Chapter 14: The Winged Lord

"Oh thank heavens!" Lord Finkbone cried as he spotted Lola and Patrick entering the great hall. Lola had her arm wrapped around Patrick to help him along. They both looked a wreak; their clothes dirty and torn, smudges of blood here and there, scratches on their faces, and the look of exhaustion in their eyes.

Lord Finkbone manoeuvred his way to them through the thick crowd of people. "Master Patrick, you're awake! What happened to you?" He asked with astonishment, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"The room we were in collapsed on us during that last Storm." Lola said, between breaths. Lord Finkbone immediately put his arm around Patrick to help take the weight off of Lola. She sighed in relief and smiled her appreciation, but then her smile faded. "Patrick woke up just moments before it hit, but…but Master Fron didn't make it out. He saved our lives."

Initial shock and disbelief showed on Lord Finkbone's face, but then he put a comforting hand on Lola's shoulder and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, Lady Lola. He was a good man, and we'll always be grateful for all the work he's done for us, especially saving your lives. But we'll have to mourn later. We're evacuating to the library."

"What?" Lola said, coming out of her depression to be alert again.

"We decided that's the safest place for now. It will be a tight fit, but we don't have much of a choice. Everyone has been ordered down. We must hurry! The Storm is not dissipating." The three of them followed the crowd towards the library. Everywhere she looked she either saw tear streaked faces, frightened faces, some hopeless faces, or grim and determined faces. As they were passing by one of the entrances to the courtyard, Lola spotted a group of soldiers jogging towards them, carrying a litter. She craned her neck to see who was in the litter, but then she spotted long, blond hair hanging off it and her heart lurched. Lord Finkbone looked over to see Lola's face pale and panic fill her face. He looked over, saw the soldiers, and came to the same conclusion as Lola.

"Go." He told her. She looked at him and carefully shrugged Patrick's weight off. She nodded her thanks before she dashed between the crowds to the courtyard outside.

Her heart was pounding as she ran up to the group. Gaddess and a few of the soldiers recognized Lola and let her get closer. Lola gasped as she saw Allen lying there, eyes closed. There was an obvious wound on his arm and he was pretty banged up everywhere else. She tentatively reached out to him, but pulled back, afraid to hurt him more.

"What happened? Is he alright?' She asked Gaddess in a shaky voice.

"He took a bad fall, but he'll be alright." Gaddess said with his normal, playful smile. "He was feeling well enough to threaten us with night watch duty for a fortnight for disobeying orders. But what happened to you? You look like you got in a fight with a Scarcat!"

"Oh, I'm fine, I had-" Lola started to say but stopped when someone touched her hand.

"Are you okay?"

Lola looked down and saw that Allen was awake and that he had taken her hand. She immediately grabbed on to it with both of her hands and leaned closer to him, eyes full of tears. "I'm fine. Patrick and I were trapped in one of the rooms, but we got out okay. What about you?"

Allen smiled weakly and started to sit up. "I had a bad fall, that's all. And I had the strangest experience with a wolf."

"Eh?" Lola said, confusion written all over her face.

"Never mind, I'll tell you later." Allen said as he slowly stood up.

"Sir, should you be doing that?" Gaddess asked.

"I'll be fine. Besides, it appears everyone is being evacuated and we don't need to take up so much room with the litter." Allen said as he took a few careful steps. "Where is everyone going?" He asked Lola.

"To the library. Everyone's been ordered there." Lola said as she automatically reached out to support Allen, just like she did with Patrick. Allen didn't stop her. "We should hurry." Lola said, urging him along. They jogged back to the castle as the sky above continued to rumble and swirl violently. They joined the herd of people moving underground and Lola found herself clinging as much to Allen as he was clinging to her. When they arrived finally, the library was already packed. Lola saw that they had moved some of the bookshelves to the walls to provide more room. Allen and his small knot of soldiers made their way to the back, where they took a spot against some shelves. Lola had to talk Allen in to sitting and resting while she went to see if there was anything that could be done.

Lola seemed to walk around in a daze for a few moments. She was amazed at how big the library actually was, considering that the entire town was in here. People were in every corner and every office. At one point, Lola spotted Celena with the orphans. She wanted to say hello, or something at least, but what do you say when everything might come to an end soon? Celena was busy with a few crying children, so Lola decided not to disturb her.

"Lola! Over here!" Lola heard. She searched for the source of the voice and saw Patrick waving at her, standing next to a group of people Lola didn't recognize. Lola made her way over and Patrick introduced her to his family, at least his mother, father, and young sister. His brothers were somewhere else in the library, with their own families.

"Lola," Patrick started, after finally getting his mother to stop thanking Lola for taking care of her boy, "Is it true? Are the King and Queen not here? Where did they go?" Lola quickly told him all about Hitomi's visions and her decision to go to Keshia to find answers. "So, we have no idea what they're doing, but their trying to stop all this?" Patrick asked. Lola nodded. "Wow." Was all Patrick was able to say. He looked at his feet, deep in thought for a few moments, and then looked up again. "I'm not saying…anything, Miss Lola, but thank you for all you've done." He said, as quietly as he could manage with her still able to hear.

"You're a good man, Patrick." Lola replied, not daring to say more. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then continued on her way. She helped move a few items and settle people in, but then it was obvious there was no more work to be done. Everyone was settling down by their loved ones and waiting anxiously together. There was only one person she wanted to be with right now.

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Allen thanked the soldier who had bandaged his arm. It felt better after it had been properly cleaned and wrapped. As much as he wanted to get up and do something, anything, he knew things were being taken care of best as they could and that there wasn't anything he could do. Plus, he was too tired. His body was injured and it needed to heal. He sighed and closed his eyes. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular when a pair of arms encircled him. He opened his eyes in surprise and found Lola, kneeling beside him and holding him. He pulled her closer and leaned his head on hers.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, content to just hold each other.

"I'm scared, Allen." Lola whispered. "I'm scared that were all going to die, but I don't want to die without telling you…without telling you-"

"I love you, Lola." Allen said. Lola pulled away and looked up. Allen saw fresh tears running down her dirty and scratched up face. "I think I've loved you since you first came to the castle." He continued, "And now my biggest regret is not having told you this much earlier."

"I love you too, Allen." Lola said, her eyes shining with happiness. "I just want to stay here with you, for however long that might be." She said as more tears fell. Allen responded by pulling her close. He stroked her hair as she continued to cry. "I can't lose you." She whispered to him. Allen held her close and made a quiet prayer.

Please hurry, Van. Please hurry, Hitomi.

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The small group of three didn't need to use any sort of magic to guide them to where they needed to go. The spiralling tower was one of the tallest structures in the city and it loomed over them, getting larger with every step they took. The Ivory Tower, Hitomi reminded herself, that's what it was called in those visions I had. What kind of magic or power does that place possess for it to have created and sustained Gaea, an entire planet? And what are we going to do about it? What did my visions say? Three must enter, a link must be forged What does that mean?

Van, Hitomi, and Kylenia walked closed together as they made their way in to the city. The air wasn't cold, but Hitomi got a shiver down her back anyway. The place was eerily quietly. It was also a little hard to see at times. There were no lights or torches of any sort, but the illumination from the pseudo night sky lit the way adequately. Hitomi thought it looked like a ghost town, as if everyone got up one day and left. The way certain things looked made it appear that way. Doors were left open, valuables were clearly still in the homes, piles of dust existed where food might have once sat. She wasn't trying to look for them, but Hitomi couldn't spot any skeletons, which she was very grateful for. Was anybody here at all? She couldn't see any footprints or markings in the thin layer of dirt on the streets.

In the back of her head, Hitomi couldn't help admiring what was left of the city. After all, she was in the fabled lost city, a piece of ancient history. The architecture was fascinating, with all columns, frescos, and statues about. Elegant statues of men and women were scattered about, some in good condition and some missing limbs. There were clay jars in various sizes lying about; old, faded textiles that could have been blankets or clothes; small plots of dead land that would have contained flowers or vegetables at one point in time.

Their way wasn't easy. Many pathways were covered with debris too large for them to climb over, so they had to back track and find a new way. Hitomi was getting anxious because the light pulsing from her pendant didn't look strong. They moved as quickly as they could manage.

They ended up turning on to a wide street, which might have been a main drag or a popular boulevard. Shops lined the road and larger buildings were attached to it as well, probably taverns, theatres, or inns. As they were walking, Kylenia suddenly stopped.

"There is someone up there." She said, urgency in her voice. Van reached for his sword and pulled it out an inch. They stood beside each other and looked in to the mist.

Slowly, a figure appeared, walking towards them. It was an old man with very long, drity, white hair, wearing a worn, grey robe. Hitomi's eyes widened with recognition. She quickly reached out and laid a land on Van's arm.

"That's the man who tried to trap my mind." She whispered quietly to them. She felt Van's muscles tighten and he took half a step forward.

"Who are you?" Van asked, his hand tightly gripping his sword.

"I am Master here. I am the Winged Lord. I am Daedalus." The old man said with a soft, yet strong voice.

"Daedalus?" Hitomi said. "The same Daedalus who built the labyrinth for King Minos?"

"DON'T MENTION THAT MAN'S NAME!" Daedalus screamed, causing the three of them to take a step back. Daedalus' eyes were burning with anger and his chest was heaving. With obvious effort to regain himself, Daedalus slowly calmed down and eyed them again.

"Yes, I am the same Daedalus." He smirked and focused on Hitomi. "Did you see that in a vision, Seer?"

"No, I learned about it while studying Greek Mythology." Hitomi notice that Van and Kylenia glanced at her from the corner of their eyes, so she continued, mainly talking to them. "Daedalus was supposed to have been a brilliant man who invented many wondrous things. Among them, was a giant labyrinth under the city of Corinth for…the King, but the King had him locked up in a tower so no one would know the way out. However, Daedalus collected bird feathers and made wings that he could wear and use. Unfortunately, his son was with him and…." Hitomi stopped when she saw that Daedalus was becoming angry again.

"ICARUS! MY BELOVED SON! WHY WERE YOU TAKEN FROM ME!" He screamed to the sky. "ARRGGGHH!" As Daedalus roared at the sky, thunder suddenly shook them all and black lightning bolts fell from the sky. The bolts seemed to hit the ground around Daedalus, but some of them hit close by buildings and the stone exploded with the impact. Hitomi grabbed her pendant and created a force field around them to protect them from any stray lightning or stone.

The familiarity of the black lightning hit Hitomi in that instance. They had the same look as those black orbs that were hurled at their air ship. Was Daedalus the one who attacked their ship?

As the dust cleared the air, they saw Daedalus moaning softly with his head down, all anger apparently drained from him. Hitomi let the force field fade away.

"Why did he react when you mentioned his son?" Van asked in a whisper.

Hitomi whispered back. "The legend says Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun because the glue on the wings would melt, but Icarus did so anyway and fell in to the sea and died."

"It seems that it's more than just a legend." Kylenia whispered.

"Well, I don't think he's sane anymore." Van said. "From what you told us before, if he really is from Ancient Greece, he must be thousands of years old."

"How could that happen?" Hitomi said.

"I was cursed." Daedalus said, surprising them all. Hitomi looked over to see that he had once again regained his composer. She was starting to suspect that perhaps he suffered from some sort of split personality, this calm person, and his angry self.

"Cursed?" Hitomi said, hoping he would tell them more without going crazy again.

"As you seem to already know, Seer, I did escape my prison, and was going to fly to Athens, but I was caught in a sudden windstorm and it blew me off course and carried me to the island nation of Atlantis." A slight smile came to his face with the memory. "The people saw me fly over head and they ran to follow. They were pointing and shouting and I was afraid that they saw me as a threat, but I had no choice but to land. To my surprise, they bowed down to me. They thought I was a god sent from Olympus!"

"I was about to tell them the truth, but I hesitated. I had vowed to kill Minos for what he did to me and my son, and suddenly the means to do so were presented before me, so I let them believe I was a god. They named me the Winged Lord. I wanted to leave with an army right away, but it wasn't that easy. The Atlantians were not a war like people, they were peaceful and saw themselves above those who would fight and participate in war. They believed the gods would protect them if anything attacked. I was distraught at first, but then I learned about their research in to mystical powers. I was intrigued and encouraged their studies. Together, we made plans to harness our powers, our wishes, by building the Ivory Tower." He said, motioning to the ghostly tower in the distance behind him. "But first, we had to make these." He said as he lifted a pink pendant out from under his robes. Hitomi recognized it as an identical pendant to the one she wore. She grabbed on to hers reflectively.

"Yes, they are the same." Daedalus continued. "Made from a combination of rare gemstones and magic, a pendant was made for each citizen. It was a tool to focus our wishes and magnify our power. The Ivory Tower is actually nothing more than one very large pendant. With our pendants able to focus our individual wishes and the tower able to focus our combined will, we were ready to try it out. All the citizens gathered around the Ivory tower, spilling out in to the streets and boulevards beyond." Daedalus's face relaxed into a smile as he recalled the memory. "Everyone had been carefully instructed what to wish for and they all followed my lead. We held our pendants, closed our eyes, and wished with all our hearts. I could feel the pulse of the magic igniting all around us. The tower started to glow so brightly I could see it even with my eyes closed. And then…it was all quiet and peaceful for a second, or hours, I'm still not sure, but then suddenly we were awake and we had our wings!"

"Wings?" Hitomi said. "Oh! It was your wish that gave the Atlantians, and later on, the Draconians, their wings."

"Hm, yes, Draconians…but yes, we created our own wings. We changed our bodies to remove ourselves from the mindless, barbaric masses around us, but we wanted more. We wanted our own land, but why stop there, we argued. Why not wish for our own planet."

"Our ultimate goal…my ultimate goal…had changed from revenge to creating a world where war or sadness didn't exist anymore. A world where we could live in peace, studying art, science, and magic. A world where we could live without greed and betrayal. So, a few months later, we gathered again to activate the tower. I watched as we made our wishes and I could see our planet forming in the sky! It was amazing! One by one, my people started vanishing and I knew they were going to our new home. My dreams were coming true, but then something happened."

"The planet disappeared from the sky and we stopped transporting. Everyone was confused and scared and before anything could be done, the tower started pulsing on it's own." Daedalus hesitated for a moment and Hitomi started to worry again when she saw the panic in his eyes.

"No one could have predicted what happened next." Daedalus continued. "The tower started absorbing the life forces of the remaining people. All around me, people would suddenly drop over, dead. I could see their magic, their life forces, being pulled towards the tower. Chaos broke out and people were running and screaming in fear. I yelled at them to stop, to organize their thoughts, but it was useless. The tower was out of control; our wish had gotten out of control."

"I'm still not sure what happened, but I woke up down here with the remains of the city. Everyone else was either gone or dead. I wondered around for days, trying to locate others and figure out what happened. Eventually I made my way back to the Ivory Tower. It was glowing like it never had before and it seemed to give off a life force of its own. In a rage, I tried to enter the tower so I could destroy it, but the entrance had been sealed. However, there was a strange fountain in the amphitheatre of the tower that had not been there before. I was amazed to discover I could see our new world in it! I stared for days in to the water, watching my people in their new world. After everything that had happened, I was overjoyed to see that it worked and that they would be able to live my dream. At first, they too were overjoyed that the plan had worked, but they became anxious when the rest of us never showed up. I tried to communicate with them, but it was impossible. They had no way of knowing the tragedy that had occurred. They decided to start building their new city while they waited for us."

"I was content to wait for death while I watched them live out my dream. Days became months and months became years, and I watched as the new Atlantis was built. But one day, strangers appeared in the new city. They claimed they came from across the water to trade. I was just as confused as my people so I used the fountain to explore the new world and I was stunned to see that our world had been desecrated by others! There were many people scattered about and wild creatures that we never discussed including. Then I found that races of half-humans/half-animals existed! How those monstrosities showed up was beyond me!"

Van clenched his fist and scowled. Merle was not a monstrosity.

"I became so angry that I tore myself away from the fountain to try to find answers." Daedalus continued, not noticing Van's anger. "I tried entering the Ivory Tower again, but it was hopeless. I tried to leave this place, but no matter how far I hiked or sailed, I'd always returned. It seemed that I was singled out to live in this cursed place. I didn't need to eat or sleep; I wept, I screamed, but nothing helped. Somedays I would just lie down and watch the sky…."

As Daedalus stared in to nothing, Hitomi's mind started racing. Daedalus' tale was fascinating, but it didn't help them figure out how to save Gaea. She still believed that they needed to get to the Ivory Tower, but they would have to get past Daedalus. She still didn't know what he wanted.

"I eventually went back to the fountain and to my horror discovered that our new city had been attacked!" Daedalus continued suddenly. "My worst fears had come true! Somehow, pain, betrayal, and war had festered in our new world. Then I realized that they could never be vanished. They existed here, they existed up there, and they exist everywhere. The only true peace is in death."

"I was tempted to kill myself, I almost did, but then a thought occurred to me: I could end the pain and suffering for the new world too. If I could destroy the Ivory Tower, which was the heart of the new planet, dubbed Gaea by it's inhabitants, I could give them peace too. With a new purpose, I searched the city and collected all the pendants I could find. They still had magic in them and I needed their power. I sat before the Ivory Tower and for days focused on the task before me. I knew I couldn't just make the planet blow up, I didn't have any where near that kind of power, so I had to go about it differently. After much work, I was finally able to create the smallest of cracks in the Tower, not in its structure, but in its magic. I opened a small passageway that I could use to influence events on Gaea. I whispered in to the ears of leaders and urged them to attack and destroy. I encouraged the dragons to attack towns. I tried to spread malcontent and hatred."

"It would have worked, the people would have destroyed each other, but each time I tried, someone would come along and defeat the army, or reason with the people, or fight off the dragons. It was so infuriating to see the people cheer for them when I was the one trying to give them real peace. Years passed, centuries passed, and I watched and waited for opportunities. I noticed that the Tower was slowly growing weaker and I was able to influence more and more events as a result. Finally, after all my patient waiting, I found the perfect tool. A man had appeared on Gaea one day, claiming to be from Earth, or the Mystic Moon as it was called. I was puzzled, but had no reason to doubt his claims, and as I watched him, I realized that at one time we had shared the same goals. He believed there was a way to redirect fate to benefit mankind and as I watched him transform the Zaibach Empire, I saw my old self in him. However, from the mistakes of the past, I knew that it was hopeless to count on the people to wish for peace. My own people must have had fear and violence in their hearts or else nothing would have gone wrong. This man called Dornkirk started building a machine that would use the people's wishes to redirect fate. He knew the legend of Atlantis and he understood that what he wanted had been done before, but he couldn't find the tools to use. Of course, I speak of our pendants." He said as he absently stroked his pendant. "At this time, as far as I knew, there was only one left in the world of Gaea and a man named Leon had it."

"Allen's father." Hitomi whispered to herself.

"I used my powers to get him and Dornkirk to meet and they eventually worked together, but I could never get Leon to part with the pendant. I watched as Dornkirk chased after him and he almost got it, except that Leon did an incredible thing. He made a wish to see a certain young girl again and she appeared and he gave her the pendant. She took it and vanished, back to Earth. I believe she was a relative of yours?" Daedalus said as he eyed Hitomi.

"My Grandmother." Hitomi said.

"Curious…. After my anger about losing the pendant had passed, I realized something very important: Earth and Gaea were still connected and that I must still be on Earth. I tried to use the pendants to transport to Gaea, but it never worked. So, I continued to watch Dornkirk. It was years later that he starting working with individuals that I could use too, a sorcerer named Kilimbod and his creation, Dilandau."

"Wait a second." Van said, taking a step forward. "Are you telling us that in some way, you are responsible for what Kilimbod and Dilandau did?" Van's voice started to rise in anger. "You made them do all those terrible things to Fanelia and to Gaea!"

"THEY WOULD HAVE BROUGHT YOU PEACE!" Daedalus shouted at Van.

"You have a very sick idea of what peace is, old man." Van said, drawing his sword out and pointing it towards Daedalus.

"HOW CAN YOU UNDERSTAND! YOU'RE JUST A CHILD. I'VE HAD A LIFETIME OF ANGUISH, YET I ONLY THINK OF OTHERS!"

"BULL SHIT!" Van yelled back, startling Hitomi and Kylenia. "I've had more than my share of anguish, but I never took the coward's way out! I chose to live and stand up to those with evil intent, to protect others from their vile ways. You're just hiding behind the false fantasy of death to justify all the evil you've done."

Daedalus' face had turned red and he was shaking with rage. "How dare you." He managed to say in barely a whisper. "You cannot even begin to comprehend my noble intentions. You are just selfishly keeping the people from what they really want: peace." Daedalus threw out his arm and pointed at Van and Hitomi. "YOU TWO HAVE STOOD IN MY WAY FOR TOO LONG, BUT NO MORE!"

From Daedalus' out stretched hand, the same black orbs that had hit their airship before came hurtling towards them.

"STAY CLOSE!" Hitomi yelled as she created a force field around them. As the first dark orb hit, Hitomi gasped at its strength. They were much stronger this time. She held tightly to the pendant and concentrated as strongly as she could, but each blow left her weaker and weaker until she collapsed to one knee.

"Hitomi!" Van shouted as he knelt beside her and put a protective around her shoulders. "Attack him back, Hitomi!" She wanted to throw an orb of her own back at him, but she had never done that while holding the force field up. She didn't know if she could do it. Daedalus was not slowing his attack and she didn't think they'd survive if she brought the shield down.

"I…can't." Hitomi struggled to say as she continued to hold the shield up. Each time an orb hit, it felt like it was exploding inside her skull. Hitomi was nearing panic. She wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer.

"If you can't fire your own, try to reflect his attacks. Throw it back at him!" Van shouted over the noise.

Reflect his attacks? Hitomi thought. Without any hesitation, Hitomi changed her strategy and in the blink of an eye, the edge of the translucent pink shield that faced Daedalus changed it's shape from a convex circle to a concave circle. Hitomi added an extra pulse of energy to the new shield and as the dark orbs collided with it, they were turned back towards Daedalus! Daedalus stopped his attack when he saw three of his orbs coming back towards him. He tried to run, but the orbs were too fast. Hitomi couldn't see exactly what happened, but she heard him scream and then the stone around him exploded, creating a cloud of dust.

Hitomi breathed in relief. Reflecting those orbs hadn't been as painful since her shield didn't absorb their energy, but used it to throw them back at Daedalus. She dropped the shield around them and felt her strength quickly returning.

"Are you okay?" Van asked as he sheathed his sword and helped her up. She looked in to his concerned brown eyes and smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Thank goodness." Van said, surprising Hitomi as he pulled her into a tight hug. Hitomi hugged him back, just as tight, knowing that Daedalus caused him to recall some of his most painful memories.

"How's your strength?" Kylenia asked as Van and Hitomi pulled away.

"Recovering quickly." Hitomi replied.

"I don't want to wait around for anymore surprises." Van said as he clasped Hitomi's hand. "Let's move as quickly as we can to-"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Daedalus screamed through the fading mist. He took a few steps forward and they could see he was hurt and battered. "If I can't stop you directly, then I will stop you indirectly!" He shouted. Daedalus stood up straight and held his hands close to his face. He seemed to be chanting something and then suddenly, he flung his arms over his head and black energy arched out from his fingertips. Instead of coming for them, like Hitomi initially suspected, they spread out and hit pieces of stone and buildings all around them.

Hitomi had no idea what Daedalus was planning until she thought she saw something move. She turned her head to watch carefully as black energy sparks died off of a statue near the doorway of a building to the left of them. To her amazement, the statue's arm twitched. Hitomi blinked her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing anything, but then the statue slowly began to turn towards them. To Hitomi's horror, she realized that all around them statues were coming alive. The statues were at least seven feet tall and although some of them were missing hands or arms and seemed to be old and crumbling, they still were foes made of stone. The ground shook as the statues slowly starting to make their way towards them.

Van whipped out his sword and held it ready.

"Van! Are you going to try to cut stone?" Hitomi asked, bewildered.

"I'm going to try." Van said as he dashed away. Van ran to the closest moving statue and easily avoided the stone arms grasping for him. He leapt up beside the statue and brought his sword down with two hands. The sword cut smoothly through the stone and the statue's arm fell to the ground and crumbled. Van smiled grimly, but Hitomi had noticed the amount of effort he used and the flinch he had made when his sword had connected. It could be done, but it wasn't going to be easy.

Van heard more footsteps and spun to see another statue coming at him from around the corner. He tried to get himself in to a position where he could cut something, but the statue whirled unexpectedly and a stone arm smashed in to his chest, causing Van to fly backwards. Hitomi cried out in fear, but Van twisted his body just in time to push off from the ground and land back on his feet. Kylenia and Hitomi ran the short distance to him.

"Are you hurt?" Hitomi asked, looking frantically for injuries.

"They pack quite a punch, but I'll be okay." Van said, rubbing his chest absently. "We can't let ourselves get cornered, let's move!" Van said as he motioned with his head towards the place where Daedalus had come from. It was only then that Hitomi noticed Daedalus was gone.

"Be careful!" Kylenia warned as they started running. "All three of us have to make it to the Ivory Tower or Gaea is lost." Hitomi only nodded her head in understanding. For a brief second, she had almost forgotten about the prophecy and Gaea. How many more problems were they going to have to deal with?

Hitomi, Van and Kylenia ran closely together, avoiding rubble and enchanted statues. Their only advantage was that the statues were slow and had no apparent human intelligence. Arms reached for them, but they were quick to duck or spin away. They continued like this for a few streets as the ever present Ivory Tower loomed closer above their heads.

Up ahead, the street was blocked with statues coming for them. Hitomi motioned for the others to follow her down a side street to her right. As she came to the entrance of the alley, she slid to a sudden stop. In front of her was an even larger statue of a man, at least ten feet tall. Its massive hand was already reaching for her and there was no time to dodge or run. Hitomi did the only thing she could think of: she wrapped her hand around her pendant and brought the pink shield up around them. But the giant statue's hand went right through it and before Hitomi could react, its cold stone hand wrapped around her arm and lifted her off the ground.

Stunned that her magic had failed, Hitomi dangled there for a second with wide eyes.

"HITOMI!" Van screamed from below.

"Van!" Hitomi shouted back. She tried to turn, but the movement sent daggers of pain up her arm. She was starting to fear that her arm would pop out of its socket, but she had to try something. She reached out with her legs and tried to kick the statue, but her feet could barely reach.

As the statue started to walk away with Hitomi flailing from its stone arm, Van raced around to its side and started to chop at it with his sword. Because of its massive size, the sword was only able to chip the statue, no matter how frantically Van tried. Hitomi even grabbed the knife at her belt and tried to hack at the statues arm, but all she could do was chip it and she was more likely to hurt herself then the statue.

Hitomi dangled helplessly as the statue continued to make its way further up the street. She could see the other statues getting closer and from the sounds of commotion, Van and Kylenia must have ran in to them. Hitomi turned her neck as best as she could to try to watch. Van's face was alive with rage as he slashed one statue after another. Kylenia whirled her staff around and swung it down at the feet of the statues. The stone feet crumbled and the statues fell to the ground and shattered. Van noticed the technique and started doing the same thing. They were slowing catching up to her and the giant statue.

Hitomi faced forward and tried again to wiggle her way out, but the statue's grip was too firm. Hitomi didn't know where the statue was taking her, or why it hadn't tried to smash her already, but her arm was throbbing in pain. With every heavy step, Hitomi could see a little more of what lay beyond the other side of the street. Before she knew it, they had passed the line of buildings blocking her view and she suddenly had a great view of the city below. The Ivory Tower stood only a few streets down. It was much more impressive close up and she could see light swirling through it. The tower distracted her for a second, but her faced paled as she finally realized where the statue was taking her.

"VAN! IT'S GOING TO DROP ME OVER A CLIFF!"

The statue had been walking up a bridge all along, but the center had long ago fallen away. Below was a dried out river bed, a deep river bed, now full of sharp, unforgiving stones and rocks.

"I'M COMING, HITOMI!"

Hitomi struggled fiercely, trying to ignore the pain in her arm. She tried to swing to throw the statue off balance but she only screamed in agony when the pain became too great. Behind her, she could just make out Van and Kylenia frantically trying to reach her, but the statues were blocking their way.

"Damn these things!" Van cursed as he finished slicing another statue's legs, while ducking under its arms. Van used the falling momentum of the statue and rammed his shoulder in to it, causing it to fall in to another, which also toppled over and took a third down with it. Van quickly moved in to the empty space and suddenly his white wings shot forth from his back, shredding his tops in the process. Van wasted no time and jumped in to the air, pumping his wings to gain altitude over the grasping stone hands.

Hitomi's hope returned as she saw, from the corner of her eye, Van jumping in to the air, his majestic wings wide and flying towards her. Hitomi was forced to turn the other way as the statue started to turn towards the precipice and from the opposite corner of her eye, she saw a huge stone hurtling towards Van! She turned her head a little more and realized that it was a stone horse with wings, like the fabled Pegasus, that was headed straight for Van. She tried to shout a warning, but the flying stone horse was faster. Van's eyes were focused on Hitomi the entire time so he didn't see it until he was hit from the side and push away and out of her sight.

"VAN!" Hitomi screamed, furiously trying to turn. She heard a collision, but all she could manage to see was the corner of a building crumbling, causing more dust to fill the air.

"Oh no." Hitomi whimpered as she feared the worst for Van. Her eyes started to water, but she quickly blinked it away. The statue was almost to the edge where it would release her. Her magic didn't work, Van was trapped under stone, and she could see Kylenia surrounded by statues. Before she could think of anything else to try the statue stopped.

It had reached the edge.