When you’re sent flying through the air, your expectation is that you go splat on the ground, and whether you live or not isn’t quite what you’re focusing on. It’s the going splat part. You brace yourself for the splat. The last thing you expect is having your entire body surrounded by a strange magic, which gently carries you to solid ground. Yet, that was exactly what happened to Tori.

Tori stood completely still, wide eyed for a few moments, first trying to process what just happened. She was flung through the sky by a springpad that Gran had fixed, the flight, if she could even call it that, lasted for what seemed like a solid minute, and instead of landing hard, something had pulled her in and got her to land safely on the ground.

Assuming she had landed in Dalaam, it was in pretty good shape. The darkness couldn’t be escaped even up here, but ignoring that, the land seemed to be in near perfect shape. She had landed near a house with a straw roof that had been partially torn, and the door was missing. The remaining grass seemed to be taken care off, and some of it seemed to growing back. Gran and Leicra were standing nearby, and they were okay, too, and-

“OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT,” Tori yelled, flinching back upon sight of the other person present.

It had the head of a human, and it even had hoop earrings, but its snake-like body and floating hands made said human resemblance terrifying. In its hands was a silver flute, and it looked up at Tori with a mostly blank face, the only expression Tori could discern being curiosity.

“It’s a Tangoo!” Gran told Tori.

Buzz Buzz peered out of Tori’s pocket. He flinched upon seeing the Tangoo as well, though his reaction was nowhere near as dramatic as Tori’s.

“So did it bring us to the ground safely?” Buzz Buzz asked Gran.

Gran smiled (in a way) as she replied, “It did!”

“I am guessing that after human life was extinguished here, the Tangoos became the dominant inhabitants of Dalaam,” Leicra stated.

The Tangoo nodded at them, and played a short tune on its flute as a reply.

Tori frowned with confusion, then said, “What was that? I don’t speak flute.”

The Tangoo looked over at Tori for a moment, then repeated the tune. Tori still had no idea what the Tangoo was supposed to be saying.

“Don’t worry, I don’t know what it’s saying either,” Gran reassured her.

The Tangoo whistled out another tune through its flute, a cheerful one, then made its way up the hill. Gran took the lead, following the Tangoo, and the other followed.

More Tangoos were ambling around Dalaam. Some played (assumably) their greetings to the Tangoo that brought the four to Dalaam safely. The four passed by another house, then as they reached the top of the mainland of Dalaam, they arrived in front of a palace. The palace was coated in gold, and two elephant statues sat on both sides of the entrance. The Tangoo who led them up held its flute to play something, but paused and thought for a moment. It lowered its flute and then gestured for them to follow it inside.

The inside of the palace was absolutely stunning, and the four couldn’t help but look around the gold-coated hall with wonder. The silky red carpet led them to the throne room, which was also covered floor to ceiling with gold. Hovering above the throne were two spirit-like entities, one gold and the other silver, intertwined in each other. The silver one had a round face, a large nose, a feathery beard and held a large leaf, while the gold one had a long face and with two black horns at the top of its head. It held a bolt of lightning and was much skinnier than the silver one. The entities other hands were held in the other’s.

The Tangoo played a tune to them, and the silver one told the Tangoo, “Thank you. You are dismissed.”

The Tangoo then left the throne room, and the four watched. They then looked back at the two entities, and Tori asked, “You can understand flute?”

The gold one gave her a look, and the silver one told her, “Yes, we can understand Tangoonian. That’s what it is called.”

“Oh. Okay.” Tori gave the silver one a thumbs up.

“Right. And why is there a…?” the gold one asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Thunder, we cannot judge these people immediately,” the silver one sternly told the gold one, Thunder.

The silver one turned his attention to the four and said to them, “Apologies. I am Storm, and my twin is Thunder.”

Thunder waved at them with his empty hand.

“So what brings you here?” Storm asked.

Tori opened her mouth, then hesitated. She glanced down at the floor in thought.

“We’re looking for some guidance on where to go next,” Buzz Buzz told them. He dived down into Tori’s pocket and come back out holding the stone. “I don’t suppose you know what kind of stone this is?”

Storm held his leaf-holding hand to his chin for a moment as he hummed with thought, then asked Buzz Buzz, “Could you bring it closer?”

Buzz Buzz buzzed out of Tori’s pocket and up to Thunder and Storm, then held the stone up for them. Thunder and Storm’s faces lit up with shock immediately.

Thunder asked, “Where did you get this…?”

“From a kraken,” Tori told him. “It was stuck under one of its quills.”

Thunder was silent for a moment as he processed the story, then looked back to the stone.

“What you found… is the Sound Stone,” Storm told the four.

“It’s used to absorb the power of the eight Sanctuaries - or at least, it was supposed to…” Thunder added.

“Would I be correct in assuming only the chosen one can absorb the power of these ‘Sanctuaries’?” Leicra asked Thunder and Storm.

“You would be,” Thunder nodded.

“But you must hold onto it and keep it safe for now - when the time comes, one of you must deliver it to the chosen one,” Storm told the four.

Buzz Buzz buzzed back over to Tori and handed the Sound Stone to her, and Tori put it back in her pocket.

“But although the Sound Stone is used to absorb the power of the Sanctuaries, it cannot unless it has registered these places exist,” Thunder explained. “So we ask you to charge up the Sound Stone for the chosen one.”

“Of course!” Tori said.

“Thank you,” Storm softly replied. “There is a Sanctuary nearby - we will lead you to it.”

With that, Thunder and Storm rose and flew out of the palace. The four ran after them, and were led down the hilly path of Dalaam to a cave entrance guarded by three giant rabbits. Buzz Buzz perched on Tori’s shoulder once they arrived.

“Ugh, the statues are still there. How did we not think of that?” Thunder complained.

“Worry not, we can get them to move,” Storm told his twin.

Storm tapped the frontmost bunny statue’s shoulder and murmured, “Excuse us, but could you and your friends move out of the way, please?”

The bunny statue glared at Thunder and Storm. It didn’t seem like it was going to move so easily.

“Please, this is very important. If you don’t, the darkness may never go away!”

The bunny statue looked to the side and squinted in thought for a few moments. It looked as if it sighed, then shuffled to the side. The bunny statues behind it then followed, wide eyed. They seemed to converse with each other, though no noise came from them.

Thunder and Storm turned back to face the four, and Thunder told them, “There. Now you should be able to go through and find the Sanctuary. You’ll know it when you find it.”

“And once you’ve charged the Sound Stone there, jump off the edge of it,” Storm instructed them.

“WHAT,” Tori screeched. “I thought you wanted us to charge the Sound Stone! If we jump off the edge of the Sanctuary, we’ll die, and that’s the exact OPPOSITE of charging the Sound Stone and saving the world!”

“Trust us, you will not die if you do,” Storm told her, his features hardening.

“How are you so sure…?” Leicra asked, frowning with concern.

“Just… trust us.”

“Alright, whatever you say,” Tori sighed. She led Gran and Leicra into the Sanctuary’s entrance, saying to Thunder and Storm, “But thank youuu!”

“You’re welcome!” Thunder replied, waving.

The Sanctuary’s entrance was a cave. A very long cave, and to the side was a rope.

“So do we go up there?” Tori called out to Thunder and Storm, pointing at the rope. There was no reply.

“They may have already left,” Gran told her.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Tori mumbled.

Tori went up to the rope and started to climb up it, only to get shot down by a bolt of lightning. Buzz Buzz darted off Tori’s shoulder as she fell to the ground, which wasn’t actually that far of a fall, but still.

“Are you okay?” Buzz Buzz asked her.

“What the hell?!” Tori yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

Thunder and Storm poked their heads in, then Storm said, “Oh, are they still in there? Sorry. We forgot.”

“Can’t you do something to like, make them go away?” Tori asked them, not moving an inch.”

“We could,” Thunder replied.

“But we think that it would be better to leave them be. You’re going to need experience if you’re to fully charge the Sound Stone,” Storm added.

Thunder and Storm then left. Tori heaved out a sigh, then picked herself back up.

“Alright. Let’s see who shot me with that lightning,” she muttered.

A skeleton with blue-purple electricity surrounding its entire body peered over the cliff, a cheeky grin plastered on its face. Leicra wasted no time in firing a PK Beam at it, hitting it square in the face. The skeleton didn’t look fazed in the slightest. It shot another lightning bolt at the four, hitting Tori again.

“Hey! What’s your problem?!” Tori shouted at it. The skeleton just chuckled to itself.

Tori turned to Gran and Leicra and asked them, “Do either of you know what the hell this thing is because I hate it.”

“It’s a Conducting Menace!” Gran replied. “It knows up to the Beta levels of PK Thunder and PK Flash.”

Tori gritted her teeth as she looked back at the Conducting Menace. Tori shot a PK Fire at it, burning it, and Leicra added in another PK Beam. The Conducting Menace slowly raised a hand, paused for a moment as it looked down on the four with an empty smile, then snapped its fingers. A bright flash filled the cave for a moment, and when it was gone, the side effects kicked in. Tori and Gran had started crying uncontrollably, though Leicra seemed free of any side effects. Buzz Buzz let out a groan.

Tori looked over at Buzz Buzz with waterlogged eyes, and through wiping them, she asked, “What’s up?”

“I forgot to use PSI Shield.”

“Can’t you just make one now?” Tori asked, then sniffled.

“I can’t. I’ve gone numb.”

“You’re joking.”

The Conducting Menace shot another PK Thunder, which this time hit Leicra.

“No. The Conducting Menace just used PK Flash Beta, and now I’m numb. The crying is one of the more common side effects.”

Leicra shot another PK Beam at the Conducting Menace. Tori, through her tears, fired another PK Fire at the Conducting Menace.

“Gran, are you going to do something?” Leicra asked the Shambler.

“I think I’ll…” she wiped her upper eye, then finished, “I think I’ll wait until I’ve stopped crying.”

Leicra then returned their attention to the Conducting Menace and shot another PK Beam at it. The Conducting Menace just stayed there, smiling. Tori fired another PK Fire at it, and then the electricity around it disappeared, and its bones fell to the ground.

Tori wiped her eyes, the last of the tears flowing, then muttered, “Thank God.”

She climbed up the rope, and Gran and Leicra followed. Leicra opted to just teleport to the top instead of climb the rope.

“Gran, what levels of Healing do you know?” Buzz Buzz asked as Tori, Gran and Leicra continued walking through the caves.

“Alpha and Beta currently. You’re numb, aren’t you?” Gran replied.

“...Yes. And… neither of those levels can heal numbness.”

“Then what will we do?” Leicra asked.

“Wait, I suppose,” Buzz Buzz replied.

The four continued through the caves, beating enemies as they went, until finally, they made it to the Sanctuary. A large pink cloud floated before them, and a tuft of it swirled up higher than the rest. Tori bit her lip nervously and tapped the cloud with a boot. The cloud simply bounced back up, and no damage was done to the physical integrity of it. Relieved, Tori walked onto the cloud, Gran and Leicra behind her.

Tori fished out the Sound Stone from her pocket and held it up. The Sound Stone glowed for just a moment, and then a name was whispered into everyone’s minds: Pink Cloud.

“Is… Was that name that I just heard the name of this place? Pink Cloud?” Buzz Buzz wondered aloud.

“You’re not the only one who heard it - I heard it too.” Tori looked over to Gran and Leicra and asked them, “Did you hear that name just now?”

They both nodded.

“So now that we’ve charged the Sound Stone here… We need to jump off Pink Cloud, right?” Gran asked.

“That’d be it, but…” Tori edged up to the edge of Pink Cloud and whined, “It looks scarier than how we got up.”

Gran and Leicra came to Tori’s side to peer over the edge of Pink Cloud, the same fear filling their eyes as Tori’s.

“But Thunder and Storm said we would be okay…” Leicra murmured. “So…”

Leicra stepped off the edge of Pink Cloud and let themself fall, their eye squeezed tight shut. Tori involintarily screamed.

“I’m not sure this will work, Buzz Buzz, but I’m going to try Healing Beta and see if that frees up any movement, okay?” Gran told Buzz Buzz.

“Please do, it’s better than nothing.”

Gran placed the tip of her noodle hand as gently on Buzz Buzz as possible, and PSI energy flowed from it into the bug. Once Gran lifted her hand, Buzz Buzz gingerly tested his wings.

“It seems that there’s more feeling in my wings than anywhere else, but I’ll take it as a good thing,” Buzz Buzz told Gran. He then lifted himself off Tori’s shoulder and told her, “I’ll go last. I don’t want anyone accidentally squashing me or anything.”

Gran nodded with understanding, then hopped off the edge of Pink Cloud with her eyes shut and her arms wrapped around her. Tori bit her lip as she watched.

She then looked up at Buzz Buzz and asked, “Do you have to go last?”

Buzz Buzz’s eyebrows curled with slight worry. “Tori, please.”

Tori slumped her shoulders as she moaned, “Okayyyyy. But first-” Tori grabbed the Sound Stone and handed it to Buzz Buzz, who grasped it with all four hands.

“I don’t want it getting lost,” Tori said.

Buzz Buzz nodded. Tori then jumped off the edge of Pink Cloud, screaming as she went. Buzz Buzz’s eyes went wide, and he quickly darted down after her.