“Okay, this is the closest that I can get you guys by ship,” Clemon says, moving a hand up to smooth his hair down, his locks tousled in the breeze. They’ve sailed a fair distance from Gravelle, making their way along the sandy shores of the Ashen Plains. Isla and Vane turn the winch and drop the anchor at Clemon’s command.

Ahead of them, Ren sees a staircase that looks like it’s been formed of pure glass, glinting iridescently in the light of the sun. And it leads right up to the citadel in the sky. It’s been hanging over their heads—literally—as they journeyed back to Gravelle, and even after that. Now, the time has come for them to climb up to it.

“Once we’re docked, Gaia might come after us,” Vane says. “She clearly has reign over a large part of Zenthos.”

“Yeah, after that whole Horseman of Famine fiasco,” Penny agrees.

Ren nods. “That means we’ll have to start running, right?”

“Yes,” Gridel says. “Clemon and Isla won’t be coming with—it’ll be just us four.”

“We’ll head on over to Ilecthia and let the others know, in case you need backup or anything. I’m sure Betty will lend us some strength,” Clemon says.

Ren hopes it won’t have to come to that. The best-case scenario is that they destroy the citadel, return Zenthos to normal, and get down safely. With Zenthos free from the citadel’s influence, it should be safe for people to live on the surface again.

“Okay. I’ll give us a boost,” Gridel says. She draws her crossbow back, and she aims Aerius at the ship’s deck. “Whenever you are ready.”

Penny glances over at Ren, at Vane, and then back at Gridel. She gives her a nod. “Ready.”

Ren takes a deep breath. This is it. The last stretch.

The moment Gridel fires her arrow, wind shoots forth, the cyclone large enough to propel them into the sky. But the launch doesn’t get them very far—they land just inches from the edge of the shore.

Then, the stalagmites shoot up from the ground. Ren grits his teeth, hissing at the nick on his cheek. Abandoning all thought and care, Ren runs. Shards of earth stab at thin air, just barely missing them. Beside him, he hears Penny and Vane’s sharp breaths and heavy pants, just over the roar of his blood in his ears.

The crystal staircase is not far from here, its glittering beckoning them over. Ren’s soles crunch dry soil and grass. He pumps his muscles as hard as he can, gritting his teeth as he makes one lunge after another.

The staircase is coming up—it would take them away from the murderous spouts of earth threatening to slice them through. Just as long as they can—

Vane reaches it first, then Gridel, and Penny right behind them. They ascend the staircase, now safe from the spears of earth. The earth rumbles under Ren’s feet, his lack of physical strength starting to catch up to him.

“Grab on!” Penny leans over the side of the staircase, her hand just barely in reach. Ren drops his head, his chin pressed against his chest. He wills himself to go faster, to keep his feet going and—

He jumps, his arm outstretched. For a moment, time slows as he flies in an arc. Just as he reaches its zenith, he jerks to a halt, Penny’s fingers slipping around his wrist. Gridel offers her help as well, the two girls pulling Ren up to safety, seconds before an earthen stalagmite shoots up and stabs the air where he stood.

Ren gasps, dropped to his knees, his chest heaving. That was closer than he ever would have liked.

“Come on.” Vane has already begun ascending the stairs. “We have a long way to go to the top.”

Ren has no clue what waits in store for them, but he’s certain that Gaia will continue giving chase. After all, she’s got a whole legion of soldiers utterly devoted to her, and at their head is Rayfel, the king himself.

They have to hurry.

*

Soon, they reach the citadel’s first floor. It looks like a library, filled with shelves brimming with books. Braziers dangle overhead, fire flickering in the black, metal pots, ashes scattering to the ground.

There doesn’t appear to be anyone here besides the four of them.

“Okay, the best way to tear down a building is from its base,” Penny says, as they arrive at the first floor. “I have no clue how this whole thing works, but I think we have to just start smashing.”

“Whoa, wait a minute!” Ren grasps her shoulder. “We’re not going to just start wrecking things!”

“Then what do you want us to do?”

“Our weapons aren’t going to do anything,” Vane says. “We may have to go higher up the tower to see if we can tackle this problem elsewhere.”

“Besides, do you really want to tear it down whilst we’re still in it?” Ren hisses.

Penny frowns. “How else can we collapse a citadel, though?”

“We should go up. See what the whole tower has to offer,” Ren says. And that’s not all. There has to be something at the top of this citadel, and if his hunch is right…

For the Old Ones to exist, they must be residing somewhere…

“In that case, we should split up and look for another staircase,” Gridel says.

With a firm agreement to holler if they encounter danger, the four of them set off to explore and investigate this massive house of books.

The library isn’t big, so it’s not long till Ren finds something of interest: a glowing sphere placed atop a pedestal. It emanates a crimson light, pulsating, as though beckoning him near. And go closer Ren does.

“Hey guys, there’s something here!” Ren glances back, shouting at the top of his lungs. He’s found something, but he has absolutely no clue what to do with it.

His team comes running fast, and Penny is the first to pop up behind him. She widens her eyes, pointing at the sphere. “What is that?”

Ren shakes his head. “I’ve got no idea.”

Poking it with his bare hand is probably the worst idea that he has thought of, but thankfully, nothing terrible happens. The sphere merely glows brighter. Lines on the pedestal that he never noticed before, engraved into the stone, lights up with the colour of flames. When he removes his hand, the sphere’s radiance dims.

“I think I saw something like that too,” Gridel says from behind them. “It was in the opposite corner of this room.”

“Then maybe there’s one at every corner,” Vane says. “And touching it seems to yield results.”

“But only if your keep your hand there,” Ren says. “Otherwise, it’s just going to blink off.”

“What if we touch them all at the same time?” Penny asks. “Reckon that ought to show us how to proceed?”

Gridel nods. “It’s worth a shot. Ren, you stay here and keep your hand on the orb.”

Ren flashes them a thumbs-up, and he places his palm back against the smooth sphere. Meanwhile, the rest of his team head off, weaving through the many bookshelves toward their respective corners.

The sphere remains warm to the touch. Its glow isn’t constant—it’s pulsating, growing hotter, before dimming and cooling down. Unlike what he expected, it’s rather pleasant.

However, Ren does not get to enjoy the strange feeling for long. All of a sudden, the red glow blinks off, and the sphere drops onto the pedestal with a loud thump. He almost jumps out of his skin, and he glances around, just as the building shakes.

He hears the sound of shifting stone, grinding of bricks against each other. Bookshelves slide along the floorboards, the scratching of splintering wood against wood gnawing at his eardrums. The room rearranges itself, the bookshelves shunted to the side, leaving the middle empty.

Well, not quite empty. Where the bookshelves once stood appears to be a glyph etched into the ground. It glows with an iridescent light, almost electric blue in colour. Ren’s seen this kind of things in video games before. Or, at least, he hopes it is what he thinks it is.

Now that the maze of bookshelves is gone, Ren can see the others clearly. They’re each standing in front of a sphere resting on a pedestal in each of the four corners. It’s as though a haze has lifted—no longer clouded by a bunch of messy bookshelves standing in their way.

“Great, something’s happened,” Penny says, striding over to the glyph in the ground. It’s nothing like Ren’s ever seen—a series of intimate strokes that bend and twist, some of them carving right through the symbol in the middle. “What’s this?”

Vane frowns. “It reads ‘Water.’”

“Water? What about wa—” Ren starts, but he hears the noise of conflict. That is to say, shouting and yelling. He doesn’t need to look back at the entrance of this room to know just who is on their way.

“Okay, we have to get out of here,” Penny says. “But where the hell are we going?”

“Stand on the glyph,” Ren says. Please, videogame knowledge, don’t fail him now. “Come on. Hurry!”

None of them argue. They head towards the glyph, stepping on its bluish lines. No more than a second passes before Ren feels his body becoming feather-light. Almost weightless. The electric blue illumination brightens, its brilliance blinding him.

He squeezes his eyes shut, and he surrenders himself to the glyph’s hold.

*

The next thing he knows, he’s drowning. Not quite drowning, drowning, per se. Just flapping his arms about in a pool of water. Chills claw up his skin, and the iciness slams into him like a freight train.

He barely manages to keep his head above the tumultuous waves, gasping for breath as he glances around him. Where is he? Is that—

Something slimy brushes against his ankle, sending a zapping jolt through Ren. He kicks at the water, his arms pulling himself forward till he reaches a chunk of floating concrete. Dragging himself up, Ren replenishes his lungs with gulps of air on his hands and knees. His robes are entirely soaked, water pooling around him as it drips from his entire body.

Where the hell is he? A cursory glance tells him that he is in a stone room, engulfed almost fully by water. The platform he is on glows with a dull yellow glyph, and it does not rock with the waves crashing against its side.

Thankfully, he’s not alone. Standing on three other platforms in the other three corners of the room are his companions. Penny, Gridel, and Vane, the prince taking the platform on the corner the farthest away from him.

“Ren!” Penny calls. She’s drawn Mira, the dagger glinting in the light. “You okay?”

“I’m fine! Are you—” Ren starts, but he doesn’t get to finish his sentence. As soon as those words are out of his mouth, something emerges from the water in a crash of waves. Water washes over Ren, the force of it nearly knocking him back into the raging miniature ocean.

Ren’s eyes widen, finding himself staring at the ugliest octopus-like creature that he has ever borne witness to. Its body is covered with a shiny sheen, its ruddy complexion accentuated by the warty bumps on its skin. Tentacles whip about, suction cups a pale beige, a stark contrast with the rest of its hide.

“What the fuck is that!” Penny yells.

“It’s the Kraken!” Vane shouts. “I’ve heard of this before!”

“Something tells me,” Gridel says, her voice barely audible over the roar of the creature. “That we need to beat it to proceed onward.”

Ren grips Ifrit tightly in his hand. He has no clue just how effective his flaming powers would be against a mighty sea creature, but it’s better than nothing. Gridel readies her crossbow, slotting a bolt into place, whilst Vane draws his sword.

With another bellow, the Kraken attacks.

Ren barely reacts fast enough to jump and avoid its sweeping tentacle. That is, before the second one catches him off guard and slaps against his face. Ren sees stars, the yelp gargling in his throat interrupted as he falls into the water.

He takes in a lungful of water before he manages to paddle back to the surface. He coughs, spluttering water out as he flails about. If his adventures in Ilecthia taught him anything, it’s that he has to get to dry land as soon as possible.

But the Kraken doesn’t have any plans of letting him go. A slimy tentacle wraps around his ankle tightly, and Ren doesn’t get a moment to rest before he’s dragged beneath the water again.

He barely managed to suck in some air before he was yanked. He sails through the water, almost losing his grip on Ifrit. The underside of the beast is no more beautiful than it looked on the surface. It’s wrinkly, its body suspended entirely in the water, numerous other tentacles swishing about.

One catches Ren across his cheek, drawing a gash. Ren grits his teeth, channelling magic into his staff, and Ifrit’s ruby glows. He’s underwater, so he has no clue how effective this is, but…

Air is steadily running out. If he doesn’t do something, he’s in hot water. Literally.

Already, his lungs feel like collapsing, and alarm bells ring in his head. Ren slams Ifrit down on the tentacle keeping him captive, the staff’s shaft just long enough to reach it.

The Kraken shrieks, and its tentacle whips through the air, taking Ren with it. Ren gasps for breath as soon as he’s out of the water. However, his stomach drops as soon as he’s let go. A scream tears from his throat as he soars through the air in a well-defined arc.

A whirlwind catches him, and Ren finds himself bobbing on a cyclone of green. It lowers him to the ground, just so that he can land beside Gridel with a tap of his feet. She grabs his shoulder, tugging him towards her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Ren nods. He turns to face the roaring Kraken, and it’s then that he notices that a few of its tentacles have lost their ends, bleeding green goo from their blunt tips. It doesn’t appear to be able to grow them back, but…

“We have to aim for its mouth,” Gridel says, pointing at the creature’s main body, where all the tentacles seem to be attached to. “It seems to be the only spot that’s not covered in scales.”

There is little that Penny can do, considering the short range of her weapon. She’s hacking at the tentacles as they come for her, slowly but surely whittling them down. Vane, on the other hand, can just barely reach the creature with Claymore, the tip of his sword brushing and taking out several scales. But without sufficient earth, he can’t do much either.

“Its mouth likely faces the ceiling,” Gridel says. “I will launch you into the air, and you will throw a fireball deep into its mouth. Is that acceptable?”

One of the Kraken’s tentacles slams into the ground inches from Ren. His head snaps to face Gridel. “Yes, it’s acceptable! Hurry—whoa!”

Gridel wastes no time in releasing a bolt into the ground, wind energy bursting from where the arrow struck. Ren is tossed into the air, feeling almost weightless as he hurtles towards the Kraken.

Ifrit’s ruby turns a bright crimson as Ren charges it up with his magic. As soon as he’s right over the monster’s gaping maw, he can see its razor teeth, its saliva clinging to its fangs and the sides of its mouth.

Without wasting any time, Ren draws his arm back and he slings a fireball right into the Kraken’s mouth.

The Kraken raises its tentacles in a paltry defence, pathetic when more than half of them have been chopped to shortened stumps by their friends. The few tentacles that remained can do nothing to prevent its fate.

The fireball soars into the Kraken’s maw, and Ren hears its pained growl before he even sees it. He sails over its head, a tentacle slapping him lightly along his way down.

As soon as Ren lands in the water, the Kraken explodes with the most deafening screech. Bits and pieces of bloody, gooey Kraken bits splatter on the walls, sailing through the water at breakneck speed. Ren paddles fervently, barely managing to bring his head above the surface before he ran out of air.

“Ren!” Penny reaches her hand out to him, leaning over the edge of her stone platform. Ren grasps her hand, and she pulls him ashore.

A grinding noise has Ren glancing back to find a new stone platform arising from where the Kraken once floated. It’s flat, etched with the same glyph that they saw earlier. That must mean that…

“It’ll take us up to the next level,” Vane finishes his thought, having come to the same conclusion that Ren did. “Let’s head up. Hurry!”

That’s right. They have no idea how long they dilly-dallied here, and how long more it’ll take for those Gravelle troops to catch up, if they’ve pursued them thus far. Ren leaps off from his stone platform and towards the one in the middle.

He lands with a light tap, Penny right behind him. Vane and Gridel, too, make it without issue. As soon as the four of them stand on the glyph, it begins to glow with a bright, viridian colour.

Time to head up the tower and see what else Pandora’s Citadel has in store for them…