Wooden beams and rafters supporting the arched monastery fell loose as Cyrus and his friends ran as fast as they could. The shifting floor, aged with dust and cobwebs, shook, making it hard to run in a straight line. Everyone ran down flights of stairs as a tremendous crashes resonated behind them.

“I think the roof caved in!” Cyrus shouted, out of breath.

“You think, Princey?” Archibald responded, “We’re going to have to hustle if we don’t want to be royal flapjacks!”

Cyrus’ stomach rumbled and he cast a side glance to Trinity as they ran. “I think that’s the only thing I’m in the mood for right now.”

The six heroes entered the large ballroom. Demons lay strewn across the floor, tables were overturned and even the skeleton playing the piano lay with his head smashed through the ivories. “Oh my!” Trinity exclaimed, stopping and holding her hands to her mouth. “Did this all happen because of me? I hope peace can return now and we don’t have to fight anymore…”

“A fair sentiment from a fair lady,” Archibald said, as he urged her on. “But as long as men hunger for power, it’s nothing but a ladyhood fantasy.”

Rooms flashed by for the six heroes: the room where Van fought Celine, the frozen room where Severa’s corpse lay, and as they rushed down the stairwell they reached Bunting’s chamber. Every time they left a room they were followed by loud chain reactions that came from behind them as rooms violently collapsed. It was clear to everyone the Forbidden Fortress was on its last foundations.

Bunting’s room was strewn with wooden beams, icing residue, and red fragments of his broken brooch that shone like glowing blood. “An unpleasant memory,” Antonio remarked as they ran. “But at least I conquered this fiend!”

A loud congested roar echoed through the room, and a hulking monster stood before them. As it walked into the candle light, everyone gasped in horror. It was Bunting, or at least pieces of him. Shattered shards of the chef’s broken body reformed in blocky crystal-like patterns, though certain body parts were not in the right locations. Shards of eyes appeared too far apart, the remnants of his arms stretched out of the center of his chest and pieces around his mouth formed a large dragon-like snout.

“Little known fact: Bloodstones can reform on their own even with the essence of their human host long gone,” Archibald said with his hand to his chin.

“Hmm,” Van said softly. “That would have been nice to tell us, Archibald…WHEN WE STARTED THIS JOURNEY!”

The dragon-like Bunting let out another horrifying shriek and lumbered towards Cyrus and his friends.

“It’s blocking the door!” Trinity gasped.

“Chicas,” Antonio said with his sword outstretched in his one good hand. “Let me handle this.”

“Antonio,” Van said, grasping his sleeve. “Are you sure you can take him on with one hand?”

Antonio rolled his head, cracking his neck. “This lout thinks he can stand in the name of love! He’s always done that ever since I met him. It’s finally time to send him to the depths of Hell from which he came.”

With a battle cry to admonish his foe, Antonio ran at Bunting, ready to impale him. Slashing frantically, Antonio’s faced the crystallized Bunting with deft attacks, but every swing harmlessly clanged off the behemoth.

“He really is made out of crystal!” Cyrus exclaimed.

With a loud roar, and a powerful lunge with his enlarged arm, Bunting grabbed hold of the heroic swordsman’s hand. Antonio’s sword clattered to the floor as the single handed men pressed themselves against each other. The monster put all of its weight on Antonio’s body, pushing him backwards towards the wall. The exit was now exposed.

“Leave!” Antonio shouted. “Rapido my friends! Get through the door!”

“Antonio!” Van cried, lunging forward. “We can’t just leave you here! I can’t…I won’t…”

Antonio raised his head. His brown eyes sparkled in the candle light and his smile was soft and gentle. “Don’t you see, Vanessa. This is the best way for a romantic hero like me to go! I’ve found love and redemption after meeting you. Before this, I was a moral desperado, but now, I am truly a vigilante of love and honor. I am truly worthy of the name Antonio Corazon.”

”Forget your stupid honor!” Vanessa screamed, . “I need you! Don’t leave me!”

Gravel and shards of wood filled the room with dust as beams cracked loudly under the weight of the collapsing castle. Cyrus and Archibald grabbed hold of her and dragged her to the door

“Van, we have to go!” Cyrus said as Vanessa grew hysterical.

“Remember, mi amor,” Antonio gave a grin and a wink as Cyrus and his friends saw him for the last time. “Wherever justice and good things flow, it is the work of a true and loyal Corazon!”

The beams gave way with a sickening crunch and asbestos filled the air. Dragging Van as she screamed and kicked frantically, Archibald and Cyrus ran along with Trinity and Oga through the dining room into the foyer and into courtyard. The wooden draw bridge had given way into the ocean below, leaving a large gap between the collapsing castle and stable land. The stone spire the Forbidden Fortress stood upon wobbled back and forth as chunks of rock tumbled off the cliff. Everyone was silent with the sole exception of Van who sobbed limp in Cyrus’ arms. Trinity gave a look of sympathy towards Van, placing her arm on her shoulder.

Cyrus looked to Archibald who grimaced. “Where is she?” The Majester muttered.

“Who?”

“The most unreliable animal on the planet: the lady beast.”

“What can we do?!” Cyrus asked as he felt the rock beneath his feet slip.

With a large unsettling crunch, the rock lowered and slipped off the cliff taking everyone with it. Cyrus screamed as he fell. Above him, the rest of the black foreboding castle fell too. If the icy waters and jagged sea rocks didn’t kill him, the ruins of the Forbidden Fortress would. Cyrus looked at everyone from Archibald, to the sobbing Van, to Oga to Trinity. In the end, it was all a grand waste of time. Cyrus closed his eyes.

Instead of feeling rocks tear through his skin, Cyrus felt soft fur. He opened his eyes. Cyrus and all of his friends found themselves riding on Teela’s pelt as she weaved in between the cliff and the falling debris.

“Hang on,” she said. “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

A large tower wobbled uneasily close to the Multi-Beast, its form spread across her limber body with an ominous shadow. “If I kick you,” Archibald said. “Will you fly faster?!”

“I’m not a horse, you painted clown!” The beast snapped back.

“If we don’t make it, I think I’ll kick ya anyway!”Archibald shouted.

The tower broke loose from the rest of the castle and spun through the air, falling faster and faster with the ever fatal pull of gravity. Teela, turned around and observed the tower.

“What are you doing?!” Archibald screamed. “This is even crazy by your low standards!”

Swerving right as the the tower spun left, Teela dodged the hulking ton of stone by a hair.

“You were saying,” Teela said with a smile as she hovered in the air.

“I think Orc magician passed out,” Oga said laughing, as Archibald lay slumped against her.

Teela soared up towards the top of the cliff. Lowering down to the ground, the mayor of the small village greeted the heroes. Prince Cyrus slid off Teela where he was swarmed by villagers. “We cannot thank you enough for getting rid of the Everbloods, great Prince. You did just as you said. You are a hero!”

A frown remained on the Prince’s face. Van stood next to him with a red, tear stained, face. No amount of accolades could make his loss, and Van’s loss worthwhile. “Thank you,” Cyrus said.

“You know what this calls for,” the mayor hollered. “Party all night long!”

Cyrus sat on his bed inside Annie Freize’s log cabin. Bright lights and music chimed through the window, but he wanted nothing to do with it. He just wanted to be alone. The door creaked open. “Go away,” Cyrus said.

“I wanted to get away too,” Van said, causing the young prince to look up at the door.

Van had traded her armor for a dark villager robe that wrapped around her body. She sat beside Cyrus and pointed to a distant cliff highlighted only by the starlit sky. “That’s where the Forbidden Fortress used to be…” She said with a pause. “I kinda wished I went down with it.”

Van’s brown eyes were cold and downcast and her frown completed the misery on her face. “At least I’d be with him…”

“At least he loved you,” Cyrus said. “I don’t think anyone loves me…I think I’d join you if given the chance.”

For the first time, Van looked up, and the feeling in her eyes unfroze with a sudden warmness. “We all love you…Cyrus. I told you that things might not work out with Trinity. She’s extremely sheltered and her parents have, since the day she was born, filled her head with ideas…”

“What kind of ideas?” Cyrus asked, his voice raising in interest.

“What makes a perfect man and an ideal suitor to lead their kingdom to further prosperity. Just don’t think any less of yourself because of how she treated you…”

Cyrus sighed. He wanted to protest what Van was saying, but he realized it was the truth. “I just thought this whole journey would end like a…”

“Storybook?” Van asked, crossing her arms self righteously. “I warned you didn’t I, you silly Prince…but…”

Van gave a frail, soft smile and her eyes glistened with wetness. “I was kind of hoping for that too. With me and Antonio…”

Looking at his friend and how sad she was, Cyrus quickly grabbed Van and hugged her tightly. “Lesson learned,” Cyrus said as a shocked Van eased into his hug. “Fairy tale endings are nice, but sometimes you gotta settle for a real life ending.”