"Beyond the Edge?" Syda asks, watching Lola place her hand against the glass, causing it to slide away. With the glass out of the way, the Staff of Wisdom floated out of the container and into Lola's hands.
Grasping the staff, Lola kept the aura from leaking out of it and alerting anyone in the area, "That's right, but some of the people didn't want the power of the staff to go to some unknown person and the group split in two,"
"So that means that one of the groups is focused on keeping the staff, and the other is looking for the chosen person, but neither one of them actually has the staff," Sydra says as Lola leads him out of the wooden column.
"That's right because the staff disappeared before any of them could do anything with it," Lola says as she holds the staff out to Sydra, "But I'm not sure that any of them could even do anything with the staff if they did still have it,"
"What do you mean?" Sydra asks as he reaches out for the staff. Wrapping his fingers around it, Sydra feels the aura within it shoot into his body, but when he tries to move it, nothing happens.
"I think it's because only the person the staff was meant for will be able to use it," Lola says, making her way to the edge of the stump. Turning around, Lola begins to pout as she looks back at her house, "I'm guessing you weren't able to get the Swamp Gem, which means I'm stuck here with no home,"
"What do you mean? You already have the Swamp Gem," Sydra says, motioning towards Lola's head. Confused, she raises her hand to her forehead, her fingers brushing against the gem.
"Ahh! Are you telling me the Swamp Gem is stuck inside my forehead?" She yells, her eyes beginning to water again as her fingers rub against the gem.
'Isn't she being a little too dramatic? I mean I understood when her house burnt down, but she seemed to hop back from that pretty quickly,' Sydra thinks, watching as Lola runs over to peer at her reflection in the swamp water. "To be honest, I think it makes your childlike appearance look even cuter, and it was the only way to save your life,"
With tears running down her face, Lola looks back at Sydra, "Really? You really think I still look cute?"
"Sure, and anyway, with the Swamp Gem in your possession you can finally leave the swamp and explore the world," Sydra says as he calls the silver spikes over to him, "Anyway, now that I have the Staff of Wisdom, I'm going to head back now. If you want, you can come with me,"
Nodding her head, Lola walks over to Sydra and watches as he hovers the silver board over the swamp water. Steeping onto the board, Sydra reaches back and picks up Lola, who is incredibly light.
'God, I'm happy that we aren't in a city, or people would think I'm trying to kidnap a child,' Sydra thinks as he moves the board forward, the swamp water spraying in the air behind him as he swiftly heads back to Solomon's.
"Hey, Sydra, why is that Red Wisp following us?" Lola asks, noticing the Wisp for the first time.
"Him? Well, I believe he is supposed to be my guide through the swamp, but he isn't really good at his job," Sydra says, causing the Wisp to fly towards his head. Ducking, Sydra laughs and watches the Wisp begin to pout. "All that said, the Wisp did lead me to Solomon, who sent me into the swamp, which is where I found you,"
"I see, so the Wisp is the reason I'm alive right now? Then that means it is my hero," Lola says, laughing as the Wisp became a brighter shade of red.
After another few hours, they make their way out of the swamp, and back to Solomon's Garden. With this being the first time Lola has ever left the swamp in her entire life, she barrages Sydra with questions about everything she sees.
Following the Red Wisp through the archway, Lola gasps as she looks around the garden, "Woah, there are so many pretty plants in here,"
"Ahem, and who might you be?" Solomon asks, his head popping out of a bush to Lola's left. Screaming, Lola jumps behind Sydra, who simply sighs as he holds up the Staff of Wisdom.
"Hey, I got the staff, and the real one this time," Sydra says, watching as Solomon shoots out of the bush, a wide smile on his face.
"Amazing, simply amazing. Now I can finally test my experiment!" Solomon says, his hand darting towards the handle of the staff.
"Wait!" Sydra yells, causing Solomon to halt mid lunge, "Did you just say experiment? What happened to need it to restore my powers?"
Pausing, Solomon pulls back his hand and stands up straight, "About that... I honestly never thought you really would manage to find the Staff of Wisdom, and the only reason I sent you out to find it was because I wanted to immediately go back to my experiments,"
"In all honesty, I wasn't even sure it really was in the Swamp, and the only reason I thought it might be was because a man once came by here and talked to me about it. Once I heard about it, I started on an experiment that could allow me to use the staff's powers. After the experiment was done, I searched the swamp for a few decades in hopes of finding it, but I never did," Solomon says, motioning for Sydra to follow him into the tower.
"So... does that mean you can't actually reverse this seal?" Sydra asks, his fist clenching at having been lied to.
"I never said I couldn't, I just said that the Staff of Wisdom wouldn't be needed in the process. In all honesty, I simply planned on having you search the swamp for a few weeks, and when you couldn't find the staff, I would tell you of the way we could reverse the seal with only the sword," Solomon explains, leading Sydra towards the fourth floor.
"I see," Sydra says, looking down at the staff in his hands as an idea forms in his head, "If that's the case, then what are you willing to give me for the staff?"
Stopping at the third floor, Solomon turns to look back at Sydra with hope apparent in his eyes, "Hold on, do you know what that staff is? Or what was used to make it?" Solomon asks, his eyes widening as Sydra nods.
"I do, but this staff is pointless in my hands, and even if I could use it, I have no desire to," Sydra says, his finger tapping against the hilt of his dagger, "However, I'm not just going to hand this staff over for nothing,"
Laughing, Solomon runs over and grabs Sydra's shoulders, "Haha, if you give me that staff, then everything on the fourth floor of this tower will be yours,"
With a mischievous smile, Sydra looks towards the stairs leading to the fourth floor, "Interesting, but will that really be worth the same as this staff?"
Thinking about it for a second, Solomon holds up his hand, "I might also have something you might like on the seventh floor. If you do, then I will let you have that as well,"
Following Solomon up to the fourth floor, Sydra starts storing all the items within it inside his pouch. During this time Solomon heads up to the seventh floor and grabs a chest, bringing it down with him a few seconds later.
"I see you already started emptying my material room," Solomon says, watching as Sydra tosses a monarch rank set of snake scales into his pouch. 'Those could have been used in countless experiments...'
Making his way over to Solomon, Sydra looks at the chest in his hands, "So... What is inside there?"
Glancing at the staff in Sydra's hands, Solomon steels himself at sets down the chest, "This is something I found several years ago, and it took me a lot of effort to bring back,"
Opening the chest, Solomon moves out of the way to allow Sydra to peer inside. Laid upon a velvet pillow were two daggers, one with a pitch-black blade and blood-red handle, and the other with a pure white blade and ice-blue handle.
Reaching his hand into the chest, Sydra runs his fingers over the blades, feeling a powerful aura erupt out of them. "Are these... from Mythical Rank beasts?"
"Actually, they both came from the same beast, an Alpha's Omega, which can only be found beyond the Edge," Solomon says, watching as Sydra twirls the daggers around.
"What can they do?" Sydra asks, setting the daggers back down in the chest.
"I'm not sure, but I believe the white one represents the beginning, and the black one is the end," Solomon says, clapping the chest shut and handing to Sydra, "So, will these do?"