Disappearance of Roselei Hawthorne

Chapter Twenty-Two

"That was pretty clever of Roselei to use the illusion to keep people from stealing the crystal." Celty said as she watched Kallen pull the rock out of the map in town square. As soon as he did, to nobody's surprise, the illusion of a giant monster did not come forth.

They had traveled back through the woods and into town, and rested for a while inside one of the old houses. It was Lillia's suggestion; she claimed there was no use in traveling while they were so exhausted. After all, they had just spent the entire night in the temple.

"So now that we've got the crystal, we need to make it into a staff, right?" Vulcan raised an eyebrow.

"Right." Kallen nodded. "But I've never made a staff before. Are there any tricks to it?"

"Not really." Lillia shrugged. "We just need to make, well, a staff. Just a long stick that we can put Roselei's crystal in."

"Does it matter what we use to make it?" Vulcan asked.

"No, not at all." Lillia shook her head. "Staffs can be made out of anything. Wood, metal, glass- although that's not really recommended-"

"Metal, huh?" Vulcan said as he eyed a run-down carriage. He walked over to it, and ripped the door right off it's hinges. He gripped the door tightly in his hands, melting the metal with his fire. He then molded the door as if it were clay in his hands until it became a metal rod. "How about this?"

"That's actually really cool!" Celty said as she grabbed the rod, before immediately dropping it. "Ouch! Hot!"

"Of course it's hot!" Vulcan rolled his eyes. "It hasn't cooled yet."

"Then allow me to help with that," Celty said as she splashed water onto it. Steam rose off of the rod as the metal returned to its natural, silvery state.

"Will this really work?" Kallen asked as he gently picked up the staff.

"Why shouldn't it?" Lillia said as she examined it closely. "All it really needs is a mount for the crystal to be set in."

"I don't see another carriage... " Vulcan frowned as he glanced around. "That was really all the metal in sight."

"Well we don't have to use metal for the mount." StellaLuna pointed out. "Lillia, can't you use your magic to make us some sort of vine-mount?"

"I suppose I can," Lillia said as she reached for her staff. She gave it a quick wave in the air, and a small root-like plant grew out of the ground, in between the cracks in the stone. It curved around until it was shaped almost like a horseshoe. Lillia plucked it from the ground and held it up to Kallen's staff. "How are we supposed to attach it?"

"I might have an idea." Gideon stepped forward. "Celty, do you think you could splash a bit of water onto the staff? Right where the metal meets the vine."

Celty did as she was told, and opened her water bottle. Using her water-manipulation abilities, she flung a small bit of water towards the staff, wettening it. As soon as she did, Gideon drew his sword. He touched the tip of his blade to the staff, and froze the water that Celty had splashed it with. In doing so, the metal handle and the vine mount had been perfectly attached.

"Oh, that's perfect." Kallen smiled. "It's like we all worked together to make it."

"But I didn't do anything." Fenris frowned.

"That's okay Fenris, cause I've got the perfect job for you." Kallen handed them Roselei's crystal. "Care do to the honors?"

"M-me? But why me?"