Virtuality: Magic Island

Chapter 18: R.I.P. Magic Island

The Perikayo Mountains were now completely abstrused by scorching, orange flames. The fresh air that once engulfed the land was now nothing more than a putrid scent of charcoal. They slowly came crashing down, bursting into large little bits.

Luckily, Lontari was looking around for his sword when he saw it descending from the top of the crumbling mountain. He instantly caught it firmly in his hand without effort, but not long before he also saw a massive boulder-like mountain showered with grass bits. It was dropping at a breakneck speed that didn't even allow him time to think of which magic ability to use.

He simply just wrapped his arms around his head and looked away, his heart beating and legs trembling at the thought of being squashed like a bug. But then, he suddenly heard a large bang. When he looked up, he saw that the boulder was now pieces of rock that scattered all over the floor.

He sensed someone standing behind him, so he turned around. Alas, Declan was standing before him. A little part of him was angry when he saw Occidifu's son, but for the most part, he stared him in surprise with widened eyes. He couldn't fathom why he would suddenly come to the rescue so swiftly.

"W-What are you doing here, Declan?" Lontari asked, his heart skipping a beat. "Why'd you-"

"Because I'm not like my fath-" Declan cut himself off when bitterness and sadness for his father grew in his heart. "Because I'm not like Occidifu... He was an evil bastard and I was only trailing along so that he'd accept me as his son. Now I know that I wasn't really his son and was only a tool for his actions."

Lontari stared at him with sunken, sympathetic eyes. He could kind of see where he was coming from. After all, his reluctance to finish him off in fights kind of felt weird.

"Hopefully this means you'll be a better person now?" the blue-haired teen asked.

Declan nodded his head like his life depended on it. "Yes... Yes! I want to be the man that Occidifu wouldn't let me be!"

Lontari smiled at him, joy overflowing his soul, when he heard a sudden blast of wind. He and Declan looked to their right and both saw Axel and Imani, atop of the former's friendly orange dragon.

"You okay, Lontari?!" Imani asked.

Axel's blood boiled when he saw Declan. He pointed at the armored teen and demanded, "You! Keep away from the boy!"

"No, no, Mr. Winddragon," assured Lontari. "It's okay. He's not following in Occidifu's footsteps anymore."

Axel felt the tension in his muscles ease up almost instantly, but he was still puzzled. What caused the change? Oh well, it didn't matter. What was important was that Declan is willingly no longer a threat.

Imani urged, "Well, okay... But we have to get to Kingston Palace and put the gem back in its place before Magic Island tears apart completely. Once it collapses, there's no way to bring it back."

"Right, I have it in my inventory," said Lontari. "Let's go!!"

And so, with him, Imani, Axel, and Declan on its back, the orange dragon fiercely raced across the sky, enduring the stings from the little fire dust floating about. It flew so fast that the crew had to hold firm grips on its skin if they didn't want to fall to their deaths. But they were more concerned about returning the Viridis gem to its place, otherwise almost every single soul on Magic Island dies with the island itself.

"How far are we from the palace?!" asked Declan, the wind roaring in his ears.

"Hold on tight, guys..." Lontari said, seeing a palace half-obscured by flames up ahead. "We're almost there..." He shook his head in sadness at the fire. "The place is falling apart quickly... We'll have to fly straight inside."