"So, how long before we get to the Creepy Citadel place, anyways?" Chihiro asked as she eyed a couple skeletons that laid down in front of her.

Chihiro winced as she tapped the skeletons’ shoulders, just to be entirely sure they weren't sentient and taking a nap, and when they didn't respond, she shrugged and nudged them aside with her foot. They trekked down these stairs for what seemed like forever, and she started to get impatient. After all, they didn't have all the time Skylands had to offer! They had to get the Eternal Undead Source now! When would these stairs finally end and take them to that citadel, anyways?

"Shouldn't be long, if we've got the right path," T-Bone replied as he cringed and ducked under a couple of spiderwebs, turned around to Chihiro and smiled. "In fact, it should be right around…"

T-Bone hopped down a couple more spine plate-shaped stairs, and towards an area where the dull blue light turned a bit brighter than before. He poked his head around the corner with an expectant grin, but, his jaw completely dropped as he got a glimpse of what lied beyond the light,!

"Holy Ancients above, that's one fancy citadel!"

Chihiro grinned and perked up as she leaned over T-Bone, and that grin of hers only widened as her eyes fell on what laid ahead! Beyond the path they currently trekked laid a massive, gothic castle covered from head to toe in black stone. Its stones were laced with rusted silver metal lining and decorations that could barely be seen under the mess of cobwebs that covered the roofs, and it was all protected by a tall, black embroidered fence! Its looks almost brought to mind the way her neighbors would decorate for Halloween, but a little more minimalist, she supposed.

"Looks like this is our stop!" Chihiro exclaimed as she strode out from the tunnels and into the broad, well, lack of daylight, all while the others trailed behind her.

Chihiro took a quick peek back and forth as butterflies rose in her stomach, for something about this was almost too peaceful and quiet. There were no sort of guards around, nothing that looked like a sneak attack in the making, just them and this massive citadel they'd quickly unlock. By all accounts, that should've made her glad, but something about it just didn't feel right—a gut instinct, she supposed.

T-Bone didn't seem to particularly care! He just hummed a jaunty tune to himself as he whipped out the Skeleton Key and strode up to the gate's door.

"Now, just gotta put this little key in," T-Bone said as he slowly pushed the key towards the lock, "and we'll be in—" T-Bone froze and dropped the key as the ground below began to rumble "—here?"

Chihiro gasped, and stepped back as the ground below her feet shook! It rumbled and quaked with such fury that bones popped out of the ground and sent cracks through the earth! Crap, this wasn't good; she had to act fast! With a tap of her heel, a new sort of speed rushed into Chihiro as she dashed off and tapped Cynder, Hex, Ghost Roaster, and T-Bone on the backs!

As the four of them drowned in a blue glow, Chihiro snapped her fingers as the blue glow expanded around them and teleported away! They returned back to the winding tunnel they took shelter in moments earlier, which was thankfully completely stable and not liable for quakes anytime soon.

"What was that?" Hex asked as she turned to T-Bone, who only replied with a shrug.

"I don't know," T-Bone replied as he scratched his head. "Last I recall, this part of the Underworld wasn't prone to quakes." T-Bone sighed and turned around as the rumbling came to a close. "Woah, when did those guys leave the grave?"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Cynder spat as she flew up and glared down T-Bone, though the bitter tone of her voice suggested the exact opposite, "but this isn't the time to crack jokes, bonehead, we've—"

"Oh, I'm not joking!" T-Bone pointed Cynder towards the path ahead. "Just look! Seems like we've got company, and not the good kind!"

Cynder followed T-Bone's gaze and snarled, but not in her usual sardonic way; no, the glare she carried was far more venomous and poised to kill! What on earth was behind there? Chihiro hopped up to them and peered over their shoulders, just to get a better view, and let out a small gasp without even realizing it!

T-Bone was right! Now there was an army comprised of all the kind of stuff that was probably expected of an undead castles; it was all rows of knights dressed in fancy silver and black armor, skeleton archers who wielded bony bows and arrows, and zombie gremlins with patchy fur in black and red armor who wielded fancy-looking staffs. Between the knights and skeletons, there were spell punks with tattered robes, skeletal goblins who rode giant spiders, and even a few weird green things she couldn't pin a name too!

With all those soldiers gathered in a place like this, Chihiro's heart sank to her feet. She knew this could only mean the one thing she didn't want to think of, something she direly hoped she was wrong about.

"Look at the size of that army!" Cynder exclaimed before she cleared her throat and lowered her voice, "How the hell are we going to get in there?"

Yeah, getting in there before Kaos could come knocking would be a problem with all those guards. Kaos's cackles rang in Chihiro's head as her legs turned to jelly, but she bit her lip and tried to hide her fear.

"Maybe we can take the back door?" Chihiro suggested as she looked towards Cynder.

"What kind of back door would a citadel have, anyways?" Cynder shot Chihiro a glare then, shook her head and flapped her wings. "You know what? Nevermind that, let's just take care of these guys before they take care of us!"

"Right!"

Chihiro nodded and summoned a magic sphere, while all around her the sounds of whirring attacks rose. If those guys wanted a fight, Chihiro would give them one! Chihiro stepped forward and got ready to rush into the fray, but, before she could even take a step more, T-Bone flung his arm in front of her and stopped her and Cynder in their tracks!

"Now, let's not get too hasty here!" T-Bone warned with a wary grin.

"T-Bone! What gives?" Chihiro asked as she pushed the arm back to T-Bone.

"I don't know much about this place, but I'm sure they'd let us go if we explain everything!"

T-Bone chuckled as he strode away from Chihiro and back down towards the winding path that lead to the citadel's front gate. What was he thinking? Did he have a death wish? Well, being a skeleton, he couldn't exactly die, but the point still stood!

Chihiro only dropped her jaw in utter shock. "T-Bone, there's no way—"

No use, T-Bone already left her shouting range, and ran back to the citadel and up to a couple of the skeletal archers who paced back and forth across the citadel's front gates.

"T-Bone!"

Chihiro winced as she stumbled out from the group and bolted down the tunnels. Granted, she seemed to have bolted down a little too fast, for once she started, she found herself unable to stop! Before she knew it, she belted down the dead hills, tripped on a dead root and stumbled straight into a thicket of spiky brambles!

"Ugh," Chihiro groaned as she plucked brambles out of her hair.

Cynder and Hex floated down to her side. "What does he think he's doing?" Cynder demanded as she placed her paws on the brambles, immediately winced and drew them back. "Owch!"

"Lemme find out."

Chihiro rolled her hands, and cast them out as twin speakers made of magic with a lengthy cord connecting them emerged from her palms! Chihiro said no words as she laid one speaker down on the ground and brushed her fingertips against it. The speaker she touched snaked under the brambles and closer to T-Bone; hopefully, this would glean a little bit of the conversation to her ears.

"Listen, buddy, I'm no intruder!" T-Bone cried, his words echoed from the speaker that Chihiro still held in her hands. "I got the key to this crypt from King Mortulannis, cool guy, philosopher king who was crowned long before you crossed the bridge of death, you might've heard of him?"

Chihiro winced as inaudible, but definitely frustrated nonsense emerged from the speaker. She didn't need words to know that this wasn't looking pretty.

"Proof? I've got proof right here!"

Chihiro clenched her teeth and peeked up right as T-Bone showed off the Skeleton Key! What was he thinking? More angry chatter emerged from the speaker, but it was so distant that the words couldn't be made out from her speaker's distance. However, the footsteps that echoed while the armies charged forward were clear enough!

"They're coming this way!" Hex exclaimed as she readied a few skulls while Ghost Roaster became visible next to her, but promptly dropped the skulls and her jaw from sheer shock.

T-Bone flung himself in front of the stampeding skeletons and knights! There was no way he could take all those guys on! What was he thinking? As the armies froze and shouted more angry gibberish at him, T-Bone only chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Now, now, let's not get so hasty," T-Bone said as he held up his hands. "I know! This mood's so awful, why don't I lighten things up with a couple skele-puns?"

The armies all promptly lost all strength in their legs and collapsed from what could only be T-Bone's awful attempt at punnery. Well, save for a few skeletons who made some small chuckles.

"Ah, ah!" T-Bone clapped his hands and shot a finger gun at the audience. "Looks like some people here appreciates a good bon—"

The speakers promptly vanished as Chihiro cast with realization. He wasn't trying to make nice with them, he was making a distraction!

"Come on!" Chihiro whispered as she motioned towards Cynder, Hex, and Ghost Roaster. "Let's get out of here while they're distracted!"

Not ones to waste a good opportunity, the four of them all fell to their bellies and crawled behind the shield of dead brambles, all while T-Bone enthralled them with his puns in the background!

"What does the ghost stylist say on their fashion show? If you've got it, haunt it!"

"Why do specters like to fly? It lifts their spirits!"

"Why did the skeleton laugh when he got brushed with feathers? It tickled his funny bone!"

"Ugh, I don't what's worse," Cynder groaned as she buried her face in her paws, "facing the armies, or facing his awful jokes!"

Chihiro chuckled a few soft chuckles that she kept to herself. She didn't know what Cynder was complaining about, those puns were hilarious! In fact, she wished she was as funny as he was! Besides, thanks to his cheesy jokes, they had completely evaded the eyes of those cronies in time to reach the backyard!

At least, Chihiro thought it was a backyard. It was completely devoid of even dead plantlife, and the only decorations were some rusty fences, empty suits of armor not unlike the ones that surrounded the gate, and gigantic crystals that emanated thick lasers beams. Not really the kind of thing you'd usually expect out of a backyard, but then again, the undead probably had different tastes than she did.

All four of them pulled themselves back to their feet as they crept out of the brambles, and Chihiro frowned and looked back to the path they just took.

"Geez, whoever lived here really wasn't messing around if all those guys really were theirs," Chihiro remarked as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Still wanna know how we'll even got in this place without using the key."

That was the question of the hour, wasn't it? Chihiro frowned as she glazed over one of those massive crystals, but froze as a chill ran down her back while a strange light crept out from the corner of her eye. She couldn't quite pin down why, but something in her gut told her there was something behind her! Hex or Ghost Roaster, maybe? They did tend to just sneak up on people without saying anything.

Chihiro shuddered and turned around, next screamed and jumped back as she found herself right in front of a suit of armor that definitely wasn't there before! Her scream must have startled the suit of armor as well, for it screamed back in response as it frantically grabbed its sword. Chihiro jumped out the way just moments before the sword could slice her in half, and screamed another scream that was so loud that it alerted everyone around!

Cynder, Hex, and Ghost Roaster all turned to her while the other suits of armor rattled to life and slammed their swords into the ground! As the knights closed in on them, Cynder snarled and jumped into the fray—or rather, dashed into the fray! With a quick zip into the shadows, she spun through several suits of walking armor! The knights all shuddered and rattled from the sudden chill, and screamed and flailed as they hovered in the air courtesy of a few large, purple ghosts who held the knights tight despite their struggling!

"Now!" Cynder shouted as she turned back around and became visible once more.

With a quick spin, Ghost Roaster transformed into a gigantic, flaming green skull, stormed forward, and crashed into the suits of armor like they were meager bowling pins! He smiled and popped back to his original form as the suits crashed into the ground, but soon yelped and dashed away as they jumped back to their feet and charged after him, all while they looked no worse for wear than before!

Ghost Roaster winced and ducked his head as one of the knights slashed at him. He lifted it up, gasped and stopped short, for several other knights rushed in front of where he meant to go! Ghost Roaster winced as he looked anywhere he could for some sort of opening, but he had no luck. Everywhere he turned, the knights closed off any escape routes! Ghost Roaster gulped and clenched his jaw as their swords' blades poked against his chest; surely, this would be his end.

"You will not pass any further!" Hex intervened as she teleported in front of Ghost Roaster.

With a wave of her hands, Hex lifted a wall of thick, hard bones from the ground and blocked the knights off from the two of them! While the clueless knights chipped away at her barrier, Hex crafted several orbs and rocketed them towards the knights. However, even those don't keep the suits down for long! They groaned and tumbled backwards as the orbs slammed straight into their chests, yet they shook their heads and rushed forward!

Hex lowered the bone barrier and veered left as she shot off gigantic skulls, while Ghost Roaster transformed back into his gigantic skull form and chased after a couple of knights to the right. Both of them nailed down the knights once more, but yet again, those knights just leaped back up and made chase after them!

Cynder took a seat where Hex and Ghost Roaster used to lay, and narrowed her eyes as several of the beefier knights chased after her. She didn't dodge or run as they drew closer, but blasted them off with a massive storm of black lightning before she dashed after them!

While all this went on, Chihiro only winced and hid behind one of the crystals, far away from the prying eyes of those knights. She wanted to fight alongside them, she really did, but things weren't exactly looking up! After all, Cynder, Hex and Ghost Roaster fought their hardest, but it seemed like no matter what they threw at these knights, they just got right back up! Ghostly bites, lightning, magic spells, even the swing of a ball and chain was little more than a minor injury that those stupid hunks of metals brushed off!

Chihiro took a peek outside the crystal, and winced as she caught sight of the battle's current state. Now, Cynder, Hex, and Ghost Roaster could only dodge the suits' blows with tense scowls on their faces, as if they tried to narrow down some kind of way to stop these guys…

"Crap, these guys are invincible! What'll it take to knock them down?" Chihiro asked as she cowered behind the crystal.

Her legs started to shake and shudder again while her eyes drifted over the fight, and next towards the still-shining crystals that littered the backyard. Even through all the tension, they stood strong as they beamed out their lasers, even when one of the knights stumbled back into one and screamed in agony as it pulled itself out! While the knight seemed less than pleased as it blew off its red-hot armor, Chihiro grinned as she turned back around.

"Or maybe not! After all…"

Chihiro rushed over to the crystals under the cover of battle, hopped on one crystal and pressed her glowing hands against its bright surface! She watched it glow even brighter than before with a wild grin, and latched her hands onto the sides of the crystal itself. Oh, she was going to have fun with this!

"FIRE BURNS METAL!"

Right as Chihiro said this, the crystal's bright laser turned to an even brighter stream of cyan flames, and the crystal itself became a makeshift flamethrower! Now she was in business! With her grip on the crystal tight, Chihiro planted her feet firm against the crystal's metal base and spun it all around the backyard!

Cynder, Hex and Ghost Roaster all screamed and jumped out of the way as the flames whipped their way through this undead backyard, but the knights weren't nearly as lucky! The flames seared into their armored bodies before they even got a chance to react, and all they could do was cry out as the heat melted their armor and stuck them right in place, unable to move and forced to be still as… Well, statues.

Not that it was much of a concern for Chihiro! The power of holding a literal flamethrower in her own two hands sent her into a new high as she spun around and cackled at the top her lungs. She couldn’t help it; she had way too much fun spinning this thing around! Unfortunately, all fun times must come to an end, and hers concluded as the crystal grew so, so, unbearably hot that she might as well have touched the sun!

"YOWCH!" Chihiro screeched as she jumped in the air, floated down and blew off with her hands. "HOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!"

Without Chihiro to power it, the crystal's flames slowly faded back into their regular laser form, while the crystal itself turned back to a cool, solid rock! Well, it was fun while it lasted. Chihiro paused as her hands finally stopped throbbing with heat, and she skipped up to the frozen armor statues and rapped a fist on one's chest! The statue's arm twitched in response, but it didn't move any more than that! It was completely frozen and still!

"Looks like the coast's clear!" Chihiro shouted as she waved back to Cynder, Hex and Ghost Roaster.

Within a few minutes, the three of them crept out from their places of sanctuary to the sights of half-melted metal suits and the distinct scents of smoke and burning. They weren't concerned with that so much as they were concerned with getting out of here, it seemed! Hex already floated off to the other side of the backyard, where an imposing locked gate with way too many thorny brambles on top sat in their way. Man, whoever owned this place must have really liked their brambles.

"There's a crystal lock right here," Hex proclaimed as she tapped the rightmost side of the gate, where sure enough, a tiny, kind of dirty-looking crystal sat firm within the wall, "and I have a feeling I know what the key is."

One by one Hex floated towards each of the crystals, and with a simple brush of her hand, the crystals all turned themselves around and re-routed their lasers towards the crystal lock! The gate itself didn't seem to budge at first, but finally, it made a low rumble as it disappeared entirely into the ground below!

Everybody else gathered together and rushed through the gate. They were more than ready to face whatever trials would befall them, for surely there was something awful and terrible waiting for them on the other side of that gate! Chihiro's own stomach tied itself in knots at the very thought of what could possibly be waiting for them. More of those goons? A really intensive maze that takes an eternity to get out of? A metaphorical war zone with traps and tricks every way you turned? Or perhaps…

"A wall full of gigantic blocks?" Chihiro remarked as the group came to a halt at the trial before them. "That's it?"

Loomed over them was a fence of ginormous cinder blocks which, despite the stains and cracks obtained with age, seemed incredibly firm. They were so tall and massive that they almost completely blocked off whatever was behind their walls! All that could be seen was a sliver of what seemed to be a tower's top.

But, that was hardly an issue when two of your party members had magical floating abilities and one had wings! Cynder flapped her wings and dashed up the side of the blocks as Hex cascaded into the air with a bird's grace, and Chihiro was quick to follow as she tapped her feet and jumped into the skies! Chihiro giggled as she soared through the air, and gently cascaded down onto the blocks' top. Beside her, Cynder and Hex stretched their arms and legs, but…

They were still missing one! Just where was Ghost Roaster?

Chihiro's ears pricked up as the faint sounds of crashing and igniting flames crossed the skies, and poked her head down to get her answer! Back down at the very bottom of those blocks, Ghost Roaster kept transforming into his gigantic skull form as he tried to scale the blocks, but it was to no avail. Each and every time he tried, he fell back down to the cold, dead ground.

"What's taking you so long, Roaster?" Chihiro asked as she looked down over the blocks.

"Do I need to answer that?" Ghost Roaster asked as he gestured towards the gigantic blocks that blocked (pun completely intended) the way off.

Chihiro just smiled and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Ghosty, I'll give you a lift!"

So, she knelt down and hovered her hands above her shoes, ready to create some fancy suction-cup boots—but instead, her boot shifted down as a square of the block she stood on sunk into the block itself!

"Huh?"

Chihiro stepped back as the blocks all began to rumble around her, then winced as the block below her shook like an egg about to hatch. Just what was happening? Hex and Cynder must have taken notice of the odd rumbling as well, for both of them immediately jumped off the blocks.

"Wait, where are you two going?" Chihiro asked as she turned around, and froze as the ground slipped out from under her feet!

A peek at the ground underneath showed that the blocks all crashed down, and now all that was left was the fall! Chihiro screamed as she started crashing down below while the ground grew closer at a dizzying pace, and frantically kicked her legs together in some kind of attempt to teleport away or hover down. It wasn't working! The thought of crashing and landing took up all the space in her mind! So, she continued frantically kicking, and on the bright side, it did work; she had teleported down! But, it only worked when she was inches away from making a crater in the earth, so she ended up faceplanting on the ground. Owch.

Chihiro grunted and spat bones out of her mouth as a skeletal arm brushed against her and heaved her back to her feet.

"Watch where you're landing next time," Ghost Roaster scolded as he brushed dirt out of Chihiro's hair. "You could've crashed into me!"

Though his words were a bit cold, the concern that rang in Ghost Roaster's eyes was sincere enough. He was never the best at being honest about his feelings. So, Chihiro just smiled and gave him a thumbs up before the two of them joined up with Cynder and Hex on the courtyard the blocks formerly blocked off.

The courtyard itself was completely sparse, just dry ground and the occasional dead tumbleweed—no attractions, no decorations, no nothing! For a place that belonged to a noble family, one would think it'd be a little fancier. Then again, that gigantic, spiraling stone tower that loomed over everything seemed fancy enough!

Chihiro hummed as she skipped over to the tower, but oddly enough, there was no door! The only thing it held was a teleporter that, despite the very faint glow, faded color, and occasional sparking, seemed to work enough still.

"Teleporter in an ancient tower," Chihiro asked as she hopped on the teleporter and tapped her feet, "now where does it lead?"

Chihiro frowned as she tapped her foot a few more times. Was this thing broken? Chihiro leaned down as she tapped it for what was probably the fifth time, and in response, the teleporter started sparking and glowing!

"Guess it just needed a little push!"

So, Chihiro beamed up at the ceiling as a pillar of light enveloped her and whisked her away.