Scruff, looking a bit worn for wear and sporting several livid bruises was the last one on, checking behind him to make sure the guards he managed to escape with your help were not pursuing. That was unlikely, considered where you left the guards in the far back wing recess of the theatre, knocked senseless and trussed with curtain ropes. Really, DeWinter should hire better minions if he wants to conquer the world.

Guided to the last platform by Nancy and the indomitable Woofus, you were able to get acquainted with OneTwo's brother, the stalwart warrior cat, TwoFer. What amazing creatures these cats were. You all board the train that is waiting and look forward to meeting the legendary Katushiro.

You traveled two cars into a large control room, where Nancy, despite the wound to her shoulder, tossed herself into the arms of a burly bearded man who introduced himself as the "Bearman." Turns out that all her admirers would be stunned to know that she's the wife of the notorious Bearman Jack.

"You might be wondering what a woman like this would want with a guy like me," he says jovially in his gravelly voice. "But I think she likes me because I have great taste in women."

Everyone laughs then, and the grim mood of your travels lightens a good deal.

Tanaka, his hair twisted back into a simple knot, and looking less a "flower boy," and more like a pirate, has pulled Vertilline into a protective embrace, and she now has her head resting on his shoulder. She wants to hear more about Larianne, and you.

You quickly fill her in on your mission, and she nods slowly as she takes it all in.

"So you were expecting a cruel, power-hungry 'Lady' who had sparked a way to gain power. Instead you got me, simply a pawn in a game. Oh, I am so sorry for your friend. I'm seeing her as a sister."

"Not possible, dear," says a soft voice,and you turn to see a small, slender man with intelligent eyes. "I was there when you were born. There was no other. It is simply a twist of the universe."

"Creator!" exclaims OneToo, running over for a head scratch.

The old man, clearly Katsuhiro, bends down, picks up OneToo, and scratches his ears as the cat purrs happily.

"I am happy to see you, little one. You do us all proud, and to meet your friends I have heard so much about."

"I'd like to hear a bit more," announces an alluring fox who came in with him. "We all have quite a stake in this, and before I put my trust in strangers, I want to know what they're like."

You've now met Izzy MacGuiness, who dropped off supplies for you a while ago. So you return to that moment, and tell your story from there forward.

The Pyrates listen closely to your adventures in Wolfenhague, but Katsuhiro is fascinated by Thorson and the setting on your side of the portal, including the chip fragments.

"That may be our solution!" he exclaims happily as you finish. "If I can get those chips to respond, I may be able to link Vertilline through to that reality."

"Uncle!" Tanaka exclaims. "That will put her in danger!"

Vertilline touches his arm gently. "If that's what it takes to save Crystania and Larianne, I'll do it. Even if I don't survive, Djoni will bring in his troops, and he'd make a fine ruler."

"And what about those of us who.." Tanaka brings himself up short, "...care for you? How would we manage?"

She touches his cheek gently, and you think he might melt. So much for the slick and conceited image he's been forced to project.

She stalks off toward the back as everyone looks after her.

"She's had a troubled relationship with a pirate," Katsuhiro explains.

You remember Lucien and the deck incident and nod. OneToo whispers, "Vertilline, Djoni, and Tanaka have known each other since they were in school together. The Princess and Djoni were expected to marry to unite the two countries."

"Then DeWinter changed everything," adds Nancy. "Tanaka and Djoni have stayed friends, but they both love the same girl. It's too bad your Larianne isn't really her twin."

Vertilline is whispering softly to Tanaka, but he still looks really upset. Triangles are tough.

Katsuhiro taps for attention. "We're about saving a kingdom and an innocent young woman, remember?" He pulls out a box and opens it slowly. Almost immediately, the whole room is filled with light.

"I've managed to repair the tower crystals. You are the only ones unknown enough to gain admittance to the tower hangar. If you could destroy the hourglass and place the repaired crystals in their empty sockets, they would reestablish the pattern for the beacon. That would dissipate the darkness. With that distraction acting as a signal for Falcor's troops to attack, and Jer Terrabotti's forces inside should be able to rescue your friend and return her to you.

"While this sounds simple, there are a few obstacles. The Pyrates will support you by air, but you will need to steal a ship from the long deserted airport. We know the ship is there, and we can send Pugsy Abernathy with you since she's finished repairing Izzy's craft. You will then need to pilot it into the hanger and render the guards inside ineffective."

"Inside the tower, you must destroy the hourglass, and place the crystals according to the pattern which is inscribed on the beacon pillar. I don't know what precisely is written there, but it should be complimentary to the golden brilliance of the tower somehow.

"If all goes well, and I can contact your Thorson and blend those crystals, we should be able to save Vertilline from the hourglass destruction and also send you home as soon as your Larianne can be conveyed to your ship. Jack can keep you updated with his broadcasts.

"It is one too many "ifs" my friends, but it is the best I can do."

While the group was waiting for Pugsy to return, they discussed the upcoming tasks. Of great concern, of course, was dealing with the unknown (but no doubt substantial) number of guards once they arrived at the tower.

"Ah, surely Yasha and this little guy can handle it," said Krios as he patted TwoFer's head. He looked up and saw the doubting looks of his teammates. "I mean, Phoebe and I can provide back up obviously. I know her plan to zap that last guard didn't quite work, but we've been mulling it over and have a few ideas about why. I think we can improve the effect."

TwoFer sighed and laid down his head. Krios petted the little warrior cat again and said, "What's wrong buddy? You look tired." The others looked at the cat and agreed; he seemed to have lost some of his oomph.

TwoFer raised his head wearily and explained, "Those last few fights really took it out of me. We may be machines but don't think that we're tireless. Even I need a thorough tuneup after a good brawl. Unfortunately, Katsuhiro didn't have time to restore me to my full power but don't worry, I won't let you down. I ...just need to conserve my energy." And he laid down his head again.

Lizzy knelt before the cat and looked him in the eyes. She took one of his paws, saying to him, "No way. You helped us and now we will help you! I do not know how, but I am sure we will find a way."

The vagabond looked around and all of her fellows nodded.

"Maybe you have something useful in that pack of yours," Josune suggested. Lizzy emptied the contents of the bag on the floor and the team sorted through the items. Most of it was paper. Not very useful. There were some coins, the medallion, other miscellaneous bits and pieces. Ah, but then there was the broken chip from OneToo's expansion module slot, which was ... well ... broken and a small chip of some strange metal.

Lizzy held up the small circuit chip. "Yasha, this is from that horrible metal contraption you defeated, right? Didn't you tell us that it sparked? I mean, maybe this is a power source. Perhaps we can repair it and use that to give TwoFer a little extra juice."

TwoFer eyed the chip suspiciously. "We have no idea what that thing really does. Let's just hope it doesn't mess with my programming. But I trust you all. If I start to act funny though, get that thing out of me posthaste!"

Josune leaned over Lizzy's shoulder and examined the chip closely. "Hmm, well the damage is clearly apparent. This connector here has lost it's connection and this wire is zigging when it should zag. And then this transistor is backwards; it's resisting instead. Easy fixes with that odd little tool of yours."

Lizzy nodded, "I see, I see. Yeah, that's no problem." She pulled out her sonic screwdriver and got right to work. In no time flat, the chip was humming happily. "I think this will fix you right up, TwoFer!" she said to the cat, "If you'll pardon me, we just need to open you up." She carefully opened the front panel on the cat's body and after some gentle poking around found an empty slot that looked like a match for the chip in her hand. She slotted it and closed the cat back up. "Well, how do you feel?"

TwoFer stretched and stood up. He flexed all his parts and swiped at the air a few times. Then he leaped onto a chair and back down again and ran across the room. "Ahh! I feel great! Better than I've ever been, even. I don't know where you got this, but thank you!" he said and purred with joy.

Yasha wasted no time in getting to work. She bashed in the lock on the hangar door and with a great heave, pushed the door open. Inside sat the promised ship. It looked just like a standard issue military ship and should easily get them inside the tower hangar. Yasha and Pugsy hurriedly prepped the plane for flight and ushered everyone aboard. Ranger took his seat in the pilot's chair and cranked the engine. Propellers spun into action with a loud thrum and the plane vibrated and inched forward.

"I'll guide you out of the hangar, but then it's up to you guys from here on out," yelled Pugsy from outside. "Just fly 'er straight for the tower and get those crystals in place!"

Ranger gave her a hearty thumbs up and edged the throttle forward. Pugsy stepped back and motioned with sweeping arm movement in some arcane fashion. Supposedly this was her idea of guiding them out of the hangar. Fortunately, Ranger was a good judge of space, if not entirely cued in to the airwing-dance of the mechanic, and they made it out onto the airlane without mishap. Ranger flipped a few switches and the airship roared forward and ...up, up, and away.

Once airborne, navigation was blindingly easy. Point for the sickly orange hourglass that overshadowed the entire city. The group arrived without mishap - clearly the Pyrates had all of the patrols distracted - and aimed for the tower docking bay.

Ranger landed the ship safely in the bay and for a moment, all seemed well. No one had raised an alarm over their approach, and the bay was opened for them to land. The doors closed behind them and still the guards didn't seem concerned. Except...there was one guard standing there at a podium, clearly consulting some papers. Ugh, docking schedule no doubt. "Guys, get ready, I think we're about to be busted," called out Ranger to the rest of the group.

Sure enough, the guard shook his head and began walking over to the ship, gesturing for several guards to follow him. As he came nearer, the guard called out, "Airship number 3467, you are not scheduled for landing. Disembark now and report with your orders."

The group hesitated. "We can't go out like this. Too obvious we don't belong," grumbled Yasha.

"Yes, that's sure to end poorly," agreed Carys, "But I don't see any other option. If we wait here any longer, they're going to storm the ship. Look!"

Just then, the guard called out again, "Airship number 3467, you are ordered to disembark now and state your purpose. If you do not comply immediately, we will be forced to board your ship!" And with that, the guard gestured to one of his compatriots who sounded an alarm. Guards came rushing in from a door across the hangar and soon they were surrounded. Clearly, the head guard was already convinced the newcomers didn't belong and should be dealt with.

Yasha pointed at the door from which the guards were entering. It appeared to head into the tower. "Looks like where we need to go. But too many guards for me. Even for TwoFer."

The group began to squabble over how to handle their problem, when Lizzy recalled the little box that Pugsy gave her some time ago. She retrieved it from her pack and held it up. "I still have this little devil, guys. Maybe we can use it?"

Everyone fell silent in contemplation.

"Do you even know how it works?" asked Krios warily.

"I know how to activate it, but I have no idea what it does exactly. I don't see any other option though. We might just have to try it and hope the ship will protect us from its influence," said Lizzy.

"Well, I agree with Lizzy on this one," said Ranger. "You turn that little bugger on and I'll open the hatch for you to release it."

Ranger and Lizzy knelt by the door. Ranger watched carefully as Lizzy held the box up to the door. She nodded and Ranger cracked the hatch open just enough for the contraption to squeeze through. A commotion stirred outside as the the guards prepared themselves, no doubt expecting the group to finally exit the ship. Lizzy raised the wings on the bug and it bzzzed into action, immediately heading for the opening. Soon as it was through, Ranger pulled the door to and the group sat patiently, anxiously listening to the noises outside.

They heard a great fuss and shouting and then a series of thuds. Thud. Thud. THUD! And then, all was silent. The group slowly got up and peeked out of the windows. All of the guards were laid out on the floor, stiff as boards. Ranger opened the hatch to the airship and cautiously exited. Not a soul was moving, and the ladybug was now resting inert on the ground, spent and naught but a pretty trinket now.

"Come on guys, it's safe now," Ranger called to the group. Everyone else followed him outside. Lizzy spied the ladybug and gingerly picked it up, placing it back in its box. She tucked the box in her pack and followed the group to the tower door on the other side of the hangar.

Starbound hid just out of sight and considered how to deal with their unwanted pals. "Well Yasha, I guess you get that fight after all. Make it quick!" said Phoebe. Yasha flexed her hands and grinned, "Alright TwoFer, we smash guards." Without another wasted moment, Yasha and TwoFer sprang into action and rushed at the guards.

"I guess they were going for the element of surprise," remarked Ranger dryily.

Yasha barreled into one of the guards with a ferocious tackle, all the while screaming her best and most terrifying warcry.

("I didn't know humans could make that sound," commented the peanut gallery from below. "I'm not sure they can. I'm not sure she is," responded another.)

Yasha and the guard went tumbling down, whereupon she proceeded to deliver a great series of punches until it was clear the guard was out clean. Meanwhile, TwoFer had leaped upon the back of the other guard and clamped his jaw around the guard's neck. The guard struggled but couldn't shake the cat, and soon he staggered dizzily as he lost consciousness. TwoFer released the guard and jumped off just as the brute fell to the floor with a thud.

"You can all come up now," called TwoFer to the rest of the group. They headed upstairs at his bidding and surveyed the damage done.

"Nice work," said Ranger. "I think we ought to tie these guys up though. Don't want them to recover at the wrong moment." Ranger and Yasha worked to drag the unconscious guards to a railing and, using their own handcuffs, cuffed them to the poles. "That will hold them but let's make sure to keep an eye on them anyhow."

With the guards downed and handled, the group turned their attention to the infernal hourglass. What a nasty piece of work. They approached the timepiece and studied its construction. Lizzy rapped her hand on the glass and hmmed to herself. "It seems to me that we only need to pierce the glass and the whole piece should shatter."

"If Yasha kept axe, would be no problem," said Yasha. The Barefoot One was clearly missing her favorite weapon. She turned to Phoebe and Krios. "You magic people could make boom," she said with obvious distrust in her voice. Her opinion on magic was pretty well known be now. Not a fan.

"No, don't use force. Can you imagine what would happen, if we smash the glass and all the little pieces would explode in every direction? We have to find a safer way to destroy it."

Everyone stood silent for a little while and thought of a way to destroy glass without it falling into little sharp pieces. "See that cables? I think we can use them to lower the hour glass." Someone said and they agreed about lowering it down, so that it would almost touch the ground and they could reach it better.

Josune suddenly remember something that she had done before. "I have an idea, give me your shoelaces."

The other team members looked at each other rather irritated but Josune repeated the demand and everyone except for the barfoot Yasha detached the shoelaces and gave it to the wisest of the adventurers.

"No time to explaine, you will see, what I'll do with it. Help me to make strings out of it and use some of the strings from your clothes if you have one, we need as much string as we can get, and you Krios, please give me your booze." Krios protested but it was obviouse, that the others knew, that he took a bottle from the Brass Coil. "Well here you have it."

Fraught with tension, everyone watched when Josune drowned one of the strings in the bottle, took it out again and tied it around the bottom part of the hourglass.

"Now we will spread out around the hourglass, everone needs his bottle with water. I'v seen a barrel with rainwater on the other side. So if anyone needs to refill the his bottlte, please do it now!"

Everyone prepared the water bottle and headed to the right spot.

Josune continued: "I will set the string on fire and when the fire no longer burns we all at once will pour a dram of water over the string. The tension between hot and cold will crack the glass without shattering. Yasha, you should stay out of it, it is to dangerouse for your bare feets, please, guard the door. Phoebe, please could you do some of your magic to mute the nois. All the others: We will let the glass shatter on the ground. Be very careful and cover your feets and legs. Are you ready?"

Everyone nodded. They were not really sure about the plan, but the professor was the smartest of them all and they trusted her. The glass was really heavy and when they did let it fall down, it shattered into little pieces but stayed in the defined area of the roof, since it did not fall from high above and the noise was acceptable.

"Now we need to lower the hour glass again, so that it almost will touche the ground and we will do this again and again, untill the whole houreglass is gone or we do not have strings anymore. Good, that the diameter gets lower in the middle." Josune smiled.

And so they did it. The floor was soon coverd with little sharp pieces of glass, but the boots and shoes protected the feeds of the adventurers and the pieces stayd on the roof and when the hour glass was gone completely only some minutes were passed and the destruction of the framework around the glass was only a matter of seconds. Soon the platform was uncovered and revealed empty sockets for some kind of odd pieces.

(OOC: I really hope I was able to explain my idea to destroy the hourglass, it was hard O_o, [URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7vT8kdpfNI]HERE is a video to illustrate it[/URL])

After many twists and turns through the dark streets, they reach the quiet hangar. Pugsy points at a dark object in the distance. "there's your ship."

Being the smallest, Raw sneaks onto the ship and ducks behind the large boxes on the deck. Slowly, as the deck hands pass by, she trips them, knocks them out and gags them. Eventually the others on the ship notice what is going on, and an alarm is called. Pulling out her sword and arming her steam powered wrist gun, she bursts from her hiding spot and starts taking on the crew, hoping for back up. The rest of the party, hearing the ruckus joins the tiny halfling on the deck. They each hold their own, taking out quite a few themselves. Clara and Giselle show their warrior side by taking out at least 3 all by themselves. Haneway, Anasazi and Kyo follow, carrying TwoFer, and the packs. Raw cheers as they corner the captain and just demand the boat. The few crew that are left surrender, as does the captain. Raw attempts to high five Clara and Giselle, sadly it comes out more of a low five, before taking over the reins of the ship for herself. Setting up a box under the ship wheel so she can comfortably steer the ship, she tells everyone to hold on while peeling out of the secret bay.

Watching Raw at the captain's position Giselle yells through the strong wind stirred with their movement... "You look good there Captain Raw!"

Holding on for dear life, Kyo looks over to Raw. "Here, let me help navigate. If I follow the stars, I think I can remember where it was" As the ride smooths out under Kyo's steady navigation, the other adventurers take their seats, and try to figure out how they're going to take out the hourglass

Distractedly Giselle removes a harmonica from a side pocket while trusting others to get them to the tower's docking bay. It would be so much better if TwoFer could help.. yes, he was healed but his power was still low. Maybe she could make up a tune that would help? Never having tried something so strong before with her instruments had Giselle attempting one tune after another in a haphazard fashion until suddenly clear notes were heard with a somewhat different tune, strangely haunting, and her eyes widened before nodding... perhaps with a little magic it would work? Clara watches Giselle entranced by the tune, and suddenly she sits up with a bolt of realization. She rummages in the pack and finds a strange piece of circuitry. "Raw," she says excitedly, "can you remember where you found this? I think this was yours wasn't it?"

Raw takes her eyes off the controls for a moment to look over at what Clara is holding. "OOh, yes, there was that big steamwork dragon. I almost lost my arm in that fight..." Raw is still regaling everybody about her escapades with the creature, but Clara has tuned out. She pulls out her sonic screwdriver and sits down next to TwoFer, who is curled up next to Giselle and purring in contentment at the tune. "I think this is what we need to get TwoFer to 100 percent." She finds a small panel below his shoulder, and pops it open. There's a slot just big enough for the circuit, and when she pops it in, the battle cat stretches and cracks his knuckles. He rises and bows to Giselle. "Thank you for the melody, madame, it brought me back from...wherever I went. My deepest thanks."

"Tower Ahoy" Kyo shouts. Everyone turns to look out of the window to see a tall tower looming over them. "Heading for the docking bay, get ready folks! Is TwoFer fixed? We might need his help with the guards."

"Oh, I have a plan for that," says Clara as she pulls the metallic ladybug out of her pocket. She unfolds the usage instructions and reads them to herself "Lift both wings, slide under windows and doors"

"Mind if I take over piloting to dock? Parking airships is my specialty" says Kyo, and Raw hands over the wheel. "No problem -- Gives me time to sharpen my blade, hehehe." Flying was fun for the halfling, but not nearly as much fun as ... stabbing!

Kyo cuts the engines and the ship glides silently into the tower docking bay. There's a large glass window to the control room, where the guards are playing cards and drinking, clearly not expecting an attack. The door to the guardroom stands slightly ajar. "I think we're far enough away, but duck just in case," whispers Clara. She sets the ladybug, cracks open the door to the ship, and rolls the ladybug under the guardroom door. The guards are so busy bragging about their great hands that they don't even see it. A couple of seconds later, the adventurers hear a muffled "whomp!" followed by silence.

"Did it work?" says Haneway. She peeks out the window, just seeing that the room is full of grey smoke.

"Give it a minute," says Clara. "We don't have time for one of us to be knocked out" TwoFer offers to go first, since the smoke won't affect him. He opens the door and peers in. Sure enough, the smoke dissipates a minute later, and the guards are unmoving, slumped over the table.

"Awww, no fighting?!" says Raw. "Where's the fun in that??"

"Sorry, hun, we don't have time," says Kyo. "Haneway, I think you're up next." They walk quickly to the room holding the hourglass, the dark symbol of everything that's gone wrong in Wolfenhague.

"Wow, I've never tried to affect something this big. It's really giving me the creeps." Haneway pulls an etheric resonator from her back. "Giselle, do you have a tuning fork?"

"Of course. What key do you need?" She pulls out several sizes.

"Excellent! Can I have them all? You all might want to wait outside the room. I'm not sure how far the shards will go when it shatters." She pulls up her hood, and puts on goggles. She strikes the first tuning fork on the floor and presses the base against the resonator. A low hum starts up, then fades. The next one, with a slightly higher tone, works a little better. On the third try, success! The tone, amplified by the resonator, matches exactly that of the hourglass. It starts to vibrate, faster and faster as the sound waves pile up. Haneway ducks, pulling her hands up her sleeves to protect them. Cracks appear at the base and top of the evil device, and suddenly, pop! It shatters into a thousand pieces, which spray across the room. With the hourglass broken, they can now see the sockets for the crystals. But how to repair it?

With those grim thoughts in mind we look over the newly bought Crystania Airlanes and Docking Stops 3rd edition and know exactly where we need to go. We debate for a moment on finding a docking spot a bit away from the airport, but as we approach it we realize that strangely there's no guards present. Was this place abandoned and for what reason? Hopefully this isn't another trap that we are falling into.

We make our way through the airport and locate the ship. Eerily it stands before us--almost in waiting. Pushing aside those morose thoughts Andros quickly locates the valve at the side door and proceeds to open it. All of us board the ship along with Pugsy and TwoFer. Andros being skilled in the art of navigation and aircraft holds our best chance at getting this ship going. He makes his way towards the cockpit and quickly begins to figure out all of the controls. In no time we're off and heading to where the dreaded hourglass is.

On our journey there TwoFer remarks to us that he would be invaluable to us if he could be restored to full power. Penelope frowns at him while Elethia gets a strange glint in her eye when she considers being able to practice using some lightning spells. TwoFer remarks with a wary look at her that that wouldn't be a good idea onboard an aircraft. Penelope frowns and then realizes that she might have just the trick in helping restore him to full power. She rummages through the bag and pulls out a piece of circuitry or a chip of some unknown metal. "Ah ha! I knew we kept this for a reason!" Penelope remarks. "Just hold still for a bit TwoFer and I'll have you fixed in a jiffy!" She looks at the screws in the back of his head and motions for Bohicon to assist them. Bohicon approaches and uses her trusty screwdriver to open us his back cranial area as Elethia holds him still. Sure enough there's a spot in his head where a piece is missing. Penelope places the circuitry in its proper place, has Bohicon close up his head, and waits to see what happens. In a matter of moments TwoFer is bouncing around with energy and is overjoyed to be back to his normal self. We would enjoy taking the time to celebrate, but now we have another battle to figure out.

Andros skillfully lands the aircraft in the secret hangar. We observe the area teeming with guards and we know that we'll have our hands full. Chook draws her sword and is ready to leap out of the aircraft. We tell her to wait though and devise our plan. We know that we need to incapacitate the guards, destroy the hourglass, and repair the beacon crystals. We notice how huge the hourglass is and we know that after breaking it we will have to figure out how to avoid the glass from falling down and injuring us and any other innocents. Elethia nods to the group that she'll take care of that problem with a mischievous smile while she swings around this piece of metal that she found. "I may not be able to use my spells like I did back home, but processing them through metal I can cause all kinds of mayhem!" Elethia grins unabashedly. The team looks at her and shakes their head.

Our group along with TwoFer exits the ship quickly and we make our way towards the inner door leading into the main hangar. There are so many guards present that we know the typical brawling scenario will not work here. Bohicon then remembers an item that she was given. "Guys I still have the ladybug remember? If we lift up the hangar door a half inch, lift both its wings, and insert it there it will render all of the guards immobile for 30 minutes. There's no telling how long it will take for us to destroy the hourglass and fix the crystals so unfortunately we'll have to take them out of commission as well." Bohicon remarks. "Sahara can you play a melody to distract the guards so that they don't notice the door being lifted?" Sahara nods and agrees. She takes out her lyre and begins playing a haunting melody. The guards seem to be almost frozen or distracted so Bohicon takes that chance, lifts up the door of the hangar, and places the active ladybug there. Thankfully its directed at the guards and not towards us. The guards are instantly frozen in place and unfortunately we still have to dispatch them because we don't want them attacking us depending on how long it takes for us to restore everything in the tower. Bohicon then pockets the ladybug and joins Chook in having to take the guards out of commission. Chook thinks to herself, "Sahara did a wonderful job distracting the guards with her music. I have no idea what tune she played but it took all of my strength and determination not to succumb the way the guards did. The ladybug played her role well as well and now it falls upon me to finish this."

Hurrying quickly up to the dazed and frozen guards nearest to her, Bohicon quietly dispatches them. A quick thrust to the heart with her short sword is all it took. Chook however had other ideas and was ready and willing to give the guards a very slow and painful death. First she began to tie them up like trussed pigs. Imagining in her mind what a bloodbath she would create and the slow and painful death she could cause. She thrust her boot into the chest of one guard as she drew out her favorite and sharpest weapon. Bohicon notices the savage glint in Chook's eyes. With the speed of lightning she grabs Chook's weapon and whispers "No Chook. Not like that. You are a proud and upstanding warrior. Do yourself proud. Dispatch them quickly and cleanly. Chook shakes her head and hugs Bohicon. "I must have been under the influence of the music after all. You are right of course." And with great efficiency and little pain, the remaining guards are killed.

Now with all of the guards disposed of we all venture inside the tower. We know that we don't have much time so the hourglass has to be destroyed quickly. We make our way up the winding stairs and reach the top in no time at all. Chook pulls out a firearm and addresses Elethia directly. "Get ready because I'm going to blast this thing and you have to remove the fallen shards before they land." she remarks seriously. Elethia nods, place the metal over her hand and begins to conjure up some sort of spell. Taking that as her answer Chook fires on the hourglass and as the shards rain down Elethia directs her covered metallic hand towards it. A strange fire spell erupts outwards and envelopes the shards of glass in extreme heat. What's strange is that the metal seemed to have amplified her spell to where the glass is completely consumed.

Now that that's over we know there's still no time to relax. We approach the pillar with our box of crystals in hand and gaze at each other in confusion on how we're supposed to go about arranging them...

Joy turned to where Skye was sitting and realized she was still in her Nancy clothes. "Oh...and Skye, you look amazing in that getup and you missed a great fight. Sorry. Now....about our clothes...anybody got something we can wear that isn't quite so, um, flagrant?" Arwen smiled and said, "I planned ahead and packed a spare set of clothes for us all a while back, even you Remi. I figured it would come in handy even before we all dressed up like boys." And she slid a bag off her shoulder that did indeed contain spare clothes for them all. Skye gratefully got changed into the more comfortable clothing. Dressing fancy for fun was nice but it's best to be comfortable when getting down to business. In fact, she loved the outfit Regina had created for her so much that she surreptitiously slipped the pieces in a cloth bag she had grabbed on the way out of Nancy's dressing suite. You never know when they might come in handy.

Skye smiled delightedly as she reached for the stash of weapons she had stowed away for the right time. "Time for some action... Let's go get that airship! I'll lead the hijack while Joy gets to the control room to fly the thing. If there are more people than we anticipated, then I'm relying on the rest of you guys to make some noise as well," she instructed her team as she checked her guns to make sure they were loaded. "No killing needed. Just scaring them away or knocking them out will do." Regina straightens up from rifling through the pack and pipes up perkily, "Okay, I've got it! The Crystania Airlanes and Docking Stops, including Wolfenhague. 3rd edition. Let's get this show on the road!"

In the parlor they meet up with Pugsy the steamcar mechanic legend and TwoFer who is almost the spitting image of OneTwo. Pugsy looks at the map, “I know just where this darned thing is! I’ll get you there quicker than you can blink.” The gang looks at one another warily. “Aw, don’t be nervous,” Pugsy guffaws, “My big gal is just modded up a teensy bit.” Laughing they all head out.

Arriving at the airlane, it appears as though the bay they needed wasn't there. They park off to the side in the ditch so no one sees them. Still seated, Regina concentrates deeply on the map and then she points in one direction. It doesn't appear that there is anything there at all but a blank wall. Her teammates shrug and they get out and begin to head in that direction. Nisa gets there first and starts rubbing her hand along the wall. Suddenly her hand plunges through it and then she steps through and disappears. Skye shrugs and steps through the wall and then they each follow one at a time.

The hangar is open to the sky but that is the only light inside. Sitting in the middle is the airship. Arwen grabs Remi's arm and says "Shh... everyone. Two guards by the ship." They dash quickly but quietly behind a stack of fuel barrels, thankful they hadn't been noticed. "I'll distract them. You guys come up from behind," Arwen whispers to her teammates. Arwen then sashays over to the two men, who are surprised but appear happy to see her, although one only seems to see her legs. Using her most seductive Troubadour stage voice she calls, "Hello boys! Working hard, I see! How would you like a little company?" As she chats them up in her flirty over-the-top-stage style the rest of the team sneaks around to the back of the guards. Skye, ever the brave Privateer clubs them on the back of the head. "Ah! I wanted to whack'em in the head!" Joysana exclaims. "Sorry, you can have the next one. We wouldn't want you getting rusty at whacking people," Skye laughs in reply. They all climb onto the airship and - with some help from Remi's sonic screwdriver to get the airship started – Joysana the Aeronaut is at the console and they are off within minutes.

While Joysana is busy navigating the airship to the tower shown on the Airlanes and Docking Stops map, Skye is manning the guns just in case, and the others ponder on how to repair TwoFer. The battle cat had accompanied them aboard and was sitting quietly on a wooden table inside the cabin of the airship, surrounded by Remi, Nisa, Regina and Arwen. "Hmmm... a faulty chip problem huh?" Nisa taps her lip thoughtfully when she suddenly remembers something, "I think we might have just the thing! Quick, Remi! Bring me the pack!" Remi gives Nisa a look but grabs the pack, "Sure thing Missy." Nisa just smiles at him and tells Regina what to look for, "The circuitry board that Skye found after defeating that metal monster... I think I can fix up TwoFer with it! Though I think we’ll need to use that sonic screwdriver of yours as well, Remi." Remi grins and says, “Happy to help.” Together they fix the chip and Nisa inserts it into TwoFer. His eyes light up brightly and his whole body straightens and then he relaxes again. “Wow, talk about a pick me up! I feel ready for anything! Thank you both.”

They spend the next half an hour planning their arrival. When they are finally in the airspace above the landing pad of the Hourglass Tower they look down. Immediately they hear chatter on the radio. “Who goes there?” Pugsy gets on the radio, “Copy, copy? This is Pugsy. Yes, THE Pugsy. We have a malfunction in one of our engines. Thought I had it knackered but it needs attention. Say, if you let us land here so I can fix it I happen to have a grand ole surprise for you.” The guards are big fans of Pugsy’s mechanical skills and quickly agree.

Once on the ground the guards walk up to little dirigible. There are only two of them out here but there are more likely many more inside the building guarding the tower where they came from. Pugsy gestures towards the stairs leading down from the plane and ta-da! Out comes the beautiful Nancy. She sashays down the gangplank towards them. Pugsy explains to them that she was on her way to a show but the engines had been having trouble all night. She's supposed to be going to a special party nearby. Nancy is beautiful and wearing a medallion that supporters of DeWinter wear and it puts the guards at ease. They smile and flirt. “Thank you boys so much for letting us stop here”, Nancy says winking. “You are so brave doing what you do, protecting citizens everywhere.” They are almost drooling. “I’m just so grateful! I just have to give you a gift for all of your trouble. Now don't say no, you have to take it.” She hands them a decorated box with a bow on it. The guards are so smitten they tell her she's welcome, nodding and smiling. Nancy tells them she has to get back inside to practice her set. Feeling very proud of themselves they walk back to the guard station. Once inside they open their gift. Within moments everyone in the building has fallen under the sleeping spell of the ladybug weapon known as The Lethal Lady.

After a few moments TwoFer sneaks over and looks inside to find the guards slumped over, faces down on the table. Pugsy gets back on board and stays with the ship. Skye runs back inside and pulls out her normal clothes again, quickly changing out of her Nancy gear and the group head toward the tower. It's tall and very narrow and at the top is the Infernal Hourglass emanating it's bleak and subduing orange light. “Well, isn’t this cheerful”, Remi says, looking around. “Yeah, it’s a party up in here”, Nisa answers. They trudge up the steps, passing guards that have been knocked out by the Lethal Lady. Close to the top they hear moaning noises and the guards begin moving. The Lethal Lady must be wearing off! Quickly they race to the top of the tower.

Waiting on the top are two guards. “I got this!” TwoFer yells. “No, I got this!” says Skye. Together they take out a couple of guards who were just about to shoot first and ask questions later. They push the unconscious men down the stairwell and shut the door, locking it behind them. The top of the tower is bare except for the hourglass and the empty slots where the crystals used to be. The Hourglass is emanating an angry glow and seems to drain everyone of there energy and enthusiasm. “Alright”, Regina says, “First we must counteract the malevolent magic it’s creating. If we try to touch the glass or break it before we do... Well," She throws her hands into the air, "It might just drain us dry or turn us into zombies if any of it even touches us, or who knows?!” Calming down, the Technomancer closes her eyes and concentrates. Tendrils of blue and white wisp around her fingers. She steps closer to it, Remi stops her before she touches it. He keeps his hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. She’s tapping in to the power source of the Hourglass. All at once huge bursts of white light shoot out from her hands and straight into the Hourglass.

Waves of bright white lightning streak and crawl through the red-orange of the glass turning it white and neutralizing it. It fights back but it’s not as strong as Regina. Now for the final touch to weaken it. Arwen brings out Larriane’s bracelet which they still had the whole time. She walks up and puts her hand on Regina, Remi still holding her shoulder on the other side. The bracelet still has traces of both her and DeWinter in it. Regina uses the energy swirling around to connect with the bracelet. It causes the same thing it did back at the house. Every watch begins to tick quickly and loudly- the hourglass is no exception. It begins shaking, the dust-like energy inside launching back and forth, rocking the clock.

Skye leaves her post by the door where it is being pounded on by the angry awakened guards and TwoFer goes with to join the others at the glass. The glass is mostly bright white lightening now and is safe to touch, or at least as safe as it’s going to get. The two of them pound at the already unstable glass. It begins to crack and the rocking is violent. They hammer at it with all of their strength. The glass breaks with a roaring creak and seems to bend outwards. The shards of glass are near to popping, Regina’s eyes open and the Alchemist says a quick spell. The shards of glass turn to water, but it’s not ordinary rain. It doesn’t fall, but instead it floats, in silvery white puffs near the Hourglass. Or where the Hourglass used to be... The city is plunged into darkness except where the light is glowing from random illegal cryslights. The only other light is the electric fuzz from Regina's lightening fused rain drifting out among them and over the city.

Jean looked up from her examination of the third edition map that lay before her on the table next to the box of restored crystals, and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Relax, Wolfy," she said, voice calm. "There is a map in here, and that will take us where we need to go. Looks like we have our work cut out for us." She looked at her friends.

Quercus crossed over to Jean, shifting her shoulder slightly. It felt a great deal better but was still stinging slightly from the battle. She glanced over the instructions before speaking. "I think I can fly the ship to the location we need to get to. But I doubt I could hold it in a firefight so we'll need to depend on Djoni if we encounter any resistance." She glanced round to where Venom was. "The guards are your department. Should I support you with cover fire or hang back with the others until you've cleared the way?" She paused as a thought stuck her. "I'm not sure how soon I could get it up in the air. Maybe I should go first to draw their attention?"

Venom looked up as he slipped his freshly polished blade back into it’s original scabbard. The weight felt good back alongside his hip. Glancing over his eyes narrowed at the sight of Quercus’s posture. “I wouldn't refuse the support...” He couldn't hold it against her. They were all still recovering in their own ways from the brawl in the tunnels. “But it is more important that you don’t further damage your shoulder. Wolf can support us just fine. You focus on getting everyone to safety once we land.” Subconsciously he reached and touched the back of his head softly. Still hurt but the swelling had gone down.

Quercus nodded to Venom. "I can still shoot and my shoulder will be okay." She tested it again. "But I'm no close combatant. I'll head for the target and fire if I spot anything that looks like trouble for you."

Eden fiddled with her fife. "They said the tower hanger would be heavily guarded. I might be able to play a song to lull them into complacency, at which point we can use Shikuyim's sleeping powder to knock them out."

Jean pulled a metal bug from her pocket. "I think, with as many guards as we're expecting, now would be the perfect time to use this. It's that thing Pugsy gave me, back when we were at her shop, and it says it can take out a whole roomful. Not sure how far it can reach, though. If we miss any of the guards with this, then Eden should work her musical magic." She smiled at the bard.

“Oh yeah.” Ven stood abruptly and disappeared into his bedroom a moment before returning with a chunk of metal in hand. “I found this… or well pulled it out of a mechanical combat creature… Maybe we can use it to repair that cat.” He shrugged and tossed the scrap onto the table nearby Shikuyim who immediately took to fidgeting with the loose wires. Alchemy was his forte, but after having spent so much time here in Crystania the older man felt sharper than ever. Happily Shikuyim fiddled with the chip that had been salvaged from the dragon along with the scattered remains of Six, which the team had gathered from the tunnel.

The group discussed entry plans for the hanger, in case it wasn't completely abandoned, and ideas for destroying the hourglass once they reached it. After a while, Shikuyim called Twofer over, and carefully removed the faulty chip from the battle cat and replaced it with the restored one. To be safe, he'd not used the parts from Six as anything more than a guide. Soon after the team concluded their planning, and went to bed so they would be well-rested for the following day.

Quercus looked over the guidebook one more time before taking in a deep breath and setting her mind to the task. "It feels so good to finally go after that Infernal Hourglass. They couldn't have chosen a better name for it." She let her voice drop so she spoke for her own ears. "I just hope we can save everyone. Vertilline has as much right to life free of DeWinter as Larianne. If not more so." She mentally shook herself and turned to gather up her bow and arrows. It was time to take the Hourglass and bring DeWinter down.

The Fellowship made their way to the abandoned hanger, determined to see their mission through. There was a little soft banter, but for the most part they were quiet during the course of the journey.

Once they arrived on site Venom quickly took point. Stealthily he slunk toward one of the massive airplane storage hangers and only had to pause a moment to wrench the lock and chain from the door. Perhaps it was easier than it should have been, but Venom attributed the weakness of the lock to the fact that the chain had grown quite rusty. Debris crumbled to the ground and was soon joined by its kin as Venom tossed away the lock and chain. At this point it didn’t matter if anyone found it. They would be long gone and stirring up more trouble than ever in just a few hours’ time.

When Ven was sure the coast was clear he signaled for the rest of the team to follow. With everyone gathered in the specified location they were all relieved to find the airplane as promised. After minimal mechanical reconstruction Pugsy was able to revive the old engine and it whirled to life after a few sputtering starts. Waving away the plume of black exhaust that filled the air Venom turned to help Shikuyim into the plane before assisting the others with their packs.

Quercus waited by Jean and Shikuyim outside the airfield. She would have preferred to go help find the plane but too many of them together would make them a target. A signal from those on the field would tell them when the ship had been found. Once it had, she had to fly it. She thought about the automated ship they had used when they had first arrived. Watching the thing pilot itself had been fascinating and reading the map during the flight had given her a pretty good idea of where they were going. All the same she could feel her nerves growing. She wanted to get to the ship and get on with it but her experience kept her still. Wait until the time to shoot was right. Then they would strike. She spotted the signal and followed Jean towards the airship. This would be fun.

Once inside, Quercus dashed up to the flightdeck and scanned the machinery. To her relief it looked familiar. It was very nearly the same as the airship that had flown itself. Following her memory of what she had seen she began to push buttons and pull levers, recalling the order of the automated flight airship. The engines spluttered into life, rumbling angrily as they gathered the energy to take off. Carefully, with a few jolts and the grumble of ancient machinery, the airship slowly rose into the air. Quercus checked the compass, glanced at the map and began to follow the landmarks which would lead them to the hidden hanger. They were on their way to the Infernal Hourglass.

Getting into the ship that Venom and the others managed to successfully hijack, Wolf sat tensely hoping that they wouldn't be too late getting to the hourglass. To try and calm herself, she looked out the window at the scene below, wishing this once she was flying on her own instead of being helped by a mechanical monster.

Taking to the air was nerve-wracking as ever, but Pugsy assured them the ‘junker’ would get them where they need to go. With Quercus at the wheel Venom concentrated on what lay before them. Many lives were hanging in the balance. Coming to terms with slaying an entire host of guards for the sake of an entire city was perhaps easier said than done. Even for the veteran warrior, Venom would rather not spill unnecessary amounts of blood. His sword had tasted much in their time together and while it would never seem quenched, Venom did his best to moderate.

The glow of the hourglass had Wolf on edge. She looked at the top of the tower and shuddered. She looked over at the others and said in a low voice, "OneToo was right - that thing is terribly menacing. It terrifies me." Something deep within her caused her to let a whimper out and instinctively she went up to Quercus and curled up on her feet, shutting her eyes against the sight. She barely managed to say, "I don't know if I can manage to take care of that thing. It's causing such a feeling of dread to come over me."

The Hourglass's sickly light had had Quercus on edge even as they approached the hanger. It grew the closer they got and Quercus found herself reaching for the comfort of her plants and the memory of home they gave her. When Wolf turned and curled up at her feet, her distress was completely understandable. Quercus took a deep breath, sat down beside Wolf and began to groom and scratch her in a soothing motion. "That thing has hurt everyone. It was made with a horrible purpose in mind and it radiates it with every moment. We're all feeling it. A time piece to steal any joy or hope anyone might have. But it can't beat us. We've come so far, much further than I thought we would. Even if the Wolf who left her pack and found a new one, who can call magic and her home across distances we can't measure isn't sure if she can face it, I know we can. You're not going in there alone. None of us are. You have me and Venom to protect and remove that which is too heavy or stubborn to be moved. You have Jean to see the big picture and know what to move and when. Shikuyim with his technical ability to turn this thing from a stealer of life to a beakon of protective light. Eden to sing songs about how far we've come, songs that will be sung of what we accomplish and make us laugh with her words. We have you to heal us and help us find a way to stop this nightmare." She looked up at everyone. "We met in a bar looking for different things. We have endured explosions, enemies and a world unlike anything most of us have seen. All that stands in our way now is an overgrown clock. Anyone care to show DeWinter he should never tangle with those beyond the portal with me?"

Wolf leaned into the rubs and love that Quercus showed her, closing her eyes. Slowly she started to relax and the intense fear and dread that had come over her lessened some. Listening to Quercus's words, she knew the woman was right. As the ranger continued to rub Wolf, she said, "All I want to do is get this done so that we can go home again. I want to see trees and hunt prey and just be a wolf again. None of this technomancing stuff that I've never done before in my life and had to figure out as I went along. I want to use real magic again. To work with the Earth again instead of with molecules within objects."

Jean didn't like the feeling she got as they neared the tower any more than the rest of them. Her instincts were screaming at her that this was a bad idea, and that she should run far, far away. But she'd committed to the team. A smile crossed her lips at Quercus's words, and she adjusted the pin on the collar of her coat. "I'm with you all the way," she said aloud, getting to her feet as the ranger-turned-aeronaut maneuvered their vessel towards the hanger. "Let's do this."

They waited until the outside door to the hangar was shut before Jean went to the door of the airship and opened it a crack. She took the Lethal Lady from its case and lifted the wings, setting it at the gap she'd made. The critter crawled out, and she shut the door behind it. "Let's give it a few minutes to work," she said, heading to join Venom at the window to watch the effect on the guards.

Before long, all those they could see in the hanger were out cold, and Venom judged it safe to make for the tower. They hurried across the hangar and into the building, heading for the top, to destroy the hourglass and free the city.

Witchy reaches into her pocket and pulls out some coins. "BUT, the shinnies are suppose to be mine," she starts to cry.

TerrenaAnimula rests her hand on Witchy's shoulder, "It will be okay. There will be more shinnies up ahead I promise."

Witchy hands some of the coins over to Pugsy, who promptly takes off. "If Pugsy doesn't return with a map and just took the shinnies, Pugsy is going to have to answer to me." Witchy takes a puff on her rainbow to calm down.

"While we wait for the return," Tea_Roll starts, "Lets have a tea party with cake!" She starts pulling out some plates and cups. "No cake for you Fresh. But you may have tea."

Flamingo quickly starts helping Tea set things out.

Fresh just shakes his head, "Well I think we should get TwoFer working right. He may come in handy if we have a fight up ahead."

"Good idea," TerrenaAnimula agrees.

"And while they are doing that," Lovecraft says, "Terrena and I will go get us the airship."

"Wait? Why me?" TerrenaAnimula asks.

"Because me being a Privateer in this world, I know how to steal things and you being an Aeronaut, know how to fly," Lovecraft says.

"Witchy and I will fix TwoFer then," Fresh says. "You two get us the ship."

"I don't like this plan," TerrenaAnimula says. "I think we should wait for Pugsy to return."

"May take to long," Lovecraft says grabbing her arm. "We can't waste any time. Lets go." She starts pulling TerrenaAnimula away thru the hanger to where the airship they are suppose to be taking sits. "Now keep quiet."

As Lovecraft and Terrenaanimula sneak over to pirate apprehend the airship, Fresh says, "I'm thinking that the "list of seven colors" has something to do with the color sequence. What do you all think?"

Flamingo's mouth was full of candy, so she doesn't say anything, but she shakes her head 'yes', then 'no' then she shrugs her shoulders.

Tea_roll is looking at Witchy, who is staring into space, puffing on her rainbow, and muttering, "Byzantium, Heliotrope, Mallow, Mulberry, Periwinkle, Thistle, Wisteria"

Tea then looks at Fresh, and asks, "Do you remember what colors where in what order?"

Fresh looks at her, and says, "I can't even remember when we did that part of the adventure. I think I've been standing to close to witchys rainbow"

At that moment, witchy looks over at Fresh, and says, "You sing a song"

"What?" Fresh looks at her, then at Tea, "Now? You want me to sing a song NOW? while Love and Terrena are trying to sneak into the ship? Lets fix TwoFer and you can sing while we do that."

Fresh pulls out what looks like a circuitry or a chip of some unknown metal and the Sonic Screwdriver.

"I want to play with that," Tea_Roll says grabbing for the screwdriver, but Fresh holds it away from her.

"If I don't get cake, you don't get the screwdriver," Fresh replies and continues to look over TwoFer.

"Fantasy and microchips. Shooting from the hip. Something different We're makin' Weird science," Witchy starts to sing.

Fresh puts the chip in and then uses the Sonic screwdriver to make sure everything is back in place and to twerk anything that may not have been right but can be fixed with the screwdriver. He stands up, "That should do it and look, TerrenaAnimula and Lovecraft are back with the ship."

"There is Pugsy heading this way too," Flamingo points.

"Get your buns on here before we leave without you," Lovecraft calls down.

"Or I crash it," TerrenaAnimula says. "I have no real clue what I am doing up here."

Everyone climbs on board and sets off towards the docking bay of the tower.

Once on, Fresh goes over to where TerrenaAnimula is concentrating hard on steering and Lovecraft is watching her. "Any problems getting this?" Fresh asks looking at them both.

"Actually rather simple," Lovecraft replies.

"Maybe for you," Terrena says. "This thing is terrifying."

"So no problems?" Fresh continues wanting to know what happened.

"Nope, nothing at all," Lovecraft says. "Only had a few guards which I was able to dispatch of easily. The only problem was getting Terrena to actually fly this thing. She kept saying NO! until I threatened her."

"YAY!!!!" Tea_Roll comes bouncing up and putting her arms around TerrenaAnimula. "I am no longer the only one under threat."

"Don't touch me!" TerrenaAnimula yells. "I don't want to crash!"

Walking up, Witchy says, "And you need to make sure it is in one piece at the docking bay so we can destroy the hour glass and put these pretties in its place." She holds out the pieces of crystal. "Any more thought on the colors, Fresh?" She puffs on her rainbow smoke and hands it over to him.

"No," he says frustrated. "I still haven't come up with the color pattern that could be useful." He takes a puff on the rainbow. "I'm sure it will come to you," Flamingo says throwing some skittles into her mouth. "You guys smoke your rainbow, I taste it."

Everyone starts to laugh.

"Oh crud!" TerrenaAnimula announces. "I see the Pyrates up ahead in battle."

"Try to just sneak on thru to the bay," Fresh says. "We don't want to get involved in that battle."

"And I will help get us in once at the airlock," Pugsy says coming up behind them.

Carefully, TerrenaAnimula guides the ship thru the fighting while the Pyrates seem to cover them and manages to get to the docking bay. "Hold on," she says. "I'm not sure how to stop this really." Everyone braces themselves and they come to a sudden stop and rock a little bit. "Wasn't as bad as I thought," Terrena says letting go of the wheel.

"That was a great landing!" Tea_Roll tells her.

"I agree," Flamingo says. "Take it from a bird."

"Now lets destroy, that hourglass in there and put in those crystals," Lovecraft says.

Fresh nods and they all get off the ship. Quickly Pugsy runs over to the airlock and does a few things and the door opens. "You guys on your own from here," Pugsy says and backs away.

In the middle of a large room, the Silver Legends see a huge hourglass.

"How are we to break that?" TerrenaAnimula asks.

"And the falling sands of time. Blow my wind and drifted by. To and fro the trees still bend. Wondering what the host will send," Witchy starts to sing.

"I have the breaking of the hourglass," Lovecraft says grabbing Tea_Roll. "Time to fly."

"What?" Tea_Roll says as she is suddenly being tossed at the hour glass and crashes into it. The hourglass breaks and she is sitting in a pile of sand. "Not very nice," she says, "BUT so much fun. Lets do that again!!!"

Fresh simply shakes his head and walks over towards the pattern on the floor that was left. "Okay Witchy, we need to figure out the pattern so we can get home."

Witchy nods and pulls the crystal fragments out of her pocket. "I hate saying goodbye to more shinnies," she says.

The group come forward to look at the pattern in the ground and hope they can solve what needs to be done.

With only a fence between them and their goal, and no one abound The Foggiest Notions had no problem gaining access to the airfield. They traveled quickly through the shadows until they reached the intended airship.

Max studied the craft intensely. Everything seemed to be intact except for the lack of hydrogen which was essential in getting it off the ground. “Eurus” called Max, “It seems that we are fresh out of fuel for this beast. What sort of spell can you conjure to remedy this?”

“Ohhhhh,” the Mage sang with excitement, “I have just the thing!” In a matter of minutes Eurus had the airship tanks readied for lift off as the others climbed aboard.

“We are all going to die,” murmured Evangelista as she boarded; pushing Armina and Ravensong in front of her. Max followed the three ladies snickering to himself; women are so dramatic he thought.

That left Eurus and Fern yet to embark. “Are you ready “Captain?”, Eurus asked. “I am a bit nervous,” replied Fern, “but I have no idea why... piece of cake my dear friend, piece of cake” Together they boarded the waiting airship and joined the rest of the adventurers.

"What have I gotten myself into..." This is what Fern thought to herself as she took the wheel in one hand and the map in the other, giving a humorous display as she tried to determine the best way to hold both at once and still be able to steer.

"I think I can fly it, but I'm going to need help." She called to her 'crew', "Once we lift off, I'll steer us towards the hanger. I've got my hands busy with the wheel – can someone start the gas?"

Once she was settled behind the controls, Fern’s confidence returned and she seemed to be happy as she adjusted the controls and her rearview mirror.

Evangelista had no intention of dying in this over-inflated fire trap. She was going to do everything she could to prevent it. “I’ll take care of the gas,” she declared. She flipped the switch and the envelopes started filling with buoyant gas. “Keep calm and hold on” she warned the others. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Turning to adjust the gauges, she saw Fern, atypically, giving her a dirty look.

Ravensong was keeping a close eye on her sister. She knew Fern would rather be tending poor TwoFer than flying the ship. “Sister, TwoFer is in good hands with Eurus and Max. Concentrate on getting us safely to the Tower.

Simultaneously, Eurus and Max were rummaging through the pack. It was Max who declared victory as he held up what appears to be circuitry or a chip of some unknown metal.

In true polymath form, after he graphically depicted and briefly explained the mean, inverse co-tangant, multi-floral, co variance, up-side-down, twisted binomial distribution in a scatter plot / poisson / bar / line / pie graph-chart he concluded that the 25% was actually right on target. Using the Dragan formula and the circuitry or a chip of some unknown metal, he repaired TwoFer to the cheers of everyone except Evangelista, who now regretted not being nicer to the interesting looking feller.

"Told you Twofer would be fine," Ravensong told Fern when she heard Max's declaration of victory. Trying to get over her fear of flying as Fern lifted the airship from the ground. As it lurched forward, she quickly sat down where she stood, drumming her fingers nervously.

"Hold on!" Fern shouted as she maneuvered the ship towards the bay for a not so smooth landing."

Reaching the tower, Ravensong hollered for everyone to brace themselves as Fern landed the ship none too gently, nearly crashing into the tower in the process.

Quicky disembarking, the group ran to the tower, Max thinking quickly and digging the 'Lethal Lady' ladybug out of his pack, warned the others to hang back as he pulled open the door, lifting the bugs wings and releasing it inside, pushing the door shut again.

"That should take care of the guards." he told the others, waiting for a minute before pulling open the door again. "We've got half an hour, let’s make this quick."

"The hourglass should be near the top of the tower." Eurus told them as they all went inside, stepping carefully over the bodies of guards that were strewn across the floor.

"... are... are they dead..?" Fern asked, white-faced, grabbing hold of Ravensong's arm.

"No, just knocked out." Ravensong answered, as she led Fern along behind Eurus who was taking the lead.

After a few minutes they reached the hourglass, "Now we just need to break the glass... carefully."

"You, singing girl. Can't you break it with your voice?" Evangelista asked in an annoyed tone.

"It can be done but I'm not sure if my voice is strong enough."

"No need." Max told them both, pulling out the sonic screwdriver as he approached the hourglass. Deftly, he applied the sonic screwdriver to the junction of the glass and the metal frame of the hourglass. Once he pressed the button to activate the sonic waves, the glass started to silently shatter into small pieces. In no time the shattered glass fell orderly to the ground barely making a tinkle. The sighs of relief from the adventurers was more audible.

"Katsuhiro, we were able to bring a very special bracelet with us, it belongs to Larianne. She may not know what's happening or who to trust when Jer and the others rescue her but if she sees this," holding up the bracelet, "she will. We are running out of time, please could you get this to him?" Katsuhiro takes the bracelet and nods, tucking it safely into his pocket. With that she returns to the rest of the group, getting ready to head to the hotel.

"Excellent! All we need to do is make our way to the airfield so we can hijack that ship." Pugsy took the lead and the Misfits followed her closely.

They weaved through the alleyways, ducking and weaving, only stopping once in a while to wait for a guard to walk by. It wasn't easy to travel in such a large group, especially when you want to be stealthy! Pretty soon they made it to their destination. The place was eerily quiet. Katsuhiro wasn't kidding when he said the airport was deserted.

"Okay, we're here, but which bay is the ship in?" asked Jenna as she looked around the area which had quite a few hangars.

Pugsy tugged at her sleeve. "This way, it's a secret hangar, remember?"

They snuck through a doorway and came upon a small ship. Anna wasn't impressed. "That's it? This little thing? You seriously want us to travel on that bucket of bolts?"

"Hey!" cried Pugsy. "I worked hard to get her in shape for this mission! She may not look like much, but she'll do the job for sure! Climb aboard!"

Juana and Leaf looked at the ship, then at each other. "I agree, I think she will definitely get us there without a problem, don't you think so Leaf?" Juana commented.

Leaf sighed. He wasn't too thrilled about flying again, but the mission was too important and he knew his role was pivotal in this. “I would be so much more comfortable with a horse like I’m used to,” the elf muttered. He thought back to his younger years when he was first learning to ride or jump from branch to branch in the trees. He’d fallen several times…even broken his arm once. But he hadn’t given up and he couldn’t afford to now. Sure, he had learned to overcome his aversion to heights for the most part, but just the thought of soaring through the clouds made his stomach flutter a little. However, he swallowed back his distaste and perhaps a bit of his pride and headed for the ship. “Let’s do this, Juana,” Leaf called to his fellow Misfit, while thinking privately the sooner they got this over with the sooner they could return home.

Together Leaf and Juana worked on the controls and though there was a clack at first soon a hum sounded and grew louder and louder. “We got it!” the duo cried in unison and then actually grinned at each other.

Leaf took the controls with Juana as co-pilot and eased the craft out of the hanger and along the runway. With his heart, stomach, and assorted body parts fluttering and feeling like they were in his throat, Leaf followed Pugsy’s directions and they went airborne.

“Which way?” Juana asked.

“How hard is it to find something the size of that hourglass?” Leaf retorted, looking over at Juana.

With a screech, Juana yelled, “Stop looking at me to roll your eyes! Look at where we’re going! In fact, don’t roll your eyes at all. You need to concentrate.”

“How can I with you yelling?” Leaf asked, giving his full attention back to piloting the ship toward the tower looming ominously in the distance.

“I think they’re back to normal,” Amdir said to Jenna.

Anna looked at Twofer in the corner. She motioned to the rest of the group. "We might need to fix that poor cat. He looks valuable."

Jilly nodded toward her and tossed Anna a small chip of unknown metal. "Funny you spoke up first. I think you are the perfect person to fix Twofer. I think this might come in handy."

Anna looked at the chip and back to the machine and back to the chip again. "Really, me, really? Ugh!" Everyone else seemed busy with their own projects however and Anna looked at the little metallic cat again. “Yeah…I suppose it’s really me,” she sighed. She walked up to Twofer and regarded him. She noticed that Twofer's front legs weren’t in the perfect positions. Saying a few words, Anna began to work Twofer's legs back to the right place. After fixing his legs, she looked around his body. She huddled even closer now, her hands now moving over the little cat, searching him from head to toe for any and all problems.

After a few minutes of looking, she quickly noticed a small chip size spot behind his right back leg. “Ah ha…what’s this?” Anna muttered to herself. She looked at the chip in her hand and back to the spot. She mumbles to herself, "Well, it can't hurt us…I hope." She quickly inserted the small chip in the tiny slot.

Nothing happened and she placed her head in her hands, sitting back on her heels beside TwoFer. As was her normal habit when something was upsetting her or when she needed to think about something, Anna began to hum. The soft humming sound seemed to awake something in Twofer for he stirred slightly. Anna looked down at him, a light of hope in her eyes, and continued to hum. Twofer's eyes blinked slowly open and then his body began to hum with power, matching the rhythm of Anna’s humming. "Hey everyone, look, I think he's fixed!"

His sense of direction aided by the glow of the hourglass, Leaf guided the ship closer and closer to the tower. He spotted the hanger and said a quick prayer before pushing a lever, pulling another and beginning a descent. Whether the prayer worked or luck or some unknown skill was inside him all along, Leaf would never know. Whatever the reason, the ship taxied, albeit a bit roughly, into the hanger and Leaf killed the engine.

As they set down, the group crowds i to the cockpit to look out the front window. No one seems to be paying their ship much attention. "So far, so good. Nice flying, Leaf." Amdir patted the elf on the shoulder and moved to let someone else have a better look. "Now. How do we make it up into the tower?" As the hanger door clanked shut, Jenna peered through one of the airship windows and saw the immediate area was empty."I think the coast is clear, we should quietly disembark and get to that door before any guards come through it."

The team nodded to each other in agreement. They quickly made their way off the ship and headed to the door at the far end.

Jilly turned back to everyone and asked, "Now what do we do?"

Juana grinned and pulled her sword out, "We charge in and battle our way to glory!"

"No, I have a better idea" Amdir laid a hand on Juana’s shoulder and stayed the warrior. She reached in her pocket and pulled out the little box that she acquired a few weeks ago. The vagabond opened it up to reveal the metallic ladybug inside.

Juana scoffed, "And what do you plan to do with that? Pin it to a guard and tell him he looks pretty?" Jilly, Anna, and Jenna giggled. Leaf shoved Juana. “Leave her alone. What’s the plan, Amdir?”

"Watch and see." Gently, Amdir removed the metallic ladybug and lifted both wings. The vagabond then gingerly set her on the floor, facing the door. The bug crawled under the half inch opening and was gone.

"Oh no! You lost it!" cried Anna.

In the next moment there was a high-pitched, shrieking noise, followed by a THUD. The Misfits heard what sounded like heavy objects thunking about on the other side of the door. Then all was silent. Amdir smiled and opened the door. "After you?" she said to the warrior. Juana crossed the threshold and was greeted with a curious sight. Inside, the tower was littered with unconscious guards, which explained all the noise. The little bug sat in the middle of the floor, but it was immobile. "She was only meant to work once." The vagabond frowned and picked her up and stashed the bug in her pocket. When she had time, she would figure out how it was made and recreate the bug. For now…time was running out.

"There's the hourglass!" cried Juana. "Let's smash it and get on with it!!"The warrior gave a battle cry and ran towards the large hourglass and struck the surface with her sword in full force. But the sword deflected and the warrior was flung back. Not to be defeated, she got up and ran towards it once more, but again she bounced off the surface. Not a scratch was made. After Juana's failed her second attempt Amdir interrupted the group. "Let me try something."

Reaching into her vest pocket again the vagabond turned polymath withdrew a narrow metal tube. With a flick of her wrist, Amdir activated the sonic screw driver and directed a sound pulse at the hourglass. After a long minute of high pitch whirls nothing happened. Amdir flicked the sonic off and looked at it, shrugging at her team. "It's my first time. That was just practice." She explained sheepishly.

Turning the base a bit and flipping a switch that caused a brighter light on the shaft Amdir smiled. "Here we go. You may want to cover your ears." Adding a bit more flourish this time, Amdir aimed the compact screwdriver at her target. This time the result was immediate. The sound grew louder and the hourglass began to rattle, the light pulsing sporadically before with a peak in the tone, everything shattered. Jilly jumped up and down with excitement, "you did it Amdir you did it. Hurry up everyone we need to get to the beacon before those guards wake up!"

Everyone started running to the top of the tower where the beacon awaits them. Once there they looked at each other and wondered what was in store for then next.

Jean looked up from her examination of the third edition map that lay before her on the table next to the box of restored crystals, and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Relax, Wolfy," she said, voice calm. "There is a map in here, and that will take us where we need to go. Looks like we have our work cut out for us." She looked at her friends.

Quercus crossed over to Jean, shifting her shoulder slightly. It felt a great deal better but was still stinging slightly from the battle. She glanced over the instructions before speaking. "I think I can fly the ship to the location we need to get to. But I doubt I could hold it in a firefight so we'll need to depend on Djoni if we encounter any resistance." She glanced round to where Venom was. "The guards are your department. Should I support you with cover fire or hang back with the others until you've cleared the way?" She paused as a thought stuck her. "I'm not sure how soon I could get it up in the air. Maybe I should go first to draw their attention?"

Venom looked up as he slipped his freshly polished blade back into it’s original scabbard. The weight felt good back alongside his hip. Glancing over his eyes narrowed at the sight of Quercus’s posture. “I wouldn't refuse the support...” He couldn't hold it against her. They were all still recovering in their own ways from the brawl in the tunnels. “But it is more important that you don’t further damage your shoulder. Wolf can support us just fine. You focus on getting everyone to safety once we land.” Subconsciously he reached and touched the back of his head softly. Still hurt but the swelling had gone down.

Quercus nodded to Venom. "I can still shoot and my shoulder will be okay." She tested it again. "But I'm no close combatant. I'll head for the target and fire if I spot anything that looks like trouble for you."

Eden fiddled with her fife. "They said the tower hanger would be heavily guarded. I might be able to play a song to lull them into complacency, at which point we can use Shikuyim's sleeping powder to knock them out."

Jean pulled a metal bug from her pocket. "I think, with as many guards as we're expecting, now would be the perfect time to use this. It's that thing Pugsy gave me, back when we were at her shop, and it says it can take out a whole roomful. Not sure how far it can reach, though. If we miss any of the guards with this, then Eden should work her musical magic." She smiled at the bard.

“Oh yeah.” Ven stood abruptly and disappeared into his bedroom a moment before returning with a chunk of metal in hand. “I found this… or well pulled it out of a mechanical combat creature… Maybe we can use it to repair that cat.” He shrugged and tossed the scrap onto the table nearby Shikuyim who immediately took to fidgeting with the loose wires. Alchemy was his forte, but after having spent so much time here in Crystania the older man felt sharper than ever. Happily Shikuyim fiddled with the chip that had been salvaged from the dragon along with the scattered remains of Six, which the team had gathered from the tunnel.

The group discussed entry plans for the hanger, in case it wasn't completely abandoned, and ideas for destroying the hourglass once they reached it. After a while, Shikuyim called Twofer over, and carefully removed the faulty chip from the battle cat and replaced it with the restored one. To be safe, he'd not used the parts from Six as anything more than a guide. Soon after the team concluded their planning, and went to bed so they would be well-rested for the following day.

Quercus looked over the guidebook one more time before taking in a deep breath and setting her mind to the task. "It feels so good to finally go after that Infernal Hourglass. They couldn't have chosen a better name for it." She let her voice drop so she spoke for her own ears. "I just hope we can save everyone. Vertilline has as much right to life free of DeWinter as Larianne. If not more so." She mentally shook herself and turned to gather up her bow and arrows. It was time to take the Hourglass and bring DeWinter down.

The Fellowship made their way to the abandoned hanger, determined to see their mission through. There was a little soft banter, but for the most part they were quiet during the course of the journey.

Once they arrived on site Venom quickly took point. Stealthily he slunk toward one of the massive airplane storage hangers and only had to pause a moment to wrench the lock and chain from the door. Perhaps it was easier than it should have been, but Venom attributed the weakness of the lock to the fact that the chain had grown quite rusty. Debris crumbled to the ground and was soon joined by its kin as Venom tossed away the lock and chain. At this point it didn’t matter if anyone found it. They would be long gone and stirring up more trouble than ever in just a few hours’ time.

When Ven was sure the coast was clear he signaled for the rest of the team to follow. With everyone gathered in the specified location they were all relieved to find the airplane as promised. After minimal mechanical reconstruction Pugsy was able to revive the old engine and it whirled to life after a few sputtering starts. Waving away the plume of black exhaust that filled the air Venom turned to help Shikuyim into the plane before assisting the others with their packs.

Quercus waited by Jean and Shikuyim outside the airfield. She would have preferred to go help find the plane but too many of them together would make them a target. A signal from those on the field would tell them when the ship had been found. Once it had, she had to fly it. She thought about the automated ship they had used when they had first arrived. Watching the thing pilot itself had been fascinating and reading the map during the flight had given her a pretty good idea of where they were going. All the same she could feel her nerves growing. She wanted to get to the ship and get on with it but her experience kept her still. Wait until the time to shoot was right. Then they would strike. She spotted the signal and followed Jean towards the airship. This would be fun.

Once inside, Quercus dashed up to the flightdeck and scanned the machinery. To her relief it looked familiar. It was very nearly the same as the airship that had flown itself. Following her memory of what she had seen she began to push buttons and pull levers, recalling the order of the automated flight airship. The engines spluttered into life, rumbling angrily as they gathered the energy to take off. Carefully, with a few jolts and the grumble of ancient machinery, the airship slowly rose into the air. Quercus checked the compass, glanced at the map and began to follow the landmarks which would lead them to the hidden hanger. They were on their way to the Infernal Hourglass.

Getting into the ship that Venom and the others managed to successfully hijack, Wolf sat tensely hoping that they wouldn't be too late getting to the hourglass. To try and calm herself, she looked out the window at the scene below, wishing this once she was flying on her own instead of being helped by a mechanical monster.

Taking to the air was nerve-wracking as ever, but Pugsy assured them the ‘junker’ would get them where they need to go. With Quercus at the wheel Venom concentrated on what lay before them. Many lives were hanging in the balance. Coming to terms with slaying an entire host of guards for the sake of an entire city was perhaps easier said than done. Even for the veteran warrior, Venom would rather not spill unnecessary amounts of blood. His sword had tasted much in their time together and while it would never seem quenched, Venom did his best to moderate.

The glow of the hourglass had Wolf on edge. She looked at the top of the tower and shuddered. She looked over at the others and said in a low voice, "OneToo was right - that thing is terribly menacing. It terrifies me." Something deep within her caused her to let a whimper out and instinctively she went up to Quercus and curled up on her feet, shutting her eyes against the sight. She barely managed to say, "I don't know if I can manage to take care of that thing. It's causing such a feeling of dread to come over me."

The Hourglass's sickly light had had Quercus on edge even as they approached the hanger. It grew the closer they got and Quercus found herself reaching for the comfort of her plants and the memory of home they gave her. When Wolf turned and curled up at her feet, her distress was completely understandable. Quercus took a deep breath, sat down beside Wolf and began to groom and scratch her in a soothing motion. "That thing has hurt everyone. It was made with a horrible purpose in mind and it radiates it with every moment. We're all feeling it. A time piece to steal any joy or hope anyone might have. But it can't beat us. We've come so far, much further than I thought we would. Even if the Wolf who left her pack and found a new one, who can call magic and her home across distances we can't measure isn't sure if she can face it, I know we can. You're not going in there alone. None of us are. You have me and Venom to protect and remove that which is too heavy or stubborn to be moved. You have Jean to see the big picture and know what to move and when. Shikuyim with his technical ability to turn this thing from a stealer of life to a beakon of protective light. Eden to sing songs about how far we've come, songs that will be sung of what we accomplish and make us laugh with her words. We have you to heal us and help us find a way to stop this nightmare." She looked up at everyone. "We met in a bar looking for different things. We have endured explosions, enemies and a world unlike anything most of us have seen. All that stands in our way now is an overgrown clock. Anyone care to show DeWinter he should never tangle with those beyond the portal with me?"

Wolf leaned into the rubs and love that Quercus showed her, closing her eyes. Slowly she started to relax and the intense fear and dread that had come over her lessened some. Listening to Quercus's words, she knew the woman was right. As the ranger continued to rub Wolf, she said, "All I want to do is get this done so that we can go home again. I want to see trees and hunt prey and just be a wolf again. None of this technomancing stuff that I've never done before in my life and had to figure out as I went along. I want to use real magic again. To work with the Earth again instead of with molecules within objects."

Wolf let the rubbing continue for a few more minutes and then stood up. To be entirely honest, she didn't want the rubbing to stop at all. She's not your ordinary wolf. I give Quercus a few kisses in thanks.

Jean didn't like the feeling she got as they neared the tower any more than the rest of them. Her instincts were screaming at her that this was a bad idea, and that she should run far, far away. But she'd committed to the team. A smile crossed her lips at Quercus's words, and she adjusted the pin on the collar of her coat. "I'm with you all the way," she said aloud, getting to her feet as the ranger-turned-aeronaut maneuvered their vessel towards the hanger. "Let's do this."

They waited until the outside door to the hangar was shut before Jean went to the door of the airship and opened it a crack. She took the Lethal Lady from its case and lifted the wings, setting it at the gap she'd made. The critter crawled out, and she shut the door behind it. "Let's give it a few minutes to work," she said, heading to join Venom at the window to watch the effect on the guards.

Before long, all those they could see in the hanger were out cold, and Venom judged it safe to make for the tower. They hurried across the hangar and into the building, heading for the top, to destroy the hourglass and free the city.

Once they got to the top, Wolf turns to Venom, "Venom, may I please borrow your sword? I think we'll be okay for a few moments. I need it to transform."

Venom agrees and hands Wolf his sword. Wolf stands up on her hind legs and she takes the sword in her paws. Muttering an incantation and using the sword to conduct the necessary energies of the Lake, she gains once again her cloak and staff. She hands the sword back to Venom. "Thanks friend. Now, I know you have a ton of vials on you. I need probably three dozen."

Strong and silent as he always is, he hands Wolf what she needs.
Taking some thread, wire, rods, material and tape from the supply bag that she picked up along the way along with the vials that Venom gave her, she starts assembling. After a bit, changing and morphing the molecules in each item, she comes up with thirty-six C-4s, or plastic explosives. She notices my friends looking at her in amazement wondering how she could know to make such things. Wolf giggles, "When you live in a pack where the Alpha is literally a weapons master due to what he does for his career, you pick a few things up. Now, to attach these things." Balancing each bomb on my staff in turn, she flings them up onto the hourglass in a sporadic pattern all around the hourglass in different heights. Changing the molecules of the tape she put on the backs of each one allowed the tape to act like a super glue.

"This is where it gets interesting. Here!" Wolf takes her cloak off and turns it into a similar shield by changing the cloak's properties that shielded OneTwo from getting blown to bits in the tunnels earlier and throws it at her friends. "Keep behind that! It will create a three meter radius dome-shaped protective shield around you. This explosion's going to be huge. It's sound proof. You won't hear the explosion. I have three minutes to light all thirty-six caps from the first one lit!"

Changing her staff to create a combination flame thrower and hand held table torch she makes her way over to the hourglass "I just hope this works," she thinks. "To concentrate the power, distance and force of a flame thrower into the tiny size given off by the table torch for accuracy purposes can cause issues; even with my perfect aim!"

Quickly Wolf lights the first cap and the rest in turn. She had just gotten the last one lit when...BOOM!!! The first one goes off by the others that proceed it! Flattening herself to the floor she quickly tries and makes herself a shield with her staff but fails to make a full dome. All she could manage in her haste was a flat shield. Shards and sand and debris fly all over the place as the hourglass is totally destroyed. Time passes and about eight minutes later everything settles down and they come out from behind their shields. Wolf whimperef as she made her way over to het friends as she noticed a deep gash in her hind leg where glass had struck her. The glass was still in there.

After breaking the hourglass the team members of cosmic moon stood there watching at the beacon. “Alright, so now what do we do?” Kenny asked doubtfully. “We only have to put in the crystals” Kayara says. “I don’t think it’s that easy” Lirien says. “See, these can swivel” “As if this wasn’t already hard enough” Ilaera said sarcastically “Those numbers don’t seem helpful at the moment either” Lirien continued. “It’s not like we know what they stand for”. “The placard on the wall could maybe be helpful” Kenny said. “Then he read the text out loud to his friends I am a child of the air. My life is both short and eternal, full of enchantment to all who behold me. I emerge from hiding, like a light that fills the heaven. I am the spirit of all beauty, and the symbol of all aspiration. Within me is the sum of all my compliments, from early to late, and I shine because of what they give to me. I am as precious as a gem, and as ephemeral as the wind. Behold me!”. “Yeah, right Kenny, now we really know what we need to do” Lirien said laughing. “We do have to hurry up, we don’t have a lot of time, before those guards will be standing in front of us” Kayara says. “Wait, there’s 7 numbers” Lorelei suddenly says. “Yeah, and?” Kayara asked “I remember we also had a list containing 7 words, that can’t be a coincidence” Lorelei replies. She grabs their packs and starts searching for her list. “See, this list I meant: “Byzantium, Heliotrope, Mallow, Mulberry, Periwinkle, Thistle, Wisteria". “That can’t be a coincidence indeed” Kenny says. “If only we knew how to match the numbers to them”

While they were working on the paper and the numbers, Ilaera had gotten out her puzzle from her pack. She had been working on it, ever since Chester had given it to her on her secret mission. She had already completed most of the puzzle. “This is hardly the time to go and make a puzzle” Lirien said, looking up from the beacon. “Wait!” Ilaera exclaims. “This pattern, I have seen something like this before”. Lirien and Kayara standing at the beacon look up with a frown on their faces. “I don’t think your puzzle can help us now” Kayara then said. Ilaera walked over towards the beacon and lay done her puzzle. “And what if my little puzzle can actually help us out”. Lirien looks at the puzzle and all of a sudden before anyone can stop her, she transforms the beacon into the same pattern by using the puzzle picture. “Well, now look at that” Ilaera said. “This was the time to finish my puzzle after all” she laughed.

“I know my colours” Lorelei said. “ This crystal is Byzantium”. “Now, wait a second” Kenny said. “Like you know your colours, I know my history and I know to which crystal I can match the number 1924, a number on that beacon”. “Kenny, your amazing” Lorelei said after Kenny told her his answer. “That’s it….now we only have to figure out which number relates to the colours and we can repair the beacon”

As soon as they had found out which numbers and colours could be matched together, they all stood in front of the beacon again. Lorelei was the one to place the last crystal in the beacon. After she had placed the last crystal in his socket, Lorelei stepped back to see what would happen next.