Here's the next part. Hopefully this will tie up some of the loose ends mentioned earlier.
Joel groaned as he regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the floor of a small cave. Mike was seated next to the exit, peering out at his surroundings.
"I never thought such a place existed."
"What?" Joel said as he sat up.
Mike jumped back in shock. "Oh, you're awake! Would you believe there is a floating city outside?"
"Floating...city?" Joel crawled next to Mike and peered out of the cave. Outside, a blizzard was sweeping the snow-covered earth. Above the clouds, however, was a small city, accentuated by a magnificent castle in its center.
"My grandma once told me a story about a city in the clouds. I guess it was true after all." Mike pulled his pendant out of his pocket. "This isn't doing anything now, but it's been reacting to something outside for a while now."
"Maybe it's the city," Joel suggested. "We should probably go investigate."
"How do we get up there?" Mike asked. "And how do we get through the blizzard?"
Joel laughed. "You're from the Midwest. I thought you were used to this kind of weather."
"Very funny." Mike's expression remained the same. "I'm also wondering what year this is. I think it's weird there's a city out there, but something like this in here." He pointed to a small painting on the wall. It depicted a man clad in animal robes in battle with a saber-tooth tiger.
"You're right. This is strange." Joel looked out of the cave again. As the wind died down, he could make out a large building a few feet from the cave. He tapped Mike on the shoulder and pointed to it. "Let's check that place out."
***
The building turned out to be an elevator. It led to the city in the clouds. Despite the turbulent atmosphere below, the floating land was warm and verdant. Rare flowers blossomed everywhere, and fancy buildings dotted the landscape.
"This is really weird," Mike stated as they began to head into the city. "I'm assuming that we're in the Ice Age because of that painting we saw. But if this is the Ice Age, then how can these people be so advanced?"
Joel glanced at a few of the city's citizens. They were lavishly dressed, and many wore rather expensive jewelry. "That's simple," he replied. "Hubris."
"WHAT?" Mike narrowed his brow. He had never heard the word before.
"The Ancient Greeks called excessive pride `hubris.' These people don't look very modest to me. So, it seems logical that someone here screwed up and caused all this knowledge to be lost. Hubris, then, is what caused this kingdom to fall."
The two then came upon a brick wall lined with flowers. Photographs of a woman lined the area. Joel approached one of the people standing there.
"Excuse me, but what is this place?"
"This was just completed three days ago. It is the memorial to our dearly departed Queen Katarina."
"What happened to her?" Joel asked.
The woman cocked her head. "Well, of course you wouldn't know. You're not one of us Enlightened Ones. Yet, you're not one of the wretched Earthbound Ones either. You're rather interesting, I must say."
"What happened?" Joel asked again.
"She fell down the stairs and split her head wide open. She died of the injury soon after. Her daughter, Schala, was next in line for the throne, but a mysterious woman ascended the throne. She was responsible for the creation of the Mammon Machine, our new energy source. However, terrible things have been happening since then."
"What kind of things?" Mike was intrigued.
"The three Sages that guided the Queen have vanished. One of Princess Schala's attendants was killed for disobeying the new Queen. Also, Schala is being forced to help with the construction of the Ocean Palace. She's never had to work before. That is the job of the Earthbound Ones."
"Who is this Queen?" Mike asked.
"I only know her name," the woman replied.
"That's all right," Mike stated. "What's her name?"
"Pearl Forrester."
***
"Impossible." Mike slumped down onto a bench. "I thought that she only tormented the two of us, but she's responsible for the fall of this kingdom."
"Not from what I can tell," Joel said. "These people were in trouble long before the death of the Queen."
"What do you mean?"
"They've divided themselves into two groups: the Earthbound Ones and the Enlightened Ones. Since they're not able to get along, the conflict between them is what probably caused this kingdom to fall. All Pearl did was accelerate the process."
"Do you think we could get into the castle?" Mike asked. "There's probably more to this story than we know about."
Joel nodded. "I want to see the Mammon Machine for myself. I find it very hard to believe that something could harness enough power to keep this place moving."
"Let's go find out."
***
To their surprise, the castle was open to the public. Throngs of people milled about the castle. Some were there to see the Mammon Machine. Others wanted to catch a glimpse of the Prophet.
According to a bookkeeper at the castle, the Prophet had recently appeared before the Queen. Every prediction he had made had become reality. No one knew where he had come from, or where he had acquired his powers. He was neither an Earthbound nor an Enlightened One, which caused much curiosity about him.
Joel walked through the halls of the castle, milling over the facts he had just learned. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he wasn't watching where he was going. He ended up walking into a room occupied by a solitary woman.
The woman rose from the chair she had been sitting in. "Hello. Who might you be?"
"What?" Joel snapped out of his daze. He glanced at Mike, who was looking over the woman very intently. When Joel looked more closely at her, he understood why.
She was a rather petite thing, with long blue hair that was tied into a ponytail. She was clad in a long-sleeved violet dress that left much to the imagination. She also wore a pendant that looked exactly like Mike's.
"That pendant!" she cried. "Where did you get it?"
"I found it where my house once stood." Mike didn't know what else to say.
"I know who you are, then. The Observer was careless to let you escape."
"What?" Mike perked up. "How do you know about him?"
The woman sighed deeply. "I don't have time to tell you the whole story, since I am expected at the Ocean Palace. However, there are a few things you need to know now. First of all, the death of my mother was not an accident."
"Your mother?" Joel repeated. "Then, you're Princess Schala, right?"
"Just call me Schala. I've always hated my title."
"What about your mother?" Mike inquired.
"Shortly before her death, Pearl and her cronies arrived in this realm with a strange rock. They gave it to the Sage Chekov, who fashioned shards of the rock into pendants such as the one I am wearing. The rock was what enabled them to travel through time to this era."
"I see." Mike nodded in understanding. All along, it had been his pendant that was taking him throughout time.
"The three Sages then built the Mammon Machine, which can harness the power of Lavos. Once Pearl discovered that, she wanted that power all for herself. So, she had someone push my mother down the stairs. After that, she took the throne and got rid of all those who opposed her."
"The three Sages and your attendant, right?" Mike asked.
Schala nodded. "Damien refused to pledge allegiance to Pearl. So, she had him killed." She buried her face in her hands. "I was engaged to him."
"Princess Schala." A young man arrived at the door. "The Queen requests your immediate presence at the Ocean Palace."
"Yes. Right away." Schala walked towards the door, then turned to face Joel and Mike.
"Feel free to look through anything I have here. I'm the chief engineer of the Ocean Palace, so I have a few blueprints scattered about. And, as for you..." Schala gazed intently at Mike. "I will return after I am done at the Palace. When I speak with you again, everything will become clear." She then left with the man.
"Blueprints?" Joel was intrigued. He had never met a woman with such an avid interest in engineering. He began to poke around the desk in the room.
Mike stood rooted to the ground. "Everything will become clear, she said. What do you suppose she means by that?"
***