Dark clouds were swirling in the air, looking like a hovering blanket covering the atmosphere of the Earth.
The purple sky was creepy while the city looked empty. Musinites were gone, but they weren't killed. They escaped through the stairs to Celestia, lucky to survive.
The entire city of Musicia was like a whole shattered-down, ruined, busted-up chapter. Buildings were wrecked, collapsed, splintered, falling apart as some crumbled into debris.
They were torn in half, demolished, smoky, burnt, and twisted. Some buildings got stacked on top of each other, while others were leaning—almost meters away from crashing down into the ground.
Smoke rose from the buildings' ruins. Cars were everywhere—broken, shattered, battered, mangled, rusty, and dusty. Building pieces were scattered around the entire city of Musicia, and the cars and buses were totally wrecked, smashed, busted, obliterated. The place was not safe at all.
Beasts were circling the whole city like it was their home now. Power Gem-made Lunaranites flew around tall buildings that were still standing, letting out clouds of dust into the sky. Lightning flashed before anyone's eyes, and thunder roared loud. The biggest city building in the middle of Musicia was still standing.
Even though it was rusty, dirty, the windows were shattered, leaning a bit, and had a huge crack running down the middle, it still had the golden stairs on top that led up to the heavenly Celestia—where war was going wild.
The seven wandered around, watching the fake Lunaranites glide through the land with their wings and alien birds fly across the sky.
Creepy monsters and creatures moved with them. They were just as dangerous as the Lunaranites, and some of the beasts were probably as deadly as Homicide the Hydra.
And if something is scarier than the magic-made Hydra by Incarceration himself, you know it's bad bad. They walked on the cracked road, where the splits were huge and stretched in every direction like hollow roots with no cover.
Some buildings had lost their whole shape, others were missing entire pieces of their structure. The city's design was blown apart, ruined, and demolished by war. The sounds of terrifying roars, the clicking of footsteps, and the flapping of wings echoed everywhere.
Ella spoke once, looking around the area with a nervous face. "Okay Starla, are you sure about this? I mean… this place really doesn't look friendly…" "Look, I don't care if we have to go through actual monsters—we're helping them in their little war all the way in Celestia! And I know how to do that!" Starla said, turning back to Ella. They kept going through the ruins of Musicia. No sounds of Soundanites.
Lights were still flickering in some buildings, and the power crackled and sparked. Starla knew what they had to do. She was focused on getting to Celestia and saving everyone from the battle happening up there. She was willing to take big risks. They walked past buildings, under a broken rusty one, and stopped at a big rectangular building that was wide and tall. It had a sign that said "Musicia Gas," which was super dirty and barely readable.
It was a gas station that was still somehow standing, and its sign lights were flickering.
It was a dark green color, covered in dirt and mud, not to mention how rusty it was all over. The windows were shattered, glass was everywhere on the ground, and they didn't even notice.
There were no doors or windows left—just open space. Inside, the place was completely empty, filled with leaves stacked on top of each other and spread all over the floor like peanut butter on a sandwich.
The walls were white, but you could barely tell because of all the grime, and it was super dusty. The seven looked up at the sign and building, then Starla turned around and sighed, shaking her head.
"How are we gonna find this building?" she said, putting her hands on her hips and looking down at the gross ground. Olsen crossed his arms, then sighed as he sat on a nearby rock close to the building.
"It's the tallest building here. How do you not know where it is?"
"Well, it's not like you know!" Starla snapped back. "Hey! Guys! Calm down, alright? We all know that Musicia's tallest building is being hidden by all the other buildings because of the damage," Prince said.
"The buildings that are still standing but torn up and almost falling are blocking the tallest building, so of course it's hard to find."
Starla looked down with a sad face. "I'm sorry for snapping. I just… miss someone." She sat down on the ground, her tail swishing behind her, glowing blue and purple. Ella walked over and put her hand on Starla's shoulder, leaning her face close. "Starla, Don's gonna be alright…" Starla nodded.
"I know…" She stood up, and Ella comforted her while Archie looked up into the sky. The swirling violet clouds of doom hovered over him. He blinked, then turned back to the group.
Then a sound echoed from far away: "A HUT TWO THREE FOUR! HUT TWO THREE FOUR! HUT TWO THREE FOUR!" Everyone froze, then quickly ran inside the gas station to hide.
They crouched near the door and under the windows, hiding behind the walls as air drifted in through the busted doorways. Everyone stayed totally still and quiet. Marching sounds came closer—feet stomping loud and in sync. Then a soldier's voice yelled: "AND HALT!"
The marching stopped.
Starla slowly peeked through the window—it was Lunaranite soldiers. But not the fake ones powered by Power Gems.
These were real Lunaranites holding bows, guns, and spears. They stood in a perfect line with someone standing in front of them, totally still. He raised his spear in the air and shouted: "OUR LEADER, KING DREADIXZ, HAS DIED BY THE CHOSEN ONE'S WRATH! AFTER THE POWER GEMS RELEASED A HUGE ENERGY BURST INTO AVANGARD, FAKE LUNARANITE BEASTS FELL FROM THE SKY AND LANDED ON EARTH! OUR MISSION IS TO FIND AT LEAST ONE OF THEM TO HONOR THE KING!" "HONOR TO THE KING!" the soldiers shouted together.
Their leader wore a metal dog muzzle and a shiny helmet shaped like a dog's head. The ears were sharp-looking.
He wore tight black pants with dark purple knee pads, and his armor was dark purple and covered in Celtic patterns. His glowing red eyes stared into the crowd of soldiers. A big black cape hung from his shoulders.
Then, he turned around… facing the gas station. Starla ducked instantly, hiding her head. Her legs were shaking.
She tried her best not to make a single sound. She remembered who he was. She remembered what he did. She remembered everything. His name was Dreadlock. Dreadlock was a Lunaranite soldier with leathery black wings and a leathery black tail. He was the rival of Blightscaw.
The two had fought for years—and luckily, Blightscaw won most of the battles. But that didn't mean Dreadlock lost all of them. He was third-in-command among the Lunaranites—not as strong as Dark Don or King Dreadixz, but still a smart and deadly leader with his own small army.
There were about 10 to 20 soldiers out there. His Element was Power Mimicry. He could copy anyone's Element for two hours, and then he'd have to wait 12 hours before he could use it again. He was powerful. All he had to do was look at someone, and he'd have their Element powers for two hours. He could even learn your moveset just by copying you and use it against you. He also had the ability to steal someone's Element and use it for 30 minutes.
He was the kind of guy you don't want to mess with. His villain name was "Dreadlock," which he was given at birth. Starla had seen him in so many battles when she was a kid. He was one of the biggest threats alongside Dark Don and King Dreadixz. Archie sat next to Demaurion, his wings fluttering fast. Another thing you didn't know about Starla: she had mind-reading abilities.
She could read anyone's mind if she wanted to, but she didn't like using it much—it felt like spying. She only used it when she really needed to. She read Archie's mind, and in his head, he was thinking: "I hope they don't kill me! I can't die now! I got a whole prophecy to fulfill!"
After that… more thoughts started pouring in—everyone's inner voices getting louder...
She quickly turned off the ability, and sighed quietly so the soldiers wouldn't hear her. She looked back up through the window, and she realized they were still there, with Dreadlock talking about politics or whatever.
Then she had an idea. She knew the biggest and tallest building here would be hard to get to, and if she was gonna do that, she'd have to get to the top without being noticed or even seen once by anyone or any beast.
The tallest building was about to collapse and fall to the ground, and Starla knew it was gonna be a risk.
But if she doesn't do it…
It's a bigger risk for everyone else.
The battlefield of Celestia was almost empty. No sunlight, just a red, smoky sky filled with thick sheets of gas and clouds. The sky looked just like Scarletsville's—dark, sick orange, like something was burning forever.
There was no sun at all because the smoke covered it completely. The ground was wrecked. Blood was everywhere, splattered and oozing from the bodies of Lunaranites and Celestianites.
Buildings were crumbled, cracked, broken, and bent out of shape, now just piles of debris. Some were leaning or twisted, making loud creaking and metal-bending sounds. Even then, some Celestianites were still fighting hard with spears and old-timey guns.
The Lunaranites fought back too, but they mostly used their claws and teeth. More fake Lunaranites dropped from the sky and rolled across the ground super fast, flipping back up on all fours like wild animals.
Loud roars and screams filled the air. Explosions flew across the battlefield like runners in a race, blowing up everything in their way. A Celestianite stabbed a Lunaranite in mid-air—but another Lunaranite jumped from behind and stabbed the Celestianite too. The sky was completely filled with millions—maybe billions—of weird alien birds flying through the smoky, dangerous air. Flames danced everywhere.
You could hear millions of gunshots, yells, clashes, and explosions all happening at once. The chaos was insane—coming from every corner with nowhere to hide from it. Blood poured down the soldiers' mouths and bodies like it was escaping them. And the Power Gems… they were getting closer and closer to the Celestial Pillars.
The only thing lighting up the sky was a bright, lightning-blue beam shooting from the top of the Castle of Celestia. It blasted into the clouds like a giant flashlight from the ground. All through the destroyed Chanted Kingdom, buildings were stacked, broken, bent, falling apart. Glass was shattered, fires burned, and smashed-up cars were lying everywhere. It was a full-on war zone. And in the middle of it all… only two people were left standing—Dark Don and Jaylen.
Jaylen was on the ground. Blood dripped from his mouth. His wings were twitching a little, and so was his tail. His hair was messy, and his face was covered in cuts and bruises.
Slowly, he looked up at Dark Don, his head twitching. Dark Don stood over him, smirking. His fists were clenched tight, crackling with lunar energy that made the air around him rumble.
He listened to the chaos—the screaming, the explosions, the monster roars—and then turned his head down to Jaylen. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… Well, you could've done better… couldn't you?" Jaylen coughed up more blood, breathing slow. "I did my best though…" Dark Don crouched, leaning his face closer.
"This is war, kid. Of course you tried your hardest… but maybe your hardest just wasn't enough." He stood back up and looked over his shoulder. The sky was still packed with alien birds. On the other side of the battlefield, the whole crew was fighting—slashing beasts apart using their Elements and beast powers.
Dark Don looked back at Jaylen. "What are you gonna do now? Your friends are out there fighting an army of monsters. I bet they're getting tired..."
"They'll never get tired of fighting for what's right," Jaylen muttered, barely standing. He pushed himself up from the ground, shaking off the dirt and blood. His armor was almost destroyed—but still holding on. "Because with this… IT ENDS NOW!"