The First Evolution

"Really? But the Abyss Ember was huge," Sydra says, stepping away from the cannon and looking at it in confusion. "Was it all used for this?"

Nodding his head, Gail steps towards the forge in the room and pulls out one of the burning embers. "Yes, I had to melt the metal down multiple times, and every time I did, these small embers appeared. I believe these are the impurities that were inside the Abyss Ember, and all they are good for is burning," Gail says as he dips the ember into a water bucket placed next to the forge.

Even after the ember is fully submerged in the water, it continues to burn, and water quickly turns to steam that floats to the ceiling.

"I see..." Sydra says, stepping towards the forge and looking at all the embers within. 'That does look like half the size of the Abyss Ember, so I don't think he is lying to me,' Sydra thinks, reaching his hand into the forge and manipulating the heat of one of the embers so he can touch it.

Pulling the ember out of the forge, Sydra studies it carefully before sending it into his Arbor Sanctum. Turning to look at Gail, Sydra points at the embers, "If you want, I will let you have half of the embers as an extra reward for finishing the cannon as well as you did,"

Nodding his head vigorously, Gail steps forward and holds out his hand to Sydra. "That would be amazing, thank you," Gail says as Sydra shakes his hand before reaching into the forge and sending half of the embers into his Arbor Sanctum, leaving the other half for Gail.

Once that was done, Sydra sent the Abyss Cannon in as well and left the forge. Meeting back up with the others, the group heads to the shipyard where they left the Sunloft ship. Discussing things with Colt, the owner of the shipyard, Sydra had them install the cannon onto the ship, while he and the others finished up on the island.

"I think we're all set now," Erich says, following the others out of the last store they had to visit. The four of them had spent the last hour visiting different stores and gathering more supplies for their journey.

"So are we going to go after Corbel, and the others pirates now?" Cidre asks, turning to look at Sydra.

"Not yet, we need to visit an island called Duepel and capture a Divine Cloud Sheep. I'll explain the reason why later," Sydra says, heading back in the direction of the ship.

By the time they get back, the shipyard has finished installing the Abyss Cannon onto a large spinning platform on the main deck. This will allow Sydra to aim the cannon in any direction he needs, at a moment's notice. After thanking Colt, the group sets sail in the direction of Duepel, with straw golems doing most of the work on the deck.

'Now that I am not running around doing stuff, I finally have time to check back up with Marie and the children," Sydra thinks, sitting down in the chair behind his desk. Closing his eyes, Sydra enters his Arbor Sanctum and heads to the palace.

The sound of children chattering and running around enters Sydra's ears as he makes his way underneath the waterfall. Glancing around, Sydra sees two girls swimming around the pond, while a young boy flies in the air above them. Marie is sitting off to the side, watching as the children play with one another.

"I'm glad to see that they have all woken up," Sydra says, approaching Marie, who turns to look at him. When the children see Sydra they become startled at first, until Jemma tells the other two that it's okay.

"So you're the person who saved us?" Ash asks, softly landing on the ground beside the pond and shaking off his white wings. Behind him, the two girls change their tails into legs and climb out of the water. As all three of the children stand there, they look at Sydra with curiosity and wariness on their faces.

'With everything they have been through, I'm surprised they approached me,' Sydra thinks as he glances back and forth between the children. "That's right, and I'm happy to see you doing well. I actually came here to talk to you," Sydra says.

"What did you want to talk about?" Moss asks, folding her arms over her chest and looking at Sydra with a suspicious gaze.

"Jemma asked me earlier to take the three of you away from the orphanage, and in return, she gave me a map. I wanted to ask the two of you if you wanted to leave the orphanage and live here instead," Sydra says, noticing Jemma look at the other two children with a pleading gaze.

As Sydra finishes explaining his idea, Ash jumps into the air in excitement. "Haha, this place is amazing, why wouldn't I want to live here," he says, his wings flapping uncontrollably. Turning to look at Moss, Sydra notices that the suspicious look on her face has become more prominent.

"What will you make us do?" She asks, trembling as she remembers being stuck in the cage, and having the man experiment on her.

"All you have to do is help take care of the animals that live on the island, and keep this place clean," Sydra says, walking over to the waterfall and looking at the island below. The empty grasslands of before are now covered in both crystal animals, as well as the ones Sydra saved from the Evowave base.

Behind him, Jemma is trying to secretly whisper to Moss and Ash. "See, I told you he is a good guy, please just say yes. I don't want to go back to the orphanage, but I also don't want to live here without the two of you,"

Slightly persuaded, Moss turns to look at Sydra's back, before walking over to stand beside him. "Do you promise you won't do experiments on us and treat us well?" She asks, looking out at the island below her.

"Of course, and Marie will be here as well, to help take care of the three of you," Sydra says, turning to look back at Marie, who gently smiles while nodding her head. "Anyway, there was something else I wanted to do while I was here. I'll see you later,"

Turning around, Sydra heads into the palace and his mostly empty library. Strolling past the bookshelves, Sydra comes to a stop in front of a marble pedestal, that has an oak box on top of it. Picking the box up, Sydra sits down at his desk and opens it, allowing a faint blue light to spill out.

'Here we go, my sixth power,' Sydra thinks, pulling out a small blue orb from the box. The orb is so cold, that when Sydra sets it down on the desk, a layer of ice forms on it. Placing his hands down on the desk, with the palms facing the orb, Sydra activates his fire aura.

With the fire aura running through his palms, Sydra places his hands onto the blue orb and begins to melt it. As the ice dissipates steam raises into the air, and small cracks begin to form on the surface of the orb.

'Hmm, it is still not enough,' Sydra thinks as he increases the amount of aura he is sending through his hands. Soon the small cracks on the surface combine, and the orb splits down the middle, releasing a blue sphere into the air. The blue sphere floats through the air, before being absorbed by Sydra, and in turn becoming part of the tree.

"Haha, I've done it," Sydra says, before noticing that something is wrong when he tries to use the power. "That's odd, I definitely feel the aura residing in my body, why can't I use it?"

Leaving the palace in a hurry, Sydra heads to his tree to check on the roots. Arriving at the tree, Sydra notices that the five roots that held his previous powers are becoming tangled with one another.

"What's going on here?" Sydda mutters, placing his hand against the trunk and calling the roots to him. As the roots stop next to him, Sydra sees that the end of each root is pulsating with the color of the auras he has collected.

'Choose one,' A deep voice resonates through Sydra's head, the roots swaying with it.

"Choose one? Why do I have to choose one?" Sandra wonders as he looks closer at the roots. 'I guess I'll just pick one, and see what happens,' He thinks, stepping towards the five roots in front of him.

Feeling that his choice might have bigger implications than he thinks, Sydra studies each of the roots carefully. 'Which one should I choose? There is the Bone Manipulation, Spider Creation, Fire Manipulation, Crystal Wings, and lastly the Turtle Shield,'

"Hmm, I guess I'll pick this one," Sydra says, reaching out his hand to the root on the left side. As his finger graze the root, Sydra feels something click inside his body, before everything goes dark around him.