[FFnut]

*****************************
Palis, The Year 699 Ishia, Gracia Castle

Magus walked down the halls of the castle, studying the carved murals on the wall. He felt a slight breeze and closed his eyes, smiling. The black wind... he thought to himself. He felt relaxed, for although the black wind was blowing, it wasn't as intense as it had been weeks earlier. He continued to look at the murals, all sorts of strange thoughts going through his head, trying to connect the images on the wall with Earth mythology.

"Hello there," came a voice from behind. Magus jumped, whirling around, coming face to face with Aikia. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh... it's you," he sighed.

Aikia frowned. "'Oh, it's you?' That sounds a tad insulting."

Magus shook his head. "I was thinking of some other things... trying to connect these," he said, gesturing to the wall, "to myths from my own world. I'm trying to see how much our worlds have in common."

Aikia smiled, turning her head slightly. "Hm... interesting stuff. Anything else bothering you? I felt an aura of contentment a few minutes agoaround here. What was making you so happy?"

Magus was surprised. "You feel contentment? That must be the black wind then. It's something only I can feel or hear - wind that blows when something evil is happening. A few days ago, it was blowing like mad - not long after you left Nichi's body actually. It felt like..." He searched for the word. "Like a hurricane. Just a few seconds ago it blew, but it was a light breeze. It was comforting to feel such a soft blowing of such a horrible thing, compared to what happened before."

Aikia took a step forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. Don't feel bad. I can understand. I-" There was a loud crash outside.

Magus dashed out of the castle, leaving a confused Aikia behind. She hadn't heard anything...

Outside, Magus confronted a giant shelled creature. He studied it, noting how similar it looked to... "Lavos," he whispered.

He noted the icicles hanging off the spikes of the monster's shell. Icy... maybe a little fire will bring him down. Magus whipped up a flame in his hand, slamming the creature with fire. It howled and its head began to turn black. Soon nothing remained but an empty husk of a shell.

Malice, Nichi, and Belial quickly hurried outside. "Magus, Aikia told us that you came out here and... what is that thing?"

Magus turned to the three of them. "A Lavos Spawn. These things came from Earth. There's bound to be more..." He glanced at the shell. "This one was really weak though... I don't think the rest of them'll go down this easily..."

The four of them walked to the door. Magus nodded. "I'm off to bed then. I'll fill in you guys and the queen when I feel rested."