It was a beautiful night. A soft breeze was gently blowing the lush green grass on the field and trees from the forest were shaking slightly from the light gust.

Kingston was the warmest island due to its north-most position and the fact that it was summer meant the island was almost as full of life as Marok was.

The fields were filled with farms. The only place in the archipelago where farming was feasible for any period of time and it was done en masse because of this. It didn't hurt that the island was easily the largest and had numerous small towns making it up beyond the capital city built on the water.

The gentle chirping of bugs contributed to the calm atmosphere of the night. An atmosphere that would have been appreciated by the pirate had Crius not been standing in front of them.

Unlike Atlas, he had a mouth and it was curved in a toothy smirk. The Guardian's body had the same blurry outline that made his figure hard to determine that Atlas had but his defined mouth and eyes said it all.

Crius's eyes were orange like Atlas's but they had a red tinge to them that gave them additional unwelcome malice.

His mace was sitting in his left hand waiting to be used. The spiky ball exuded purple energy but the Indigo Jewel was nowhere to be seen. "We've done this song and dance before. Now kindly give up and let us finish what we've begun."

Xavier ignored the Guardian's 'request' and drew his sword. "Where is Atlas?"

Crius couldn't help but snicker. "My brother is in our care and the details of that are none of your concern."

"They're not your brother you bastard!" Jacob shouted. "They're our friend and you're going to find out what happens when you mess with friends of ours."

The rebel held out his sword and Rose filled it with magic. Rage started to build up in Xavier and he could tell that mood was shared by his two friends.

"You don't scare me, boy," Crius replied. "Once Astraeus's spell alerted him that you had all shown up here, I was sent to deal with you. Definitively. And that's what I'm going to do. This ends now!"

Crius threw his arm out and his mace went flying with it. The ball and chain extended towards Jacob who countered head-on with his blade.

Lumis's wielder charged in which forced Crius to retreat. Pillars of light started to rain down from above and the Guardian was forced into a very defensive position right off of the bat.

Crius tried to counter by sending a ball of magic at Rose while she conjured pillars but Xavier deflected the attack with a rush of ice magic.

The captain was surprised to find that the air was so easy to manipulate even in the warmth of the night. If he could counter that attack with ease, the fight would only get easier as the night got colder.

Jacob drove his blade into Crius's side and his enemy hissed in response to the weapon making contact. He tried to swing his mace into the boy but Xavier put up a wall of thick ice between the weapon and his friend which stopped the move in its tracks.

Rose then summoned a beacon of light from Crius's feet which briefly consumed their enemy before dying back down.

The Guardian was visibly getting worn down by the barrage of attacks and still had Lumis wedged inside of him. His eyes locked on Jacob and he suddenly sent forth a wave of purple magic.

The magic seemed to electrocute the blacksmith and he was thrown back before collapsing. "Jacob!" Rose screamed. The girl rushed to his side.

Xavier grew even angrier as he faced a now laughing Crius and charged straight at his foe. Crius did exactly what Xavier expected and tossed out his mass to intercept the pirate captain.

But this time, Xavier was prepared for that and slid under the attack instead of challenging it. He got up to his feet and swung the blade part of his weapon at Crius.

The move made contact and while it certainly wasn't going to be bringing down the enemy anytime soon, it also packed quite a punch. The pirate raked his sharp weapon across Crius again before conjuring a wave of ice and slamming it into Crius's side.

His target was completely immobilized by the move and Xavier took the opportunity to shoot the shadowy figure several times while backing away.

Crius was no longer smiling and his deliberate breaths each seemed to send out waves of his anger. The ice shattered instantly and Crius prepared for his next attack.

Xavier looked over at Rose for a status update and she sighed. "Crius used some kind of stun magic on him, he's immobilized for now."

The pirate was about to consider a retreat but he realized just how much energy he had left. "Rose, cover me. I'm not sure what it is but I think I can take on Crius myself. At least with your assistance."

"I'd like to see you try!" Crius responded and launched his mace out at Xavier again. The ice pirate put a wall of ice between him and the weapon and the frozen barrier completely stopped the approaching move.

Xavier leaped over the wall he had just created and ran at the weaponless Guardian. Crius tried casting magic but it was countered by Rose and Xavier managed to close the distance and strike Crius again.

The pirate raised his blade to once again slam into his opponent but Crius grabbed hold of his wrist and started to squeeze it. The pressure was enough to force Xavier to drop his sword involuntarily and cause the pirate to shout with agony.

He was worried that his wrist would break soon and so he began to slam his knee into the chest of the Guardian alongside frantically punching him. Which felt like punching moss.

The captain desperately tried hitting his captor anywhere he could until he finally got the idea to punch his stupid orange eye.

The eye felt odd. Almost like punching a stone. The blow seemed to actually hurt Crius and he released Xavier's wrist to instinctively grab his eye.

The pirate was ready to continue punching this new weak spot when he heard the familiar sound of a chain retracting and didn't even have to look to know that the mace was approaching him at a greater speed than he could react to.

Xavier braced for the worst when he was suddenly jolted out of the way and before he knew it, a distance from Crius entirely.

The pirate regained his bearings and found that Rose was now by his side and a trail of flaming grass lead from Crius to where they now were.

"You're welcome," Rose said with a coy smile. There was a gash on the sleeve of her cloak which had been torn, presumably by the spike of the mace. Xavier realized how close he had been to demise at that point.

The wound didn't seem to bother Rose because she swung her staff around before unleashing a twister of fire onto the evil Guardian that consumed him in a tornado made up of flames.

"New spell?" Xavier asked and Rose nodded. The fire seemed to be keeping their enemy preoccupied so Xavier took the time to formulate a new plan. "I think he's weak enough that we can finish this. I'm going to hit him with something to stall while you charge up and then you obliterate him with a spell."

Rose nodded. "That works for me." She started to glow as she prepared her penultimate attack. The twister died down and Xavier wasted no time conjuring a giant icicle-like the one he had used on the Cuthulaken.

The icicle sped through the sky and directly into Crius just as he was recovering from the last attack. The gigantic icicle exploded and sent a wave of cold air out in every direction.

Yet still, after that massive attack, Xavier didn't feel like he needed a rest. His focus was entirely on giving the other five Guardians this treatment and saving Atlas.

It wasn't much longer before the girl by his side finished preparing her attack and unleashed it onto their enemy. A ball of light no bigger than Xavier sped above the ground and consumed Crius.

His screams of agony were drowned out by the whir of the ball as it ascended into the air and exploded in a brilliant show of power. "Wow, you're really good at this whole spell-creating thing," Xavier observed.

Rose and Xavier knelt by Jacob's side after collecting their weapons and sat with bated breath just in case Crius had somehow survived the attack. But the Guardian didn't return.

Xavier remembered the wound that Rose had received and decided to try out his new healing magic on her. He did the spell just as she had taught him and sent the energy into his partner.

The scab that had become her injury faded and Rose beamed at the pirate. "Nice work, captain. You're getting the hang of this."

Jacob soon awoke and was brought up to speed about what happened. While he was disappointed that he had missed the action, the rebel was ecstatic that they had killed one of the Guardians and could now move on with a definitive victory under their belts.

The group marched through the empty fields and enjoy the peace as they approached the entrance to Kingston's capital city, Lonore.

The city was a beautiful extravagant set of buildings created on a bay with a river flowing through the city and into the deeper parts of Kingston.

Normally, the city was a sight to behold but there was something off about the beautiful city. Even the large castle set in the back of the city that towered over all didn't seemed to illuminate its usual grandeur.

There wasn't a sound to be heard from the entire city. No street lamps were lit. There was nothing. It was as if Lonore had been abandoned.

The very air itself was almost aggressive feeling. "There's something off about all of this." Xavier murmured.

"There's a weird energy in the air." Jacob mused.

"Can't you tell?" Rose whispered. "It's magic. Astraeus has the whole city under some sort of powerful spell."

The group crept through the city on guard for any surprise attacks as Rose lead them down the main road next to the river. It was paved with beautiful brown bricks and lead to the massive castle built on the river.

The ominous feeling didn't fade even after they approached the castle. There was no one there to stop them from opening up the gate. "It's all the same." Rose commented. "This is terrifying."

They didn't speak another word until they reached the castle's door and pushed it open. Inside, the silence was broken. Broken, by Astraeus's dreadfully familiar cackle.