Chapter 15

They entered Tanten, the city streets barren and caked in sand. Shops closed up, all house windows closed, and not a single sign that people were around.

"Um, is it supposed to be like this?" Fiona asked.

"No, not at all," Keira said, eyes scanning for threats. "It's been years since we've come way out here, and while it didn't usually have quite the same hustle and bustle of our kingdom, it was never like this..." Those demons outside of town, did they do this?

"They had some of the best drinks around," Rui grumbled, gaining a glare from Keira. "What? It's true."

"How can there be no one around? Are they in hiding?" Fiona asked, ducking down in the carriage.

"I... really have no idea. I've never seen it like this."

"Maybe they all got eaten by the monsters lingering outside town," Aria suggested.

"What? Shouldn't they have a seal up, too? Those creatures shouldn't have been able to get inside." Fiona tried to use her powers to sense any demons, but none were close by.

There's definitely something or someone in the town, but I can't tell what. Keira stopped, her eyes widening.

The giant crystal seal in the middle of town was smashed to pieces.

"I guess demons did get into town... I wonder if the... what did you call it?" Keira glanced at Aria.

"A dunkleosteus, an ancient fish long thought extinct. I guess it probably was though, seeing as it was undead," Aria replied.

Fiona jumped out of the carriage, rushed past them up to the crystal, and knelt down to touch the shards. "I know we've had them crack, but I didn't know they could shatter like this. It's... it's so horrible. No wonder there's no one around. But does this mean all of Tanten is gone?" She glanced back at them, tears in her eyes. "We were too late to save anyone, and if their crystal is gone, then doesn't that mean they don't know how to fix it?" She let the shards fall through her fingers.

"Careful, you might cut yourself." Rui offered her his hand.

"Thanks..."

Keira knelt down to examine what little was left of the standing crystal. Isn't there usually something inside these crystals? It's normally hard to see them, but I swear there was always something else inside. I've never seen one this bad, though. Completely destroyed and hollowed out. What kind of monster could do this?

"It could've been attacked like ours, but rather than a few scratches and cracks, theirs broke completely. If demons were waiting to jump out, then it's possible they didn't have a chance to fix it, even if they knew how to. This isn't a dead end yet."

It'd be best if we could split up and search through town, but I don't think I can risk it.

"Let's head to the castle like we originally planned. We'll see if anyone is there."

"And if no one is around?" Aria asked.

"We'll have to excuse ourselves and borrow their royal library, anyway."

"And we'll feel like grave robbers or something. Risky for your reputation, no?"

Keira raised an eyebrow. I know she doesn't like me because of what happened to Wakaru, but seriously, what does she think of me? "If there's no one here, I'm not sure how that would spread. And the need outweighs the crime. This could happen to Matsu if our seals are destroyed, too."

"Oh, does Tanten have more than one seal as well?" Fiona asked.

"Destroyed, too."

"You saw it?"

Aria gestured to the shattered seal. "What makes you think the other one would be intact? That would make no sense. You'd have to break both to have something as strong as the dunkleosteus come through."

"The second seal is right in front of the castle, anyway." Keira hopped back onto Sora and led the others the rest of the way through the barren town.

Not a single soul in sight, but no remains either. A few bales of hay and barrels were knocked over, but that's it. Little signs of struggle. It feels more abandoned than killed off. Hopefully, they found somewhere to hide.

Once they reached the castle gate on the opposite side of the massive town, they found another shattered crystal seal.

"Not sure why I had any hope," Fiona muttered.

Keira stopped in front of the gate and pulled on it.

"They're locked? Now what?" Aria asked. "Should we find a way over?"

Keira drew her sword. "I'll just break it down."

"Wait!" Aki rushed in front of her. "Don't break it. What if there really is someone in there? We don't want to ruin their defences. Let me unlock it." He turned to the gate and pulled out a set of keys, immediately grabbing the largest one.

"What are you doing?" Keira asked.

"Are those skeleton keys?" Rui asked, peeking around in Aki's hands.

"Y-yes."

"Why do you have those?"

"I thought they might come in handy on our journey." Aki's hands shook as the key rattled inside the large lock. "Please don't think badly of me," he mumbled.

"Why would I think badly of you? If anything, I admire your preparedness," Keira said. I never thought I'd need to use anything but my sword or ice magic to get through a lock.

A blush crept up Aki's cheeks.

Clack.

Aki pushed the gate open. "And we're in."

"Great, thank you."

They brought their horses and carriage into the castle yard and closed the gate.

"Stay safe," Keira whispered to Sora and fed her an apple from her pouch.

"Are we seriously going into a royal castle uninvited?" Fiona asked, pulling at the strings of her cloak.

"Considering we didn't pass anyone to find out what happened, yes," Rui said, patting her on the back. "Don't worry about it too much."

Keira pulled the door handles down to the double-door entrance and stepped in first. Expected another lock...

Her boots clicked against the marble flooring, echoing as she walked down the abandoned hall gathering dust. She pushed in a few creaky doors as she went, but no one was inside.

"This is... creepy," Fiona complained, holding onto Rui's sleeve as she hid behind him. "Keep feeling like someone is going to pop out of one of the rooms." She shuddered. "Doesn't help that it's so dark in here; there's not enough sunlight."

At that, Rui used his fire magic to give the hallway more light.

"Thank you," she squeaked.

"Don't worry so much, Fiona; our hero is checking the rooms as we go. Besides, can't you sense people and demons? You should know if anyone is here," Aria said.

"Oh, you're right, but it's hard to while moving..."

"Super useful..." Aria sighed, looking away.

Keira opened the doors at the end of the hall to the throne room.

Empty, like the rest of the town. The thrones and aisles were left untouched.

Shuffle.

Keira froze, eyes narrowing, and held her hand up. "Someone's here."

Fiona held her hands together, a gentle green glow surrounding her as she concentrated. "Oh!" Her eyes opened wide. "I sense... a lot of people."

"What? Where?" Rui asked, still wondering where the person Keira sensed was.

"They're... underground?"

"Shouldn't it just be sand underground?"

"They're definitely there."

"Watch out." Keira moved to pull Fiona away as a dagger landed where she stood.

"Oh my gosh! Where did that come from?" Fiona hid behind Rui again, trembling. "They totally tried to kill me..."

"Might've just been a warning." Keira stood tall in front. "Show yourself!"

Her eyes scanned the domed ceiling and balcony above for movement.

"Stay back," she warned the others and moved to the centre of the room. Her eyes glowed, and ice crept along the floor away from her toward the walls, crawling up it.

There!

She threw an icicle at the curtain beside the thrones.

A shadow jumped out onto the balcony railing, his long brown cloak fluttering. "You're invading royal territory, leave!" a deep voice roared. They threw a dagger at Keira, who knocked it away with her sword.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Aki rushed over beside Keira. "We're here from the Kingdom of Matsu, requesting help through knowledge! We're not invading."

"I thought I told you to stay back," Keira whispered.

Aki swallowed hard. "I-I don't want anyone to get needlessly injured. I don't think he's an enemy. I think he's protecting his home."

The person jumped off the balcony, down in front of Keira. His eyes widened, and he pulled down his mask and hood. "Keira?"

The ice around them instantly vanished. "King Malik." Keira bowed to him, followed by all the others. "I apologize for entering without permission, but there was no one around to ask."

"Stand, please. There's no need to bow to me. Especially not now..." He sighed, running his hand through his long, wavy brown hair.

"Not now?" She stood. "Please don't tell me everyone else is gone."

"No, but we lost thousands... Those who made it are hiding in the underground city."

"But what happened?"

Malik gestured towards the aisle benches for them to sit on. "I know they're dusty, but—"

Fiona waved her hand, blowing the dust away, before sitting down.

"I suppose that works." Malik chuckled and sat down on the nearest one. "It was probably a month and a half ago now when one of our seals shattered in the middle of the night. No one saw anything, and last we knew, there were no cracks in it, but alas, it broke. Demons came out in hordes. We tried to fight back as best we could, but after the second seal broke and the ancient one broke free from the other world, we couldn't hold out. Some of our best fighters were taken from us."

As we feared. "I'm sorry to hear about that. We, too, had one of our seals attacked, but I was able to fix it before it could completely break."

"So, it's not just us? Someone is trying to break all the seals? But why?"

"We don't know why. We actually came here to request access to your royal library to search for a more permanent solution to the seals cracking."

"I doubt it would help if someone is actively attacking them, though."

"But maybe we could repair yours if we found a way."

Malik nodded. "I have to ask, though. How did you get here? Aren't the demons still swimming in the sand around the city? Especially the giant one..."

"Wait, it didn't seem like the city was destroyed, but the monsters came out from the seals?" Aki pondered.

"Depends on what part of the city you saw. Part of it was hit quite hard while the rest was mostly spared because of our brave warriors who lured them out as soon as they could."

"We took out the ancient one," Keira said. "It wasn't easy, but our combined elemental powers were enough to take it out." She nudged her head toward the king, and Rui pulled the blue crystal out of his pouch.

Malik's jaw hung open. "Was that from the demon? How? We had an army try to defeat it, but we couldn't."

"Honestly, Aria's water magic helped stop its movement to give us a chance, and..." Keira glanced at Aki, who nodded. "Akihiro's special... magic, helped basically poison it."

"Poison? A creature like that?"

Aki cleared his throat. "I have unique powers." He held his hand out and lit it up with his green flame. "It is a healing fire. Because the ancient demon was undead, my regenerative nature magic worked like a poison against it."

"I see. How fortunate you came upon us." He took Aki's hand and bowed. "Thank you all for ridding our town of the ancient demon. I wish that would be enough for us to return to the surface, but I fear more may come through the seal until it is fixed."

"Did you have someone fixing the seal before?" Keira asked.

"We've never had to fix it. This was the first time there'd been any damage to them, and they were completely decimated." He sighed, shaking his head. "Come, you're welcome to anything in my library. If you need accommodations, you're welcome to our underground city, where certain magical powers used to grow food have come in quite handy." He stroked his stubbly chin. "I have things to discuss with my people, but first, let me show you to my library."