Rubicor stood before us all. A shorter, but nearly-as-magnificent woman stood besides her. She was his advisor, Ylani, we had been told. She wore a velvety yellow gown decorated with glittering golden trim.

"Brave warriors," Ylani spoke in the beautiful song-like tones of everyone who lived in this place, "you are truly our last hope for reclaiming our world. The Son of Mazell has spread darkness through the world of the sun, and it will not be long before he claims this place too... and thus the palace of time. If that happens, all will be lost." I could tell that Seth wanted to speak up, but without looking over, Aunt Angelina stepped on his shoe with a smirk, shutting him up. Ylani continued.

"Now is the time that you must strike. With haste, you must make your way to Mazell's Castle, which his son now calls his own. At the top, he awaits. Your mission, warriors: To reclaim the Stone of Life that was stolen from the force of light, and give us hope. Defeat Sly, and release the Undying Force of Darkness! Release it so that it may be defeated once and for all. Without an heir to be passed to, Darkness will take on its material form- one to be feared, yet one that is not infallible."

"A material form?" Shayla spoke up. "You mean we have to fight the Darkness itself somehow?"

"That is exactly what I mean. Defeating Mazell and his son is not enough; Darkness will continue to try to upset the balance as long as it exists. It will, in time, find a new person to use as its pawn, and the cycle will repeat itself, unless it is utterly destroyed in the interim. Do you understand what you must do?"

With no reply, she sat down on a small throne behind and besides Rubicor, as he stepped forward. "Then I wish you all the very best of luck. Take this." He handed my father a strange, glassy-looking tube. "This, my friends, is a Crystal Whistle. Play its fine note, and you will be immediately whisked back here. You are one of us now. Beware though, my friends: The enemies at the surface are far beyond anything you have ever fought before. Please, take care of yourselves."

It was then that I realized that Scott was nowhere to be seen. He had been moping around in his room depressed up until this point. As Rubicor and Ylani left the room, I took Veronica and went back into the guest quarters, where we found Scott huddled in a lump on his bed.

A pathetic cry came from the lump. "I don't deserve to live."

I breathed out. "Scott, how many times have we told you... we know it wasn't your fault. You were doing what you thought was right!"

"If I had only been more vigilant, Insburgh wouldn't have been destroyed by Windgaard. If only I had been faster and better at my job, I could have stopped Arzak! And if I hadn't have destroyed Ancias... the world... heh heh, I can't believe that I, stupid little me, caused the world to be covered in darkness like it is."

"Just stop it!" Veronica snapped. "You are lucky- you are so lucky to be alive, after you fell from the top of that mountain! We never thought we'd see you again! We know that Mazell would have found another way to get us to this point anyway, so just don't do this. Your energy is so much better spent trying to right things that are wrong! You have to help us stop Sly from doing... whatever it is that he's going to do."

Scott nodded. I could see why he'd be in pain, though; clearly, it must be a little overwhelming to know that because of something you did or didn't do, the whole world was thrown into peril. We spent another minute or so with him before Shayla walked in, shining her broadsword to the light.

"Scott, everybody! We're taking off soon. We have a big job to do, and we're heading out in half an hour. Get ready!"

It was only a half an hour and a teleportation spell before the group of us were standing on a familiar peak. It was Mazell Pass, but this time, the sky was black with dread; thunder rumbled in the background while brilliant flashes of lightning tinged with red and purple struck with some frequency. We had a big battle ahead of us...


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The strange door awaits...