Chapter 20: "What's in a Name?"

Nathan rolled his neck as he sat up in his bed and crossed his arms over his knees, thinking about the training scene from the previous day. The steady rain drumming on the roof soothed his thoughts, but not enough to let him go back to sleep. Matthew sounded as if he were scolding him for his constant 'frontal assault' mentality.

"You need to stop trying to smash through the center of your enemy. If you use all your power right at the beginning, you'll have nothing left if more enemies appear. You'll give away your most powerful moves so the enemy can watch for them." Nathan looked up to Matthew in many ways and badly wanted to be as powerful as he was. But many times, he would be reminded that Matthew had more battle experience and had the Ruby Crystal's power at his disposal. So, even if he were to become a Master spearman, he would never be as powerful as Matthew.

"What I admire about you is that you make up for your lack of strategy with brute force. If you can time WHEN you go all out, you'll be just fine." Nathan smiled a bit, remembering the compliment. Aeris sat beside him, kissed his shoulder sleepily, and put her cool hand on his arm.

"Hey, what's keeping you up?" Nathan looked at Aeris and leaned his head against hers, gently kissing the top of her head.

"It's nothing; training under Matthew is a bit brutal sometimes." He mumbled. Aeris nodded.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Jack tends to overdrive me a bit, but I like it; it makes me want to try all the harder to become a master," she said, lying back down. Nathan leaned over, supporting his head with his elbow, tracing an invisible design on Aeris's stomach.

"What do you say we ask to go with them on our Master's next mission? I'm getting bored here just watching over the outer border and doing drills." Aeris smiled sleepily and nodded.

"Sounds good to me. Now, let's get back to sleep," Aeris mumbled, rolling over to her side and pulling Nathan's arm around her waist as she fell back asleep.


Jenny woke when she heard something in the distance over the rain as if someone were training. Carefully, she got out of bed, threw on her cloak, slipped on her boots, and headed out to the training area. She found Antonia standing amid the hundreds of targets: arrows scattered everywhere. Trees sported numerous arrows, as did the ground and several targets on the clearing's rim. Jenny waited to see what Antonia would do, watching as she drew her bow and fired arrows frantically. At times, she would swing her bow wildly, fire a poorly aimed shot, and then swing her bow again, sweeping the rain aside.

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM HIM! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM!" she screamed, reaching up and firing weak Spine Arrows in random directions. She reached down and dragged a log until she slipped in the mud and began firing arrows again. Jenny looked closer at Antonia and noticed her eyes were unfocused and dull.

"She's having a nightmare!" Jenny realized. There was no way for her to tell how long she had been at this, but the way she was panting could only mean it had been for a while. Jenny heard that waking someone from a nightmare could be harmful, but if Antonia continued, her mana would run dry, and her Life Force would be in grave danger. Jenny decided to risk it and ran for her. Antonia heard her footsteps and looked right at Jenny. Her eyes were half open, but her body responded to the foe she thought she had seen by nocking an arrow and letting it go.

Jenny darted side to side, easily avoiding the arrows being shot at her until she reached Antonia, knocking the bow from her hands. In the same motion, Jenny put both hands on her cheeks, staring her in the eyes. Helen taught Jenny to see how much mana her student had left. However, what she found terrified her: Antonia no longer had mana. For all Jenny knew, Antonia had run out long ago and had been directly drawing from her Life Force.

"Antonia! You need to stop now! You'll kill yourself if you keep going!" Jenny yelled over the rain hissing around them.

"No! He needs me! I HAVE TO GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" Antonia screamed back, struggling to get free and reaching for the log.

"ANTONIA!" Jenny shouted, which seemed to break the nightmare for a short while. Antonia slumped into Jenny's arms and began blinking her eyes as she awoke from her hellish dream. No sooner had she awakened than her eyes filled with tears, and nearly pushed Jenny over as she hugged her. Antonia buried her face in Jenny's chest, letting out wails of grief as Jenny put her arms and cloak around her, shielding them from the fading rain.

"It's alright, I'm right here." Jenny softly spoke, stroking her hair and hushed her while Antonia cried endlessly.

"I tried. I tried so hard, but I couldn't save him," Antonia mourned, repeating her apologies repeatedly. Jenny stood Antonia up and walked her to the edge of the grounds under the trees, wiping her tears away.

"What exactly happened down there in Ludibrium?" She asked softly. Antonia sniffled, wiping away the rain and tears before finding the composure to speak.

"As I said before, two of my friends, my boyfriend, and I all went down to the deeper parts of the Ludibrium Clock tower at the request of the King's Advisor, Tigun, to subdue the creatures remaining after your parents dealt with Papulatus." Jenny lowered her brow as she thought.

"Wait, I thought you said it was a dare?" asked Jenny, remembering her story when they first found her in the dark lower levels of the Clock Tower.

"It was no dare. My mind was so clouded when you found me, I came up with the first answer that came to mind: I just wanted to get out of that horrible place." Antonia sounded as if she were about to cry again but fought back her tears as she continued.

"We were just finishing our assignment when the Black Mage resurrected. It somehow gave all the creatures far more power and resilience. My boyfriend was the strongest of us and did his best to keep us safe while we ran. One of the Viking's spells hit my boyfriend and knocked him down. My other two friends had run off long before, so to give him time, I tried to take on those horrid ghosts, but nothing worked. Even the mighty Force Arrow Master Stacy taught me did nothing but annoy them. My boyfriend used a powerful flame spell to distract them enough so I could drag him to a secure hiding spot until the Vikings went away. The wound he received was bleeding without end.

"I couldn't call for help since that would give away where we were, and I didn't have the strength to carry him up the ladders to the top. All I could do was just stay with him as he bled to death. With his last breath, he cast a spell over me and told me to get myself out. I made my way up a little bit, where I found the bodies of my other two friends. I tried to get out of there many times, but each time, I would encounter creatures that were too powerful. I spent the next six months using different hiding places and scrounging what food I could find. It was only by Minerva's leading that you came and found me." Her tears slowly began to dry as she spoke, giving way to sniffles and red eyes.

"Do you think you still have nightmares about that because you feel guilty?" Jenny asked. Antonia looked away, struggling to hold a new wave of tears back.

"If only I had been stronger, I might have been able to..." Her tears began to fight back into her eyes.

"Don't think that way, Antonia." Jenny interrupted, putting her arms around her and holding her close.

"Just staying with him until the end, I'm sure it eased the fear gripping him. I'm sure that wherever he is, he's glad you lived to become as strong as you are now." Antonia looked up at Jenny and smiled at her words.

"Come on; let's get you back to bed." Jenny smiled, helping the weak Antonia back to Jenny and Olsen's hut, making a soft bed on the floor so she could watch or be near if she had any more nightmares.


Maed pushed the little joystick on his motorized chair over to the window, listening to the groaning from the city's outskirts where those monsters resided. It was the last remainder of experiments conducted as a city. He could gather his forces and eliminate the creatures, but that could look bad. The Zenumists could see that as being remorseful for the atrocities he'd committed in the past. That could make him look weak, so he sat and could only listen to the groanings.

Looking down at the street, he could see his most despised enemy: Carson, the leader of the strict and unimaginative Zenumist Society. Oh, how Maed wanted to wrap his hands around his neck and snuff out his life! They had been the cause of the collapse of the Great Circle, which used to exist in the center of the city, but they would never admit to it. Romaeo, Maed's son, approached the window behind him as he watched Carson walk the streets to the merchant at the corner. Maed pursed his lips hard. That merchant was dangerously near the border of the Alcadno Alliance; it was almost as if Carson were taunting him in defiance.

In the Alcadno Alliance, machines resembling and acting as humans patrolled, created by Maed and his most trusted student, Russelloen. The melding of technology and life alchemy ruled on this side of the city. People from all walks of life wanted to find the secret to life eternal, and Maed would pioneer that research despite warnings and opposition from Carson.

"For the hundredth time, Father, just admit your fault. Why is that so hard?" Maed looked into the glass at his son's eyes, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

"You know why," Maed growled, inching his chair closer to the window.

"Is keeping the city divided worth losing your friend over?" Romeao asked, turning away from the window and looking at his father. Mead wheezed as his mechanical lung worked while the actuators of his mechanical eye twitched.

"They are the ones who broke the alliance with us, tossed us aside as though we were mere garbage because we, The Alcadnos, had the stomach to make machines into living beings." Romeao sighed hard, rolling his eyes and stepping away.

"I don't need the history lesson again, father," he said. Maed slammed his fist on the arm of his chair, bellowing over his shoulder.

"I will tell it as many times as I need so it burns into your soul! We used science to take Alchemy to the zenith of its abilities. But Carson there decided that such experiments were too gruesome and unnatural for their weak stomachs. Furthermore, he has told everyone who comes to Magatia never to trust us or to practice our Alchemy because of its 'Immoral' direction. Remember this always, my son, they are weak." Romaeo sighed and looked out the window: with such a deeply ingrained idea that morals were the cause of their split, how could there ever be peace?

Sure, his father's direction of alchemy was out of the ordinary and maybe even cruel, but couldn't they find peace between one another? Not to mention that the conflict between the two parts of the town had made it nearly impossible to see his beloved Julianne. He waited for the day when he could see her again without causing an uproar throughout the city.


Julianne rolled the beads laced into her hair by Romaeo as a gift for their first anniversary. It seemed so long ago now, from a simpler time, even if tensions were high about how Magatia would pursue alchemy. With a sigh, she descended the stairs of her home in the Zenumist Society, where the giant Alchemic stone hovered in the center of the room, held by numerous red velvet ropes. Just as she reached the bottom step, her uncle entered the door with ingredients for his experiment. He sought a way to create new human tissue without turning the subject into a mindless being of destruction. If he could solve this, he could finally prove to the world that alchemy, not the highly decorated Bishops from Victoria, was the way to cure illness.

"Uncle Carson, do you suppose it would be alright if I were to go out for a while?" Julianne asked innocently, breaking his train of thought.

"No. The last few times I let you go out, I had to come and get you because you were trying to sneak into the Alcadno's main building to see Romaeo. The abominations they call science nearly killed you! I cannot allow you to wander the city freely if you resist my instructions to avoid the dangerous Alcadnos. They were the ones responsible for the collapse of the Great Circle, hurling this city into its sad state. Russellon also has his lustful eyes on you, even when he was a part of the Zenumists! I don't need you anywhere near that monster!"

"But Uncle, I just…"

"No, Julianne! What would your parents say?" Carson snapped. The girl dropped her eyes, knowing that she would never get to go outside of these prison walls that kept her from her childhood friend and lover. But the mention of her parents made her not want to do anything. Carson shook his head, realizing his harshness in mentioning her parents: they were killed in the explosion when the Great Circle collapsed. With apologetic eyes, he walked over to her and put his arms around her.

"Julianne, I'm sorry. But you need to understand that I love and worry about you. You know you are a bit reckless in your choices, right?" Julianne looked away and walked out from under Carson's embrace, walking to the window and rolling the beads between her fingers once more, watching the fog roll through the streets as night set in. Carson sighed and went downstairs, where his disciple Bedlin waited, watching a few test tubes full of different colored goo.

"Oh, Master Carson! Welcome back. I didn't hear you come in. Were you able to get what you needed?" Bedlin asked, returning to a test tube when he heard it bubble. Carson nodded as he set the ingredients down and walked over to the tubes, becoming lost in his work.

However, there was still the roar of the creatures, which from time to time would distract him: they would need to be dealt with soon. The iron door restraining them wouldn't last forever. He could gather his scientist fighters, but that could look bad for him, showing the Alcadnos he was abandoning his beliefs and admitting, in some way, that Mead was right. No, he wouldn't stoop to that level; he couldn't. Carson's eyes lit with the thought of how to deal with the situation when an idea came to mind. He reached for a pad of paper and began writing a letter.

"They could help me with this problem and might even become disciples of mine, which would give the Zenumists far more power within Magatia if it worked!" Carson thought as he furiously wrote the letter, then sealed it and gave it to a messenger to deliver to The Guardians, the ones said to be powerful enough to rid the world of the Black Mage.


When morning finally came, Jack sat up and stretched hard, his shoulders and back cracking. The side of his chest ached from having slept on a small ridge in the rock. As he rubbed the sore spot, he saw Helen still sleeping on the opposite side of the fire pit, using her robes as a pillow and her cloak as a blanket. Jack sighed heavily, rubbing his arms to warm them against the damp cool of the morning.

Almost as if she could sense him staring at her, Helen groaned and sat up, stretching her arms over her head and pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Did you sleep ok?" Jack asked, walking to the mouth of the cave and leaning his back against it, realizing that Eckhart and Oz had already left.

"I slept better than expected but not as well as I should have." She muttered, her matted hair covering her face and shielding her eyes from the bright morning light. An awkward silence fell over them, both unsure of what to say. Their relationship was over, but they were both in a cave away from the village. Jack looked at Helen, admiring her appearance, but turned away. Helen picked up her head and saw Jack standing at the cave entrance. Her spirit ached, wanting to get up, hug him, and be held in return. With a heavy sigh, she shook her head, reminding herself of her choice because they were too different, and she was simply using him as a comfort.

"We should be getting back to town. Everyone's probably worried." Jack announced, picking up his weight and shuffling out. Helen grabbed her robes and followed after him, disappearing through a teleportation. Jack chuckled to himself, breaking into a jog to follow after. When he finally arrived at the breakfast table, the other Guardians were already well into their meal of fried eggs and sweet apples.

"I was beginning to wonder where you were," Lillianne commented, wrapping her arm around Matthew's, taking away the apple he was about to bite into, and eating it herself. Jack smirked, sitting across from Helen, eating silently while the odd tension around them made everyone uneasy.

"Did something happen between you two?" Jenny asked, reaching out to touch Helen's shoulder.

"Not now, Jenny," Helen sighed, looking up to Jack from under her brow and returning to her meal. Uncomfortable silence fell over them for a while, soon giving way to random conversations. As they finished their meal, Grendal approached them, noticing the forced fun among them.

"Can I assume you've all settled most of your difficulties?" the old wizard asked. Olsen nodded as he swallowed a spoonful of eggs.

"I believe so," Olsen mumbled through his overfilled mouth. Grendal nodded to him as he pulled from his sleeve a rolled parchment.

"This letter came just now; the messenger said I should only give it to you six and no one else." Jack, who was nearest to Grendal, reached for it, breaking the wax seal and reading over the neat handwriting before he raised his eyebrows and read the letter aloud.

"To my distinguished Guardians: I am Carson of the Zenumist Society in Magatia. A problem has plagued our city for some time now, and it would be my wish that you would defeat the beasts that have a grip on our city. Please come as soon as possible." Jack was just setting the letter down when Kyrin walked up and began reading the letter, leaning over Jack's shoulder.

"Magatia, eh? Sounds interesting. You think you could let your dear ol' mom come along?" Kyrin asked when Aran interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Kyrin, but I need you to watch the eastern wall. The Rash Tribesmen are becoming quite a nuisance in trying to get to our food stores." Kyrin pursed her lips and heavily set her hands on her broad hips.

"All right, fine, but I'm going to need a break once in a while," she said as she walked over to Aran, put the tip of her finger under his chin, and lifted his head to meet her gaze.

"Catch my drift, big man?" she breathily asked as she walked away, waving her hand as she went.

"Ciao!" she called as she left for duty. Helen looked at the letter, grabbing it from Jack.

"Wait, why didn't Magatia evacuate upon the resurrection of the Black Mage?" she asked.

"Magatia was one of the few places his power didn't threaten. Magatia, Ariant, and even some places in the Showa Isles were left completely untouched. Why is still a mystery," Aran replied, standing to his full height.

"Well, let's go then. I'm itching to get back on the battlefield." Matthew called as he stood, punching his palm. Dances with Balrog came up to the table, having overheard the conversation, and rested a hand on Matthew's shoulder.

"Hold on, son. We must first go to Ariant and secure our entrance documents for Magatia. It is a place steeped with security and often makes going there a nightmare for outsiders."

"Whatever is needed, we shall accomplish. Inform the Tickets that we shall be ready to depart within 30 minutes. " Helen called, looking down at her stained shirt and shaking her head. The six of them were dressed in their armor as promised, getting on the ship just as Grendal, Aran, and Lilin were boarding with them. Nathan, Aeris, and Antonia had convinced their masters to allow them to come along despite knowing that it might be a place that would be too extreme for them.


Eleanor tipped up the small bottle of serum and pulled on the handle of the syringe, pulling in the light blue liquid. Once she had the right amount, she drove the needle through a membrane on the control board in front of a tank, where a fetus was hanging in maturation gel. As Eleanor injected the serum, the vitals of the fetus fluctuated for a moment, returning to normal soon after. She repeated the process on five other tanks, their vitals fluctuating with each injection. Eldan Giant walked into the room with his hands behind his back, looking at the tanks over his dark shades.

"Will this work?" he asked, adjusting his suit jacket. Eleanor smiled as she put the last bit of serum through the last membrane.

"There's no need to be worried. Just by keeping them in the castle, the Master's power will saturate their cells. Besides, this is only a backup plan should the Master fail in his attempt, which is highly unlikely." Eldan shook his head in response to Eleanor's answer.

"That's not what I meant, Eleanor. I meant this." He said as he held up a vial of a black liquid. Eleanor reached for the vial and held it up to the light from the tanks, rolling it between her fingers as she examined it. Satisfied with the specimen, she pushed a button on the control board and pressed the top of the small vial into the hole that opened. Inside the tanks, the liquid began to swirl with the dark substance in a slow, smoke-like motion.

"With continued exposure to the Ginseng, they will become the ultimate of foes. Even on par with the Black Mage." Eleanor said, twisting knobs and flipping a few switches here and there, making sure that the vitals of each fetus remained constant.

"The Mage himself will never have an equal. They may be harder to kill, but your pets will not have the same power as Balrog or I." Horn Tail growled as one of his three heads snaked into the room.

"Then what do you suggest we use to give them the Master's power?" Giant asked, putting his hands behind his back and pulling his arms forward to crack it.

"There are old legends about something on Victoria Island. I ran across them many times when I returned from finding wells of mana in my first life." the hydra said. Eleanor eyed Horn Tail with deep mistrust.

"Why are you telling me this when you want to overpower The Master and become ruler?" she asked. Horn Tail growled and bared his fangs at her, hot air flowing from his nostrils as flames brewed deep in his throat.

"I cannot decipher all of the ancient writing on my own. If you decipher it, then I might be able to use this for my own. Besides, Eleanor, you said these six are merely a backup plan should you fail, isn't that right?" Eleanor narrowed her eyes to him, trying to figure out if he was just trying to kiss up or become a threat against the Black Mage.

"Dragon! To me!" Eleanor called when something dropped from the ceiling, landing softly before her.

"I am here, Mistress Eleanor," Dragon said.

"Did you hear everything?" Dragon nodded, his long onyx locks shimmering in the eerie light.

"Good. Then, find these texts at the Cave of Life with Horn Tail. Take this so that translating the writing will be easier." Dragon took the small device and stood, crossing his fist over his shoulder, making his Bergamot Gauntlet clatter in the dark.

"I shall return as soon as I can." He said shortly as Horn Tail pulled his head out and walked outside the castle, each step making the ground shake. Once they were clear of the door, Dragon jumped atop his back and held on to one of the spines protruding from Horn Tail's neck.

"If you try anything funny, hydra, I will kill you myself." Dragon threatened as all three of Horn Tail's heads turned and looked back at him, thrumming in their throats. Dragon stared back, neither of them saying a word, the tension between them becoming a tangible pressure until Horn Tail spread his massive wings, lifting them into the air.


At the bow of the Ticket's ship, Lillianne stood, letting the wind blow through her silver hair. She leaned against the railing, listening to the wind playing with her hair. She heard the sound of wings beating beside her and turned to see Aufheben flying and waving. Lillianne grinned and motioned for her to approach the ship's deck.

"Aufheben, how have you been doing these past few days?" she asked as the winged girl blushed with shame when Lillianne approached her, stumbling over her words.

"Lillianne, I wanted to ask your forgiveness for what happened the other day…"

"Aufheben, don't stress about it too much. We discussed it with Grendal, and he seems to think there was an outside influence on what happened. However…" Aufheben stepped back as Lillianne's eyes darkened, punching her in the shoulder hard.

"That's for kissing Matthew." She said with a smile. Aufheben smiled back but still rubbed the spot where she had gotten hit.

"That's going to bruise tomorrow. I see. Well, in any case, I just wanted to be sure and apologize for that." Aufheben said, still trying not to meet her eyes.

"I accept; yes, it still stings, but at least I know it wasn't a conscious choice. I might have done something that I would regret," Lillianne smiled, leaning back against the side railing of the ship. Aufheben sighed and joined her, standing in an awkward silence for a bit.

"So, where are you guys headed?" Aufheben asked, still rubbing her shoulder.

"Magatia. Someone named Carson sent a letter asking for help. But we have to go through Ariant first for documents of some kind." Aufheben nodded her understanding as images of her experiences with her sister and their friends Dunas and Asia suppressing a rogue machine came to mind. Aufheben's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a rushing wind approaching them.

"Do you hear that?" Auheben asked. Lillianne listened for a moment, hearing a whistle accompanied by a roar. It wasn't long until the rest of the group came running up to the deck, seeing the enormous form of Horn Tail rocket past them. Each of The Guardians wondered if they could eventually take on such a creature. He was nearly twice the size of the Clipper they were on. Just as Horn Tail was passing them, Jack caught sight of a person riding on his back. For a terrible moment, time froze. His eyes widened when he recognized the rider as Dragon, the one he had faced in the Omega Sector. The image of him wiping out the Mateon settlement with just one strike kept playing in his head as Horn Tail disappeared into the distance.

"Was that who I think it was?" Jenny asked as she looked back and forth between Aran and the quickly disappearing spot in the distance when she heard Joel's voice come over the loudspeaker.

"Ya'll better brace yerselves, 'cause we got ourselves a mighty big wind a-comin' our way!" He shouted as he leaned into the helm. Jenny looked at the bow and felt a tingling in her mind, whispers building from her cloak. Options began filtering into her mind as she knew what to do. Running to the ship's bow, she pulled her cloak around her, bracing against the hurricane of winds coming to them, parting the clouds. When it hit, Jenny was unprepared for the brute force, making the levistones become misaligned, the ship list and lurch as if possessed.

Jenny tried and tried to hold herself steady, a barrier directing the majority of the winds around them, but her footing began to slip, pushing her back on the boards. She struggled with all her might, but her feet lost grip and threw her to the deck. The winds pushed her under the railing as Jenny clawed and reached for a handhold until she felt weightless, watching in horror as her body slid from the deck and into the sky. For the few lightning-quick moments that passed, she felt nothing, closing her eyes as once again the ship slid from her reach; would this finally be her end? She let out her breath in acceptance when she felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist, haul her back onto the bow's deck, and hold her steady.

"You hold the cloak! I'll hold you!" Jack's voice thundered over the wind. Jenny stood stunned for a moment, unsure what she should feel, but right now was not the time as she pulled her cloak before her and held the winds at bay, a bright blue-colored seal appearing as the winds howled around them.

After a few moments, everyone slowly picked themselves up as Joel furiously flipped switches and pressed in numbers on a keypad, trying to realign the levistones.

"So, Horn Tail shows himself outside of the Cave of Life," Grendal said as he used his staff to peel himself from the deck.

"That wasn't all. That swordsman I told you about, the one called Dragon, he was riding on him." Jack said as he and Jenny came back.

"I thought that was him," Jenny said, trying to hide her nervousness. The momentary feel of Jack's enormous arms around her, holding her firmly in place, kept her unable to focus. It was something she'd thought about but never wanted to realize fully. But now that it had happened, she began to wonder what she wanted from Olsen.

"Hey, Y'all! I need one'uh you youngins to get down to the Levistone and knock it back in place! This here alignment control can't compensate for somthin' like this." Matthew waved his hand to Jack as they went below deck. As she watched them leave, Helen remembered a question she wanted to ask Grendal.

"Grandfather, I wanted to ask you something after you told us about Richie. If what you told me about your town becoming a zombie wasteland over 150 years ago, that would make you near 170, am I right?" Helen asked. Grendal nodded, trying to return to the deck below, but Helen stopped him again.

"The only other one who is at least that old is Athena, and she's an elf. How in the world can a normal human survive for that long?" Grendal cleared his throat as his eyes became serious.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked somberly.

"If it has anything to do with being a mage, then, yes, I want to know. I dislike the idea of outliving my friends. I've already done that once, and you witnessed the result." Grendal nodded and sighed as he turned to stare across the white expanse of clouds.

"Mages have an extra long lifespan because of the spells they will learn over time. Why do you think it was hundreds, even thousands of years before Minvera died? And even then, she still looked like a teenager according to the legends." Grendal said when Aran walked up to them, hearing their conversation.

"Yes, it is true, Helen. Minerva looked very young when I met her for the first time. Because of her youthful appearance, I had initially mistaken her for an adolescent mage." Helen's shoulders fell slightly, thinking of her next question.

"Does that mean I will outlive all of my friends?" Grendal shrugged and tilted his head.

"That is a question I can't confidently answer, Helen. Since you all possess a Crystal's power within you, I can't be certain how much longer your lives will be than any normal human." Helen nodded as she sighed, questions mounting in her head. Would she be the only one of her friends alive when she got old? The thought didn't sit well with her.


Romaeo walked through the streets of the Alcadno Alliance side of town: things in this part of town were always so dirty from the grease and steam that emanated from the machines lining the streets. Maed had sent him on an errand for more steel from the smith's shop when he saw someone sprinting down the road another block over. Romaeo ran to the next block, where he saw someone with a black cloak wrapped around them. The person looked like a girl as she turned down a road, looking for something as she went. Something about her seemed familiar as she walked, especially the periodic glimpse of beads that would swing out from under her hood. Romaeo looked back and forth for a moment and then turned down the same road, walking toward the girl quickly until he was within arm's reach.

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked. The girl seemed to freeze and look up at him with a frightened expression until something looked familiar to her.

"Romaeo?" she asked, reaching up and pulling the hood from her head.

"Julianne! What are you doing here!?" hissed Romaeo in surprise, pulling her hood back up as he pushed her back into an alley.

"I wanted to see you, Romaeo. My uncle has become such a bother that he won't let me go out anymore!" She whimpered.

"You snuck out of the Zenumist house?" Romaeo asked in concern, looking around to make sure that no one or nothing was there to see her.

"Romaeo? Is that you, Romaeo?" Russellon's voice asked from nowhere, making Romaeo jump and push Julianne back into the shadows.

"Russellon! I didn't see you there." Russellon's eyes became narrow while he turned his head in suspicion of something.

"Who were you talking to, Romaeo?"

"Talking to? Talking to who? I wasn't talking to anyone. There's no one here." He said nervously, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall to try and keep Russellon from looking down the alley.

"I see. Maed has told me to come and tell you that we no longer need that shipment of steel tomorrow. We can just use the Stage One AniRoids in our experiment. Are you sure you're not hiding something from me, Romaeo?" Russellon asked with an edge in his voice.

"No, no, nothing at all. There's nothing of interest here." He said as Russellon pulled his mechanical hand from his sleeve, revealing his fingers made into sharpened points and touching them under Romaeo's chin.

"That's good. Because if you were hiding something from me, I'd be inclined to kill you right here and now. Are we clear on that point?" Russellon asked, adding a heavy emphasis on the "t" that ended his sentence.

"A-a-a-a-a-and why would you want to do that? We're on the same side here." Romaeo stuttered as he could feel the cold, sharp tip of Russellon's mechanical hand.

"Unlike Maed and his impractical attachment to you, I have no qualms about using any life I find to further the Alcadno research. The only reason keeping me from using you is that I need Mead's resources, and my killing you could jeopardize that." He laughed. Romeao nodded his head as his eyes bounced back and forth between Russellon's eyes and his hand. With a smirk and a chuckle, Russellon pulled his hand from under Romaeo's chin and patted his cheek, the metal of his hand clanking before walking away.

"Carry on then, boy. I'll meet you back at the house." Romaeo remained stiff for quite some time until Russellon was well on his way down the road before turning back to Julianne.

"Is he always like that?" Julianne asked once she was sure that Rusellon was out of earshot.

"Unfortunately, yes. Look, you can't stay here. Russellon is wise to your being here, and the guard droids will be here any moment. But I will find some time and meet you in a secret place where just the two of us can be left alone, alright?" Julianne looked up at him with large and sad eyes, her lower lip quivering as she gripped his hand.

"Promise?" she asked. Romaeo held her close and kissed the top of her head.

"I promise." He said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips and then pointing the way out as he made his way back to the metal smith's. Hopefully, the security droids at the back of the city wouldn't catch her. If the droids found her, it would be trouble. But if Russellon found her, it would be worse.

She ran through the streets, making sure not to be seen by any of the Alcadnos, for they would signal the droids, and then it would be all over. Just as she was rounding a corner, looking over her shoulder to make sure that no one and nothing was following her, she ran right into someone who reached out and grabbed her wrists.

"Well, well, well, look at the mouse I found trying to get away." Julianne froze as she looked up into the man's eyes

"You…" and then all went dark as he struck her over the head.


Even after Matthew's and Jack's grunting and heaving, the levistone within the ship wasn't all the way realigned. But they'd aligned enough to limp into Ariant without further problems until a mechanic could look at it, landing at the desert port two hours later. As they descended the stairs from the ship, all the Guardians could do was stare in shock at the poverty surrounding them. People everywhere wore ragged clothes while they sifted through the garbage, looking for an edible piece of something to eat.

"What's wrong with this place?" Antonia asked, feeling a bit self-conscious of her clothes, looking like fine linen compared to the bare rags the people were wearing. The staff at the port wore some slightly better clothes, but they still looked like rags by comparison.

"No one is sure what happened. But it became apparent when the current queen came to power, draining everything out of the land and making it nothing more than her piggy bank." Aran replied. As they spoke, a child ran up to them and tugged on Olsen's cloak.

"Please, mister, do you have any food you can spare?" Olsen felt a stab of guilt hit him in the chest as he shook his head disappointedly. The child became sad as he hung his head and walked away while Aran and Grendal walked up to a building with dotted and curved writing.

"Yes, what can I help you with?" the man behind the counter asked.

"We need to get a visa for Magatia," Grendal answered. The man rolled his eyes and began talking under his breath.

"Magatia, of course, Magatia, no one wants to come here to Ariant, so why didn't I have the documents ready? Alright, take these forms and fill them out. Bring them back to me when you've finished." He said with a growl. As Aran and Grendal worked, Helen turned back to see a small child peeking around a corner and quickly pulling back as he tried to hide. He slowly peeked out again at her as she watched him, seeming to be entranced by how her Azure Require flowed in the warm breeze. After a while, she let her curiosity get the best of her and walked over, waiting until the child was behind the corner, then teleporting to it and squatting down. When the child peeked out again, he looked like he would jump out of his skin, seeing she was beside him.

"It's alright. What is your name, little one?" she asked. The boy just looked at her and set something in her hand as he turned and ran. Helen looked down at the object in her hand as Matthew approached her.

"What is it?" Helen opened her hand, revealing a small scrap of paper. When she unrumpled it, she saw the words 'help Ariant' written on it. Matthew took the piece of paper and looked over it, wondering if the series of events here in Ossyria would be the same as the game.

"Alright, everyone, we have the documents. Matthew, Helen?" Aran asked as he came back to them. Helen took back the piece of paper and handed it to Aran.

"Who gave you this?" Asked Aran.

"A little one who ran off as soon as he gave it to me," Helen replied as Aran's eyes looked back down at the paper, seeming to become sad.

"There isn't much we can do for them. We should hurry on to Magatia." Aran said coldly.

"Aran! What are you talking about; will you abandon these people?" Lilin asked, stopping Aran before he took many more steps.

"We have our mission; we can't help every person we meet. Some people just can't be..."

"Aran! I will stay behind and find out what they need." Helen interjected sternly, glancing at Jack and letting out a heavy sigh. Her heart still ached, and some time away from him may help to dull the pain.

"Nathan and I will stay behind as well," Aeris said as Matthew nodded. Aran sighed heavily, agitation in his eyes.

"Very well. It will take us some time to get back to you if you need help." Aran warned.

"I will stay behind as well. I have some experience in healing spells. They aren't as potent as Grendal's or Helen's, but they should do the trick." Lilin added. Olsen also stated his desire to remain; he worried Helen wasn't wholly focused and might injure herself or others without some kind of aid from someone familiar with her skill set. Aran sighed and hugged Lilin before heading towards the western gate, taking his group to Magatia.

"I don't know where we should start." Olsen mused, looking around the village but seeing everyone shy away from, run, or just not look them in the eye as they walked through the town. Trying to find out what exactly they needed to do or what went wrong was proving to be complicated.

"You four don't want to be walking around here just out in the open too much, or else the queen's army of mutant cacti will haul you in." a woman's voice said from a street corner. Aeris turned around and pulled her pistol, aimed at a woman dressed in loose pink pants and top, with laughing reddish-brown eyes and long strawberry blond hair.

"Put down your gun, Aeris," Olsen commended. "My name is Olsen DaLor, the Guardian Ninja. And who would you be, miss?" he asked, crossing his hand over his chest and slightly bowing.

"How do you know we can trust her?" Aeris whispered.

"Aeris, just stay calm. If the game is anything like Ossyria, her name should be Sirin." Olsen whispered back.

"Guardian Ninja, you say? So does that mean you are here with four others?" the woman asked.

"No, the other four left for Magatia on an urgent mission."

"I see…" she sighed, turning around and waving her hand.

"Come with me. We need to find somewhere private to talk." Helen looked to Olsen, who nodded, motioning for Lilin, Aeris, and Nathan to walk ahead of them while Helen was the last to follow.


It seemed like hours, even taking the caravan of swift-running camels to Magatia. However, their arrival confused them; they could feel the day's heat and yet had to rely on the light from the gas-burning lamps just to see.

"Man, what a…" Matthew froze with his next step. Fear gripped him so completely that he couldn't even speak.

"Matthew? What's wrong?" Lillianne asked, about to place a hand on his shoulder when Grendal pulled her back.

"No, Lillianne, don't touch him. Otherwise, you too will be affected by what lies below." Carefully, Grendal cast a sacred spell around Matthew and pulled him away from the area he had stepped into.

"What happened?" Antonia asked, looking at the road but unable to see anything until she noticed a curved line where not even the moss in the cobblestone street grew.

"You can't feel that, Antonia?" Jenny asked, looking pale as Matthew slowly overcame the fear he experienced. Antonia was confused as he looked back and forth between Jenny and the ground, trying to figure out what Matthew had felt as Lillianne's face went pale as well. Grendal walked up to the line, scowling at the ground.

"Whatever happened here, the Black Mage had a hand in it. There is an extremely high concentration of Black Magic below ground. It's the presence that made him freeze in fear." Grendal continued, looking around at the buildings in awe.

"What happened here?" He asked when the voice of a man came up behind him.

"I can get you the inside story for a small fee." A man said, rubbing his thumb and fingers as though signaling he wanted money. Jack eyed the man with a sly smirk and walked up to him, drapping an arm over his shoulders.

"Your name wouldn't happen to be Han, would it?" The man seemed startled momentarily and smirked as well.

"Ah, I see, so you have heard of me?" Jack smirked and nodded, speaking with a confident swagger.

"Yeah, I have. I know all about your secret little underground academy and how you use it to get others into the…"

"Hush, hush, hush! Not so loud! You'll get me in a lot of hot water with both factions!" Han pleaded, looking around as though someone was listening.

"Then I suppose we can forget your 'little' fee. Unless you want to be found out." Jack teased. Han paled, not wanting to say or do anything. He thought about running but thought this brawler before him would no doubt stop him before he had a chance to get very far.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you, but you owe me for this!" Han growled, motioning for them to follow him to a building littered with papers and old fountain pens.


The woman led them to what appeared to be an abandoned building. She knocked on the door three times, after which a window slid open and a voice from inside whispered.

"Who is that knocks at the gate?"

"The good shepherd and his flock." The window slid shut, and the door opened into a shaded room where the five were ushered in quite quickly, the door being closed and barred behind them. The person who opened the door led them through a maze of hallways. At the end was a room where a tall man overlooked a conveyor belt where people would grab rocks and split them to gather a violet and black ore that would sometimes be inside. The woman came to a blanket that was stationed between them and the man, kneeling to one knee.

"Jano, I have brought a few who wish to help." Jano pulled his hands behind him and turned around to face them, revealing his scarred right eye. He bore rough-looking features, with sand-stained rags clothing his well-etched body.

"Keturah, what have you done? How do you know these five aren't spies sent by the queen?!" Jano demanded in a rough voice.

"I meant well. These people come here with the Hero of Old. Part of their group has split off to go to Magatia."

"You haven't answered my question: how do you know these five aren't from the Queen?!" he said, louder than before.

"Jano, these people came with Aran; how can you still doubt them?" Jano walked up to Keturah and drew his hand back across her face.

"You acted without thinking of the consequences! What if some of the Queen's soldiers had spotted you? What then?! By bringing them here, you have put all of us at risk of the Queen's wrath. She would wipe out everything we stand for in a heartbeat! It's hard enough trying to stay ahead of the Queen's soldiers, and now you bring five strangers to our sanctum?"

"Jano, I made sure no one followed me! Finding people with a fighting spirit has been impossible since she…" Jano drew his hand back, and Kenturah flinched, but before he could even start moving, Olsen appeared and grabbed his wrist. Hot pink aura drifted from his shoulders like smoke as the ninja glared at him.

"Don't," Olsen warned, his hand brushing the butt of his dagger. Jano Stepped back, looking almost fearful as his face drained of most of its color.

"What magic is this?" Jano demanded.

"This is Olsen DaLor; he's one of the Six Guardians we've been hearing so much about throughout Ossyria," Kenturah answered, rubbing her cheek and standing. Jano examined Olsen, almost mesmerized by how the power flowing from his body moved.

"You? The Guardian Ninja of Ossyria? That can't be; you're just a child!" Jano hissed.

"If you wish, you can test me yourself." Olsen purred as the power around him diminished. Jano slowly shook his head as Olsen let go and stepped away.

"There will be no need for that. You must understand the people of Ariant are very weary of anyone from outside of our city. Before you can move freely throughout Ariant, you must become a citizen. Sirin!" he called as a woman who appeared to be an older version of Keturah walked in.

"Yes, Jano?"

"Do we still have any of the oasis water left?" Jano asked, motioning towards the five that stood there. Sirin looked them over briefly as her eyes went a bit wide.

"I believe we do; I shall go and get it," she said. Lilin looked over to Keturah, then knelt and began taking care of the bright red mark on her cheek that was quickly turning to a bruise where Jano had struck her. Sirin returned with the water skin and noticed what Lilin was doing.

"What happened to my sister?" she asked with a shrill tone. Jano looked away, trying to seem occupied with something on the small table near the window. Helen tilted her head towards Jano, making Sirin sadly shake her head. She reached for some clay cups and poured some water into each.

"Drink. This act signifies that you are now a citizen of Ariant." Olsen looked confused: if this was supposed to be the allied force against the queen, The Sand Bandits, then how would any city officials leave them alone if they didn't do it publicly?

"Don't worry about the formalities; we have contacts within the palace that can work you into the records," Sirin commented as Jano sat cross-legged at his desk, which was nearly on the floor.

"From what I have heard, you are at least familiar with who we are here in Ariant?" Helen and Olsen nodded as Jano contemplated whether or not he could trust them completely.

"If you truly are who you say you are, I would like you to prove your loyalty to us by finding and then following the orders of my daughter, Eleska. She is a competent assassin, or at least she used to be before acting as a sentry for us. Once you find her, tell her that I, Jano, sent you." Olsen and Helen both took a slight bow as Sirin ushered them out, and Olsen immediately began looking up at the tops of the houses.

"What's up in the sky, Olsen?" Nathan asked, looking up and trying to find something.

"If this town is the same as the game from our world, then Eleska liked hanging out on the rooftop of one building. But she can move around here, so who knows where she'll be except on the roof? Helen, can you get up on the roof and see if anyone catches your sight?" Helen nodded as she teleported to the roof and scanned the area for anything that looked at least similar to what she knew to be Eleska when she saw a lone figure standing on the roof of a building near the edge of the village that led into the marketplace.

She waved to them and teleported to the building as Olsen, Lilin, Aeris, and Nathan followed on the streets below. Just as she was nearing what she thought to be Eleska, Helen realized that it was just a statue dressed in a dark cloak. A hand clapped down on her shoulder from behind, hauled her to the ground, then held her dagger to her throat. Out of impulse, Helen teleported a short distance away and readied an ice spell, the air around her freezing into giant icicles, making the girl look up with a questioning look.

"Oh, we have a mage. What is your kind doing in Ariant?" she asked hostilely, holding her dagger to the front, ready to strike again.

"All of us came to Ariant as a part of a letter we had received from Magatia. A young one passed me a note asking us to help your city of Ariant. That is what we five here are going to do. Jano sent us to find you." Eleska looked behind her as the other three climbed up to the roof.

"I thought you said there were five; I only see four." Helen looked down the road where Lilin stood, waving her hello, then turned her attention back to Helen and put her dagger away.

"If Jano sent you, I suppose you have some merit. The first task I need your help with is distributing the food to the people." Eleska said, showing Helen a stash of vegetables and dried meats near where they stood.

"I was about to distribute these when you surprised me. The queen has taken all but the desert, turning the town into this ruin. Since taxes are so ridiculously high, the people have nothing to eat and nothing to buy food with. A few others and I managed to smuggle this food out of the palace yesterday, but Jano called them to another mission. I can't deliver this food fast enough on my own, so if you five could help me, it would be much appreciated and expose you to the people so they will hopefully learn to trust you." Helen disappeared, bringing Lilin up to the roof and explaining their mission.

"Alright, Nathan, Aeris, and Lilin will make up a team and run food through the city, returning once they have delivered their portion. Helen and I will go on our own. I trust that you, Eleska, will also be delivering food?" Olsen asked as the six of them grabbed a bundle of food. Eleska nodded and continued to explain.

"On each door that needs food, a small circle will be in the bottom corner. No mark, no food." With the little tidbit of information, they weaved through the entire village and delivered all the stashed food by that afternoon. From time to time, Lilin would stop and heal a small wound, or Helen would stop and take care of more severe issues and wounds. Once done, Eleska brought them back to the safe house at the end of the day.

"Jano, all the food has been delivered thanks to the help of these five." Jano nodded as he lit another oil lamp in the falling shadows.

"I see. I suppose then you should be filled in as to what exactly happened here in Ariant." Jano breathed, sitting at his desk and readying to tell the tale.

"Close to 22 years ago, Ariant was ruled by Abdulla VIII and his lovely queen Ardith. Together, they ensured all Ariant's citizens were cared for while we worked the mines producing our finest export: Lidium. The Alchemists of Magatia traded handsomely for its properties, while others came from all over Ossyria to purchase jewelry made from this extraordinary ore. However, a dark day descended when the queen suddenly died: no one could offer any explanation for her death.

"No sooner had we buried the queen than she appeared: Areda. At first, she seemed to be a gift from the heavens sent down to us to help the grieving king, who claimed to be a fairy from Orbis. She made sure things ran smoothly while the king recovered from his shock. Over time, the two of them seemed to be cultivating a relationship, and before long, they were happily wed. That's when the changes started: taxes began to rise as caravans loaded with gold, silver, gems, and fine silks would arrive daily. No sooner had the taxes been raised than they were raised again as the whole of Ariant was slowly deteriorating.

"With no funds to repair anything in the city, the depravity, as did the taxes, became worse. When the people couldn't pay their taxes, she demanded our only export and lifeline for Ariant, Lidium stones. When the mines ran out, we began searching the desert for the gems, venturing further and further away from the city, having to go as far east as the edge of Minar forest. The Lidium deposits are so small that it takes four camel loads of Sand to find enough ore to make one small stone. However, things worsened once the Black Mage had risen: strange new creatures she used as her guards and soldiers began appearing.

"Some were large and small cacti, others were the salamanders that lived around the oasis, and others were the sand serpents. We Sand Bandits tried to help by raising a small army to acquire food and money from the queen. But with her mutant soldiers patrolling this town and the King not seeming to do anything about it, it has become near impossible for us to fight the queen any longer. We have run dry of any hope." Jano finished, hanging his head. Helen looked to Lilin, who nodded, as did Olsen, then knelt and placed a hand on Jano's shoulder.

"I, Helen Olman, the Guardian Mage, Olsen DaLor, the Guardian Ninja, Nathan the Spearman, Aeris the Cannonade, and Lilin, the wife of Aran, are here to help. Tell us what you need, and we shall do it."


Han began searching through piles of paperwork and books once the group had filed into the room, telling them what he knew about the town.

"A few years ago, this town was divided into two because of a massive collapse in what was known as the 'Great Circle,' once led by Alcaster, who resides in El Nath. The Alchemists of Magatia constructed this circle below ground but encompassed what was then Magatia. It allowed great alchemists to make remarkable things like Levistones and refine hard metals like Mithril, Oricalcum, Adamantium, and Amalgom. However, one alchemist stood out from the rest: Odran De Lang. When he first came to this village, he was an average human doctor seeking a town where he and his newly married wife could settle down and be left alone.

"The humans who had come to his wedding disapproved of his marriage to a Fairy of Orbis. It wasn't long after they had come here that their daughter Keeny was born. De Lang knew they would outlive him, but he was close to a breakthrough through thousands of hours of learning, practicing, testing, and experiments. It would allow him to make a body of mechanical and biological makeup with Maed's help, transferring his life force and memories into it using the Life Alchemy perfected by Carson. These three began to experiment, using the Sand Rats as test subjects to bond their life forces to a machine called Roids. No matter the method they used, thousands of experiments failed.

"After so many failed attempts, De Lang said he had found the answer to what he had been searching for but wouldn't share his findings. He didn't even tell Maed or Carson what he'd found. One night, someone activated the Great Circle. The reaction was violent, and it collapsed after a strong earthquake rocked the whole of Magatia, darkening the sky to what it is now. Many alchemists lost their lives as part of the city collapsed into a massive sinkhole, and no one knew who activated the circle that led to this tragedy.

"Since both Carson and Maed were a part of De Lang's experiment, they began to blame one another and their factions. The infighting, suspicion, and blame eventually split the town. That is all I know; you'll have to investigate yourselves if you want more information." Moving a stack of books, he finally found a filing cabinet and pulled open a drawer.

"Ah! Here it is. Now, I don't have enough here for all of you to join one faction or the other; I only have enough items for three people to join the Zenumists and three, the Alcadnos." Matthew looked around at them and sighed. He hoped they wouldn't have to split the group into factions poised against each other, risking their mission.

"I will remain as a neutral party. If you should forget why we are here, then I shall remind you." Grendal offered.

"Very well, Grendal. Matthew, Jenny, and Antonia will make up one group, while Jack, Lillianne, and I will make up another. Does that suit you?" asked Aran. Everyone nodded as Matthew's group reached for the items that would get them an audience with Carson and possibly get them into the Zenumist Society. Aran's group began studying the paperwork to easily get them into the Alcadno Alliance. Grendal wandered around the town, inquiring about anything that explained what had happened there in Magatia.

Within hours, the two groups had gone to each side of the city and met again in the middle where no prying eyes could see them meet up with Grendal, who had gathered small tidbits of broken information. The two groups admired each other's capes they received as an initiation present and to signify their faction when Jenny cut them short.

"I think this city is the same as the game. Maed gave us the capes and began expecting us to act with the same malice towards the Zenumists that he did, telling us to wear these capes if we ever wanted to speak to any one of the Alcadnos." Jenny said, holding up the fine dark grey cape to make her point.

"Same here." Jack chuckled. "So, Grendal, were you able to find out anything?" he asked.

"It's tattered, but from what I gather, I have confirmed what Han told us about De Lang being at the center of it. Many also say the doctor brought in outside research to help complete a project he'd been working on. No one seems to know who the help was or the project. One person I know might be able to shed some light on our predicament." Matthew's eyes lit up as he remembered some information that he'd found.

"I was talking to Carson's disciple Bedin, and he said that there might be some notes in an abandoned house near where the Great Circle collapsed. The only problem is that it's on the Alcadno's side. Dozens of people have searched it, and everyone says there are no more clues, so no one wants to go there." Matthew added, already disliking his restrictions due to his Zenumist cape.

"We're on it. Did Bedin happen to say where the house was?" Lillianne asked.

"He said it was right behind the Alcadno's main house," Matthew said. Lillianne nodded as the groups split off again into their respective parts of town.

"I'll see you in a while, old friend," Aran said as he left while Grendal disappeared in a cloud of mana. From a distance, Romeao listened to their conversation, trying to remain hidden enough and find out who these newcomers were. Lately, he'd been worried about Julianne; she hadn't come to get his letters from their usual spot. Maybe they could help him end the feud in Magatia and help him find his Julianne. He turned back for the Alcadno's house while unbeknownst to him, a shadow crept away from the corner, descending through a manhole to hide as quietly as he could.

"Hmm, this is a problem. I'll have to speed things up a bit. The body isn't quite ready, and neither is the girl. Oh well, I can always fix the looks later. I am so close to achieving what De Lang was after! Once I complete this, Maed will have no choice but to acknowledge my expertise and make me the leader of the Alcadnos!"


Eleanor stood on the balcony of her room and watched as one of the wyverns landed on the stone railing, ducking its head as one of its back spines glowed a sickly violet color. Eleanor nodded as she turned and smiled, holding a small treat to the wyvern. It purred in its throat as Eleanor petted its neck, walking with a heavy hip swing to deliver her news to her Master. When she entered his throne room, whispers filled the air as Eleanor bowed low and Dragon melted into existence from a dark corner.

"Yes, master. The husk appears to have stopped moving somewhere in the Nihal desert. The platoon of Wyverns I sent to track its power lost its trail somewhere in Ariant." The Black Mage nodded slowly, holding a hand over his crystal ball, revealing an image of a fetus. Eleanor walked behind him, putting her arm around his neck while draping the other over his shoulder.

"Right now, they are accepting of your power. But I was made aware of a small problem." The air around The Black Mage became hot, making the air glassy as heat rose from the floor.

"Giant brought to my attention that even if these six are exposed to your power until they are fully grown, they won't have even a fraction of your power. He provided an alternative to give them the power they require." Eleanor explained, pressing her palms together and revealing a digital pad, showing details and stats to the power source that Giant had mentioned. Slowly, the heat in the room dissipated as the Mage reached for the pad. His eyes narrowed as he stared at it, nodding his approval while walking towards the window silently.

"With your permission, Dragon and I shall retrieve the Husk for you." Eleanor offered. The Mage nodded to them over his shoulder when Ergoth hovered into the room.

"Bring report from Mana drill in Perion: drill not working well. Also, drill needs more Mithril Crystals." The Mage sighed with a hiss, holding up a black flame. Ergoth flew back, pinned to the wall and clawing at his throat. The Mage appeared before Ergoth, holding him against the wall as he tried to speak. But The Mage's grip around his throat tightened even more, making Ergoth's neck crack. Silent agitation hung thick in the air as angry whispers filled Ergoth's ears, finally dropping him to the ground to grovel while gasping for air.

"You watch me?" Ergoth asked, looking up at The Mage as though trying to keep an aggressive stare when The Mage's eyes flared in anger. An ethereal growl echoed through the room, making Dragon stiffen to attention.

"Yes, Master." Eleanor and Dragon answered. Ergoth looked up at the Mage with malice filling his empty eyes, only to be overpowered by his master's gaze. Ergoth wanted to retort, but a sudden surge of power made his breath leave him, quaking in fear. Dragon hauled him to his feet and dragged him from the room with Eleanor close behind. Once they had escorted Ergoth back to Perion, it would only be hours until the final husk was in his possession. The Mage turned back his window when the amulet on his cloak glowed with a golden light as a woman spoke from it.

"Master, I must speak with you." the voice said as The Black Mage picked it up, agitated whispers filtering through the air.

"The Guardians, they're here. With each passing day, they take out more and more of my soldiers and are beginning to take control of the city out of my hands! If this keeps up, the people will rebel, and I will be ruined!" the woman's voice said, almost desperately, until The Mage let out a long hiss.

"I did not waste the opportunity you gave me!" The voice protested only to be met with growling murmurs.

"Wallowing in riches? Do you honestly think that is what I have been doing with my time here? I HAVE given you Ariant; its riches were merely an unexpected bonus." the voice laughed nervously. However, The Mage was unimpressed as a deafening multitude of whispers filled the air as the glow in his amulet went dark, narrowing his eyes in agitation. That girl had been nothing but a waste of magic and time. She wished to prove herself as an equal to Eleanor and offered to subjugate Ariant to prove it. But her lack of magical knowledge and misplaced passion for monetary gain was her undoing.

She lacked the power needed to gain control of the city, and he gave her the potion to make Sultan Abdula fall asleep and keep him apathetic. She needed a way to keep the people in line, so he cast a spell to give her undefeatable soldiers by the rebels of Ariant. After all the things he had so graciously given her as an advantage, all she produced was wallowing in the riches it provided her like a pig. She hadn't given him Ariant and was not worthy to be called his disciple. If she failed to bring Ariant to him on its knees, he would send another who could. Oberon strolled in with a playful laugh and sat down at the foot of the Mage's chair while he rubbed the top of her head, uttering a low whisper to her, making Oberon nod in understanding, ready to take Areda's place should it be needed.


Areda huffed between her gritted teeth as she threw the amulet and broke it against the wall.

"Fine! If the Black Mage wants Ariant on its knees, that's exactly what he'll get! Scheherazade!" Areda shouted furiously as a young woman with light brown hair trotted into her room and bowed low.

"Yes, Your Majesty, what can I do for you?" she nervously asked.

"Have you any more tales to tell?" the queen asked. Scheherazade sadly bowed as she thought through her library of stories, the only thing keeping her alive in the palace these past 995 days.

"Yes, I have a few tales that Your Majesty has yet to hear."

"I see. Tell me a tale Scheherazade while I work. But before you begin, get me the Sky Star." Scheherazade bowed low again and left while Areda reached for her book of Dark Alchemy.

"A pretty face isn't the only thing I'm good for, Black Mage. I know a thing or two myself." She growled as she dragged a giant cactus to the center of the room and began carving symbols into the marble floor, using the power The Black Mage had given her as a chisel.


It didn't seem all that long to Olsen and his group, but before they knew it, they had stayed in Ariant for almost a week, helping Jano and the Sand Bandits with their quest to better the town. Slowly, morale began to rise as the group would help many people get food or have Helen and Lilin aid with healing sicknesses and wounds the people had received. Nathan and Aeris had been helping Eleska as sentries near the front of the village to alert Olsen and Helen when the guards would be coming. Sometimes, they would have to battle the guards, Olsen turning each of the guards into puddles of goo or Helen burning them to ashes.

"I must thank you, Guardians, for helping bring morale to this town. For so long, we had no hope, and you five breathe life not only into this town but into all of Ossyria." Jano commented as they sat around the dinner table that night, eating the vegetables they had managed to sneak out of the castle the previous day when a message came from their inside contact. Jano unrolled it and looked over it, becoming worried as he read. Howls began coming from the palace. Quickly, he got up and looked out the window into the night to see that every orifice of the palace was glowing. It emitted a strange black light when a peel of lightning struck the center tower, and a loud howl filled the night sky.

"What in Ossyria was that?" Lilin asked as she walked up to the roof and watched the strange glow ebb and flow from the windows. Jano looked at the note again, then came inside to see the writing, jumping when someone pounded on the door. When Jano opened it, the same child that had given the note to Helen stood there at the door, pale as a sheet. The boy was about to speak when rumbling could be heard echoing through the night. Jano, Lilin, the boy, and Olsen raced to the roof to see the same sick black glow coming from cracks in the palace walls.

"Mr. Jano, you must help me! The queen took my sister Scheherazade there over two years ago, and I fear something terrible is happening! Please, you have to get her out!"

"That will be the least of our worries." Said Helen as she came to the roof, watching the glow with a deep interest.

"That power coming from the palace is something my Grandfather Grendal told me about: Dark Alchemy. Whatever was born there, we must before it gets out of hand. Anything that Dark Alchemy creates is highly unstable if not done with great care and skill. We must destroy whatever is there as soon as possible before something worse happens." Helen looked at the child and put both her hands on his shoulders.

"We will do our best to look for your sister, but you must be prepared for what might happen." The child nodded as he looked into Helen's eyes, trusting her to bring back his big sister.

"When you find her, tell her Jiyur is doing alright." Helen nodded as she collected her staff downstairs, seeing that Olsen, Nathan, and Aeris had prepared for the assault.

"Wait, before you go, I must warn you about what you are dealing with: our inside contact, a guard in the Queen's army, sent me this letter, saying that she is bringing to life an ancient beast called Deo. There are stories told through generations that say Deo is a deity cactus of the desert, and it was he who guided our forefathers to this oasis, helping them start Ariant and then protecting it. Others believe that Deo is a terror that roams the desert in search of the descendants who settled here around this Oasis where he used to be king of the Cacti. But no one has seen him to confirm his existence for as many years as we've been here. If the Queen knows these legends, then what she has created may be more dangerous than you think."

"Thank you for the warning, Jano. Without it, we may have just charged into our deaths. Lilin, can you help Jano evacuate these people from here?" Helen asked.

"If that palace collapses and crushes Deo before we kill him, it could very well level the city," she explained. Lilin nodded and ran through the city as the other four journeyed to the palace.

"How could it level the city if he's just an overgrown cactus?" Nathan asked, slinging his spear over his back.

"Deo was made with Dark Alchemy. Anything created using Dark Alchemy becomes a living being, and the energy of the reaction becomes a volatile life force. That energy fills the object, making it grow to enormous proportions. If the object, which becomes a container, is crushed and not killed like a creature, the energy will be violently released like a bomb. Killing the creature will dissipate the energy without incident." Nathan nodded as the four of them snuck through the streets, constantly watching for any sign of the cactus guards, but none showed up, making it seem almost too easy.


It took a while, but Romeao finally got enough courage to talk to one of the newcomers; Jenny, the one he thought to be her love, Matthew, and a younger girl, Antonia. They looked mighty strong, more so than he could ever be.

"Are you The Guardians of Ossyria that I've been hearing so much about?" He asked timidly. Matthew looked at Jenny and shrugged.

"Yes, in fact, we are." Romeao sighed in relief as all the courage he had built up left him instantly, forcing himself to continue.

"I am Romeao, the son of the Alcadno president here. I know that you have been helping us in Magatia for the past few days and that you have been trying to find out what exactly happened here. But will you hear the selfish request of a worried man?" Jenny looked at Matthew and nodded.

"Wait until this evening. We usually meet in the same place every night so you can come and talk to all of us there. That way, we can all help you." Jenny explained, putting a hand on his shoulder. Romeao agreed and returned to his house, anxiously waiting for the night to come. It had been nearly three days since he had last left a letter for Julianne, but still, she had not responded. When the night finally came, Romeao was already at the meeting point, pacing back and forth, waiting for the rest of The Guardians to arrive. When they finally arrived, he was eager to ask them for help but held his tongue when he saw Aran clipping his halberd to his back.

"So, Grendal, what else have you found out?" Jack asked, crouching to the ground as Jenny leaned on him slightly before Grendal began.

"From what I have gathered, one creation was found after the explosion that made the Great Circle collapse, and that creation was what everyone calls Humanoid-A. I could only find scraps here and there, but Dr. DeLang, as you know, was trying to find a way to live with his wife and child since they would outlive him many times over. In trying to do this, he researched how to make himself an organic android body. Dr. DeLang would then implant his Life Force and Memories from his original body into this android. But every alchemic formula he tried didn't work. Even his beta tests using the sand rats that live around Magatia failed. Someone then visited him, but no one knows who, telling him if he wanted the binding to work, he would need to use something he had heard of but was unfamiliar with: Dark Alchemy. I researched it myself in my younger days and found it is a branch of Black Magic.

"Armed with this new lead, he began to study and practice the art, sometimes not eating for days to integrate an average alchemic formula with a dark alchemic formula, allowing him to make his body and transfer all his being into the android. Eventually, his home became a place only he could go since the aura of Black Magic hung thick in the air from the Dark Alchemic reactions. Many weeks went by, and then he finally perfected the formula. But the Great Circle was the only alchemic matrix with enough strength to withstand such a violent reaction. He set up in the center of the Great Circle with everything he had learned, all his ingredients, and the new Dark Alchemy circle. According to a few people around the area when it happened, the reaction seemed to be going fine until the Dark Alchemy formula kicked in. When that happened, they said that the ground cracked, causing the Great Circle to become misaligned with the Dark Circle and created a feedback loop onto Dr. De Lang, making his life force and memories leave his body prematurely.

"De Lang tried to cancel the reaction, but it was already well underway. Just when the reaction was about to meld De Lang and the android together, the ground cracked again under extreme stress, and the feedback amplified a thousandfold, causing the two circles to touch. Since the two circles were of opposing forces, light and dark, the reaction caused both circles to warp and release the energy they had been producing. The explosion that followed caved part of the city into the caverns below. Each faction conducted an investigation and began blaming each other, blaming one another for sabotage that led to leveling half the town." The rest of the group stayed silent as they absorbed the information when Romeao spoke up.

"Eh ehm, Excuse me. My name is Romeao, and I was wondering if you could lend me a hand in locating someone." He asked. His courage faltered when Aran turned his attention to the young man.

"Of course we can." He replied, holding his hand out to come closer and share whom he sought.

"I'm looking for my love, Julianne. I haven't seen her in a few days, despite leaving her multiple notes in a secret place we use to communicate. She is Carson's niece; have any of you who are part of the Zenumists seen her there?" he asked hopefully. Matthew looked at Jenny and Antonia for a moment before walking forward.

"Do you have a picture of her?" Matthew asked. Romeao reached into his pants pocket and pulled a weathered picture from it. Jenny and Antonia, too, studied the image of the lovely woman, but sadly, the three of them shook their heads.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't seen her all the time we've been there," Antonia said. Romeao's stomach began to turn as he thought of Russellon's disregard for life. Could Romeao have done something to her? She seemed to disappear the night he had seen him when he had gone for more steel. And why hadn't Carson done anything to search for her? Did he become so lost in research that he hardly noticed her absence?

"Romeao," Aran said, waking him from his contemplative trance.

"We've reached an impasse on our true mission here, coming at the request of the Zenumist Carson to eliminate creatures disturbing the area. We've been just trying to gather a background to what happened here since a sudden aura of Black Magic overtook Matthew." Romeao's eyes lit up as the situation sounded familiar: he still worried about Julianne, but maybe helping them would speed up the process.

"Yes, I've heard of it many times; my father Mead often talks about those creatures as remnants of the last experiment performed as a unified city, but a single voice is the only one we can hear as of late. Some people say another creation of Dr. De Lang's still exists somewhere in a secret lab. But these noises are newer, much more recent than any remnant from De Lang." He exclaimed. Matthew thought for a moment.

"If Carson was the one who asked us to come, then it means he knows how to get to those creatures. You guys should be able to take off your capes and walk with us to the Zenumist Hall. We'll just say that you're some friends of ours who came in to help us defeat this problem of theirs."

"What about me?" Romeao questioned as Matthew, Jenny, and Antonia removed their capes, hiding them in an alley.

"Does Carson know who you are?" Jack asked. Romeao nodded as Matthew took off his Gaia and slung it around Romeao, pulling the hood low enough to cover his eyes.

"There; Carson hasn't seen my group; my cloak should keep him from being discovered. Just stick close to us; maybe in the shuffle, you won't be noticed." Matthew explained. Romeao nodded as they started on their way to the Zenumist house. Muscles were tense as they entered and knocked on the wooden table in the front room.

"Yes yes, I'm coming. Oh! It's you, Aran. And who are these five that you've brought with you?" Carson asked, motioning to the others. Aran motioned to each of the people, starting with Grendal.

"This is my old friend Grendal, the Ancient. Over here, we have Matthew Drake, Jenny Price, Antonia, Jenny's apprentice, and Joseph, a friend of Matthew's. He asked to come along for a research paper he is writing for school." Carson nodded as Aran introduced each person, momentarily holding his gaze on Joseph.

"I know it has taken far longer than you would have liked to help you with your little; how did you put it? Problem?" Aran asked, casually stepping between Carson and Romeo. Carson nodded and pointed his finger to the ceiling.

"Ah, yes. I don't know what's going on down there, but if the creatures are from De Lang's experiment, I need some muscle to deal with them. He and the Alcadnos are the reason Magatia is in this state. Follow me; I shall take you to the door." With a wave of his hand, Carson led the group to his library, containing hundreds of titles on Alchemy and the magic behind it. He pulled on a book's spine, opening an entire bookshelf to a dark hallway where they could hear grunts and noises much clearer.

"Right through here is where you shall find the laboratory. Please, be careful. The experiments from long ago were gruesome; I can only imagine what has become of them now." Carson said gravely.

"Thank you, Carson, for your warning. We shall try." Aran nodded, guiding the group into the dark when Carson's hand clamped onto 'Joseph's' shoulder.

"Let's see who you really are!" Carson shouted as he pulled him back. Jack and Lillianne looked back in time to see the hood pulled from Romeao's head, revealing him to Carson.

"YOU! You're the dirty little rat from the Alcadno's trying to seduce Julianne! No doubt it's you who is responsible for her disappearance!" he shouted, about to hit him with it when Jack put his arms under Romeao's, then disappeared back into the hall as Lillianne pulled the door shut. With a grunt, she broke the mechanism that opened the door, hearing Carson screaming and yelling obscenities through the door.

"You alright, kid?" Jack asked, taking the Gaia from his shoulders and handing it to Matthew.

"Yes, I think I should be fine. But what about getting out of here?"

"Don't worry. Lillianne and I have enough grunt between us to knock it down if need be." Matthew chuckled as the cloak transformed into its shield form, everyone in the group drawing their weapons.

"Why are you drawing your weapons so soon? We haven't even taken a single step." Romeao asked. Jack pulled a spare pistol from his belt, handing it to him.

"We came from another world, and we've seen this a bunch of times. If I remember, there's going to be some creatures hiding in the dark." Jack explained. Romeao swallowed hard and nodded, taking the pistol and keeping close to any one of the Guardians, creeping into the dark until they could see nothing, not even their hand in front of their face.

"Grendal, Can you guys give us some light?" Jenny asked. The light of Grendal's fire spell revealed numerous blob-like creatures and ghosts surrounding them, blocking their path. No one moved until one of the ghosts hurled a beaker at Matthew, shattering against his Gaia shield.

"GO GO GO!" shouted Jack, busts of light appearing behind them while Grendal led them forward. Jenny and Antonia tried to hit the small test tubes and beakers in the hands of the ghosts. Bursts of light thundered from Jack's pistol as he backed away, taking out as many of the glass containers hurtling through the air as he could. Those he missed hit him on the side of the head or showered him in glass fragments, disorienting his aim. Grendal's blasts of plasma and sacred light eliminated the ghosts and brightened the room for Aran, Lillianne, and Matthew to sweep through the creatures on the ground.

They looked to be a lump of gooey matter covered with a measuring glass as if it were a shell, and they would reach out with a spur at the end of a tendril, which was no doubt toxic. Fire flared in arcs as Matthew swung his sword, breaking through the glass and igniting the small creature inside, shedding more light. Aran and Lillianne hurled trails of ice that would, more often than not, freeze only the floor. As they fought, though, Matthew realized they were being quickly outnumbered.

"EVERYONE COVER YOUR EARS!" he shouted as he stabbed his Katana into the ground. Antonia could only swing her bow through a ghost's beakers when she saw a bright violet light erupt under Matthew. She covered her ears as a dragon's roar shook the ground. Matthew's roar wiped out every flame, creature, and ghost from their sight until Grendal's flames lit up the room once more.

"Is everyone ok?" Matthew called when something rose from the floor, and a door opened with an eerie green light swirling in the jam.

"Everyone stick close; I don't know what's going to happen, so just be prepared to fight right as we get through the door," Jenny warned. Aran and the others nodded as they entered, revealing a room with hundreds of fish-like creatures. Their mouths looked torn open, floating around the room carrying the same globule creature in a glass container.

"What the hell are these things?" Antonia asked as she looked around at the sea of creatures.

"They are the Homunculi: creatures born of the experiments when Dr. De Lang was trying to create the body he sought. The Life Force of the Sand Rats was bound to these creatures for transferring a life force." Grendal replied as they watched the pale creatures roam about the room.

"So what's with the blob in the cup?" Jack asked, reloading his pistol.

"That is what the body of the Sand Rat became. Without the use of Dark Alchemy, the original body of the Sand Rat had to be close by. If you look closely, you can still see the basic shape of the Sand Rat. With the Life Force transferred to the Homunculus body, it would try to return to its body but couldn't, and instead, became a shared force. The strain of one life force sustaining two bodies caused both to break down into what you see."

"So, what did we just fight back there?" Lillianne asked in a hiss of a whisper.

"Those were the Homun, the first attempt at removing the memories of the Sand Rat, leaving the Life Force behind in the body. It seemed that in need of protection, they used the beakers. The ghosts you saw were the alchemists that died in the explosion when the Great Circle collapsed." Grendal explained.

"You're starting to sound like you had a hand in this," Jack commented. Grendal hung his head and nodded.

"I did, as did my friend Alcaster. It is a burden we bear."

"So then, how did you not know about the explosion?" Matthew asked.

"Alcaster and I felt Magatia had lost its way when the Life Force and Memory transplants began to get…" Grendal's words trailed off as Lillianne put a hand to her head, and voices began to swirl, feeling like she had a headache. As a homunculus approached them, Alden began to growl, barring his fangs.

"Don't move. The homunculus' eyesight and hearing are not that good." Romeao whispered as the homunculus seemed to focus its attention on Lillianne. Lillianne's headache became worse until the pain stopped as a small voice came into her mind.

"Are you here to destroy us?" the voice asked. Lillianne stared at the creature and wondered if she should answer.

"No, we are here at the request of the Zenumist leader to help him with a problem coming from within a lab deeper in," Lillianne muttered. The Homunculus seemed to relax and set the beaker to the ground but didn't let go.

"I see. You are here to stop the dark ones." the creature said aloud, its voice warped. Lillianne was confused. Carson and the Zenumists wore a rust-colored cloak.

"Do you mean the Alcadnos? They have a dark-colored cloak."

"No, the ones I'm talking about wear a dark robe. They are the ones making the bad things keep happening. They make the big body move and scare us all."

"What do you mean?"

"Those bad men came and restarted all those bad things that happened long ago. I don't know what they want, but one of them brought something shiny into here, and that's when everything got worse. You need a special key or some of our blood to open the next door. I have lived like this for so long, so please use mine."

"I thought you were all Sand Rats, so how could you speak to me?" Lillianne asked as the creature looked as though it were smiling sadly. One of the tentacles holding the beaker let go and held it out to Lillianne.

"I was once a human child. Bad men came to me one day and took me away. When I woke up, I found myself like this. Please, I don't want to live like this any longer." Tears began forming in Lillianne's eyes as she held her hand to Matthew.

"Your sword, please, Matt." Slowly, Matthew handed it to her, putting a hand on her back.

"I will take you to where you can put my blood." The creature said, leading her to a large bowl where sensors lay in the bottom.

"Once my blood has filled this bowl, you will only have a few seconds to go through the door. Make the bad men pay for what they did to us." Lillianne closed her eyes and cut through the soft flesh, pouring a grey liquid into the bowl. It lit up with the same grey light and began pulling the blood from the creature as if eating it. A door opened from a fake bookshelf where another swirl of energy awaited them. Lillianne could barely stand from the tears in her eyes, but she knew she had to go, or else she would have to kill another of these creatures. She struggled to the door but, at the last moment, turned to see the creature fall to the ground from the loss of blood, cutting the stream off and making the door begin to shut.

"What's your name!?" she called, trying in vain to hold the doors open just long enough to hear what the creature would say.

"Patricia…" the creature whispered as it closed its eyes, and the doors finally shut, pushing Lillianne through the portal and into the next room. Jenny hugged her while Lillianne gathered herself.

"Whoever's in charge is gonna pay!" Jack growled when tiny mechanical footsteps approached. An army of simple androids approached them with a small tank hovering behind them.

"Those wouldn't happen to be Neo Huroids, would they?" Matthew asked with concern as the sea approached.

"Actually, yes. These are the Alcadno's version of the Homunculus." Romeao answered. As they watched, a few tried to break a single door by firing missiles from their mouths with no effect.

"I remember Bedin asking for something from a room called the 'special lab.' It supposedly housed what used to be Dr. De Lang's office and notes. I wonder if this could be it." Grendal said as Jenny squinted, seeing the nameplate on the door in gold letters: Dr. De Lang.

"That's it!" Jenny shouted, making the droids turn to them. Matthew held his arm out as a wave of highly explosive missiles flew at them, some blocked by Matthew's shield.

"Jenny, we'll get you and Jack to that room. Once you're in, we'll hold off these things until you can get those research notes. Pound on the door once you're ready to come back out." They both nodded as Matthew drew his Dume, sweeping through the machines, leaving piles of smoking scrap as orbs appeared around his wrist. Jack charged, swinging his fists hard, each one demolishing another droid. Matthew hauled the sword up as the air wavered around the blade. It appeared on the ground while a gut-turning shock wave split the air, parting the sea of droids.

Jenny and Antonia used the momentary lull in movement to fire a barrage: Jenny making a gust of wind as she swung her bow and Antonia with her newly learned Bomb Arrow. Jack's attacks kept them safe as he punched and shot around them. No sooner had they all moved a few feet toward the door then the path Matthew created filled with angry droids. When they finally eliminated all the droids from around the door, they realized they had a huge problem.

"The door is security locked! We need a key card!" Jenny shouted as she opened the small flap on the keypad and tried to hack out an override code.

"It's no use! Without that key card, it won't open! Dr. De Lang was particular about that! My Father told me he built this door! There isn't an override!" Romeao shouted over the noise. Jenny turned her attention to Romeao and was about to yell at him when Matthew slammed his sword into the ground. An iron wall erupted from the ground and blocked a swam of incoming missiles.

"Then we'll force it open! Aran, Lilli! Take care of these droids; I'll get the door open!" With a nod, the two began sweeping through the army of droids, jumping, twisting, and flitting from place to place so as not to get hit.

"Grendal, could that door be considered to have a Dark existence? I get the same feeling from it as when I froze before."

"Yes, it very well could be." Matthew nodded and concentrated, bright, inviting energy gathering around his blade. Jenny, Jack, Grendal, and Antonia used everything they had to fight back the endless army. Alden appeared out of the shadows, having in his mouth a plastic card.

"Matthew Stop! Alden found the card!" Jenny shouted. Matthew canceled his holy spell and grabbed the card, looking at the smudged six-digit number.

"Well… It might work." He thought, sliding the card and then punching in the code. To his surprise, it worked, unlocking the door and letting the aura inside the room pour out into the open.

"JACK! JENNY! GET IN THERE!" Matthew shouted, pulling on the door to let them in, but not before Grendal shot them with a beam of holy light.

"HURRY! THAT SPELL WILL ONLY PROTECT YOU FOR A SHORT WHILE!" He shouted before the door closed, leaving the others to deal with the army of droids. Wave after wave of Huroids would come at them, Aran, Matthew, and Lillianne sweeping through dozens with their most powerful attacks. Grendal used his powerful Ice magic to slow them down enough for Antonia to keep them at bay. The battle was just beginning to take its toll on the group when Matthew heard the hollow banging on the door. Quickly, he swiped the card, punched in the number, and hauled the door open as Jack and Jenny came running out, coughing and heaving with pale skin.

"GET THEM TO HIGHER GROUND!" Aran shouted. Grendal took either one under his arms and teleported to a high catwalk, getting them away from the battle. Matthew slammed the door shut, grabbed Antonia, threw her over his shoulder, and hopped to the catwalk where Aran, Romaeo, and Lillianne waited for them. Alden was the last to jump up to the platform, gently nuzzling Jenny's arm as she lay on the ground, coughing and heaving. Grendal cast a potent sacred spell over them, the color returning to their faces as thick black liquid spurted from their mouth every time they coughed. As soon as they were away from the door, the Huroids turned their destructive attention back to it.

"Are you alright?" Aran asked, catching his breath and leaning against Maha.

"They inhaled too much Arua from that room after my spell wore off, but they'll be fine," Grendal answered. It was a few minutes more than anticipated, but just as they were to leave, Alden started to tug on Jenny's sleeve.

"Did you find something, Alden?" Jenny asked, still a little dizzy from the aura. Alden's eyes lit up, and he wagged his tail slightly as he purred in his throat.

"I'll take that as a yes." She mumbled as Alden turned, leading them to a small room where another door awaited. A keypad beside it had a skeleton leaning against the wall underneath it. Lillianne knelt and reached for the I.D. card hanging on the coat it wore. She showed it to the others where the name 'Dr. Odran De Lang' stood out in bold black letters. Matthew took it, slid the card through the keypad, and punched in the code again, making the door unlock its heavy bolt. It swung out to reveal a hallway with doors lining either side of the hall and another giant steel door at the end.

The group walked through the halls, checking each door carefully. Some were locked, while others were dark or housed cages. Metal beasts growled through the bars when the light would come in. When they reached the metal door at the end, another keypad was there, but there was no keycard slot. Jack pressed his ear to the door, listening to voices on the other side.

"Yulet! Are you sure it will work?"

"You have nothing to worry about. With the addition of the girl's life, the reaction will work perfectly." Jack squinted his eyes as he listened and then heard the first voice speak again.

"Well, Julianne, you've resisted me for so long. But now you'll be a part of me whether you want to or not!" The sound of a girl struggling came through, but he couldn't understand what she was saying.

"Your girl's in there. It sounds like someone is going to use her for something. Is there a way to get through the keypad?" he asked. Jenny examined it before readying her bow.

"I don't see a way. Break it down." Jenny ordered. Romeao's eyes widened as he ran to it and banged on the door.

"JULIANNE! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? JULIANNE!" Jack slammed him against the wall.

"Are you stupid? You just gave us away!" Just as Romeao was about to answer, a wind curled around Matthew while he drew his Katana, his cloak becoming the serrated form on the blade. He swung with blinding speed as dark violet flames tore through the air. Using up all the gathered orbs, a giant green seal appeared, leaving molten scars on the surface.

"How strong is that halberd of yours, Lilli?" Matthew panted.

"It's pretty strong, but…" Matthew interrupted her as he grabbed it. Bright blue dragon's wings sprouted from his back, and a tail swung around like a cat as the halberd froze over. Everyone stood to the sides as Matthew charged down the hall, frost forming on the ground as he swung through the door, shattering the frozen metal. Behind it was an older man working on a giant biological machine while another man stood next to a girl, running his finger up her jawline.

"Julianne!" Romeao shouted as he rushed in. The man beside Julianne grabbed Romeao's shirt, picking him off the ground with his mechanical arm.

"Russellon! I should have known you were behind this!" Romeao growled. Russellon threw him to the side with a huff. Jack and Jenny rushed in, bouncing off a forcefield and flopping to the ground.

"Yes, Romeao, it was me. It was always me. Do you think the Great Circle collapsed because the ground couldn't withstand the stress? I spent years training under Maed and Carson before De Lang came. I was about to be given the honor of becoming the leader of Magatia once Alcaster retired. But when he came, everything shifted to him; EVERYTHING! And I was left with nothing! I didn't go through all those hard years of training just to have a stranger take it away in fewer than six months! I will not stand for another being made Leader of Magatia for so little effort!" Russellon fumed, clenching his hand so tightly the nails on his human hand cut his skin.

"So, as De Lang was initiating his experiment, I was the one to tear his formula apart! The explosion caused me to lose my left eye and arm, which Maed replaced with machines and exiled me from ever learning from Carson again. In the ensuing chaos of their investigation, I went through everything of Doctor De Lang's and created this: my own eternal body! It will grant me the recognition to be Maed's successor and the rightful place as head of Magatia!" Russellon's eyes were wild and unfocused as the other man, Yulet, made the final preparations.

"Russellon, it's ready!" Yulet called with a satisfied grin. Russellon tore the robe from his body, revealing portions where metal plates replaced his skin and the prosthetic arm.

"Russellon, what on earth have you done to yourself?" Romeao asked as Aran helped him to his feet. Russellon looked over his shoulder with saddened eyes.

"My body isn't going to last much longer. The medicine I take for my body to accept the prosthetics has taken its toll and is slowly killing me, making different organs fail. As each one fails, Maed replaces it with a mechanical one. But that requires even more medicine, killing me all the quicker." He sighed as he looked at the large body strapped to a steel slab; the skin in some places was missing, revealing the mechanical devices inside, becoming green from the copper wiring that ran throughout the body.

"But that will no longer be of any worry, not with this body!"

"Then why do you need Julianne?" Romeao demanded, tearing away from Aran's grip and rushing at him, slamming against the forcefield and pounding on it with his fists. Russellon smiled, as if taunting him.

"The energy required to jumpstart my body has to come from somewhere. I couldn't find the notes about starting the body once the transfer was complete. With the help of Yulet, I managed this! Whether she survives is not my concern." Romeao grabbed Lillianne's halberd, swinging it against the forcefield with all his might.

"You all are so simple-minded," Russellon grinned as Yulet strapped him down to another table, clamping on hoses, wires, and other harnesses to him. Computers scrolled through various checks and commands while the new body twitched and jerked as the servos warmed. Romeao began swinging harder as the others joined, trying to overload the field.

"I wish Helen were here right about now!" Matthew grunted.

"Well, she's not! We're all that girl's got!" Jack shouted, his fists slamming into the field in a steady, thunderous rhythm. Just as Yulet finished the last harness, he pulled a heavy switch. The group pounded the field all the harder when Russellon's original body went limp while Yulet typed away at a keyboard. Aran broke through the field with one final swing, allowing Jack to fly toward Yulet. Just before he could reach him, Yulet hit the enter key on the keyboard. Julianne screamed at the top of her lungs, her shrill voice heard all over Magatia.

Jack lobbed a mana grenade at the field generators, allowing the others to come through. Matthew unleashed two solar scythes, each slicing through the apparatuses next to Julianne. Julianne fell silent and limp as Romeao rushed to her, patting her face and calling her name. But she remained still as Matthew and Lillianne tore the restraints off the chair.

"Julianne! Answer me!" Romeao shouted, but she slumped into Romeao's arms on the floor. Yulet typed madly at the keyboard as the restraints holding Russellon's new body opened. Matthew growled as he turned back to the body, running at it and drawing the Dume. A blast of sacred light ignited from the blade and came down so hard that the point whistled. His swing was stopped by the body's hands catching it inches from its face.

"Come now, is that the best you can do?" Russellon asked, opening the colorless eyes and tossing Matthew aside. He stood to his full 7-foot height and looked over his body as if becoming accustomed to it.

"Yulet! We've done it!"


The five of them ran through the streets of Ariant, nearing the palace, careful to avoid the large cracks in the ground. But even coming this far, there was still no sign of whatever had been born in the palace. Nathan's greave hit something on the ground, seeing that it was an officer of the cactus army. He jumped back and readied his spear, but the creature didn't move. Nathan carefully rolled it over to see the face, which was contorted and dry and resembling a skull. Again, he jumped back but lost his balance, reaching back to catch himself when a sharp pain shot up his arm. Nathan clenched his jaw hard, trying to keep from screaming.

Helen teleported to him, holding up a plasma ball for light. A giant thorn from a fallen cactus had driven through his leather glove and hand when he fell. Olsen cut the thorn from the cactus and broke off the upper half. Nathan readied himself for the blast of pain as Olsen pulled the thorn from his hand, followed by Helen healing the wound. Nathan nodded as most of the pain went away, but there was still a dull ache where it had been.

As they silently crept to the palace, they found more dead cactus soldiers. Whatever had been made was either becoming more powerful or killed all of these. The sounds of cracking stone thundered through the night as the walls split as they entered the throne room. Olsen backed against the wall and crept to the door, peeking around the corner, then flattening himself, his face pale.

"What is it?" Aeris asked. Olsen shook his head as chills ran up his spine.

"We're here. I think the queen and a girl are in there; the girl is passed out for the moment." Olsen drew his dagger, using it as a mirror; in the middle of the room was a giant misshapen cactus, and behind it sat whom Olsen assumed to be the queen and the girl lying on the floor beside her. He breathed and flicked his claw hand, readying a few Shuriken.

"I'm going to go after Deo. Aeris, I need you to deal with anything coming from above me; here is my spare kunai to use in case anything gets too close to you. It's pretty sharp, so be careful where you swing. Helen, concentrate on anything that comes from my left. Nathan, I need you to keep up with me as much as you can and defend the right, understood?" Everyone nodded, Aeris running across the doorway to the other side, holding up her Golden Hook beretta, cocking back the hammer with satisfying clicks.

Aeris signaled she was ready as Olsen stepped out and hurled the shuriken as hard as he could. Deo turned around as streaks of pink flames slammed into his flesh, screaming with an ethereal sound.

"Come now, Guardians, is that all you have to offer? You stand in the presence of your queen, Areda. You could at least provide me some entertainment." taunted Areda.

"GO, GO, GO!" Olsen shouted, running straight for the 15-foot-tall cactus. Helen hurled spell after spell at the cacti coming from the darkened sides. Shots popped from Aeris's pistol, exploding the small cacti that descended from above, while Nathan stabbed and hurled each cactus soldier that he came across.

Olsen gripped his dagger harder, rocketing to Deo and circling the cactus while cutting through the thick outer hide where bluish-violet liquid leaked from. Olsen skidded to a stop, hurling another handful of shuriken as if they were pink comets, knocking Deo off balance. Just as Olsen was launching at the cactus again, Deo swung, sending Olsen flying into the wall, cracking it even further. His head pounded, and his back throbbed, burning with pain, only to see Deo point his stumpy arm at him as if laughing.

"I'll give you something to laugh at," Olsen sneered, launching off in a burst of pink flames, circling Deo as hot pink streaks. Again, Olsen skidded to a stop, heaving for breath just as the dozens of coins he left in Deo's flesh detonated, knocking him to the ground.

"I wish Matthew were here," Olsen mumbled. Areda's shrill scream echoed off the walls as she held up her hands. A wave of cactus soldiers flew toward Deo, healing the wounds and making him even larger. Before he could get up, Helen and Aeirs hurled all their attacks at him as Natahan charged ahead. Olsen heard his footsteps behind him, seeing the spearman charging in.

"Nathan, stop! Retreat!" Olsen commanded, but Nathan couldn't stop as Deo's arm slammed into him and tossed him to the far side. Aeris instantly chased after him as Olsen turned back to Deo, forcing mana into a Shuriken, causing it to grow huge. He launched it just as Deo's arm came howling down on him, splitting the flesh of his arm. The cactus roared in pain until a blast of frosty air enveloped it, freezing it into solid ice and making Deo flail more. Olsen looked back to see Helen with snowflakes drifting around her.

Aeris and Nathan ran at Deo from across the room, joined by Helen as they began pummeling him. Aeris fired high-caliber rounds into Deo's body while Olsen attacked his legs in a blur of cuts. Nathan climbed up his body, using his spear, driving it between his eyes. Deo roared in pain, sweeping Nathan off his body and throwing the spearman into the wall. Landing on the wall, Nathan launched back to the battle, slowing slightly to save his strength. Helen flashed across the floor, firing Sacred Arrows while intermittently using her Wings of Light to rain down feathers.

Despite slowly wearing Deo down, they were wearing down faster. Olsen skidded to a stop, using the Fire Katana form of his cloak to cut through Deo's belly. Nathan deepened Olsen's cut with dozens of swings and stabs. Aeris pulled the pin on a mana grenade and hurled it at Deo's face, throwing him to the ground as it detonated. Helen then rained down huge shards of ice infused with potent poison, pinning him to the ground and slowly beginning to melt. They all caught their breath momentarily until they heard clapping behind them.

"Bravo Guardians, bravo. But you forget; I'm still here." Areda shouted. Everyone turned to see her pressing a blade to the girl's neck. Olsen readied to hurl a Shuriken, but Areda pressed the knife to the girl's throat harder.

"I wouldn't if I were you. You see, this is where you Guardians have failed. You never seem to get the person in the most danger out of the way first. And that will cost both you and Scherazade!" without warning, the four of them were swept against the wall by Deo's arm.

"That's right, Deo! Press the life out of them!" Areda shouted, her eyes wild and flashing with the sick light coming from Deo's body. Behind her, a cloud of black aura tore into existence. Areda turned around to see the Black Mage standing behind her, the anger in his eyes making the room hot.

"M-m-m-master Black Mage! What are you…" The Mage shouted a furious hiss of whispers as a surge of power washed over the entire area, making Areda and the Guardians freeze in fear. His eyes narrowed, grabbing her arm as the two of them disappeared. Deo continued to press, but as he did, Aeris managed to pull her arm out and aim her gun at his eye.

"Boom." She grunted and fired. The bullet tore through his eye, freeing them.

"Aeris, Nathan, take the girl and return to the others. Find Lilin and make sure that you are as far away from the city as possible!" with a nod, the two of them picked the girl up and quickly carried her out.

"Olsen, what are you planning?" Helen asked.

"If we keep fighting in the Palace, it will collapse on Deo, setting off one major problem. But if I can get him outside the city, I'll have more room to move. And if he goes, it won't affect the city. Once I get him far enough, I want you to teleport me as high as you can, alright?" Helen nodded, trusting Olsen's plan, even if she thought there was a better way. With a wave of her hand, she sent a mist of poison into Deo, making him lose focus as he stood, stumbling as he writhed over his eye.

Olsen then pushed aside his mana as the Pink Quartz power poured from his body, engulfing him in a slow-moving flame. Wind curled around his body as the ninja leaned into his run, disappearing.

He moved in a streak of light as his first strike sent the cactus through the ceiling, then hit him with a giant shuriken, hurling him into the desert. No sooner had Deo crashed into a drift of sand than Olsen was there, swirling around him in a blur of hot pink fire, hitting the cactus with more giant Shuriken to drive him further into the desert. Helen struggled to keep up with his speed, stretching her teleports to their limit without snapping the rifts.

Once sure he was far enough away, Olsen nodded to Helen, who put an arm around him and teleported up. Each time they would teleport, a sound like thunder rolled through the dunes. When Helen was sure she could go no higher, Olsen let go, pushing off a seal mid-air and rocketing down toward Deo. For a moment, Helen reached out for him but decided to teleport to a safe distance instead.

As he fell, Olsen reached for this Pink Quartz power, readying a shuriken and forcing his power into it. The weapon grew with each passing second; its increasing weight made Olsen fall all the faster. Threads of quartz power snapped in the air all around him, making his skin itch with static. Moments before he was to slam into Deo, Helen appeared next to him, free-falling at his side.

"What are you doing?!" Olsen demanded.

"I can't let you do this alone; you won't survive without me." Olsen grit his teeth, hurling the Shuriken as hard as he could at Deo before Helen teleported them away. The Shuriken slammed into the creature, driving it into the sand, creating a vast crater and wave of sand flowing like water over the other dunes.

From far away, Lilin and the others watched as a light in the sky descended and disappeared into the sand just as Nathan and Aeris walked up to her, reuniting Scheherazade and Jiyur. Just as the light faded, the horizon exploded into a sick violet light that reached high into the sky, the thunder of the explosion tearing through the air. The shockwave washed over them, hazing the town with sand but leaving it standing. The three of them became worried for their friends, grabbing the reins of three camels and heading in the direction the light had come from, leaving Jano in charge of his people.


Russellon looked over his body: he was finally a perfectly normal being!

"At last! I no longer need to take those bothersome pills!" he shouted as Yulet handed him his new clothes. Romeao could only cradle Julianne's limp body, her rosy cheeks feeling cool to the touch while his hot tears fell over them.

"Why are you crying? It's a time for celebration!" Russellon shouted as he dressed and then walked over to what appeared to be a giant suit of robotic armor. He clicked his belts into place and began the startup sequence, servos and motors whining to life as the control program booted up.

"You do not deserve to live for this, not after taking Julianne away from me!" Romeao shouted. Russellon laughed.

"Don't worry, she's still alive, but as a part of me! If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with Maed that I don't want to miss." Antonia stepped forward and drew her bow with tear-stained eyes and quivering lip.

"You had no right to take her life! You should have found another way to make your dreams come true!" she shouted, letting go of her nocked Power Arrow. Russellon caught it with the hand of the machine and broke it in half. The circuits and wires running through the arms and body of the machine began to glow a light pink color.

"Do not tell me what to do, insolent girl!" he shouted, bringing down the machine's arm hard on her but was stopped by Matthew's Dume. Aran leaped over him, sending Russellon skidding back into machinery with one brutal hit. Russellon picked up his head, spitting to the side and cracking his neck.

"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!" he growled, rushing at them. Lillianne moved Julianne and Romeao to a higher platform as Grendal teleported above them and froze the ground, making Russellon slide and trip. Matthew activated his Warriors overcharge, the sword glowing bright blue from the veins engulfed with mana. Just before Matthew could make contact, Russellon put his hand out and stopped the attack mid-swing, jarring Matthew's arms and tossing him to the side.

Calling up an iron wall behind him, Matthew caught himself, pushing off and driving his sword through the machine's arm, breaking away chunks and sheets of metal. Jenny and Antonia released their Spine Arrows once Matthew's wall had dissipated, pushing Russellon into the machinery again. Russellon growled as he lifted the machine's good hand and hit the ground hard, breaking the ice and making them all lose their balance. In another split second, he rushed them again but met with Aran's Maha, struggling and grunting against his forward charge to hold him back. With a shout, Jack ran to the weakened arm with a volley of brutal punches. Bits of shrapnel buried themselves into the walls as Jack dislodged it from the shoulder, rattling against the ground.

"WHY ARE YOU TAKING AWAY WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!" Russellon shouted, flinging Aran to the side and running for the door, only to be blocked by Matthew.

"Taking a life to ensure your own is never permissible!" Matthew growled, drawing his katana and unleashing a solar scythe, cutting through the machine's side. Jenny and Antonia ran behind Matthew, spraying the machine with hundreds of arrows that drove Russellon back into the room as Jack appeared above him. The mad scientist watched in horror and awe as Jack's pistol hummed with blood-red fire, roaring with thunder, hitting the machine's chest, where a flash of pink light erupted. Jack, Matthew, and Jenny felt a strange resonance, their crystal power buzzing within them. Aran lunged at Russellon again, bringing Maha down hard, only to be stopped by Russellon's good hand and knocked to the ground.

Matthew charged to attack, but he, too, was sent reeling back into Jenny and Antonia. Grendal held out his staff as a glowing bow formed a sacred arrow. Russellon turned and knocked the staff from his hands. In a low rumble, Grendal teleported away, raining down fire and lightning on him, short-circuiting most of his controls. Russellon growled as he turned to meet them, his face slowly turning red and his teeth creaking. The machine jerked and twitched as it stood, looking as if it would fall apart at any moment when he heard Romeao scream, landing on him with a sharp piece of shrapnel.

"THIS IS FOR JULIANNE!" he shouted, driving the shrapnel through Russellon's heart, blood from his hands running down the edges. Russellon stumbled and coughed, bright pink liquid spewing from his mouth as though it were blood. Jack joined Romeao, driving the claws of his Knucklers into Russellon's chest. The machine teetered and then fell to the ground, bright light erupting from his body and blinding them all. Silence hung in the air until Russellon shouted from where he was strapped down.

"No! NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! I HAD THE PERFECT BODY!" Russellon screamed, looking at his hands. Matthew grabbed his throat and picked him up off the ground with the blazing Dume in the other.

"After what you've done, you don't deserve to have this imperfect life!" He snarled, ruby power spewing from his eyes like jets as he picked up the end of the Dume and held the point to Russellon's chest, sweltering fire surrounding the blade. Russellon's cheek exploded in searing pain as Matthew burned the skin on the left side of his face.

"But I am not a cold-blooded killer like you." Matthew sneered, knocking him out with a punch. Yulet was nowhere to be seen, nor was he ever seen after that. Romeao knelt beside Julianne's body and cuddled her close. Maed and Carson came running into the lab, arguing as usual but fell silent when they came upon the scene. All color seemed to fade into shades of gray.

Romeao reached out and grasped her slender hand, squinting back tears. Matthew dropped his sword as he and Jack fell to their knees; if only they had been faster and stronger, they could have prevented this. Romeao's soft sobs were the only deafening noise filling their ears in the silence of the room.

And then, he felt it; it was ever so slight, but he felt Julianne's hand twitch. He stopped and looked into her face. Nothing told of her life, but her hand slowly closed around his. Romeao held his breath as Julianne took her own and slowly opened her eyes to see the face of Romeao.

"Romeao? What happened to…" She caught sight of Carson, who reached to take her back to his house when Jack grabbed his hand hard, making the old man's wrist pop and crack.

"No," he growled and began to tell Maed and Carson who had caused the Great Circle's collapse. Once Matthew had regained his fortitude, he and Lillianne inspected the machine Russellon had piloted, peeling back pieces of metal to reveal what had caused the bright pink light from before. It revealed a glassy object with a slight pink hue as they dug.

"Is that what I think it is?" Lillianne asked when a sultry voice spoke from behind the machine.

"Yes, Lillianne, that is the Pink Quartz. Thank you for revealing to us." Eleanor said as she walked around the machine and leaned against it, crossing her arms.

"What are you doing here?" Matthew growled, reaching for his katana and lowering his stance.

"It's not me you should be worried about," Eleanor replied, pointing her black-tipped finger behind him, leaving Matthew enough time to draw the Dume and block Dragon's heavy swing, making a high-pitched squeal when both swords met edges.

"Matthew, meet Dragon, my finest student," Eleanor said as she reached for the crystal. Lillianne reached for the crystal when Dragon grabbed her wrist and flung her back. Matthew pushed Dragon off and went for the crystal but was hit in the back with a concussive blow. A bright blue tiger leaped from Dragon's back, roaring loud enough to knock his breath out and bring him to the ground. Aran was the next to try and break Dragon's stance, attacking as a blur. But Dragon blocked each attack easily, seals forming on Dragon's shoulder, one by one turning red. With one swing from Dragon, Aran careened into a wall. When he got up, he kept blinking his eyes but couldn't see. Dragon smirked, walking between him and the machine as Eleanor reached for the crystal.

"That's Panic, something that you, Matthew, haven't had enough experience to use effectively yet." Dragon demeaned, holding up his sword to ready for the next strike.

"Would you like to find out?" Matthew growled as he raised his sword and came charging hard. The two swords meeting broke glass with a high-pitched squeal. With a full overcharge, Matthew unleashed his panic. Dragon diverted the attack to the ground, then slammed the pommel of his sword into Matthew's gut.

"Dragon, I have it." Eleanor cooed, holding up the husk, no bigger than her fist. Dragon sheathed his sword and walked over to her as they disappeared in a dark cloud. Jack ran for them, holding out his hand to snatch away the husk. But he was a moment too late as they disappeared before he could get to it. Just as Jack turned around, Helen limped in with Olsen over her shoulder.

"What did we miss?" Olsen asked, coughing as he tried to take his weight. Lilin went to Aran with questioning eyes as Aran shook his head.

"I'll explain on the way back to Herb Town." He said, activating a small homing beacon for the ship.

"Thank you, Guardians, for helping us with this and discovering the truth about the Great Circle," Carson said. Jack looked to the leaders with cold eyes, pointing to Russellon.

"Be sure he gets a good punishment; I want to stop off in El Nath to see Alcaster before we go home; there's a couple people in Herb Town that could use a happy ending."


"What exactly did you hope to accomplish, Areda? Were you planning to use the wealth your royalty granted you to feed your selfish needs?" Eleanor barked as The Black Mage paced before Areda, livid whispers filling the air with a contemplative, if not forcibly calm, exterior.

"Please, master, give me another chance! I'll prove that I can bring you Ariant!" Areda pleaded on her knees, her clothes tattered and torn from the anger-driven pummeling she'd been dealt. The Black Mage looked at her with wide eyes as Areda flew back to the wall, only to be drug back to the feet of the Mage, met with ethereal growls as whispers. Areda struggled to her knees, pulling her clothes back over her shoulders.

"Please, Master, you must give me one last chance! I swear I will bring you Ariant! I just need more time! I gathered the wealth of Ariant en mass to support your cause!" she begged. The Black Mage narrowed his eyes, holding up his hand as chain spears began rising from the floor when he felt Eleanor's hand on his shoulder. He slowly looked at her, holding the chains in midair, each dancing like snakes.

"Time? You've used all the time he could afford. Besides, The Master has never really needed Ariant. He merely wanted to see that you could provide what you promised. Instead, you wallowed in the wealth it brought you." Eleanor sneered.

"I disposed of the queen for you at The Master's behest, and still you failed. You've had your chance; now leave while I can still convince The Master to spare your pathetic life." Eleanor said, turning The Black Mage away and handing him a silver challis of her mana potion and the Pink Quartz husk. Areda slowly stood and tried to spread her wings, but the numerous broken bones in them made it impossible to do so, walking away with drooping shoulders. The stabs of pain made her angry, turning to face them once more.

"I will bring you…" The Black Mage raised his hand as the chains shot forward and drove through her body and into the ground. She coughed and heaved momentarily before a wave of the Mage's blackened power reduced her to ashes, scattering across the ground. With a shuddering sigh, he turned to the window of his Castle overlooking Edelstein until Eleanor draped her arms over his shoulders.

"My master, we have recovered the last of the husks. We only need to wait for them to train their power back to its original potency fully." The Black Mage seemed to smile as he held up the husk in the light, dropping it into his hand with a satisfied catch. Whispers hung in the air before looking at her questioningly. Eleanor shrugged as she walked before him and put her hands on his shoulder, leaning her head down onto his chest.

"Dragon said that he had a personal matter to attend to." The Mage nodded as he held the crystal to the light and admired it. At last, he had all the materials he needed.


Checky walked into the back ally after hearing the bell since Claudine was busy and called out the password, which was answered promptly by its counterpart.

"So what have you gathered?"

"Dragon faced the Guardians, fighting Matthew for a short while but saying that he could feel the immense power that was yet to come from that young man. He is far from fully awakened but is almost as powerful as Dragon. However, there is some bad news: The Black Mage and his forces have obtained the Pink Quartz."

"So, he has all five crystals. What do we do now?" Checky asked.

"I don't know. From here on, it will be a game of hide and seek. I'll try to stall the Black Mage as much as possible, but I don't know how much I can do."

"It's alright, just keep on it." fabric fluttering in the dark sounded as the informant left, and Checky went back in to tell Claudine the disheartening news.


Just as they touched down, Jack was the first off the ship and went through the village looking for Humanoid-A. Jack gave him a pendant he'd seen in De Lang's house when he found him. Humanoid's head twitched and shook; then his eyes looked like he recognized something.

"Dr. De Lang, Doctor in advance Alchemy in Magatia. Phyllia! Where is she?!" he asked desperately. Jack beckoned him, showing him a Snow Rose he had gotten from Alcaster, and gave it to him. Jack led him through the crowds until finding Phyllia. Jack handed her the rose, making Phyllia become lost in thoughts as De Lang walked up to her.

"Humanoid-A, did you ask him to give this to me?" she asked.

"Phyllia, it's me. Odran." The fairy stared at him for a while, studying his features. Her eyes widened, and small tears appeared as she sniffed the rose again.

"Sometimes war can have happy endings." Jack thought as he left them to their thoughts and conversations.