Luz panted so heavily that he practically heaved as he bolted along the beaten stone pathways before him. His shield held up to his shoulder as the blows of exploding plants rang around him.

Behind him, the cries of the others rang out. The rounder balloon cacti of the paths behind tossed them to and fro, and they shielded themselves from the spikier, orange prickle plants that lined the stone paths Luz ran on. They were common pests, and he'd dealt with them plenty while tending to Gramps' gardens.

Luckily, they weren't strong enough to withstand a little sunlight. Luz pushed his shield off of his arm and spun it around in a half-circle. Its core charged up and flung a beam of sunlight across the area, one that fanned out and blanketed everything, leaving only singed plants in its wake. With his opposition gone, Luz fixed his shield back on his arm and ran ahead; his breaths grew more shallow as he ran.

"I almost can't believe this is the same Luz," Luz barely heard someone whisper behind. "He's never this serious!"

Luz winced, and clutched his shield as he sprung another mile ahead. Of course he was being serious! This was his brother at stake! His older brother, the only family he had left, his, his…

Luz shuddered and hit the cold, hard floors. Except, what he felt wasn't stone, but a carpet of leaves and dirt, one harsh despite being soft to the touch. The world around him was bigger, wider, and thick with forest, and he was so, so small by comparison. His shield vanished from his hands, and left him with a sack mostly emptied of its contents at this point. He couldn't quite remember how long he'd ran for at this point. It felt like days passed, but that couldn't be right, could it?

Whatever it was, something in him was so, so, tired. He wanted to collapse and sleep, but the sounds of rustling and stomping around him forced him to run. He had to, for surely they, those things, they were looking for him! They'd find him, and they'd hurt him just like they did the man from his village!

That's right, his village—what happened to it? Was it completely destroyed? What happened to his neighbors, or the other kids he was sent to hide with? What had happened to his parents, his mom with her bright smile, and his dad with his kind eyes. Did he have those? He’d been on the run for so long, and Luz grew so, so, tired.

He, he couldn't even remember their faces anymore.

Luz shuddered again. He wanted so badly to sit down and cry after everything, but more of those rustling noises forced him back in a run.

Light poured from outside the path he took, and when Luz rushed out, loud, cheerful noise greeted him. The sights of the forest around him disappeared, and replaced with a busy town where tons of beings ran around. The smell of food was in the air, and with all those beings talking, surely there had to be somewhere he could sleep, right?

Something in him snapped from seeing all these strange beings in a place he didn't recognize, or from being alone and lost after running so long. All he could do was cry as he ran ahead, and he didn’t even look at the faces of those he passed! He sat down in a cold, dark space between two houses and cried, still clutching his mostly-empty sack tight. He was so hungry, so tired, so cold, and so, so, worried. All he wanted to do was go home, but he was sure his home was gone, and so were his parents, and everyone he knew, and, and—

"Here, you look hungry. You want this?"

Something smooth nudged Luz's face. He opened his eyes to find a smooth, shiny, and fresh red apple right before his eyes! This, this couldn't have been a dream, right? He looked up, and…

Luz grunted as held his head, and finally collapsed to his knees as he reached the top of the path. One, one of those memories again? He shuddered, but quickly gripped his shield and traced circles around its surface. The warmth of its body pulled him back into the present. As he finally regained the strength to stand, Luz clutched the shield tight and narrowed his eyes.

Before him was a large, stone platform with a few sparse houses atop it, but nothing interested him so much as what rested in the center.

That cyclops, the one that kidnapped Fintster, laid on his knees in the heart of the platform. The cyclops wheezed and clutched his side while his bruised skin rose and fall with every breath. He was so weak that there was no way he could fight off Luz; he was basically a lamb in the lion's wake!

Luz scowled and clicked his shield. Light formed around his heels, and his whole body warmed underneath the sunlight. He bubbled with heat until he was so hot that he might've melted, and jumped up to find himself right above the cyclops!

The cyclops lifted his head, his eye wide and his jaw gawked in an off-guard fashion. Luz fell down as the cyclops gawked, and shot his hand out, reaching straight for Fintster's wheel! It was so close, he could just feel its smooth crystal as it—

No, it wasn't smooth. It was soft!

Luz brushed against the cyclops, and the cyclops completely dissipated into puffy, soft, dark clouds. Luz crashed against the floor and rolled on his side. Cackling, ugly, snide cackling rang in the air as Luz pushed himself up and grunted, but footsteps and shouting from the other side drowned it out. Good, that had to be the others.

Luz grabbed his shield and spun it a few clicks. As its light charged, he held it into the air and shot a beam of light. The beam spewed like a fountain, rained light all across the area, and created a barrier of solid light that rose in front of every possible escape route. Its light poured over the area, and that cyclops, the real one, appeared right before Luz's eyes!

He laughed his head off still, but Luz would fix that soon enough. Lowering his arm, Luz leaped forward, swung his arm around, and bashed his shield against the cyclops's side! The cyclops hacked out a tooth as he collapsed and screamed, clutching his side still.

He staggered up and gasped the moment he laid eye on Luz. "What, you, you—" the cyclops sputtered, the shock so immense it sent him into a coughing fit.

The cyclops snatched the wheel from his neck, and wispy, dark clouds slowly churned around him. They swirled like a tornado, but right before he could escape, a breeze flew in and blew them away!

The cyclops fell on his back and growled as he staggered up. His eye moved from Luz to Whirlwind as she flew up and glared him down. No party said any words, and the only sounds coming from small steps and growls as the cyclops yanked up the pendant.

"Alright," he hacked. His fingers trembled as they struggled to hold grip of Fintster's wheel. "So you're not intent on letting me escape! Fine! I'm not a general in her majesty's army for nothing!"

The pendant shimmered with cobalt light, glowing the brightest Luz ever saw, and the cyclops held it the highest he could.

The light quickly faded, almost stopping Luz's undead heart for a moment. Murky clouds formed in its surface, spewed out of the wheel and consolidated around the cyclops.

The clouds morphed, shuddered and pulsed as they formed limbs and heads. Their smoke and puffs smoothed themselves out while the took the shapes of an entire wilderness's worth of animals: massive boars, sleek cheetahs, graceful, tall birds and more all stood before the cyclops. Their eyes laid devoid of light, and their stances were statue-like, a chilling reminder of their status as illusions.

"Come on, you beasts! There's some fresh meat for you to try!"

The animals screeched and howled as they rushed past the cyclops. Their footsteps pounded against the ground as they charged right for Luz!

Luz stood frozen, his body completely chilled and unwilling to move itself—but why? He pushed, he thrust, he tried his best to press forward, but his legs wouldn't move. Did they lock themselves in his memories, too frozen with fear to move? Did he exert himself too much?

Luz's trembling hands reached for his shield and he started to spin, but he lowered it as the pained wail of a boar rang in his ears.

Right before him, Terrafin punched the boar out, and its body dissipated as he bounced across the floor. He jumped in front of Luz with fists raised. His footsteps were short and spry, full of energy as he punched aside the next few boars, and he hopped aside while bursts of flaming volcanic rock shot forward and knocked out another.

Terrafin smirked, and stepped back as his back pressed against Eruptor's. The rest of the singular came in for them, but Eruptor simple stepped aside.

Terrafin leaped in the air and punched the ground below with such force that it buckled and cracked! It formed firm cracks that knocked the boars off-balance and sent them on their sides. They flailed their stubby legs around as they tried to get back up to no avail,

Terrafin huffed and stepped aside as Eruptor took his place at the cracks' head, but his neutral expression turned a bit warmer as Eruptor clapped his hands. Eruptor sent out spewing lava that flooded the cracks, the light emanating from it burning away the boars like fire. Flames spewed from the lava, but a massive torrent poured in and drenched them quickly enough.

Was that Whirlwind again?

No, it was Gill Grunt, Luz realized, when Gill Grunt flew through on his jetpack. Gill Grunt aimed his cannon towards a flock of swans that crowed and raised their wings. He clicked the trigger, and another burst of water blasted them away before some suspiciously-gray clouds that lingered in the otherwise clear skies absorbed every last drop.

The clouds zipped away, and grew larger in girth as they lingered closer to the ground where Whirlwind backed away from a clowder of large cats. She smiled, not intimidated in the slightest by how they surrounded her, and flicked her wings. The rain poured out from the clouds, and pounded against the cats as they yowled and dissipated into smoke.

Whirlwind smiled and flew away, but right as she turned, a shriek came! She craned her head as a cheetah leaped from the storm, its claws bared and ready to slash! Whirlwind snarled and lowered her horn as it crackled with electricity, but a sword slashed right through the cheetah's middle.

The cheetah's severed halves disappeared into smoke as Whirlwind craned up to where Ninjini blew the smoke from her wishblade. The both of them glanced over the battlefield.

Surely, that had to be the last of it, but the smoke still lingered around the battlefield. It grew thicker and stronger with every second it stayed. It pulsed like a heart, and snaked along the ground as it fused right around the cyclops.

"What, did you think I was done?" the cyclops remarked, and staggered up as he tossed an empty potion bottle to the ground and smashed it underfoot. Now that Luz looked at him again, his bruises all cleared from his skin, and he seemed a bit more spry compared to when Luz found him. "I'm afraid shadows aren't as easy to get rid of as that!"

Luz cringed, but finally regained the strength to step back and growl as he reached for his shield once more. Before him, eyes formed in the smoke as they rose in mass and numbers. The shadowy masses towered over even the buildings as they rumbled and shuddered in places. They were big, but, he'd fought bigger—and he'd fight anything, even the worst of foes, just to get his brother back! He clicked his shield, ready to fight.

Before he could, Brawl charged forward, and pinned one of the shadowy masses to the wall. The shadowy mass Brawl pinned formed into a muscular, hulking cyclops dressed in armor and animal skins! The two grunted as they pressed against each other, but Brawl growled and turned around as he held off another, identical cyclops before it could strike him.

His strained, and his pained gasps for air grew louder as both cyclopes grabbed his arms and twisted them. The arms' metal strained underneath the weight, but the searing sound of a laser's screech and agonized screams from the side forced Brawl and the cyclopes to relent. Before them, a line of silver light shone through the middle cyclops, and its halves fell apart and exploded into smoke.

Eye flew forward and zapped the first cyclops in the shoulder! The cyclops yowled as Brawl pushed it against the wall once more, and Eye zapped holes in its surface. Both, however, remained oblivious to how the smoke from the middle cyclops slunk off and rose!

The smoky remains of the middle cyclops formed more of those bulky cyclops warriors. These warriors only reached up to the waists of the others, but they were far more numerous in numbers. They joined with another tall cyclops as they charged right for Swarm and Ninjini! Swarm and Ninjini snarled as they stabbed the larger cyclopes right through the chest, drew back their blades and flicked the smoke. The larger cyclopes staggered away, and both Swarm and Ninjini shot quickly glances down below.

"Dej, Vaayu, go get Fintster!" Ninjini cried as the smoke started to rise. "We'll take care of things here!"

Luz's eyes fluttered as he bore witness to Swarm and Ninjini fighting, but he quickly shook his head, and bolted right for the cyclops holding Fintster's wheel.

He jumped back as one of the taller cyclopes stomped down, and rolled aside right as Brawl punched it back. Luz staggered up and ran forward as he tapped his feet. Surely, he had enough in him to call upon the speed of light still, just enough that he could jump in there.

He closed his eyes, and a cool breeze brushed against his skin while his body grew lighter underfoot. The ground became slicker, faster, like he slid rather than ran! Luz opened his eyes, but he didn't find the harsh light that normally enveloped him, nor did he feel the sensation of heat. Rather, the ground below him turned to sleek ice, and a powerful breeze propelled him forward. Luz barely caught a glance to the side, but the sight of Dej skating alongside him, and Vaayu flying beside Dej, told him all he needed to know!

That cyclops cackled for a moment, but as he turned around and found Luz, he gasped and gripped the pendant! Darkness started to shield him, its wisps swirling like clouds around his body. The darkness almost consolidated right as a large circle of ice pillars burst from the ground with speed so great that the clouds immediately dispersed!

The cyclops staggered back a moment, and Luz charged his shield, shooting a string of laser beams inside the pillars in the cyclops’s moment of weakness. The lasers seeped into the glassy ice of the pillars; the moment they hit, they glowed so brightly that the cyclops screamed and clutched his face! The cyclops fell on his knees, completely weakened and unable to strike!

Luz gasped, but something clutched his side. He turned around and found Vaayu smiling right beside him.

"Bring him home, Luz," was all Vaayu whispered as he tossed Luz into the air.

A powerful gust met with Vaayu's toss, throwing Luz well above the cyclops and the ice pillars. Luz gripped his shield as he pushed himself forward and crashed down!

He raised his shield, and screamed at the top of his lungs as his eyes fixed right on the pendant that hung from the cyclops's neck. Just one strike, that would be enough to knock the cyclops down and steal back Fintster, to get his brother back, to, to… Have his family back.

The cyclops turned to Luz right as he raised his shield, and—

"Here, you look hungry. You want this?"

The vision of a boy, a young boy with tanned skin and long, black hair holding an apple towards Luz came to him. For a moment, Luz found himself in the past. Then, the vision cleared, and he met with the cyclops, who stared in horror as he just barely held Fintster's pendant away from the spikes of Luz's shield!

Luz gasped, and he thrust his arm aside so that it only grazed against the wheel's surface. Luz tumbled aside and slammed against the searing ice pillars. A cracking, shattering sound hit the air as something both hot and cold stabbed into Luz's back and helplessly fell from his armor. Luz rolled aside and knocked into someone's legs. Struggling to keep his eyes open, Luz clenched his teeth as the proud stance of that cyclops dangling Fintster's pendant laid in front of him, just to taunt him further.

But then, the cyclops jumped back as Dej slid in and slung a punch! The cyclops hopped away as Dej kicked for him next. Vaayu flew down beside Dej as the cyclops reached for a weapon, and slammed into the cyclops’s back! The cyclops fell to his knees and coughed, but he flicked out his arms instead of relenting.

Both Dej and Vaayu stumbled back. They clutched their eyes while black smoke seeped between the gaps of their fingers, and then, and then, and then…

The smoke, the cyclops, he was escaping!

Luz stumbled to his full height and ran after the cyclops as smoke enveloped him. Luz reached out his hand as he stumbled over his own feet, and ran as fast as he could. He resisted the ground's attempts to trip him over it, but by the time he got close to cyclops, he—
He disappeared.

Luz just blinked and he was gone.

Luz slipped and collapsed in the center of the ground. His face burned and tightened as tears poured once more.

"I, I was so close," Luz croaked as he pounded his fist against the earth, as if hitting it would somehow bring Fintster back. "It, it, it's not fair! It isn't fair, I, I…"

"There, there, Luz, deep breaths," Vaayu whispered as he pulled Luz from the floor.

Luz whimpered, nodded just a little bit as he wiped his tears, and breathed in… Out… In… Out. Taking his last breath, Luz pushed himself to stand, sniffled just a bit, and steeled his glance as he clutched his shield.

"Now, if I had to guess, maybe the locals would know something about these cyclopes," Vaayu said as he crossed his arms. "We should probably ask around."

Luz nodded, and wandered off towards a shop decked out in stars, suns, and moons.

He pushed the door open, and met with shelves that held all sorts of potions and other magical stuff he barely understood. It was all lit in ominous green and purple tones while smoke filtered out. A smell of roses and cinnamon so thick that Luz's eyes watered just from its scent lingered in the air, but Luz shook the tears off and stormed through the halls.

"A love potion kit?" Vaayu mused behind him. "'Use this potion kit to unveil the identity of your true love! Just pour the completed potion into a dish and state your heart's desire…'" A disgusted scoff came from Vaayu next. "Who would buy something like this? A mere potion can't discern what true love is!"

"I'm pretty sure those things are just for party activities," Dej remarked behind him. "Then again, Ninjini's the magic expert, not me."

Rolling his eyes slightly, Luz pressed forward towards the back of the shop. There, a molekin dressed in wizard's clothes sat at the back of a desk. Their large alabaster claws folded together, and a kind of expectant smile rested on their face as they hummed.

Luz went to speak, but the molekin just tsked.

"I already know why you're here. You're in pursuit of one of those wretched cyclopes, aren't you?" the molekin proclaimed.

Luz relented a bit, nodding slightly. "So, do you know where he is?"

"Of course I know! My scrying abilities are the best in the village! I could find him without even batting an eyelash." The molekin raised a brow. "Of course, though, my services aren't for free. I'll need a little, compensation if you wish to know more."

Thinking of money at a time like these, when these guys messed with this molekin's home? Luz had some thoughts about that, but he quickly pushed his own irritation aside and waved a hand. He crafted a prism right before the molekin's eyes. He had to admit, it was one of his better ones. Its clear surface had all sorts of colors painted on it, even ones Luz wasn't even sure were colors, and its body shone like a diamond.

Judging by the grin on that molekin's face, they seemed to agree. "Ah, yes, this will do quite nicely!" the molekin proclaimed as they snatched the prism, clapped their hands and dove underneath their desk. "Now, I just need to get my pondering orb."

The molekin huffed as they dropped a shiny crystal ball on the desk. They waved their hands, and grinned as its surface flickered and shimmered. A few flashes of light sparked on it, and its reflection changed to the mountain! Yeah, that mountain Luz saw coming in now shone on the crystal’s surface.

"Ah, so it seems that the one you're looking for is hiding out in Mount Mechanogear!" the molekin proclaimed. They grinned as the view changed to a cavern filled with crystals, and then to a cave's open mouth on the base of a stone hill. "It looks like the entrance you seek is just ahead of here!"

Luz nodded, turned around and slammed his hand against the desk. The sudden sound brought Dej and Vaayu's glances to him. Vaayu frantically put away some pendants and other things covered in hearts while Dej whistled.

"He's in that mountain with all the gears," Luz proclaimed as he swept past them and made his way for the door. The sunlight poured through, and dimmed the eerie colors of the shop within as Luz left, not even turning back. "Come on."

Luz turned his attention past the shop, and towards an open cave with crystals poking out of its mouth that wasn’t that far ahead. That was probably the entrance to that cave, he reasoned.

He pressed ahead without acknowledgment of his other teammates or the world around him. He hardly noticing as the light above him dimmed before they returned in a whole rainbow of colors! The light brought his attention to the sights around, and met him with a large tunnel where crystals in all shapes and sizes poked out of its surface. Tall crystal wands, smaller formations, and even some that were sleek and reflective like a mirror.

Luz glanced in one, but the reflection of him he saw wasn't of him as he saw now. Instead it was his younger self, all wide-eyed, teary, and worn from all the time he spent running.

"Luz, hey, Luz!"

Luz gasped and turned around.

"Fintster?" he cried, but his face fell as he realized it was just Gill Grunt shaking his arm.

Gill Grunt gave Luz a weary smile, and Luz glanced behind him to find the others examining the crystals or talking amid themselves. Heaving another sigh, Luz just glanced back in the mirror crystal to find him and a younger Fintster. His and Finster’s younger selves ran together as Fintster lead the charge. Luz jolted a bit as Gill Grunt's cold hand wrapped around his arm.

"This Fintster person means a lot to you, doesn't he?" Gill Grunt asked.

"He's my brother, of course he does!" Luz retorted, wanting to lash out all of a sudden. What kind of a question was that?

Luz glanced in the mirror to find that the illusions of him disappeared. What he saw now was surely a younger Gill Grunt, singing in a rocky lagoon to a mermaid as she laughed. Luz glanced at Gill Grunt to find an almost wistful, kind of yearning look in Gill Grunt's eyes. Had he lost somebody important to him too? Luz's anger quelled, and the two of them stared together as the mirror's reflection faded.

"Well, no use standing around here," Luz remarked as he strode off. "Come on, he's not gonna sit around and wait for us."

Luz lowered his head and tried to block out the world around him. Though, the thundering footsteps of Swarm and Brawl behind him, and their whispers, were hard to ignore.

"Of course this means a lot to Luz! He and Fintster were practically the best of buds!" Swarm said to a party Luz couldn't discern. "I'd never seen siblings get along as well as they did! But, I never really got along with my sibs, so…" Swarm's tone faltered a bit, turning almost sad as his wings started to buzz. "Sure wish I at least apologized to them before I left. I can't imagine any of them are still around. I wonder if Ambrosia was still mad at me for hiding her favorite tiara that one time."

Luz lowered his head further, but a soft pat on his back lifted him up again. He turned his head around, and found himself lifted in the air as Swarm held Luz up to his face with a beam.

"Hey, chin up, Luz! We're definitely gonna get him back!" Swarm chirped before his tone turned a little softer. "After all, he's your family."

Luz nodded, but couldn't bring himself to say a word. He just clung to Swarm as Swarm ducked underneath the cavern's exit. He found himself on a ledge overlooking the mouth of a giant mountain, where a cavern's entrance rested on the other side.

Cyclopes littered and lingered around the entrance as far as the eye could see. Some of them dressed in armor and wielded axes, others rode atop slobbering muttici, and some much bulkier than the others stood around and orders. If Luz needed any more sign that this was the place, that was it.

"Just let me handle this," Luz said as he floated out of Swarm's grip.

Behind him, Luz barely heard the sounds of the others sheathing their weapons and lowering their attacks, and took it as a sign to step forward.

Luz breathed in as he laid his hands on his chest. The light flowed through his body as it warmed and cooled his skin. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and opened to find that his body had disappeared from view—perfect.

With a snap of his fingers, he teleported down onto the ledge and hid behind a rock for a moment. None of the cyclopes took any notes or strange glances, so Luz nodded and stepped out. He clapped his hand, and the sunlight around turned hot and harsh as it shone down over the cyclopes. Its light was now a searing white that shielded them away, and only their shouts marked their existence!

Luz dashed along the floor. He stomped down while pillars made of solid prism rose with every stomp, until they formed a vaguely star-shaped formation among the cyclopes! Luz dashed back to the first prism pillar, held out his hand and winced. The invisibility spell already started to wear off! He'd better act quickly!

Shooting a rainbow from his palm, Luz stepped back as the white light shifted in a rainbow of bright, eye-bleeding colors. The screams grew even louder, but then, both the light and the invisibility spell faded. All that was left was Luz, who now stood on the edge of an entire platoon of burnt, twitching, semi-conscious cyclopes.

Luz turned back to the ledge and signaled off to the others, but didn't linger for long. No, he dashed straight ahead into the cavern's mouth, and its darkness was a comforting blanket that washed over him as he ran.

"I'm coming, Fintster," Luz whispered, "just hang in there for me."