Crumbling of Time

by Rinoako

Choices must be made when two sides must battle to fulfil a prophecy, but it all started with a tragic legend that began more than 50.000 years ago, a legend that will haunt every generation...set up like an RPG! RR, please!

11. Chapter 11 Ancient City

Ancient City

"Here's some more healing elixirs, and some antidotes," Prince Luke said, proffering a parcel to Zack. "Oh wait, and here's a letter that Mom wrote which you can present to Prince Sky and Princess Star to verify that you are legitimate. It has the seal of Northern Nova royalty."

"Thank you very much, Lukey Pooky!" Cat said cheerfully. "We'll come back and see you for sure after our mission is fulfilled! Don't forget to invite us to the wedding ceremony between you and Princess Giselle!"

Prince Luke smiled at Cat. "We should go now," Zeth said quietly. "Or we won't make it to Ptero by nightfall. I think it will be difficult to set up camp there."

"Yes, you should hustle," Queen Trisha inserted. She smiled. "Come back as soon as you can, all of you."

They all stepped into the warping apparatus, and Prince Luke slowly flicked the switch. The bright green warping ball whizzed over and swathed them all in its light and dashed away.

Prince Luke turned to his mother. "Mother…I wish I had gone with them…"

"Owwww," Zack moaned, rubbing his knee. The warping device had thrown them down on the floor rather violently. He stood up and looked around at the antediluvian city of Tenebatos. "Whoa."

Adrian stood up and stared in the direction Zack was looking. "Oh no…"

"We have to go through that whole place to find the warping machine?" Cat cried despairingly.

"This is by far the biggest city I have ever seen!" Fuuko exclaimed.

Tenebatos was full of ancient lofty buildings, and was designed mostly for people with wings. It had a paranormal look about it, and the wind made ghostly moaning sounds.

"How are we gonna get around?" Zitan wondered audibly.

"Why don't we just sprout some wings?" Breanna suggested sardonically.

"Adrian and I could fly each one of you to each building, one at a time," Cat suggested.

"Yeah, we could do that," Adrian agreed, reaching for Zack.

"Whoa, not so fast!" Zack exclaimed, pulling away.

"You two would get fatigued really quickly," Fuuko pointed out. "I would use my wind vortexes to help, but they don't seem to work as assuredly in this vicinity. There's not enough wind power to gather up to create any more than three."

"Yeah, and you would be drained by using your magic like that to convey us," Zaria agreed. "No, we can't do that. We'll have to find some other way. Think, guys, think!"

Everyone stood in thought. After a minute passed by, Cat started hopping up and down. "I'm going crazy," she shrieked. "This is so pointless!"

All of a sudden the crescent moon on Zaria's forehead appeared and started glowing brilliantly. Zaria groaned and grabbed her forehead.

"Ugh, my head," she muttered. Adrian quickly reached out right before she fell, catching her.

"Zaria, what happened?" Breanna exclaimed. Zaria took deep breaths and stood back up.

"I was…uh…well, all of a sudden, my knees went weak and I…I…don't know."

"A moon appeared on your forehead, but then it vanished," Cat told her, her eyes wide.

Zaria shook her head in confusion. "Really?"

The crescent moon reappeared. This time Zaria fell back on Zitan, clutching her head even harder, her slender hands gnarled into the shape of claws.

"Ugh...this…hurts!" she shrieked. All of a sudden a ray of moonlight shot out from her forehead, shooting straight ahead. It spread out and created a translucent bridge of moonlight between the two towers. Zitan felt Zaria relaxing in his arms.

"Hey Sis, you okay?" he asked.

She slowly nodded and pulled herself back up. "Thank you, Selene," she said quietly. She turned to the others. "I just used the moon aspect of the Universal Holy. Don't worry, I'll be all right, it only weakened me slightly. Just cross the bridge."

Cat and Adrian flew across the bridge. "Come on over!" Cat called, waving. The others slowly crossed the translucent bridge, uneasily gazing down below.

"We're…um…really high," Zack said nervously. Fuuko batted his face playfully, and he almost lost his balance. As soon as they all had crossed, the bridge reformed into a ray of moonlight and shot back into Zaria's forehead. The crescent moon on her forehead faded.

"Universal Holy is more versatile than I thought," Zitan observed.

They all walked inside the tower, where a small teddy bear-like creature was sitting alone in a large room. As soon as it spied them, it shrieked and ran into a corner, shaking.

"Oh, that little creature is so adorable!" Fuuko exclaimed. She slowly stepped up to it.

"Hello! Don't fret, we won't hurt you!" she said to it.

It looked up. "Are you sure?" it asked tentatively.

Everyone was startled. "Hey, the little thing can talk!" Zack exclaimed.

"Are you really sure?" it repeated.

Fuuko smiled at it. "Of course we won't hurt you," she replied. "Come here." She held out her arms and the thing hesitantly stepped up to her and jumped into her arms.

"You're so darling!" Fuuko cried, hugging it close. "Do you have a name?"

"I'm Kupo Kog," it replied. "And I'm two years old. My mommy died a year ago."

"Oh, you poor thing!" exclaimed Fuuko. "I'm Fuuko. Kupo…what a cute name! Do you wanna stay with us? We'll take care of you, Kupo!"

"Okay, I'll go with you, Fuuko Fog," Kupo agreed.

"You're gonna bring that thing with us?" Breanna asked Fuuko in distaste. Fuuko nodded.

"Of course. The poor thing…Kupo's parents are gone, Bree!"

"It's not like I lived with parents taking care of me," Breanna muttered, shaking her head. She turned away. "Fine, keep it if you want. But when you're bored of the thing, don't come begging me to take it."

"Hee hee, don't worry Kupo, that means she likes you," Zaria told the little Kog. Kupo fluttered its wings appreciatively.

"Breanna Bog!"

"All right, enough talking. Let's go," ordered Zeth. He walked ahead and the others followed him, Kupo flying right beside Fuuko. Zeth approached another tower and Kupo began making frantic noises and batting Fuuko's head.

"What's wrong, Kupo?" Cat asked. Kupo continued to wave its hands about frantically. It stopped flapping its wings and ran to Zeth and lodged itself on Zeth's leg.

"What the #$!" Zeth shouted, shaking his leg. "Someone get this thing off me!"

"Kupo, what's wrong?" Fuuko asked, alarmed.

"Don't go in there!" Kupo squealed, gesturing towards the door. Zeth ceased his struggling and Kupo climbed off his leg.

"Danger inside. No want you hurt. Jewel guarding crystal."

"Crystal?" Zitan asked. "What crystal? We might need it for something in here…"

"Why would we need a crystal?" Cat asked skeptically.

"There's bound to be some sort of maze or puzzle in here," Adrian explained. "The Beings were a very smart species. They probably made sure that it would be a challenging task to get warped over to Ptero, so that only creditable individuals could use the warping machine. Warping techniques aren't easy to develop, you know."

"Then we should collect as many items as possible," Zeth agreed. "We never know when we'll need them, especially in a place such as Tenebatos, an ancient Being headquarters."

"So…we're going into the dangerous place where Kupo told us not to go?" Zack asked, his lips pursed.

"It's not like we're ignorantly walking into danger, Zack," Zaria replied. "We know what we're doing, and we're prepared to face the worst."

"All right, let's go already! The suspense is killing me!" Cat complained. She flew across the walkway and charged into the door, knocking it over. A loud clashing noise came from inside the tower, resonating throughout the empty city.

Kupo frantically squeaked and spread its little wings, trying to fly towards the tower.

"We gotta follow her, NOW!" Fuuko shouted, running towards the door. Everyone followed Fuuko into the tower, but as soon as they walked in, they froze. Inside it did not look like a tower at all. It looked like a ballroom, similar to the one in the Twin Castle at Heide Tiseau. It seemed like the interior of the tower was larger than the exterior.

"Illusion," Zitan muttered.

"Where's Cat?" asked Adrian, sounding frantic. "Is she in here?"

Everyone looked around the ballroom, but Cat was nowhere to be seen. There was absolutely no sign that someone had crashed into the room.

"She couldn't have gone anywhere," Zaria said, her voice turning shrill. "There's no doors in here, no hallways, no stairs. It's just a ballroom. She has to be in this room!"

Zaria stood there, shouting for Cat. She whirled around to the rest of them. "What are you doing, just standing there like statues!" she screamed. "We have to look for Cat! I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of my negligence to details…"

She sank down to her knees. Everyone turned away, not knowing what to do. Zeth considered using his Ultima Ray, but after he tried it he found that it couldn't infiltrate the magic in the Being architecture. Adrian glanced in Zaria's direction. The spot in which she was kneeling down was becoming slightly hazy. He narrowed his eyes, looking harder. The spot became even more blurred.

"Damn," he muttered, and quickly morphed into his vampire form.

"MOVE!" he bellowed at Zaria. She looked up at him, startled, as the spot became even more indistinct and shimmied in the light. Adrian leaped into the air and pumped his wings with all his might, speeding over to her. He snatched her away just as a huge tentacle ripped up through the floor, traveling towards the ceiling.

The tentacle whizzed back down, striking Adrian's wings. Adrian cried out in pain as his wings went flaccid and he and Zaria fell towards the floor. Zitan and Zack ran over and caught them just in time. The tentacle was sucked back into the floor, and the floor shimmered once, as if it were water, then it reformed as the perfect ballroom floor it was before.

"What the $& was that?" Zack exclaimed, hastily pouring some healing elixir on Adrian's wings.

"Everyone, stay alert!" Zitan shouted, holding his sister. Zaria was still trembling in fear. "J-J-Jewel," she stammered.

"What are you trying to say, Zaria?" Zitan asked her, exasperated. Zaria cleared her throat and closed her eyes.

"I remember now…this is almost certainly a Jewel."

"A Jewel?" Zitan asked.

"It's like the Being's trump card," Zaria said. "It's a secret, special type of animal that they used as their ultimate weapon. They created it and called it 'Jewel'. A Jewel is a tremendously formidable foe, and very few humans have been known to endure encounters with them. Some of its body parts can be revived, and once they are, they can revive the entire Jewel. There were not many of them created, and most of them are hidden in abandoned places, presumed dead, although some may still be alive, even after 10,000 years."

"Damn!" exclaimed Zack. "They sure live long."

"As I said, they are not a normal species of animal," Zaria told him. "Beings used them the way humans used dragons manipulated by magic, but the dragons have become extinct long ago, and I doubt that they are like Jewels, able to survive for millennia."

"Are you saying that that thing we just saw is a Jewel?" Breanna asked, her eyes wide. Zaria slowly nodded. "I think so…"

"If that really is the case, we're in big #$!" Zack exclaimed. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Not until we find Cat!" Zaria cried frantically, tears forming in her eyes.

Adrian managed to pull himself back up and nodded at Zack. "I'm all right now. Let's just go outside and check our inventory and prepare ourselves for an upcoming battle. Cat has either survived for this long or not, and I think that we should assume that she has, so she probably can for a little longer until we can get to her."

Zaria hung her head and the rest of them all ran in the direction where the door was.

"Oh no!" Fuuko cried. "The door is gone!"

Indeed, the place where the door had previously been was now a ballroom wall. They looked around the whole room, but all the doors had disappeared.

"It wants to lock us in here and come in for the kill," Zitan said darkly.

Zeth looked around frantically and went up to the wall, pressing his hands on it. "There might be a section that is illusion!" he shouted. "Everyone split up and check the entire room! There might be an opening! And stay on guard!" he emphasized. They all ran around the room, pressing their hands to the walls.

"I think I found something!" Adrian shouted, reaching into the wall. "There's some sort of opening here!" He reached his hand in further.

"Be careful, freak!" Breanna shouted. He snapped his head around to look at her but then his hand went in further and his eyes widened.

"$&! There's something pulling me in!" he shouted, and he kept on sinking into the wall.

Breanna leaped over to Adrian and grabbed his other arm and pulled. "Ugh!" she said, yanking as powerfully as she could. "This thing is strong! Eeeeeek!"

Breanna and Adrian were rapidly pulled into the wall and then vanished completely.

"Bree!" Zitan shouted, running over to the spot in which they had disappeared. He smacked his hand on the wall.

"The opening is gone!" he cried, turning frenetically to Zeth. Then they all heard a rumble, and the floor started shaking. Then they heard Breanna's voice.

"Uuuuunnhhh! You can do better than that, you damn Jewel! Adrian, get up!"

The floor rumbled again, harder this time. It shook so violently that Zaria fell back and Zack caught her just in time.

"Hold still, princess," he said, his eyes darting around surreptitiously.

"EEEEYYYYYAAAAAKKKKHHH!" shrieked Breanna from somewhere, and then the floor cracked between Zeth and Zaria. The crack expanded and became a profound cliff. Zaria and Zack were left on one side, while Fuuko, Zeth and Zitan were on the other.

"Zack!" Fuuko cried. Zaria's eyes closed and she slumped into Zack's arms, the crescent moon appearing on her forehead again.

"Something's gonna happen to Zaria! Do something!" Zitan shouted.

"Wind Vortex!" Fuuko shouted, and a strong gust of wind blew through the room, picking up Fuuko, Zeth and Zitan. The wind started to transport them over to the other side but then as they passed the cliff an enormous tentacle popped up and slapped them down to the side, knocking the three of them unconscious.

"Fuuko! Zeth! Zitan!" Zack shouted, holding the fallen Zaria. He shook Zaria. "Please wake up, Zaria, please!" he implored.

The crescent moon on her forehead glowed even brighter.

"Damn!" Zack cursed. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. "It probably has something to do with the Jewel and the fact that you're the Moon Maiden Artemis," he muttered, his face grim.

"Unh! Argh! Yaaakhh! Ha!" came Breanna's voice from the bottom of the cliff. "Gotcha now…EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

"Watch out, Bree!" came Adrian's voice.

"Oh no," Zack moaned. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't send a haphazard ray of Apocalypse down into the cliff, because then it might strike Adrian, Breanna or Cat. He slammed his fist on the floor, inadvertently knocking Zaria's moonstone to the side. "Damn."

Zaria slightly stirred. "Uh…Zack?" she asked softly, opening her eyes. The crescent moon on her forehead had disappeared.

"The moonstone!" Zack exclaimed.

"Huh?" asked Zaria, confused.

"The moonstone is calling the Moon Maiden Artemis in you out whenever the Jewel is near, and you can't stand its aura as the Moon Maiden Artemis!" Zack explained. He picked up the stone and put it in his pocket. "Let me keep it for you for now."

Zaria's hand quickly flew up to her throat, where the chain that held Zeth's ring was. "All right."

"Now that you're awake, could you heal them?" Zack asked, pointing to the three on the other side of the cliff. The sounds of battle below were still loud and clear. Zaria nodded and stood up. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Healing wind!" she shouted, and air with healing magic flew throughout the entire room, refreshing and awakening everyone.

Zeth ran to the edge of the cliff. "We gotta help them!" he shouted, and leaped down.

"There he goes again, jumping down random cliffs," Zack said, rolling his eyes and Fuuko quickly sent a large wind vortex down. Zack held Zaria tightly by the waist and leaped down, Zaria clutching on to him tightly. Fuuko and Zitan jumped down after them.

"This thing is tough," Breanna muttered, her lip swollen and her body bruised from all the blows she had received from the tentacles of the Jewel. Adrian ran over to her.

"Bree, are you all right?"

"Whaddya think, freak?" she groaned.

Adrian glanced up menacingly at the Jewel. "You piece of #$!" he shouted, leaping at the Jewel. "Tetra Flare!" he shouted, and the Jewel was surrounded by fire. It howled as the fire burned its body. Adrian fell to the ground and closed his eyes, exhausted. A wave of magic dust flew back at him, knocking him unconscious. The Jewel used a healing spell and cured itself as the fire dissipated. The gargantuan creature stomped towards the fallen Adrian and Breanna, ready to strike the deathblow…

"Thunder Strike!" came Cat's voice from afar, and three thunderbolts surrounded the Jewel and charged electricity through it. It howled in pain and fell to the ground with a large thump. Cat appeared and flew over to Breanna and Adrian.

"Bree! Adriana!" she exclaimed, flying down and standing next to them. She knelt over Adrian.

"Adriana, please be okay," she murmured in his ear, stroking his hair. "Please!"

Breanna slowly opened her eyes and saw Cat and Adrian. She groaned and sat up, rubbing her back.

"Bree! You're all right!" Cat cried, hugging her. She turned back to Adrian, a tear forming. "But Adrian…he's…"

"He can't be dead," Breanna declared, feeling for his pulse. "He just got the wind knocked out of him."

A few feet away, Zack, Zaria, Zeth, Fuuko and Zitan fell to the ground with a thump. They all stood up and brushed themselves off.

Zaria ran over to Breanna and Adrian. "Healing wind!" she shouted, and they were instantly restored.

Adrian opened his eyes and gazed at Cat. "You're alive," he said softly as his eyes focused on her.

She nodded and hugged him. "Thank you for coming to get me, Adriana."

There was a low growl from the Jewel. Everyone looked in its direction as it slowly pulled itself up and stood before them in all its malevolent magnificence.

"This is…Sapphire Jewel," Zaria breathed, gazing up at the creature. Sapphire Jewel howled again and lifted its claw, ready to strike at Zaria. Fuuko shoved Zaria out of the way.

"Stop standing like a statue right where it can get you," Fuuko reproved, gasping for breath.

"It doesn't look like Sapphire is gonna let us go free," Zeth said, drawing his sword. "Get ready to fight, everyone." They all brought out their weapons.

"Transform gunblade!" Zeth shouted, and his sword morphed itself into a gunblade identical to Rafael Toki's. He jumped onto Sapphire's back and violently slashed at it with his gunblade, shooting the revolver on it at the same time. The gunblade then blurred and reformed into Zeth's original sword.

"Argh, that spell wore out too fast!" complained Zeth through clenched teeth. He raised his sword to strike again when Sapphire jerked its back and threw Zeth off.

"Triple Apocalypse!" shouted Zack, sending forth a triple dose of Apocalypse. It struck Sapphire but the Jewel countered it with a laser beam straight at Zack.

"Zack!" cried Cat, and she knelt over him as he lay there, motionless. Zitan cast a revival spell on him and he woke, then Zitan cast another spell, a Time spell to slow Sapphire down.

Sapphire was now moving in slow motion, leisurely clomping towards them. Zaria took advantage of the time to gather together her energy and concentrate it on her magic.

"Holy…light!" she gasped, and a bright white light from above shone down on Sapphire, engulfing it in its luminosity.

Sapphire howled in pain as it writhed in the Holy magic, and finally Zaria collapsed, exhausted, and the Holy ray vanished.

Sapphire also collapsed to the ground, weakened significantly.

"Finish it off, Zeth!" Zack shouted, scooping up Zaria and carrying her off the battlefield. Zeth glanced back at Zaria and saw her shining emerald eyes gazing at him as Zack carried her away. He knew the message that she was giving him, the message to not give up.

Zeth took a deep breath and turned back to Sapphire. He would use his Ultima magic to defeat it. He closed his eyes and gathered all the magic running through his veins and concentrated it in his mind. Ultima…Ultima…Ultima…Destruction…Destruction?

Why had the word Destruction involuntarily appeared in his mind? What had happened? Was he being pulled back to his Being roots from his past life?

He lost all concentration in his mortification and the magic was released from him in a non-orderly fashion, spraying about in every which way, being used up with no purpose.

Zeth fell to the ground, internally fuming at himself as he clutched his head. What was happening to him? He felt so confused. A persistent beep was resonating in his head, and the sound was driving him mad. All of a sudden he felt a thrill pulse throughout his body, and magic was released, aimed straight at Sapphire.

The Destruction magic hit Sapphire straight at its heart, and enveloped the Jewel's entire body. Sapphire made a high-pitched cry as it was dissolved into nothingness, leaving nothing but a small sapphire gem on the ground.

Zeth cried out as another wave of pain hit him, and fell to the ground, knowing no more.

"Zeth!" Zaria cried, breaking out of Zack's grasp and running to Zeth's side. She took him into her arms and muttered something to herself.

"What happened to him?" Cat asked.

"Leave them alone for now," Zitan said quietly. "I don't think it's anything physical that's wrong with him."

"Zeth…wake up," Zaria whispered, holding Zeth closer to her. "I know you can defeat the one inside of you."

Cat slowly walked over to the sapphire gem, which was blinking in the dim light in the ballroom, which was left in ruins.

"I think I'll just keep this for now," she said faintly, placing the gem into her pocket. She left the room, and the others slowly followed her.

Zaria hugged Zeth tightly. "Wake up. They're leaving…we have to go now, Zeth."

He remained still and unresponsive, not moving a muscle.

"Zeth…" Zaria cried softly, sobbing on his shoulder.

"Zeth."

"What?"

"Get up now."

"What? I was asleep? Who are you?"

"You are asleep. Get up."

"But why?"

"Because. What I say is what goes, if you're going to seek my aid."

"Who are you? Who says I need your help?"

"In order to succeed in your quest without losing the most important part of yourself, you must listen to me."

"What? Who are you? Where am I? Where have you taken me? Take me back! Everyone needs me!"

"Not until our business is complete. I can't tell you who I am, not just yet. You have been transported into your own soul."

Zeth opened his eyes, got up and looked around. He appeared to be standing in the middle of a vast desert, the sand dunes whistling quietly.

"What do you want from me?" he shouted into the wind.

"Shut up and listen. This is for your own good. No, let me correct that. It's not only for your own good; it's for the good of the Planet. Your home."

"The Being planet or my current home planet?" Zeth asked softly.

"So you remember your last cycle of life. It's not often that creatures do, unless they meet others whom they have interacted with in their previous lives and go through a traumatic experience with the other."

"Your point?"

"My point is that the success of your mission will ensure the safety of both planets, and the final destruction of Miefe. Miefe is in fact a Being demi-god whom has survived for all these years…who has fed on the blood of others in order to be alive for that day of reckoning."

"What?" Zeth asked, shocked. "I never knew Miefe was…"

"No one knows. Only Miefe and Ciefe know. They both still live. Much more is at stake than you currently realize, and will ever know. I will try to tell you as much as I can. The day of reckoning is drawing near, dark one. On that day, you must use your powers for good, and not for evil as Destruction has been used for many times in the past. Destruction is in fact not an evil magic, but is can be compared to Holy as the North Pole can be compared to the South Pole. They are merely the opposite poles of one big swirling mass of all the magic ever existed. If, on the day of reckoning, those two types of magic do not reunite as they had been united before the Creation of the Divine Ones, then the Divine Ones will take it as a sign that this Universe is not worthy enough to go on. They will then destroy it and start anew."

"WHAT?"

"That is all you may know about the day of reckoning, which during the Creation of the Divine Ones has been named Messiah by the Divine Ones. It is yet to know what the Messiah will bring, but the lot rests on the shoulders of all creatures in the universe."

"What am I supposed to do?" Zeth asked, trying to take in the shocking information. "I'm only…Zeth Lanier. My life has been hard enough already! How come most of the responsibility is on the success of the mission that I am leading? I've handled enough in my two remembered lifetimes that anyone should handle in their whole cycle of life, even after their souls return to the Divine Ones!"

"Don't be selfish. The Moon Maiden Artemis would not appreciate it if her significant other was selfish."

"And Zaria! Why does Zaria have to be brought into this? All she wanted…all we ever wanted was a normal life, no fame and no glory, just living together and being happy. Why can't we have that? Zaria's been through a lot, too. Why do I have to be Zaria's enemy, yet she is the only one whom wields the ability to protect me from myself! I've heard so many things that I don't know what to believe. Zaria is supposed to be my enemy, my protector, my significant other, the one I unite with to save the universe, and my loved and cherished one that I protect, all at the same time! Why must we be the ones to bear this burden?" Zeth burst.

All was quiet, and the only sound that could be heard was the whistling of the sand dunes. "Answer me!" Zeth cried. "Of all times to stop talking, you choose this moment!"

"Everything is up to you, Zeth."

"And what if I don't decide? What will happen then?"

"If you do not perform your duty, you will find out. But alas, I must warn you that no matter what path you take, you will lose."

"Lose?" demanded Zeth. "Lose what?"

"You will lose. But you still must choose."

Zeth raised his head. "No," he said, "I will not. I will find a way. I'm not going to lose anything! And I don't need anyone to help me. I will change fate and protect everyone with my own abilities. How do I even know that you're not making up this business with the Divine Ones? All of this is so far off from reality…I don't know what to think about anything anymore…is our whole world illusion? Are all of my friends part of the illusion? Am I illusion? I have thoughts…I'm thinking now…but am I? Is Zaria? No, it can't be. How can everything I've lived through been planned and created by something else of greater power? I don't believe it…"

"No one's asking you to believe it. Who knows, maybe you all will someday all live in peace and happiness, and there will be no more fighting. Maybe then you will be reborn with your loved ones and live the true reality that the Divine Ones had meant for all living creatures."

"The true reality…"

"The true reality is a holy planet where all live in harmony. No one knows when it will happen. In fact, that may never happen."

"Then…the Messiah?"

"The Messiah is the day of reckoning where the fate of the universe is decided. It is even more powerful than the blessing of the birth of the Moon Maiden Artemis. Artemis's blessing is only terrestrial, but the Messiah, the Messiah is all. The Messiah will bless the universe, purifying it. It is also known as the Destruction. But that has two meanings. If the universe is currently worthy, then the Messiah will cleanse it completely and enable everyone to live in peace. If not…then the blessing will be…"

"…Total destruction," said Zeth impassively.

"Yes."

"Then…what is the point of my journey? Why are we looking for the Ice Warrior? How come the point of this mission has become so much more than just running away from the Toki and building a barrier around the site of the Black Hole project? Are those things still relevant?"

"Let me recapitulate everything that you must know. Your current mission is indeed relevant, but in more ways than one. It started out as you and your Zaria living 10,000 years ago during the Interplanetary War, which now seems like ancient history. You lived as Tide, one of the most respected Being generals of that war, until you met Rynn, who was actually the Moon Maiden Artemis. Although you were strong, she weakened your heart, because after all, you two share a bond that has lasted for millennia. You both died an untimely but enormously infamous death that has been recorded in the history books and has lasted for centuries. It is known as a romantic legend that many young people fantasize about sharing with the one they love. They don't know how the Moon Maiden Artemis's magic saved both of your souls. Your true identity, your true name is yet to be known, but you will find out in due course. You were then reincarnated along with the Moon Maiden Artemis into the current era, where you both played roles in the Mage War, the most recent war of the continent. You and Artemis were both separated by a time warp strategically placed by one of the Being priests during the Interplanetary War."

"So our separation was planned?" Zeth asked, shocked.

"Yes, it was. By the Beings, who had somehow foreseen that you would be reborn during this time period, and for some reason they wanted you to be alive and young during this particular time…maybe you have an important role to help the Beings during the coming of the Messiah. Alas, they did not realize that the Moon Maiden Artemis would inherit an ancient and forgotten youth elixir, made specifically for the Locke clan by Castor, one of the Human leaders from the Interplanetary War. She did, and she took it, so now she remains…she remains here to protect you from being in the Being's grasp once more. If they managed to take you then they would brainwash you. You and all your extraordinary powers and abilities would then be at their disposal. Only the Moon Maiden Artemis may stop them if you are under her safeguard, but you must also be strong and protect her from them, or any other threat that may befall her."

"I will," pledged Zeth.

"That is not even half of it. Shut up and listen while I tell you.

"All right, all right."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

"…"

"Anyhow, it is much more convoluted than just that. The Beings think that they, as a superior level species than Humans, will be able to manipulate the Messiah in some way, enabling them to achieve supremacy. The linkage between them and Artemis is so complicated that if I were to explain it to you now in explicit detail, you still would not comprehend the concept.

"The Beings want to have you in their power, but that is not how you first learned about your mission, is it? The stars, who are actually some of the lesser Divine Ones watching over the creatures, granting favors and talents to their favorites, had notified the Moon Maiden Artemis of a subsidiary problem to be resolved, leaving out the other much more important parts. But basically, yes, the eight warriors do all need to be assembled to build the barrier, which if not built then will result in the Destruction of your current home planet. If the barrier is not built, the Destruction in your body will be triggered, and you will be the cause of the entire obliteration of this planet, not any creature from another dimension like the Moon Maiden Artemis believes. It's not just that, though. The eight warriors will also need to be present at the Messiah, to welcome the coming of the Ultimate Blessing of the Universe. Once the time comes, their roles will be revealed. In each warrior of Mage, all the strongest magic power of their own type is concentrated within their souls, giving them supreme power, making them superior to the Beings.

"The final battle between the Humans and the Beings must be settled before the Messiah, or else the universe will be proven unworthy of preservation, and then all is lost. The eight warriors of Mage are also needed to fight the Beings. Whether you defeat them or not completely depends on you and your willpower, but you will also need to achieve exceptionally superior levels of magic. Finally, the last reason of your existence is that something involving you will occur during the Messiah. Zeth, you must be strong…and remember, no matter what you lose, the one thing that you should never allow yourself to lose is hope, for no one can live and succeed without hope."

"Why have you told me all this?" Zeth asked softly. "Although I sincerely do appreciate knowing. What I really need to know is why the Ultima magic somehow transformed into Destruction magic."

"Destruction is simply a higher level of Ultima, and more powerful as well. Castor and Illius worked together to formulate Ultima so nothing as dangerous as Destruction would exist, but Destruction finally resurfaced itself in you. You no longer wield Ultima, but now it is Destruction that you have control of, which is dangerous, for that is the magic that the Beings want to make use of. It seems like…the Being ancestry of your soul is causing the Destruction magic to emerge after all these years."

"…So I'm just supposed to take all this in and thank you, even though I have no idea whom you are and you have not once showed yourself to me," Zeth remarked.

"I can not show myself to you, for you are still mortal. The brilliance of my immortality would destroy you. All I can say is that I am an immortal whom has been watching over your soul since the beginning of time."

"You're a…Divine One?" Zeth discerned, amazed. Then his expression turned into a smirk. "Your brilliance will destroy me, eh?"

"Don't get smart with me, Zeth. You can't even begin to fathom the extent of my powers. Just consider yourself fortunate that you have a Divine One watching over you…as well as the Moon Maiden Artemis."

"Her name is not 'the Moon Maiden Artemis'," Zeth snapped. "Her name is Zaria…or Rynn."

"We shall see exactly who she is in due course. For now…return to your friends, and leave Tenebatos as soon as possible."

"Wait!" Zeth cried, as a small sandstorm appeared in the distance and began to travel towards him. "How do we get out of Tenebatos?"

"First you must collect three jewels, which are all hidden in the bodies of the Guardian Jewels of Tenebatos, which you can only obtain by defeating them. After that you must collect the final jewel, the Crystal of Tenebatos. The Kogs shall know where it is, and I understand that you have a Kog traveling with you. Then you must find the warping machine, which is in the main citadel, where the ancient Being royalty resided. Once you are in the main citadel, go to the West Wing, where the Chamber of the Setting Sun is located. To the left of the Chamber of the Setting Sun is a corridor, and when you go down that corridor it will seem like it is a dead end, but if you inspect the floor, there is a small trapdoor. Open that and climb down, and there you'll find the warping device. After that, place all the crystals in the appropriate slots and then you can warp yourselves to the capital city of Torus."

"Thank you so much," Zeth said gratefully.

"Do you even know what to do once you're at Ptero?"

"Not really, except find the Royal Twins of Torus and show them the letter from Queen Trisha," Zeth replied.

"And you think that that is all it takes?"

"Well, what else am I to do?" Zeth asked exasperatedly. "Would you please let me return to the real world now?"

"All right, I will, after all, the Moon Maiden Artemis is wondering where your consciousness is. Return to her now, and do not forget your duty. You may or may not tell the others what the Messiah is all about, for they will find out in due course anyway, but I suggest that if you do tell them, then you should do it after you have the eighth warrior assembled in your group."

"Thank you," said Zeth vaguely, gazing down at his sword. "By the way…you said that you are a Divine One, right?"

"Yes."

"Could you explain to me a little bit more about the Divine Ones?" Zeth asked, his curiosity roused.

"Why do you wish to know?"

Zeth shrugged. "I dunno...just wanna know."

"All right then, for now I will tell you the basics of it, and maybe some other time I will tell you the rest, of how we came to be. Us Divine Ones are the gods that are the roots of Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, Norse mythology, Mayan mythology, Celtic mythology, Welsh mythology, Hinduism, Aztec gods, etc. We are all. We are what all those mythologies originated from."

"I see," Zeth said. "Um…then which god are you?"

"…I think that it's better that you don't know my name now…but I will tell you what I am the god of, so you may understand a little better why I have favored you and the Moon Maiden Artemis since the beginning of time. I am…the guardian of stars and reincarnation."

"The guardian of stars and reincarnation?"

"Yes. Bye for now, Zeth."

Rena sat up and stretched, feeling refreshed. She yawned loudly and smoothed her hair down. Her glowing green eyes flashed in the small, dark, damp cave. Logan, she thought. Logan would never return to her…his brainwashed personality always seemed to take over. She blinked, remembering how he had momentarily returned when Aya was in control. Rena had wanted to cry out, to reach out to him, ready to forgive, but alas, Aya had not allowed her that privilege. Then Logan had been overtaken again. She hoped that inside his body, he was continuing to fight for the right to be himself. In a way, we're similar, she thought. Logan, both you and I are sharing our bodies with other personalities, but the difference is, I'm stronger than you are. Be strong, Logan.

"Aya," she said. "Where are we going today?"

To Tenebatos, Aya replied internally.

"Tenebatos!" Rena exclaimed. "The abandoned Being headquarters! Does that place still even exist?"

Yes, and we have business there…some individuals who can assist us are there.

"Who?"

The Warriors of Mage.

"Zeth, wake up," Zaria wailed. "Please, wake up already…the others are waiting for us! We can't go on without you, Zeth. You're our leader!"

She sat on the floor right outside of the tower that they had battled in, cradling Zeth's upper body in her arms and slowly rocking back and forth. The others were resting after their long and tiring battle, their tents and sleeping bags set up.

"Zaria, come in and sleep whenever you want," Cat had told her before entering her shared tent. The others had said nothing, but there was an understanding between them all. Zaria was the one who could protect Zeth. It was her duty. She would bring him back.

"Zeth…" Zaria murmured in a squeaky voice, rocking him harder. Finally she ceased the movement and sat there completely still.

She looked at him, so weak and helpless in her arms. Suddenly, Zeth stirred slightly.

"Zeth…Zeth? Zeth!"

Zeth opened his eyes and gazed at Zaria. Her eyes were full of apprehension, gazing down upon him. "Thank you for returning," she whispered, the words struggling to come out of her tightened throat in a strangled tone. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. Zeth looked up at her and raised his hand and stroked her cheek.

"I promised I wouldn't leave you," Zeth said softly, as a tear slowly slid down her cheek. He wiped her tear away. "Don't cry. I'm back now…nothing bad has happened, but I have been enlightened."

Zaria lifted her head slightly. "…What?"

Zeth looked away. How was he to explain it to her? How was he to explain to her the confusion situation is which they were all in which was much, much more than just a final reckoning between the Humans and the Beings? How was he to explain the Messiah? Everything that they had been through…and all that they would have to go through…

He turned back to her, gazing in those deep sparkling pools of green, which were staring at him almost pleadingly. Oh, how much he cared about her! If he told her the whole story, and then she felt pained and hurt…no, he wasn't going to do that to her. Yet…he needed to be the one to tell her the truth, for he didn't her to be misinformed later on…and if she ever found out what important news he was keeping from her, then she would be even more hurt.

He took Zaria into his arms, and held her closely, a small, unseen tear escaping out of the corner of his eye. Zaria, Zaria, he thought. No one would ever pull them apart or break their bond. No one. Except for him, if he was stupid or foolish enough to unwittingly do so. Should he tell her? Should her tell her that a major portion of the welfare of the universe rested upon their shoulders? Should he tell her that his very existence…depended upon her protection? Of course, if the Beings managed to seize control over his mind, he would still physically exist…but Zeth Lanier would be gone.

"Zaria…don't let go of me…please," he whispered.

She pulled away and looked at him. "Zeth," she started, "how could you ever doubt me? Don't lose faith in the world…and people who love you."

"I know," he replied, "but I can't help being afraid…Zaria, I have something to tell you…but I think that I should tell everyone."

"What is it, Zeth?" Zaria asked in alarm. "What happened to you…just now? Tell me!"

"Wait, I've decided to tell you all at the same time. Let's just go to sleep now."

He stood up and walked towards the tent. He looked back at Zaria, who was looking at him with her beautiful green eyes full of annoyance and confusion. He was too confused himself to deal with anything else now. He knew that it was selfish…but everyone was entitled to be selfish once in a while, weren't they? He ignored the probing look on her face and lifted the flap of the tent and crawled inside.

Zaria simply sat there while Zeth had pulled his arms away from her and had left her alone outside in the cold. Yes, he was Zeth…returned to her once more, but as was every time he was taken from her and then restored, his eyes lost a bit of their aqua innocence each time. It was as if he knew forbidden things, information that would shatter the world if it was known and make even the Divine Ones tremble in their shoes. Zaria shut her eyes, blocking the tears that were threatening to spill. Why was she crying, yet again? There was no reason to cry. She should've been happy.

Yet…she felt like now, although she and her friends were all close…it would not last. She stood up and stared at the queer Tenebatos night sky. During dusk, the sky here seemed to take on an eerie tint of red throughout the whole sky, making Zaria think of all the blood that was spilled during the Interplanetary War. It was as if the blood of all those innocent people and brave warriors had been spread and smeared across the sky, forever cursing this land as a land of bereavement. Princess Louvia and Prince Claude had told her of the real world and the illusion that everyone was currently living in, and how the real world could only be achieved when the universe was purified of all evil…and everyone was happy. The true reality would never come. She felt a rush go through her, and the anger towards whoever had burdened her with this terrible fate coursed through her veins.

She looked up into that eerie sky, tears coursing down her cheeks. "Why! Why have you bestowed this burden upon me! What have I done wrong! What has Cat done wrong? What have Breanna and Fuuko done wrong! What have Zack, Adrian and Zitan done wrong? What has the Ice Warrior done wrong! What has Zeth done wrong…why must we be the ones to fix the mistakes of all our ancestors?"

The Beings…the humans…the Interplanetary War…the entire world's history…and the entire world's future. Zaria knew very well that the Beings, if given absolute power, would dictate the human world and could make everyone's lives a living hell. It would truly be hell on earth. She had read from the stars that the only reason for building a barrier around the Black Hole was simply to test the powers of the Eight Warriors of Mage, to test if they had enough strength the build a strong barrier with high-class magic such as what would be needed. If they couldn't…then there was absolutely no way that they could defeat the Beings. If they could…then there was a slight chance. Look at Masamune, for example. It had taken a massive effort from all of them to defeat Masamune, and he was only one Being, albeit one of the powerful ones, but he couldn't have been that proficient, for Miefe had sent Masamune to Earth alone, dangerously risking Masamune's life. There were many more obstacles to overcome, beginning with simply finding the way out of Tenebatos!

Zaria sighed. For most people, although life was hard for everyone, life seemed so much simpler. You grew up, got an education, developed your personality and took your place in the world, found a job, found a spouse, had children and grew old. Some people had been special, doing great services for the world, such as Castor, Illius and Zelda, and the brave warriors during the Mage war like Galen. But for her and her group of friends who were the Mage warriors…life had so much more twists and turns and there was so much pressure to succeed.

"I should be a character in some epic tale, not a real person," she muttered, fingering her moonstone that hung in a chain around her neck along with the ring Zeth had given her. Zaria walked towards the tent and took off her boots. Her long hair fell down towards her face as she leaned forward to pull off the boots. She brushed it back and stood up straight. She picked up one of her grimy boots, worn from use, and turned it over in her hand. As she inspected it, the heel broke off.

"Oh, no," she moaned softly, trying to put the heel back on, but with no success. Zaria sighed. She would have to get a new pair of boots. Zaria put her boots down and stepped back into the tent and rummaged around in their supplies for an extra pair of boots. She found a pair and then left them by her clothing and went to sleep, preparing for another day of tiredness and fighting. Zaria promptly fell asleep due to how exhausted she was. It had indeed been a long day.

In the dark of the night and in the darkness of the tent, there was a shuffling sound, and the sound of breaking glass, as if a spell bottle had just been broken. Zitan sat up and squinted, as his normally green eyes turned a bright shade of yellow, glowing in the dark like a cat's. He spied his sister on the opposite side of the tent, and slowly made his way over to her. When he reached Zaria, he sat down next to where she lay and laid his hand on her cheek. He bent over, his face right above hers. "Zaria, I would never make you cry like he did," he whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from her sleeping face. "Zaria…" he moaned. "How I wish we weren't brother and sister…"

His eyes narrowed. "The true Tide is not him, it is-" a hand slapping the side of his head cut him off. He dropped Zaria to the ground, and she abruptly opened her eyes, startled.

"Zitan?" she said groggily, her eyes focusing on his face. Zitan turned around to face his surprise attacker and was shocked to find himself facing Breanna, her eyes fiery with anger.

Zaria sat up promptly. "Zitan, Breanna, what are you doing here? Bree, why do you look so mad?"

Zitan was speechless, and looked fearfully over at Breanna. Breanna pasted a fake smile on her lips. "Uh, Zaria, well I was just on my way to the bathroom, and apparently Zitan was as well, because I happened to trip over him, and he tripped over you," she lied.

Breanna glanced over at Zitan, who had a grateful look on his face. She scowled at him. "In any case, Zaria, sorry to wake you. Just go back to sleep, because I have something to talk about with Zitan."

Zaria nodded slyly, her eyes filled with understanding of what she thought was going on. "Hee, hee, okay. You two just go outside and do whatever and I'll see you both tomorrow morning. Just make sure you sleep soon, for we have a long day tomorrow!" She lay back down with a satisfied grin on her face.

Zitan shamefully turned to Breanna, who immediately grabbed his forearm and pulled him out of the tent. As soon as they were outside, Breanna let go and whirled towards him. "What were you thinking?" she demanded angrily.

"I-"

"Shut up," she interjected. "I was on my way to the bathroom, and what I heard was one of the most sacrilegious things in the whole damn world, and let me tell you what a damned world we live in. It's one of the most screwed-up places in the universe! What the hell were you thinking?" she exclaimed, her voice rising.

"Bree, calm down and quiet down," Zitan pleaded. "Just give me a chance to explain-"

"Don't 'Bree' me!" Breanna flared. "And explain? How the hell do you explain a blasphemy like that? That was one of the most disgusting, crazy things that I have ever heard! What the hell did you think you were talking about?"

Zitan rushed through each option in his head, deciding what to tell Breanna.

"Don't even think about lying to me," Breanna said evenly. "Tell me the truth, and then maybe I won't tell anyone what you've said. Do you know what Zack and Adrian will do to you if they find out? Don't even get me started on how Zeth will react. You might have had doubts but you shouldn't express them in such a way…"

Zitan hung his head shamefully. "Breanna, sometimes…sometimes people feel things that they're not supposed to feel…"

Breanna flinched, thinking of her own situation. Tears of frustration filled her eyes. "Yes, I do understand that, but that gives you no reason to act on your feelings when you know that your actions are wrong!"

Zitan looked up at her with a questioning look on his face. Breanna sighed and looked away. "Yes…I do have some strange feelings towards Zeth," she admitted, and then she snapped her head back towards Zitan. "But I have never betrayed Zaria's trust by uttering blasphemy such as you have," she finished, her eyes narrowed. "I have exercised self-control, a very important quality in the world in which we live in."

"I didn't quite realize what I was doing," Zitan admitted, twisting his fingers. "But…Breanna…I think…that…I love…my sister…in a way that a brother is not supposed to love a sister," he blurted. "I don't know why…this isn't natural, Breanna! You have to help me! Sometimes…I feel like I'm possessed…like someone else is inside me!" he cried.

Breanna shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "Oh, Zitan, Zitan," she muttered. "How awful is the fate of those of us who love those we are not supposed to love." She opened her eyes, the icy glare somewhat melting.

"Zitan…why do you love her?"

Zitan looked fearfully at Breanna, tears brimming in his eyes. "She…she's my sister, I know, but she's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. I've never known anyone with so much strength, and I don't mean physically, but I mean in matters of the heart. She's so selfless, yet delightfully selfish at times. I don't know how to explain it, but sometimes I just want to take her in my arms and hold her there. When I see how much she cares about Zeth…and how much he hurts her without knowing it, just by not being there…it makes my heart ache, Bree. My heart aches for her. The truth is, Breanna, she's my twin sister. Which makes it even worse, I know."

Breanna's eyes were wide with shock. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Zitan cast his eyes downward and shook his head. "I couldn't bring myself to, because I-I'm afraid."

"Why?"

"Because…you know what they say about twins…that they were lovers in their past lives…"

"What?"

Zitan looked away and then looked back at Breanna. "Bree, I don't know what's going on…I see things sometimes…as General Tide."

"But Zeth is…is General Tide!" Breanna exclaimed.

"Exactly! That's why I'm so confused about what's going on in my head…all the chaos I feel…I really don't know, Breanna."

Breanna shook her head in disbelief. "Impossible…Zitan…you have to be kidding…are you serious?"

Zitan nodded. "Anyhow, I can't let the others know, because if I were to admit now that I lied then, then they all would forfeit their trust in me, and that's the last thing I need. I'm sorry, Bree, but I can't help what I feel, and I know you can't either. People can only control themselves to a certain level. Don't think we all don't see when you gaze at Zeth with that tortured look on your face. Even Zaria sees it, but she's too kind to say anything. Don't say anything about it, because I know you know. Just answer me, Breanna."

Breanna shook her head sadly, and handed a handkerchief to Zitan, who started wiping away his tears. "Some people might have been disgusted to hear that…but that is one of the most heartfelt things that I've ever heard," she whispered. She held out her arms to Zitan, who stepped into her embrace like a lost little boy looking for his mother. She stroked his soft, silky tousled hair, the hair that was the same color and texture as the hair of the girl that he esteemed. "Zitan, my heart now aches for you…but I can't help you in any way, except tell you that there is no hope. Zitan, she is your sister. She has a special loved one, a wonderful person who has loved her in her past life as well. As for your imaginings…try to forget them, please. You don't even know if they're real recollections or simply wishful dreams. She's happy with who she's with now. You don't want to make her unhappy, do you, Zitan?"

"No," Zitan sobbed on Breanna's shoulder. "No. That's why I've never told anyone…and never showed any signs of affection towards her that aren't brotherly. Never told anyone about my dreams."

Breanna sighed and pulled away. "Zitan Locke, I don't know whether to cry along with you or slap you and call you a fool, which in fact you are."

"I've never hoped to have anything as wonderful as to have Zaria love me back in ways other than a sister," Zitan continued. "Just loving her, being near her, hearing her, seeing her…that's enough for me. Tonight…what happened…I don't know…I lost authority of myself."

Breanna sighed again. "Well…Zitan, I won't tell anyone about what I saw."

"Thank you so much, Bree-"

"If," Breanna interrupted, "you promise to never mention this again. Not to me or to anyone else. Things like this are best forgotten."

"Yes, Bree. Thank you so much…and I'm sorry, for making you lie to the others. It pains me just as much-"

"I know," Breanna muttered, a pained look on her face. "Men. Even at the young age of eighteen, you're all so weak. Just go to sleep now Zitan, and don't even think about Zaria or General Tide and Rynn tonight. Just go."

Zitan nodded obediently and quietly reentered the tent, leaving Breanna outside the tent, staring at his back.

As soon as she heard him shuffling about no more, she broke into loud sobs, which wracked her entire body. She had lost her chance for anything between Zitan and herself. Couldn't he tell that after her heartbreaking ordeal with Zeth, she had turned to him for comfort? Yes, he knew that, and he had been the kindest person to her that she had known. And she had begun to feel affection towards him. When she had heard what he had said to his sleeping sister, it had almost smashed her already fragile heart completely. She had swallowed her pain and walked up to him and slapped him, and when she had slapped him, she felt like she had been slapping herself in the face. What a fool she had been!

"No…one…can ever love me," she cried out into the eerie red sky of Tenebatos. She fell to the ground, inwardly slapping herself for her foolishness of caring about everyone who had shown kindness towards her. People were insincere and pretentious towards her. She crawled over to a nearby stream, where she managed to calm herself down and wash her face in the running water. She looked at her reflection in the stream, outlined by the eerie redness of the Tenebatos night sky. The lovely face staring back at her was streaked with tears, the wetness making her face glisten. Breanna looked up at the sky, and reached up her hand, stretching it up as far as she could.

"…"

Princess Star gazed at her sleeping twin brother fondly. How sweet and gentle he looked while asleep, as well as while he was awake. He was one of the most beautiful, sweet-looking young men in the land of Torus and there was not one young maiden who didn't wish that he would come upon her as her knight in shining armor and ask her to marry him.

She leaned over him, her soft curls brushing over his shoulder, and kissed her brother on the cheek.

"Soon, Sky, soon," she told him. "They are coming for you soon. Then you will have to leave me here, but that's all right. As long as you can save yourself…"

She knew that he couldn't hear her, but she sat down next to her twin and began telling him all that she knew about what was going to happen to their lives, how she had foreseen her own death.

"And no matter what, despite all the times that you have played tricks on me, I love you more than anyone in the world, and I will watch over you in heaven," she finished. Her beautiful twin continued to sleep soundly. Princess Star smiled at her twin and touched his cheek gently. She went over to a corner of her brother's private suite, and sat down and recorded all that she had told her brother.

"One day, you must know all of this, Sky," she muttered as she wrote. Her slender, pale hands shook slightly from a draft that was coming in from the balcony, but the Princess ignored it. She felt exhausted and weary, but continued to write. "I can not help you in any other way, for I am dying, but I can help you by letting you know all this," Princess Star whispered, half to herself, half to Prince Sky. She relentlessly continued to write, even though her hand was tired and her vision was blurry. She coughed, dropping the pen she was writing with.

She coughed hoarsely into her hand, her whole body being wracked by the coughing fits, and when the spasms had ceased and she had removed her hand, she saw that her hand was covered with crimson blood. "Oh, no," she gasped, and rushed over to the bathroom as quickly as she could. She gripped the sink with her other hand for support as she washed the blood off. She looked up into the mirror, at her diminutive, delicate face with dainty features framed by a soft nimbus of wavy silvery blue hair. Many a time people had said that she looked like a sweet angel, and that had become Sky's nickname for her. "Angel," she said aloud. How different it sounded when Sky said it. When she said it…it sounded like a frail, insignificant dying angel. She slowly trudged back to her desk, her small frame sagging. She was so sickly and weak.

"Why couldn't I have been strong and healthy, like Sky?" she murmured to no one in particular. She wouldn't cry – she had beyond passed that stage of hopelessness. No, she would be strong, and continue to help her brother in the only way she could…although she knew her date of death. She sat back down at her desk, and for the next two hours wrote about everything nonstop, only pausing once in a while to think about what to write next.

As soon as she had finished, Princess Star stood up and walked towards the balcony in their room. In her whole royal life, there had been no companions to her but her brother. Not a single female friend to chat with about the happenings in her life, not a single boy she had ever seriously liked. Of course, she had had an infinitesimal crush on Prince Luke of Northern Nova after he had visited Torus on business, but truly, the only real companion she had known was her brother. When she and Prince Sky walked along the streets of Torus, no girl had ever attempted to talk to her, or had even looked at her, for all of their eyes were glued on the handsome prince, whose loveliness surpassed even many of the courtesans. No one paid attention to the petite, fragile looking Princess when the lovely-faced Prince was around.

Luckily for her, her twin was as devoted to her as anyone could ever be towards his or her sister. He was greatly protective of her, and fluttered about her like a butterfly whenever she fell ill. He paid no mind to the attractive young girls of Torus, all of whom expressed an ample amount of fascination in him, but he only cared for his delicate, sickly sister. Some had even whispered that the dazzling Prince might be uninterested in females completely, but Star knew that her brother wasn't. She remembered the times when she had reminisced about the past and discussed the future with her twin, and remembered when Sky would look wistfully at his namesake and talk about performing great deeds for the world.

Star had never told him when he was conscious, but he was indeed destined for a life of greatness, whereas she was destined for…nonexistence. She was like a forgotten brittle commodity that would one day evaporate completely, only leaving behind her twin brother whom everyone adored. She walked back to her brother, struggling not to cry from what she knew was inevitable. She lay down next to him, something she hadn't done in years, and fell asleep next to her beloved brother.

That next morning, she didn't wake up. Her eyes were wide open, and the stormy gray in them seemed to have cleared up and taken on a divine shining silver color. Her normally soft pink lips were pale and had taken on a wan shade of purplish-pink. Her soft, smooth pale skin had lost its slight golden glow and seemed to take on a silver glow instead, although her flesh had already stiffened. The chambermaids whispered that the Divine Ones must have taken pity on the angelic, sickly princess and had finally decided to take her as one of the lesser Divine Ones.

Prince Sky moaned and cried for his beloved twin sister, and pleaded for her to awaken, but all was to no avail. The quiet, good-hearted, delicate princess of Torus was gone forever.

"Next, we have to go there and do what I just said," Zeth said, after he had finished explaining everything to all his comrades. He cast his eyes down. "I know it's a lot to take, but I thought you all should know. We…have a great destiny, and the path that we must take is set out right before us. It's up to us whether we reach the end or not. Is…this all right with everyone? Are you all with me?"

They all slowly nodded one by one. They had humble expressions on their face, accepting their fate. Breanna's eyes were swollen, but she claimed that it was because of lack of sleep, although for some reason Cat didn't quite believe her when she said that.

"Zitan, I know that you're not a Mage warrior, but you've been a great help to us all, and I would appreciate it greatly – we all would – if you continued to travel with us."

Cat saw Zitan's eyes turn a lighter green and he momentarily shifted his eyes away guiltily, and she wondered why. She saw Zeth furrow his brow in confusion, but then he look questioningly at Zitan. He seemed to be speechless. He turned back to them, his eyes restored to their normal color. Cat shifted her eyes to Breanna, who was sitting next to Zitan. Her expression looked strained, for some queer reason.

"No problem, Zeth," Zitan croaked, quickly glancing at Breanna. After replying Zeth he immediately shifted his gaze to the floor. Cat noticed that Zitan seemed to be avoiding everyone's probing looks except for Breanna's. She turned to Zack, who sat next to Adrian and Zaria, and he shrugged. Cat lifted her eyebrows and grudgingly brought her attention back to what Zeth was saying.

"-So now, let's go and find the next Jewel, and defeat it so we can be a step closer to finding Ptero!" Zeth said enthusiastically. His expression became dejected when no one replied. "You don't look so happy," he said faintly.

Zack then laughed and slapped his back. "Of course we are. Give us five minutes and we'll all be ready to travel."

Everyone stood up and scattered, going in different directions, but Cat noticed that Zitan lingered. She stopped walking and watched him, following his gaze. He was facing Zeth and Zaria.

Zeth had walked over to the side, and was shaking his head and saying something. Zaria had followed him and patted him on the back. He turned around to face her and she looked up into his eyes. He looked weak and vulnerable, even from afar. Zaria hugged him, and he seemed to wilt in her embrace, and Cat was sure that she could spy a small tear leaking out of his right eye. She didn't blame him for feeling like he needed a shoulder to cry on; what he had been through was pretty profound. It was so far off that Cat didn't really quite believe that it was going to happen…but then again, maybe it would. She would see how things went.

She transferred her gaze back to Zitan, who was still staring at Zeth and Zaria, his eyes full of…well whatever it was, it sure was intense. His eyes had again taken on that light shade of green that had been in his eyes earlier. It made his gaze look even more penetrating and determined. Cat shook her head and walked away in fluid, quick steps, bursting to tell Fuuko what she had just seen, although she knew she should keep it to herself.

What Cat didn't notice was Breanna, who was standing a little farther off, her lucid gray eyes looking more shadowy than usual, cast in Zitan's direction. Her expression was pained, but luckily, the puffiness of her eyes hid any signs of sadness, although they were considerably darker.

They slowly trudged on towards the large dome in the center of Tenebatos, where Kupo Kog had told them the second Jewel was waiting. At every impassable point, Zaria's moonbeams would appear and the moonlight bridges would form, enabling them to pass, although it was kind of scary, seeing as under your feet was a translucent swirling layer of moonlight. On their way to the dome they encountered many small and large monsters trying to hinder them, creations of the Beings left there to guard the abandoned city.

"Damn, there are so many damn fiends here!" Zack complained, expertly spearing a monster that had sneaked up behind him. He turned around to see the wretched creature fall to the ground, dead. "Almost feel guilty, ridding the world of all this trash," he said, shaking his head. Zaria and Cat looked away in disgust.

"Not a very pretty sight," Fuuko observed, leaning over the carcass. She reached down and touched the viscous yellow liquid dripping from the wound with her fingers.

"What is this, some kind of blood?" She held her hand up, inspecting it. The yellow liquid was slimy, yet seemed to have an iridescent glow.

Zitan brought over a Sense spell and quickly cast it over the liquid. "It has a sticky consistency," he observed. "The sense spell says that this is indeed the blood of the Being-made creature. It has pretty high health power."

He turned to Zack. "Zack, you are getting pretty powerful. Before, when we started out, it would have taken you many more strikes to kill this creature, whereas this time you killed it in one blow." As Zack puffed up in pride, Zitan continued to speak. "The blood is made out of a special formula of magic cells and DNA, which were genetically designed in one of the top Being labs." He gave a sideways glance towards the others. "And we all know how advanced the Beings are compared to us."

"Maybe we all don't," Cat said, sounding slightly miffed.

Adrian sighed. "Cat, look at the magical/scientific technology around this place. And this whole damn place was constructed over 10,000 years ago! Think of how advanced the Beings must be now."

Cat was silent. Zeth gestured for Zitan to continue.

"Well, anyhow, these Beings constructed this certain type of blood…which immortalizes the creatures that have the blood running through their veins –or at least halts the aging process." Zitan looked up. "That's why Miefe is still alive, along with many other prominent Beings."

Zaria turned to Zeth, whose eyes seemed to glaze over. His gaze seemed blank, and he was staring in the direction of Fuuko's fingers, where there was still some of the blood.

"That's how these monsters have survived all these years," Breanna muttered.

"I can't believe that we haven't heard about this before now," Adrian said, amazed. "This knowledge is…extremely dangerous. It can enable people to live forever! We should never let the nature of this Being-constructed blood be known. If our world does survive…this is the next biggest threat."

"What the hell you talking about, saying 'if our world does survive'! Of course we're all gonna survive! Don't go around cursing us all by saying we're not gonna survive! None of us are gonna die, ya hear?" Zack shouted, a sudden burst of anger going through him. Adrian's features darkened, and his face resembled the way he looked in his vampire form.

"I didn't say that," he said quietly. He morphed into his vampire form, and spread his wings in an almost threatening way. His milk-white fangs jutted out from his soft, gentle lips. Cat turned around and ran up to him. "Adriana, don't get out of control," she warned him jokingly. Adrian was silent, but his blood-red eyes flashed eerily.

"Adrian, what are you doing?" Fuuko cried in alarm, quickly wiping the yellow goop off her fingers. She rushed over to Adrian and seized him by the shoulders. "Oh no, he's doing it again!" she cried.

"What? What is he doing?" Cat asked, her eyes wide with fear. Zeth seemed to wake from his momentary trance, and Adrian's eyes seemed to glaze over.

"He's gone berserk!" Fuuko cried, lightly smacking Adrian's handsome face. "Adrian! Snap out of it! It's only a damn magic spell! You can defeat it with your own willpower!"

"What's wrong with him?" Zeth demanded, pushing his way over to Adrian. Adrian's head rolled back and he slumped into Zeth's arms.

"The freak is cracking," Breanna muttered in her usual crude fashion. Cat overheard and turned to Breanna and slapped her across the face.

"I'm sorry, Bree, you can't keep saying these sorts of things about him!" she shouted, the tears stinging her eyes. "Adrian is not a freak! He is someone special, and he cares about people! Something's happened to him, and we have to help him, not scorn him! I know you care about him Breanna, for you helped him when we were battling Sapphire. Don't start being your bitchy self at a time like this!"

Breanna stared at Cat, her light gray eyes turning so light that they seemed transparent. She turned away, her hand still on her cheek. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered, her voice barely a whisper.

Cat softened. "I'm really sorry, Breanna, I spoke too harshly," she said gently. She quickly turned back to Adrian, who was still unconscious. She turned to Zeth in panic.

"Zeth, do something!" she cried. Zitan walked up to Adrian and cast a status-purifying spell, and finally Adrian came to. His eyes were still red, but they weren't so full of raw abhorrence as they were before. Adrian blinked.

"Oh man, why do those spells affect only me?" he groaned, smacking his hand up towards his head.

Fuuko turned to the others. "Well, I guess now you all know that Adrian is the only one among us who is vulnerable against the Berserk spell," she said, shrugging. "Can't be helped, except that I think we should stock up on those status-purifying spells once we reach Ptero."

Zaria glanced over at Adrian, who was breathing heavily. His fists were clenched, and his lips were tightened into a thin white line. He shut his eyes and breathed deeply, holding a bottle of healing elixir to his lips. Cat was supporting him as he slowly recovered. He opened his eyes and smiled, transforming back into his human form, his translucent ruby eyes turning back to their normal hazel shade. His fangs shrunk into his mouth and his skin darkened greatly. He turned to Cat with a grateful look on his face.

She smiled and held her arms out. He gazed at her with a puzzled expression. She held out her arms wider, emphasizing her intention.

"Oh sheesh, just hug her already, will you?" complained Zack, pushing Adrian from behind. He stumbled into Cat's arms, almost knocking her over. He took a step backwards, balancing himself, and then found himself staring into her dark, mysterious eyes that seemed out of place on that bright and cheery face. She brushed wisps of her violet locks out of her eyes and looked up at him, a grin on her face.

The others watched in amusement as Adrian and Cat continued to stand there, gazing at each other.

"What are they doing?" Fuuko whispered to Zitan. He shrugged and then shushed her. The moment of silence continued.

Zaria turned to Zeth, who turned his head to gaze at her out of the corner of his eye. He smiled slightly, a knowing glint in his bright blue-green eyes.

Finally, Cat broke the silence. "I'm hungry."

Adrian's face flushed bright red, even though her comment was irrelevant. He cast his eyes downward, almost as if he didn't dare to look at her. The others continued to watch, riveted. It was basically an awkward situation. There had not been much romantic activity going on between them all, so this was a rare sight to see. Zeth and Zaria were another story, and even they never seemed to do anything except focus on their mission.

Disappointing everyone, Adrian turned away quickly and walked off in the other direction, his face still burning. "I think we should go now," he said wryly, keeping his face turned away so no one could see how embarrassed he was. "We still have a ways to go before we can reach Ptero, and our time is limited. Anyhow, Cat is hungry."

"Awww, come on, man," complained Zack. He rolled his eyes and followed Adrian.

"Watch out!" Cat cried as another monster jumped down behind Zack. Zack turned around just as the monster was about to claw him and stuck his spear into its body. The yellow blood spurted out and went all over his face. "Yuck!" he exclaimed, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

Breanna barely had enough time to snicker before another monster charged towards them, lunging onto her back. She was knocked over on the floor with the monster still on her. It dug its claws into her back momentarily and then leaped off. She gasped in pain, the wind being knocked out of her. Zaria jumped up and clumsily clanged her swords together, distracting the monster. It charged towards her, growling. She quickly dodged out of the way as the monster was intercepted by Adrian's arrow, which swiftly lodged itself in the monster's side.

"Thank you," Breanna gasped as Zaria helped her up to her feet. Breanna brushed herself off and turned to Zaria, her eyes filled with mixed emotion. This girl had inadvertently taken everything she had most desired away from her.

"Stay on guard, everyone," Zeth instructed, taking note of Breanna's piercing gaze towards Zaria. He pointed upwards towards the dome. "The dome's only about one hundred meters away. We're almost there."

"Oh yeah, we're happily prancing towards our next playground with a harmless Being monster just waiting to play hide-and-seek with us," Zitan muttered derisively, his eyes that eerie lighter shade of green again.

"What's that?" asked Zaria, straining to hear. Zitan shook his head, trying to shake off that strange feeling that had encompassed him again.

"Nothing, nothing," he quickly replied, his eyes turning their normal shade of emerald green again. He turned away from Zaria, feeling more troubled than ever. What was happening to him? He felt like he was struggling to keep control over his actions and words. He wasn't himself. He turned back to Zaria and opened his mouth, ready to speak, when he was cut off by Kupo's shrill cry.

"This place is so scary!" Rena exclaimed aloud, gazing at the ancient Being city of Tenebatos. "Aya, will the Toki be able to track us down here?" she asked, now referring to herself and Aya as "us".

I think so, but it will be hard for them to get here, replied Aya. The only way here besides the secret entrance that we came through is through a warping machine in Denzeling. They'll probably occupy the city for a while and force the royal family to lead them to the warping machine.

"What! But then…they'll terrorize the citizens of Denzeling!"

Aya shrugged internally. We can't do much about it, Rena. Rena, you do know that Denzeling is-

"Logan's true birthplace," Rena finished. "Yes, I know that. Logan was born in Denzeling, but his parents-"

Rena, Logan's parents aren't who you think they are.

"What? What are you saying, Aya? Logan's parents are Logan's parents! Mr. and Mrs. Stonewall, the kindly people who always treated me as one of their daughters! What are you talking about, Aya? Tell me what you know, if you really think that you're right."

Hmm…let me put it this way. Don't be too shocked, Rena. Logan's true brother is named Prince Thomas Luke the Second.

"WHAT? Are you saying that Logan is…?"

He is the long-lost Crown Prince of Northern Nova. He is the son that King Rufus has been searching for; the son that King Rufus continues to believe is still alive.

"But he is still alive!" Rena exclaimed. "King Rufus is right! Maybe if his father knows where he is, he can gather troops and somehow save him from the Toki government! Aya, we have to find a way to let King Rufus know that Logan is under the influence of the Toki!"

He will know soon, Rena. He will find out his son's whereabouts when the Toki attempts to capture us…because Prince Logan is traveling with the Toki officers who are going to Denzeling.

"He's going to be attacking his own kingdom!" Rena cried, shaking her head in disbelief. She buried her face in her hands. "Oh Divine Ones please don't let there be war between Logan and his father. Please!" She crumpled down in despair. This wasn't meant to be. Nothing was supposed to ever be this mixed up in life. Rena wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. "Aya, we have to do something. Isn't there something we can do? I can't just stay here knowing this and not doing anything!"

Aya was silent.

"Aya? Aya, are you there?" Rena asked, alarmed. There was no response. "Aya, you can't leave me alone here!" Rena cried.

Wait here for five minutes, Rena. I'll be back in five minutes. Just wait here. I'll be right back.

Rena felt Aya's comforting presence slowly leaving her. "Wait!" Rena exclaimed, but Aya was gone.

"Crap!" Zack shouted as a white Jewel charged towards them. "How the #$ did that thing know we were coming?"

"I don't know!" Zeth shouted, "but we're going to have to fight it now, whether we're ready or not! Destruction Pulsar Wave!" Destruction magic flew towards the Jewel as Zeth struggled to stay on his feet from the impact. The Jewel shrieked in pain as the magic surrounded it and bathed it in its deadly magnificence.

"Tetra Flare!" Adrian shouted, and released three arrows towards the Jewel. The shafts flew around it and formed a ring of fire, trapping the creature. The Jewel howled and extended a gigantic claw out of the ring of fire, swinging it towards Breanna. Breanna barely managed to leap away as the claw swung by, but the claw struck Zack instead, violently sweeping him to the side off the path onto the side of the cliff they were on. The only thing that Zack was supported by was his fingertips, clutching the rocks tightly.

"Someone go get him!" Breanna shouted frantically. She was sprawled on the floor, her leg in an awkward position. She groaned as she tried to pull herself up again.

"Bree, your leg!" Cat cried, reaching out towards her friend. The grimace on Breanna's face was enough to show the pain that she was feeling.

"Never mind me, go get Zack!" Breanna yelled furiously as she struggled to drag herself out of battle range. Cat pumped her wings and shot off like a bullet in Zack's direction while the others were in the midst of a heated battle with the Diamond Jewel.

Zack looked up as his fingers slowly began slipping off the rocks he was grasping on to. Cat was still too far to come catch him if he let go. He nerved himself and swung his free arm that was holding his spear upwards, and lodged the spear into the rocks, ramming it in with all the strength he could possibly manage to put into an effort of one arm. Luckily, the spear was wedged in the rocks and Zack held onto the spear with both hands. He was exhausted from all the energy he had put in to ramming the spear into the cliff and was weakening every moment. "Cat," he called weakly. His grip was weakening considerably and he could feel his fingers slipping already…

Cat finally reached him and flew down to him and placed her arms around his waist, trying to support him. "Zack, you're going to have to let go of your spear," she ordered.

"No," he said weakly, but his limp fingers automatically released their grip and slid off. Cat used all her strength to heave Zack back up on the path and they simultaneously collapsed. As soon as Zack fell, he struggled to stand back up again, a look of panic on his face. "My spear!" he shouted, as Zaria ran over and cast her healing wind. He jumped up. "My spear!" he repeated, his eyes locked in the direction of which he had just come.

Cat spread her replenished wings and lofted herself into the air. "You two go help Breanna!" she shouted. "Zack, I'll get your spear!" She dove down the cliff and disappeared while Zack and Zaria hurried over to Breanna.

Breanna was moaning in pain and clutching her leg. "I broke it for sure this time," she groaned.

"Zack, set her leg in position while I heal it," Zaria instructed. Zack rushed to Breanna's side and held her leg properly as Zaria focused her healing magic on Breanna's leg. Breanna flinched, but it quickly healed.

"Thanks, let's go help the others!" Breanna exclaimed, leaping up towards the Diamond Jewel. "Earth Shaker!" she shouted, furiously casting her earth magic in obvious contempt.

Meanwhile, Cat was struggling to dislodge Zack's spear from the side of the cliff. All of a sudden the rocks trembled and the spear was loosened. Cat barely managed to snatch it and flew back upwards toward her friends.

Adrian summoned Ifrit, the guardian of fire, and a gigantic fireball was thrown towards the Jewel, scorching it and dealing a great deal of damage. It howled and whacked its claw in Adrian's direction, almost hitting him.

"Ha ha ha!" Adrian cried gleefully, pumping his wings as he moved away. He shot another three of his fiery arrows towards the Jewel, missing in all three of them. Breanna rolled her eyes yet again.

"Tornado!" Fuuko shouted, and the Diamond Jewel was swept up in a large swirling wind vortex. She turned to Zaria. "Finish it off now with Holy!" she instructed.

Zaria stepped up towards the Jewel and cast her Moon Holy Small spell, a spell that didn't use too much energy and was effective with enemies that mostly used brute force. The clouds above parted and a ray of moonlight shone through and went in directly inside the Jewel. The Diamond Jewel was eventually enveloped in the Holy magic and shrieked as its body gradually shrunk. Finally, it was no bigger than a miniscule monster and was cowering in front of Zeth. It growled and charged towards Zeth, scratching his arm, but Zeth swiftly retaliated by striking a fatal blow and it fell to the ground and slowly faded away, leaving no trace of existence, not even the sticky liquid that was its blood.

"Hey, where's the crystal it's supposed to leave?" asked Cat, staring at the spot where the Jewel had faded.

"Uh-oh, I think we weren't supposed to shrink the monster, Zaria. You might have caused the actual crystal we need to shrink so small it disappeared," Zack said, his eyes wide. There was a long pause and Zaria shook her head in disbelief. "No way! Oh no…you guys, I'm so sorry, I can't believe I actually-"

There was a thump and she abruptly stopped speaking and fell the floor, out cold. There was a clinking sound as a glittering white gem dropped beside her.

"The diamond!" Cat exclaimed, bending over to pick it up. She turned to Zaria. "Uh-oh, I think it landed on her little cranium," she said, giggling.

Zaria groaned and sat up, rubbing her head. "Something real hard hit me on the head-"

Her friends cut her off mid-sentence with their hysterical laughter. Zaria scowled and stood up petulantly, brushing herself off. She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Fine, laugh all you want, but at least thanks to me we now have two of the three necessary crystals."

She flipped her hair and walked away, leaving the rest of them behind. Kupo squeaked and jumped in her arms, directing her towards the next Jewel.