"I don't think it's fair that your home looks like this and mine doesn't," Sophia said, watching the skyline of Aeros's capital city fly by.

They were in the Wind Kingdom, in the sky high above the clouds. The two of them were on a platform which was literally what it sounded like- a large piece of glass-like material shaped into a square- and were zooming through the air. Despite the numerous amount of times Samantha had visited Sophia in the Ice Kingdom, she, Sophia had never visited her friend in Aeros- due, more than in part, to Bayleigh and her constant overprotectiveness.

The Wind Kingdom itself encompassed, quite literally, all over Asteri. It was the space above and among the clouds of each of the other kingdoms; the only kingdom with a North, South, West, and East of its own. The buildings here were all the same color (gray), and all made of the same material- anema, a stone unique only to the Wind Kingdom. Platforms, the method of transportation in Aeros, were made of pure anema, frozen until they were clear and solid. According to Samantha, and the textbook Sophia had been forced to read when she was seven, the platforms were pushed by the Four Winds, depending on which way you needed to go. They're names were something like Zephyrus, Boreas, Notebook, and Urine.

Sophia stared in wonder at the platforms blazing across the sky, streaks of bright cerulean blue trailing behind them. The floor of their own platform was lit up blue, casting a dim glow on their boots. According to Samantha, the lights were much more beautiful at night, the blue streaks brighter and stronger, contrasting against the black of the night sky.

The Wind Castle was situated in the very north of the kingdom, a tall, elegant building accentuated by towering spires and a thundering waterfall at its entrance. Unlike the rest of the buildings in Aeros, the Castle's walls were a pale, shimmering white, with Victorian-style windows. The Castle itself was at the edge of the city, Caïel's skyline clearly visible from where they stood at its doors.

Samantha and Adrian went in first, disappearing into the dark hallways to search for their father. The queen was the one who greeted them, showing them to the parlor in the center of the castle. It was a large room, one side of the wall made of warm stone with two bay windows with half radius tops carved within it, through it, Sophia could just make out the towering city high rises. The room itself was warmly lit by a roaring fire burning in hearth and the small chandelier hanging in the center of the room, dim light flowing from it.

The seven of them took a seat on one of the parlor's many couches, Sophia sitting down beside James, Valentino on his other side. Cela greeted Sophia warmly, enveloping her into a quick hug. "Sophia, honey, it's so good to see you. How have you been doing? How's school?"

Sophia grinned at her. "It's been going well. Thanks, Cela." When she was younger, she used to wish Cela was her own mother, and then immediately felt guilty for thinking that way, but Cela was so much warmer, so much more present than Bayleigh ever was. It was obvious how much she cared for Samantha and Adrian, though Sophia knew they rarely saw it.

Cela sat down in the armchair at the front of the room, leaning forward to speak. "The bureau meeting's planned to take place in Caiel's Senate building. The Praetor sent word to bring you all there within the next hour."

Kaly nodded. "Thank you for offering your home to us."

Cela just shrugged and smiled. "My daughter and son are on this team. They owe so much to you, Kaly."

Before Kaly could respond, Samantha and Adrian burst into the room, the King in tow. Sophia had met Ryden many times before; he was a tall man, slender with stark black hair and gray eyes like Adrian. He shook Kaly's hand firmly, mouth curling up in a smile.

"Kaly. It's good to see you again."

Kaly ducked her head. "And you. Thank you for allowing us to stay here."

Ryden waved a hand. "There's no need for that." He glanced at the silver watch on his wrist. "You must go to Palaris now; the meeting's about to start."

They used a Gateway to get to Palaris, the seven of them stepping through in quick succession. It brought them straight to the Senate building, a broad, pale gray edifice ending in a dome on top. Colored flags representing each of the six kingdoms stood on either side of the grand entrance, billowing in the light breeze.

The main room of the building was directly below the dome, the inside all dark brown, as if made of polished oak. A raised counter ran all around the room in a semi-circle, Elementales in wine-red cloaks with the triquetra- three interlaced lines forming a triangle shape- emblazoned on it in ivory. Wine-red was the color of the government for Elementales, the color of authority.

Sophia recognized the woman sitting in the center of the semi-circle as the Praetor; she was tall, imposing, her back ramrod straight and her black hair cut in a straight bob to just above her shoulders. She looked as if she was of Eastern descent, her face all sharp lines in her angular eyes and high cheekbones.

"Kaly D'Este," she said, standing up, the dark burgundy of her cloak rippling as she moved. Her voice was commanding, echoing through the room without need for an amplifying mystik. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

Kaly dipped her head. "Of course."

There was the distinct sound of rustling paper as the Praetor reached down and grabbed a folded sheet of papyrus, handing it to Kaly and sitting back down. "It's a letter. We received it this morning from someone called Anadeus." For a moment, Sophia thought the Praetor's eyes flicked to hers briefly, but then she turned away and Sophia wasn't sure. "He claims to be the one who leads the Viperi," she added, interlocking her fingers on the table before her.

Sophia felt a pang of shock go through her, and she exchanged uneasy glances with James and Valentino. Kaly was scanning the letter; this far away, Sophia could only make out messy cursive, written in black ink on the papyrus.

"What did he want?" Valentino asked to no one in particular, squinting at the paper in Kaly's hand in a futile attempt to see.

"The destruction of humanity. A rebirth." The woman who had answered was clearly a Senator; her cloak, like the Praetor's, was a deep wine-red, but the triquetra emblem on it was black instead of white. Sophia realized with a start that she looked the spitting image of Marilyn, except older and with brown hair instead of blonde. Eleanor Lendale. Eleanor smiled, and Sophia could've sworn it was Marilyn, if not for the hair. "Hello, Valentino."

"Eleanor," Valentino answered by way of greeting. And then he said, "Typical. Every villain in every story always wants to burn the world down and rebuild it. Does that not seem just a little extreme?"

"You're not supposed to use absolutes," said James, tapping his temple and looking pleased with himself. "Use of Written Language Class, second year."

"How does he expect to do it?" Samantha wondered out loud. "With Viperi?"

Eleanor smiled, a chilling smile. "Viperi are his foot-soldiers. Now Sophia was sure the Praetor was looking at her, hazel eyes stark and unreadable. "He claims to have cast a mystik on Bayleigh's daughter twelve years ago, turning her into a weapon that could destroy humanity."

Sophia felt her heartbeat beginning to quicken as she asked, "Juliana?"

Eleanor glanced at her, the ghost of a smirk appearing on her face. "You."

A/N: hey guys! sorry this is a little late- i was super busy tonight! but hope you guys enjoyed and as always, please vote and comment!! (and as JustMiah17 mentioned, we're almost at 1,000 reads! thanks to all of you <3)

dedication: this one's going to dentseymour!! thank you for your votes and comment <3 it really made me so happy!