Kazuki felt the weight of the Aeridian woman's gaze like a physical force, sharp and searching. Around him, the world seemed to hold its breath; even the wind paused, as if waiting for his answer. His mouth was dry as old parchment.
"I… I don't know what you mean," he managed, voice wavering despite his efforts to stand tall.
The woman's eyes narrowed, dark as stormclouds brewing over distant peaks. She raised her hand, and the wind obeyed — a sudden, fierce gust swirling around Kazuki, lifting his hair and cloak in a whipping spiral. The others staggered, grabbing their hoods. Even Leo's Gryphon shifted uneasily, feathers ruffling against the unseen current.
Uzaki stepped forward instinctively, hand on her sword, but Leo placed a calming arm across her shoulders. "Wait," he said quietly, eyes never leaving the woman on the battlements.
The Aeridian leader's voice dropped, low and resonant. "The winds have spoken of a restless heart… a mind learning the old dances of air and stone." She took a step back from the parapet. "Bring them inside."
The gates groaned open with glacial slowness, revealing a vast courtyard carved directly into the mountain. Towers of pale stone spiraled overhead, banners of deep blue and silver snapping in the high-altitude gusts. Windchimes and strange, feathered constructs adorned every archway, humming eerily, as the party passed beneath them.
Ryo muttered to Hoshino as they stepped onto polished marble, "I don't know if we're here for a diplomatic meeting or a surprise audition for the world's most intense wind symphony."
"Maybe both," she whispered back, eyes wide with wonder as a trio of Aeridian children zipped past them on narrow gliders, laughing as they soared over the heads of stoic guards.
A line of Aeridian warriors awaited them, clad in pale leathers and chainmail so light it barely shimmered in the dawn light. At their head stood the woman, taller up close, with a presence that seemed to command the very air. Her silver hair was braided with delicate, whirling charms, and her eyes gleamed with quiet calculation.
"I am High Warden Selene of Aethelgard," she announced. "Welcome to the Citadel of the Sky Lords." Her gaze fell on Kazuki again. "You have brought a storm with you, boy. It sings beneath your skin. You must learn to shape it — or it will tear you apart."
Kazuki's stomach lurched, but Leo stepped up beside him. "That is why we came," Leo said firmly. "To seek your knowledge — and your alliance."
Selene studied him, then swept her eyes across the rest of the group. "And do you all carry storms? Or only burdens?"
Uzaki smirked, arms crossed. "I carry both, depending on the day."
Ryo added, a little too brightly, "I mostly carry tools. And a flask. And a sense of humor."
A flicker of amusement passed through Selene's eyes, like a single sunbeam through storm clouds. "At least you are honest."
She turned, leading them deeper into the Citadel. Kazuki's eyes darted everywhere — massive chambers hewn from mountain stone, suspended platforms drifting like leaves on controlled gusts of air, Aeridians working delicate gears and silken sails in floating workshops. Everything was in motion, alive with a constant, purposeful dance of wind and ingenuity.
They crossed a bridge so narrow that Ryo nearly crawled, muttering about "death by vertigo" every few steps, until Hoshino took his hand and pulled him along with an exasperated sigh.
Finally, they entered a circular hall of translucent stone, the walls inscribed with swirling runes that glowed faintly with shifting light. Above, a ceiling of crystal lenses focused beams of sunlight into a slowly rotating halo.
"This is the Eye of Aethelgard," Selene intoned, spreading her arms. "Here we read the skies, watch the storms, and learn the whispers of the world." She faced Kazuki fully now, voice soft but edged with steel. "And here, boy, you will begin to understand what your storm means — or you will be consumed by it."
Kazuki swallowed hard. For the first time, the thought struck him: maybe his power wasn't a gift alone, but a test. And this mountain citadel, perched above the world, would either forge him into something greater… or see him broken upon the winds.
Then the wind picked up his hair like an overeager hairstylist, whipping it into his eyes. He staggered, coughing out strands. "Or maybe it'll just give me the world's worst haircut," he mumbled.
A smothered laugh escaped Hoshino, who elbowed him playfully. "Focus, storm boy," she teased. "You look like a half-plucked chicken."
As they moved deeper into the Eye, Ryo kept craning his neck at the floating platforms. "I swear one of those things winked at me," he whispered to Uzaki, pointing at a drifting wooden glider decorated with giant glass eyes.
Uzaki rolled her eyes so hard it was almost audible. "You'd find a way to get flirted with by a piece of furniture."
They reached the center of the chamber, where a ring of Aeridian elders waited. Each looked like they'd been carved from mountain stone and fed nothing but thunder for breakfast. Selene gestured for Kazuki to step into the circle.
"This is where we shall measure your winds," Selene announced solemnly. Then she paused, her expression softening just a hair. "And I suggest you don't sneeze. Last time that happened, we lost a weathermaster to the next valley."
Kazuki tried not to laugh. Or sneeze. Both seemed like bad ideas right now. He stepped forward, feeling the floor vibrate faintly underfoot — or was that just his nerves?
A tall, spindle-thin elder wearing goggles the size of dinner plates sidled up to him. "Now, young breeze-breather," he wheezed, voice like gravel in a tin can, "try to move the air around you without moving your hands."
Kazuki took a deep breath. He focused, reaching for that now-familiar pulse inside him. A soft swirl of wind spiraled out, ruffling the elders' hair and swirling Uzaki's cloak dramatically.
Ryo's hair, however, went straight up in a vertical column, like a startled porcupine. "Is it supposed to do that?" he squeaked, eyes darting around.
The elder adjusted his giant goggles, which magnified his eyes to comical size. "Yes," he lied transparently, scribbling notes on a scroll. "Totally intentional. Very advanced technique."
Selene's lips twitched. "You have potential, storm boy. But your control is… let's say, gusty."
Leo, who had been leaning against a pillar trying not to look proud, finally stepped in. "Kazuki has come far in a short time," he said, voice carrying authority and a hint of humor. "And he's not alone. We came to seek your wisdom, but also your aid. The darkness beyond our lands grows bolder each day."
The elders exchanged a series of looks that spoke volumes — mostly along the lines of oh great, more doom.
One elder coughed pointedly. "We do not trust outsiders easily. Especially ones who bring hurricanes in their pockets."
Ryo held up his hands. "For the record, I didn't bring a hurricane. Just snacks. Which I'm willing to share." He patted his bag, which clinked with suspiciously many bottles.
"Your offerings of… 'snacks' are noted," Selene said dryly, but a few elders did lean forward with sudden interest.
Before any more negotiation could start, a rumble of thunder rolled overhead — from a sky that had been clear moments before. Kazuki felt it deep in his bones, the same way he felt the city's pulse back home. His heart hammered.
Selene looked sharply at him. "The storm knows you, boy. And now, we will see if you know it."
The chamber doors boomed shut, wind swirling like a living thing. Uzaki cracked her knuckles, murmuring to Ryo, "Well, if this goes south, remember: don't die in a funny pose."
"I make no promises," he whispered back, pulling his hood tighter as the air began to spark with invisible tension.
Kazuki took one last breath, Hoshino's supportive smile flashing through his mind like a beacon. He lifted his head, eyes meeting Selene's stormy gaze, and stepped forward — into the heart of the Sky Lords' challenge.