Chapter 5: 0:00 (48 Hours Remaining)

"Hope's not lost yet," Dregan said, pulling Vivi to his feet. "Ramuh also said where Cal. 'The castle that flies on the shoulders of demons.' That's where he is. We just have to find it."

"Then lets get to it!" exclaimed Zidane. "First things first, anyone know what castle he meant?" There was a chorus of negatives. "Then that's where to start. I'd say the library would be a good place to look, atlases and such." Now everyone began talking at once.

"I'll go get Dr. Tot," from Cid. "He might know."

"Could you pick up Kuja while you're at it?" from Zidane. "He might know something, given that he made the Black Mages to begin with."

"He's at the Village, right?"

#Excuse me.#

"Yep. And ask around there too. Maybe it's a place one of the Mages remembers."

"What could it mean 'flies on the shoulders of demons?" wondered Orko. "Is it in the air?"

"Could be," mused Dregan.

#Excuse me.#

"Probably means we're dealing with demons, too," from Steiner.

"Poor Cal!" from Garnet.

"He'll be fine," consoled Beatrix. "He's very tough."

"I wonder if - "

"MROOWW!"

The sudden, loud yowl from Elfalon had all jumping a foot in surprise, then turning to look at him.

#Ahem, as I was trying to say, when dealing with demons or demon-related riddles, who better to ask than another demon?# Dregan scooped up his familiar.

"Sorry, Elfalon. I honestly forgot you were a demon. Now, what have you figured out?"

#Peanut, please.# Dregan chuckled and conjured up a shelled peanut, which Elfalon gobbled down, then mewed.#Now, think. What do demons - except for us superior and cute Nimpits - have on their shoulders?#

"Annoyingly tough hides?" answered Steiner.

"Scales?" tried Orko. Nicara snapped his fingers, putting two and two together.

"Wings!" Elfalon hopped out of his 'master's' arms to balance on Sola's head, where he reached out a paw to pat Nic on the hat.

#Good Black Mage! You get a cookie point. Next time you see Kest, tell him that#. He returned to Dregan as Sola adjusted his hat. #Now put that with castle, and you have something along the lines of Wing Castle, or Demon Wing Castle, like that.#

"How'd you figure it out so easily?" Vivi had to ask.

#Easy! It mimics part of a spell ritual demon summoners are fond of. 'With speed that flies on the shoulders of demons,' and they toss a pair of bat wings into a fire. Wings of a demon.#

"It's a start," Freya said. "Now we have a name, or at least an idea of a name."

"Them I'm off," Cid said, and jogged off to the airship. Eiko elected to stay behind, to help looking there.

Every atlas and encyclopedia volume, every tome about castles or structures, were pulled off shelves and piled on tables. Then everyone took a seat and began to look.