours ahead for you... ************************************************ Will Aaliyah and Gorpi live long enough to report their findings to Novice Shan? Will the Mistress of the Grime Fairies have her way? Find out next week!