"Why did the castle start falling apart on us?" Robert yelled as the group raced out the front door of the house and looked around. All nine of the crystal houses were slowly falling apart, and large shards of crystal were falling from the walls of the castle, destroying a lot of the area around it. Getting as far away from the house as possible, the group went towards a part of the yard that was safe from the falling crystals.
"I think Louis was keeping himself at the door of death inside the coffin, and when we lifted the top off it, it released his hold on the crystals. Sadly, that means that all the things he had created and kept inside his houses are probably being destroyed at the moment," Sydra said as a large piece of crystal fell down a few feet away from them, and crushed the tree it landed on.
"Oh, well that explains why the houses are falling down, but why aren't the crystal inventions he made not falling apart as well?" Erich asked as he held the crystal sword he had taken from the gargoyle earlier up in the air. Unlike all the buildings and crystal walls, the sword kept its shape without any cracks appearing on it.
"I think that is because the walls and houses are much larger than his inventions were, so he had to constantly provide aura for them to keep there shape. They probably would have ended up falling in a few years anyway, we just hurried it along," Sydra said as he pulled the crystal spyglass out and looked around the yard with it. He wanted to see if there were anymore gargoyles that had been awakened by the destruction of the castle, but there was nothing.
"Are we grave robbers?" Cidre asked, looking slightly upset about the fact that they had just decimated someone's resting grounds for treasure. The others shuddered, feeling slightly guilty at the thought of what they had done.
"Oh well, what is done, is done," Erich said as he let out a light sigh and watched as the last piece of the castle wall crumbled to the ground. After all the crystal pieces settled down on the ground, the group walked over to the area they had entered and left the castle. Along the way, Sydra picked up the small crystal orb that was connected to the sphere he had, and sent it into his Arbor Sanctum. Walking over to the water, Sydra looked around for Siel, to make sure he hadn't been hurt by any of the falling crystal shards.
"Wow, you guys really did a number on the castle," Siel said as he walked up from behind the group and looked at the castle that was now in ruins. Shaking his head, Siel looked around at the group and noticed that Sydra was holding his crystal in his hand. "Ah, so you were able to find it?"
"Yeah, Louis was holding onto it inside his coffin, and when I went to get it from him, it set off the destruction of the castle," Sydra said as he walked over and handed the crystal trident to Siel, who parted the hair on his head and placed the crystal on top of a broken shard that was connected to his head. As the two pieces connected a bright flash of light enveloped Siel, causing the group to loose sight of him.
"Ah, that's better," Siel said as the light died down and a young man appeared from within. Siel had undergone a transformation that gave him the look of a middle aged man. His white long beard and hair had turned black, and shrunk down so that his face could be seen clearly. On top of his head was the two yellow horns he had earlier, but there was also a dark blue horn, in the shape of a trident, that was in the emerging from his forehead. The trident was pointed towards the sky, and it let off a soft glow that calmed the group. Siel's body had also undergone a small change, as he was now well-toned with muscles that would put Hercules to shame.
"Dang, wasn't that just an old man?" Cidre asked as he looked at Siel suspiciously, as well as slightly jealously. If Cidre even had half the muscles of this guy, girls would be all over him.
"I was never an old man, but without my horn, I was aging at an increased rate. If I had gone much longer without it, I would have probably died of old age," Siel said as he walked over to the water and checked out his reflection, before flexing his muscles with a wide smile. "Now to leave this place,"
"You know the way out?" Sydra asked as he looked around the cave, other than the destroyed castle and the way they had entered this place, he didn't see anything else. Sydra had been thinking that they may have to dig their way out, but he was happy that Siel claimed to know the way.
"I do, and I will take you with me as thanks for getting back my horn," Siel said as he walked over to the side of the water and raised his hands, with his palms connected. Once his hands straight out from his body, Siel then separated his palms, and as he did so the water parted to the side. With the water parted, the group was able to see a set of crystal stairs that led down to a tunnel.
"Does that tunnel lead out of here?" Robert asked, ready to get back outside and see the sky again. The truth was he had a small fear of being trapped underground, and now that there was a way out, he was eager to leave.
"Yeah, but it's been a while since it has been used," Siel said as he led the group down the stairs, and opened the door that kept the water out of the tunnel. After everyone had entered the tunnel, Siel closed the door behind them and held up a lamp that was emitting light created from the glowing plants. The tunnel was a bit long, and there were a few turns that the group had to make, but in the end it only took them half an hour to get to the door that led outside.
"Wow, it's already so dark outside," Erich said as he looked up at the night sky. The group was standing in a small field at the bottom of a cliff, and around thirty meters from the forest. Releasing some of his fire aura in an arc, Robert created a small clearing for the group.
"We should camp here for the night, and then head out in the morning," Sydra said as he pulled wooden stakes out of his Arbor Sanctum and set them up in the ground a few meters away from each other. After that was done, Sydra created several spiders that began weaving a tightly woven web around the wooden stakes, creating several walls that connected the stakes.
"Can I have an ax, that way I can go grab some firewood?" Siel said as he walked over to Sydra. Pulling an ax out of his Arbor Sanctum, Sydra handed it to Siel, before looking at the others.
"By the way, you guys are staying here tonight, so you should probably get to work on making some tents," Sydra said as he pulled out several more wooden stakes, axes and a few leather pelts that he handed to the others.
"Wait, we're sleeping out here, and not in the nice palace beds?" Cidre asked as he looked down at the ax in his hand, confused. The other two looked at Cidre like he was an idiot before heading off to do their jobs.
"Do I get to sleep in a comfy bed? No, so why should you?" Sandra asked as he went inside his finished tent and set up a few wooden stakes inside, before having his spiders create two soft webbed beds. Once that was done, Sydra pulled out two sleeping bags and placed one in each webbed bed. The whole time, Cidre was watching through the entrance, looking slightly downcast.
"That looks like a comfy bed to me," Cidre murmured before walking off to set up his makeshift tent. By now, Siel had come back with a good amount of firewood, and Robert had lit it on fire with his power. Pulling out meat from his refrigerator, Sydra walked over to the fire and handed it to Erich, who was the best cook in the group.
"Oh? You guys have meat? I haven't had meat in a while," Siel said as his mouth began to water from the smell of cooking meat.
'Crash' Stupid tent, I curse you in the name of the cow gods," Cidre said as his tent fell to the ground, and he had to start over again. Seeing him struggle, Sydra walked over and created some spiders to help out. The spiders quickly crawled over the tent and released strands of web to hold the stakes and leather hide in place.