And right before the island touched the ground, it stopped.
Just like that, they were beneath the clouds.
The golden-haired man, arms crossed, spoke first.
"That Titan... well, the two of them. Shouldn't their bodies be directly beneath us? With their size, we should be able to see them."
Dawn blinked, realizing it too.
"You're right... that's strange. Very strange."
He paused for a moment, eyes narrowing as he looked out across the pale expanse below.
"But not thinking about that, I think I know where this is," Dawn said.
"You sure?" Elara asked.
"From the maps I studied back in Rinzard, this area should be near the city of Crysallis."
"Crysallis?" The golden-haired man looked confused.
"I thought you said we were near the Tree of Life and Yggdrasil."
"No, we are," Dawn replied, his tone firm. "But the city of Crysallis is like a capital between them, think of it as the entrance to Flauria."
Elara crossed her arms, glancing over the edge of the floating isle. "If that's true… where are the lights? The city should be visible even from here."
"The city's actually underground," Dawn said, pointing toward a distant ridge. "That mountain there should be the entrance. From what I remember, my teacher said the mountain with the crystalline waterfall is where the city resides."
"You sure know a lot, don't you?" Elara asked, raising a brow.
"My par—" Dawn stopped mid-sentence.
"Huh? What did you say?" Elara asked, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
"N-Nothing. Don't worry about it," Dawn muttered quickly, turning away.
The hell am I doing? he thought. I don't even know these people, and I'm about to start talking about my family. Heh… guess I really have gotten too comfortable.
A faint hum rippled through the air, the sound of the wind fluctuating again, low and rhythmic, like a heartbeat beneath stone.
Elara steadied herself as the ground shifted slightly. "Is it me, or is this thing… moving again?"
The golden haired man looked over the edge, his pulse quickening. "It's descending. Slowly this time, but definitely moving."
Then, just as the island was about to collide with the ground, a glowing light erupted beneath it, and the entire mass vanished in an instant.
Fortunately, Dawn's radiant slide still lingered, catching all of them before they could fall.
"Heh, weird," Dawn muttered, chuckling softly. "That's somehow the least surprising thing I've been through so far."
When they touched down on the crystalline ground, something small fell into Dawn's hand, a smooth, glowing object shaped exactly like the island they'd been on.
Elara leaned closer, eyes wide. "Did… did the island shrink?"
"Seems like it," Dawn said, turning the tiny replica in his hand. "Guess we've got a souvenir."
The golden-haired man looked up at the dimming sky. "It's becoming night. We should move. Being out here after dark won't be safe."
"Is that why the city's underground?" Elara asked quietly. "Do bad things happen at night?"
Dawn slipped the miniature island into his pocket, his tone serious now.
"Well, if Titans roam during the day… I don't even want to imagine what comes out at night."
Elara's eyes followed his gaze toward the mountain, the one crowned with faintly glowing crystal streams.
"Then let's not waste time. Let's go."
Once again, the golden-haired man extended his hand, the same strange light that once lifted the black-haired man at the lake now swirling around both the unconscious figures, the black-haired man and the crimson-haired woman. They rose gently from the ground, suspended in that warm radiance.
The group began to move toward the mountain, their footsteps echoing faintly against the crystal plains. Above them, the sky dimmed into a strange twilight hue, neither day nor night, and far in the distance, something stirred within the mist.
A sound.
Low. Resonant.
Like the slow cracking of glass beneath the earth.
Dawn glanced back once, jaw tightening.
"...Yeah. Definitely not safe at night."
The group moved in silence.
The crystalline plains stretched endlessly beneath their feet, glinting faintly with hues of silver and blue. Each step echoed like soft chimes, resonating through the quiet. Even the air felt strange, thick, heavy, as though the world itself was holding its breath.
The golden-haired man walked at the front, the unconscious pair floating silently behind him in their shimmering cocoon of light. Elara trailed close beside Dawn, her eyes darting from shadow to shadow.
"This place is a little… scary at night," she whispered.
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. The crystals here are said to all somehow power the city."
He knelt, brushing his fingers across the ground. The crystals were cold to the touch, but they pulsed faintly, like they were alive. "Truly an amazing place."
Elara frowned. "How did this place come to exist i wonder?"
"That...," Dawn said, standing. "Who knows in a world such as this built on sequences anythings possible right?."
For a while, no one spoke. The faint hum of the floating barrier around the golden-haired man's captives was the only sound. Above, the twilight sky deepened into dark indigo, streaked with what looked like silver lightning frozen in place.
After what felt like an hour of walking, they reached the base of the mountain Dawn had pointed out. The crystalline waterfall shimmered down its face, flowing like liquid glass. It didn't make a sound when it hit the ground, it simply vanished into the crystal surface below.
Elara stared, awestruck. "It's beautiful… and terrifying."
"That's Crysallis for you," Dawn muttered, eyeing the mountain.
The golden-haired man tilted his head slightly. "Then where's the entrance?"
Dawn stepped forward, scanning the shimmering surface. "It should be here somewhere…"
He placed his palm against the crystal wall. The resonance was faint but familiar, almost like it was responding to him. Lines of light began to spread outward from his touch thin, geometric markings that traced along the surface like veins of energy.
Elara took a cautious step back. "Dawn… what did you just do?"
"Crysallis has a sort of mechanism only people it recognises can enter," he said, brow furrowing. "Since im from Rinzard Im registered in their recognition seal."
"Everyone in Rinzard can access here?" Elara asked, skeptical.
Dawn didn't answer.
The mountain responded for him.
The crystalline waterfall froze mid-flow. Then, slowly, the wall began to split apart, the glowing lines forming the outline of a massive gate. A deep, resonant hum echoed through the air, followed by a rush of wind that smelled faintly of ozone and metal.
As the gates opened, an enormous tunnel was revealed, descending into a vast, glowing chasm. Pale light pulsed from the walls like the heartbeat of something ancient.
The golden-haired man stepped forward first, his voice calm but sharp.
"Such technology is impressive."
Dawn, taking one last glance at the eerie plains behind them.
"Let's get going."
They entered the passage, their footsteps swallowed by the glow of the crystal walls. The gates sealed silently behind them, leaving only darkness, and the distant sound of something stirring deep below.