Sai, Michelle, and Amy walked quickly through the streets of Iapetus. The large red brick buildings loomed over them as they passed. The streets were still abuzz with people going to and fro. These villagers visited shops and stalls and carried on small, pleasant conversations.

  Sai was almost surprised by how unfazed everyone seemed. Did they even know what had happened just a few weeks ago, no more than ten miles from here? And if they did, how did they go about their lives as if nothing had happened? How easy was it to forget something so tragic? To disjoint yourself from those who had suffered and died? But, what did he expect, for everyone to mourn forever? No, life had to go on, and it did. These people had moved forward, gone back to living their lives. And how could he blame them? These thoughts were driven away as Amy spoke up.

  “This way.” She said as she rounded a corner and headed toward the edge of town. Soon enough, they came to the crest of a small hill on the other side. A long row of stairs extended down the hillside to an old wooden bridge that crossed a small, shallow creek. Without another word, they headed down. As they crossed the bridge, the sprawling evergreen forest again came into view. At the very edge of this forest sat a small, dilapidated shack. Its windows were shattered, and its foundation was crumbling to dust. Even still, the three strode onward. Sai’s ankle ached as he kept pace with the two girls.

  As they neared the desolate building, Amy pointed to it. “There it is!” Sai and Michelle both looked at her, confused. “

  “What? Where?” Sai squinted as he tried to look past the shabby structure and into the thick forest of trees that lay beyond it.

  “What do you mean where? Right here!” Amy approached the old shack and tapped on the rotting door frame. The entire building groaned and creaked as her hand made contact. The only thing that seemed to be holding this place together was the very dust that had fallen from its doorway. The failing foundation made the entire building sit at an off-kilter slant, making its stability seem precarious at best. The front door, which was just a few thin pine boards, hung catawampus by a single hinge in its upper left corner.

  Michelle leaned over and whispered to Sai. “She’s gonna kill us and harvest our organs, huh?”

  “Absolutely, yes,” Sai replied seriously. “Something the matter?” Amy said.

  “Ummm, nothing. But, Amy?” Michelle spoke softly. “Is this really where you wanted to take us?”

  “Yeah, we must have two completely different de?nitions of the word citadel,” Sai said as he surveyed the extremely shifty-looking structure.

  “Of course, this is it! Come on, you'll see.” Amy placed one hand on the front door and pushed it open. The rusty hinge that supported the door squeaked as if it hadn’t been oiled in decades. The bottom of the door scraped the floor, causing another groan to resonate from the wooden floorboards. Amy stepped inside as Sai and Michelle reluctantly followed. As they entered, Sai couldn’t help but note the unpleasantly damp smell of the building. The stench of rotting pine and mildew filled his nostrils. Looking around, Sai noted small beams of light that crisscrossed the room from every angle, no doubt from the litany of holes in the roof and walls. The entire building was simply one big room with a thin cloth rug at its center. Different pieces of busted furniture littered the floor. A couch with a broken leg and massive tears in its fabric backing sat against the back wall. A table that had been toppled over jutted halfway out of the damaged floorboards where it had fallen. A layer of dust nearly an inch thick coated virtually every surface in the room.

  Michelle pinched her nose. “It stinks so bad in here!”

  Sai nodded in agreement. “What are we doing here? I thought we were going to see Cylus? There's clearly no one here.”

  Amy looked back at both of them with a smile. She knelt and grabbed the corner of the rug, ?inging it to the side. This created a cloud of dust that immediately choked both Sai and Michelle. The two coughed, trying to clear the dust from their noses and mouths. It settled quickly to reveal what looked like a shiny steel plate hidden underneath. Amy slipped her tome from its sleeve and touched it to the plate. Silently, the plate lifted on one side, opening like the hatch to a mysterious underground bunker. A faint warm light poured out as it opened, illuminating the room.

  “Let’s go.” Amy stepped down and onto the rungs of a hidden ladder. Within moments, she disappeared into the hole. Michelle and Sai looked at one another, and with no more than a shrug, Michelle stepped forward and descended after her.

  Stepping up to the hole, Sai quickly realized he’d have to leave his crutch behind if he was going to follow them. Setting the crutch down, he placed his foot on the rung and began his descent. The soreness in his foot lingered, but he continued on. After heading down a few rungs, he heard a slight click above him. The hatch had automatically shut back, and he could hear the faint shuf?ing of the hatch concealing its presence once again beneath the dusty, old, tattered rug.

  Within a few minutes, they reached the bottom of the ladder and entered a sizeable subterranean tunnel system.

  “Come on, this way.” Amy motioned them forward. The tunnels wound back and forth for a long while before ?nally opening up to a large cavernous area with giant stalagmites and stalactites jutting from the ?oor and ceiling, respectively. At the center of the cavern stood a large, half-egg-shaped, white and gold structure. Five massive pillars dotted the area around the dome; each ran from ?oor to ceiling. These pillars looked to be made of polished Ivory with ribbons of gold spiraling up their entire length. Sai ?gured they might be some sort of support to help with the structural integrity of the cave itself, but there was no way to know for sure.

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  “Whoa! All of this was hidden underneath that forest?” Sai said as he examined the fantastic feat of engineering that lay before him.

  “Not exactly. As we came down the ladder and even through the tunnels, we traveled through multiple warp corridors. If I hadn’t been with you, you could’ve easily been sent to another part of the continent. It’s actually how we get around to different places so quickly. Now come on, Cylus is waiting.”

  Amy stepped forward, and Michelle and Sai followed after. As Sai stepped forward, the pain in his ankle came back with a force. “Agh!” He knelt and held the pulsating ankle in his hands.”

  Amy turned to look at him, “Are you okay, and where’s your crutch?”

  “Yeah, I'll be okay. It just hurts, and I had to leave it up top when we came down,” he explained.

  Amy gave an exasperated sigh. “Sai, that crutch is specifically linked to you. Check your inventory; it should be there. Have you walked without it this whole way?”

  He didn’t answer and instead just looked at her, perplexed. Swiping his hand down, Sai mimicked the motion he had seen Amy perform earlier, and quickly a menu appeared. This menu seemed slightly shorter than the one Amy had displayed. It was missing the "tome” tab, but the same “inventory” tab he had seen was available to him. Tapping “inventory,” another box opened, which displayed two whole items: the note Sai had clung to so desperately and a single item titled “crutch.” Sai gave the crutch a tap, the inventory box closed, and the crutch appeared in front of him.

  “Just so you're aware, you can also access your inventory by simply reaching in your pockets and thinking of the item you wish to retrieve,” Michelle explained. “Just be sure you know what you’re looking for if you do it that way.” She helped Sai to his feet and back onto his crutch. “Take it easy. You don’t want to aggravate that injury.” She smiled as he lifted the foot and placed his weight on the crutch.

  Sai nodded. “Thanks.” He felt like a fool. How come he knew so little about this world? Why did it seem like he was the only one who ever seemed lost here?

  “Are you good?” Amy spoke up. “Yeah, sorry,” Sai replied.

  “Good.” Turning back around, Amy stepped forward ?rst and approached the large dome. Once again, she undid the clasp over her tome, raised it above her head, and held it there for a second. A faint light emanated from the book, and simultaneously a loud clicking noise could be heard from the inside of the dome. Suddenly, the ground around them began to rumble and shake. The once solid dome seemed to crack like an enormous golden egg down its center. It became immediately apparent to Sai what those support pillars from before were for. Without them, the action of opening this dome might be enough to bring the whole cave in on itself. The two halves of the dome seemed to regress away from each other as they lowered to become ?at against the rocky ground. The rumbling of the cavern slowly subsided, and what was left in the center of the room was a vast, white metal plate embossed with an insignia of a solid gold dragon.

  Amy stepped onto the platform and waved Sai and Michelle onward. As they stepped onto it, the ground began to tremble again, and the collapsed dome rose to its original shape.

  “Last stop, I promise.” Holding up one ?nger, Amy smiled. The platform beneath their feet began to creep even deeper into the earth. Suddenly, a light appeared around the edges of the disk. Slowly, the light began to grow brighter and brighter. It became so bright that Sai was forced to cover his eyes. When he opened them again, they stood in a large, aboveground courtyard. People buzzed around, each with a book strapped to their hip, some with multiple in their arms. These people paid no attention to their arrival.

  Sai couldn’t wrap his head around how they had gone down but ended back on the surface. Even Michelle looked confused. The only one who seemed to have any idea what was going on was Amy, and she wasn’t spilling that secret anytime soon. Sai ?gured that at some point, they must have traveled through yet another warp gate and come out upright.

  The air and sunlight were warm and welcoming after being underground. In front of them stood a large, two-story brick building. A massive golden dome at the top caused the building to stand out among the many other brick buildings in its vicinity. Two white banners adorned with the same dragon sigil as the one on the disk hung down the front of the building. In between them sat two doors made entirely of stained glass.

  “Welcome to the citadel.” A gruff voice from behind them caught them by surprise. With a start, all three of them turned around to see a large, bearded man in dark, hooded robes standing directly behind them. Even as he greeted them, his aura came off as cold and unwelcoming.

  “Oh, master Cylus! I didn’t expect you to be waiting for us out here.” Amy stammered. “I brought the two survivors from Dione as you asked.”

  “You’re late, and I specifically remember asking you to bring only the boy,” Cylus replied.

  “I’m sorry, he refused to come unless she could come as well, and well, he made a good point. She was in Dione that night. Maybe she can help us get to the bottom of all this.” She stammered again as she caught a glimpse of his pale, piercing eyes. “ S-sorry”

  Cylus stared at her, his pale blue eyes threatening to burn a hole straight through her. “Amelia...” the disappointment in his voice was apparent even to the oblivious Sai.

  Without a thought, he cut in. “Sir, it really is my fault. She told me to come with her, and I refused. She even threatened to bring me by force if need be. Don’t be mad at her; it was my idea.”

  Cylus looked over at him. “Well, I suppose you accomplished your task, even if it wasn’t in the way I had ordered. I do hope that she wasn’t too rough with you.” He turned to Sai. “She has a habit of being a bit abrasive at times.” He said ?atly.

  Those words seemed to tear Amy down even further. “Abrasive.” That word had made her so angry before; now, it was clear why. This must've been a term used to describe her often. This time was different, however. It wasn’t just some passing comment from a stranger like Sai. This was someone who knew her well. Someone she clearly respected.

  Against his better judgment, Sai decided to speak up yet again. “I wouldn’t say abrasive. Maybe a better word would be, headstrong.” He looked to her for any sign of relief. She blushed slightly with her head still down.

  “You’d be wise not to correct me. Now the three of you will follow me.” He stepped around them and headed toward the ornately designed building ahead.