Halfway up the cliff face, Flynn wished that Ba'ul could have made it this far down. The hike down had been long, but the hike back up was doubly grueling. Out of breath and weighed down by fatigue from both hiking and fighting, they all stopped to take a break. The spot where they met Duke on the way down, seemed as good a stop as any to catch their breath.

Yuri had strayed a little from the group, standing close to the edge of the cliff with Repede at his side. He was gazing out silently at the landscape, again not joining in on the chatter the rest of the party was having. He had still been so very quiet that it was unnerving. Flynn wanted to know what he was thinking about, but asking would be futile and guessing only made Flynn uncomfortable with the subjects raised.

"It's too much for me. I'm done." Raven flopped back against one of the petrified logs that had littered the path, arms spread eagle to show his defeat.

"Quit complaining, Old Man! You made it all the way down you can make it back up, too!" Rita wasted no time kicking one of his legs, sending him head over heels onto the grounb behind him.

"If the wind were only a little calmer, I might be able to get Ba'ul down here." Just as Judith said that, a column of air, circling with leaves and flower petals formed before them. When it dispersed, the spirit of Khroma was there, looking at them, calm but cautious. "Khroma..."

I am no longer Khroma. My consciousness now is far greater than it has ever been. She gazed over them. Her tone betrayed that she still did not trust them, but Flynn couldn't say that he truly blamed her. You did as you said you would and I have been reunited with my siblings reborn. For now I will grant you my power. What name will you give me?

"What about Slyph? It means 'the binder of winds'," Estellise said.

That will suffice.

"Slyph, would you tell us why Duke hates humans?" Yuri turned back from his looking spot, although he stayed very near the edge of the cliff.

Very well. It is because of the Great War. The war started because the Empire broke the pact that it had once held with the Entelexeia about the use of blastia. At that time, there were those among our kin who chose to live, and fight, alongside the humans. Their leader was Elucifer, who was a dear friend of Duke. As the war raged on, Elucifer defeated the leader of those Entelexeia who opposed the humans, but seeing Elucifer's power, the Empire could not let him be. So they killed Elucifer and Duke was helpless to stop them. Ever since that day, he hated humans for what they did.

"No... that's terrible," Estellise said, but the magnitude of the truth on her was more than her words expressed.

"I suppose anyone who stop trusting humans after something like that," Karol said.

"That doesn't give him a right to sacrifice all human life," Yuri added.

You must stop the Adephagos before Duke. Otherwise, it will mean the end of all human life. She closed her eyes and raised her arms and the winds howling through the canyon started to mellow. Hurry. I have calmed the winds and Ba'ul should be able to reach you now.

Ba'ul descend and picked them up with ease, and once aboard the deck of the Fiertia, they were able to start planning.

"Now that we have the four elemental spirits, we have a better chance of stopping the Adephagos. But I don't know if it will be enough," Rita said, seemingly running over some calculations on her hands.

"What?!" Karol jerked back in shock. "I thought you said that the four of them could handle it!"

"Efreet and Gnome were both weakened by absorbing too much aer and our time is running out. They might not be able to be at full power before we have to act."

"So what are you thinking?" Judith asked.

"We might have to go with Yuri's idea and convert all the cores into spirits."

"We've only got one shot at this thing. We need to make damn sure that we're making the right one, because there won't be a second chance," Raven said.

Everyone seemed to understand the weight of that decision. It was a tough one to make, but even Flynn agreed that they had to be completely prepared or suffer the consequences. The sacrifice would be great, but convenience over the cost of human life was a small price to pay.

"Just with the four elemental spirits, we've already changed Terca Lumireis so much... Is it all right for us to make such an important decision on our own?" Estellise looked out over the railing at the landscape whizzing by below.

"Even if it is to save the world... What we're doing is going to change the lives of every person. It can't just be for us to decide," Flynn said. "We should speak with Ioder, Natz, and the Union. We have to make them understand what we're doing and why. If not, then we're no better than Alexei."

The discussion died down for a long moment, the only sound between them the wind passing across the deck and the occasional warble from the Entelexia above.

"I don't mind being branded the villain. I'm going give up the blastia to save the world." Yuri's tone was sharp and matter a fact and almost challenging them. "If there are any better ideas, we need them now. If you don't agree, then I can respect that. But this is what I'm going to do."

There weren't any other ideas. Their one idea had run the course and was now looking less than hopeful. Yuri's idea was all that remained. It was a big risk, but against the thought of the loss of life that was Duke's plan, it seemed tame. No one would want to agree with a plan like that unless they understood the situation. Regular towns people would never agree to live without a barrier blastia, or all the over conveniences that the blastia offered without completely understanding what was going to happen if they didn't. But completely understanding that was going to be difficult for those who had not followed along in their journey, who did not already know what sort of balance the world was teetering it.

"I'm with you, kid," Raven said.

Beside him, Karol popped in, "Me, too. This could be our only chance."

"If blastia caused the problem, than maybe blastia can fix it, too." Judith nodded.

"I know that if I stop now, I'll only regret it," Rita added.

"It will be a hard path, but I think the people of the world will understand," Estellise said.

"Let's talk to the Empire, Palestralle, and the Union. We need to at least be able to get people ready for dealing with something like this." It was a still a harsh outcome to come to, but less so than the method Duke was planning. It was going to cause just as must chaos though if they didn't handle it properly.

"First, I want to stop in a town. I need to pick up a few things." Rita looked out across the sea.

"We're not too far from Capua Nor. Would that be okay?" Judith asked.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"But why are we stopping?" Estellise asked.

"I need do some shopping. I've got an idea in mind that might make our plan work even better."

Caupa Nor was in much better shape than the first time they passed through it, but it was much emptier than the last visit. With the Adephagos looming in the skies, it was no surprise that it would drive people to stay in their homes or leave town. Shortly after entering town, Rita and Estellise split from the group to go to the market and the others got a room at the nearby inn so that they could rest until Rita's return.

Yuri split from the group pretty quickly after checking in, saying that he was interested in a shower, and Judith a short time later for a similar reason. It left Flynn with Karol and Raven, who has very quickly dropped onto a bed together for a nap. Flynn couldn't blame them. His own eyes and body were heavy with sleep. He just wanted to wait a little longer before getting some shut eye himself.

He wasn't quite sure when he dozed off in the arm chair, but the pad of bare feet across the wooden floor woke him just slightly. He opened his eyes and looked around groggy and quiet while trying to discern who had entered the room.

It was Yuri, a towel drapped over his shoulders and carrying his vest, belt, and boots in his arms. He dropped off his clothing on top of his pack, and pulled the blanket off the end of the bed and laid it over Raven and Karol. For a long moment, it seemed like he was staring down at them before he flopped onto his own bed with Repede.

Flynn didn't say anything. He was half worried that Yuri would respond once more in anger when Flynn was only trying to help and he didn't want to disturb him. He wanted Yuri to get some honest sleep. It couldn't be good for him to keep up like this. Yuri didn't even close his eyes. He didn't roll over. He stayed silent starting at the ceiling, the soft heaving of his chest moving as he breathed.

"So how are we going to present this to the prince?" He asked, voice startling Flynn a little. Apparently, Yuri had noticed him awake although Flynn wasn't completely sure why Yuri wouldn't have. Maybe he wasn't giving him enough credit.

"I'm not sure. It's a difficult matter to swallow anyway we approach it."

"That's true. You think he'll agree?"

"I hope so. It's not like we have much of a choice right now. His Highness is a very reasonable and understanding individual." Flynn didn't like saying that, though, because it reminded him just how much Ioder's words made him completely second guess how he may or may not have felt about Yuri.

Rita and Estellise returned in the middle of whatever Yuri was planning on saying next, dropping a large box in the middle of the table. The clang that resounded woke up both Raven and Karol, and drew Judith's back into the room.

"So what did you two go shopping for?" she asked.

"One of each kind of formula crest and container parts."

"What are you planning on doing with all this junk?" Raven picked up a metal piece, only to have Rita slap it out of his hand.

"It's not junk! With all this I'm going to make a focus to direct the spirits' power through. Almost like a make-shift Dein Nomos," she explained. "If we focus it through something like this, it should be more effective than simply hurling power at it."

"I wonder what Duke's-" The words barely escaped Yuri's lips when the building began to shake.

It was a violent quake, throwing framed pictures off the walls and books off shelves, knocking Karol to the floor, and almost the box of parts with it. Rita had the forethought to catch that. Karol was out of luck until Yuri pulled him up off the floor while trying to support himself with the table. The shaking ebbed after a moment, and finally stopped with them all still reeling from the impact.

"What was that?" Karol asked, dusting himself off.

"I don't know, but there's a big crowd gathering outside. We should go take a look." Yuri was out the door first, followed very quickly by Repede.

They gathered in the streets in front of the inn, what remained of the citizens of Capua Nor there with them, all staring in awe at the sky. Judith was almost instantly communicating with Ba'ul, and everyone else was left to wonder what that strange black chunk of earth rising into the sky was. The sense of dread that filled Flynn at the mere sight of it was telling. There was very little in this world that he was petrified of, but something about that mass instilled that in him.

"What's that?!" People shouted behind them.

"Is that... Aspio?!"

"What's going on?!"

"Any word from Ba'ul, Judith?" Yuri asked.

"He's going to fly around it to take a look. He'll let me know what he finds," Judith replied.

"Tarquaron..." Estellise said.

"What?" Karol flinched backward in surprise.

"The spirits... they're telling me that its the Tower of Tarquaron, an ancient relic of the Geriaos civilization."

"Duke's going to try to use that the Adephagos?" Flynn didn't want to believe that, but the evidence was right there. And here they were just wondering what his plan was. It was quite clear now.

"Ba'ul is coming back this way. We should do a quick investigation," Judith said.

"We should split up then."

"I'll stay here and get started on the mock Dein Nomos," Rita said.

"Karol and I will stay, too." There was a seriousness to Raven's voice.

"So the rest of us will go then?"

"Yes. Let's go get a better look at that tower," Yuri said.