We could barely hear as we fought on, against Mazell, while trying our best to protect the last thread of hope for our world, Ancias. Though it must have been hours, the fight felt like it was over before it began. I felt the anger well up inside as I saw the dark figure slashing at Ancias, and I unleashed my rage upon him. The attack propelled Mazell across the room. He landed on the ground in what looked like a pathetic heap.

"No... this... cannot BE!" Mazell spoke with great surprise. "I had all the powers of the Guardians on my side, and STILL!? Something is... is terribly out of balance... auuughhhh..."

"You're damn right!" My Aunt was sweating profusely, but spoke with a sharp tongue. "The Guardian of Light told us that you stole the Gem of Life, upsetting that balance! Where is it??"

Before Mazell could respond, Ancias gave a mighty roar, and a torrent of water began to pour into the building as a water attack pelted us all, sending us to the ground.

"Oh... no!" Lily cried. "The storm is breaking up! The water levels are returning!!"

"Dad!" My father had been knocked to the ground along with Elia and Veronica, and he had evidently bumped his head. I rushed over to this side to pick his head up off of the flooding floor.

"Ohhh... son... you must... leave this place at once..." He moaned almost unintelligibly. I gave one last look at Mazell, on the ground, slowly being submerged by salt water, and dodged a powerful swing of Ancias' trident. As if the scenario wasn't chaotic enough, I turned and unexpectedly locked eyes with someone MOST unexpected.

"Sly!? What are you...Shayla? And...what are you doing!??"

Shayla and Sly were standing in the door besides someone we hadn't seen in months. It was Scott, the lab specialist we had met months ago while investigating Insburgh. They all stood at the entrance to Ancias' capsule in shin-deep water, and Scott had a peculiarly large, mechanical, shoulder-mounted device aimed directly at the Elemental Guardian.

"I let all those people die," Scott said gravely. "If I had done better... if I had been smarter... I could have saved so many lives. Well, I'm not going to let you die too!"

Before we could say anything, Shayla rushed at Ancias with a flurry of sword slashes as a blindingly bright, wide beam of light erupted from Scott's strange device.

Ancias shrieked in agony as Scott's beam cannon completely overwhelmed it. Its beautiful scales and smooth, shiny skin started to bubble and bulge as its eyes erupted in bloodshot, horrifyingly. Beams of light shot out from the insides of the once-great creature, and within seconds, an enormous explosion split through the air, sending a sickening stench something like burnt fish through the air. The force of the blast caused a small tremor, and the ceiling began to fall upon us and the gut-wrenching remains of what used to be Ancias. There was no time to react. I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, and then I fell into the ever-deeper water, cold and unconscious.

Sly gave a subtle smile as he floated in the air above the ruins. It appeared as though none of them had survived. The sun broke through the clouds as he expectantly awaited.

"Now, father... as your heir, may your undying powers be transferred to me, along with those of Ancias. I will carry on your legacy, and I promise to build the world that you endeavoured to..."

Pockets of light, all of various colours, rose out of the water and flowed into Sly's outstretched hands. With each one, he seemed to change a little more, morphing into something grander with each new power. His icy-blue eyes glittered with incredible intelligence as he unfolded his newfound pair of wings, greater than the span of those of an albatross.

Yes... there is not much more to do now."

His eyes flickered with a whitish light as he spoke a single word of magic. He then disappeared in a beam of white light, stretching from the waves below to the sky above.


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The strange door awaits...