Chihiro groaned and brushed the snow off of her head as she finally pulled her cold, almost numb body off the ground. The whole room around her was dark as night and icy-cold, but the faint sound of moaning and groaning, and a soft crackle of amber light in the distance, showed that she wasn't alone. In fact, that soft, amber light came with a kind of heat, one that drew her in until it glowed brighter and brighter and a faint shape formed in its light! Chihiro crawled over to where it was brightest, held up her hands and drank in its heat.

"Eruptor, is that you?" Chihiro asked as the warmth tinged her cheeks rosy with frost.

The source of the amber light groaned, and flipped out of the snowy grounds as the soft snow melted and evaporated into steam on its warm, rocky body. Sure enough, it was Eruptor! His eyes spun around in his skull, but they quickly settled themselves with a pinch of his brow. How that was achieved was uncertain, considering that Eruptor didn't have fingers, but bygones were bygones.

"Think so," Eruptor grumbled with a shudder. "Whatever this place is, whoever owns it needs to turn on the heat!" Eruptor shuddered once again, and rubbed his shoulders while his amber light grew brighter and warmer. "It's freezing in here!"

"You've got that right." Chihiro turned her eyes up to the never-ending dark of the ceiling, and the down to her palms. "How's about I shed some light on this place, too?"

Chihiro clapped her hands, and out from her palms came a bright, warm cyan sphere of light! She nuzzled it against her cheek for a few moments, and bounced it in her hands before she tossed it to the ceiling! Its warm light exploded and coated the area around in a cyan tint as it lit the way.

It revealed that around them, Terrafin, Cynder, and Whirlwind laid in the snow! The three of them groaned as they shook off snow and dizziness. They pulled their faces from the snow; they were tired and trembling from cold, but they were alive still!

"You all alright?" Chihiro asked as she stood up.

Moans and grumbles came from them as they finally stood on their own feet, but then they all nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, pretty sure we are," Whirlwind remarked as she brushed powdery snow from her wings and peered up, "but where are we, anyways?"

Chihiro frowned, turned back to the walls around her and grinned. The walls around were made of solid, pure crystal unlike the cold ice of before. They all shone with a radiant rainbow light that flashed in all sorts of pastel shades, each tinted cyan by the light Chihiro cast! Their light reflected on the snowy floors as they lit in a rainbow array of color. The gentle, colorful sparkles gave a kind of tranquil beauty, one accentuated by faint chiming sounds and what appeared to be the sound of dripping water. Wait, why would water be dripping in such a cold place? Shouldn't it have frozen over? Ah well, it was so pretty that Chihiro couldn't mind it too much.

"It's beautiful here!" Whirlwind remarked as she padded through the snow, and admired her rainbow-tinted reflection in one of the crystal walls. "All these colors remind me of the auroras back in Winter Keep."

Eruptor and Terrafin both silently nodded in agreement, and even Cynder, for all her coldness and grump, still cracked a smile.

"It's pretty, I guess," Cynder remarked as she walked between Chihiro and Whirlwind. Her smile faded, and Cynder brushed her wing against Chihiro's arm as she turned to her. "But we can't stay here forever. We've still got a mission to attend to, you know."

Chihiro sighed as she drew her hands away from the cold, but gentle grip of the crystal walls. Cynder was right. They did come here to get that robot back, to say nothing of the whole mission they had ahead of them. but Chihiro couldn't rest until she got her wheels back!

Except, that posed another problem. Just where did those wheels go, anyways? Chihiro sighed. She slid back down to the snowy floors when a soft flash of purple light turned her, and everyone else's, attention aside! Pulses of purple light came from an open mouth carved into the crystals walls. A way out, maybe?

"Well, only one way to find out!" Chihiro remarked as she dashed down the path.

The sound of footsteps and flapping wings behind her indicated the others' presence. She didn't care so much for that, so much as she did the bright, purple lights that shone across the crystal walls around and lit the paths below in shades of indigo and violet! The light carried with it a semblance of magic, a kind of mesmerizing aura, even.

It drew Chihiro across the snowy paths as the lights faded and glowed in time with her own footsteps. She panted as the faint chills wormed their way into her legs and numbed them a bit, but still she strode forward… And sank into the snow? Chihiro frowned, and peered down to find a trail of footsteps just her size that embedded into the snowy paths! She turned aside, and the open mouth that led back into the room where she fell still shone with its cool rainbow light.

"How did I get back here?" Chihiro asked.

She rubbed her chin, but grunted as something hard and warm knocked her into the snow! Chihiro pushed herself up and grunted as Eruptor rolled into the snow beside her, frowned and turned around, Terrafin, Cynder and Whirlwind ran up beside her, and towards a soft, white light the came from the wall.

"Chihiro, what'd you run off for?" Cynder asked as she flew up to Chihiro.

Chihiro cast a glance at Cynder, but only for a moment before her eyes fell on the walls before her. A single white crystal stood embedded amid the shiny purple ones, and it shone with a light unlike the cool purples that the area drank in. it was small and faint, yet carried with it a stronger sense of magic than the others! Suspicious crystals like those were never placed without reason!

"Whatever this place is, it seems like there's no other ways out," Whirlwind remarked as she glanced back at the room where they came from. "Looks like we'll have to retrace our steps—"

"Or do we?" Chihiro chimed in.

Everyone crowded around Chihiro as their eyes fell on the crystal as well, and Chihiro took it as a sign to press the white crystal in—so she did! The crystal groaned and dimmed as it sank into the wall. The wall glowed like normal for a few moments, but then, the crystalline panels all folded into each other as the wall opened up before them! A fainter purple glow pulsed from within the opening's dark walls. It flashed runic symbols unlike anything Chihiro saw before, or anything that anyone else saw before, judging from their wide eyes and gaping mouths.

"A secret tunnel!" Whirlwind cried. "Where does it go?"

"Only one way to find out!" Chihiro chirped. Chihiro spun around, kicked up snow, and giggled as she raced down the tunnel.

The bright purple runes flashed and glowed brighter with every step Chihiro took, and the whole place shone with a magic aura much stronger than the tunnels before. From the strange glow of the runes on the walls, to the cold, dark purple stones to the eerie dimness, the air of mystery it carried gave Chihiro a sense of belonging. It felt like home, almost, but maybe it was only natural that she felt that way given her choice to study the Magic Element.

Chihiro skidded to a stop as the path below her completely ended, but the runes gained a steady glow that highlighted a path of lavender snow beneath her. A hill, perhaps? Chihiro giggled, jumped up, and knocked her shoes together to craft a snowboard underneath her feet! The board sloped down, screeched down the hill while snow kicked up around, but disappeared as it hit the base of the hill.

A shining glow from the room ahead drew Chihiro in, so she passed inside and frowned. The floors below her were made of firm, but not cold, stone. The lighting here was a plain and simple whitish color compared to the fancy multicolored light of before. Even the walls and ceiling were made of simple, unassuming snow compared to the fancy crystals and ice. The stone walls in front of her held a mural, one that depicted humans donning wheel pendants and all sorts of fancy, ancient-looking garb. These humans fought Arkeyan robots with all the powers of the elements at their disposal, and the one leading the charge was a woman with deep brown skin dressed in purples that held a purple wheel pendant rested on her neck.

Chihiro frowned, drew closer to the mural and pressed her fingers against it. Something about it seemed somewhat familiar, but it was on the tip of her tongue and she just couldn't get it off. She drew her fingers further across the mural, and the whole area glowed with a lavender tint! She gasped and stumbled back as the purple glow shone down and tinted the area, but a few thunks turned her attention back to the front of the room.

"What is this place?" Terrafin remarked as he wiped the snow from his arms while Eruptor, Whirlwind and Cynder came in behind him. Terrafin crossed his arms and hummed. "Doesn't look like there's anything here."

"Well, nothing except for that fancy painting!" Eruptor remarked as he skipped up beside Chihiro and tilted his head. "Yep, that's one fancy painting." Eruptor raised a brow at Chihiro. "Hey Chi, what're you thinking about?"

"Whatever it is, it can wait for later," Cynder remarked as she turned back. "You can look at paintings of old humans all you want when we get out of here and get that robot back." Cynder wrapped her tail around Chihiro's arm. "Now let's go."

Cynder tugged at Chihiro's arm, but Chihiro didn't even budge! She kept eyes steady on the portrait while an inkling of a feeling bubbled in her mind. It was something familiar, something with a bit of an old-fashioned feeling...

"Wait a second, now I know where I recognize that person from!" Chihiro exclaimed as she pointed to the woman in the mural. "She's one of the free magicians! I saw her in that book!"

"Quite correct, young one!" boomed an echoing voice.

Cynder froze in her tracks, zipped back up to the mural and snarled. "Just where did that voice come from?" she asked.

"From right here!"

The purple lighting in the room glowed even brighter, tinting the mural in all shades of purple. A warble came from its center, and out from it popped… The purple wheel! It shone even brighter than before as everyone backed away in the presence of its light, and a powerful magic aura radiated from its surface!

"There it is!" Chihiro cried as she basked in the wheel's light and reached out for it. "There's the wheel! I've been looking all over for you!"

Chihiro brushed her fingers out as she went to snatch the wheel, but gasped as a glowing lavender hand reached out from the wheel and grabbed her right back! Normally she'd scream and jump back, but something about its presence felt… Calming, and almost familiar. So, Chihiro held the hand as the wheel's light morphed into the shape of a person's silhouette, and a sparkly, translucent string formed around the wheel's surface!

A soft chuckle warmed the room as the light faded away from the silhouette, and from it came a person's translucent ghost! It had a sparkly, purple glow of magic aura around it, and it took the form of a thin woman, Her kind purple eyes brought to mind the very essence of magic itself with their sparkles, and her cool brown skin, deep and radiant as it drank in the purple light. Her long, purple locs were carefully braided together to resemble a star in shape; a bow stood in its back, and more locs like ribbons or a shooting star's trail running down her back. Her eyelids and round, plump lips were painted with sparkly purple makeup. The wheel pendant rested against her chest, and it snuggled tight within the many layers of purple silk and fabric that formed into an elegant gown.

The woman only chuckled as she rubbed her fingers, cold like a ghost but still with the warmth of magic, against Chihiro's own palms. In that instant, a kind of smallness from awe came over Chihiro. This woman, she carried herself with elegance and grace, yet with the same air of confidence that a leader held. She reminded Chihiro of Master Eon, in a sense—wise and calm, but still with a hint of whimsy and mystery to her.

"Thank you for waking me, young one," the woman remarked as she finally let go of Chihiro's hand. "I can't imagine how long I spent sleeping in that pendant, but it must have been quite a while. Last I checked, the Northern Base hadn't been this frozen over."

The woman's eyes popped up as her eyes fell on everyone's shocked faces, and she chuckled. "Oh my, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself!"

The woman clutched the sides of her skirt as she fell into a curtsy. "I am Sihiri, leader of the free magicians and guardian of the Magic Element."

Chihiro's eyes fluttered, and she clasped her hands and bowed her head. So she was one of those free magicians! Chihiro wanted to ask further, but something about being in Sihiri's presence left her a bit small and overwhelmed. Guess she kind of understood how everyone else felt when they met the Elder Elementals.

"Excuse me, Miss Sihiri," Whirlwind remarked as she flew up to Sihiri. "Just what exactly is going on here? What is this place, and why were you in that wheel?"

"I'll explain on the way," Sihiri turned back to the mural and ran her hand across the mural's surface, "but first, we need to find the others. I can feel their presence in these caverns."

The mural rumbled as it halved itself and sank into the rest of the wall, and the space that once held it unveiled a room full of pure magic and wonder! The whole room seemingly had no bottom; it was all just endless stretches of sparkly purple, pink skies with puffy, sparkly candy-colored clouds, and rainbows that swirled and stretched around the way like windy breezes! Fireworks and strange orbs burst into bright colors on occasion while cubes, orbs, and other shapes with runes carved into them spun in endless propulsion. There was no sort of traditional pathway through the area, but some of the purple cubes that scattered about aligned in a way that looked suspiciously like a path. Heck, a few of them even floated in front of them all as if offering a ride!

"Follow me!" Sihiri remarked as she leaped onto one of the cubes and took a seat. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. I crafted this room myself, after all."

Sihiri winked back and Chihiro chuckled. Something about how at ease Sihiri seemed eased Chihiro's own tension, so she hopped onto a block and knelt down. Terrafin, Eruptor, Whirlwind and Cynder joined them, and the blocks revved like cars as they soared around the area.

"You see, these pendants were more than just our symbols," Sihiri explained as she held up her wheel pendant, which sparkled as a burst of rainbows flew by her. "Though we may have had the Ancients' gifts at our disposal, the Arkeyans were much mightier than we were, and they had no problems wiping out forces out in droves. Their machines brought the end of many of our allies, and without the magic our bodies provided, we had no means of fighting the Arkeyans from beyond the grave."

Sihiri stopped short as the blocks stopped off at a single platform made of lavender stone, hopped onto the platform and waved as the block beeped back at her. The block flew backwards, but in the process, it slammed right into Eruptor and sent both blocks both spinning! While the passengerless block was quick to recover and went on its merry way, Eruptor screamed as he spun around and slipped off.

His round hands clung to the side of the block as best they could, but he flung backwards and slammed right into Terrafin! The two of them screamed as they fell down into the abyss, but Sihiri snapped her fingers and they stopped in midair! A bright, sparkly purplish-pink glow surrounded them as they floated in midair and landed beside Sihiri, who only grinned. A soft blush dusted Terrafin's face as he scratched his head and turned around, and Eruptor only chuckled as he rubbed his own.

"That was a pretty nasty fall!" Chihiro remarked as she zipped up and hopped off her own block. "You guys alright?"

Terrafin chuckled as he forced a nod, and he lifted his head as the sound of flapping wings soared above him. Cynder and Whirlwind dashed off ahead of him, and before him, Sihiri chuckled and trailed down the stone path that spiraled ahead.

"As I was saying," Sihiri explained as Chihiro, Terrafin and Eruptor followed after her, "the Arkeyans wiped our forces out in droves, and we needed something that could combat this. That was when one of our ranks suggested an idea: what if we had something that contained our magic essence, something that would allow us to harness the full range of our abilities even without our bodies?"

"And what was that, exactly?" Chihiro asked as she pushed herself between Terrafin and Eruptor and trailed up to Sihiri.

Sihiri chuckled and lifted her pendant by its string. "Take a guess!"

The soft crackle of warmth burst ahead while embers spat out, and Sihiri smiled even though Chihiro jumped back.

They reached the end of the room, and all that stood before them was a door made entirely of warm molten rock! Stagnant lava veins formed through its surface, tiny embers burst out of cracks within the stone, and its whole appearance heated the room by at least ten degrees. The presence didn't intimidate Sihiri in the slightest, for she held her hand out while it glowed purple.

The door rumbled and sank into the ground below as Cynder and Whirlwind took a seat beside Chihiro, and Terrafin and Eruptor hopped up beside Sihiri right as the door vanished.

Out from the door’s open mouth came a massive realm of volcanic rock. Entire rivers and waterfalls made of lava poured like water and stretched through the realm; large bookshelves carved out of the masses of volcanic rock made up the room, and they stocked themselves to the brims with stone tablets and books; it even had sitting areas perfect for an afternoon read improvised from the materials surrounding. If not for the oppressive heat, it would have been a pretty cozy area, in all honesty.

"Now, Vatra should be somewhere in here," Sihiri remarked as she stepped in and crossed her arms, "but where?"

Everyone else paused, turned around as they stepped into the room, and reeled back as orange light burst from ahead. A geyser of lava burst from the floor, shattering a stone pillar to bits, and the flecks of lava rained down right over them! Chihiro gasped, immediately cast a shield around everyone, and gulped as the lava smacked and sizzled against it.

Sihiri downed part of the shield, and chuckled as she stepped forward. "And there he is!"

Out from the diminishing shower flew that bright red crystal wheel, which shone with an aura of heat as a pale red silhouette formed around it! A string dropped around the silhouette's neck as its light burst away in batches of fire, and from it emerged a person. His skin was tanned and slightly red in undertone; it was if it was kissed by the sun itself, save for a pair of curved scars on his breasts that were lighter in tone. His brown eyes were warm and tinted red under the heat. His red hair was a bit messy and disheveled. However, it did little to diminish the pristine look of the rest of his attire, from the trousers, sandals and lengthy jacket drenched in shades of crimson, to the pendant that still hung firm from his neck. The only thing not drenched in red were the bandages wrapped around his hands; they singed black in some places and tinted yellow in others, yet they still stuck tight to his hands.

He chuckled as sweat dripped down his long, triangular nose, and an aura of warmth burst from him as he fixed up his hair and stretched.

"Ah, that was a nice nap!" this man remarked as he let his arms fall down and chuckled. "I can never escape your notice, can I, Sihiri?"

Sihiri chuckled as Vatra brushed a finger against her cheek, so close and intimate. He paused and raised a brow as his eyes fell on Chihiro below him.

"I'm sorry, can I help you?" he asked, and his warm tone became cooler.

"Are you two a couple or something?" Chihiro asked. She stumbled back and chuckled as Sihiri and Vatra raised their brows. "I mean, you two were getting so close, and that's what people say couples are supposed to do, right? Get all super close and cuddly and stuff?" Chihiro jolted up and turned away. "Ah, I mean, sorry, I said something super weird, didn't I?"

Vatra chuckled and knelt down to ruffle Chihiro's hair. "Ah, don't fret, child. No, we're not lovers, just close allies as one would say." Vatra stood up and smiled as he placed his hands in his jacket's pockets. "That strange aura of yours… You're one of us, correct?"

Chihiro blinked and furiously nodded. "Yeah, I'm a portal master! That's what you guys are called in our time!"

"Our time?"

Vatra frowned, and Chihiro was the one to laugh as she spun around.

"I can get you up to speed later!" Chihiro replied as she skipped across the molten rock platforms. "For now, Sihiri was telling me about those pendants of yours and how you made them, so tell me more!"

Vatra chuckled as he trailed after Chihiro. "I suppose I'll enthrall you," he remarked as he spun his wheel around his finger.

"We took the pendants we used as our symbols, and infused them with part of our own magic essence. Once activated with a spell, our ghosts would awaken, and use the essence inside to fight and thrive until our bodies could be healed and revived!"

Vatra grunted as something pushed against him. He peered down as Chihiro gazed up at him with the widest of grins, and the brightest of sparkling eyes on her face.

"That's so cool!" Chihiro cried as she bounced up and down. "I've never even thought of doing something like that before! It's like having infinite lives in a video game, but in real life!"

"What's a video game?" Vatra asked, but the soft bubble of lava caught his ear and he pulled Chihiro back. "Actually, hold that thought!"

A massive plume of lava burst from the lava river, but Vatra just snapped his fingers and sent the lava right back into the river! While it gurgled and passed on, Vatra smiled and waved his hands. In tandem, the river flooded forward and sent massive rock platforms floating before him.

"It's nothing too fancy, I'll admit. Any trained magician can do it as long as they're careful."

Vatra hupped as he hopped across the rock and onto the other side, strode over to a door made of shiny white and yellow marble, and hovered his hand in front of it as the others followed suit. The door buckled and burst into sparkles underneath his presence. He smiled as he urged for the others to come along with a slight of his hand.

The dull thud of warm stone underfoot turned to the clean sound of clacking marble, and everyone left Vatra's realm in favor of one much more shiny and polished! This new area was made of white marble with golden streaks. It was all carved into neat little cubbies, towers, and pillars that shone just as brightly as the warm light that made up the world around! Pale yellow stone floors lined the area around, forming ramps, platforms, and all sorts of nooks and crannies. The whole area seemed simple, yet held so many secrets.

"Luz, Luz!" Vatra called as he stepped into the room. "Where are you? I know you're in here, so come on out!"

"I can feel his presence," Sihiri remarked as she stepped forward and rested a clasped hand on her chest, her head craned back and forth, "but where?"

Chihiro frowned, poked her head between Vatra and Sihiri, and narrowed her eyes. A faint sparkle of golden light came from a cubby in one of the many marble pillars scattered amid the area. At first she thought she might've imagined it, but then, it sparked even brighter!

"There!" Chihiro called as she pointed towards the cubby.

Sihiri and Vatra's eyes fell on the golden spark, and it giggled as it zipped out and revealed itself to be the yellow wheel.

"You'll have to catch me first!" the wheel chuckled. It laughed as Vatra stumbled forward and tried to yank it out of the air, but zipped right off as he stumbled!

Whirlwind flew up and zipped after the wheel as Vatra regained his balance. "Just leave it to me!" she cried.

Whirlwind zipped after the wheel as it dove back into the cubby, and popped out of a door in one of the platforms as the wheel dashed off! It hovered above, zipped up and down across a series of ramps while Whirlwind tailed right after it. Just as it stopped to catch a breather, Whirlwind burst out from a door in a pillar and snatched it out of thin air!

"Caught you!" Whirlwind cried as she flew back up to Sihiri and Vatra and opened her front paws.

The wheel sighed as it floated out of Whirlwind's paws, and its light formed a solid silhouette of pale gold that matched a person's body.

"Ah, looks like I'm beat!" the wheel remarked as a string formed around the silhouette's neck.

Its light beamed out in all directions, and burst as it revealed a chubby ghost with a golden aura like sunlight! His brown skin had a warm, sunny undertone to it, one that perfectly matches his spiky blonde hair and golden brown eyes. He donned white and gold robes occasionally accentuated by pieces of armor, from shoulderpads to a chestplate and arm and leg guards. He chuckled and rubbed his round nose while a youthful smile crossed his face, but it quickly fell the moment he faced Sihiri and Vatra.

"Hey, where's Fintster?" Luz asked as he craned his head around. "And everyone else, for that matter? Heck, how did we end up at the Northern Base? Last I remember, we were fighting in Arkus!"

Vatra paused and rubbed his chin. "That's a good question, actually," he remarked. "I don't remember anything—just a big explosion, and everything going numb and dark."

"Likewise," Sihiri remarked as she turned an eye on Chihiro, "you said that some time had passed, right, young one?"

Chihiro blinked, sighed and twiddled her fingers. "Looks like it's my turn to do the explaining," Chihiro said through clenched teeth. She hissed a bit, and sighed as she faced Sihiri, Vatra and Luz. "See, it's been ten thousand years since your big battle with Arkilles. Skylands changed a lot since you were around last…"

The three of them gave Chihiro frowns, and she chuckled as she raised a finger.

"But, on the bright side, you did end the Arkeyans' reign of terror!" Chihiro turned aside and rubbed her hands. "On the flipside, you kinda also died, I guess, and got banished to all parts of Skylands, too? I found your wheels scattered all over the place while the Skylanders, the Elder Elementals, and some of our buddies went to stop Kaos…"

"Wait, did you say the Elder Elementals?" Sihiri asked. "Are they alive too?"

"Yep!" Chihiro nodded furiously, and her eyes went wide. "Speaking of, I've gotta get back to them!" Chihiro stormed forward and climbed up a platform. "Where's the exit to this place? We've got a mission to do!"

"A mission?"

"Yeah! Long story short, our enemy's trying to bring his empire back, and we need to stop him, but our transportation got stolen by some dude and he's making a whole mess of the place! I think I kinda left the Elder Elementals to deal with it…"

Sihiri, Vatra and Luz all turned to each other and nodded.

"Just follow us. We'll show you the way!" Sihiri proclaimed as she stormed ahead. "After all, we've got some friends to reunite with, too!"

"And if someone's causing trouble on our turf, then we've gotta deal with them, right?" Luz remarked with a wink.

Chihiro giggled, and bolted after them with Eruptor, Terrafin, Cynder and Whirlwind hot on her heels! They all caught up right as Luz opened a door made of solid ice, and dashed forward—only to slip and fall into a heap! Everyone groaned as they sat up, greeted their reflections in the icy path below their feet, and jolted up as the door slammed shut behind them.

"Oh dear Ancients," Vatra moaned, "I forgot whose room was after this…"

"Whose is it?" Eruptor asked as he tilted his head, and gasped as the floors started to slide.

"JUST HANG ON!"

The ice that made up the halls turned cooled and slicker, and everyone went sliding down before they knew it! They screamed as the hall turned into a ramp that dipped down and tossed them up in the air, zipped down the halls, and spun around in place with fury!

"Just what is this thing?" Terrafin shouted as he spun around.

"I'm getting dizzy!" Eruptor cried between hacks.

"I can hear my brain rattling around in my head!" Chihiro whined. "Somebody stop this!"

A whir came from above as parts of the ceiling parted, and Chihiro lifted her head right as cannons emerged from their open slots! She screamed, ducked as one of them shot a giant snowball right at her, and leaped up as another slammed into the ground below!

"Dej did always like to keep our skills sharp!" Sihiri cried as she tossed aside a snowball with magic and slammed it into another oncoming one. "I just wish he had less dangerous ways of doing it!"

"You're telling me!" Eruptor whined as he teetered back and forth between the snowballs that barraged him. "I want off this ride!"

The ceiling whirred further as a part of it collapsed and crumbled to bits, and out from it came a gigantic snowball cannon! The cannon shuddered as it sprung to life, shot out a gigantic snowball and completely shattered part of the path ahead. Everyone screamed as the icy remains crumbled down into the caverns.

"Jump for it!" Vatra cried.

They all did, but their jump was fruitless. The gap was so big that they only made it about halfway before they collapsed. Everyone screamed and clung to each other as they fell down, but just before they collapsed, Chihiro shot out her hand and crafted a giant net out of magic. Instead of falling into nothing, they all slammed against the net and bounced right back on course! They all slipped onto paths of ice through a solid tunnel that walled off everything else, and sighed with relief as they slipped through. At least falling into the abyss was of no concern this time.

Chihiro groaned, held her head, but lifted it as a twinkle of blue passed her by. She jumped back up to her feet, summoned a magic sticky hand and tossed it right at the glimmer! The sticky hand yanked it out in an instant, snapped right back and dropped the glowing blue object in her palm—a shiny blue crystal wheel!

"Took you for a little ride, didn't I?" echoed a chipper voice from the wheel as its blue glow grew brighter.

The blue wheel flew out of Chihiro's palm as its bright glow formed a pale blue silhouette of a person's body, and the glow melted into a torrent of water as a string formed around the silhouette's neck! The silhouette dripped with water as it transformed from a silhouette to a ghost with a chilly blue aura.

The ghost was of a muscular person with pale skin, and sleek black hair that cascaded down their chiseled jaw in loose curls that brought to mind ocean waves. Their deep blue eyes with epicanthic folds shone with a twinkle. Their wheel pendant sparkled against their bare chest, one accentuated by the puffy blue vest tied around the ghost’s chest just enough to cover it while still showcasing their pecs. Dark blue trousers kept their place around the ghost’s waist with a tightly-tied baby blue ribbon, and the moment their bare feet hit the ice, the floors transformed to fluffy snow instead.

"Name's Dej," the ghost said as he crossed his arms, "I hope you enjoyed the little ride I set up for you!"

"Enjoy it, my ass!" Vatra spat as he stormed up and shoved a finger in Dej's face. Smoking fumes burned from his ghastly form. "You nearly got us killed!"

Dej chuckled and pushed away Vatra's hand. "Chill out, Vats!" Dej teased with a single poke of his tongue and a wink. "I just wanted to make sure your skills were still sharp before I caught up with you!"

Dej walked ahead while Vatra crossed his arms and mumbled, but Chihiro ignored them. Instead, she looked down at her hands and counted off her fingers.

"I think that green wheel's the only one that's still missing," Chihiro remarked as she lifted her head.

"That must be Inochi," Sihiri remarked as she clasped her hands against her heart and chuckled. A soft giggle escaped her lips, and she seemed a little more coy as she wrung her hands together. "Oh, I can't wait to see her again." Sihiri lifted her head. "Her room, actually, shouldn't be that far."

"In fact, it's right here!" Luz called from the end of the tunnel.

Everyone dashed down, and Luz grinned and made a peace sign as he presented them with a door made of flower-covered vines.

"Knowing her, she's probably off tending to her flowers or something." Luz waved his hands in front of the door while its vines peeled away. "Bet this place is still sparkly-clean as ever. She's a real stickler for that…"

Luz gasped and jumped back as the door opened up, for out from its spilled masses of twisted, overgrown vegetation!

"Stuff!"