Silas leaned on the stone wall, waiting for his queue. The King was addressing the townspeople about what has been going on. Sugar-coating absolutely everything. Silas shook his head with a smile when he heard a few choice lines being thrown out, such as "we mustn't panic" or "there is absolutely nothing to worry about" and even as out there as "this will all likely blow over within the week". Silas didn't really like the King much. The man seemed like a fool. Silas had very little time and patience for fools. The man was obviously bred to be a royal. He didn't work for it like was expected in the olden days. Silas could now see why his grandmother was such a strong anti-royalist, if this was the finest specimen a long line of ancestry could produce.

"Without any further ado," King Phillonius said after what felt like hours of pointless drivel. "I would like to introduce you to the hero of our world. Silas! Step forward, Silas."

Silas slowly stood up, but before he could even take a step forward, one of the guards shunted him up to the King. Silas glared back before gazing out at the townsfolk staring up at him. He waved a hand lazily and nodded his head in recognition.

"Care to say a few words for us?" the King asked cheerily.

"I'm not much of a wordsmith," Silas said simply. "Therefore, there is not much I can add which you have not already divulged in laborious detail."

"Erm...yes. Quite right. Good point, well made, my man," the King replied before clearing his throat and returning to addressing his people. "With that, ladies and gentlemen, we shall bid you a farewell. I shall see you all after the crystal has been returned to it's rightful resting place."

With that, the King stepped down, motioning for Silas to follow him. Silas, however, had one word buzzing around his head. It was a word that he was none too keen on and a word that he was not prior told of.

"We?" he asked coldly.

"Why yes, I'm obviously going with you," the King replied with a smile.

"This was not part of the agreement!"

"You didn't think that I would let you do this alone did you? You, a weak and simple young fool? Ha! Hark at you! No, no. I'm to come with you. Together, we shall show this queen and her sticky fingers just what it means to be a Gnaritasian! Now, get into the carriage. We're getting dropped off at the forests edge. It shall only involve about a half hour hike to the centre this way."

Staring angrily at the King's back as the fat fool tried to get his stubby legs up into the carriage, Silas could sense that by the end of the journey, only one of them would make it back. He was also willing to bet all the gold in the land that it wouldn't be Phillonius.

The doctors looked to each other, and the tube that held the two children. "It was only supposed to be one child." the doctor said looking to the charts. "Why has it split into two organizams." the doctor asked. He looked to the man behind the glass wall. The tall man with dark hair shrugged. "Could it be subject zero?" he asked threw the mic.
The doctor world around to see the man face to face. "Subject zero couldn't have done this, Subject zero no longer exists." he said with anger in his voice. "We must hurry and get these two off... I just hope they can function..." the doctor said as he pulled the plugged the two in the one tube. "I hope they work..." he said under his breath. The two children hung there for a moment suspended in mid air. At the same time there eyes shot. The girl looked around first, then the boy. The girls eyes were as blue as the sea, where the boys eyes where as red as a rose. The doctor helped them down. "do you know what you were made for?" he asked.
The boy gently took the girls hand, and the girl received it. "We were made to protect our land." they replied together.

"Another crack? This is the third one today!" Baphomet growled under his breath, gripping his scythe tightly with his claws and eying the spiderwebs crinkle in the air. The small cracks had been appearing more and more frequent lately, and while none of them were bad enough to threaten their realm, it was still annoying. He'd had to double the amount of time he spent patrolling the regions, and an overworked-Baphomet meant an unhappy-Baphomet.

He'd reported his findings to the Demon Lord, of course, but the Lord had deemed it unworthy of his attentions. Ohh no, the Great Scharmnok was more interested in making the final plans for his upcoming invasion against another nearby demon realm than worrying about some little cracks that had been spouting mostly harmless little creatures from who-knows-where. And annoyed Baphomet may be, he was not a fool enough to go against his Lord when he'd been clearly dismissed. At least the creatures that came out from the cracks made a good source of stress-relievement for the horned demon.

A small, jet-black blob of a thing shot out from within the widening crack, and Baphomet swiped at it with his scythe. The blob split in two, and shot at him again, making strange, sluggish bubbling sounds. Behind it, the cracks widened once more, and more little black blobs came shooting out of it.

"What are you fools standing there for?! Close the damned crack!" Baphomet snarled at his subordinates while attempting to destroy the mysterious blobs, and several of the magic-wielding demons quickly scuttered forwards, mumbling spells under their breathes and gradually pulling the cracks back together and erasing them. The rest ran forwards to help with the attacks, but the blobs just kept of multiplying every time a weapon or claw split them. "Use magic, you pathetic pieces of worthless slimes!" Honestly, these demons claim they are the elite forces of the realm and they couldn't even tell that melee attacks did not work on these things after over several minutes of futile attacks? He'd be embarrassed for them, if he wasn't busy trying not to be melted by the acidic spit the blobs were now ejecting at them.

Fire did little damage, but a few well-placed lightening zaps quickly fried the majority of them, and the rest were quickly dispatched after that. Aside from a few idiots who has a bit of their skin and fur burned off by acid, they were for the most part well off. The mages had finished sealing the cracks as well, and the troupe made way back to their temporary camp.

Baphomet dismissed them and stalked off to the edge of the camp, feeling frustrated and needing a target to vent at. At this rate, if he and the few others who weren't fools like his Lord were to snuff it, the realm would be overrun with cracks from the void and eventually crumble or merge with another realm, and neither results were what he wanted. One of Scharmnok's advisers had mentioned something about a forest with a crystal in it, something about how it was supposed to keep the realms stable and some other mumble jumble he hadn't paid attention to, and given him a map after the meeting with the Demon Lord. He pulled it out from a pouch and unraveled it. The place wasn't too far off from his camp, and it was near one of the larger, more stable cracks (that didn't constantly spew out strange creatures from within) through the void in their realm. It was supposed to be off-limits, but as one of the highest-ranking officers in Haine, the restriction was pretty much void for him.

Rolling the map up and putting it back into his pouch, Baphomet walked back into camp to get some supplies. He'd leave his troupe to his second-in-command, a fire demon named Janus, and go check out this supposed realm-stabling crystal.

Twiddling the golden piece of twine in his hand Alair gazed up at the sky. It was an awful sickly green. A color it never once was able to change before. The only colors that painted the skies were usually gray, red, or black; depending on the time of day. Green was a color that never existed on Fortem. That is until the earthquakes, rifts, and random explosions in the sky began.

Another explosion erupted in the sky, this time showering red sparks down to Fortem. They may have been somewhat peaceful, but he was seriously getting tired of all these annoyances.

His eyes snapped open as the usual Fire Horn of the Battle Arena roared. Informing the participants the battle was close to beginning. "Looks like I won't be able to see this year's competition." Alair coldly let out. Nothing filled him with more joy then slashing Dupla Draco around in a frivolous fashion. Still lying on the moist grass, and certainly in no mood to get up, Alair knew his time was getting shorter and shorter.

"Lari!" A young girl screeched. Alair turned his head and his face softened a bit. It was his younger cousin, Ulani. Out of every member of the Heracles family, Ulani was actually the only one he didn't hate. She saw him as an equal, an actual being rather than thought of scum or disgrace like the rest of Alair's family. If she was here that meant he was completely out of time now.

"Uly," Alair chuckled. "did you come to pick me up?" He sat up and gazed at his cousin intently. His sudden harsh gaze caused Ulani to cringe a bit before she shook it off and got closer.

"Lari it is time. Uncle Cornelius is waiting for you, not to mention Aunt Casilda...oh! And my mother and father! Everyone is so excited Lari! They simply are jumping for joy!" Ulani squealed, her eyes sparkled with giddiness. Alair felt cold and ignored his cousin's overenthusiastic excitement. There was no way the other Heracles felt excited and wanted to see him. He knew they probably were excited that they'd be rid of him or even better: they'd get to show off. The once disowned prince was now a select hero to help return this so called 'Crystal of Time' to its original place. What greater honor could the Heracles possibly gain if they were placed in the spotlight?

Sucking up all the Fortem air Alair stood up and looked up at the sky once again. "Goodbye Greenie." He whispered as he looked back to Ulani and inched towards her. "Tell your mama and papa I'm jumping inside and can't wait to see them after all this time. It'll be super fun, like old times!" Alair sarcastically let out, faking a smile. Ulani, blushed slightly while silently muttering "shut up!" as she grabbed Alair arm and strode off towards the Heracles humble abode.

After Phillonius had managed to wedge himself into the carriage, which was frankly too small for him, let alone the pair of them, Silas climbed in. He sat down and pulled shut the door. He was uncomfortably close to the King. Something that he was hoping wouldn't happen too often.

"Forward, Myll! Forward, Hyii" Phillonius shouted jovially.

With that the palace horses galloped off, dragging the overloaded carriage behind them. From previous discussions, he knew that Myll and Hyii were the official royal transport for the past five generations. Never had anyone encountered horses quite like these before. They never seemed to grow weary, not to mention their slightly out of the order colours. Myll, the female of the two, was a mixture of soft gold and deep bronze, seeming to glint in the sunlight. The male, Hyii, was a soft lilac in colour, with a deep hair. The horses were always something that Silas was interested in, however, he didn't really feel like probing this moron for information on them. He did, decide to grill him on another, more important, subject.

"You seem a little too happy about all of this," Silas said, a cold edge to his words.

"Hm?" the King replied. "Ah, well this is just a spot of bother. We'll have this wrapped up and taken care of in no time. It's a small break for us too. Seeing how the other half live, as it were."

Silas was seeing how the other half live, that was certain. He struggled to fathom how one person in a land so clever, could be so idiotic.

"A spot of bother? You really view this as a spot of bother? Do you not realise the gravity of this situation, your highness. Gnaritas is tearing apart at the very seams! There have been cracks in the land, there have been major rockfalls and not to mention that unexplained flooding that damned the slums and the majority of the residents. All of this, is because the one thing that kept the realm in place is gone. The crystal has been usurped and we have absolutely no idea where this Queen lives. What her motives are. Where she's put the crystal. Or even what the best defences are against her and her monsters! That thing that Sir Rhorlan captured was not from our land. Even you have to admit that!"

"Please, control yourself, Silas. I can have you sent right back from where you came from. Yes, you are right that the little thing Rhorlan found is a strange being, and the flooding in the shanties is unfortunate. However, I'm sure we can sort this out rationally."

"Rationally? Rationally! Surely you can't be serious! This was not an act of mere disobedience, this is an act that can destroy four world. I don't think we're in any position to be rational!"

Silas was in complete disbelief at what he was hearing. How this man was the leader of a world was beyond him. In fact, how this man managed to dress himself is a miracle.

"I can see that you're not going to take the calm approach here, so perhaps we should just be quiet the rest of the way. Enjoy the sights. Think things over," Phillonius said simply, not wanting to further rile his comrade.

Silas snorted in contempt, but nevertheless, held his tongue. The carriage rolled through the valleys and woodland, the sky growing ever darker and the land ever more barren the further along they moved. This was nothing like what Silas had pictured. Obviously there was more to the crystal than he thought. The crystal forest was always lush and green, wildlife everywhere. Even exotic plants. Now, now everything was dead. Was this what was to come of the land? Was their existence soon to be wiped out, just as the forest had been?

The horses slowed to a halt next to a small clearing.

"We're here!" Phillonius announced. "About half an hour through the trees is where the crystal is kept. Also, it is where we are meeting the others. Look sharp, Silas. Let's get moving."

"What trees? You can't call those gnarled stumps trees," he spat. He let himself out of the carriage, staring sadly at the ruined forest around them. "Did the crystal keep it alive?"

"I'd say so. That crystal had properties neither of us could fathom."

"I wouldn't say neither..." Silas muttered as Phillonius went to the horses and instructed them to head straight back to the palace.

"Come, let's get walking," Phillonius chirped.

The twins look towards there master for a few seconds, "We shall be going now." they said at the same time. They took one another's hand, and began down the path threw the city. The streets were busy for it was in the middle of the day. One of the old ladies that was selling her bread called the twins forth. "Come." she said with a smile. "I have something for the pair of you." she said as she took there hands in her own. She lead them behind the small building. "I know who you are." she said softly as she pulled out a gold necklace and a pocket watch from her pocket. The two items reflected one another. "Keep these close and you will always find your way. She said. "What are you names?" she asked the twins with a soft smile, the kind only a grandmother could have.

The twins looked at each other, "A name?" they asked. They never were given a name. The old lady softly smiled. "Well then a name is what we shall give you." she said as she looked at there palms, each line of there hands were the same, as if they were the same person. A slight shiver ran down her back as she looked into there blue eyes. "Well then." she said softly. She worried about such new life and how they would fair in the other worlds. "I know!" she said as he eyes lighted up "I have the perfect names for the pair of you." she said as she placed the necklace in the girls hand and the pocket watch in the boys. "For you my dear sweet child." she said as she gently touched the girls cheek. "Your name shall Viola" she said softly, "and as for you." she said as she looked at the boy. "Your name shall be Leon." she said with a smile. She looked the the street, "Hurry before you miss your chance." she said as her smile faded. The twins did as she were told, "Thank you." Viola said softly. Before she could look back the lady was gone. They walked to the center of the city and waited for the portal. When the blueish black portal popped up the twins walked into it.

Baphomet eyed the faintly glowing crack dubiously. True, the crack wasn't emitting crackling sounds or spouting out strange creatures from other realms, but it was still a crack. A crack leading to Gods-know-where. According to the adviser, the realm of the crystal was supposed to be full of life and with green trees, grass, blue skies and stuff. He had a hard time imagining a world where the trees were actually green, it was such a strange color for plantlife...the ones in Haine were usually a dull red or some other vibrant color, the latter often being poisonous in some way. And blue skies? Seriously? If the hunchback hadn't been such a trusted adviser and known good Samaritan (well, for a demon, anyway), he would've thought Fromm was trying to set him up, laughing while he stumbled around in some strange and possibly dangerous world.

This is ridiculous. Letting out a huff, Baphomet shouldered his scythe and leaped in. While he may not be the most loyal demon in Haine, or anywhere else, he had no desire to see his plane destroyed or overtaken by some other plane.

Within the Void, everything was a kaleidoscope of strange colors and flashes of cracks leading to other worlds, and for a moment the demon wondered if he was stuck or lost. But then he felt a slight tug, and an unseen force guided him towards a bright spot in the distance. Readying his scythe, Baphomet braced himself for whatever would appear on the other side.

Tightening her grasp around Alair's arm, Ulani marched on until the stony white pillars came into sight. Raising his head Alair glared at the giant pillars and statues that surrounded him. He was back to the place he despised and loathed more than anything: Heracles Palace. The Heracles Palace was enoromus. Filled with its hundreds of archways, pathways, and roads that danced through out the entire palace. It contained thousands of houses, as nearly twice as many rooms, hundreds of chambers and secret pathways, and so much more. All for the Heracles family permanently resided here and only a member of the family was allowed to-- scratch that--even allowed to enter its massive stone gates. The palace wasn't too keen on allowing visitors who could possibly taint the royals' living quarters. It was funny, Alair was no where near jumping for joy that he thought he would be.

"Ulanita!" Someone yelled, causing Alair body to tense up. Here it comes he thought. Turning around with Ulani, Alair stared at who called out. It was none other than his aunt, Adelinda.

"Mother! I brought Alair like I promised!" Ulani happily smiled causing Adelinda to coldly gaze at Alair as if he was nothing and belonged beneath her shoes.

"I see, well done." She hissed, glaring at Alair as she softly stroked her daughter's hair. Alair knew this woman was only this close to him because of Ulani. If it were any other situation or Ulani was away, you are sure to bet that she wouldn't even step on the same ground as Alair. "Seems like the bastard child of my foolish sister has found his way back home. Hmm?" She sneered.

Alair, nowhere near surprised, expected something from this woman. Adelinda was never warm and fuzzy towards him, even when he was a child. She had a beautiful, but cold face that caused anyone to second think their phrasing of words towards her. Not Alair. Quite frankly Alair could have cared less. "Looks like that's case, isn't it?" Alair flatly let out.

Adelinda scrunched her face in disgust. "You should be grateful to be even step foot in this sacred palace with your disgusting blood!" She screeched.

"Grateful?" He laughed at the irony of it all. "I am nowhere near that. It is rather you, Adelinda, who should be grateful. It is thanks to this disgusting blood that you are even given a chance to survive. It is because of this disgusting blood that you will be saved and Fortem shall be spared from total destruction." Alair harshly spoke, angry with the very blood he shared with this woman. "Besides, I don't see you running to find the Crystal of Time. If you despise having myself being burdened with such a task you are more than welcome to take the job." Alair smirked knowing well Adelinda was a sheltered noble who wouldn't dare step foot off the palace. "Didn't think so. Bye Ulani, I enjoyed the trip." Alair laughed and gave a Ulani a hug, right in front of an enraged Adelinda. Knowing far too well hugging her daughter was the same as if he had spat in her face.

Waving a happy goodbye to Ulani, Alair left his dear old aunt furious beyond no control and made the rest of his journey alone. It had been years since he roamed the grounds alone, without the constant nagging or yelling from his family. So much time has past and you would think he would be filled with nostalgia for his home. Sadly there was no such thing and the only thing he was filled was with bitter and cold feelings.

After what seemed only a few minutes (his body still seemed to remember the way) the dragon insignia on the door's handles meant he finally made it; he had reached the King and Queen's quarters. He gazed at the many dragons surrounding the doors and smiled. The only thing good about his time here was he got to see the dragons again. Grazing the golden handle softly, Alair quickly tore the large doors open. As the rush of the wind danced through the Great chamber, the sound of happy chattering ceased, every royal of Heracles Manor was present and all laid their eyes upon Alair. He quickly slammed the door shut behind him and paid no mind to others as he made his way down the long pathway. The silence didn't bother him nor the constant staring. It was the thought of being trapped inside with all these people.

"Alair," The king slowly whispered. Gold splattered in front of Alair as he made it to the end of his walk and looked up at the man and woman who he once loved more than anything in the world.

"Cornelius," Alair answered his father wryly. "Oh and Casilda, hello. Aren't you looking ravishing as ever." He faked a smile as he looked at his mother. She however didn't change her expression at the comment.

"Insolent boy! You are to address the King and Queen with 'Your Majesty'!" Someone shouted out causing Alair to chuckle.

"Sorry if my loyalty and respect isn't what it should be." Alair quickly replied to the shouter before turning to his parents once again. "Your majesties I have come and am ready for the task I was given." Alair spoke nonchalantly as he stood up straight and never moving to bow down.

Silas walked a few paces behind Phillonius, being much more cautious than his bumbling counterpart. Phillonius was walking far too quickly, making a noise and whistling. If there was anything lurking here, possibly under a guise of invisibility as he was sure these creatures of darkness could do, Phillonius was leading them right into an ambush.

Silas had his hands on his sword, ready to unsheathe if necessary.

"Come along, Silas, don't doddle now!" Phillonius said before chuckling. "I thought that you would be raring to go!"

Silas chose to ignore his comments and decided that he would keep an ever vigilant eye on his surroundings.

"Phillonius!" he called "Stop!"

"Whatever for?" he asked, keeping moving. However, it was suddenly apparant why he should have stopped, or at least looked where he was going. With a high pitched skirl, he fell into a ditch. "Bloody hell!"

Silas rolled his eyes and jogged forwards to see the king sprawled on his back, covered in twigs.

"Seems like a trap," he said as he slowly sat up.

"You don't say..."

"Why would you hunt here though? No-one lives here, and there's certainly no wildlife!"

"Look, we don't have time to ponder life's mysteries, there is obviously people other than us here. Can you get out? We need to get moving as soon as!"

Silas offered his hand down to Phillonius and together, after about five minutes of heaving, tugged Phillonius back out of the ditch. Phillonius dusted himself off and shook his head, staring back down.

"If you weren't here, I would have been stuck!" he said. "Thank you!"

"Let's go," Silas said brushing off his thanks. "And move cautiously!"

Phillonius slowed his pace and looked around a little more as the pair made their way through the desolated forest. Silas had a feeling that whatever creatures were the Queen's creation, had set that trap. Set it to try and prevent people from locating the crystal and the Queen's realm. He also had a feeling that the trap was nothing in comparison to what these beings were capable of.

Around twenty minutes later, they arrived in a clearing with a stone pillar in the middle.

"That's where the crystal sits," Phillonius explained needlessly. "Also, seems we're the first here."

The twins could feel another presence in the portal with them, but they did not look. They waited till they were threw the portal. Viola looked about the land it wasn't like home at all, when seeing this a shiver ran down her spine. She looked to her brother, his hand was still in her.

"I have a bad feeling." she said softly

Leon looked to the girl and nodded he could feel it to. In the distence he could see two people, by what must be the crystle.

"Look" He said as he pointed to the other two. "We must be carefull for they my be our enemy." he said softly

They walked hand in hand together, nothing could tear them apart, for in life they were meant to be one, but life doesn't always work the way we want it to. The twin glance behinde them once to see if there was anyone following them, but to there suprise no one was there. They continued towards the other two people, always staying in the safty of the shadows. Viola gently squeezed his hand.
"I don't know if we should do this." she said.
Leon looked to her, "this is what we where made for." he said softly.
They were now in full view of the Crystle. They heard the other two talking of being the first ones there. Viola looked to her brother, and her brother looked at her, but they keep silent, and just watched the other two.

The light had become brighter and brighter, to a near blinding dazzle. Yet Baphomet dared not shut his eyes lest an ambush awaited him on the other end. When the light became so bright that all he could see was white, the air around him suddenly ripped, and he felt himself abruptly expelled from the Void, and into this new...place. And, being his luck, he had apparently been shot out into the middle of the air, about three feet above ground. While the height wasn't enough to hurt him, it was enough to make him momentarily lose his balance, and he skidded across the ground on a hoof before coming to a stop near a tree. The demon shook his mane to clear his head, blinking rapidly to clear away the dancing spots of light in his vision.

Blue.

The sky was actually blue.

Not to mention that horrid shade of color these...trees were in.

"I can't believe that old thing was actually right..." He muttered darkly. Hopefully, whatever was wrong with this supposed crystal-thing can be easily repaired. He couldn't wait to get away from this unnatural place. The place had all the wrong colors, and the air was far too humid. It made his fur feel sticky, and that was a feeling he loathed.

Looking around warily, the area seemed mostly clear but for the plant life...and then he spotted a group of humanoid creatures in the distance. Four, he noted. They hadn't seemed to notice him yet. Gripping his scythe, Baphomet crouched down with his head lowered, but tilted enough so that he could still see, his feet spread in a charging stance. His magic took several seconds to gather the momentum, and would likely alert these creatures, so he wasn't taking chances. He preferred melee, anyway. Charge in, kill them, find/fix the Crystal-thing, get out of here, and have life go back to normal. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

Never wavering from his father and mother’s cold eyes, Alair stood quietly and waited for some sort of response. This was the last time he would see them both for who knows how long. It was also the perfect time to get everything off their chest.

"Prince Alair Draco Cornelius Raizel Heracles of Fortem," Cornelius spoke causing a scowl to form on Alair's face. "You were chosen out of every warrior of the land to protect and serve as our champion in this time of disaster. We are honored for your acceptance and hope you succeed in this troublesome task."

Alair stared back at his father with a mixture of annoyance and pity. He knew that Cornelius wasn't at all honored. Alair knew the poor man had to force himself to say all that without even meaning an ounce of it. His mind began to wander off and drifted onto a more more interesting subject: the Crystal of Time. How would he get there? Surely the Crystal Time was lite years away in another dimension or so. Who was there already? He was chosen for Fortem, meaning others were chosen too from their home planets. Would he die? If he did would this be the last time he'd see Fortem again? These people? The mental argument within himself gave him a headache and he knew wasn't getting him anywhere. He needed to go. Time was wasting and he needed to catch up to the others like him as soon as possible.

"Alair! Are you listening!" His mother hissed, snapping Alair's attention back to reality.

"No. I really wasn't." He let out causing a hard crease to form in his mother's soft forehead. "Frankly I don't care how honored you are. I don't care if you're happy. I don't care that I was chosen. I don't care about being the champion of Fortem. All I actually care about is leaving and saving my planet. Frankly I would not mind if all of you people were blown to oblivion. In fact, it would actually bring a smile to my face to see you all disappear," Alair smirked while the entire room swarm with whispers and pale faces. "but there are innocent people out there who I actually care about who I wouldn't want to be destroyed. So, your majesty if you would please listen to the humble request of a bastard child like myself," Alair glanced at his aunt and gave her a little wave. "Get. On. With. It." He hissed turning back around and glaring up at his father.

"Erus draco!" Cornelius shouted causing a gust of pure blue flames to engulf the Great chamber suddenly. Through ahs and sudden excitement a large teal dragon formed. "Our great Dragon Lord shall take you to your destination, quickly and safely. You'll be able to make it like the others. Is he to your liking?" Cornelius raised an eyebrow forming a ball of annoyance inside Alair. His father always was able to read whatever Alair was thinking and he never liked that.

Ignoring his father, Alair's attention faced the Dragon Lord. Staring at the majestic dragon Alair was awestruck. He heard of the Dragon Lord ever since he was a child but never dreamed of actually seeing him in person. Slowly raising his hand, as if trying to see if he was real, the Dragon Lord gazed at Alair and bowed down. At that moment the entire room bowed in unison. Raising his head the Dragon Lord looked into Alair's eyes. Not thinking twice Alair gazed back and waited for what the Dragon Lord would do next.

"Alair please be careful. Despite what you may think we do want you to return safely." His mother spoke quietly as the Dragon Lord rose completely.

Giving a curt nod, Alair looked once again at all the people he hated. Ulani popped out from the crowd and waved goodbye happily. "Well see yah." Alair laughed as the Dragon Lord took a deep breath and released a huge ball of flames from his mouth. Surprising him, Alair eyes closed suddenly from the wind. The huge flames quickly surrounded him and like tiny swords pricked his entire body. It wasn't until the little pricks felt like stabs that he could no longer clearly see the Great Chamber.

Quickly feeling heat surge through his body Alair gasped and saw nothing but white. "Prince Alair," Someone spoke causing Alair to snap his eyes open. "You have been through a great deal but I see you mean well," Alair looked around, wondering who was speaking to him. Despite his searches the voice still continued."Your journey isn't easy and neither is your opponent, but you must not give up. Through hard work and teamwork you all shall achieve what you desire." The voice stopped as it began to sound misty. Alair looked around once more and saw the Dragon Lord gazing at him. The heat inside him cooled and the white surrounding him was slowly dissolving. "Good luck Alair." As if the Dragon Lord was smiling, he disappeared and left Alair.

Blind and unsure where he was, Alair slowly opened and closed his eyes. The opening and closing began to focus on something Alair hadn't seen before: a blue sky. Raising himself from the ground, Alair rubbed his eyes and gaze at the green of trees and uncommon shapes and colors of plants. This foreign place was filled with vibrance and life; the totally opposite of what he usually felt at home. And Alair thought he knew why.

"Did I make it?" He asked himself as he threw himself up from the ground. Is this the place where the Crystal of Time usually stayed? He asked himself as he stabilized himself from swaying. Brushing his hair from his face he noticed a large beast staring at a group of four at a distance. "I did make it. And it looks like I found everyone." A cold smile slowly formed on Alair's face. "Now Dupla Draco won't be lonely..." Alair happily sung.

Staring in fascination, Alair wondered how long they were there and who exactly would be the first to dance with his lovely Dupla Draco.

"I say," Phillonius called loudly. "Are any of you others out there?"

Silas, who had not removed his hand from the handle of his sword since they began walking into the forest, tightened his grip. He couldn't see anyone, however there were many places that people could be lurking. Although he could not see anyone, he could hear them.

"There's someone there," Silas whispered, his lips barely moving in case the being could lip read. He didn't want to alert any suspicion.

"Jolly good!"

"No, not jolly good. If the person was harmless and on our side, they would have shown themselves already, wouldn't they? For God's sake will you keep quiet and be ready to attack?" Silas hissed.

"We are heroes of the realm, Silas, my boy. We are all heroes of the realm. Perhaps they're just nervous? We're quite harmless!" Phillonius said, not lowering his tone any. In fact, he raised it slightly at the last sentence.

Suddenly, out of the ground in front of them, a being appeared. He was small and black with a mist around him. Pincers clicked loudly out of his face, and two black and sjiny holes could be seen above them that one could only assume were eyes. The being made a strange shrieking noise, and several more appeared.

Springing into action, Silas unsheathed his sword and swung it at the creature in one fluid motion. However, the sword passed straight through and the being crackled, almost as if it were a hologram. Silas tried it again with a different creature, and the same thing happened. He tried a third time before reasoning that they definitely were not with them in body. He kept his sword out never the less.

A low cackle could be heard, distinctly belonging to a woman, and the creatures disappeared in a small pop.

"What in the name were they!?" Phillonius shouted.

Silas looked around, and could see that he was emerging from behind the stone pillar, clearly scooting behind there in fear. Silas rolled his eyes. Not only was the man a moron, but he was a coward too. He should have guessed. Thousands of years with only a specific number of people in the bloodline, inbreeding must be rife in the palace.

"What I'm guessing," Silas replied quietly, still on edge. "Is that they are part of the Queen's army. Not her most powerful beings, however. Think of them as pawns in the proverbial chess match that we have stumbled into."