I made an error in uploading this chapter. I meant to upload this, but instead, I uploaded the ninth chapter twice. Thank you, Guest, for pointing that out to me. I'm sorry for the mistake.

Guest: Thanks for pointing that out for me. I would never have caught that on my own *shudders*. You should review more; I like hearing the thoughts of my readers. It'll also make me feel less lonely :)

Previously on ATIS…

"We know that you want to find Cacciatore," said Darcy, "and we're going to help you. We'll help you unlock the realm."

"Not so fast," said Daewon. "What exactly are yougetting out of this?

"Our freedom," answered Darcy. "If we help you find the entrance to Glacia, you must agree to not turn us in, and to convince the United Realms to clear our names. That is all we ask."

"I don't believe that for a second," said Daewon immediately. "Is freedom really the only thing you want? What about taking over the world? That was your goal before this, wasn't it?"

"Without Icy, that is pointless," Darcy answered, a sudden wave of emotion coming over her expression. "She was the one who kept us driving forward, the one who kept us going. But now after what has happened to her, what we've seen, we don't want anything but to live peaceful lives. My dear sister"… A tear trickled down her face.

Daewon looked at Sharzad. Her face had entirely changed. It had lost all of its hardness, and she was staring at Darcy and Stormy with sympathy. "If that is all you want," she said, "then we will help you. We will make sure you stay safe from the UR."

"Thank you," breathed Darcy. She picked up her fallen sister and flew away.

"Glad we agreed to help them," Sharzad said once the witches were out of earshot.

"Oh, we're not just going to let them go free after this," he said. "We're just going to let them lead us to Glacia. They'll unlock the realm for us, and as soon as they do that, we're gonna call the Interrealm Justice Department and kick their sorry little butts."

"But that's wrong!" she cried. "We're not keeping our end of the deal!"

Daewon rolled his eyes. "So what? Just because they put up some cutesy act doesn't mean they deserve to go free!"

"But" –

"This is war, Sharzad!" he snapped. "We have to make sacrifices along the way. If one of those sacrifices ends up being the freedom of two highly classified criminals, then I'm fine with it!" He stormed off.

He could hear Sharzad calling after him, but didn't care. All he could think was about how they were going to bring Aria to justice. I'm going to find her. I'm going to make sure she never hurts another person I love.

CHAPTER 10: THE GATES OF GLACIA

For the past few hours, Sharzad had seen nothing. No stars, no planets, nothing. There hadn't been so much as a comet streaking their way while they were flying.

The darkness of it scared her. She was beginning to understand why it had been so easy for Glacia to isolate herself from the rest of the Magical Dimension. There was absolutely nothing here. It was all just empty space.

Just as she was starting to think that Glacia was a barren, dead realm, she saw a white star ahead. Beyond that was the tiniest dot of a planet, blue and icy.

"Maneuver around it," Daewon warned. "Unless you want us to get caught in its gravitational field."

"Sure, Supreme Commander," Darcy said sarcastically, turning the ship slightly to the left.

Sharzad shivered; she was starting to feel scared. It was one thing to plan a journey somewhere, a journey which would involve plenty of courage and bravery. But now that they were actually on the ship, she was starting to have second thoughts. What happens once we open Glacia? Then we come face-to-face with Aria. And then… what then?

She remembered the images of Cacciatore she'd seen on the news broadcast. They had been frightening and terrible. Not only that, but she had killed a guardian fairy, along with thousands of other people. Who was to say that she wouldn't finish them off with a single spell?

I've got to do this, she thought, trying to shake her fear away. I have to be brave. I'm an Alfea girl – I'm training to save the world. She thought back to how Darius and Arishtat both had tried to stop her from this mission – it only made her more determined. I must do this. I must do my duty and remove Cacciatore from this world when no one else will!

They'd gone far from Magix. As far as they could tell, no one was chasing them; there was no ship showing up on the radar. They had put enough distance behind any possible pursuers to stop sailing at maximum speed; this way, they wouldn't burn up all of their fuel. They were also far enough to ensure that the combining of shards, a highly-intensive magical process, would not attract any followers.

She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the three shards. The lightning shard was in a sharp, jagged shape, the thunder was a circular object, and the rainbow was a glimmering arc. She couldn't figure out how they fit together to form a key, though.

"How are we going to make the key?" she asked, voicing the question that no one had bothered to answer.

Stormy shrugged. "Don't look at me – you're the ones who so desperately need access to Glacia. You've got weather powers, don't you? Why don't you think of some weather-magic to activate each piece, and try to put them together?"

Sharzad was absolutely stumped. She stared at the three shards in her hand. Lightning was simply electric, something that she could procure. Rainbow was made of light, a source which any magical being could summon. But thunder… she didn't know what to do about that. She was native to Electrix; her powers were centered around electricity, not thunder. If only Mom was here. As the guardian-fairy of Fulgur, her powers encompassed the entire variety of weather-magic.

"Thunder is produced from sound," Daewon remarked. "How about this: you put the electric part in, and I put in the sound. We'll both provide the photons."

Sharzad wasn't too thrilled about working with Daewon, particularly since he had been such a jerk to her this entire time. But she knew that if they were going to find Aria, she would have to swallow her pride. I have to prove to Daree that I'm not little anymore… She swallowed, and then nodded.

She closed her eyes. A bolt of electricity zapped itself into the lightning-shard, and it lifted itself into the air. The shard glowed brightly, glimmering with electrons and deep electrical energy. She opened her eyes and saw that Daewon was doing the same with his shard; small-scale versions of booms were emitting themselves from the thunder shard.

"Now for the light," they both said in unison, and they both lifted the rainbow shard together. Sharzad saw her yellow electrical energy combine with Daewon's purple musical energy, and the two opposing colors glimmered around the rainbow. She held her breath as the three shards shone brilliantly, glimmering intensely.

The three of them moved, and then they formed a triangle. A jagged yellow line, purple sonar circle, and magnificent rainbow arc connected the three pieces. Then they began to converge, sending energy to the center of the triad, pushing themselves inwards –

BOOM.

Sharzad, Daewon, and Stormy were knocked out of their seats; only Darcy managed to stay put, which was a good thing as she was piloting. Sharzad hit the floor hard; she could barely make out the sound of the key clattering against the floor.

Daewon picked up the ice-blue, crystalline object. From her horizontal position, Sharzad could make out that it was a… very ordinary key. Except for the blue color, there was nothing that made it stand out, nothing that made it special. That's what we went through all this for? She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

"We've got it," he said. "When do you think we'll arrive at Glacia?"

Darcy shrugged. "About an hour."

"Great." Sharzad couldn't help but feel pangs of nervousness overcome her. Only sixty more minutes to go.

The man named Arishtat pummeled the engine, sending the spacecraft faster and faster. As far as Maire could tell, they were in the middle of absolutely nowhere. They were racing to catch up, even though they didn't actually know where Sharzad was.

She couldn't say she was exactly pleased with this detour. She was irritated that they had to be looking after Darius's sister and that kid from Melody, when they could be continuing to unravel the mystery around Aria's past. Why couldn't they have just obeyed orders and stayed home? But there was no use complaining; they were the only people who could save Sharzad and Daewon. I won't let it be on my conscience that Darius's sister died because I wouldn't help them save her.

She looked at the radar. Darius's ship was just ahead of theirs, and it was slowing down. The plan had been for Darius to take a smaller ship, while they took a larger one. That way, once they reached a halfway point, they could combine forces and go together. The distance he had to cover was smaller, but his spaceship also had a much lower speed, which meant that their intersection point would be about an hour-and-a-half from Glacia.

The dashboard received a signal: REQUEST FOR CONNECTION WITH FUL3867. Arishtat pressed a button, and the dashboard said: REQUEST ACCEPTED.

The loading dock of the ship began to open up. Maire saw as Darius's ship, a purple ship with yellow jagged lines, began to soar towards them. Arishtat turned the ship's position around, doing a full 180° turn as the FUL3867 came closer. It soon landed in the dock. The ship sent Arishtat a signal, and he pressed a button to close the door.

Moments later, Maire saw a panting knight emerging up to the chamber, climbing behind a very irate Darius. Stress lines were on his forehead, and his eyebrows were furrowed in anger. He looked just about ready to kill someone.

"Where is she?" he barked at Arishtat, who shifted in his seat.

"Your Highness," he said tentatively, "The princess' ship is… not showing up on the radar. We cannot detect it anywhere."

"What do you mean she's not showing up on the radar?" Darius demanded. "Do you mean that hours actually passed before you realized she was missing? What kind of a guard are you, anyhow?"

"The last time Dame Yadira checked on her was roughly an hour before she was found to be missing," said Arishtat. "As soon as she realized the princess was nowhere to be found, she immediately called upon the rest of the guard. We searched and searched, but could not find her. We" –

"Forget that," Darius interrupted. "I have another question for you, knight. How do you know that my sister is going to Glacia? You seem so certain that she's going off to a random, obscure realm that no one has heard from in decades. How did you know? How did you find this information?"

Maire watched the color drain from Arishtat's face. She knew that whatever he was going to say, it wasn't good. She almost felt sorry for the guy, except it kind of was his fault that Darius's kid sister had disappeared.

"She… she is on a quest to find Cacciatore," he said. "She told me this, two days ago, when I accompanied her on her mission to find three shards of a key, the key that would unlock Glacia. She has found out, through information she received from two witches, that the criminal Cacciatore is currently residing in Glacia."

"Really?" asked Darius, his voice soft and dangerous. "And who were those witches whom Sharzad found this information from?"

Arishtat swallowed. "Darcy and Stormy of Whisperia."

Darius exploded. Maire shrank back as he turned towards Arishtat, his face purple with rage.

"You knowingly let her wander off, in the clutches of the two most wanted criminals in the dimension, on some stupid scheme to find Aria? Do you even know who Aria is?"

"Your Highness, please!" Arishtat pleaded. "Her Highness had only good intentions, I can assure you" –

"IT IS NOT HER CHARACTERISTICS I'M DOUBTING!" Darius roared. "It is your thought-process, your abilities, and your brain! What in the Magical Dimension were you thinking? You don't even know Aria the way I do, the way I have!"

Okay, he has gone insane, Maire realized. She could barely understand what was going on. Sharzad and Daewon are looking for Aria, too? How had they been doing that all this time, under their noses?

"Aria is not the culprit here!" Darius screamed. "She is the victim! And if you and the sovereigns of this dimension had half a brain, YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT! It's that boy from Melody that ruined her, and is going to ruin my sister as well!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Arishtat breathlessly. "That boy… Daewon… he is a nice boy. I have never seen him do any wrong" –

"One more word and you'll be on the same receiving end of the sword as him!" Darius snarled. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, LETTING MY SISTER GO ON ALL THOSE TRIPS LIKE THAT" –

A shrill beep suddenly sounded on the radar, cutting off even the loudest of Darius's yells. Maire leapt out of her seat, running to the dashboard. She could make out the words running across the screen: LARGE WAVE OF ENERGY DETECTED. POSSIBLE SHIP AHEAD.

"Wait – there could be a ship ahead of us," she gasped.

"Where?" In one movement, Darius had pushed Maire out of the way, staring down at the screen. Leaning over his shoulder, Maire saw a tiny dot appearing, about an hour ahead of them at the speed at which they were going.

"That's them!" gasped Darius. He turned to his pilot, the man who had driven his ship until they had caught up with Maire and Arishtat. "Bahadur! Bring us to the maximum speed!" Evidently he did not consider Arishtat to be the pilot anymore.

"We are already at the highest speed, Your Highness," Bahadur said, his eyes flashing with fear.

Darius gritted his teeth. "Then find out what speed my sister's ship is at. Can't you check that on the radar?"

Bahadur checked the radar to see the other ship. His eyes widened in surprise.

"She is not going at the maximum speed," he said. "Her ship is going considerably slower than ours, although it is a ways ahead. We should project to arrive at the gates of Glacia at about" – he did a few calculations on the dashboard – "fifteen minutes after she reaches there."

"She could be dead by then!" Darius screamed. "She'll have put herself in some stupid trouble!"

"It is the best we can do!" cried Bahadur. "I am sorry, Your Highness. We will continue to fly at all deliberate speed."

Maire watched Darius, her heart sinking. She had never seen Darius so angry, not even when she'd ticked him off by saying that they should give up on the mission. She wished she could eat her words now.

Now we know where Aria is, she thought. Once Saraswati finds the spell to ending her transfigural possession, we can bust her out and bring her back home! Her heart was racing. Now it's finally possible!

At the same time, she couldn't stop the present worry from gnawing at her heart. They had no what state Sharzad and Daewon were in; they didn't even know if they were alive at this point. Whatever are they doing now?

"Here we are," Darcy said, drawing to a halt. The binoculars were activated, allowing them to see what was below the ship. Sharzad peered into one, and her mouth instantly opened into a soundless gasp. The sight she saw underneath the ship made her jaw drop, her chin practically reaching the floor as she stared at what was outside.

The Gate of Glacia was the most ornate structure she'd ever seen. Blue, curved arches of ice surrounded around the entire planet, created in elaborate designs and swirls. It must have taken a whole planet of people to build this… The Gate, she could make out, was being held in place by very powerful magic. To her left, she could make out another planet, which was also surrounded by the exquisite blue gate. This is magnificent…

They were hovering right above appeared to be the center of the gate. Although Sharzad could make out the planet rotating under them, the Gate wasn't moving with it. That's odd… She could make out an ice-blue padlock at the center, shining brightly against the rest of the structure.

She picked up the key, examining it. It was the exact same color as the Gate, and shined almost as brilliantly. She would've stared at the engineering marvel, and the miniature key in her hand, for hours, had Stormy not given her a shove.

"Now, princess," she said with a slight leer. "Go down and fit that key into the padlock."

Sharzad stared at her. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"No, I think we'll wait here," Stormy said with a sneer. "We need someone who's expendable to go open the gate. Once you've opened it, then we'll go down and head into the realm."

Sharzad glared; it took all of her self-restraint to stop from letting out her anger. I got two of the three shards for them, and then they call me expendable. "Fine," she snapped, heading towards the exit. She quickly downed a Heat Tonic and a Space-Lung Tonic before heading down to the bottom compartment of the ship. Don't want to freeze or suffocate in the middle of space, no thank you.

"Oh, and one more thing," Darcy called after her. "Don't touch the Gate. If you let even one morsel of skin touch it, your entire pixie body will freeze to death. It's the reason why no one has ever crossed."

Good to know, Sharzad thought, though maybe it would've been useful if you'd told me while we were sitting around for five hours. "Thanks," she said tightly as the door to the top compartment closed. She transformed into her fairy form, sliding down the ladder as the loading dock opened its doors.

She flew out, thankful that they were close enough to the planet so that her wings were able to take flight. Space was a deadly force, and even the strongest fairy had no chance in a place without gravity. She let out an involuntary shudder at the thought of drifting away, lost forever; she almost dropped the key in the process.

Stop it, she told herself sternly. You have a job to complete. But the nervousness of being out of the ship, combined with Darcy's not-so-friendly warning, had set her entire body on edge.

Flying downwards, she inched herself closer to the Gate. The awkwardness of having to fly with her upper-body facing downwards, all the while resisting the pull of gravity, set her on edge. The blue ice shone at her, menacing and frigid; she could feel its bitter coldness without being in contact with it. How in the realms am I going to get close to that thing without touching it?

"Don't be such a baby!" she heard Stormy scream from the ship. "Do it quickly!"

Sharzad gritted her teeth, pushing herself closer to the Gate. She held the furthest edge of the key possible, and gasped as it made contact with the padlock. The fright of being so close would've made her drop the key, had it not been for the tight grasp she forced herself to maintain. You can do this, Sharzad. You can do it. Taking a breath, she pushed the key into the padlock, and turned it to the right.

It didn't open.

Sharzad stared at it in confusion. It has to work… But no matter how many times she turned the key, it did not change anything. Not an inch of the structure had moved.

"What is going on?" she heard Stormy bellow. The witch flew towards her. "Give me that!" She pushed Sharzad to the side, trying to turn the key. She bellowed in rage, grabbing the key and throwing it up into space.

No! Sharzad didn't stop to think. Before the key could fall back down, touching the frigid ice, she shot a magnetic spell at it, pulling it towards her as she flew away from the Gate. She grabbed the key, throwing it to Daewon as he leapt out of the ship. Darcy followed quickly after him, her eyes flashing with confusion and anger.

"What is going on?" Daewon demanded, catching the key in one hand and pocketing it.

"The key isn't working," snarled Stormy. "You stupid pixies messed it up! You did this, and thanks to you, the entire mission is ruined!"

"What do you mean, the key isn't working?" gasped Daewon. He glared at Sharzad. "What happened? Why can't we enter the realm?"

Sharzad didn't answer. This doesn't make sense… why is she so angry? Something wasn't adding up here. She stared at Stormy.

"You just told us that you guys were on this whole mission to help us," she said. "You even said that you didn't care how we combined the shards, because we were the ones who needed it. I don't understand. Why are you so upset that we're not able to unlock Glacia?"

"Who cares?" snapped Daewon, and Sharzad was shocked to see tears forming in his eyes. "They ruined the mission! It's because of their flawed plan that we can't defeat Aria! Galatea will never see justice"… He glared at Stormy. "We're not letting you go free after this!"

To her amazement, Darcy and Stormy didn't hurl insults, or even respond. Rather, their bodies appeared to be shaking, and a strange sound was coming out of their mouths. She looked up at them and saw that they were… laughing. It was the cruelest, most demonic-sounding laugh she had ever heard.

"What's… happening?" she asked.

Darcy finished laughing, turning her gaze towards Sharzad. Her yellow eyes were filled with glee, and she seemed to be at a loss for words. Finally, she spoke. "It's not our plan that was flawed."

"What" – Sharzad could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"There's more to being a witch than knowing how to pull some strings." Darcy smirked. "Turns out we also know how to look after ourselves. We had some fun in Parsua, getting the boys to set that loser city on fire" –

"It was you who started the riot!" Sharzad gasped.

"Exactly." Stormy smirked. "And then the rest of us climbed aboard this ship, ready for the Great Exhibition. And now that we're here, it's come." She turned towards the ship, tapping something on her wrist. It must have sent out a signal, for just then, the ship doors opened.

A group of ninjas flew out of the very bottom compartment of the ship, a third compartment that Sharzad did not even know existed. They wore identical blue-and-red capes, and had satisfied smiles.

"You!" gasped Daewon, his eyes burning with rage. "The Patchamen!"

They lied to us, Sharzad realized. They were never attacked by the Patchamen at all! They – they're working with them!

The leader of the group, a stout man with brown hair, flew forward with a smile. "Ben's my name, and justice's my game!" he yelled. "On account of these civilians, we have heard that the kingdom of Fulgur has been up to some very naughty business. Oh yes, very naughty indeed."

"What do you mean?" gasped Sharzad, hardly able to understand.

"The king has a lot of explaining to do once he gets home," Ben answered. "Not taking any action against Cacciatore, for one – Fulgur is the only realm in the dimension that has not declared a state of emergency. He is not taking the best interest of his people into account. And for another, the fact that he's let his queen suppress the riot in Parsua, thus eliminating the people's right to freedom of speech" –

"Rioting is not protected under freedom of speech!" Sharzad snapped. "And the people didn't start the rioting – you did! By no stretch of the imagination are you citizens of Fulgur!"

"Bit defensive now, are we?" Ben grinned. "Look, we've come here to take you and your friend into custody, and we'll let you go once your parents agree to change their policies. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Sharzad and Daewon locked eyes, and they both shared the same thought: We are not going with them. For once, they were in total agreement. Daewon turned back to Ben.

"What about Darcy and Stormy?" he demanded. "They" – he pointed to the witches – "are two of the most wanted criminals in the dimension. If you want to do some good for the world, why don't you take care of them?"

"What nonsense," one of the other Patchamen scoffed. "These two are good citizens of Whisperia, and have been through many hardships in their lives, including their sister's death. They were very brave to come with you on your 'missions', despite your family's numerous crimes against its people."

I have a feeling the number of crimes is about to increase, thought Sharzad, glaring at them. She looked at Daewon, and they both nodded. Lifting a volt of lightning in her hands, she hurled it straight at Ben, who dodged.

"CHARGE!" he snarled; Daewon and Sharzad flew for their lives, with the Patchamen following close after them. She could hear the mad cackles of Darcy and Stormy as they leapt into the ship. Gritting her teeth, Sharzad turned her attention to the Patchamen, who were getting ready with attack-moves. We can deal with the witches later… We'll take care of these guys first.

The woman in the group, Junko, shook a box of talcum powder at them. Sharzad dodged out of the way just in time, gasping at the smell. That's not ordinary powder – it's definitely poisonous. Daewon shot a sound-blast as her, but she simply turned the spell back on him.

Daewon fell back, gasping. For one horrible second, Sharzad thought he was going to fall into the Gate. But then he recovered, and he flew back up. "Sonic boom!" he roared, shooting a spell at the Patchamen's robot.

But the robot didn't move out of the way. Instead, it absorbed the blow, as if it was nothing. Then, without warning, its arms extended outwards, grabbing Sharzad and Daewon each by the waist. They screamed and struggled as they were pulled into the robot's grasp, barely able to breathe. The Patchamen howled with laughter.

"This is what happens when you evade justice," Ben grinned. "It eventually catches up with you." He nodded to the robot. "Come on, let's get them in the ship!"

But before they could do anything, a blinding flash of light filled the air, and the robot's grasp loosened, letting them go. Sharzad gasped as she looked up, trying to figure out what in the realms was going on.

The Gate of Glacia loomed under them – an icy, fearsome structure that Darius had not seen even in pictures. He grabbed his flying saucer, ready to leap out of the spacecraft, find Sharzad, and bring her back home.

Once we get Daewon back in here, he thought grimly, I'm going to give him a good punch in the face. And then I'll get Dad to expel him from the palace. He'll never bother Sharzie again. He stared at the binoculars as the ship loomed closer.

And then he saw something that made his eyes bug out.

There was another spacecraft ahead of them – a plain brown one. But that wasn't what shocked him. Just in front of the Gate that lay below them, he could make out people flying above the blue structure. A group of red-and-blue clad ninjas were cheering, their robot in the center of the gathering. And the robot was holding onto two people, one in each hand – Sharzad and Daewon.

Darius didn't even stop to think. He swallowed the tonics in two gulps, then grabbed his sword, heading to the bottom compartment of the ship. He pressed the button, and it opened the ship up to space.

"Darius!" Maire called after him, but he was already out.

He gnashed his teeth, swinging his sword. The sword let out a ray of energy as it smacked the robot, forcing it to let go of its two captives. The confused girl pulled herself free, looking up. It was then that she saw Darius, and a jubilant expression appeared on her face.

"Daree!" she yelled. "Am I ever glad to see you!"

"You should never have been here in the first place!" snapped Darius. Pulling Sharzad to him, he nodded to Maire, who was flying towards them. "Take her to the ship."

"I have to help fight!" Sharzad protested as Maire led her back.

"Don't argue!" Darius snapped. "It's because of you and your idiot friend that we're even here in the first place!"

"But I want to help!" Sharzad cried. "I want to help put an end to Aria's crimes!"

Now Darius laughed, a bitter, sardonic laugh. "How are you both so foolish? She is not the one to blame for what she did. She is being possessed by someone, which is why she's even in Glacia to begin with. She's being forced to act against her will!"

"But" – Sharzad said weakly.

"We can talk about this later," Darius interrupted. He turned back towards the ninjas.

Now he recognized them. It was the Patchamen, the vigilante-justice group that ruined everything they tried to fix. They're going down. The leader, Ben, turned towards him, his lip curling.

"Oh, here is the prince of the so-esteemed realm," he sneered. "Not a surprise that you've learned to obstruct justice."

Darius didn't have a clue as to what Ben was talking about, and he didn't care. He drew his sword, slashing at Ben. The wizard attempted to shoot an attack spell at him, but Darius deflected it with his shield.

Through the corner of his eye he saw Arishtat dueling Junko, Daewon fighting Jinpee, and Maire taking on Bo. The robot was disassembled, and not a concern – at least, not for now. With a slash of his sword, Darius hit Ben in the face, imprinting a red mark on his forehead.

But Ben was a skilled combatant. In one swift motion, he knocked the sword out of Darius's hand. The weapon fell, and he watched as it hit the Gate. It immediately began to crystallize, turning into ice.

Darius stared at it in shock. I didn't know that the Gate had that power… It had frozen the sword completely, rendering it completely useless. He had no doubt that if one of them were to fall into the Gate, they would share the same fate as his sword.

Ben took Darius's distraction to his advantage; Darius didn't realize his spear was pointed at him until it had almost reached his chest. He pushed himself out of the way just in time, but gasped as the magical object grazed his arm. A magical welt appeared on his arm, and in agony, he collapsed on his flying saucer.

"And so the great crown prince of Fulgur falls," Ben smirked, reaching down towards Darius's hands. "So sad." He pulled a rope out of his pocket.

The last bit of fury forced itself up through Darius's heart, making him boil over with rage. He would not let himself be captured, would not let his rescue come to nothing. This man was going down. I'm going to fight him with my bare hands. He sprang himself upwards, knocking the surprised Ben over. With savage, fierce punches to the chest and the head, he forced Ben onto the saucer, pushing him towards the edge. With one hit on the head, he crumpled, falling towards the Gate.

He would've fallen immediately to his death, but Darius wasn't about to let the man die, not when he could spend an eternity in prison. He flew down, grabbing Ben by the arms and handcuffing him with a device that would prevent him from using magic. He looked down and saw that the others had defeated their opponents.

"Bring them up here!" he shouted, leaving Ben on the ship. He flew back downwards so that he could help the others tie up their captives. "Bahadur, prepare to close the ship!"

"No!" screamed a voice. Darius looked up and, to his shock, saw Stormy flying towards them, her face filled with fury. Where the hell did she come from? She had somehow managed to get ahold of one of Arishtat's weapons and was pointing it straight at him. "My sister didn't die for this!" She shot a bolt of energy at Darius, who stood still, stunned and petrified.

"NOOOOOO!" screamed a voice. Darius's sister flew in front of him, taking the blow and letting the electric volt completely zapped her. Her entire skeleton revealed itself, every bone of the pearly-white structure, as her shrill screams pierced the air. The attack only lasted a second, but to Darius it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. He was unable to move as the lightning disappeared, and Sharzad plunged down below.

She hit the Gate hard, her entire body turning into ice. First her wings, then her body, and last, her face – a petrified expression, frozen on her features, that would haunt Darius for the rest of his life. The light died from her eyes, and she lay completely still, not moving a single muscle as the ice consumed her, filling her up.

Then she began to fall.

Darius watched in horror as her body fell past the Gate, plummeting down into the dark realm, the realm which was lost to the dimension forever. She continued to fall, until her body was a speck in the distance, and he could see her no more.

"Sharzad!" he screamed. "Sharzad Azar Fulgur!" His voice was wild, something he'd never heard before.

"Darius!" Maire yelled. "Come back!"

But he was lost to the world, and dead to her cries. As he stared down into the unreachable planet, he knew she was gone, just as gone as were his hopes of ever finding Aria.

End of Part I.