I was away at my caravan for the weekend, so in order to make up for the slight delay, I shall be posting Chapter 30 tomorrow.

Chapter 29: Miracle Material

Milos followed Lolita through the twisting corridors and rooms of the castle, heading down different sets of stairs that led deeper and deeper into the underground. As they passed to below ground level, the walls and rooms became a lot more dark and dirty. Travelling through it, it was clear that part of the underground was linked with the city's sewage network, with canals full of sewage flowing through. The journey was rather adventurous for Milos, who had never seen such a complicated network before.

But soon, they travelled through a short black corridor before reaching a rusted steel door. As Lolita grabbed the wheel and turned it, opening the door, she said "Here we are!"

Behind the door was a large metal vault full to the brim with yellow, almost topaz coloured rocks. Some were big boulders whilst others were small pebbles, but on the raised platform both Lolita and Milos were standing on, they could see that there was a lot of the stuff in there.

"This stuff is Maldion?" Milos asked.

"That's right" she said. "Watch this"

She picked up a rock which was the size of her hand. She then breathed warm air onto it, and suddenly the edge of the rock became rather gooey, all the while exerting a fog that vanished into thin air.

"Wow, you were right!" Milos said in wonder, watching the fizzling rock in Lolita's hand. "How does it all work?"

"Well, like I said, Maldion is a material that exerts air when it is exposed to heat. The hotter the heat, the stronger the burst of air. Plus, the air lasts a long time too. It'd take a few minutes for this rock to dissolve into nothing" she explained.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Milos asked. Lolita gave a sigh as she placed the diminishing rock against the floor.

"I learn it from my tutors" she said. "It's quite boring trying to learn about everything, including about Maldion" she said.

"I think it's fascinating" Milos said, still looking at the dissolving rock in wonder. "So this was the stuff that Garuda apparently used to power his flying machine..." he added, referencing the book he was reading earlier.

"How big was it?" Lolita asked.

"It wasn't very big..." Milos said quietly. "It wasn't a floating castle, but it was about the same size as an albatross, I guess" he explained. "It had large wings, and the Maldion was held in its stomach, where it would exert energy and cause it to fly at great speeds" he explained.

"Wow...fascinating" Lolita said quietly. "...Didn't you say you wanted to build a flying machine one day?" she asked.

"Oh...yeah" Milos replied, seeming a little down. "But it seems so unrealistic. I mean, the only flying machines out there right now are hot air balloons...and the floating castle. If only I knew how that worked..."

There was a short silence. Lolita was contemplating an offer in her head, one which she was trying to gauge the repercussions.

"...Milos" she said. "...Maybe...you could try and build one using this Maldion?"

Milos looked at Lolita and saw by the expression on her face that she was quite serious.

"...You think I can do it?" he asked her. Lolita smiled and nodded, holding her hands together.

"Yeah, you can do it!" she said. "If you're good at building and stuff...then maybe you could do it! I'll let you use all the tools we have available, and you can work on it in one of our steelworks if you want" she suggested. Milos stepped closer; unable to believe the offer he was given. It was a chance to make his dream come true! He could build his own flying machine!

"You...really?" he uttered Lolita gave him one more nod, to which he fell back a couple of steps in awe, looking at all the Maldion that was sitting in the vault.

"...Th-thank you...so much!" Milos said, unable to control his smile. Lolita giggled, watching as Milos beamed at the offer he was just given. She couldn't help but think of Milos as a very sweet person...and before she knew it, she was starting to feel things that she wouldn't have imagined the last night...

As Milos returned to the library, heading for his book. Wolfgang noticed his arrival and stood up.

"Milos" he said. "A word, if you will"

Milos stopped his advance towards the book and watched as Wolfgang gestured for him to sit on one of the empty chairs. The rest of the group had vanished somewhere.

"What's wrong?" Milos asked as he sat on one of the chairs.

"We've decided to investigate Zephyr Ruins" he said. "The plan is that tomorrow, we shall discuss who will be best fit to investigate. If we all go, should we all vanish, then there will be nobody to stop the floating castle from wreaking havoc across Zanskar. But we need you" he said.

"Why do you need me for?" Milos asked suddenly. It was rare for anyone to need Milos. He felt somewhat important, sitting up straight in his chair.

"Well, the cliffs where the Zephyr Ruins reside are almost impossible to climb" Wolfgang explained. "Yet you have the ability to fly using your tails like propellers. I thought that if you could carry one person, and the two of you investigate what you can, then it'll be easier. Plus, you can fly, so nothing on the ground could possibly cause a kidnapping" he explained. "Will you help us out?"

Milos imagined himself carrying one of the team members from under their arms and lifting them over the dangerous cliffs. But he felt pretty confident about the offer, so he lifted his head and responded "Okay, I will"