80 The Empty Throne (1/2)

Maya tossed the Crystal to Will with a smirk. ”Didn't think I was going to wait around all day for you, did you?”

Will caught the Crystal and inserted his consciousness inside. Sure enough, all of the furniture they bought was inside. Drawing himself back to his body, he put the Crystal inside the one Leo had given him. ”Then we can take off without any more delays.” Will surrounded himself in his usual crimson and gold flame and took to the sky.

”You don't want to use the Ryder Leo gave us?” Maya asked as she joined Will in the air.

He shook his head. ”He gave us this model as a prototype, I'm sure after we get home he could explain its use a little better.”

Will hesitated to use the Ryder, but not for the reason he gave Maya. His mind went to the wind Crystal he had made earlier. He had mixed his flame element with wind while meditating and didn't know what the result would be if he used it on the bike. He also didn't have enough wind left inside him to fuel another Crystal. 'Flying ourselves would be the best option.' He thought to himself as he soared higher in the air.

As he soared over the trees, he caught a glimpse of something that even though he had seen it before, it still impressed him.

Towering sky scrapers were barely visable in the distance. ”Leo has outdone himself.” Will said to himself as he hovered above the trees, taking in the view. It looked almost as if New York was transferred to Crystallia.

”What are you gawking at?” Maya slapped Will's shoulder and gave him a wink. ”Lets head home.” Her black and gold aura sparked to life as she raced to the metropolis in the distance.

Will could only chuckle at her excitement as he followed closely behind. The city grew larger as they came closer. The original size Will had imagined it being drastically grew before his eyes. ”When I said to rebuild the city, I would never have expected it to be this grand.” Will said to himself.

As they grew closer, Will had a nagging feeling he had been there before. Closing the distance between himself and the city, he couldn't help but pick up subtle similarities between the city in front of him, and the city he and Ragnos went to. ”It couldn't be.” He said to himself.

As they flew to the outskirts of the city, Will saw it.

Behind one of the larger buildings, he saw the large pillar that held a platform. He remembered the evil Will gathering wielders in the center of that exact platform to draw in their power. ”How is this possible?”

'It's eerie how similar this place is, isn't it William?' Will heard a familiar voice in the back of his mind. The old God Ragnos decided to pay him a visit. 'As strange as this may sound, this is expected.'

Will didn't doubt that Ragnos could see the surprise on his face, because seconds later he could hear the low rumbling of a chuckle from deep within his mind. 'Remember William, this is a mirror realm. What exists in the other world needs to exist here. Their uses could be completely different, but the result in structure would be identical. I suggest you speak with your friend Leo.'

Will felt the God's presence leave his mind, so he continued forward. ”Maya, I'm going to make a detour.” Will called out before flying towards the platform.

Letting the power of his aura subside, Will descended onto a plain white platform. The last time he had seen it, a halo of energy was roping in hundreds of aura users to steal their powers. A large black throne sat at the very edge of the platform, and rows upon rows of seats surrounded it on either side. ”This is an arena.” Will said as he looked at the layout.

”I hoped you would like it. Though I didn't expect this to be the first thing you came to see.” A familiar voice sounded from behind Will.

He would have known this voice as well as he knew his own. ”What's with the chair?” Will asked as he turned around to face Leo.

”It's been a year and the first thing you do is ask about a chair?” Leo shook his head and chuckled. ”You really don't change do you?” He took the last few steps and embraced his brother. ”Don't disappear for so long next time, or I'll make your royal chamber a cell.”

Though Will knew his best friend was joking with him, he involuntarily shuddered at the thought. ”I'll make a note of that.” He smiled and looked back at the throne. ”So, what's with the chair?”

Leo looked at the throne with a sigh. ”It wasn't my idea. Roland thought that since you are someone more important than King, so you should have a seat that would overlook the kingdoms.” He rolled his eyes at the last part. ”I told him that it's a waste of a chair.”

Will smiled. His best friend knew him too well. ”I'm sure with any event we hold here, I'll be within the crowd where I belong!”

Leo chuckled and looked up to the sky. ”You can come down Maya, there's plenty of room.” He said as he looked at the leather armored beauty in the air.

”I figured you boys needed a chance to catch up.” Maya smirked as her feet touched the ground. ”I'm going to be kidnapping him for a while anyway.” She folded her arms will looking mischievously at Will.

”You're pretty chipper, I mean, compared to the Maya I know.” Leo remembered all to well what Maya had once been like.

He still remembered when Maya had yanked Will back into Ebonhart and dragged both him and Bianca into the world that Will had come from. He still remembered the orphans they had recruited after Maya had killed their parents.

There was a lot of pain and suffering when Leo had first stepped foot in Crystallia, though as he looked back on the many disasters, he felt relief that things had evened out. If it weren't for the struggles they had all gone through, they wouldn't be as strong as they were today.

Maya gave Leo a knowing smile. She had not been in control of herself when she set off to cull the population of Ebonhart. She had believed it was Jake who influenced her, but instead it was Aremesis who literally pulled his strings.

Though they had all taken different paths in order to get to this moment, they all felt as though Will had led them to victory through the many hardships.