New Summons

Stahn and the others traveled to the Cavern of Summons right after lunch. It wasn't long before arriving. Once inside, Undine went to talk to Rutee. "Once you acquire the new Spirit, you will power up the old one to a point where you can use it. If enough Summoners collect us both, we Sienegaldian Spirits will be able to gain back our powers. But since you can't pick up any of us here, a Carinzian Summoner is forced to go on the quest to unlock the higher powers and then just hope they can find an excuse to head to Sienegald."

Rutee nodded, and headed into the first door-which was marked with an icicle symbol. Inside, was a chamber of pure Ice, with an Ice Alter in the center. The young Summoner stepped forward, and Celsius appeared right next to the Alter.

"Great Shiva, I Celsius call upon you to give your power to this young girl," prayed Celsius. Instantly, another woman with blue hair who looked like she was made of Ice. The woman looked at Rutee, and sent a dark blue mist over the girl. Then both Spirits vanished.

"Five more to go," commented Rutee.

The next door she entered was the Fire Door. The room looked much like Efreet's-right down to the molten lava pit. Efreet suddenly appeared and began to pray. "Great Ifrit, I Efreet call upon you to give your power to this young girl." Suddenly, a demonic beast appeared. With long horns on his head, he resembled the devil himself. But he was quite benevolent, and covered Rutee with a red mist. Then, both Spirits vanished again.

Rutee told the others, "Only four more now."

She ran right next door to the Room of Thunder. It resembled an old Temple, not unlike Volt's old haunt. An altar charged with electricity stood at the center of the room.

As predicted, Volt appeared and approached the altar. He then began to beseech the Spirit. "Great, Ramuh, I Volt call upon you to give your power to this young girl." With that, an old man with a long white beard and burlap colored robe appeared. He took one look at Rutee, and covered her with a yellow mist. Then the Spirits disappeared.

"Halfway there," exclaimed Rutee.

Their next stop was the Earth Room. It was a cave, much like Gnome's, but was much more spacious. The whole room looked as if it had been built for a giant or a dragon to live in. And in fact, it had been designed for that purpose.

Gnome appeared and approached the Rock Alter. He called out, "Great Titan, I Gnome call upon you to give your power to this young girl." Suddenly, the earth began to tremble, and a giant appeared. He wasted no time bestowing his powers upon Rutee. Then he and Gnome left.

"Almost there," said Rutee, "Just two more."

They entered the Wind Tunnel next. Like Sylph's cavern, it was full of streaming winds and vortexes. Everyone braced themselves for an attack of some sort.

Sylph approached the vortex. "Great Harpy, I Sylph call upon you to give your powers to this young girl," she stated. The vortex suddenly changed shape to be that of a creature much like Sylph, except it had golden wings, hair, and legs, with pure white skin. She sent a green mist to cover Rutee, and then both she and Sylph vanished.

Rutee called out, "We must hurry, there's only one more left."

Finally, they entered the Chamber of Water. It had a huge lake in its center, and was filled with beautiful fountains. Rutee and the others stared in awe.

Undine smiled as she approached the lake. "Great Leviathan," she called, "I Undine call upon you to give your powers to this young girl." At once, a Sea Serpent appeared in the center of the lake. He breathed a light blue mist upon Rutee, and both Spirits vanished.

Rutee looked up at her friends. She then smiled, and made a V with the second and third fingers on her right hand. "Victory!" she exclaimed.

* * *

They slowly walked back to the palace, taking their time as they went. Rutee had tried her new Summons against some of the monsters they faced. They were-in fact-the same ones her cousin had been using to help fight the demons in the castle.

When they returned, they found the castle in a state of panic. Rutee inquired of her uncle what had happened. "It's terrible," the king told them, "When Max was with me discussing a plan of action to rebuild the castle, the demons kidnapped Katherine." "They did what?!" exclaimed Stahn.

George replied, "They kidnapped my daughter, hoping to get me to give them the legendary Demon's Eye. It's a powerful amulet where an ancient demon was sealed several thousand years ago. The problem is.we don't have it. No one knows if it really exists, or if it is only a legend."

"Where is their hideout?" asked Rutee.

"The ancient tomb north of here," answered the king, "Max has already gone ahead, but I'm sure he won't begrudge your help."

Rutee grabbed Stahn and Philia by the arms of their clothing. "You heard my uncle. We've got to get to that tomb to save Katherine. C'mon, we don't have all day." She began dragging them along, towards the exit of the castle. Bruiser followed her close behind.

- - - -

Well, here's the next lovely mission. What I meant by not being able to call the Sienegaldian Spirits at the temple was that since they are weaker than the other ones, there is no point in calling them at the temple. So if you got the other Spirits first, you'd have to go to Sienegald for those six, while if you began in Sienegald, you could get the others in one place instead of searching for them.