Riensi stood on one of the towers of his castle, looking south at Ral Mirean. Suddenly, he felt something shuddering, saw the entire island flicker with turquoise, so brightly that he could not look at it…

The spotted Aisha lowered his eyes and blinked a few times. The afterimage of the castle remained behind his eyelids. I suppose that's what I asked for when I brought them here.

The King of Cairhel and his advisors sat around the table in his palace. "There has been no word from Yialun. Ral Mirean has been destroyed," Lady Hariele said. "Every enchanter in the world must have noticed."

The King stared at the commander of his army. "Prepare the forces to march into Larkani."

The storm of light, turquoise and purple, sucked Stelakar down a whirlwind. But Celiath kept floating in the light, a rainbow-colored outline of her body the only thing remaining of her.

Elsunor was in a classroom of sorts, with many other children there, listening to the priest who was teaching them describe the great works of magic. "An example of one of these works is the transformation of Ral Mirean, which was once the capital of Larkani. Some call the healer who did this Celiath Mianre'll, others call her Seleika Laitenla."

"A healer?" one of the students asked. "How is that possible?"

"We don't know," the teacher continued. "The work certainly killed her."

"Where is the confounded treasure?"

"Nobody knows. Does it even exist? Is it just another Larkan fancy?"

There was a city on the north bank of a river, near the coast where Ista Mirean had been and where they said the Castle on the Sea was. Blue-green banners on the city walls blew in the wind, and each of them had a silver castle in the center.

"Long live Lantaia, Queen of Kilinti!"

A Kacheek in Thoramtiye was reading a story to her children: "No one knows where the Castle on the Sea is, but they say that if you set your eyes on it, you enter the world of the Castle…"

"There is no Castle on the Sea. It's just a faerie tale."

"You mean you gave up the Mystic's Star to those thieves? Cairhellin…" The Queen of Kilinti sighed. "We wouldn't have given up our Treasure."

"You don't even have a Treasure! After your kingdom fell, we searched the kingdom for it!" the Mystic of Cairhel yelled back.

"No Cairhellin could set hands on a Kilint treasure, just as I could not hope to use the powers of the Mystic's Star! Have you no common sense? Do you not even know what the Treasures are?"

The city was called Thiermont, and no one in Neopia knew where it was. No one in Neopia had heard of the Kalin Plain where it was located, either. It had a few Neopian characteristics, but mostly maintained the qualities of the land that had come before it, Kilinti. The Treasure of Kilinti was there too, and the people who believed in the ancient legends thought that the Castle on the Sea might be nearby. But not far away was the large country of Neopia, where the Castle did not exist at all…

"Oh, thank the Faerie Queen!" Crescent sighed as Stelakar opened her eyes. "You're back!"

Stelakar looked around her and identified her location as the Healing Springs. Several trained healers and three of the seven students were there by Stelakar's side. Crescent, Kimtaya, Elenqui, and Lilynris were also there.

"I am. It's Neopia."

One of the students gave Stelakar something. "Drink this," he said. "It'll help you recover."

Stelakar took a deep breath and drank down the cool liquid. Her eyes closed as if she was about to sleep, and then they popped open again. "Where's Celiath?"

The jubilation at seeing Stelakar conscious fell off all their faces. Looking at them, Stelakar remembered the last time she had seen Celiath. But it hadn't been Celiath anymore. The turquoise light had burned her away. "Is she alive?" Stelakar asked, her voice sounding like someone else had spoken the words. As she spoke, Stelakar knew the answer.

Lilynris set her head in her hands. "I killed her. Stelakar…I was trying to help her after you woke up, and I told Celiath to trust in the powers of what might be. The future is too heavy a weight to carry, even when it is already known. I didn't know that."

"Then why are the Water Faerie and the other three students there?" Stelakar asked. "There must be some hope that she's alive. There must be…" The Eyrie fell asleep as the drugs took effect.

The turquoise had faded away, to be replaced with an even brighter white light that should have blinded Celiath. Maybe it already had. "Where am I now?" Celiath asked. "And what happened? Yialun was gone. Stelakar…and what happened to me?"

Someone was holding her charm bracelet. Celiath reached for it and undid the clasp. "Wherever this is, I don't need it anymore. You can have it."

Then, Celiath noticed another figure in the blinding light take the bracelet and put it around her hand again. As it did, the clasp disappeared. "You do need it, Celiath." The figure turned the bracelet to the raindrop charm and touched it. Celiath saw the white light flare inside that charm. "You need the charms more than ever now. The charm that represents life now contains your spirit inside it. You have to keep a hold of it in order to remain in the land of the living." It turned the bracelet past the key and pinched it to create a new charm: a crescent moon with four hoops dangling from it. "The sign of your family." Then it put a silver necklace around her neck, and the clasp on that disappeared as well. It showed Celiath the castle that hung from the necklace.

"Where is this? And who are you?" Something sunk in. "You mean I'm…dead?"

The figure put a hand on her shoulder, and Celiath felt some of her strength that the magic had sapped coming back to her. "I made a mistake. You should be dead by the amount of magic that you used, but I cannot allow it. I need your help, so I made the deal that you will stay alive as long as you wear the bracelet. You created the Castle on the Sea; you have to help guard it."

"What do you mean…"

"She's alive!"

Celiath weakly opened one eye and looked around the room. It was the Healing Springs, and everyone was there: the Water Faerie, the other healers, and the other six students. Most importantly, Crescent, Kimtaya, and Elenqui were there, and Stelakar slept in the bed next to her. Celiath also saw Lilynris there before her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

A thought hovered in her mind: Back in Neopia…but it will never be the same…

Author's Note: Well, it's been really great writing this! In fact, I think this piece was my favorite that I've ever written. I'm planning a sequel, Ripping Veils, that focuses on Kimtaya Mianre'll. It'll be in two versions: one in Neopia and one that's completely in my world. The one in Neopia will be more like an outline, and then I'll write the one in my world which will be a lot more detailed. My current piece, Wings of Wishes, focuses on a different character. I don't know where it'll go, and it's a good thing.

There's one thing I've really learned from this story: not to plan too much. I would plan in my spare time because I loved the writing so much, but the characters just ran off and did their own things, and I don't think this story would have been as good if I hadn't let that happen.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it!