Chapter 3: The flying Castle

Seconds went by in which the ones present inside the throne were staring at Natalia who lied on the floor, paralyzed by horror.

"Now...", Tear whispered.

Guy was the first one to recover. "How.. How could you...!?!", he started and was just about to attack Tear when the whole castle began tremble, and he and the others fell to the ground while Tear jumped to the side and clinged to a pillar in order to keep on standing. Kamui was unconscious immediately.

"It´s not over yet!", Tear shouted and, with another dagger, jumped at Guy who manged to roll to the side and dodge her and, because of the castle´s shaking, crashed against a wall. "Grr!", the Fon Master Guardian snarled, took her staff and sang: "Toue Rei Zue Kuroa Ryou Toue Zue!"

"Ugh!", Guy gasped when the paralyzing Fon Arte hit him.

"Nocturnal Light!!!", Tear screamed, and immediately three daggers surrounded Guy in a triangle that created a wall of energy that hurt Guy badly.

"Tear! Stop it!", Luke shouted, having finally managed to stand with all that shaking, and stormed towards Tear to prevent her from further attacking.

"Toue Rei Zue...", Tear started, but Anise was faster and shouted: "Oh twisted door of distortion, open wirde! Negative Gate!!!" A dark orb, impregnated with the Fonon of Darkness hit Tear who fell to the ground. Luke wanted to bend down and grab her, but Tear charged forward, kneed him against his legs so that he fell, jumped up, clung to the chandelier at the ceiling and jump further to the windowsill.

"Oh healing power! First Aid!!!", Florian shouted, thus healing Guy. "Are you okay, Guy?"

"Y... Yeah... I´m okay...", Guy moaned and saw just in time Tear throwing more daggers at him. "Look out!!!" He pushed Florian to the side and then rolled out of danger himself.

"That´s enough now!", Anise shouted, raised her staff and screamed: "Field Barrier!!!" A gigantic barrier surrounded her, Luke, Guy, Florian and Kamui who were all protected from Tear´s attacks.

"Changing plans! Do it now!", Tear shouted outside of the window up to the castle towers.

"As you wish...", the person wearing the cloak who clung at the castle walls said and activated the gadget.

The palace began to shake even more, and the next moment the ground beneath the giant building split open. The guards who had been standing outside and had been trying to enter the palace now ran to the side screaming, when dozens of beams of light shot out of the ground. A construct of light - like a tree - slowly grew out of the ground and lifted the castle higher and higher.

"Mission failed...", Tear whispered and jumped out of the window.

"What´s happening here?!?", Luke shouted, confused, while he was staggering because of the heave shaking.

"The castle is slowly gaining height!", Florian said, frightened, while looking outside of the window.

"What?!?", Anise screamed.

"We have to get out!", Guy yelled. "As fast as we can, before we get trapped inside here!!!" He took the unconscious Kamui and, with a last look at his dead wife, stormed outside of the throne room, followed by Luke, Anise and Florian.

"What is the meaning of this?!? Why is this happening?!?", Florian shouted, confused, while they were dodging busts and walls, crumbling armors and their weapons - lances - which they were holding in their metallic arms as best as they could.

"I dunno! But Guy is right, we have to get out of here as fast as possible!", Luke yelled. "If we don´t hurry, the castle will be to high in the air and we´ll be trapped inside here!" The stairs they had wanted to run down collapsed before their eyes.

"Damnit!", Guy cursed, stopping just in time before he would have fallen down, and ran towards another direction, the others directly behind him. A bust hit Anise who fell to the ground.

"Anise!", Florian shouted in horror, grabbed her and managed to get her on her feet again.

"How far!?", Anise shouted while tending to her now bleeding shoulder.

"Just a little further!", Guy answered, stormed through a tapestry, and outside to the foyer.

"Out of the way! It takes to long to open the door the normal way!", Anise yelled. The others jumped to the side. "I´ll smash you with a giant hammer! Mircale Hammer!!!" A giant hamer of light appeared and destroyed the metal door. "Und now out!" She jumped outside, followed by Luke and Florian. Guy was just about to follow her as something grabbed him and managed to knock him down.

"What the...?!?", he shouted while falling down, tasting blood. He lost Kamui who flew through the hallway until crashing against a wall. Guy turned and looked at the one who had manged to knock him down: It was a liger. "What?!"

"You´re going to sta here!", a person wearing a cloak who stood behind the liger said. "We can´t have any interferences."

Luke, Anise and Florian who had landed on the ground rather ungentle looked up the castle which was raised higher and higher by the tree of light.

"Why doesn´t he jump down?! Where is he?! He was directly behind us!", Anise shouted. They waited a few more seconds.

"I´m going inside!", Luke finally said.

"But how?! The entrance is too high above us!", Florian said.

"I´m gonna think of something!", Luke said and was just about to run towards the castle when a sword, impregnated with the Fonon of Lightning, came flying towards him. "What the...?!" He jumped to the side just in time and spotted a person wearing a cloak and holding a strange gadget in his hand who jumped from one castle tower to the other and finally landed in front of the three friends.

"You won´t get inside of there!", the person said.

"Piss of, you wannabe bouncer!", Anise shouted and threw a hammer of light towards him.

"Oh mantling gale of the spirits of the earth! Stalagmite!!!", the person shouted and a stalagmite shot outside of the ground, protected him against the hammer, but cracked into thousands of shards which flew in every direction. Luke, Anise and the person maneged to dodge them, but Florian wasn´t that lucky.

"No! Barrier!!!", Anise screamed and summoned a barrier around Florian that protected him against the flying rocks.

"Residents of Baticul!", a loud voice suddenly radiated through Baticul. The voice´s owner was nowhere to be seen.

"But how...?!?", Luke started, befuddled, and looked around for the source of the voice.

"It´s the same technique Mohs had used once when he had been at Eldrant and had threatened Auldrant!", Anise explained.

"The royal family is taking a much needed vacation... Ihihihihihihihi!", the narcissistic voice continued.

"That voice...!", Luke said, eyes huge and disgusted.

"And as long as they´re on that vacation - forever, I´d like to say - I´ll be taking the leadership of this kingdom!"

"Oh my...", Anise started.

"Dist the Reaper!", Florian shouted.

"SILENCE, DOWN THERE!!! IT´S ROSE!!! R-O-S-E!!!", the voice belonging to Dist the Rea... um... Dist the Rose screached. "Residents of Baticul, be warned! Whoever resists, is as good as dead! This is no joke!"