Chapter 2

They would come to a small alley where a few Barshall were searching for scraps of anything they could sell. Firo and Yshimu just glanced at them before making their way to a door that was covered in stickers, rust, and a recruitment poster for Lotus that had a hooded figure on it. The Barshall just glanced at them before shrugging and returning to their junk hunt. Firo opened the door, letting both of them walk inside before letting it shut behind them as they walked into what felt like a dark hallway. Walking down until there was a wall with a keypad before them. Firo reached out and began entering in the pass code, causing the device to let out a cheerful little tune. A loud metallic grinding came from the door as the locks released, allowing the door to open slightly.

With a gentle push the door swung open to a catwalk that went over part of the lab below. Firo and Yshimu walked into the lab and down towards the steps that seemed to spiral down to the main floor below them. The dim lab was lit only by the lights of the monitors and machines that seemed to be singing their mechanized symphony that only Cid and his assistants could understand, being the composers they were in that world within their lab. Cid was sitting at the main computer station, watching over some information, when he heard them reach the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah! It's about time you made it here! Come here quickly," Cid beckoned to them before swirling his chair back around to focus on the screen before him.

Yshimu gave Firo a look of concern, to which he only replied with a nod. They both walked up to him, Firo pulled up a chair before taking a seat next to Cid.

"So what's the job?" Firo asked, glancing at the screen.

"It's serious I'm afraid. I've sent my reports to the higher ups but they refuse to pay attention to the reports," Cid stopped tinkering with the terminal before turning to face him. "Judging by the readings, we're going to have a large scale Aetherial disturbance on our hands. And I think Grenschal is going to use it as a cover story. I want you both at the main crystal to keep an eye on things. Lotus of Grenschal might look to take advantage of the situation which will put a lot of the citizens in danger."

"Aetherial disturbance? But doesn't the crystal just power the city's main functions that keep it floating?" Yshimu asked curiously as she tried to digest the information.

"It's much more than that, Yshimu. If Cid's worried, then it has to be something big," Firo stated in thought as he sat back in the chair.

Cid grinned as he leaned back and looked over at Yshimu before he said, "My assistant can explain that. Mayu, would you care to explain?"

A young Miqutahl came over from one of the work tables, wearing a lab coat over a blue dress suit. Peering through glasses, she drew in a breath before she spoke, "Of course, Master Cid. Aether is a form of energy that flows throughout the world. We can only speculate where the source of it is from, but there are legends about those crystals. It's said that the Aether and the Crystals are gifts, or rather pieces of the mother of our world, Sylphaal. A Goddess. To create balance within the world, she bore several beings known as Eikons. Each Eikon is the embodiment of the world's different energies: Fire, Water, Ice, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Light and Dark. But one of her sons chose to oppose her and he began creating his own followers, by tainting their purity. He even enslaved his siblings to turn against their mother. He tried to dethrone the Goddess, but she summoned every ounce of her power to seal him away. By doing so, she sealed away all of her children into crystals and thread their Aether through the world. This was to try to keep the stray son from escaping and tainting the world again. Our world had grown quiet, but as she wept the loss of her children, the Aether created new life forms. The ones the inhabit the world now. The Aether, is a strange energy that our world produces and when compressed, forms those crystals that we use. Through further refining, we have managed to make the Materia that the Aether-Drives use."

Yshimu watched Cid's assistant explain this matter to her. She listened in awe, nodding her head as she took in the details. "So, you think that this Eikon is the reason behind the imbalance?" Yshimu asked in a very concerned tone.

"Not precisely. Rather, I think it's the over mining of the crystals and the Aether that might be weakening the seals that bound the Eikon. As long the Eikon's lack the neccessary Aether, they cannot retain a physical form," Mayu said as she chimed in to answer in Cid's place.

"In short, I think that if the legends are true then we are about to face something big. A lot of people might die because of it. So I want the three of you to help reduce the damage as much as possible," Cid explained as he pulled up a window on the screen. "According to this, the source of the problem will be at the main crystal that's in the town square. I want the three of you to investigate the readings first hand. If anything should happen, handle it. By the time the military gets involved, it will be too late."

Firo nodded in understanding before he stretched. "So the package will be under the bench at the park. So what new upgrades are we getting?"

"You're Aether-Drives are going to be upgraded with ice and water materia. They should prove useful considering fire Aether has been growing around the crystal. If the Aether decides to compress itself, you might experience some monsters coming through it," Cid replied as he motioned towards the readings.

"Lady Yshimu, we've finished making your bow. We hope it's to your liking,"said a young Vahrul male that came up to Yshimu, handing her this device that seemed like it was capable to expand itself to it's true form. Yshimu grasped it by the handle and held it ready as she watched it expand to it's full bow form. She smiled with satisfaction. "You pull back at the string as if you were to notch an arrow and the materia will generate one made from the energy. For the best effect, we've equipped it with wind materia."

Yshimu nodded and looked over the young Vahrul. The Vahrul were another of the humanoid races within the world. They looked more human than the Mi'qutahl, but they had exceptional hearing due the the long ears that grew from their head. They were like the ears of a rabbit. The Vahrul were a race known for their intelligence and agility. They did lack in strength however, and they always appeared younger than their actual age.

"That's really cool. Thanks again, kiddo!" Yshimu praised the young lad, pulling back at the string slightly to feel the energy collect and see it try to take form. She quickly reached for her Aether-Drive and handed it over to him for the upgrade. Firo watched and did the same.

"So when does this operation begin, Cid?" Firo asked as he looked at the watch that sat on his wrist.

"This evening. When the shift change happens. You'll have to try to keep suspicions about your activity to a minimum. We don't need those military goons to get in the way. Although I'm sure a few units will be on high alert. It's good to know that some of our friends do listen when this crazy, old man has something to say," Cid replied with a fatigued grin.

"Think we'll run into any trouble?" Yshimu asked in a concerned tone.

"Without a doubt," Firo replied without any hesitation.

The park that surrounded the crystal was lively with the citizens walking along the paths. Some were enjoying the company of another, while others were making their daily commute from work to home. There was a fountain that surrounded the crystal that had engraved markings to represent fire. The crystal's light illuminated the dimly lit park at the central area. The was filled with the sounds of people talking and laughing. And with the gently flowing water of the fountain that had steam rising from it's surface. The sky had grown dark as stars began to speckle the night sky. The air felt heavy for some reason. Firo couldn't figure out why. At least, not on his own. He was seated on the designated bench with Yshimu at his side. They almost looked like a young couple that was on a park date. They would if there wasn't Cid's assistant leaning against the back of the bench, with her nose in her large book. Firo glanced to make sure there weren't any soldiers around before he reached under the bench and pulled out the device left for them. Strapping the strange computer to his arm, he tapped the screen. Eyes scanning the screen as he began looking at the readings.

"Any major change on the reading yet?" Mayu asked impatiently as she closed her book with a loud thud.

"Yeah. It's growing dense. Just as Cid said it would. But something seems off. It's like another Aether is trying to devour it," he replied nervously.

"Devour? What do you mean? What's going to happen?" Yshimu asked as she looked around nervously, desperately trying to stay calm.

"I don't know. But be ready you two," Firo spoke in a serious tone as he tinkered with the device.

The Aether that seemed to flow as a glowing silhouette around the crystal grew dense, almost choking the light from the crystal itself. The street lights began to flicker, struggling to keep the paths lit. This confused the people that were in the park. The air felt heavier. Even hotter than normal. It continued to grow slowly. It was making it hard to breath now. Firo, Yshimu, and Mayu struggled to breath. Desperately, they glanced around for any clues of what could be the source of this.

"Children of my sorrow. Listen to me. A daunting task is about to be thrust upon you. I beg you, summon your strength and save my child. Redeem my children and earn their blessings," a strange woman's voice echoes in their heads.

The three of them looked at each other in a mixture of panic and confusion. But before they could even regain their composure, a loud crack filled the air. It grew and several more were heard. The crystal that stood at the center of the park, whose light was being choked away, began cracking and pieces of it began to fall from it to crash into the ground. Through the dust that rose from the ground, the Aether in the air began to twist together, taking form until finally the energy ignited with a strange cackling laughter. These strange creatures that were round in shape but were engulfed in flame had eyes of black and a jagged tooth mouth with two short arms they floated in the air. The cackling grew as more began to form from the twisted Aether. They began flying out among the crowd, chasing after people and setting fire to anything they could.

"What the hell are those?" cried Yshimu as she rose to her feet and watched the chaos ensue around her.
"Those are Bombs. They're quite common in the lower world," Mayu answered calmly as she placed her book into her side bag and readied herself.

"Then what the hell are they doing here?" Firo asked as he pulled out his dagger, releasing it into it's spear form as the hilt expanded into a pole arm's length.

"I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the Aether," Mayu answered calmly. It was the best answer she could even muster given the current information.

Yshimu drew her bow, and began notching back the string as she took aim at a nearby Bomb. Letting the arrow fly, it struck a Bomb in the back, causing it to spiral out of control until it seemed to burn itself out in a violent puff of smoke and ash.

"Well, they can die at least. That's a start," Firo joked as he struck one down with a slash of his spear.

Mayu jumped onto the park bench to stand on higher ground. Passing a hand over the Aether-Drive, she collected the energy before throwing it in front of her, forming a large bubble of water that floated before her. Throwing her arms straight out to her sides, the ball of water fired stream shots at two Bombs that were close together, extinguishing their flames. They cried out in pain instead of cackling. They cried until they collapsed on the ground as lumps of soaked ashes. In the distance, gun shots could be heard as well as soldiers shouting commands at the citizens.

"Evacuate the area immediately! Leave your things behind! Don't risk your lives!" one soldier barked out at the crowd as he was firing at the Bombs.

"The cavalry has arrived. Seems they were waiting," Firo said sarcastically as he reached out a hand and blasted a Bomb with ice energy from his Aether-Drive.

The continued trying to kill as many of the Bombs they could. Mayu looked back towards the soldiers and noticed the Bomb that was heading towards them was larger than most of the ones they had been killing. She watched as some of the soldiers were trying to use the magic from their Aether-Drives to kill it, but they were using fire materia. She watched in panic as each spell made the Bomb grow larger and larger. The cackling grew deeper until she saw it. The Bomb began to shake violently before going into a spiral in mid-air, and the flames intensified. Then came the dreaded sound. A large explosion came from the Bomb, killing it and several of the soldiers that were caught in the blast radius.

"Those idiots just got themselves killed!" Mayu clicked her tongue in annoyance, but also felt guilt for not having the time to prevent it. "Bombs explode when you feed them fire."

The military vehicles were now on fire and so were the bodies that were spread across the ground. It was a terrible sight to see. Shortly after the explosion, the sound of an engine came from overhead. A large military ship hovered above the park and began opening pod doors, dropping it's payload on the park. With gigantic thuds, these giant golems of steel landed on the ground, kneeling. The eyes hummed to life as the armored giants of steel rose to their feet, lifting a large sword to their side and began swiping at the monsters that kept spawning. Their bodies creaked and groaned with every move they made. Every step resounded with heavy thud.

"So they're calling in the golems, huh?" Firo commented at the sight of the Aether-Tech golems that were now taking the front line.

Those soulless machines took to fighting the monsters without hesitation. But the Aether around the crystal seemed to begin to grow more unstable as the fight continued on. By now the civilians had all been evacuated out of the park and now watched from the safety of being behind the barricade that the military had erected. The sounds of gunfire and explosions continued to fill the air, along with the cackling of those monsters. A dark oil like substance began to stir within the crystal that still stood, clouding the clarity the crystal once had. Firo saw this, and immediately had a sinking feeling hit his gut. The air around the crystal was soon engulfed in fire and a strange beast-like roar echoed throughout. The mindless golems turned their attention to the roar and began their marching advance towards the source.

"The readings have reached dangerous levels! What's going on?!" Cid's voice rang into Firo's ear through the communications device.

"I wish I knew, Cid! We've got monsters forming here!" Firo shouted back to Cid, giving a very brief report of the situation.

"Dammit. I'll start preparing the back-up plan," Cid replied angrily. "We'll be by in a few to pick you guys up."

Shortly after, the com-link was filled with static. Then came a large explosion of energy, causing the fire to lash out wildly at the air. Devouring what it could. Firo, Yshimu, and Mayu were shielding by the golems as they were knocked back, the steel on the front of their iron bodies were so badly melted, that the joints were either locked or didn't exist at all anymore. They gazed up from the wreckage that now laid before them, to see a beast of crimson flesh stand proudly where the crystal once stood. It roared out violently as breaths of fire came from it's nostrils. Slamming down a large clawed hand, letting out a menacing snarl. The creature stared down a golem that was charging towards it, raising it's sword to strike the beast. With a simple swipe of it's claws, it sent the golem flying with deep molten gashes within it's body. Moving to free itself from the remains of the crystals that laid below it. The creature had large curved horns that grew from it's head, the snout of a canine like beast, a skinny body that was broad in stature and had brown hairs grow from the back of it's head that continued down to it's back. The claws were the color of black that resembled the darkest nightmares. It rose to stand upon it's hind legs, reaching out to the sky with it's front arms and released a deep growling howl. Revealing around it's neck was a black collar that had chains attached to the shackles on it's arms.

Firo watched in awe as the creature before him rose. It's was so much bigger than the golems that the military had been sending it. He felt himself frozen in fear until a woman's voice rang in his head.

"Free my child and receive his blessings. You must purify him. Only then, will he be free."

"What the hell is that?" Yshimu asked as she took a few steps back, readying her bow.

"Lord of the Inferno, Ifrit. One of the Eikons," answered Mayu as she swallowed her fear, trying hard to not tremble in his presence. "Ifrit is alive once more…"

"So you mean to tell me… that they are real after all?" Firo asked, raising his spear to his stance, ready to strike.

"It would seem so. But we need to stop him. If we don't, he may very well destroy this city," Mayu spoke as she reached down and adjusted her Aether-Drive.

"Like we have a damn choice. Dammit it all!" Firo exclaimed as he began making the advance. "Yshimu, try to keep a distance! Mayu, give me support!"

"Right!" both of them replied and nodded eagerly.

Yshimu moved back, keeping the beast in her sight. Pulling back the string, she took aim at Ifrit's bare stomach, hoping to find a weak spot. Letting the arrow fly through the air, she would notch back the string again, to fire off a few more shots in rapid succession. The arrows bore into Ifrit's flesh, angering the beast. It came down with a resounding crash as it stood on all fours again. Seeing Firo charge towards it, Ifrit lifted it's head to draw in a breath as flames began overflowing from behind it's teeth. Mayu made her way towards the beast's side, gathering two hands of energy from the Aether-Drive, she flung her hands forward one at a time, pummeling Ifrit's jaw with blows of frozen ice crystals. This made him roar in pain, but it lowered it's head quickly to unleash it's breath of fire down towards Firo, but he had already made it safe under Ifrit's head. Taking the spear in hand, he swung at it's forearms, slashing at the flesh, before spinning the spear to strike up at the beast's throat.

Ifrit bled from it's wounds, shaking it's head wildly in a furious frenzy. Reaching out to try to swipe a claw at Yshimu, she managed to just barely make it out of the way of it's claw, before firing a few more arrows into Ifrit's face. One of the arrows struck Ifrit's eye, slashing away at the flesh as the air whirled around the arrows until they vanished from the energy wearing off. Firo continued his assault of slashes and stabs from below the beast, safe from it's fire breath. Ifrit reached for it's eye with it's claw. Angry, the beast drew in a deep breath before unleashing it's flames towards Yshimu.

Yshimu barely had to time to dodge, thrusting her arms in front of her to shield herself and shut her eyes in fear. She didn't feel any of the flames, instead heard a woman's voice in front of her. A tall, slender woman with pointed ears stood before her, blocking the fire breath with a shield that was equipped with an Aether-Drive. She was an Efiel.

"You alright, Yshimu?" the woman called out. She was wearing the outfit of the Cerulean Knights, a branch within the Aether Corps of the Grenschal's military. In her right hand was a long sword that had a barrel going down the blunt side of the sword with a trigger by the sword's hilt.

"Kayaki?" Yshimu asked, peering through between her arms. "What are you doing out here, Kayaki?"

"Long story. Point is, this thing needs to die. And I'm sure Firo, being the fool, charged right in. Am I right?" She smiled looking back at her, peering through loose strands of silver grey hair.

"You know him too well," Yshimu joked as she notched back the string, and once the fire passed, moved off to the side of Kayaki to fire off a few more arrows that bore into Ifrit's flesh.

Ifrit roared out to the sky as it rose up once again, opening it's mouth wide. Fire began to collect and swirl in it's mouth, forming a ball of furiously spinning fire that continued to grow quickly. Firo moved quickly out towards the side of Ifrit, watching at what the beast was now doing. The ball of fire had grown rather large, to almost the size of a meteor. With a mighty roar, Ifrit fired the orb of condensed fire towards the city. It made impact with a building with a large explosion sending burning debris down towards the streets, causing the people to run in panic as several military vehicles were crushes and lit ablaze. Mayu looked back at the damage that Ifrit had caused, watching in shock.

Kayaki clicked her tongue in anger as she heard her comrades either running from the damage or crying out in pain. Turning her attention back to the large beast that stood before her, raising her shield, as well as her sword, ready to strike. "You're going to regret that," she said as her finger gently traced over the trigger by the sword's hilt.

Ifrit lowered itself back down onto it's claws, matching glares with Kayaki now. She let out a cry as she began her charge towards the beast. Slashing twice at it's arm, before jumping off to the side. She aimed the barrel at Ifrit's head and pulled the trigger. A loud bang roared from the barrel as her arm lifted in recoil as she fired a shot at Ifrit's head.

Mayu moved forward, collecting more Aether in her hands from her Aether-Drive. Controlling the flow of the Aether, she flung a concentrated ice spell at the neck of Ifrit. The Aether solidified into solid ice around it's neck, making it hard for the beast to thrash it's head around.

"Firo, try to get it's neck!" shouted Mayu as she controlled the flow of Aether to try to keep the ice solid for as long as possible.

He responded with a nod and began making his way towards it's tail. Yshimu had ran off towards Ifrit's side and pulled the trigger on her bow, sending the device into overdrive. Pulling the string back as her bow whirred with energy, a larger arrow formed with Aether swirling around it. The Aether whirled violently around the arrow and flew with it upon release. A strong gust of wind blew hard against her as the arrow flew free of the bow, digging deep into Ifrit's tail, pinning it to the ground. The wind that whirled around the arrow kept cutting away at the flesh of Ifrit's tail. Firo, finding this to be his chance, took to running up the beast's tail and up along it's back. Readying his spear, he spun it before him before holding it ready to strike. Drawing closer to the beast's neck, he lept off it's back, aiming the blade of the spear down to drive it into Ifrit's neck as he came down. The blade struck down with a loud clang of steel, being that he struck the beast's collar instead of the flesh. He could feel a force trying to push his spear away, but he fought against it. Pushing the spear down harder until he heard something begin to crack. Fearing it was his spear, he looked down quickly. It was not his spear, but rather the collar that was beginning to crack and break. Feeling a surge of energy swell inside of himself, he pushed the spear harder into the collar until ultimately, a loud metallic shattering could be heard, followed by a pained roar. The black steel of the collar shattered to only fall to pieces as it fell towards the ground, with the beast soon to fall shortly after.

Breathing heavily, he drew his spear from the beast's neck to hold out to his side. Letting the spear return down to the size of a dagger, he placed it back into it's sheath as he let out a sigh of relief. Climbing down from the beast, he began walking towards his friends, looking around at all of the damage that was caused by this creature. The beast was silent for a few, before it finally let out a pained groan as it lifted it's head slowly.

"How could I be bested so easily? No.. I think I understand. She must have sent you," the beast spoke, struggling to lift itself back up from the ground.

Firo turned around, afraid that the beast might try to strike out at him once more. The others feared the same, and as such all gathered next to him ready to fight again.

"So you must be the one who carries my ember. As such, I will give you my power to borrow. Use it wisely," the beast growled as it struggled to raise itself to stand. Locking it's sight on Firo, the beast engulfed itself in flame before taking a charge towards them. They braced themselves for the impact but there was none. Instead the flame passed through them with no evidence of Ifrit left standing. The flames passed and died away, but Firo felt something warm on his chest. Looking down at his necklace, he saw the gem was now glowing gently with a small flame trapped inside of it now.

"What happened to the beast?" Kayaki asked as she looked around, confused by it's disappearance.

"Did we win?" Yshimu asked as she lowered her bow, letting it collapse back to it's compact form.

"I think...we won. But…" Firo spoke, feeling unsure of the events that transpired.

"Ifrit has become a part of you," Mayu interrupted as she stepped forward and pointed to Firo's necklace. "I think Ifrit was driven mad by something. Maybe that's why it was thrashing about so much."

"Firo, I need to ask you something and please answer me truthfully," Kayaki spoke up, turning to face the group with her sword still drawn at her side. "Have you joined Lotus?"

"Lotus? What the hell? No, I haven't! What would make you say that?" Firo asked, feeling slightly offended that his old comrade would ask such a thing.

"Are you telling me the truth? Our intel said that this was an attack that was orchestrated by Lotus," Kayaki raised her sword, pointing to towards Firo's chest with the intent to strike if he should prove to be an enemy.

Firo stared her down as he took a step forward, letting the blade press against his chest, "I don't think Lotus would even be capable of an attack on this scale, Kayaki."

Both Mayu and Yshimu watched on nervously as they both exchanged determined glares to each other. It was almost like it was a silent battle of wills of their past selves trying to fight their present selves before them. Kayaki slowly lowered her sword before sheathing it within her shield.

"Very well," Kayaki said coldly before turning away from them to start walking towards the military check point.

It seemed like everything had calmed down since the Aether didn't choke the air as much as it did before. A few stray monsters remained, but were being dealt with by the military. It seemed that the threat was gone now since Ifrit had been defeated. Letting out a sigh of relief, Firo almost felt like he could just fall back into the grass and relax for a bit. But that thought was cut short by the sudden static in the com-link.

"Firo…. They're sending a clean up crew…" Cid's voice said through the device. "Cover story…. Lotus involvement. We're going to pick you guys up."

"What? They can't mean… We have to get back to Cid's place!" Firo shouted as he turned around and began running towards the exit of the park.

Kayaki stopped in her tracks and watched as Firo and his friends ran past her. Tilting her head towards the ear where her com-link was, she clicked her tongue in anger and began moving towards Firo. "You did join Lotus, didn't you?" she scowled, lifting her shield up to draw her sword. "You're nothing more than a traitor now!"

Firo stopped running and turned to face her quickly. Letting out a panted breath of annoyance, he growled under his voice. "I didn't join them. Don't you get it? This is some crazy PR spin on what just happened! We need to get out of here! Now!"

"Kayaki… please listen to him," Yshimu pleaded, not wanting to fight her.

"Silence! I won't have you lie to me any more! I will take you in myself. And you will tell me where Lynx is hiding!" Kayaki barked at them, with every ounce of authority she could muster into her voice.

Kayaki and Firo stood motionless as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Firo's hand drew close to his weapon as Kayaki took her prideful stance with sword and shield. Lifting up her sword to lay flat in the air, ready to thrust for a counter attack at any moment. Firo looked annoyed at this turn of events. He knew he couldn't turn his back to her, she would attack if he did. But if he attacked, then he would look as guilty as she pinned him to be. His best option was to keep her locked in a stand still, and hope that Cid would bail them out of trouble. The air was tense between them as they continued to stare each other down. This continued until Yshimu spoke up.

"I think that's a bad sign, guys!" she cried out, pointing to the airship that was hovering in the sky above them.

The airship began aiming it's main cannons towards the ground, the barrels lighting up as they began gathering energy for their barrage. The sound of the energy gathering was enough to break the tension between Firo and Kayaki as they both turned to look up at the ship, but as they did the barrage began. Shot after shot rained down around them, causing the ground to explode upon impact. Showering down dirt and rock from each explosion. Several shots hit where the crystal was housed, causing the power in the park to die out quickly as the lamps all shut off. The barrage continued for several minutes as they scrambled to find cover from the fire, trying to dodge the spotlights that were now illuminating the city as it began to lose all of it's power. Firo hid behind a tree, managing to avoid all of the debris that was being launched into the air.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Yshimu shouted, looking over at Kayaki.

"If they're going this far, it would seem that they plan to let the city fall," Kayaki replied, looking down at the ground. "Freyja has been deemed infected. And thus, must be purged from the sky."

"Those bastards!" Firo growled under his breath, glancing down at his necklace as he continued to feel the warmth radiate, almost in tune with his soul.

The strange woman's voice rang in his head once more, "Summon his strength. His gift will aide you."

"Guess it's now or never," he said under his breath, gathering his courage and deciding to trust the woman's voice.

Moving from behind the tree, he held out his hand as if he was aiming for the airship. Feeling his soul begin to harmonize with the beast that now resided within his necklace, he felt a warm energy begin to slowly engulf him. The air near his hand began to ignite and swirl into a ball that grew quickly as the flames grew, condensing itself to become tighter and tighter until the orb of fire grew a mixture of orange and dark red that swirled around each other violently. Releasing it from his control, it fired like a cannon towards the airship, striking the hull near the cannons as it bathed the ship in what seemed like Hellfire. The metal of the hull melted upon impact, causing the weapons area to explode one after another. This sent the airship into a downward spiral as it quickly approached the ground near them at a rapid rate. Crashing into the ground, the engine caught fire now that would result in another explosion that knocked Firo back causing him to hit the back of his head against a tree. Before him, the world grew dark but he could still hear the chaos faintly as that too began to slowly fade into the darkness. The ominous creaking of the ground below him as the city began to fall from it's peaceful place among the clouds, he felt the land begin to tilt as he opened his eyes for one brief moment. He saw a figure approach him, attempting to lift him from where he was seated against the tree. Finally, all went black and silent. The chaos turned to peace as he had fallen into a state of unconsciousness.