As the group reach their last landmark, Roy once again sketches the statue before them, meanwhile, Flare talks to Jack about the person in the statue. The crumbled sculpture before them bore a different plate than the others, rather than a shining gold, this one shone a brilliant light that dazzled the beholders.

“Furei - Of Space… Why is her nameplate different?” Jack asks.

“I know this god!” Flare announces.

“Oooh! You’ve met them?!” Jack responds.

“No, I- wh- hh- They’re all gone! What do you mean by “I’ve met them?” Flare lectures. “This is the Goddess “Furei” The goddess of space as the nameplate reads. She was one of the last gods, and one that seemed to be immortalized with the nameplate.”

“Who makes these statues anyways?” He asks, walking up and touching the nameplate.

“The God of Memory and the God of Crafts,” Flare responded, “There are many more gods with Branch Rulings and specific abilities, one of such being the God of Statues. I’ll get into more of that later…”

The cat continuously monitors the boy, watching his every move. The boy would shortly glance at her, melting her heart with a short smile. A sudden jolt, followed by her purring sends her into confusion and shock.

“Eugh… they didn’t see anything… Right?! E- What’s he doing?” She stammered, looking over to Roy.

He kneels to the ground, looking at what seems to be water. He thinks to himself, “Even if the sky wasn’t red… blood perhaps?” He closes his book and waves his hand, “Let’s go!” Followed by a short cough.

Jack and Flare heed his call, picking up their slack, and beginning to head over.

Suddenly, Roy clenches his throat and is brought to his knees. The group rushes over to him alarmed as he grasps for air. Without hesitation, Flare rushed Roy down and hoisted him up.

“You’ll do fine bud… Just wait!” He called.

The cat and boy watched as the blades of grass began to sway, and soil began to circle the two. As Flare proceeds to do a gesture similar to a Heimlich maneuver. His gloves began to illuminate faintly, coloring itself orange.

The cat questions amidst the chaos, “W-What's going on?!”

A roar in the distance catches the group off guard, Flare continues to hold Roy up. The blades plucked from the ground, turned into razors as they flew by faster. The sky grew clouds of gray as Roy raised his hand, reaching up. He began to chant as he struggled to break free of something. The temperatures suddenly rise, and the group begins to feel a scorching sensation.

“Call it back!” Flare yelled demandingly.

Roy raises his hand higher, his voice almost giving out as his face turns bright red, only managing to barely squeeze out his words, “Re…turn…Wind-...Spir-it…”

A bright light flashed white in the direction of the camp. The skies are cleaved in twain as a white glow pierces the clouds, carrying along a dark trail. A white light blinds those who gaze upon it, followed by a thundering crash, and a deafening roar.

The cat opens her eyes to pitch back before her. She quickly looked around, and behind her was a forest that they had just traversed with a tattered statue standing upright still. She realized behind her was no void, and as she turned back around, looking at the sky, The voided figure towered over her. She looked around swiftly, at Jack, holding the boy, at Roy, who was coughing on the ground, and at Flare, laughing.

The ground she stands on cracks before the beast. She quickly made her escape towards Jack. The beast roars once more as the three cover their ears, Jack covering the boys’ ears.

“Aurgh, Where’s Roy?!” Jack yelled.

He looks at the beast who faces Flare, who continues to capture its attention with taunting dance moves. Although the cat cannot distinguish the creature, Jack can vaguely make out details such as details and jagged edges.

Immediately after finding out the beast’s form, he sprints towards it swiftly and pulls out a branch-like tool. The branch glows a green hue as he wields it, and in an instant, the branch blooms with a green flower and propels an ax almost the size of himself onto the ground.

“Flare!” He called, “I got it! I got it!”

Flare laughs as he backs away, “I believe in ya!”

The air simmers as Flare backs away, and the beast locks its attention onto Jack.

“Hold on! Watch me! Watch me!” Jack calls excitedly.

The cat watches in awe as Jack rushes the beast, dragging his ax, and beginning to run lower and lower. Then, as he prepared to make his jump, the ground carved itself in circles beneath him and forced itself upon him, jolting him towards the beast. His ax shone brightly within the sun's gaze.

Before the beast could even act, his ax carved the beast’s jaw, backing it away. As its head lowered, he spun again, reaching out to his ax and throwing it with all his momentum. And with this, the ax lodges itself into the beast's head, slamming its head into the ground. The sound of metal hitting metal resonated upon impact, being heard throughout the forest.

As Jack made his landing, he pulled his ax out of the beast who lies face-first on the ground. His ax turns back into a branch, and he uncomfortably puts it back in his sheath. The beast behind him begins to fade into black essence once more. Flare, holding the boy, marches over laughing.

“Haha! Jack, one! Demous, zero!” Flare cheered. “Gotta say, not a fan of the whole “Pitch-Black” thing. It’s hard to tell what that was up until the roar.”

“Hah, I still would’ve killed it, golem or not!” Jack flaunted.

“Imagine if I tried to fight it… Well, I guess I still woulda killed it, just not as fast…” Flare added.

As the two laughed, Roy pushed himself off the ground, covering a portion of his stomach, groaning, and hunched over.

Roy propped himself up, groaning, “Ugh, why did that ‘thing’ attack me? Could’ve sworn nothing was heading for the camp when I made that map.” He coughed. “Anyways, it’s best if we start moving… That sound probably sent a wave of attraction to everything in the forest.”

“Fair enough, we're almost there anyways,” Flare pointed. “The city is out there, I can smell the water from here.”

“What does it smell like to you?” Roy asks.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Mm, this won’t make sense but, it's like smelling a book by the beach,” Flare responded.

“Yeah, you’re right… It doesn’t make sense,” Roy exhaled.

The group continues walking through the forest, with the sounds of snarling and fighting behind them. The shine of the red sun illuminates the yellowish path before them. The group follows the path, noticing the light rays become dimmer and dimmer. Realizing this, they look up to see leaves on the trees. Aside from the leaves, the trees have gained a brown color, full of life.

“Woah! This place is cool! I can already feel like a god just having a leisurely walk, mind that it's always sunset of course,” Jack comments.

“The water from the city may have traveled all the way here… I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more dead trees after this, n-not saying these trees are normal or anything,” Flare adds.

The cat trots alongside the three, reassured by their superior strengths. She sighs as she stares at the boy, carried away on Jack's shoulders, “It’s just a short task, hopefully where we go after this will be better and nicer… Though, I vaguely remember the portal showing some image.”

Though she heeded the warning from Roy, the portal at the camp was out in the open, surrounded by a blue glow, and marked by a white hue. The inside of the portal was colored by a soft blue light, followed by a nice green. Colors such as these would be enough to calm a mind. In this case, she was excited to see if it really meant what she thought it meant.

Before them lies an enormous golden gate, not blocking anything particular, though, it intrigued them. The gate towers over the trees, being twice its size. Meanwhile, the gaping hole in the wall almost the size of the gate caused an unnerving suspicion.

“They say the destruction of Eden came from a dark power… If the power could easily break walls such as these,” Roy pondered.

“...Then it wouldn’t be using power from the gods, which is the only thing this wall is guarding…” Flare added. “The monster that had been sealed here was no god… Adding a dose of eeriness to the incident. Just what was the monster capable of?”

Jack clasps his hands together, facing the Golden Gate, relaxing them only seconds later. “So it’s true, our power stems from the gods,” Jack comments. “I guess it would be easier to just go around.”

The group walked past the hole in the wall, while Flare stopped, not to anything particular to them, he just tripped “Hold on! Damn… whatever, don’t mind me!” He yells.

“Can you stay focused?” Roy comments.

“Haha… I’ll tread carefully.” Flare responded.

“Focus… speaking of…” Roy thought.

With a little stretch of forest remaining, the group remained silent, listening to the clamors of the forest. Their caution heightened, with all of them twitching at even the slightest noise higher than the average while in the area.

Even the cats' hairs stood on end. Howling, buzzing, roaring, and grunting fills the atmosphere with a sense of enclosure. The light at the end of the path shines as the only guidance, other than the smell of a book by the beach.

At last, the party meets the trail's end standing before the final gate. Although not as immensely large as the Golden Gate, this one stands as a protection for the situation the city is in. They glance at the sign, stuck and faded beside the door which reads, “In the unlikely event of the waterways collapsing, this gate shall act as a hold. Once repairs have been made, please follow regulations and prepare for the water to be drained. Any injuries that occur during this process shall not be covered for.”

“Huh…” Flare thought, “Gotta feel bad for that one guy who probably did not read the sign.”

“You think there was a God of Dyslexia?” Jack laughs.

“Probably, but the most likely god to exist was the God of Idiocracy, Eldal,” Flare answered.

“You studied him...?” Roy questions.

“Well, his name backward was ‘Ladle,’ I at the time found it hella funny,” He laughed.

Roy picks up the cat gently, “I’m gonna have a look up there, just keep an eye out for anything lurking out behind you,” He commands.

“Roger that, we’ll bring the kid up there after you’ve checked!” Jack responds.

Roy kneels to the ground, and a similar effect happens when Jack kneels. Roy’s hands began to illuminate briefly, then, his hands stopped blinking. He rises from the ground and looks at the sky.

“I won’t drop you, kitty,” Roy whispers.

He suddenly began to rise from the ground, seemingly carried by wisps of leaves from the surrounding area. He ascended slowly, however, the cat was still freaked out, crying to put her down the entire way. To Roy, the cat seemed to be a little uncompliant. In simple terms, he knew exactly why she was screaming.

The top of the wall, roughly calculated by Roy, was around 23 meters. When they landed on the top of the wall. The cat opened her eyes to witness Roy in disbelief at the sights before him. The sound of crashing and roaring deafens her, and as she looks over, the city of Atlantis, the Grand City of the Gods, is filled and flooded completely by the waters of The Garden.

The skies were riddled with black dots, with demous continuously monitoring the skies in his stead. The waves were loud enough to forever confuse them, leaving them to fly aimlessly to the ends of nowhere.

“This place… those waterways must lead to the Oasis,” Roy said aloud. “Ugh… I can barely hear myself!”

Roy covered his mouth with his hands, and at the same time, his hands were glowing again. The cat could only hear chunks of what he was whispering. To her, he said something along the lines of, “Carry this message…”

Down at the bottom of the wall, Flare looks to be holding something, meanwhile, both Jack and the boy laugh playfully.

“Haha, hey kid! Looky here!” Jack called, doing cartwheels.

The boy laughed in response.

Flare begins to yell, “Quiet for a second! Sorry, Roy, what's the situation.”

The sound of crashing waves echoes from the palm of his hand, followed by a faint voice.

“The entire place is flooded… Th-... may not be the best idea to just cross… front” Roy said, muffled by the waters.

“We’ll meet you up there, got it?” Flare commanded.

Roy’s voice begins to become more incomprehensible, “U…stood, disperse--”

Flare sighs, looking up to the top of the wall, and looking back at the two who continue to play.

“Ey, knuckle-heads, time to leave,” He taunted.

“Aye aye, sir! But take the kid, it’ll be a smoother ride if he’s with you,” Jack responded.

Flare walks over to pick up the boy by his collar, looking up again at the wall. He closes his eyes to listen, only to be met with silence and the rustling of the leaves behind him. He opens once more to think for a moment.

“What waves…?” He pondered.

Jack calls him over, “Yo! I’m gonna head up now! Don’t take too long!” He places his hand on the ground, and the same stone pillar extrudes from the ground, launching him up. In quick succession, he taps the side of the wall, where another pillar catches his fall, continuously doing this until meeting the top.

Flare watches from the ground, and looks back to the boy. “Sooo, you’re probably not gonna like this… Haha, what do I care?”

Flare begins to squat, looking up at the wall, and in the blink of an eye, launches himself, leaving a crater from where he stood. With such speed, Flare scales up the wall with ease, while the boy flails in the wind similarly to a flag.

The wall seemed so small when scaling at this speed, spending no time surpassing Jack’s movements. As he soon made it to the top, he finished flashily with a backflip, landing perfectly on his feet, minus the scorched leggings, he felt satisfied. The boy, however, felt his own hair sticking up.

“Ugh… Is there a kind of pants that don’t burn when I try to fly?” Flare complained.

The sound of waves muffled the conversation, causing disruption in hearing, Roy replied, “You’re gonna have to take it up with yourself. Just control it so that it doesn’t burn your pants.”

Suddenly, Jack flies up screaming, his speed sends him high into the air before almost crashing into the sea, where both Flare and Roy catch him.

“That sonic boom was always neat… Now, I wish I moved that fast,” Jack said as he picked himself up.

The two look over to the horizon, looking at the skylines that still stand strong, and down to the smaller structures, engulfed by the sea. The structures glisten with the red glow of the sun, tainting its white glow with an eerie pink color, forever trapping it in a sunset-like color.

“Hey, Roy. You can see through those windows right?” Flare asks. “Over there! The tallest structure?”

Roy sighs in response, “You took your sweet time, of course I’ve checked the buildings. The one that piques my interest, however, is the one to the right. See it? Kinda stubby looking?”

“Yes, I see it. But what's so interesting about it?” Flare responds.

Roy glances over, his eyes seeming to adjust like the lens of a camera. His heart beats louder as he confirms what he’s seeing.

“What? The building there, what's so interesting about it?” Flare asks once more.

Roy scoffs, looking irritated and showing unease as he glanced at the structure. “It’s watching us.”

“It?” Jack asks.

“It looks like just some guy from the overworld,” Roy explained. “But, the figure is just so off-putting. We should probably head there.”

“Alright! To the Core of Atlantis!” Flare chanted, “We’re almost there!”

"Core of Atlantis?" The cat thought to herself, "Where did he get that name from--" She looks over, unexpectedly finding a road map. "There's no way..."