"We are the Cloud of Darkness... We have come to return the world to the Void, to nothingness... We shall engulf everything in our shadow... And both light and darkness will return to the Void." - Cloud of Darkness

The Wind Crystal went down while they were sleeping.

Ingus woke in a cold sweat, hands grasping for nothing. Sara, the Crystals whispered. And Desch. We must tend to them once the cloud clears.

Ingus gulped down a breath, wrenching his eyes to the side, where Monica and Arc were. Monica slept, breathing rhythmically. Arc muttered quietly and incoherently as he sat on watch. He gripped his head and curled in on himself.

That invisible pain, pounding in his chest and head.

Ingus rose and crawled closer, grabbing Arc's arm in an attempt to anchor him back to reality. Arc responded instantly, wide eyes snapping to Ingus'. Ingus nodded toward Monica. Arc took the hint and stilled. Ingus inched closer, taking a seat beside him.

"That was it," Arc whispered, voice edged with panic. "Our home, the darkness…"

The Floating Continent would be flooded by now. But what about Ur and Canaan? Had time for them stopped already? It would be better if they had, if Sara really was injured like he saw in his dream. Time freezing meant she remained stuck as she was and therefore incapable of bleeding to death.

Ingus tried very hard not to think about that.

"As soon as Monica wakes up, we move. And we don't stop until we reach Queens and secure passage to the other continent. This isn't about Luneth anymore."

Arc frowned. "Was it ever about Luneth?"

Ingus grimaced. They hadn't heard anything from the other two Warriors in several days now. "I suppose not."

"The others could be fighting and fulfilling their duties without us, Ingus. What kind of Light Warriors are we?"

"The kind that does its best with the hand it's been dealt."

Arc coughed into his sleeve and sniffled. "It's a pretty lousy hand, isn't it?"

Ingus silently nodded.

"What if we don't make it in time? What if someone else is hurt?"

"Then we move on."

"… Like with Aria?"

Ingus nodded.

Arc didn't look very reassured. He buried his head in his arms and with a muffled voice said, "I'm sorry I made you sleep."

"Why?"

"Aren't you mad?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

Ingus hesitated. "I supposed it was… inconvenient. Thanks to our delay, we were attacked, thus I could thus blame my injuries on your spell."

Arc curled further in on himself.

Ingus added, "But it was for the best in the end. We met up with another of the Crystal's chosen, after all."

"Wouldn't Monica would have caught up to us regardless?"

"I would have what?" Monica asked from behind them.

Ingus hoped she would remain asleep. "Another Crystal fell," Ingus said, standing. "Exactly as we feared."

"Is it that bad?" Monica asked. "Didn't you say you can save them once you get there?"

Ingus shook his head. "Perhaps not, if all four perish. We've never experienced that before."

Monica re-attached her sheath. "Should we go, then?"

"Yes. We should go now and rest on the ship to the other continent."

Monica nodded and got to gathering up camp. Arc followed suit, grabbing his things. Monica hadn't slept well – Ingus could see it in the way her eyes showed red in the low light of the moon.

They got to walking toward the road. Despite what the conversation with Arc, Ingus couldn't help but worry. Even with their new allies, the Genie wasn't to be taken lightly and the thought of losing Sara or any of the other two sent chills down his spine. Not to mention that he couldn't shake the feeling that they'd missed something important.

He saw time not as a clock on the wall or as a cycle of suns, but as a plane. A plane that stretched on forever and every space represented a place in year and space and souls that shifted with the flow of life. Decisions that morphed the plane and moved the timeline in ripples on down the way.

But… he didn't live in time. He…

Woke up.

Max blinked open bleary eyes to see white and gold drapes hung against large windows, set in white-painted walls trimmed in glittering gold. Soft sunlight streamed in dusty beams through the window frames and the air smelled like herbs and alcohol. A lot of alcohol. Like when Max would fall as a kid and his father would pour the stuff on Max's scrapes before applying bandages. Max remembered it hurting worse when his father treated the wound than the injury itself.

Max's shoulder ached the worst of anything, and he coaxed his thin blanket off to look. He tugged on the neck of his new clothes—which looked a lot like robes—to reveal a very red and gnarly patch of skin. He checked the other places where he thought he was hit, like his ankle, elbow joint, lower torso and found the wood and metal had all been removed and fresh scabs already healed over where they used to be. The burns and blisters had died down considerably.

How long was he asleep? He remembered unfamiliar faces rushing him away after he passed out on the ship. That was in the middle of the day and now it approached evening. Or was it morning? It could have been anywhere from a few hours to a few days ago.

Max struggled into a sitting position with a grunt, limbs protesting the movement. A cup of water sat on his bedside table, clear and inviting.

He reached out to take it, though his hands struggled finding the strength to grip it. After a bit of finagling, he managed to get a sip and enjoyed the cool sensation of it on his tongue. It tasted clean and refreshing.

Tried to remember what happened…. His memories of the ship and everything surrounding it were foggy, fleeting like morning mists. He could see Luneth, Goro, and endless ocean. Before that, Flotsam was there, and then…

Metal in his shoulder, wood in his torso. He was filled with shrapnel and bleeding. Bleeding into the ocean.

His limbs ached, remembering where they'd been stabbed clean through. And yet he was alive. He shouldn't have been, but he was. The sensation was strangely familiar.

Max slid from his bed and stood. Legs felt like wet noodles beneath him and strangely exposed in what his healers dressed him in. The room was warm even without the blanket. Max hobbled toward the window, gritting his teeth against the sudden nausea that came with standing.

This room was several stories in the air, allowing for a broad view of some bustling streets below him. It looked like he'd stepped years into the past, given all the plate-clad soldiers and robe-wearing pedestrians. Was this the dark ages? And what was with the huge, golden chickens parading in the streets, clad in steel armor?

"I'm in another world," Max whispered to himself. "I died and this is the other side."

His voice, though quiet, bounced off the vaulted ceiling. The place was huge and oddly empty.

Max couldn't find his bag but at the side of his bed were all of his things, some a little worse for wear. A couple of his tools were blackened and all he had of his rations were one loaf of bread.

The halls outside were long and branched out in all directions. Max hesitated outside his room, swallowing. Someone walked by, casting him a weird look.

What if he got lost? How was he supposed to find the way out? "Excuse me," he said, stopping a passing girl in plain robes. "I'm looking for my friends, a white-haired kid about my age and a stout guy wearing a bear?"

"They're speaking with the king. If you take a right down that way, and then a left, then another left, then a right, and another left, you'll find the throne room. Can't miss it!"

"Thanks," Max said slowly, retracing the pattern in his head as the girl rushed off with a giggle. She couldn't have been older than twelve. Max quickly regretted sending her away so soon as he walked in the direction she'd indicated. First it was a right… then… left? Max laughed nervously as he passed another person, this one an older man. "Sorry, but where can I find the throne room?"

The man pointed on. "You're on the right path. Just keep going that way."

Max nodded in thanks. He kept stopping people, asking each one for directions, and for the most part they all added up. The room ended up being at the end of a hallway that kept going for ages until it reached a large set of double doors, engraven with various images and symbols.

Voices spoke inside, some urgent, others not so much; Max couldn't make out the words. He hesitated before the door. What was he supposed to do? Have someone else let him in? No one thought it was weird that he looked for it on his own, so perhaps he could just walk in?

Shrugging to himself, Max knocked.

"Enter!" a child's voice responded.

The door creaked open into a vast room, with the same towering windows from the hospital room—only these ones were inlaid with various, stained colors—and lush, red carpet leading up to a throne toward the back. Wooden chairs lined the walls to the sides, though few were occupied now. Guards stood ready at the door and more at the throne's side.

Luneth, Goro, and another guy with a green hat were conversing with a kid that wore finely tailored robes and relaxed against the throne that was three times his size. The kid wore a fitted crown, inlaid with various jewels and didn't seem to notice Max entering, being too caught up in the conversation to look his way.

"… Coming up very fast," Luneth was saying. "We don't know what's going to happen within the next few weeks, and by the time we finish, it might be too late! It's already covered the Floating Continent!"

"We've already survived one instance of this," the kid replied. "There's nothing for us across the ocean. Even if time was frozen, I could argue it would be worse to find new lives for all of my people in a foreign land. There are setbacks, yes-"

"Setbacks? Alus, it may as well be the end of their lives!"

"Don't be so dramatic. I've known ten years with it and it's not so bad as all that. This isn't Xande, after all."

"No, it's worse! You idiot, it could be a thousand years this time! Xande was a wimp! This is the Void we're talking about, not a whiny immortal with a chip on his shoulder! If he gets any further, we lose the world! The problem upstairs is bad enough by itself!"

The kid waved a dismissive hand. "We beat it last time. How is this different?"

Luneth sighed in disgust. "It's not as simple as just fixing it!"

"Luneth, please. I'll send reinforcement and supplies, if that helps. We're still on the same side!"

"That's not good enough!"

Max cleared his throat, stepping a little further forward. They finally stopped, heads turning to look at him like he was a dead fly hanging off the wall. "Hey," he said, gesturing to his robe. "I can't exactly travel very easily in this. Can I maybe get another pair of overalls?"

The king and Luneth glanced at each other. Goro grunted. The green hat guy looked expectantly at the king.

"It's true," Goro said. "He looks like a girl with those. Allow the man some dignity, especially if he's gonna get himself killed."

"Hey!" Max protested. "Who says I'm going to die?"

"Your face does," Goro said.

"My what?"

"It screams naivety more than a house cat sent into the wild."

The cat by the guy in the green hat hissed.

"Either way," Green Hat said, "we need to get going, now that Max is awake. Where can we find supplies?"

"I've prepared a room for you to look through." The king gestured and one of the guards stepped forward. "Ron will take you there. Bring what you need, leave what would become unnecessary baggage. Luneth."

Luneth glared back.

"I trust you," the king said, ignoring the blatant hostility directed his way. "And I will do my best to heed your counsel, but I make no promises."

Luneth turned away again, muttering. Max only caught the words "waste" and "privileged."

"So," Max said. "Uh, clothes?"

"Ah," the king said, "of course. Enaim will take you to be outfitted. We have the finest selection of leather and armor available, if you so wish. Is there anything in particular you would request? There are some materials I may have to order in from one of my vassals."

"I don't know about leather," Max said. "But I don't suppose you would happen to have any denim, would you?"

"Denim?" Goro repeated. "What in Jurak's nostrils is he babbling about?"

Everyone else shook their head. Max took the hint. "Okay, that's fine. I guess I'll go see what else you have…"

In all his time adventuring, Max never imagined a time would come where he would be the mysterious kid from the future.

Granted, even if he had imagined it, the image would have turned out nothing like this. He stood in front of a shop run by a haggard old woman in a patchwork dress. Despite her comely appearance, the shop itself was well-stocked and full of strange concoctions like Luneth's potions that lined every wall.

He hadn't really thought about it much, back when he was with Monica. It felt almost like she was the shield between him and this strange world. She already knew how to incorporate herself into a different time, so she automatically took charge when interacting with the people here.

But now that it was just Max and his new friends, all of whom belonged to this period even if they all came from different places, he was the fish out of water. It was kind of cool, in some ways. If he had the time right, then he knew a lot more about what would happen than anyone currently living. Well… he knew a little more. Palm Brinks had been cut off for so long, they lost a lot of the history connected with the rest of the world.

Max leaned down to look at the bottles on the shelf. The way they caught the light was just a little dulled, compared to most of the bottles they used in his mansion. "Are none of these made with crystal?" he asked. "It's thinner and would take up less space."

The woman choked. "Son, you think I would stoop so low to sell my wares?"

"What? Is crystal cheap here?"

"Exactly what land do you hail from, child?"

Max shook his head. "I actually just came from across the ocean, from a city called Queens. Do you know it?"

The woman shook her head. "I've heard stories of the boundless ocean, but ships going between have only just started sailing again. Where do you think one like myself would find the money?"

"Oh. I'm sorry-"

She waved a hand. "I don't care for none of that foreign stuff, anyway. It's just a fad."

"So what's wrong with crystal?"

"Blasphemy, that's what it is! Making something out of that stuff, it's just not right. Not natural."

"Not natural?"

The woman scoffed. "The Crystals, child! They guard us, protect us, elect and power warriors to save us from imbalance, and yet…" She clucked her tongue. "The thought that someone might use their very same substance for everyday wares. It's quite disturbing."

Max opened his mouth to respond and froze, a strange feeling tickling his spine. Smelled darkness. Were they followed? Was it Flagg, the guy that Goro talked about? "I understand," he said. He needed to talk to the others, scope out the area.

"Good," the woman said, looking strangely satisfied, like she just won an argument. "Now, I recommend not asking that question too often. People here, they might start wondering."

Max turned to leave. "I'll be careful."

Luneth and Toan were hanging close to a food shop and Luneth was gesturing wildly. Xiao and Goro weren't anywhere to be seen.

Max quickened his step. Flotsam was supposed to be dead, but he couldn't shake that feeling of two eyes watching him.

"Hey!" Max called, coming over. "Luneth, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Do you worship crystals?"

Toan raised an eyebrow, folding his arms. "I know a people that deify a big tree, but I've yet to see one does that to rocks."

Luneth shrugged. "Some do. For me, they're more like my boss. I don't build altars or anything, but I have friends that do. I just do what they tell me and get sweet goods from it."

Max nodded. "And because of that, you don't use crystal?"

"Well… it depends. If you ask Refia, she'll say that what we call crystal is actually completely unrelated to them in the… what was the word she used? Structure? Composition? Something like that. But some consider the correlation to make crystalware a little disrespectful."

"Interesting," Max said, pulling out a notepad.

"What's that?" Toan asked.

Max gestured with his pen. "I've been taking notes of everything I have to tell my dad when I get back."

Luneth perked up. "You won't tell your mom?"

Toan suddenly took that chance to distract himself with another stand some distance off. Max shook his head. He hesitated in writing the rest of the note, a surge of bitter memories washing over him. "Our relationship is kinda complicated. She came from a different time than us and decided that the life she had was more important to her. So she left."

Luneth grabbed Max's shoulder, shaking his head. "That's tough, man. I never knew my parents, either. But the ones I have now are better than my real parents could ever be, so it's fine."

Max nodded, jotting down the rest of his notes and pushing down the memory of his meeting with Mom. "Okay. Don't look now, but I think we're being followed."

Luneth stiffened. "What?"

"Pretend to keep talking." Max kept writing out nonsense. "We might be able to throw them off."

Luneth reached out with his mind to taste the air. Max wasn't wrong, but Luneth didn't immediately find anything-

Nope, Max was right. It smelled like the Cloud of Darkness, like nothingness that stretched on for forever. Luneth pulled at-

Nothing. His sword didn't come to him. Luneth gaped, looking at his empty hand, before snapping back to the present moment. "Clear the plaza!" Luneth shouted. "Everyone, get out! Get out, now!"

No one listened at first. Max gave him a strange look. "Is it really so-?"

Luneth raised his voice, "GET OUT, ALL OF YOU!"

There was a moment of stunned silent before murmurings of "Warrior of Light" rippled through and realization dawned. Luneth still wore the seal granted him by Alus, which didn't give him free potions. But it did tell people that he had much the same authority as the king, and if he gave an order, then they'd better fulfill it.

Commotion. People scrambled to pack and leave, creating a churning mass of people. In a matter of moments, the throng parted to reveal a still figure in a swishing black cloak. Hidden under a large helmet, a shadowed face stared back at Luneth. Armor scaled the figure's body, pitch-black in color and lined in gold.

Luneth made his way through the dissipating crowd. "Who are you?"

Twin swords hung from the stranger's hips, scarlet red and streaked with black. They remained idle as he watched Luneth.

"Why are you here?" Luneth asked.

Beside him, Max fell into place, wrench in hand.

Still nothing. A shiver ran up Luneth's spine, reminding him of haunted caves and tainted fae realms. "We beat you back once!" he reminded it. "Do you honestly think you can try the same thing again? Xande is gone! Whoever your puppet is now, he's not going to do what you want! Not while we have anything to say about it!"

"Heh," the stranger finally said, voice deep and echoing. He then flashed out of sight.

Luneth started, grabbing for his swords again before—

Pain exploded in his back and Luneth hit the ground.

Luneth dropped and Max dove away.

The knight lunged. Fast! Max dashed through abandoned stands and around screaming pedestrians. "Run!" he shouted, twisting between shops and stands. As long as he kept this guy distracted, they could at least give the market-goers time to escape.

Max's heart raced; any second now he would probably crash into something and die via red, slicey death.

He spun and launched himself at the knight, but was easily rebuffed. Max ran again just as the knight nicked his shirt with a slash of his blade.

He couldn't keep this up for long. Where was Toan?

The plaza emptied and Max leveled his Starbreaker. Emptied the cartridge, but only a couple of his shots hit, ringing off against the knight's armor. The knight flashed out of the way the bullets so fast that he blurred in Max's vision.

Was this guy even human?

More footsteps sounded down the twisting aisles of the plaza.

Max yelped when the blades came down again, one of them cutting into his shoulder. Max buckled and rolled away.

"Toan!" he shouted, catching a glimpse of his orange-clad friend.

Toan hesitated, looking between the two while Goro appeared and charged the creature. That gave Max a chance to back further away and catch his breath.

"Aga?" Toan asked. "… Father?"

Max stumbled—and crashed into a food stand.

Silence fell as Max regained sense of his surroundings. He was buried in fruit up to his ears, his legs went numb from the impact, and his head swam, but he—miraculously—wasn't dead. In fact, the knight wasn't even near him. Instead, he fought with Goro some distance from Toan, who joined the fray. Xiao hung back and hissed, back arching.

Max stood and wiped fruit juice from his clothes. "What?"

"I know it's you!" Toan continued, raising his voice even as he danced in and out of range of the knight's attacks. Goro struggled to keep up with the two. "You don't have to do this!"

Max slapped one side of his face. Maybe the blast of the bullets did more damage to his ears than he had realized. This didn't make any sense.

"Aga-"

The knight flashed out of sight again for a split second before kicking out Toan's knees. The cat retaliated, leaping at the knight, and was promptly thrown to the side.

Toan stumbled backward and crashed into a stand.

Max screamed and charged in. The knight took Goro through the leg, then charged at Max, ramming the butt of his sword into Max's stomach.

Pain exploded in his torso as the wind left Max's lungs. He crumpled and his head hit something hard.

The seagulls went silent. Luneth cracked an eye open, but the world refused to come into focus. The knight was little more than a looming shadow and his friends were blurry lumps sprawled over the plaza. The knight advanced on Toan's crumpled form.

Luneth dug his fingers into the wood, feeling splinters cutting into his hand. A small blur shifted by Toan—Xiao. She moved to stand between him and the knight.

You can't help him, Luneth thought, gritting his teeth against the blazing pain in his side, you can't fight. You don't have the power.

But… he did. The heat inside his heart, the heat that pushed aside his Crystal light, that burned away his need to eat and sleep—that heat was still repressed, but now pushed for freedom. And it didn't feel contained like the crystal's power did. It felt like it could be shared. Like it wanted to be shared.

He reached for that heat, and felt the last of the Crystal's light fade, sealed away somewhere deep inside. The pain dimmed and the world came into focus.

He climbed to his feet. The knight paused and turned toward him. A pinprick of red glowed behind his visor and he growled, the sound reverberating through the wood beneath their feet and giving rise to a sickening feeling in Luneth's gut.

A blade flashed parallel to his eyes. Luneth watched the metal warp in front of his face, twisting like a drop of blood hitting pure water, seemingly incapable of even touching Luneth. Though it sprayed shrapnel in a ring around him.

Well. He wasn't sure what did that, but he wasn't going to complain. As the knight threw aside his useless sword, Luneth called power to his fingertips, and threw it.

It flowed over the knight, warping just like how the blade had.

That echoing growl grew louder and Luneth understood his opponent's frustration.

They couldn't touch each other.

The knight spun on his heel, stomping back toward Toan.

Luneth tried to summon a shield. Glowing, gold energy formed in front of the knight, but he walked right through it. It didn't even give him pause. The energy parted around him, flowing like honey. It dispersed.

Xiao stepped in. The knight kicked her aside and raised his blade above Toan. Xiao landed with a small thud across the street.

The world unfocused again. Luneth felt like he was floating. He wasn't going to stay on his feet much longer.

There were so many people lying down, but not him. And not the knight in front of him.

The knight. He was surrounded by a cloud, a dark fog around his person.

Luneth shook his head. Focus. Called more power to his fingertips and it gathered like a swarm of fireflies—there seemed to be an endless supply just out of sight, hidden in the sky and beneath his feet. He was only limited by how much he could hold at once.

He didn't know how he was doing it, though. Barely even knew what he was doing. It all came instinctively.

But he knew what he wanted to do. He pushed the energy outward, into every living thing nearby. If they had this power too, then the knight and its cloud wouldn't touch them—

But it didn't stick.

Something screamed.

Was it him?

He fell to his knees. Wasn't sure when that happened. His sight pulsed, but a small breath and bit of energy held the pain at bay. He felt a… fast-fading link…

The cat.

The power evaporated when it flowed into the fallen people.

But in the cat, it caught.

Now a girl with furry ears and a bell on her neck stood above Toan, holding the knight's sword. She promptly tossed the blade away and stood ready with clawed hands.

Something was… wriggling… inside that armor. Struggling. The world grew darker. The armor took a forced step forward and the cat braced herself.

The knight turned. And ran away.

Luneth straightened, struggling to his feet. Toan and the cat-turned-girl were fine. And the knight was gone. Mixed fortunes, he thought. Would have been nice to get rid of the knight for good.

He had to get… down. Down? Down from where? He had to get over there, to where Toan was lying. He just had to put one foot in front of the other and move!

Luneth cried out in frustration as his limbs protested. Like his body didn't want to walk. Why wouldn't it?!

Because that's not the way you travel.

Luneth remembered Ruby and the way she glided through the air. Why did that feel right?

Shock, he told himself. Though it felt like swimming through tree sap, he forced himself to his feet. His limbs resisted, trying to do something other, but conceded.

He moved forward and crouched beside Toan. His mana felt dry in his veins, but the cut in his friend's chest didn't look too serious. He pulled a potion from his bag—thank Odin he got all his supplies before the Cloud showed up—and propped up Toan's head.

Xiao kneeled beside him. "What is that?" She wore a long tunic now, with traveling shoes and black, knee-length leggings. Definitely Norune's fashion. Strange, that whatever transformed her also gave her very… unique attire.

"It's like a healing spell you can keep in your pocket."

"Like fish?"

"… Sure."

Xiao shrugged. "Will Master still hurt after?"

"'Master'?"

"He's the one that saved me from the bad men. So he's my master." There was an unspoken duh at the end of that sentence.

Luneth pocketed the empty vial as Toan choked and blinked open glassy eyes.

"Where's Max and Goro?" Toan asked.

Xiao stood and skipped over to where Max lay amidst a heap of debris. Blood soaked his borrowed robes, staining the once-pristinely-white outfit red, but Luneth hought red was more of Max's color, anyway. White reeked of death and rebirth, not a thirst for adventure and excitement. He popped a hi-potion this time. It was pretty safe to assume that Max was in worse shape than Toan at this point and deserved something a little higher-grade.

"Hey," Xiao said as Luneth emptied the vial into Max's slightly-open mouth. "Can I get one, too?"

"Sure," Luneth said, offering her a small potion. She chugged it happily, but her expression quickly soured. "It tastes gross."

Luneth shrugged, then went to find Goro, who somehow got buried in the remains of a destroyed perfume shop. Luneth and Xiao hauled him out of the bed of shattered wood, then laid him barely-conscious between Toan and Max. Goro stared into nothing as Luneth got to work finding his ointments. Given the debris he sustained in the crash, it would be better to clean his wounds first this time.

"Hey!" Xiao shouted into Goro's ear. "Look! I'm back!"

Goro rolled away from her, moaning. Luneth pulled out his ointment, then winced when he noticed several large splinters sticking out of Goro's limbs and torso. "Keep him distracted," Luneth said, cracking his knuckles. "This is gonna hurt."