Atlas sat down on Kai's bed. They immediately stood up, realizing that the bed had mostly disintegrated over time. "Kai and I met a little while after Kingston had forced Solanja into an alliance. The Ancient Monsters had all been dealt with. It had been a big ordeal for everyone to seal them all away. Kingston took advantage of that."

Xavier listened to their friend. "Right, I remember you've mentioned that before. Kingston wanted to fully control Solanja, didn't they?"

Atlas nodded. "They weren't able to. I refused to allow it. Astraeus was useless, of course. The alliance was basically an excuse for Kingston to occupy Solanja. That's beside the point, though. Because of everything that happened, I began to be more comfortable around the Solanjans. They helped me discover who I was."

Xavier's mind flashed back to when he was on the Isle of Muerend. Astraeus had accused Atlas of being biased due to their connection with the humans on Solanja.

"Some of the Solanjan officials introduced me to Kai," Atlas continued. They hesitated for a few moments before continuing. "We were very close. I... loved him. I never got to tell him, though I think he knew."

Xavier put his hand on his friend's shoulder. The captain knew that feeling better than most others. "Aye, I'm sure he did."

Atlas looked up at the sky. "And then, just when it felt like everything would be ok... Solanja sank. It sunk into the water. I assumed Astraeus had a hand in it, given I offered for the Guardians to come here and see the prophecy. It all seemed so convenient. Plus, only Guardians can manipulate the Isles using the Artifacts."

Xavier looked down at the key in his other hand. "So then, what does the key mean?"

Atlas shrugged. "I have no idea. Kai never mentioned anything relating to this. I'm alright now. I miss them, and it's weird being back here. But that's just the weight I have to bear."

Atlas started walking out of the room. "Atlas, you don't have to bear that weight alone. You know that." Xavier countered. "I'm here for you."

The Guardian glanced back at him. "You're right. Let's just... get going." Atlas hurried out of the room, and Xavier followed after them.

Everyone regrouped in the church. There was a pool of water in the center where the stairs sloped downward. The pews were all broken down and knocked over.

A stone prophecy rested in the back of the room, somehow entirely unscathed. "Did you all find anything?" Arvirdi asked.

Maya and Luna held up some random Solanjan items. "Nothing of importance. Though I did find some dead bodies. Not very pleasant." Maya reported.

Jacob shook his head. "Just some rooms belonging to the folks who live around here."

Xavier jumped in. "I found a records room. All the scrolls were magically preserved. There's probably a bunch there to investigate, but I'll just give you all the gist of what I found."

The Ice Pirate reported his findings to everyone. He shared the knowledge that he had uncovered, as well as the key he had found.

Luna glanced over at the prophecy at the back of the room. "So then, do we use the key somewhere on that?"

Atlas shook their head. "That's the prophecy. It's older than the building is. I think. Hang on though."

Atlas floated over the pool of water and up to the stone prophecy. The prophecy seemed to show the Guardians all surrounding one Guardian, and then them protecting the Isles of Ice from some sort of disaster.

Atlas placed a shadowy hand onto the stone mural. Purple energy suddenly surged into them for a few moments.

Everyone else stared for a few moments. Atlas then coughed a bit. "That power. It was left for me, in the prophecy. I've never felt it before. There's more underground."

Xavier placed a hand on the ground and froze the water. The pirate walked across the ice and handed the key to Atlas. The Guardian looked down and placed the key in a hole in the ground.

They turned the key, and there was a sudden rumbling. The ground beneath the ice seemed to sink into the ground, creating a staircase.

Xavier dissipated the ice back into water, which fell down the staircase. The staircase went down into a dark cavern, seemingly going on for miles.

"Interesting. I wonder what lies below." Arvirdi mused, peering down the depths.

Luna's body shook a bit. "We're so high up, this could go down for ages. I can feel it though, that familiar power."

Atlas nodded and teleported to the base of the staircase. "I'll lead the way. Let's go."

Everyone began to travel down the narrow staircase. They had to move in a single file line, and the air somehow seemed even staler when going underground.

Helena chuckled. "Good thing nobody here is claustrophobic." The woman was penned in due to her broad shoulders.

Xavier glanced back at the woman. "Is that a way of saying that you're claustrophobic?"

"No. I was just... making small talk." Helena responded.

There seemed to be some sort of rumbling coming from above, but Xavier paid it no mind. Atlas was hurrying down the path, and everyone else was trying to stay close.

The stairs seemed to go on for ages. There was little conversation to make at this point. Everyone was just eager to figure out what was at the bottom of this passageway.

The stairs finally ended, dropping them into a circular room. The room had one path forward. Though there were strange veins along the walls full of purple energy.

Atlas touched their hand on one of the veins. "It's magic. Pure magic."

Arvirdi stood next to them in awe. "This is the lifeblood of the islands. The way that we can communicate with them."

"Can you tell what's up ahead, then?" Xavier asked.

Arvirdi shook his head. "No, but the feeling is familiar. Let's keep going." Everyone squeezed into the narrow tunnel that snaked around, bringing the group to a large room.

The room had what looked to be a sealed-off door in the back. There were a series of engravings on the walls in some language Xavier couldn't read.

"Archaic Solanjan." Atlas marveled, reading the inscribing. Golden letters decorated the stone walls. The same purple magic flowed through the stone and deeper into the cavern.

"What are we supposed to do here?" Maya asked.

Atlas gestured to their surroundings. "It's a simple test. We need to use magic to open the door by sending power into both sides of the wall.

Xavier raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit of a strange system."

"Never mind that," Jacob stepped forward. "Where are we sending the magic?"

Atlas pointed to one side of the door. "There, and unison." Atlas held out their hand and Jacob did the same.

Atlas fired purple lightning from their hand, while Jacob unleashed a spray of fire. The fire slammed into the wall, and the purple magic in the wall lit up.

It started to glow with a glimmering brightness. Meanwhile, Atlas's side caused the purple magic to darken. Nothing happened, though there was a low rumbling in the distance. "That's strange. It should have worked."

Jacob lowered his hand. "My side started glowing really brightly, are we doing it right?"

Atlas shrugged. "Someone else give it a try in my place. Someone other than Luna."

Maya went to where Atlas had been standing. Jacob resumed sending fire into his side. Meanwhile, Maya blasted lightning from her fingertips and into the wall. Both sides started to brightly shimmer with magic now.

The door started to rumble, and it was lifted into the air. Xavier was perplexed by the phenomenon. "Aye, this is certainly odd. Let's keep moving."

The passageway was an uneventful trek down a dark tunnel. Jacob had opted to lead the way and hold a ball of fire in his hand. This at least gave them some light to work with.

Eventually, they once again reached an opening. This time they walked into a room that was mostly made up of marble.

One of the island's magical veins seemed to stop at a protrusion in the wall. The strange stone extension resembled some sort of arm and hand.

This was by far the strangest room that they had been in yet. It seemed to have a strange air of mystery about it.

Atlas went over to the arm. "It's time. Solanja, I want answers." The Guardian placed their hand in the open palm.

"What's it going to do?" Helena wondered.

Arvirdi looked on in fascination. "I have no idea."

Luna put her hands together and closed her eyes. "I can feel the magic, all around us. It's so familiar."

Magic began to pour into Atlas. They shuddered a bit but seemed to be taking it all in stride. The power was just like that of the Guardians. Purple magic swirled around the Guardian like a storm.

The magic intensified and then finally started to die down. Atlas took a step back and then looked at the group. "I-I remember. We made the prophecies! We put magic in them to restore our memories!"

Xavier tilted his head. "Hold on, what? You made the prophecies? How does that make sense?"

Atlas started to pace back and forth. "This world was born from one plunged into darkness from great magic. I can't remember much, but we had to go back to sleep at one point. When we woke back up, our memories were gone."

"Born from one plunged into magic?" Arvirdi repeated. "Do you mean, there was a world before this one?"

Atlas nodded furiously. "Exactly that! I just can't remember anything else right now! We need to get to the other prophecies!"

Luna drew in a shaky breath. "D-did you find anything out about me?"

Maya took her girlfriend's hand to comfort the other woman. Atlas shook their head. "Not yet. It's all, hazy. There's still so much I'm missing."

"You said something about all the Guardians going to sleep, and then waking back up?" Xavier recalled.

"Our power, it went away for some reason. I think. Then we lost all of our memories. We were asleep for so long." The Guardian was clearly distressed by their inability to remember things clearly.

Xavier went up to them and placed a hand on their shoulder. "Hey, it'll be ok. We will figure everything out. Let's get out of here, and we can plan from there."

Helena started to formulate plans in her mind. "I think I remember hearing talk of the prophecy located on Clamerates. I have no clue where the others are, or how we'll get to them."

Luna gasped. "I can... I can feel them. I can feel where they are. They're far away... but it's still clear to me where each prophecy is located."

Atlas nodded. "You feel it too, then? Astraeus probably feels the same way. He'll know we're onto something." The Guardian then looked at Xavier. "Let's get out of here."

Atlas began making preparations to teleport everyone to the surface. Arvirdi was still processing the knowledge that they had attained. "This has been an incredible venture. I've learned so much, and there's even more to uncover."

Xavier chuckled. "Are you going to go home now, Arvirdi?"

The man immediately shook his head. "I don't want to miss anything. If it's alright with you all, I'd like to continue traveling with you."

Maya scoffed a bit. "We're not going to be playing nice with Kingston, so this isn't really your style. They're our next target, after all."

Xavier sighed. "The lass is right. Especially since getting to some of these prophecies requires invading Kingston territory."

Arvirdi looked past Xavier and over at Maya. "I'm so sorry that you think I stand with the actions of Kingston. I don't blame you, of course. I can't promise anything for Marok as a nation, but I'm with you all. If you'll have me."

Maya was about to say something when Jacob jumped in. "He's trying his best. The man wants to help us, and I say we let him."

Xavier felt a relief when Jacob said this. The lad had taken what he learned to heart. "Aye, regardless of their position. We've learned that if someone is against Kingston, we take them on."

Maya looked down and sighed. "Right, if he's actually going to fight on our side I have no problems."

"We'll need all the help we can get," Helena commented.

"Speaking of," Luna turned around to face Atlas. "Atlas, do you need help teleporting us out of here?"

The Guardian sighed. "I've been trying to use the spell, but it seems like I can't teleport in here. I wonder if it has to do with the magic of the island."

"It seems to not like Guardian magic," Luna noted. The girl tried to conjure a ball of magic into her hand, only for it to be sucked away into the walls.

There was another rumble. This time it was far closer to where the group was located. "Are you all hearing that?"

Helena nodded and drew her battle axe. "Something's coming. And it doesn't sound very pleasant."

Everyone got into a fighting stance as the rumbling continued. It was getting closer, and louder.

Before long, a stomping beast surged down the tunnel. The creature seemed to resemble some sort of statue. It was made of a shining metal, and bursting with purple energy on all sides.

The beast had massive limbs and towered over everyone as it forced its way into the room. The doorway closed behind the monster, trapping them in. Standing tall and with its hands ready to grab.

"What the hell is this thing?" Jacob shouted as he readied his sword.

Atlas groaned. "It's some sort of security that the Solanjans made. I think it was in case they were being invaded. Seems like we've tripped it, and now we'll have to deal with it."

Luna tried summoning magic into her hands but it once again was absorbed by the walls. "My magic is no good here!"

Helena held out her hand and tried to manipulate the beast's body. "Whatever it's made of has almost no magnetic properties!"

Xavier sighed and drew his sword. "Guess we need to have a good old-fashioned rumble then!"